[Music]
now yesterday Bob told us just to forget
everything all the hard work not the
words but all the hard work and just
come out and enjoy ourselves so I’m
gonna have a little bit of fun I’d like
to break boundaries so I’ve always been
curious what happens if you actually
step off this thing so here we go I’ve
heard that you actually disintegrate
my favorite Mountain quote is when in
doubt go higher now the first rule of
being lost in the mountains is not to go
down but to go up to look out over the
terrain to gain perspective and to find
the best way down now the mountains have
always been symbolic of strength
perseverance mystery and majesty
having lived 25 years in Colorado the
mountains for me or my refuge and my
inspiration now Colorado is home to 58
peaks over 14,000 feet high so I had my
pick of adventure and I managed to climb
them all three times Plus repeats I’ve
stood on the top of nearly 250 peaks and
I tell you words simply cannot describe
the exhaustion and the elation that one
feels over those last few steps before
standing on top the only thing more
fulfilling is guiding people to the top
and watching them experience it for the
first time and my most treasured moments
were standing on top with my own
children but even more inspiring over
those years was the opportunity I had to
meet thousands of children living in
poverty all over the world their stories
of survival made my personal and
physical mountains seemed so small I
worked with child laborers in Cairo
little girls trafficked for sex in the
Philippines AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe and
Swaziland and young kids sucked into the
gangs of
Amerika all tragic stories of history’s
lost and now the inspiration continues
with my work as president of horizon a
non-profit based in Lancaster
Pennsylvania we currently work in Kenya
and Guatemala and we exist to empower
orphaned children to be self sustainable
and we want to radically transform the
way orphaned children are cared for and
we want that transformation to be global
and to work to influence others to do
the same now for me climbing mountains
has always been a metaphor for what
orphaned children go through every day
of their lives and that’s what led me to
create this absolutely crazy thing I
call 1440 neurs in 14 days now you have
to climb 14 14,000 foot Peaks in 14 days
on behalf of at least one child I wanted
to raise awareness of their situation
but also create a challenge that would
push me and others beyond what we
thought we were capable of doing a
decision an orphaned child has to make
every day now for me it pushed me to my
very limit for example about a year ago
approaching the 14th peak on the 14th
day it was literally like my brain was
disconnected from my feet I can still
remember it very well
I looked down and my I could see my feet
but I had to will them to move only the
mental images of the children pushed me
to the top and it was then that I
realized you know it’s not just about
what I do for them but it’s more of a
symbiotic relationship in which my
humanity depends on them just as much as
theirs depends on me when we feel we’ve
reached our end we enabled each other to
carry on but rarely do the ideas and
inspirations of life reach down to those
who have lost everything
Viktor Frankl a concentration camp
survivor wrote being human always points
to something or someone other than
oneself and by giving himself to a cause
to serve or another person to love
more human he is I think it arise in our
true purpose is simply to connect
humanity for when we restore the
identity and the belonging of orphaned
children yeah I think the more human we
become imagine the unimaginable tragedy
strikes and suddenly your own children
have lost the only sense of belonging
they’ve ever known to belong is to be
human and when you lose one you lose the
other everybody needs to belong and so
I’m sure like me you would do anything
you could to ensure that your children
continue to have their sense of
belonging in a poem written by Horizon
children they describe themselves as
having been the laughingstock of their
community should any child let alone an
orphan child ever have to feel that type
of isolation or rejection but the
children I’m talking about today have no
one to sign the papers no family’s going
to come along and they won’t be adopted
listen no one is born an orphan an
orphan as a result of tragic loss it
leads to a sense of permanent exclusion
but not only exclusion double tragedy
for they are not trafficked they will
most likely end up spending the rest of
their lives on the street in prison or
in prostitution in fact the true tragedy
of orphan care is at every 2.2 seconds
an orphan child is forced to leave the
only care they’ve ever known for a
second time they lose their sense of
belonging
and after they blow out 18 candles 70%
of the boys will end up hardened
criminals and 60% of the girls will be
trapped in prostitution having babies of
their own babies who will most likely
end up being orphaned themselves warf
ins having orphans and the tragic cycle
continues it is estimated that there are
over 140 million orphaned children in
the world trapped in that cycle that is
roughly equivalent to how many mailboxes
there are
in the entire United States remember
that quote at the beginning when in
doubt go higher well I know there is
much good going on I believe orphan care
has lost its way and I went down to find
it I think it’s time to climb back up to
the top and look for a better way and
that horizon I believe we have found a
better way that will inspire not only
ourselves but others to radically
transform the way orphan children are
cared for now at Horizon it all begins
in what we call a micro community now we
Americans are no strangers to this
concept we have areas of 55-plus
communities we have neighborhoods for
young families we have communities where
certain groups can thrive in their
uniqueness without feeling isolated or
ostracized I like to think of a micro
community as a real neighborhood where
there are families where there is
farming going on or businesses being
conducted and where skills are being
taught and where there’s lots of play
and life connection to the surrounding
community through schooling and outings
and with neighbors who understand that
these children need to belong and are
research shows that orphaned children
who are raised in a family setting have
better outcomes and those who are
forcibly sent to biological family or
put in foster care where the settings
are more deprived turns out it’s less
about where an orphaned child is raised
and more about the quality of care that
they receive now in a micro community
each child has a very strategic plan for
their lives just like any parent would
want for the success of their children
it’s that better way that we have found
and it’s best captured what we call the
ten declarations of transformative
orphan care all of our children go
through a very extensive investigation
process before they come to us to
confirm that they have no other option
there is no family and there’s no
adoption option all of our children come
to us through the court system a judge
has to
sign a paper giving horizon legal
custody and I mentioned the importance
of belonging and family at horizon a
family as a mother and a father we
believe it’s critical for their
development that they have both parents
and the micro community environment I
mentioned does everything it can to
minimize and eliminate all forms of
institutionalization each child has all
the documentation and all the proof that
they need to be able to enjoy the
privileges and the benefits and the
responsibilities of being citizens in
their own country and it’s critical we
impact all areas of their lives
physically cognitively socially
emotionally and even spiritually and in
those areas we have measurable outcomes
to make sure that what we are doing has
long-term impact and at horizon there is
no leaving they stay closely connected
to family where they transition into
adulthood learning to stand on their own
with purpose and with hope and each
young adult has the opportunity to
select from one of three tracks in our
inheritance program they can select
academics vocational technical or start
their own business and this is not just
about what they receive but learning how
to give they have opportunities for
service and for giving back and helping
pave the way for children to come after
them and finally we don’t want long term
dependency on outside funding so we work
in the local markets to create
businesses that will provide enough
income to sustain the operations of the
micro community now the question we must
ask ourselves is does it work and I say
absolutely yes it does 80% of our young
adults have succeeded in breaking their
cycle of poverty let me repeat that 80%
of our young adults have succeeded in
breaking their cycle of poverty that
compares to the normal statistic where
only 20 percent succeed
we have young adults who have become
teachers and nurses and pastors and
farmers business owners bankers
accountants beauticians electricians and
many others
and here’s another success story in the
next five to seven years our operations
in Kenya will be self-sustaining and
soon we hope to hope to open our first
micro community in Guatemala we will
inspire change by working with the
government to use this model to
encourage others to improve their care
rather than be closed down now I’ll be
the first to admit that we have a long
way to go but as one of my heroes Nelson
Mandela once said there is no easy walk
to freedom anywhere and many of us will
have to pass through the valley of the
shadow of death again and again before
we reach the mountaintop of our desires
if you’re going to climb that mountain
or any mountain you have to take that
first step we extended the metaphor to
Mount Kilimanjaro not far from where our
children are from and while we couldn’t
take them with us we took their
handprints to this to the top on this
banner to symbolize that this climb to
freedom is for them and for thousands of
others we hope to reach by the year 2030
and finally my other favorite mountain
quote is this success is not counted by
how high you have climbed but by how
many people you brought with you it’s
all about connecting our shared humanity
so that orphaned children can find
refuge and inspiration to go higher and
higher until they too can stand on the
mountaintop of their desires thank you very much
now yesterday Bob told us just to forget
everything all the hard work not the
words but all the hard work and just
come out and enjoy ourselves so I’m
gonna have a little bit of fun I’d like
to break boundaries so I’ve always been
curious what happens if you actually
step off this thing so here we go I’ve
heard that you actually disintegrate
my favorite Mountain quote is when in
doubt go higher now the first rule of
being lost in the mountains is not to go
down but to go up to look out over the
terrain to gain perspective and to find
the best way down now the mountains have
always been symbolic of strength
perseverance mystery and majesty
having lived 25 years in Colorado the
mountains for me or my refuge and my
inspiration now Colorado is home to 58
peaks over 14,000 feet high so I had my
pick of adventure and I managed to climb
them all three times Plus repeats I’ve
stood on the top of nearly 250 peaks and
I tell you words simply cannot describe
the exhaustion and the elation that one
feels over those last few steps before
standing on top the only thing more
fulfilling is guiding people to the top
and watching them experience it for the
first time and my most treasured moments
were standing on top with my own
children but even more inspiring over
those years was the opportunity I had to
meet thousands of children living in
poverty all over the world their stories
of survival made my personal and
physical mountains seemed so small I
worked with child laborers in Cairo
little girls trafficked for sex in the
Philippines AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe and
Swaziland and young kids sucked into the
gangs of
Amerika all tragic stories of history’s
lost and now the inspiration continues
with my work as president of horizon a
non-profit based in Lancaster
Pennsylvania we currently work in Kenya
and Guatemala and we exist to empower
orphaned children to be self sustainable
and we want to radically transform the
way orphaned children are cared for and
we want that transformation to be global
and to work to influence others to do
the same now for me climbing mountains
has always been a metaphor for what
orphaned children go through every day
of their lives and that’s what led me to
create this absolutely crazy thing I
call 1440 neurs in 14 days now you have
to climb 14 14,000 foot Peaks in 14 days
on behalf of at least one child I wanted
to raise awareness of their situation
but also create a challenge that would
push me and others beyond what we
thought we were capable of doing a
decision an orphaned child has to make
every day now for me it pushed me to my
very limit for example about a year ago
approaching the 14th peak on the 14th
day it was literally like my brain was
disconnected from my feet I can still
remember it very well
I looked down and my I could see my feet
but I had to will them to move only the
mental images of the children pushed me
to the top and it was then that I
realized you know it’s not just about
what I do for them but it’s more of a
symbiotic relationship in which my
humanity depends on them just as much as
theirs depends on me when we feel we’ve
reached our end we enabled each other to
carry on but rarely do the ideas and
inspirations of life reach down to those
who have lost everything
Viktor Frankl a concentration camp
survivor wrote being human always points
to something or someone other than
oneself and by giving himself to a cause
to serve or another person to love
more human he is I think it arise in our
true purpose is simply to connect
humanity for when we restore the
identity and the belonging of orphaned
children yeah I think the more human we
become imagine the unimaginable tragedy
strikes and suddenly your own children
have lost the only sense of belonging
they’ve ever known to belong is to be
human and when you lose one you lose the
other everybody needs to belong and so
I’m sure like me you would do anything
you could to ensure that your children
continue to have their sense of
belonging in a poem written by Horizon
children they describe themselves as
having been the laughingstock of their
community should any child let alone an
orphan child ever have to feel that type
of isolation or rejection but the
children I’m talking about today have no
one to sign the papers no family’s going
to come along and they won’t be adopted
listen no one is born an orphan an
orphan as a result of tragic loss it
leads to a sense of permanent exclusion
but not only exclusion double tragedy
for they are not trafficked they will
most likely end up spending the rest of
their lives on the street in prison or
in prostitution in fact the true tragedy
of orphan care is at every 2.2 seconds
an orphan child is forced to leave the
only care they’ve ever known for a
second time they lose their sense of
belonging
and after they blow out 18 candles 70%
of the boys will end up hardened
criminals and 60% of the girls will be
trapped in prostitution having babies of
their own babies who will most likely
end up being orphaned themselves warf
ins having orphans and the tragic cycle
continues it is estimated that there are
over 140 million orphaned children in
the world trapped in that cycle that is
roughly equivalent to how many mailboxes
there are
in the entire United States remember
that quote at the beginning when in
doubt go higher well I know there is
much good going on I believe orphan care
has lost its way and I went down to find
it I think it’s time to climb back up to
the top and look for a better way and
that horizon I believe we have found a
better way that will inspire not only
ourselves but others to radically
transform the way orphan children are
cared for now at Horizon it all begins
in what we call a micro community now we
Americans are no strangers to this
concept we have areas of 55-plus
communities we have neighborhoods for
young families we have communities where
certain groups can thrive in their
uniqueness without feeling isolated or
ostracized I like to think of a micro
community as a real neighborhood where
there are families where there is
farming going on or businesses being
conducted and where skills are being
taught and where there’s lots of play
and life connection to the surrounding
community through schooling and outings
and with neighbors who understand that
these children need to belong and are
research shows that orphaned children
who are raised in a family setting have
better outcomes and those who are
forcibly sent to biological family or
put in foster care where the settings
are more deprived turns out it’s less
about where an orphaned child is raised
and more about the quality of care that
they receive now in a micro community
each child has a very strategic plan for
their lives just like any parent would
want for the success of their children
it’s that better way that we have found
and it’s best captured what we call the
ten declarations of transformative
orphan care all of our children go
through a very extensive investigation
process before they come to us to
confirm that they have no other option
there is no family and there’s no
adoption option all of our children come
to us through the court system a judge
has to
sign a paper giving horizon legal
custody and I mentioned the importance
of belonging and family at horizon a
family as a mother and a father we
believe it’s critical for their
development that they have both parents
and the micro community environment I
mentioned does everything it can to
minimize and eliminate all forms of
institutionalization each child has all
the documentation and all the proof that
they need to be able to enjoy the
privileges and the benefits and the
responsibilities of being citizens in
their own country and it’s critical we
impact all areas of their lives
physically cognitively socially
emotionally and even spiritually and in
those areas we have measurable outcomes
to make sure that what we are doing has
long-term impact and at horizon there is
no leaving they stay closely connected
to family where they transition into
adulthood learning to stand on their own
with purpose and with hope and each
young adult has the opportunity to
select from one of three tracks in our
inheritance program they can select
academics vocational technical or start
their own business and this is not just
about what they receive but learning how
to give they have opportunities for
service and for giving back and helping
pave the way for children to come after
them and finally we don’t want long term
dependency on outside funding so we work
in the local markets to create
businesses that will provide enough
income to sustain the operations of the
micro community now the question we must
ask ourselves is does it work and I say
absolutely yes it does 80% of our young
adults have succeeded in breaking their
cycle of poverty let me repeat that 80%
of our young adults have succeeded in
breaking their cycle of poverty that
compares to the normal statistic where
only 20 percent succeed
we have young adults who have become
teachers and nurses and pastors and
farmers business owners bankers
accountants beauticians electricians and
many others
and here’s another success story in the
next five to seven years our operations
in Kenya will be self-sustaining and
soon we hope to hope to open our first
micro community in Guatemala we will
inspire change by working with the
government to use this model to
encourage others to improve their care
rather than be closed down now I’ll be
the first to admit that we have a long
way to go but as one of my heroes Nelson
Mandela once said there is no easy walk
to freedom anywhere and many of us will
have to pass through the valley of the
shadow of death again and again before
we reach the mountaintop of our desires
if you’re going to climb that mountain
or any mountain you have to take that
first step we extended the metaphor to
Mount Kilimanjaro not far from where our
children are from and while we couldn’t
take them with us we took their
handprints to this to the top on this
banner to symbolize that this climb to
freedom is for them and for thousands of
others we hope to reach by the year 2030
and finally my other favorite mountain
quote is this success is not counted by
how high you have climbed but by how
many people you brought with you it’s
all about connecting our shared humanity
so that orphaned children can find
refuge and inspiration to go higher and
higher until they too can stand on the
mountaintop of their desires thank you very much
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