Frisco, Colorado - The daughter of missionaries is preparing to hike from the tip of Argentina to the tip of Alaska. Along the way, she hopes to empower women to be all they were born to be, and to help children dream, and live those dreams.
Bethany Hughes says she has found her calling. She was meant to take 4 to 6 years out of her life to walk more miles than most people drive in a year. Bethany says, if she can do this, the women she meets along her route can do or be anything they want to be. Children, who perhaps have not been allowed to dream big, will be encouraged to do exactly that.
"What bedtime story would you choose to read to a child tonight?" Hughes asked a fairly surprised reporter from Un Dia Sin Fronteras from 1150 A.M. Radio, in Denver, Colorado, in an exclusive interview.
"Frankly, her charismatic and open question caught me off guard," said reporter Tim Paynter. "I am usually ready for about anything, but when Bethany came out with that question, she stumped me. It was out of the blue."
As it turns out, Hughes grew up in Ecuador, Chile and the Dominican Republic. She speaks about the two sides of the coin most Americans hold in their hands, though few realize it. As persons of privilege, they can do or dream about anything and those dreams can come true. A U.S. citizen can get a passport to go about anywhere in the world. Yet, as a blond haired, educated youth growing up in Latin America, Hughes found many of the children around her were not so privileged. Hughes wants to return to bring the message, all children must have a chance to dream like she has been able to dream.
If Hughes can hike roughly 20,000 miles, some of it through challenging terrain, at times with great risk to personal safety, then Hughes hopes she can help shine a light to families and children everywhere. All people face obstacles, but the end to every journey starts with the first step. Dreams can come true, the end of the Hughes journey comes by putting one foot in front of another. In the case of Hughes, if she never steps on the same ground twice, that will be 105,600,000 steps.
Bedtime stories are one of the first places children learn the values of society. In some places, where many cannot read, it is the folk stories told to children Hughes is excited to hear. Back home, Hughes challenges people of privilege to choose their bedtime stories carefully, so our children can learn about values.
For example, instead of enriching a material life, Hughes is choosing to give up a career and income for many years. Sure, Hughes may not have a new car and a fancy home. But she places a higher value in meeting new people, learning about diverse cultures, and experiencing an adventure many Americans can only dream of having.
Hughes also speaks about her tremendous debt of gratitude to the women in the Dominican Republicwho patronized a fruit wagon Hughes hauled as a youth through the barrios. Hughes was trying to make enough money so she could fly home and see her grandmother one last time before her grandmother passed. Her missionary parents did not have the funds to make that happen. It was the Dominican women who supported Hughes, one piece of fruit at a time, though the women could have ignored her and bought from local stores. Thanks to the support of people of extremely humble means, Hughes was able to raise enough money for the trip home. The Dominican women were demonstrating the strong values of supporting an extended family, which is common in the Latino culture.
Follow Bethany as she makes her way across the Americas, returns the gift of hope and inspiration given to her as a child, and to the best of her ability, rights wrongs she has seen.
