A Mother from Missouri

On a recent episode of Oprah, there was a story that proves that the average person can do so much to solve the problem of slavery. The story is about a Midwestern mother from Missouri on a weekend trip to New York who read the front page article of The New York Times about a Ghanaian boy in slavery.

His job is to bucket water out of a boat all day. She had a seven year old at home at the time and couldn't help imagine him having to do the same. She was obsessed about him and lay in bed at night wondering if he was safe.

At that time, Oprah read the same article, and felt deeply for the boy. She said there was something haunting about his eyes that she couldn't forget. However, by the time Oprah started taking action, the Missouri mother was already on the case.

She had contacted The New York Times and got a contact number of a man from Ghana who could help. He said with only around $300, the boy could be saved. Things moved quickly from there, and with the help of friends and family raised enough money to free the boy and six others! She flew all the way to Ghana to meet them along with her daughter.

Today, she feels as if she has seven Ghanaian children (they call her Mama Pam) and can’t wait to take her entire family to visit them. This story shows that if an average mother of four armed with just motherly instinct could beat Oprah Winfrey in doing something about slavery, then everyone can.  

Be the Change!

In their ongoing “Giving Back” series, ABC features people who find creative ways to change the world. There is no better example than 15-year-old Zach Hunter, who would rather “Be the Change”.

In fact, this is the name of Hunter's book which is not the best of his accomplishments! When it comes to Zach, there is a lot more than meets the eye.

He might look like a typical 9th grader, and he likes to believe that many of his interests are typical including music, literature and playing tennis. But as he puts it, he thinks he might have a “quirk” about him; his interest in abolition.

This interest started when Zach was only 12 and learned about slavery from his mother. He decided that just having feelings was not enough and headed quickly to action. His idea was creative but simple.

He started a campaign, “Loose Change to Loosen Chains”. As the name implies, he collects loose change to free slaves around the world. With especially designed logo t-shirts and cups, Zach mobilizes other highschool kids to do the same. He believes that in America people have 10 billion dollars lying around in loose change.

In just two weeks, he collected 6 thousand dollars from high school alone. What is even more astounding is that Zach has transformed from the shy introverted boy he once was – even his parents are surprised. Today, he travels around the country to speak to highschoolers or in front of crowds of adults about his “passion”. And to those who think this is just his cause, his advice for them is to find their own!