My desire to help others began when I was a very young child. When we lived in South West Africa (Namidia), I went to get groceries with my mother. Mummy had a little purse with a zipper across the top. She never seemed to spend her change and this little purse was stretching against the zip, bulging with coins. As we exited the shopping center, a beggar sat in a patch of dry, dying grass. His twisted limbs criss-crossed beneath him and his smile was toothless. My mother emptied the contents of this purse into his leathery cupped hands. His smile was like the sun.

One night one of my dad's work trucks broke down, on a mountain pass. The equipment on the truck could not be left unprotected. The driver asked to spend the night. He told Daddy that he would keep the load safe. My father noticed the mans thin shirt and knew that it would not be warming in the night. So he took off his jacket and gave it to the driver.

The lessons we teach our children are heard, but the things we do are heard in their hearts. The adage that “Actions speak louder than words” is true and the best teaching we can give is our example.