Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for Spotlight. I’m Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
A child’s relationship with his parents is very important. But for some children, something damages this relationship. Maybe one parent is missing or dead. Maybe poverty has caused struggle. Maybe bad friends are taking the place of a parent. Today’s Spotlight is on a group that helps children who are in difficult situations. This group is called Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
Voice 2
Do you have a brother or sister? If you do, you know how important this relationship can be. Young boys want to be like their older brothers. Young girls depend on their older sisters. In a healthy family, brothers and sisters share a special connection. The group Big Brothers and Big Sisters understands this special connection.
Voice 1
Big Brothers and Big Sisters started with several different people. In 1902, Ernest Coulter was working in court rooms in New York City. He worked especially with young boys who committed crimes. He thought that these boys needed someone to guide them. He wanted to find adults to be friends with these boys.
Voice 2
At the same time, a group of women was helping young girls. The Ladies of Charity was a group of nuns – Christian workers. These women cared for the sick, the poor and the lonely people in their community. They saw many young girls who were missing a parent, or in trouble. These young girls needed help.
Voice 1
In the city of Cincinnati, Ohio another man was thinking the same thing. One day, Irvin Westheimer saw a boy looking for food in a waste container. Mr. Westheimer gave the boy a meal. He met the boy’s family. And he learned that the boy’s father had died. Mr. Westheimer began to spend more time with the boy. He began to understand how important adults are in a child’s life. He wanted to help more boys in similar situations. He decided to start an organization to help these boys.
Voice 2
Mr. Westheimer gathered other men who wanted to help. They became friends with these troubled boys. They acted like good older brothers.
Voice 1
Mr. Coulter did the same thing in New York. He formed a group of men to help boys in need. These men were guides to the boys. The group called the men Big Brothers. The group called the boys Little Brothers. The Big Brothers were mentors, or guides, to these Little Brothers. And the groups were also both called “Big Brothers”.
Voice 2
Mentoring is a kind of relationship that has existed since ancient times. Older people become friends with younger people. The older people share their knowledge. They show the young people how to behave. They talk together and share common interests. These mentors guide the young people to become better adults.
Voice 1
Over time, more Big Brothers groups started forming in other cities in the United States. Big Brothers groups started sports teams for teenagers in their communities. The groups even collected money to help young people attend college.
Voice 2
The Ladies of Charity, in New York, changed their name to the Catholic Big Sisters in 1905. As time went on, the group continued to grow. And, just like the Big Brothers, more Big Sisters groups formed as well. Seventy [70] years later these groups joined together. In 1977 Big Brothers and Big Sisters became one group.
Voice 1
Today, Big Brothers and Big Sisters is the oldest youth mentoring group in the world. Big Brothers and Big Sisters serves over two hundred eighty thousand [280,000] children around the world. The Big Brothers and Big Sisters are not paid for their work. They give their time and energy freely.
Voice 2
The success of Big Brothers and Big Sisters has also spread to Cambodia. A group of Christians saw the value of the mentoring relationship. They to help children whose parents had died from AIDS. The group asked ten Christian young people to become mentors to these children.
Voice 1
These big brothers and big sisters visit the children every week. Each child in the program now has a friend. This friend spends time with them. This friend listens to them. And this friend encourages them. The big brothers and big sisters spend time listening, talking, playing, praying, eating, and having fun with their little brother and sisters.
Voice 2
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Cambodia wants to make the lives of these children better. They want to help these orphaned children grow to be successful adults.
Voice 1
Philippa Miner helps organize Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Cambodia. She recently wrote that there are currently just over one hundred [100] big brothers and big sisters meeting with orphans in the area. But she says that the Big Brothers and Big Sisters only serve a small amount of orphans in the country. Philippa says that there are around four hundred and seventy thousand [470,000] orphaned children in Cambodia. There are many more children who need the help of Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
Voice 2
Big Brothers and Big Sisters is also working in Canada. Mitka is a single mother living in the city of Guelph. She says she is glad that Big Brothers and Big Sisters exists. She tells about the experiences of her son, Reza.
Voice 3
“Reza’s father died while I was pregnant. When we moved to Guelph, we had friends here. But they were too busy to spend time with Reza. Within two years of being matched to his big brother Josh, I saw a change in Reza. Josh had goals. By knowing him, Reza learned it is good if he has goals. Now he knows what to look for in the future. He is more social now, not as shy. He is out making friends. He now knows how to make new friends. It was a great two years because it was a time when Reza was still growing up and he needed a role model, someone to guide him.”
Voice 1
Big Brothers and Big Sisters continues to help children. And Big Brothers and Big Sisters exists in many parts of the world. If you are interested in becoming a big brother or big sister where you live, contact a Big Brothers and Big Sisters office near you. You can make a difference in a child’s life!
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