Just Jennifer

The Voluntourist by Ken Budd (William Morrow, May 2012)

When Ken Budd was thirty-nine, his father collapsed and died after playing eighteen holes of golf, one year into his retirement.  As Ken and his father’s friends and family grieved, Ken began to assess his own life, especially with regard to the affect his father had on others.  Ken became very conscious of the fact that he and his wife, his childhood sweetheart Julie, did not have children and would mostly likely not have children.  An unsolicited e-mail from a Katrina Relief organization sets Ken on the road of becoming a semi-pro volunteer.  Over the next few years, he rebuilds a home in flood damaged New Orleans, teaches English (with his wife) in Costa Rica, works with special needs children in China, studies climate change in Ecuador, works with orphans in Kenya and at a refugee camp in Palestine. As Ken, and sometimes Julie, experiences life in other countries, meets people like himself, searching for something in their life, and helps others, especially children, he comes to accept his life as it is and learns he is capable of having an impact on others, even without children of his own.  Ken’s story is broken down into each of his volunteer tours of duty and is told with honest emotions as he reflects on each experience and what he learns from each.  Ken keeps his sense of humor in many situations where others would throw in the towel and continues to help and inspire as he looks for his own way.