#Volunteer Spotlight : HOBY - @HOBY
When I was a Sophomore in high school, I got a mysterious letter from Rotary International. My volunteer and charity work in the community had been noticed and I was being invited to attend something called a HOBY.
Of course, back in the days without the Internet, I had no idea what this was. Rotary promised it would be an incredible experience to meet other young adults my age from around the world.
My world at that point (again, emphasis on no internet) was small, so I packed my bags and headed to HOBY.
A Backstory Fit For Hollywood
Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) is an organization dedicated to "training and nurturing the young leaders of tomorrow." Its mission is to provide lifelong leadership development opportunities that empower youth to achieve their highest potential and gain knowledge of many Leadership skills.
In the summer of 1958, actor Hugh O’Brian received the invitation that would change his life. O’Brian, then 33, was in Winnipeg, Manitoba, parlaying his fame as television’s legendary Wyatt Earp into extra income by guest-starring with a circus. Then the cable arrived from French Equatorial Africa: Dr. Albert Schweitzer would welcome him at any time.
O’Brian had long admired the German doctor-missionary- theologian-musician. “I’d read so much about him,” he reflects. “He was a great humanitarian who could have done anything he wanted in the world, and there he was in the middle of Africa taking care of people.”
Within two weeks he was on his way, by commercial airliner, bush plane and canoe, to the famed hospital that Schweitzer had founded in 1913 on the banks of the Ogooue River in Lambarene.
There he was met by a very old man with a huge, white walrus mustache, wearing white pants, shirt and pith helmet. “That was his uniform,” says O’Brian, recalling his first sighting of Schweitzer.
The actor spent nine days at the clinic complex where Schweitzer and volunteer doctors and nurses, working without electricity or running water, cared for patients, including many with leprosy. Schweitzer, then 83, who had received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in behalf of the “Brotherhood of Nations,” was concerned about global peace prospects and was impressed that the young American had taken the trouble to visit him. The doctor led the actor through history over those evenings. Schweitzer was convinced that the United States was the only country in the world with the ability to bring about peace. “He said the United States must take a leadership role,” O’Brian recounts, “or we are a lost civilization.”
It was an unforgettable nine days. And, as O’Brian departed, Schweitzer took his hand and asked:
“Hugh, what are you going to do with this?”
Two weeks after returning from his 1958 meeting with Schweitzer, O’Brian put together a prototype seminar for young leaders Founded in 1958 by American actor Hugh O'Brian, the first youth leadership seminar was held in Los Angeles, California, and was held once a year until 1967. Since then, the HOBY program has spread to over 70 locations in all fifty U.S. states, and 19 countries and regions.
To attend seminars in the United States, a student must be chosen. At the seminars, students participate in programs designed to enhance their leadership and teamwork skills. Students also meet and converse with leaders in their community in fields such as volunteerism, media, education, philanthropy, and politics, among others. They also break off into groups and discuss the day and their activities, as well as their life and feelings.
My experience with HOBY was powerful to say the least. I met the head of Habitat for Humanity (which has lead me to be a very strong supporter), read new and interesting books, met people from all over the world.
It was a safe space to learn to disagree with dignity. To listen with love.
It was a time to have uncomfortable discussions about the responsibilities of being a global citizen and starting on my journey of self-improvement.