Walk in Their Shoes, by Jim Ziolkowski

Some guys finish college, spend a few years wandering around the world, experiencing cultures and working adventuresome jobs, then head back to the real world to settle down for a comfortable career and a typical American life.  As Jim Ziolkowski tells in his new book Walk in Their Shoes: Can One Person Change the World?, he began to follow that path, but after the adventures he had as a young man, he didn't last long in the world of finance before he knew he would never be able to settle into corporate life.

When a young Jim Ziolkowski was wandering around Nepal, he ran across a village where villagers were celebrating the building of a school funded by some British mountain climbers.  That experience stuck with Ziolkowski, and a few years later, he started the non-profit that would become buildOn.  Soon it became apparent that working a demanding, full-time job in corporate finance was not compatible with running a growing international charity, so he left the corporate world behind.

BuildOn has a dual focus: building schools in impoverished rural villages in several countries, and engaging lower-income American high school students in active service.  In both cases, he wants to avoid an entitlement mentality and dependence.  Of the work building schools, he says education is the key: "We couldn't rescue villagers; we had to empower them through education to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations."  When buildOn builds a school, they only do so with the support, buy-in, and labor of the villagers themselves.

Similarly, the kids at buildOn's U.S. high school programs are not involved just for fun, free stuff, or entertainment.  They put in service hours in local nursing homes, graffiti clean-up, and, in some cases, travel to work on the overseas school construction projects.

Ziolkowski's story is inspiring, as he takes the reader on the journey from his randomly inspired vision in Tibet, to his gathering of a small group of friends to share that vision, to convincing corporate and individual donors to fund the vision.  His story is also deeply personal, as he tells of his journey from carefree, unmarried world traveller, to a man with a specific vision, to marriage, and to parenthood.  Especially wrenching are the passages in which Ziolkowski wrestles with balancing his desire to oversee buildOn's international work first-hand, and his need to be present with his family as his son struggles with a debilitating seizure disorder.

The personal stories of the people he meets really make the book.  Whether villagers who assist in the school construction, the students who are able to get an education their parents never dreamed about, or the American teen from the inner-city whose world view is expanded by his experiences of third-world poverty.

Walk in Their Shoes is an encouragement to do just that: step outside of where you're comfortable and touch someone's life while experiencing life with them.  You and I may never start a major international nonprofit with activities in dozens of countries, but we can share our lives with the world around us.  What an inspiring example.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!