The Hope Givers is made possible with the support of :
The Ari-West Children’s Foundation
Parthenon Commercial Corporation
Castlewall Security and Video
Ethical Inspectors

(MUSIC)

JOHN BARNES:
They were all so tiny and some were fragile.

ANITA EBERT:
To see bones; something that should be walking and playing and it doesn’t have the 
strength to stand up.

LINDA LUCAS:
It made me very mad.

RACHAEL YATES:
 They are put in these horrible decisions everyday—to love these kids and to care for 
them without having the resources.

PATTY THORNBERRY: 
They are all looking at you, saying ‘love my baby, hold my baby, pick my baby, help my 
baby.

DR. MERCY OBEIME:
There has to be a God for some of these people to survive.

NARRATOR:
What these people have seen can help save a life ~
What they know now can help change a world.
Who are they? 
People from Indiana, just like you—a neighbor—a friend—who have seen the need— 

JAMES MORRIS:
Over a billion people live on less the $2 a day.
25,000 people including 18,000 children will die today of hunger, one every five seconds 
all day long.


ERIKA LUND:
You slip into despair and hopelessness, which is the worst place to be in the world.

JAMES MORRIS:
Where children are put at risk through no fault of their own, the rest of the world has a 
responsibility to step in and help.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
When you see another human being in need, if you do not go back and help, and continue 
to help, what kind of person are you?

NARRATOR:
You’re about to take a journey to Morocco—one of the most exotic places on earth—
—where the ancient and modern worlds collide everyday—
—where these Americans share optimism from the Heartland while on an adventure of a 
lifetime.

CYNDE BARNES:
Mach 2 . . . hair on fire . . . if you don’t . . . what’s the sense of packing a bag and going 
all that way?

AMANDA TOURE:
The children are very excited. It’s something very special.  We have been talking about it 
for weeks—they were expecting you.

ERIKA LUND:
It’s a big wow moment; wow!

NARRATOR:
They bring with them the most precious cargo of all….it’s called hope.

DAVID CLEMMONS:
I can change poverty, I can change poverty—not someone else. When you change from 
they can to I can—change can take place.

NARRATOR:
We’ve flown all night to touch down in Casablanca . . . a city of more than three million 
people made famous by five simple words:  “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
We stand in the glittering shadow of the tallest minaret in the world. The spire of the 
Hassan the Second Mosque climbs nearly 700 feet. It envelops a breathtaking shrine of 
intricately wrought marble, gold, carved cedar and lapis blue mosaics.
It was built by the late king, who once described Morocco as a tree. Its roots are in the 
deep soil of Africa, but its leaves rustle to the winds of Europe.
And it’s these roots in the land that are the problem.

AASIM SEDDIK:
We are a population of farmers and shepherds.  This is how the Moroccans have always 
existed. They are attached to their land and they cannot leave it just like that. But the 
drought actually make everybody leave.

NARRATOR:
That is Hasna’s story.  She has journeyed with her mother more than 500 miles across 
Morocco’s Sahara—only to run out of hope.

VOICE OF TRANSLATOR:
My family farmed on a lush, green oasis—life was good.  But the drought took 
everything. Father became very ill. I thought I could work as a maid in the city and send 
money back to him, but I could find nothing. My babies are only three weeks old and 
very sick. My husband, mother, sister and I live on $12 a week—that is all we have.

NARRATOR:
Like one in five Moroccan families, Hasna’s is desperately poor. She is like 90 percent of 
rural women who cannot read or write.
Nowhere is the contrast between urban and rural Morocco more stark than here—in 
Casablanca’s slums--a stone’s throw from the Hassan II mosque.
Hasna and others live in the dirt-floored shanty-towns—hidden by what’s called “the 
walls of shame”-raised to hide the city’s poor until enough public housing can be built.
Perhaps she sits there now, looking out over the Atlantic.  Locals call it “gazing at 
Spain,” where the winds that blow in from the north carry the hope…of escape and a new 
life.
It is all strange and new for us…as our guide Seddik leads us along streets, choked with 
noise and traffic.
(TRAFFIC SOUNDS)

Perhaps as we orient ourselves to this exotic land, she is counting the hours till dawn.
Perhaps as we unpack the medicine that we have brought from half a world away, she is 
preparing her babies to take to the clinic we will visit tomorrow.
For as we gather for our first night, we do not know her yet ~
~ but we will. 

PATTY THORNBERRY:
I hear them and it sounds really weird, but I was on—sitting at a beach—and there were 
these small birds. And these birds were flying everywhere in every direction and there 
were literally hundred of birds. And I was sitting there talking with a friend and I said, 
‘Nobody would understand this, but that’s what I hear inside my head because I hear 
children.’
I hear children trying to say to help them.

We’re gonna put the vitamin C…

NARRATOR:
Next to the earth and the moon, Patty Thornberry might be the closest thing to perpetual 
motion.
Her drive to achieve made her a successful businesswoman in Indianapolis. Her 
compassion for children has led her back here.
One year ago she came to survey Morocco’s orphanages and clinics to see where her 
passion could do the most good.
And if she hears the cries of lost children too well, it’s because of what she knows 
firsthand. Her parents deserted her when she was a teenager. 

PATTY THORNBERRY:
I feel connected to a child that, whether they have a roof over their head or not, the fact 
that someone they were connected to told them that ‘you are of no value to me, I don’t 
need to have you in my life anymore’. That breaks my heart for these little people.  I 
wanted them to know that they are valuable to anyone who has the pleasure of meeting 
them . . .they mean something; they mean a lot to me.

NARRATOR:
And who are we?
Ordinary people--from Indianapolis and across the country--working through a group 
called Ambassadors for Children and determined to make a difference.
We brought with us formula, medicines, toys and medical equipment. But we will learn 
we brought something more lasting…more intangible...more important: -- hope.
It’s a well-traveled group of 15 civic leaders. This is the new tourism, millennium-style—
blending travel and service, exploring the perfect and imperfect—uncovering the real 
Morocco, warts and all. 

DAVID CLEMMONS:
A destination isn’t just going to be a place that they visit anymore, it’s a going be a place 
they experience.

NARRATOR:
I’m here to help, too—but I’m also a journalist doing what I’ve always wanted to do:  tell 
the stories of the people who do the good—the hope givers—with the dream that it will 
inspire others to join in.
Those who are already in the fight—have a simpler way of looking at it.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
You don’t know what the true value of this life is until you turn around and give back.

JAMES MORRIS:
The world needs a movement, not unlike civil rights or the environment, a movement that 
says it’s no longer acceptable for children to be hungry in this world.

NARRATOR:
As head of the United Nation’s World Food Program, Indianapolis native Jim Morris has 
seen hunger and poverty all over the world.
That reality drives his sense of compassion and outrage and fuels the transformative 
power of reaching out.

JAMES MORRIS:
If every person would do just a little bit, great things will happen.

NARRATOR:
That’s the essence of “voluntourism.” It’s the combination of what you can see—and 
what you can do.   It’s a growing trend in travel--and David Clemmons helped pioneer 
the concept.

DAVID CLEMMONS:
There are two types of hunger: one is, physical hunger, another one is soul hunger, spirit 
hunger and voluntourism is something that can feed both.


NARRATOR:
It’s  2 a.m. A late night is certainly no cure for jet lag. But a burned-out light in a small 
hotel storage area forces our packing party into the lobby.
This is precious cargo—and what we jammed to overflowing back in the States has to be 
reorganized to take to take to the clinic tomorrow—um, make that later today.  

RACHAEL YATES:
It’s almost like a little matrix you’ve got to figure out; you are trying to play those little 
games to make sure you are getting as many supplies as you can. In this case, take with 
us 1500 lbs of medications, 500 small brand-new teddy bears, toys, hygiene kits.
It’s quite an ordeal—but it is very satisfying part of the trip when you are able to hand-
deliver something that is going to save a life.

NARRATOR:
We head to the marketplace in the morning—not for souvenirs, but sustenance. We will 
buy food to feed the mothers at the clinic. It’s shopping without price tags—stalls heaped 
with everything imaginable—but so much of it is strange—squid on ice, claws on the 
poultry, uncooked carcasses—including horsemeat—swinging in the humid air.  

RACHAEL YATES:
We’re looking for onions and avocado…

NARRATOR:
A veteran of 15 trips to 10 countries, Rachael is a pro—and we follow her lead.

RACHAEL YATES:
It’s about confidence and tenacity, I think, it’s just saying, ‘I got to take care of this, and 
so you do it.’

How much are they?

You draw on whatever resources you have—my high school French or some sign 
language or some flattery—I smile a lot and in some instances—mildly flirtatious—to get 
some things accomplished.
I know there’s a few things that they asked for…

I’ve definitely had a couple different marriage proposals during my travels.

NARRATOR:
Four decades of French rule can still be seen and felt in Casablanca . . . and even in the 
poor quarters of the city, there is an old-world flavor.
We arrive at “L’heure Joyeuse,” it’s French for “The Joyous Hour,” to mint tea and 
pastries.

The faint hum in the next room is the sound of progress.  For these young women, this 
sewing class might be the difference between a roof over the head and life on the streets.
It’s a long term solution—a marketable skill for women—who, like their young children, 
are the most at risk.
Upstairs, a preschool is in full swing—that is, until John Barnes appears. 
On the plane over he swore to his wife Cynde that he would definitely not—under any 
circumstances play with the children.
But, then, the best-laid plans—

(JOHN LAUGHING)

But nothing prepares us for the clinic. The faces, mothers and babies.  Patient. Waiting. 
There are so many. 

HASSIBA LOURIKI:
Oh, so big, so big, so big. In Morocco, we have a big percentage of the population that is 
under one dollar per day—while living with less than $1 per day—you can imagine 
everything from that.

NARRATOR:
There is something else—the 1500 pounds of medicines, soap and children’s toys will not 
be enough.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
That really got me when I was putting out the medicines and I realized that we did not 
have nearly enough that we needed for the amount of women coming through the clinic.

NARRATOR:
In addition, protocol at the clinic will not let the waiting mothers eat until we have eaten.

CYNDE BARNES:
I couldn’t eat knowing that they couldn’t eat. So, I went back to the woman who I knew 
to be sort of the head of the kitchen. And I tried to explain to her in English or my 
Spanglish that these women did not eat.  And so she took me back and we took out the 
pita bread and stuffed the potatoes into the bread, and when we took the food back out, I 
started crying because then I knew I had gotten past the language barriers and these 
people who were just as hungry we going to eat, too.

NARRATOR:
At one end of the clinic, the women shuttle through to talk to Coryn, our nutritionist from 
Milwaukee.

CORYN COMMARE:
I was just really overwhelmed because I wanted to communicate and I wanted to try to 
bring in some of the practices that we use that would be helpful for them.

(MUSIC)

CHRIS THORNBERRY:
After seeing the kids and the mothers at the clinic all day, it was very overwhelming, and 
it seemed like the same thing over and over; another kid with serious health issues and a 
mom who couldn’t help the kid.  And the workers there just took one right after another.  
I don’t understand how they can do that without giving up. 

PATTY THORNBERRY:
I looked over and he was sitting in an area all by himself.  I thought it’s getting him; it’s 
real. He’s understanding it.

NARRATOR:
It’s late in the day, when we finally meet Hasna—the mother of the 3-week old twins so 
desperate to survive, that she and her mother trekked across the desert to find a new life.
So desperate, Hasna’s mother hands one of her grandchildren to us and begging us to take 
the baby when we leave.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
There is the love of the mother and the love of the grandmother that is so strong that they 
are willing to give up their child if indeed it would have a better life.

NARRATOR:
Such is life at L’heure Joyeuse—and in our first full day, we have seen much that 
overwhelms us. For a native Moroccan like our guide Seddik—our presence here brings 
mixed emotions.

AASIM SEDDIK:
Two different feelings—this sadness but also this confidence in the future for those 
babies and for the whole society.

NARRATOR:
Some of us hold babies or weigh babies or find medications.
But leave it to John – the man who wasn’t going to get involved—to bring laughter to the 
clinic.
CYNDE BARNES:
He didn’t want to hang out with a bunch of women. He didn’t want to hold any babies, 
which sounded like, ‘I don’t want to hold no stinkin’ babies’—but he ended up having 
babies thrust at him and I turned around and thought, ‘Oh, look at Mr. Crusty, holding 
babies.’

NARRATOR:
Then John introduces a little fun—and a little scandal.  He turns the table on Morocco’s 
male dominated culture, serves the women water and wins shy smiles and laughter.

ERIKA LUND:
They loved that. They were just giggling because I’m sure they had not been waited on in 
their lives.

(MUSIC)

It’s a bonding over something so human at such a soul level.  And that’s the thing—when 
I talk about it—I get goose bumps.  It’s very moving because we are like that all over the 
world.  

CORYN COMMARE:
It just touched my heart in a way I’ll never forget.

CYNDE BARNES:
I was completely wiped out, emotionally spent, physically spent and as full as I’ve ever 
been at the same time.

JOHN BARNES:
When some of these women were leaving, I got the eye contact and smile and a pat of the 
heart as they were leaving.  That was cool. 

NARRATOR:
At L’heure Joyeuse, our labels of Americans or Moroccans have been stripped away. We 
are simply parents living a bond we know so well and sharing the heartbreak when we 
learn that for some of the children—like this one—with fading eyes that  touch a heart—
today will bring no cure.

ANITA EBERT:
I don’t know if I can forget those eyes.  You know, those are going to be staring at me for 
a while, yeah, and when I think of that, then yeah, how do you not cry when you see that? 

CYNDE BARNES:
And she walked out and she walked up the steps.  And at the top of the steps, she turned 
around and I’m still standing there—and I had to wave. 
I know that baby’s not alive.”

NARRATOR:
They have seen her here before—a quiet women known only to the outside world by her 
prayerful eyes.
And they have turned her away before—her prayers unanswered.
But today, there will be some answers—for there is Mercy in the clinic.
And that’s no exaggeration.  This is Dr. Mercy Obeime—her name came to her father in 
a dream.
Born in Nigeria, educated at Indiana University and living in Indianapolis, she is a one-
woman crusade to help the sick and needy—through her own foundation and HIV/AIDS 
medical mission trips back to Nigeria.

(MUSIC)

NARRATOR:
She has been everywhere at the clinic today, an oasis of calm.  And she’s as concerned 
about the children who are not here--as much as the ones who are.

DR. MERCY OBEIME:
One of the questions we are asking upstairs is where do these women come from and 
where do they go since they have these children, what’s going on with their other 
children?

NARRATOR:
Her mission is one of science; her calling is one of faith.

DR. MERCY OBEIME:
Look at the Bible, look at the Koran—it always talks about that it is our responsibility to 
take care of the underserved, to take care of the poor and hungry, our life is a service to 
others.

NARRATOR:
Throughout the day, we all take turns holding the fragile child of the mother with the 
weary eyes.
As mothers, we cannot conceive how hard she struggles.
She was raped and gave birth to triplets. Two were normal—this child was turned away 
from hospital after hospital—as many poor babies are--with no diagnosis.  
Now, she has four mouths to feed.  She has no job. No one to care for her. 
And today, Mercy must tell her the news that none of us will accept.

DR. MERCY OBEIME:
The doctor said that this child is not going to live; there is no need trying to waste 
resources.  When I heard that, I thought maybe it is a waste—but for this woman, it’s not 
a waste because it will help her put closure to it.

NARRATOR:
This baby was brought to the clinic for a cold. But superstition and her family have 
convinced her that this is a two-headed child,--made sick by air being pulled through the 
baby’s elongated head.
Mercy knows it is a tumor—the baby needs an MRI. 

DR. MERCY OBEIME:
Is there brain tissue in that growth or is it just that scab did not cover it?  And if there is 
brain tissue, how much of the brain tissue is there and what are they going to do with it.
So she needs an MRI to define that.  But they say that it takes months to get an MRI 
because there is only one in the city.

NARRATOR:
But for this mother, there is hope.
Her baby has a cleft lip and palate and struggles to take in nourishment.

DR. MERCY OBEIME:
I think she’s become very religious because of that.  She was the one woman who had her 
entire body covered apart from her eyes and she didn’t take anything off—it seemed like 
she was praying the whole time.

NARRATOR:
Today, her prayer will be answered.

DR. MERCY OBEIME:
Sometimes when I see cases like that and they seem to be hanging in there, well, I’m like, 
I think this child is here just from the mercy of God—that God wants them to be here 
because otherwise you would look at that kind of case and say, ‘this is hopeless.’  

CORYN COMMARE:
So what we would do is probably give him a G2 or stick a tube down his throat until he 
got big enough to have the oral surgery. 

NARRATOR:
At first, the volunteer doctor refuses to admit the child—saying it is too old.  

DR. CHAZALI DALILA:
The nurse said that you must not see this baby because, if you do, then another one will 
come and tomorrow we will have a revolution here.

NARRATOR:
But Mercy overrules them—and this revolution brings a small victory.
As a gesture to us, the clinic agrees to something amazing—to reach into their already 
stretched coffers to pay for surgery when the doctors of “Operation Smile” visit next 
month.
Mercy is right--there is someone looking out for these babies.

DR. CHAZALI DALILA:
It’s okay for this baby now; we are happy for him. (giggles)

Hello Kylie, hello!

NARRATOR:
Like all big cities, Casablanca never sleeps—and nighttime resounds with western-style 
traffic.  
Tonight, some of us are a little homesick.

LINDA LUCAS (on phone):
Tell him I said hi…

NARRATOR:
For some, as our final hours in Casablanca wind down, frustration takes hold.

LINDA LUCAS:
I actually saw it today for the first time—I’ve never realized that—until you go hands-on 
hand and you come to a place and you work and you truly see what these women go 
through . . . it’s sad . . . it’s angry.” 

DAVID CLEMMONS:
When you make poverty real for people, you take the gloves off.  I’ve touched it. I’ve 
tasted it—I’ve smelled it.  It’s real and all of my five sense are telling me what poverty is.

JAMES MORRIS:
There is just no substitute to travel abroad to places that are very different from where 
you’re from to get a sense of how difficult life can be and, these are life-changing 
experiences.

CYNDE BARNES:
I’ve seen poor people—good conditions, bad conditions—I’ve seen justice and injustice 
everywhere and it has the same face. It has to walk the same garbage and trash and 
refuse; this gives a new purpose to that travel.

NARRATOR:
Slacks and burkas, perms and cowls, we have seen first hand the patchwork of old and 
new that is today’s Moroccan woman.
Their calls for change have not gone unheard down the corridors of the Royal Palace in 
Rabat.
In 2003, King Mohammed the Sixth announced major reforms to codes that once defined 
women as legal minors—totally dependent on men for any and all rights.
Now women occupy seats in the parliament.

They can chose to marry and divorce without male consent; men wishing to take a second 
wife must get the first’s permission. The king’s own monogamy to Princess Salma—a 
highly educated computer engineer and daughter of a teacher—serves as a role model for 
a more progressive, liberated Morocco.
But change has not been easy.  When the king led support for these reforms, half a 
million devout Muslims took to the streets of Casablanca in protest—streets which we 
have now come to know as home to so many of the women we have met.
For the simple truth is this—middle class women can exercise their rights. For the rural 
poor, their gaze remains cast downward.

CORYN:
Her husband punched her.

LINDA LUCAS
These women, with these kids, who I feel like they looked like they felt abandoned.  I 
thought that was devastating and I’ve never been to a country where I had to see such 
sadness for women.

DR. GHAZALI DALILA:
They have nothing to eat, no think, no future, nothing in the brain and they are sick. I am 
very angry for this injustice.

NARRATOR:
We have a plan.
Before the evening is over, Mercy has already decided she will send iron supplements 
and prenatal vitamins back to clinic when we return home.
Most of the women’s problems are caused by poor diet—and Mercy has seen enough of 
problems.
  
DR. MERCY OBEIME:
By the time we start treating problems, we have lost the battle.  It should be prevention.  
Prevention is cheaper than treatment, and unfortunately all over the world, we are not 
spending enough time on prevention and education.

LINDA LUCAS:
Some of these babies could have been help at the time when they were delivered.  They 
go back now.  All of the millions of people in this city, there’s no way they can all get the 
help they need.

DR. GAZALI DALILA:
Nobody takes the time to sit down and speak to these mothers ‘cause they don’t consider 
them like women, maybe or—I don’t know why.
Every day, every day, babies go out from the hospital like this—hup—hup—hup—
prematurity—low weight—hup—hup—‘cause there’s too much babies. We don’t 
progress.  We stay in our problem.

NARRATOR:
But then, that’s why we are here—to help this doctor and these mothers find a way out of 
the problem…to break the cycle.

PATTY THORNBERRY
I would love to see a change of sorts in their country where the women can slowly bring 
their heads up where they need to be—looking into the eyes of another individual.

CYNDE BARNE
That’s my job, yeah.

DIANE (NARRATOR):
And they needed a voice.

CYNDE
Yes, they still do . . . and they still will.

NARRATOR:
Marrakech is the gateway to the desert. Ringed by the Atlas mountains and baked by the 
sun, this was once a caravan stop on the camel routes across the Sahara.  
We head across the fiery red clay in our own version of…the Marrakech express.  

(MUSIC: MARAKECH EXPRESS)

KAI BINFORD:
We stopped at a little roadside café and we bought some type of a bread, it was big and 
flat about this big and it was so delicious. We never saw it again. It was just one of those 
little treasures that you remember because we were all saying ‘this is so delicious’ and it 
was such a treat. But I don’t know what it was and I don’t know if we ever saw it again.

PATTY THORNBERRY
Getting in that van and touring the countryside and then stopping and eating at this little 
out of the way place that you are not sure how they cooked the food and when you get it, 
you’re not sure what it is, but you’re told it’s couscous—that’s the fun part—learning 
something new.

(MUSIC)

NARRATOR:
Today is pure adventure.  From the foothills we scale the switchbacks into the Atlas 
Mountains—a range of peaks that run the width of Morocco and are remote to most 
tourists.
The low walls of Berber villages are planted precariously on ridges.
We stop for camels, and photos, roadside stands offer gems, crystals and fossils.
We are here to relax—and here to be challenged in a way none of us has ever been 
before.
A verse from the Bible comes to mind:   “Sufficient unto each day is the challenge 
therein.”
We are going to visit a Berber village, but it’s going to take a little while. You see, there 
is only ONE way to get there.

ERIKA LUND:
Those donkeys were tippy.

CHRIS THORNBERRY
I don’t think my donkey liked me very much.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
The paths these donkeys were on were no more than 18 inches wide

ERIKA LUND:
Donkeys are like—there’s this backbone and then they go—so you are like this the whole 
time. 

PATTY THORNBERRY:
They commanded them just by voice, so here I am on the lead donkey going up the 
mountains, going up the cliffs and the donkey would come right up to the edge, totally 
stop, the neck would be extended over the mountain and turn on a dime.  And yet you 
were thinking—where is my guide?  I need a guide.

CHRIS THORNBERRY:
You’re on top of a donkey that is shaking back and forth—rocks falling out under its feet 
and you are looking over a cliff and it’s a couple hundred feet down.

ERIKA LUND:
I felt like I was going to slip off at any moment, I was going from one side to another, 
and I was holding on for dear life and the guy who was leading me was on his cell phone.

PATTY THORNBERRY
When we’d get to the edge of the canyon, I kept looking down—it was all rock—big 
boulders all the way down—I would think—if this is the way to go, what a way to go in 
the Atlas Mountains. It was just breathtaking views.

KAI BINFORD
And I kept seeing off into the distance this beautiful building and I thought its just like 
something out of a beautiful movie to see that lovely building.  I wonder what it is. It kept 
getting closer and closer and we ended up having lunch there—it was the Casbah.

NARRATOR:
The Casbah—or ancient fortress—actually was the setting for a Martin Scorcese movie.
Remodeled, it is like a postcard with 360-degree views that leave us silent.


ERIKA LUND
There were a lot of goats around.

PATTY THORNBERRY
Did we eat goat? Huuuh.

CYNDE BARNES
The manager of the place gave me a tour, I asked him, I would love to see the rooms. He 
opened up the other rooms for me.  He explained that there was a honeymoon couple.  
Can you imagine taking a donkey to your hotel?  Pack light honey!

NARRATOR:
Nothing prepares us for the surprise we find behind these gates.
In the middle of a noisy, industrial section of Marrakech, there is this unexpected refuge 
 meticulously groomed flowerbeds, color-splashed walls touching courtyards free of the 
din of the outside world.
But the beauty of the grounds of the Maison De L’Enfant Dar Tifl orphanage is only a 
prelude to the beauty of its children ~
Their smiles are charming—AND so is the old world custom of welcome.

JOHN BARNES
I tried to shake their hand and I was tapped on the shoulder by one of our escorts . . . she 
said, ‘I think they are expecting you to greet them in the French way, by the kiss on the 
cheeks.’

ERIKA LUND:
Bonjour, bonjour—I was doing this for a while.  There was a whole line of them. They 
were so cute and animated.

NARRATOR:
We’re struck—again—by the gender inequity.  Of the 500 children living here, 80% are 
boys.  In a society that still values men over women, even little girls often fend for 
themselves.  
Regardless—and in spite of their smiles, each of these children knows the sting of 
abandonment.  

CYNDE BARNES:
They’re used to saying goodbye, you can tell it.  It’s goodbye.  Goodbye. So you try to 
make eye-contact to let them know, ‘I’m a human being and you’re a human being, too’

NARRATOR:
There has been an orphanage here since 1934, when King Mohammed V set aside this 
land to care for his country’s forgotten children. For generations since, that pledge has 
meant refuge for a lifetime. In Morocco, you are an orphan until age 26—this is the only 
childhood home they will ever know.
AMANDA TOURE:
We feel that they might be in danger if they stay, you know, with their own family.  It 
means they might not eat on a daily basis.  They don’t have the proper clothes, things like 
that.  We fear they might be beaten up or they might be asked, you know, to go and beg 
on the street for money or for some bread.

NARRATOR:
There is no doubt that orphanage volunteer Amanda Toure and the staff love these 
children very much— That support can shape a life in a way we did not expect. The 
orphanage’s administrator and several teachers grew up here—and returned to care for 
those who follow. 

VOICE OF TRANSLATOR:
My father died and my mother was very poor and could not care for me.  I was just a 
baby.  I grew up here. It’s only because I was here that I was able to go to school because 
most girls cannot attend the university. Now I teach these children. l was the only girl in 
my university class and I want the girls to know they can choose whatever they want.  I 
had few choices, and I had to fight everyday to make them happen. I want to encourage 
the girls to make the most of this opportunity.

MOUAOUI ASSADEQ:
I give them tenderness.  I give them concerning practical things.  How to be intelligent.  
How to express themselves.  How to find themselves. 

(CHILDREN SINGING)

NARRATOR:
We are introduced to our young hosts through a singalong and a tour of the many 
classrooms. But it’s the music room we most want to see. We have bought musical 
instruments for the children to learn to play. But any music room worth its salt needs a 
festive environment—and that’s Kai’s job—she’s come with paints and markers to help 
the children christen this room with their creativity. 

KAI BINFORD:
They came roaring in all excited and we had glitter glue and paint, and we had brushes 
and acrylics, just a lot of things for them to work with. And I do not know what I was 
expecting, I thought they were just going to do a lot of painting and handprints, but they 
did intricate artwork that was beautiful. They did flowers and used the glitter glue and 
little people and scenery – they had quite an imagination.

ERIKA LUND:
It’s kind of cute to watch.  Some of them are kind of watching each other—and you 
know, you see a sun over on this one, then somebody else is doing a sun on the same 
spot—but then there’s these little variations—and then they start to loosen up and they’re 
playing with the space. 

NARRATOR:
In a small library next to the art room, something attracts our attention.  Paintings—and 
very elaborate ones at that.
They’re the work of Arsalane Ahmed..
We understand that he has emotional problems, but here in the safety of the orphanage, 
he displays an extraordinary gift that exists only in his mind’s eye.  

PATTY THORNBERRY
He paints pictures of places he has never been to. He paints pictures of things and objects 
and people that he’s never seen, and I don’t know how anyone can do that

VOICE OF TRANSLATOR:
All I think about is painting. It’s my obsession.  When I go to sleep, I plan on what I am 
going to paint the next morning—I like to see different things and places and ideas in my 
imagination—and then I cannot wait to paint them.  You say I have talent—all I know is 
that I need to paint, love to paint--but I wish I could paint better.  I want to learn 
techniques and styles that will make me better.

NARRATOR:
Kai takes Ahmed under her wing.  His drawing will be the centerpiece of the new music 
room.  As he works, we learn that he’s becoming a bit of a local celebrity.
The orphanage plans to sell some of his paintings as a way to raise money.  It’s their way 
of trying to connect him with the outside world for soon he will have to leave.

RACHAEL:
Our hearts are very touched by the work that you do and by the kids here, and as an 
organization, we will certainly be involved in the future.  I know that all the individuals 
here feel the same way.

AMANDA TOURE:
That’s great.  Thank you so much for coming. 

NARRATOR:
Before we go, we leave a little tangible evidence that we were here—instruments, a check 
for music lessons, and cards written by the school kids where Linda and Mercy’s children 
attend classes.
Small things—and we leave the gates wondering if we’ve made a real connection—
giving a gift that matters.
Leave it to Seddik.  He tells us that our most important contribution might be the one that 
we given to the administrators.

SEDDICK:
They probably realize how important what they’re doing is when they see people like 
yourselves coming from so far just to help. You give them this energy that they need to 
see that it’s actually something that all humanity is concerned about.

NARRATOR:
We thought we came to give material things. Now we see the real gift is much more 
complicated. 
We’ve laughed and hugged and played with the children—but something reminds us as 
we leave that we need to do more.  It’s the realization that they will always miss a family.

JOHN BARNES:
That even included the teenagers, which surprised me. In some cases, I would hug and I 
would get a tug back, so I would give another tug and they would just hold me so tight.

CHRIS THORNBERRY:
There were so many of them and it was overwhelming.  They were desperate for attention 
from all of us.
 
PATTY THORNBERRY:
After we got done with the orphanage in Marrakech, we came back to the hotel and 
Christopher said how can you do this? I said the first thing you do is you always have a 
sip of wine . . . this was a good day . . . this was a good day.

NARRATOR:
That night, the conversation is all about John—once again, the man who wasn’t going to 
connect with kids, connected—once again, the man determined to bring something 
concrete to the day’s events has brought the intangible wonder of joy, including leading 
songs in a language he didn’t understand.
 
JOHN BARNES:
The only thing I could think of for the youngsters was the silly thing I learned in a French 
environment . . . it was ‘lalalalalalala’ and it just goes on ‘lalalalala.’

NARRATOR:
But I learned John shares a special bond with the children—he, too, lost a parent at an 
early age and—like Patty--spent his childhood having to build a life by himself.
Perhaps that’s why today had such a special feel—it’s the feel of people engaged in a 
personal mission.
   
JOHN BARNES
I could probably relate to some of these children, having had a father that died when I 
was six years old, who I really didn’t know for most of my life so, I didn’t really know 
him.  Maybe that was where I was coming from.

NARRATOR:
And so, a simple story for us—a simple answer about whether we connected or not—for 
as we were leaving, 

JOHN BARNES:
And this one little fella kind of tugged at me and grabbed me and you can see that there’s 
a picture of me, but on the side, it said, “I love John.’  J-H-O-N.  I  ‘bout lost it then.

CYNDE BARNES
I know him to be the kind of person that touches your heart deeply and forever—and that 
he made contact that fast with somebody and there’s a semi-permanent and tangible 
evidence of it in an orphanage in Morocco—I thought that was a nice testimonial to that.

PATTY THORNBERRY
When you go into the souk, its like you are in a mouse in a huge maze, you don’t know 
where you are and where you are coming out.

NARRATOR:
Night is falling in Marrakech, and for the final time, adventure beckons.

Kai Binford
I was told to go upstairs and watch the sun go down and the nightlife come alive and we 
did that and it was so much fun.

JOHN BARNES
As the sun went down and there were more people,  we were then looking down on 
thousands of people on this huge open area.

NARRATOR:
The Djemaa el Fna is the busiest square in all Africa—its clamor and clatter fed by the 
largest Berber market in Morocco—the souk.  

JOHN BARNES:
There were snake charmers, people selling souvenirs and more importantly, there were 
belly dancers and instrumental groups.

NARRATOR:
From within the walls of the medina, crowds spill onto ancient streets--narrow as 
capillaries…pulsing with an endless stream of people, donkeys and mopeds…which 
appear to melt through each other without touching.
Makeshift tin roofs—shelter from the blazing sun—turn the souk into a maze of twisting  
tunnels.
Tinsmiths hammer in a veil of smoke and clatter in one hellish corner.
It’s pinball navigation…but landmarks deceive.
From the jumble of shops, hawkers urge you to enter.
And beware those who do—for if you so much as look at the merchandise thrust under 
your nose—the game is underway—and these merchants are tireless negotiators.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
It was frustrating for me. I was like, tell me your best price, here’s the money let me go. 
They don’t want to do that; that’s part of the fun in the souk.
KAI BINFORD:
He started out several hundred dollars and I said, no just 100.
	
CYNDE BARNES
I loved how, ‘You like this? Wait!  My brother has another one.’

KAI BINFORD
He came down a little bit and I said no.

CYNDE BARNES
And they’d go and bring out the whole family and say, ‘follow, follow.’

KAI BINFORD:
“It’s fun, it’s the game.

NARRATOR:
Twilight unfolds a pageant of fantastic creatures—a head-spinning array of monkeys, 
owls, lizards, fortune-tellers, storytellers, acrobats and dancers, sword-swallowers, fire-
eaters. and snake charmers...  

JOHN BARNES:
We were within a few feet, but I had no desire to get any closer.

NARRATOR:
Not even the coiled menace of the cobra can stop a good haggle.
You will pay to take pictures of the performers in the square—oh, and be advised—in the 
smoky intrigue of the souk—snake charming is a participatory sport.

CHRIS THORNBERRY
He was playing with the snakes for a while putting the cobra inches from his tongue he 
was sticking out, all that was crazy, and he waves me over and throws a snake on my 
head. I was frozen at that point. I have video proof that I had a snake on my head. So I 
can prove it.

NARRATOR:
The desert’s first light greets us as we depart Morocco on a 6am flight.
We’re no longer reacting; we’re starting to reflect. 
One a week ago, we came not knowing what to expect. We leave expecting more—from 
ourselves.
For, because of voluntourism, we’ve done more and we’ve seen Morocco in a way most 
visitors never do
from its winding alleyways and old world elegance 
to towering monuments of faith and the forgotten who live in and struggle in the shadows 
from the clamor of the marketplace to the serenity of a mountain stream 
from country to city – street clinic to orphanage.
We leave with a respect for this country and its people—and we hope, they for us. 

MOHAMMAD ZKHIRI:
The best value that we can get from each other is understanding. And that’s what we need 
today.  There is nothing more beneficial than understanding people one on one.  I think 
that’s the best way there is.

DAVID CLEMMONS:
It takes everyone to make it possible. It takes people coming to the destination, people in 
the destination deciding this is what we need, this what we want then both sides benefit 
from what’s happening.
CYNDE BARNES:
I think as long as we approach our giving with a respect of the people for whom we are 
doing things. If you don’t have that respect, you really don’t have anything.

ERIKA LUND:
I think we need to be extremely humble about what we bring to these cultures—its not 
about being a do-gooder. It’s just more about being a human being present to another and 
I think we all did that and it’s extremely important.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
That’s what this is about.  It’s not about changing the world in which we live in, because 
we cannot do a lot to change it. But we can do a lot to connect it.

CORYN COMMARE:
I’m from America…yeah.

JAMES MORRIS:
I will guarantee that the 15 people from Indianapolis that went to Morocco had an 
enormous impact, an impressive impact on the people whose lives you touched while you 
were visiting about what America is.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
If we all left with some form of understanding of another human being, then we came 
back with something.

NARRATOR:
That “something” should not surprise you.
The simplest connections of all may be the deepest—brought home to us in the form of a 
baby named Assam—who wouldn’t stop crying.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
I just started singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”.  I held his little hand and kept 
singing over and over again.  He not only stopped crying, and started looking at me, and 
the room became quiet at that point.  But I looked at the mother and the mother started 
crying to me. And it was the fact that, she had no idea what I was saying; she didn’t know 
English. She just knew that I was able to take her child and make him stop crying just by 
singing to him. 

NARRATOR:
In another 8 hours, we will be home.  In the predawn, we look back on the faces we 
remember best.
They need so much, yet hold such promise—their eyes undimmed by the poverty of 
which they are yet unaware.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
I don’t feel sorry for them.  I just want to love them.   I want to tell them that everything’s 
okay and if they want a star—if I can help them reach that star no matter what it is, I want 
them to have it.

You go back, you go back you go back, and the program just explodes.

NARRATOR:
The gray Indiana winter makes our time in Morocco seem far away, but it is here our 
journey continues.

DR. MERCY OBEIME:
So if we set up, just outside of last month’s center, then we can have people who we can 
screen for diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, HIV/AIDS; There’s all kinds of things that 
we’ll find if we just do a screening. 

NARRATOR:
At Mercy’s home base of St. Francis Hospital, she, Patty and Rachael meet to discuss 
what to improve, what to change, for the next trip.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
Look at what they were dressed in.  They didn’t have true diapers; they had a rag 
wrapped on them.  To get to the diaper rash, we’ve got to get to the initial, what’s causing 
it.  Basic hygiene. And diapers.  We need lots of diapers. 

NARRATOR:
We all know we have only touched the surface.

RACHAEL YATES: 
Well it didn’t live up to it’s potential because it has infinite potential for success, impact 
and growth. 

NARRATOR:
We think of our world as where we live.  But really, we are a world of 192 countries.
Each, a rich tapestry of culture, geography, history and politics.
By experiencing and participating first hand, we can begin to understand the issues we 
share everyday.
But there is so much more, for every nation, too, has its problems.
More then 40 countries have now opened their borders to a new way of looking at those 
problems—and what countries and governments have been unable to solve, the new wave 
of voluntourism just might—
for it places the ability to make change in the hands of thousands of us—and in the power 
of each of—in our own way—to make that difference.

RACHAEL YATES:
It does matter in that you can make a difference.  You don’t have to be someone special, 
or have any special power, money, or influence. And that’s what’s so exciting about these 
trips. And that’s why I believe in them so much.

PATTY THORNBERRY:
Give us your money, but give us your time too.  Let’s go on a vacation together and let’s 
follow your money and see how you are making a difference in someone else’s life 
across the world. 

KAI BINFORD:
One on one does count and it is important for people to know that. 

ANITA EBERT:
I get a lot more out of actually interacting with the people. I can write a check, but to be 
here and hold a baby and to see a mother smile because you’re playing with her baby and 
I can get a laugh out of them.  It helps balance some of what hurts when I see it when you 
get the smile.

NARRATOR:
Last year, Americans spent $100 billion on international travel.
In an average year, Americans give $250 billion to charity.
Voluntourism creates not only a new word—but a new world—a new paradigm—that 
combines service and travel—vacations and volunteering.

DAVID CLEMMONS:
They’re ruined for life. The track or course of their life that they thought they were 
headed in; the matrix has been reconstructed.  Now what do I do? 

JAMES MORRIS:
When people reach out to individuals good things happen. And when good things 
happen, we’re all uplifted. 

CYNDE BARNES:
If you start out and you say, ‘You know what it’s so big, I can’t tackle it so I won’t even 
try.’ That’s not plausible, it’s not an excuse and it’s not…you can’t do that.  You have to 
try no matter how uphill the project is, no matter how insurmountable the odds, you have 
to try. 

JOHN BARNES:
There’s so much to do every place in the world, including our own community.  If all of 
us try everyday, to do a better job and help others, we might do a lot more good 
collectively than we could ever dream. 

NARRATOR:
I remember a scene from ‘Orpheus Descending,’ where the souls of the past call out to 
those of us today.
They say only one word—LIVE; LIVE they say, a million times over.
Back home in the states, there is not one of us who does not vow to live more fully—to 
live with a new awareness—that the greatest journey is the one we take within.  

We’re still only on the beginning side of a long journey.

KIDS:
Cheese!

The hope is that everybody that went on that trip, comes back and makes a conscious 
effort to keep the children in their spirit and in their mind and heart.  They need to 
remember those people. 

CHILDREN SINGING:
We are small, but our hearts and minds are bigger.
Like the dreams we want to have. 
Come into our world, come place yourselves around us.
Then you will understand. 
We reach out and gather in friendship.
If that’s alright with you.
Just for now, someone who’s really caring.
Would make us feel brand-new.
Hear us sing, we’re the children. 
Hear our hearts reaching out.
Give us hope that tomorrow is a better time than now.
Teach us all you can teach us.
And we’ll dance every dance.
Is it asking very much for you to take this chance?
Hear us sing! Hear us sing!

I don’t think there is anything better that we can do than give hope.

For more about how you can help, information on the following organizations is available 
through these websites.

The Hope Givers is made possible through the support of:
The Ari-West Children’s Foundation
Parthenon Commercial Corporation
Castlewall Security and Video
Ethical Inspectors