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December 19, 2008
Teens write kids books
Travelling around the world will do much good.
SARA NEWHAM
Two young Kelowna teens have put a school assignment and their family's amazing round-the-world odyssey to good use.
David and Benjamin MacLean have each written and illustrated a children's book about animals and hope to raise at least $10,000 to benefit three charitable organizations. The boys and their parents recently spoke at an Okanagan Jewish Community Centre Philosopher's Café.
"We put together a project whereby they wrote and illustrated two children's books," said mom Anne MacLean. "So we self-published the books and, again, we brainstormed with the boys: Is it just to give people more books to read? What came out of that [brainstorming] was a fundraising endeavor."
The books were written over five months while the brothers, now age 15 and 14, took a two-year educational journey with their parents, David and Anne. Their travels included separate trips to Britain, India, Costa Rica and Mexico, where they learned about their family's heritage, built homes for the poor and discovered the cultural, social and historical fabric of the countries they visited. The family travelled more than 110,000 kilometres, mostly on air miles collected over several years.
Anne MacLean said the sabbatical was something she had always wanted to do. A certified teacher, she home-schooled her sons for the two years and the family travelled during the off-season to take advantage of the lower prices. She explained that they had mapped out most of their trips before they began the journey, but decided to go to India instead of Africa after making connections.
"We wanted to give our kids a global education and a hands-on global education, not just read about it. We wanted to go see it and experience it and experience it together," said MacLean. "I think they have a broader understanding of what caring and helping other people means – that because we have privileges and resources at our own disposal, it's not for feathering our own nest, it's prosperity for purpose and to contribute for the betterment of other people's lives. It's part of our responsibility for living in a privileged population."
MacLean said the boys now have a new appreciation for the word "need" and a stronger sense of social justice, both of which affects their decision-making now that they're back in regular school. Heading into the holiday season, where gift-giving and getting is often the topic of conversation, MacLean said her family is looking forward to having time to spend together.
"We don't need anything. We have plenty of stuff. It's a matter of taking the time to enjoy being together and having fun together," said MacLean. "What the sabbatical gave to us is the gift of time and we realize that's probably the one commodity in life that we don't have enough of and we need to be more intentional with."
The elder David MacLean owns a marketing company and was able to arrange to publish 1,000 copies of the books. Although most of them have been sold, there are about 250 left. They cost $20 plus tax on the boys' website (www.daveandben.com).
The books, titled Jeffy's World Safari and Goodbye Zoo, are intended for early readers and the money raised goes to Mountainview Conservation Society, Raincoast Conservation Society and Hope for the Nations, an organization that builds children's homes around the world.
Anne MacLean said that, since returning to Canada, her sons have had numerous requests to speak to children in local schools about their adventures and the lessons learned. She said that many people have told her how much they would love to do a similar trip with their families. Her advice? Go for it.
"What we did isn't impossible and can be molded to suit any kind of family composition and it's worth doing. I would want to underscore that – if there's a family or a group of people who want to go see the world in a certain way and to have those kinds of adventures together, to take the time to do it. It's worth it. Even if it's for a few weeks or a month, to have one big adventure, it's worth it. If it's something you want to do, don't let time pass you by," she said.
Sara Newham is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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