Interview: Nicholas Kristof on New Book 'A Path Appears' - How You Can Start Making a Real Difference Today

By Keilly Fernández, Christian Post Contributor Friday, October 03, 2014

Being a part of the change we want to see just got ten times easier. And it is all because of one book. A Path Appears, written by Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and wife, Sheryl WuDunn, takes readers on a journey that focuses and shows how someone with little can make a massive difference to the world we live in.

A Path Appears highlights ways of giving back that do not involve money but rather time and commitment. If you are done making excuses for yourself, and want to find ways in which you can start making a difference, be part of bringing about change or giving back, then this book is a good place to start.

Below is an interview between The Christian Post and co-author of A Path Appears, Nicholas Kristof.

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A Path Appears shows that it really takes so much more to want to help a person or to become someone making a difference in a small or large community. People seem to have initiative, but in many cases that eventually fades. The small story in chapter 20 of A Path Appears, which narrates the story of a Dominican boy who assumes he was to give a shirt away because he was given two, inspires many because it is an uncommon action. What would you say is the trait needed for giving that people lack the most today? What has caused this?

A starting point is empathy. If we look at others and realize that they are just like us, but maybe haven't done as well in the lottery of life as we have, we'll try to help. I think everyone recognizes that if they won a million dollar lottery, they would want to tip others and share the wealth a bit. Well, anybody reading this has probably won the lottery of life, and so let's also share the good fortune with others.

What would you say are the main ways highlighted in this book in which people can still make a difference, that do not involve making economic donations, specifically for young people?

Young people often aren't in a position to write checks to charities. But there are two things they can do that are invaluable. One is volunteering, especially mentoring other young people with reading, math or help thinking about college. Through iMentor, one can even mentor people online.

A second area is advocacy, using our voices to help the voiceless. That could mean online petitions at change.org, or writing letters and taking other steps through Results or the One Campaign.

As I note in the book, I'm here because someone spoke up for my dad when he was a refugee in a labor camp in Europe, and that's one reason I want to pay it forward. Advocacy really can make a difference.

What role do you think this book plays coming into a society where Millennials more than ever are starting to get involved and forming public demonstrations with the purpose of doing something positive for the world we live in? What message do you want them to take from this book more than anything?

Above all, we want Millennials to realize that they can have an impact on the world, and that in the course of empowering others they can also empower themselves. It sounds a bit trite to talk about the sense of fulfillment one gets from giving back, but it's entirely true--and now backed up by solid data and even brain scans.

There are plenty of young people who feel some impulse to help but are also discouraged because the world's problems just seem too overwhelming.

We wrote A Path Appears to offer them suggestions for steps they can take to make a difference, at home or abroad, in ways that will genuinely have an impact on others.

Deborah Fikes, who serves on the board of the National Association of Evangelicals and was named by Concerned Women of America as one of their Evangelical Women of the year a decade ago, has been quoted as saying that "every church library and Christian school should have Half the Sky and A Path Appears on their shelves and make it required reading because it has so many examples of modern day Good Samaritans who are walking the path that Jesus modeled for the world." In A Path Appears, you specifically mention evangelical leaders who are making a difference. How do you see evangelicals continuing to contribute to the common good in the next decade?

One of the things that Evangelicals do really, really well is to make giving a joyous, social enterprise. Too often the world sees giving as a burden, a sacrifice, when in fact it's more like an opportunity to help others and oneself at the same time. Evangelical churches get that, and I think the success of the megachurches is in part a reflection of their talent for leaving people fulfilled and happy in part through giving back. The secular world has so much to learn from that.

In addition, Evangelicals have shown on some issues that they can be powerful advocates for the needy - the American program to fight AIDS in Africa wouldn't have happened without Evangelical pushing - but on the whole I don't think they use their advocacy muscle as much as they could. And in the past, Evangelicals sometimes used their lobbying power on behalf of "values issues" - such as opposing gay marriage - that to me were divisive and wrong-headed.

I'd so much rather see Evangelicals use their lobbying power to advocate for literacy programs for little children so that they can get an equal start in life. Or for policies to help teenage girls who have been trafficked. Or for clean water, or deworming, or job training.

In other words, the paramount "values issue," it seems to me, should be to spread opportunity so that all really can have a more or less equal shot in life. I also think that the religious and secular world should try much harder to work together on issues that they agree on, forming coalitions to actually get things done to advance social justice.

How did you become so interested in the issues you have come to be so well-known for? Did you anticipate you would be doing the work you are doing today? How was this for your wife? How did her interest in these issues surge?

I became interested in these issues because I saw them up close as a reporter. Once you see a 14-year-old girl locked up in a brothel in Cambodia, very much a slave like in the 19th century except headed for a death by AIDS, it's very hard to forget about her and just write about, say, exchange rate volatility. Or you see a little boy in West Virginia who didn't get a hearing screening and is now deaf. It's heartbreaking - but also impels you to try to help.

You have mentioned an upcoming documentary on PBS that will be based on Half the Sky, a book you wrote with your wife, Sheryl WuDunn. Do you have any plans of producing a documentary based on A Path Appears?

Yes, a four-hour documentary series of A Path Appears will air on PBS beginning in January. It's terrific!

Have you ever considered working on a documentary that covers the annual trip you have with a student and teachers as one of the many opportunities Millennials have of being part of the change? Could you maybe talk more about this program and its purposes?

Ben Affleck exec-produced a documentary for HBO called Reporter about my 2007 win-a-trip journey. I take the trip each year partly to encourage young people to think about global humanitarian issues: I think blogs by a student may be more compelling for that audience than my own work. I'll probably announce my next contest in December, so stay tuned.

You can follow me on twitter, @nickkristof, or facebook.com/nicholaskristof to find out more.