Ethan Zohn, Survivor and Philanthropist

Ethan Zohn is a nice guy. He’s not on the front page of the tabloids, he’s not in jail for tax evasion, he’s just a nice guy who works incredibly hard to raise awareness for an important topic. I’ve known Ethan for a few years now, since I started the blog and was approached to write about him. Later, we had the opportunity to work on a possible book project together (it didn’t come to fruition, unfortunately). But through these emails and talking about the book project, I’ve learned about Ethan and I’m excited that we finally had a chance to do this interview.

Ethan’s passionate about what he does. He wants to help people and he doesn't just say it, only to remove himself from the public eye with his winnings. He MEANS it. Ever since winning a million bucks on Survivor: Africa, he’s been on the go. But he’s not jet-setting and spending his winnings (although I’m sure he enjoys it). Instead, he’s dedicated this phase of his life to helping children with AIDS. He took his money and founded Grassroot Soccer, an organization whose goal is to "mobilize the global soccer community to combat the AIDS epidemic in Africa".

Last year, starting on August 20, 2008, he dribbled a soccer ball 500-miles (!) from Foxboro, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. to raise money/awareness for Grassroot Soccer. We had a chance to talk after the event was over.

How did that go?
It was a great finale to a 100-day journey.

Are you exhausted?
Yeah, I’m pretty wiped out. It was a long campaign, 100 days. And I got some injuries in the middle of that, which didn’t help things. But overall, obviously, it was a great event.

How did you connect with the kids in Zimbabwe and want to help them?

I started playing professional soccer in 1997, and I played for the Hawaii Tsunami and for the Crusaders. Then I got the chance to travel to Zimbabwe to play for a team called the Highlanders Football Club in the Zimbabwe Premier League. That was my first time I got to go to Africa. While I was there, I had some amazing experiences, and I witnessed firsthand what was happening with HIV and AIDS and how it was just destroying this community that I was now part of.

A young kid on my team, 19-years-old, ended up getting sick from AIDS and dying. So that was my first time knowing someone that was just completely affected by the disease. But at that time in my life, I was a struggling soccer player, who didn’t know what I could do about it, so I didn’t do anything about it – I figured it’s not my problem. I thought that someone else will kind of deal with this stuff that’s in Africa.

And then you were on Survivor...

Right, I came back home, continued playing, living my life, coaching, playing, then Survivor came along. And my Survivor was coincidentally filmed in Kenya, Africa. While I was playing the game, I got to play hackey sack with all of these Kenyan children during one of these reward challenges that I won, but I later found out that all these children that I was playing with were HIV positive. So here I am, in the middle of this kind of game of Survivor, this cutthroat game, and I had a real-life experience.

So it was at that moment that I decided that something had to be done. (I thought) if I come out the big winner, I’m going to do something good with my money and with the fame that comes along with it. When I came back from the show, which I won, I got a call from a close friend of mine, Dr. Tommy Clark, and he had a fantastic idea to use the power of soccer and the fight against AIDS. I just jumped at the chance to get involved.

Are you type of person that believes that this is fate?

I think destiny helps. I’ve never been asked that question before. I guess everything happens for a reason, I guess I kind of believe that. But you know, on the flip side, I think you make your own destiny. And I think I could’ve come away from those experiences saying oh well, you know, that kind of sucks…that sucks for those people. But I was personally touched. And I think any human being with feelings and with any sense of responsibility to the human family, would do the same thing I would do.

There’s a great quote that I always say, “To do nothing is also to act.” After I knew it existed, I couldn’t just do nothing. If I did nothing, I’m consciously making a decision to do nothing about this problem and that just wasn’t an option for me.

How has this changed you?
The whole celebrity thing is a little bit strange. Here I was, literally just a dude coaching and playing soccer, and then, in a span of 3 months, you’re from nothing to being on the cover of magazines. It was a little hard for me to grasp and hard for me to adjust to. But I think putting my efforts into the charity, gave me a platform to focus my celebrity on.

I thought, “I’ll do your interview for Sirius Radio, but I’m talking about Grassroot Soccer, or I’ll make an appearance on Fear Factor, but I’m wearing a Grassroot Soccer t-shirt.” I know it’s flavor-of-the-month, it’s 15 minutes of fame, it’s my moment in the spotlight, and I just wanted to use this time to really try to create change in the world, and make an impact, and leave a legacy. And when it’s over, it’s over. That’s fine with me, but I did my best to use it to my advantage.

You train pro soccer players to teach HIV/AIDS prevention to African children?

The way our curriculum works is we really saw the value in using professional soccer as role models for the community. When they show in an area, people will follow and kids will listen to what they have to say. Our goal is to change these kids’ behavior. They are making the wrong decisions. So if we can change their behavior to have them make right choices in life, that’s what we’re going for. We promote open communication about HIV/AIDS between parents and teenagers – we have the info on HIV– how it’s spread, how it’s caused, how the biology of it works.

We also direct them where to get information about HIV/AIDS. We encourage them to be leaders in the community once they graduate and they can teach their friends. There will be no gender inequality, peer pressure, sexual coercion or stigma. We address all these things. A lot of these kids have a very negative look into the future, so we address their future and how to create a hopeful one.

How do you do that?

We use fun, interactive games, where the kids are on their feet, running around, maybe using drama, role-playing, singing, poetry, art, soccer, sports, and the people that are delivering these messages are their heroes. For example, there’s one game, Find the Ball, where kids line up with their arms behind their back and pass the ball behind them so you can’t see where the ball is. Other kids try to guess where the ball is at the end of the little session. They can’t guess it, because they can’t see who’s holding the ball. Now, this ball represents HIV and you play the game again. You look at someone, and just by seeing their face and the way their body is, can you tell they’re HIV positive? No, you can’t. The only way to know is to get a blood test. Where can you get a blood test? A hospital or a clinic. So we use these fun games to get the messages across.

Any kid that has stuck out in your mind?

One of our final games is kind of like a Oprah-type show. We have a host and a panel of people and the kids can ask anonymous questions. But we have the kids write the questions the night before on a piece of paper. They don’t sign them. They hand them in to us and we pick them out of a hat. One of the questions was from a girl, and she says, I would rather die of AIDS than starve to death. We were addressing the idea of sugar daddies, – because they need school books, money for food, etc. and their parents can’t afford it. So they’re encouraged to go get sugar daddies, which are these guys who will give them the stuff in return for sex, which is a major issue obviously for all the real reasons, but also the spread of HIV.

The girl that said that is a 12-year-old girl. I just can’t get that out of my mind. She stood up, she raised her hand, she said, I would rather die of AIDS than starve to death. These are the decisions 12-year-old girls are making in Africa! Do I die of starvation, or do I sleep with this dirty old disgusting man and get AIDS? I can live longer and go to school and hang out with my friends?

In Zambia, this kid named Evie, a 19-year-old semi-professional soccer player, lives in a shack in the middle of one of the slums. His father was one of the most famous sports broadcasters in all of Zambia; he announced all the soccer games. In 1980, his father announced to the entire country when the Zambia national team’s airplane crashed; there was only 1 survivor. So Evie’s father died of AIDS, and his mother died of AIDS, and his brother and sister died of AIDS. So here’s this 19-year-old kid who’s lost everyone in his family. He could just curl up in a ball and do nothing, but instead, he joined Grassroot Soccer and he’s one of our expert trainers and now he’s using this sport that teaches kids about AIDS. It’s a wonderful story.

Does he have AIDS?

He does not have AIDS, no. About 8000 people a day die of AIDS. That’s every day that people are dying of a preventable disease. Bird flu gets front-page news and it’s killed like 30 people worldwide. You don’t hear about AIDS front news anymore and that’s why it’s my mission to keep AIDS on front-page news.

Whose idea was the dribble?

The dribble was my idea with another guy over 2 ½ years ago, so we were working on it for awhile now. We finally got to a point where we could do it about six months ago getting corporate sponsors and figuring out a program that works.

I went from Boston to Washington, D.C., 100 days, 550 miles. In the morning, we’d get up, we’d dribble on the side of the road about 15 miles and then the afternoon was a speech, soccer tournament, college game, TV appearance, home-based fundraiser in the back, etc.

What do you have next?

I have a new television show, Earth Tripping, about eco-friendly travel and adventure. So we get to go to Singapore, Malaysia, Chile, Argentina. We just land at a major metropolitan city, and where people think there aren’t many options to have fun and still maintain an eco-friendly attitude. But we really would go there and teach them how to travel in a big city and not leave a footprint on the environment.

Ethan is now a motivational speaker and has won awards for his work with Grassroot Soccer. If you’re interested in helping Ethan and his organization, check out the website and feel free to donate or host an event. There’s plenty to do!

Jay-Z's Top Props

Jay-Z was awarded with the United Nations Global Leadership Award on Wednesday in New York for his efforts with the Water For Life program, which works to bring clean water to Africa. Apparently, wife Beyonce was a no-show but it's pretty cool just the same.

Tom Hanks Auctions
Off Solar Powered Radios for Rural Africa

Check out this great site for more information on Tom's Ebay charity event. 100% f the final sale price will support The Freeplay Foundation.

Lisa

Stefanie Powers -- Actress, singer and amazing conservationist…

There’s an incredible actress doing amazing work in Africa with the William Holden Wildlife Foundation (http://www.whwf.org/) and, no, it’s not Angelina Jolie. Stefanie Powers,-- another gorgeous, legendary actress whose most recognizable work was her role as Jennifer in the TV show “Hart to Hart “-- is working just as hard without recognition or press coverage. That’s about to change. Stefanie Powers deserves tremendous recognition for the work she is doing on behalf of animals worldwide.

A little background first -- For those of you who don’t know who Bill Holden was, his illustrious acting career spanned over 40 years and including nearly 80 films. He won an Oscar for “Stalag 17”, and was the number one box office star for many years, but his most important role he took on was as conservationist and founder of the Mt. Kenya Game Ranch. Unfortunately, he died too early in 1981 and left his work unfinished.

Fortunately, Holden brought the love of his life, Stefanie Powers, to Africa for the first time in 1973. Stefanie now serves as President. According to her bio, she is also involved with several American zoos -- the Cincinnati Zoo, Zoo Atlanta and the Los Angeles Zoo) where she works with species survival programs and is a frequent keynote speaker for causes dear to her heart such as Farm Sanctuary (humane treatment for farmed animals) and the Bushmeat Crisis. She has also been honored by The Explorers Club with its Lowell Thomas Award for her conservation efforts.

Talk to me about your love of animals when you were growing up.

My stepfather, Jack Robinson, raised racehorses and, in those days, Hollywood Park had an infield with monkeys, geese, exotic turkeys and chickens and all sorts of things. They wanted to do something else with the park and Jack wanted to know what would happen to the animals and he took them. He had his own mini zoo on his ranch with all of these funny creatures that I grew up with. Anything that dropped out of a tree got rescued.

(Later, when the budding actress was in her 20s, she walked into a pet shop and saw a small bear.)

It was a Malaysian Sun Bear and I said, ‘You can’t have a bear!” and I told them if someone buys this bear and it gets big, they won’t take full responsibility -- and I’m lecturing them, so the man says ‘Why don’t you buy it?“ And I said, “Alright, I will!’

My stepfather believed in tough love. I wanted a horse, so he took me to the slaughterhouse and although I didn’t see them being slaughtered, I saw a young and old and beautiful horses. He said, “If you don’t want your horse to wind up here, then you have to always take full responsibility for animals. If you are not prepared, than you can’t have one. Whatever he did to me, it’s lasted throughout my lifetime. I have lots of horses -- I buy them but I don’t sell them. It was a tough lesson, but it was right.

(Stefanie owned her bear for 18 years.)

It led me into the world of exotics, where I knew all the vets. When I would go out of town Ralph Helfer (famed Hollywood animal trainer) would take care of the bear while I did a movie. I didn‘t think it would unfold the way it did, but it‘s become a very important part of my life.

What did you see on your first safari trip with Bill ?
The ranch that Bill had started with his partner, Don Hunt, was in the business of capturing animals and sending them to zoos and parks for captive breeding for conservation work -- long before the word conservation was even in people’s lexicon. At that time, the ranch was involved with a translocation project with the Grevy Zebra which is unique to Kenya that was being poached out of existence in the north of Kenya. The Game Department was interested in trying to move the substantial amount of them to the south to Savo East and West game park, which was run by game warden Billy Woodley. The best capture unit capable of doing it was Bill and Don. So for three years, they had a camp in the north of the country where they would capture Grevy Zebras, leave them in the compound to habituate and those who didn’t were released. When they got a pretty good herd, they moved them. So, my first safari was right into the fire -- we arrived, got in cars and drove for six hours where the camp was.

Many of us don’t even know this stuff goes on -- why is that?
It’s surprising how ignorant we are, given all of the information we have access to. I feel in some way, because we have so much access to information, we value it less and we turn on Animal Planet and National Geographic and see the documentaries on wildlife and I think because we see someone else doing something about it on television, they don’t have to get involved and every once in a while it becomes fashionable to worry about the environment and it’s fashionable now to worry again and I’ve seen the trend come and go. We’re not voting with our pocketbook, demanding ever increasingly hybridized vehicles simply because we won’t buy anything but that. Until we do, nobody is going to moved to produce that sort of stuff.

You had an emotional experience -- do you think we’re missing out on that and that is that would move us to do something?
We have enough opportunities in our own country. They visit national parks, but throw rubbish. Hiking trails are full of rubbish -- who did that? What is it about our lack of concern -- I don’t know how you jar people out of their lethargy. The extinction of species is not a natural phenomenon -- it’s our fault. What kind of a species are we that keep breeding and can’t take care of the children we have? How much stuff do we really need?

What is the number one issue in Kenya?
Loss of habitat for animals. It’s also loss of habitat for people -- overpopulation, misuse of the environment, poor farming methods and overuse of toxic chemicals, rendering vast acres of land unusable to man and beast. One thing we are deeply involved with at the William Holden Wildlife Education Center is alternatives to loss of habitat. We teach alternative methods to habitats so human beings can get better use of the small plots of land and not go into areas where wildlife is competing with them.

(The William Holden Wildlife Education Center spreads over 15 acres of land on the slopes of Mt. Kenya, near the Mt. Kenya Safari Club and adjacent to the Mt. Kenya Game Ranch. The Center houses a youth hostel, lecture hall/library, audio-visual facilities, llama compound, fish farm, tree nursery, bio-gas and solar energy installations. It applies practical conservation methods along with educational programs designed specifically for each group. The center currently serves 10,000 students a year.)

Are toxic chemicals a problem in Africa?
Well, a lot of toxic chemicals that get outlawed in America get exported to the third world. DDT was exported to Mexico from the US and now we’re reimporting food from Mexico. It’s all coming back on us. We are naïve because we think once it’s out of our hands it’s done and over with. We also think the garbage men just pick it up and it’s gone and we shouldn’t be responsible for separating our biodegradable. I have a compost machine; the greatest think I produce is dirt because I have so much cuttings -- from the trees, kitchen, etc.

But if we can’t even focus on what we have here, how can we focus on what’s going on in Africa or other countries?

We have the North American wild horse -- it’s a perilous situation. The Bureau of Land Management wants the wild horses off of federal lands because they are being pressured by senators whose constituency are cattle/beef growers and they want cheaper grazing land because then they can command cheaeper prices of meat. I‘m a vegetarian and we eat too many animal products as it is. It’s not natural for us to eat so many animal products -- eggs, cheese, fish, meat. How many years is it going to take before we realize we won’t have any fish in the sea in our lifetime?! It’s no longer a question of saying “we have to do this for our future generation,” but it is happening in OUR lifetime. We have to do this now! It is happening.

How do we get involved in your causes?
If people are interested in domestic causes I’m very involved with the wild horse situation. There are a number of good organizations for the translocation and the purchase and the maintenance of them You can help raise money -- get kids together to raise money for those organizations they want to support -- $5 is still $5, so nothing is too small especially when you are trying to feed horses.

What’s on the horizon for you?
I‘m on the Jaguar Conservation Trust. (After our interview a few months ago, Stefanie went to India -- Gujarat and she talks about what she was going to be doing.) I’m on my way to India to the former hunting grounds of the ruler of that area. It was made into a sanctuary for the very rare Asiatic lion -- there are maybe 200 left. The men who are spearheading the effort visited our education center three times last year and want to see if we can replicate our education center and outreach program into communities in their sanctuary, so I’m keynote speaker.

(Jaguar North America announced the formation of the Jaguar Conservation Trust back on April 15, 2003. It was a new campaign to assist in the effort of preserving the company’s namesake. The Trust provides grands and funding for projects that promote the preservation of the jaguar and its habitat. Stefanie aids in the creation of a full-spectrum conservation program.)

With just a $35 a year membership in the Trust we can carry on the work done by local people in Belize, Guatemala and Costa Rica -- they are active local groups -- small groups of indigenous of native tribal bases living in remote areas who regard the jaguar as a spiritual being doing tremendous work trying to educate people.)

In her bio, Stefanie says “The Foundation is a large commitment, but it’s not something I entered into without understanding the full impact of the obligation. It’s a lifelong commitment that sometimes monopolizes one hundred percent of my time.” And, according to Powers, she’ll continue working because it’s, “what I need to do to keep doing the work in Africa.” We are eternally grateful for her work, but she needs our help. Check out the website and see if there is any way that you can help. Me? I’m going to order some of the adorable baby monkey cards! They are my personal favorite animal. What’s yours?

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Jacob's Cure

A few months ago, I had the privilege of hearing about the launch of Jacob’s Cure and the story of Jacob and his mom, Jordana Holovach. Please take a few minutes out of your day to visit their site and learn more about this incurable condition.

On May 31st, they launched Jacob’s Cure Smiley Bag by Babydish. Jacob’s Cure is a foundation founded by Jacob’s mother, Jordana Holovach to help find a cure for Canavan Disease. Jacob has suffered from this disease since birth and there is no cure. Babydish designed The Smiley Bag, after Jacob’s smile and will donate 40% of each sale to help fight this deadly disease.

At the home of Lisa Hallerman, celebrities and VIPs got together to learn more about this illness. Elizabeth Banks, Lake Bell, AJ Cook, Julie Bowen, Alicia Coppola, Rachel Harris, Maria Menounos, Brooke Mueller and Adriane Palnicki were guests of this intimate affair.The event was hosted by Boston Legal’s Julie Bowen, who just gave birth to her son 7 weeks ago. She told many of the guests how moved she was about Jacob’s story, that she agreed to host two days after giving birth. She was telling the story of how she went into labor on set, while pretending to go into labor to fool her castmates.

About Jacob’s Cure - Jacob's Cure is a non-profit foundation dedicated to raising awareness and the funds necessary to cure Canavan Disease, a fatal genetic neurological disorder that affects children at birth. Founded in September 2000 by Jordana Holovach with the hope of saving her son's life, Jacob's Cure allocates 95% of funds raised to research in gene-therapy, stem cell transplantation, pharmacology, and a greater basic understanding of the disease. Jacob's Cure is responsible for funding the Canavan Research lab at Cooper Hospital/Robert Wood Johnson. Its efforts to date have resulted in successful gene-therapy trials and pharmaceutical interventions that have stopped the progression of the disease in Canavan children worldwide.

40% of sales from the Smiley Bag will benefit Jacob's Cure and the fight against Canavan Disease. The bag can be purchased at www.babydish.com. Canavan Disease is a fatal genetic brain disorder that affects children at birth. For more information, please visit www.jacobscure.org.

About BabyDish - BabyDish, the creator of the BabyBeReady Diaper Bag Survival Kit was founded in 2006 by Stacie Mindich-Jordan, a mother of two who created the only pre-packed diaper bag filled with 10 of baby’s most essential items. A portion of all proceeds goes to cancer organizations and Jacob’s Cure.

COMING UP: ON JULY 11TH -- DOUG CHRISTIE, NBA SUPERSTAR AND HIS WIFE JACKIE TALK ABOUT HOW THEY LOVE GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY.