Carolyn Hunter
“The T. A. Barron Podcast.”

T. A. Barron
Today let’s welcome two wonderful, special guests. Ashley Shuyler Carter is one awesome human being. While still a youngster, at the grand old age of eleven, she formed Africaid, a terrific nonprofit that supports education and entrepreneurship training for girls across East Africa. Since then, literally thousands, more than 10,000 girls and their communities have benefited, their lives changed dramatically. And all because of one 11-year-old girl. After college, Ashley actually decided to come back and lead the organization she had founded and for ten years served as its Executive Director. Today, she continues to serve on Africaid’s board. So now, put all that together, and more than 20 years, she has devoted to this great cause. She is a passionate supporter of the power of education. And we’ll hear more about that in a moment. And her life shows how much impact one person, even a young girl, can have.

Shawn Henry, my second guest today, is one of my most favorite people on the planet. As a high school kid in New York City, Shawn created a group called Garden Angels, which completely transformed an abandoned, trash filled vacant lot, where drug deals regularly happened, into a truly beautiful park and community garden. And that’s not all it transformed. The Garden Angels also painted murals throughout the community. They organized poetry readings, chess tournaments, and other youth activities. So, as you could tell, it wasn’t just about making a garden, it was about saving lives. Today, Shawn is the program director at Queens Community House in New York City, a learning to work program and high school that supports now more than 300 young adults. So he is still transforming lives. And I would add, he is still planting seeds.

So welcome, both of you, Ashley and Shawn. It’s really a delight to have you here on the podcast. Let’s start with you, Ash. Can you tell us about your journey to coming up with the brash, bold, radical idea that someone as young as eleven could actually make a difference to girls in Africa? How did that come about?

Ashley Shuyler Carter
Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having us on your podcast. I’m so happy to be here. And my journey started when I was just an eleven-year-old. Like you said, my grandfather had actually done work in Tanzania in East Africa, and he had come home and talked so much about this beautiful place that he had visited and loved. And so shortly after he passed away, my family planned a trip to go see this country that he loved. And so we went there on a two week trip. And amazingly, while we were there, we actually met someone who had been my grandfather’s driver when he worked in Tanzania. And he shared with us just how much my grandfather had made a difference in his own life, how he helped him get promoted to the job he had at that point and how he had fundamentally helped change his own life. And that was so inspiring for me as an eleven year old to hear the power that one person can have in someone else’s life.

And also on that trip, I saw poverty like I had never seen before and returned home determined to try to find a way to help stay in touch with the people that I had met while there and also support them in their own goals and dreams. And fast forward a few years, I kept thinking, kept doing research, trying to figure out what that would look like. And I met a couple who had started a girl school for Masai women in Tanzania. And I knew I had found the perfect way to help. And so I started with the goal of raising money to send ten young women to high school. And the organization really, really grew from there. And fast forward to today, like you said, we now support mentoring programs for thousands of girls each year across the country.

T. A. Barron
Fabulous. Fabulous. How many girls’ lives would you say you have touched directly through the program?

Ashley Shuyler Carter
Yeah, it’s been over 12,000 at this point who’ve participated in our mentoring programs. And like you alluded to, what’s so exciting to see is that these young women then turn around and help make incredible changes in their own lives, and their communities’ lives, and their families’ lives, and have a really amazing ripple effect beyond just themselves.

T. A. Barron
Fabulous. What rewarding work for you.

Ashley Shuyler Carter
It has been.

T. A. Barron
And Shawn, same question for you, Shawn. How did you come up with that brash and bold idea to start a garden where there was no evidence that something productive and nurturing could ever happen there?

Shawn Henry
Thank you so much, Tom, for having me on your podcast. The inspiration came about for Garden Angels back in high school. In my English class, my teacher, Ms. Suzanne Nelson, was reading a book to the class called Seed Folks. And in that book, there was this community that came together to create this garden, take over this vacant lot to produce produce for their community and whole events. And that garden transformed the way in which the community worked together. So in that moment, inspiration came to my mind as to, “Hey, there’s a vacant lot in my own neighborhood that’s being used for gang related activities and as a dumping ground. Why not turn this vacant lot into a useful garden for our community?” And that’s where the idea came about for Garden Angels.

And from there, I was able to organize my peers in my high school and my local community to come together to look at different resources and how we could go about achieving this. So I applied for a grant through an organization called Youth Venture at the time. And we were rewarded a grant to be able to purchase the supplies that we would need to take over this vacant lot. And literally we had to break the chains off of the gate because the city would not give us a key to get into this lot.

T. A. Barron
You had to break into the lot. [Laughter] You literally had to cut the chains!

Shawn Henry
We literally had to be outside with cutters cutting the lock to get into this vacant park. And there was tons of trash that we had to remove and haul away. And eventually that space became a very welcoming, peaceful place for the community, where we actually grow produce and flowers as well. And young people and community members were just able to come in and hang out and socialize with each other from there. The Garden Angels expanded, of course, to community activities of our local library, from a chess club to talent shows, to debate. We had a lot of activities to keep the young people at the time engaged.

T. A. Barron
Fabulous. Well, after you had the idea and got started, what were the most serious obstacles that you faced along the way, and how did you address those? Ashley?

Ashley Shuyler Carter
Yeah, I would say there were a few along the way. Early on, after I returned from that first trip to Tanzania and felt so inspired and committed to follow my grandfather’s example and find a way to make even a small difference. I remember reaching out and sending letters, emails, trying to figure out, what’s my first step? And I got a note back from someone I really admired saying, “You know what? The challenges that exist are just too daunting, and a young person can’t likely make a difference.” And that was crushing to hear as a young person so on fire, wanting to try to do something small. But fortunately for that one voice, I had the voices of so many others in my life who said, no, take a first small step. You don’t have to solve all of the problems that exist, but you can solve one, and you can make a difference in someone’s life.

T. A. Barron
That starfish story.

Ashley Shuyler Carter
Exactly. That’s right. It makes a difference to that one. And so, I’m so grateful that I had other voices in my life encouraging me. And over time, as I did find my way and learn about how I could use my own passion for education to create educational opportunities for young women in Tanzania, I learned a Swahili proverb along the way that I’ve really kept in mind as future challenges have arisen, which is “Haba na Haba, Hujaza Kibaba”, which means “Little by little, fills the big tin.” And constantly over time and this work over the past 20 years with Africaid as we’ve faced big challenges along the way, I try to remember that. “Little by little fills the big tin.” With every little step we can make, we can make a difference in someone’s life.

T. A. Barron
Marvelous. “Little by little fills the big tin.” The same would be true for you as an educator, right, Shawn?

Shawn Henry
Definitely. That’s amazing Ashley. For myself, the greatest obstacles we face were just the community believing that young people really wanted to do something positive. “So here are these young people breaking into a park. Are they actually going to create a garden? Or do they have other plans in place?” So just changing the overall view of the potential that a young person has was the most critical aspect of the work that we were doing at the time.

T. A. Barron
Yeah. And once those expectations around a young person changed, I would think that the young person’s own self-image will also change. Right?

Shawn Henry
Definitely. Speaking for myself, it definitely boosts my confidence and my ability that if I set my mind to a vision, I’m able to then fulfill that vision in life. Right? I’m able to move forward. And just from that moment alone, it has been a way to propel the way in which I work for myself. Knowing that I have intrinsically the power to create something into the world was important from this project.

T. A. Barron
Such a hugely important lesson for life right there, because you’ve unlocked your own power, right? And that way you can unlock lots of other people’s power. And together, who knows what we can do? How has this experience changed you? I’d love to hear what is different inside you now. Ashley?

Ashley Shuyler Carter
Well, certainly, like Shawn, I have experienced the power and the difference that one person can make in the lives of so many. And for me, that’s actually been in the form of a friendship I’ve developed over the course of 20 years now with a young woman named Prisca. She was one of the first ten recipients of a scholarship that Africaid fundraised for, and she became my pen pal at the time. And we exchanged letters over the course of many years, and I had the chance to go live with her and her family and become part of their family and their community and learn about how they saw the world. And she made such a difference in my own life, and how I view what’s possible, as I watched her over the years go on to teachers training college and become the first female teacher in her village and then have daughters of her own who are now in school. She’s just inspired me so much, taught me so much. We’ve had so many moments of laughter over the years. And so, I just feel so grateful for friendships like those.

T. A. Barron
You wrote a book about your friendship with her, didn’t you?

Ashley Shuyler Carter
I did, yeah. Actually, we together wrote a children’s book about our friendship and what it’s meant to each of us over the years. And remarkably, today, we actually get to communicate via WhatsApp so we’re in touch a lot more regularly now. But it’s just been such a gift to now have this enduring friendship over two decades and to now be moms together and navigating that chapter of life. So for me, the biggest gift in this work has been the relationships and the experience to feel deeply part of another community and learn a whole lot in the process.

T. A. Barron
Wonderful. Gifts all around. How about you, Shawn? How has the experience of Garden Angels changed you?

Shawn Henry
The experience of Garden Angels has changed me in an aspect of my faith. It has increased my understanding that in life, if we do good to people and do good to the environment, good things happen to you. And that has been the way in which I operate my life. From that garden, I’ve seen amazing things happen to the young people who were involved. At the time, I did not understand that I maybe was planting a seed, but now I do see the fulfillment of those seeds. And for myself as well, it created in me a sense of just humbleness and groundness for life.

T. A. Barron
Which you radiate. Both of you. Last question. These are difficult times in the world, difficult for everyone. My question for you is what gives you hope? What renews your sense of hope for people, for our country, for the world? Ashley?

Ashley Shuyler Carter
I mean, for me, yes, there’s a lot going on right now that is so challenging for so many. But when I hear stories of young people who are alive today in their belief that the world can be a better place, who are dedicating themselves to that, who are creative, who have people around them, who are supporting them, cheering them on, it gives me a lot of hope that there is a lot to be hopeful for. And I certainly see that in my own two daughters, they give me hope. And the love that I feel for them certainly causes me to believe that with love and with the support of one another, we can all do a lot.

Shawn Henry
I think for myself, what gives me hope, despite seeing so much darkness that’s being portrayed in the world, there’s a lot of light. Simple things of just helping a neighbor cut their lawn, or opening the door for somewhere, or holding the door. Those are the simple things that show that they are still good within all of us. Right? And my faith overall keeps me grounded in the idea that God would not just left mankind to darkness. Right? There will be ways in terms of light for us to find hope and how we go about finding that hope is up to each of us and the things that we do in terms of good in the world, that’s what gives me hope.

T. A. Barron
Beautiful. And every small act of kindness, of generosity, of caring, adds up, doesn’t it? It matters. “Little by little, we fill the big tin.” Thank you both. It’s been a delight and a real inspiration to talk with you.

Shawn Henry
Thank you.

Ashley Shuyler Carter
Thank you.

T. A. Barron
Believe it or not, next episode of this podcast, we will welcome two more outstanding young heroes. Join us.

To everyone out there, let me just say thank you so much for joining us for “Magic and Mountains.” We’ll see you next week. And in the meantime, may you have magical days.

Carolyn Hunter
We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of “Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast.” Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a five-star review, and share this podcast with your family and friends. For more information and to find all of T. A.’s books, visit TABarron.com. Have a magical week.