an d l d o n 't have a n y lo a n s to pay either. H o st A n d is th a t the f ir s t place they've
L u c k ily , I w as d r iv in g re a lly s lo w ly
M y o ne litt le lu x u r y is g o in g o u t fo r
lu n c h a fe w tim e s a w ee k w it h som e
frie n d s . I guess th a t’s w h e re m o s t o f m y
m o n e y goes - o n fo o d !
S p e a k e r 4 : C a n w e live o n o u r salaries?
W e ll, I'm n o t so sure, ac tu a lly ! M y
husband is a teacher, so he doesn 't earn
th at m uch - d e fin ite ly n o t enough to
raise tw o c h ild re n ! T h a t m eans I have
to w o rk , to o - 1 have a fu ll-tim e job at
the lo c a l su p e rm arke t. A n d really, that's
o u r biggest problem , because w e need
som eone to take care o f the ch ild re n .
O u r ba bysitte r co sts a fo rtu n e - w e spend
m o re o n c h ild care th a n w e d o o n o u r
m ortgage! T h e n there's fo o d and new
clo th es fo r the c h ild re n , too. H o n e stly , it
is n 't cheap h a v in g k id s these days!
2 B)))
H ost A n d n o w to e n d the sh o w w it h an
in s p ir a tio n a l story, w e have Jo h n to te ll
u s a b o u t an in c re d ib le trip .
John Y es, th a n k y o u , N o ra . H a v e y o u
ever th o u g h t a b o u t tra v e lin g a ro u n d
the w o r ld a n d tr y in g to h e lp p e o p le as
y o u go? W e ll th a t's w h a t a n A m e r ic a n
fa th e r an d h is tw o ad o p te d s o n s are
c u rre n tly d o in g . j.D . L e w is is a sin g le
p a re n t an d a fo r m e r actor. H e ’s taken
h is so ns, Jackson, age 14 an d B u ck,
age 9, o u t o f s c h o o l fo r a ye a r to m ake
the t r ip w it h h im . A n d th e ir p la n is to
h e lp p e o p le a lo n g the w a y b y d o in g
v o lu n te e r c h a r ity w o rk .
H ost T h a t so u n d s w o n d e rfu l, b u t it
m u st be an e xp e n siv e trip . H o w m u ch
w ill it a ll co st?
John It's g o in g to c o st th e m $ 3 0 0 ,0 0 0
d o lla r s in total.
H ost T h a t's a lo t o f m oney. H o w d id
they a ffo rd it?
John W e ll, J.D L e w is d id n 't have a ll the
m oney, s o he se t u p a n o rg a n iz a tio n
c a lle d T w e lve in T w e lve to h e lp raise
m oney, an d w it h the h e lp o f in d iv id u a ls
an d so m e co m p a n ie s , th e y m anaged to
ra ise the m oney.
H ost T w e lve in T w e lve - th a t's an
u n u s u a l nam e. W h y d id he c a ll it th at?
John F o r a v e ry g o o d reason. N o t
o n ly is th e ir t r ip g o in g to la st tw elve
m o n th s, b u t th e ir p la n is to v is it tw elve
c o u n trie s . T h is m o n th , th e y 're in
A u s tr a lia , w here th e y 're w o r k in g w ith
the m o s t im p o rta n t e th n ic g ro u p in
the re g io n - th e A b o r ig in e s . J .D an d
h is fa m ily are h e lp in g to get m e d ica l
su p p lie s to these pe o p le, w h o o fte n liv e
a lo n g w ay f r o m the m a jo r c itie s.
70
van.
v isite d ?
John O h , no . S o fa r th e y ’ve v is ite d
seven c o u n trie s . T h e ir f ir s t sto p w as
R u ss ia , w h e re th e y to o k care o f ba b ies
in an o rp h a n a g e in the c ity o f T o m sk .
F r o m there, th e y tra ve le d to C h in a ,
w h e re th ey w o rk e d w ith c h ild r e n w ith
p h y s ic a l d is a b ilit ie s in B e ijin g . T h e n ,
th e y fle w to T h a ila n d w here they
h e lp e d ta ke ca re o f the a n im a ls at the
E le p h a n t N a tu re P a rk.
H ost W h a t a v a rie ty o f places. W h e re
d id th e y go ne xt?
John T h e ir n e xt sto p w as In dia, w here
they w o rk e d w ith c h ild re n in the p o o re st
d is tr ic t o f the c ity o f H u b li. T h e n they
left A s ia and fle w to A fr ic a . In R w a n d a,
they ta u g h t E n g lis h to c h ild re n w h o had
lo s t th e ir parents in the c iv il w ar. F ro m
there, they w en t to Z a n z ib a r, an isla n d
o f f the co a st o f T a n za n ia .
H ost T h a t so u n d s v e ry e xo tic! W h a t d id
th e y d o there?
John T h e y h e lp ed f a m ilie s p re p are an
a r t fa ir, w h e re th ey c o u ld se ll th in g s
th at th e y had m ade. N e x t, they w en t to
K e n y a , w here they w ro te a n d acted in a
play w it h c h ild r e n w h o have H IV .
H ost W ow', I b e t th a t w as very
re w a rd in g . D id th e y go a n y w h e re else
in A fr ic a ?
John N o , th a t w as the end o f A fr ic a .
F ro m K e n ya, th e y fle w to A u s tra lia ,
w h ic h is w'here th e y are r ig h t now.
H ost A l l th a t so u n d s a m a z in g , b u t th e ir
t r ip is n ’t over, is it?
John N o , J.D . an d h is fa m ily s t ill have
fo u r places to go: A n ta rc tic a , Paraguay,
Peru, an d H a iti. N o t o n ly are they try in g
to d o th in g s to help o th e r people, bu t
they are h o p in g to le arn a lo t o f new
th in g s them selves. A n d J.D . L e w is hopes
th at the T w elve in T w elve o rg a n iz a tio n
w ill encourage o th e r fa m ilie s to d o w hat
he h a s done w ith h is sons.
H ost W e ll, g o o d lu c k to J.D . L e w is and
h is f a m ily o n the rest o f th e ir in c re d ib le
trip . A n d th a t’s a ll w e have tim e fo r
to n ig h t, jo in u s a g a in to m o rro w ' w h e n
w e ’l l be b r in g in g y o u m o re re a l-life
storie s.
3 A)))
S p e a k e r 1: O n e m o r n in g la s t w in te r, I
w as d r iv in g to w o rk la te w h e n m y c e ll
ph o n e rang. I k n e w it w as m y boss,
so I a n sw e re d it. S u d d e n ly , the van
in fr o n t o f m e sto p p e d because there
wras so m e o n e c ro s s in g the road. I w as
t a lk in g to m y boss, s o I reacted to o late,
a n d m y c a r w e n t in to the b a ck o f the
at th e tim e , s o I d id n 't d o m u ch dam age
to th e van , b u t the fr o n t o f m y c a r w as
a re a l m ess. S in c e then, I n e ve r use m y
p h o n e w h e n I'm d riv in g .
S p e a k e r 2 : I w as d r iv in g to C o lo r a d o
o ne s u m m e r to v is it m y pa re n ts, w h o
liv e in D e n v e r. It’s a lo n g trip , so I
had ta ke n m y M P 3 p la y e r w it h m e to
c o n n e c t to the c a r ra d io . S u rp ris in g ly ,
th ere w a sn 't m u c h t r a ffic o n the
freew ay, so I a rriv e d in D e n v e r p re tty
q u ic k ly . H o w e v e r, I w a s h a v in g su ch a
g o o d tim e lis te n in g to m y m u sic, th a t I
c o m p le te ly m is se d th e e x its fo r D e n ve r.
I d id n 't re a liz e u n t il I h a d gone a n o th e r
2 0 m ile s , so I had to t u r n a ro u n d an d
d riv e a ll the w a y b a c k ag ain! It ju st goes
to sh o w w h a t ca n ha p p e n w h e n y o u
a re n 't co n c e n tra tin g .
S p e a k e r 3 : W e w ere o n v a ca tio n la st
year, w h e n w e had a litt le accid e n t.
W e w ere g o in g so m e w h e re w e'd never
be e n b e fo re , so w e w ere f o llo w in g the
in s tr u c tio n s o n m y G P S . W e he a rd
o n the ra d io th a t th ere'd b e e n a b ig
a c cid e n t o n o ne o f the ro a d s \ve needed
to tra v e l o n, so I sta rte d a d ju s tin g m y
G P S to fin d a d iffe re n t ro a d to take. I
to o k m y eyes o f f the ro a d a n d su d d e n ly
we cam e to a sh a rp t u r n in the ro ad . I
saw the t u r n to o late, so I w e n t stra ig h t
ahead an d d ro v e in to the m id d le o f a
fie ld . W e w ere re a lly lu cky, th o u g h ,
because n o one w as h u rt.
S p e a k e r 4 : I d o n 't u s u a lly get u p e a rly
e n o u g h to p u t m y m a ke u p o n , so I
u s u a lly p u t it o n in m y car. W e ll, I used
to p u t it o n in the c a r - n o w I w a it u n til
I get to m y o ffic e . T h a t ’s because I had
k in d o f a sh o ck the o th e r w eek, w h e n 1
a lm o s t d id n ’t sto p at a c ro s s w a lk . I w as
lo o k in g in the m ir r o r in ste ad o f at the
ro ad , so I d id n 't see th is litt le b o y ru n
o u t— to te ll y o u the tru th , I h a d n 't even
seen th a t th ere w as a c r o s s w a lk there. I
ju st had tim e to step o n the b ra ke s an d I
m isse d th e litt le b o y b y a b o u t an in c h . I
w as re a lly sh o ck e d a fte rw a rd , th o u g h .
S p e a k e r 5 : I w as d r iv in g in to to w n to
m eet m y g ir lfr ie n d f o r d in n e r w h e n
she sent m e a te xt m essage. I d e cid e d
to read it, in case it w as im p o rta n t.
A n y w a y , the m essage sa id th a t m y
g ir lfr ie n d w as a lre a d y at the re sta u ran t,
an d I w a n te d h e r to k n o w th at I w as
g o in g to be a litt le late, so w h e n I
sto p p e d at a red lig h t, 1 sta rte d to w rite
a reply. B u t I d id n 't n o tic e w h e n the
t r a ffic lig h t tu rn e d green, a n d the c a r
b e h in d c ra sh e d in to the b a c k o f m e.