During an interview, Dr. Kevin was asked, "What is the biggest obstacle you face in helping the kids on the Fort Peck Reservation?"
Many people would point to the third world conditions, the poverty, the drugs, the alcohol, the arson, the crime, the high school dropout rate, or the extreme hopelessness.
Although these are formidable factors… he said it’s the establishing of trust with the kids and the adults.
This didn’t happen overnight!
Dr. Kevin told the interviewer, we don’t impose our beliefs on the kids: like religion, what to become, where to live, what to wear, how to think, or etc.
Lots of well intentioned groups visit the Reservation and foist their beliefs and ways of life on the kids.
It’s been done before and this benevolent dictator model just doesn’t work.
Love Has No Color guides and supports the kids in making their own decisions rather than telling them what to do.
With extreme hopelessness, kids hear from parents, relatives, elders, teachers, and people of authority just how bad things are.
LHNC helps the kids develop life skills and confidence that will serve them throughout life, rather than repeat the cycle of generational extreme hopelessness.
Other groups may give the kids gifts and that’s important, however, it’s the human contact, the sharing of the joy with the kids, and being a part of their lives that truly makes the difference.
When asked an end point of LHNC, Dr. Kevin replied, “When the people of Fort Peck become self-reliant and care for themselves, other tribes follow suit.”
Similar to Martin Luther King Jr, it wasn’t only felt in the cities that held bus boycotts or protests, it spread everywhere.
The kindness and love of LHNC started on Fort Peck and will spread to all other Reservations.
Like tossing a pebble in a pond, the ripples will be felt everywhere!