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Visitors from a number of countries zoomed into Boys Town this morning for a video conference session, having conversations about issues children are having here at home and abroad. For years, Boys Town has spread its mission and programs to help troubled children everywhere, letting them know wherever they are in the world, they are not alone. Father Edward Flanagan’s mission to save children and heal families was something that was noticed around the world.
“When he started Boys Town, individuals from around the globe came here and studied his methods, took them back and culturized them for their own cultures,” said Rod Kempkes, Boys Town CEO. “The movie in 1938 made him globally famous. A lot of people came here after that.”
People are still coming to Boys Town. A video conference connected the original campus here in Omaha with other Boys Town-like programs across the globe. Different countries speaking different languages had conversations with Boys Town students in Omaha.
“Speaker through the interpreter — that was kind of like an adjustment because you had to slow down your speaking just so they can understand you,” said Evan Inada, Boys Town mayor. Inada soon learned even though the students were in different countries and spoke different languages, everyone in the room and on screen have much in common.
“I thought it was amazing how I could speak with somebody on the other side of the world and know that we kind of have similar backgrounds and experiences and we’re in the same kind of program to help us grow,” Inada said.
“It’s critical for our future. Like Father Flanagan once said, if you help a child today you write the history of tomorrow,” Kempkes said.
Kempkes says young people had problems back in the days of black and white and so do children in modern high definition times. “I think history repeats itself. I don’t know if our issues are any greater than the issues that were encountered back then, but they’re still here,” Kempkes said. “And I think collectively we talk about Boys Town as a village to help youth, but I think it really takes a globe — a world that says we’re going to invest in those youth.”
But investing in Father Flanagan’s mission of saving children and healing families, especially on a global stage, takes money. “A lot of budgetary restraints — one of the first things that gets cut is investing in those who are socially and economically underserved,” Kempkes said.
“Investing in those youth today is just as important as it was a hundred years ago and I hope in a hundred years we’re not having the same conversation,” he said. Boys Town-like programs from Colombia, Japan, South Africa and Spain all participated in today’s conference call.
