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FTER DONATING MUSIC FOLDERS
to the National Association for Music
Education’s National Ensemble
(NAfME) in 2012, Art Livingston, president of Neptune,
New Jersey-based supplier Marlo Plastic Products (UPIC:
marlo), was challenged by his daughter to do more.
As sponsors, Livingston and his family had been
invited to the performance at The Kennedy Center.
“During intermission, my daughter, Sarah, and I had a
conversation where she challenged me to go beyond
donating products and contribute my time too. The
result of this conversation was that, throwing all logic
aside, three weeks later we were both landing in
Nairobi,” says Livingston.
The pair spent two months in Kenya, where Sarah vol-
unteered at a medical clinic and Livingston helped out at
two orphanages. The experience was one of the most
memorable times of his life, he says. “This isn’t your five-
star type of vacation, but if you want to experience Africa,
meet people who have little and are happier than we are,
and be able to do some good in other people’s lives, you’ll
return home leaving a piece of your heart over there.”
Combining volunteering and travel (termed: volun-
tourism) has become a family affair, with Livingston’s
wife of 34 years, Becky, accompanying him on one of his
trips and his other daughter, Amanda, doing her own
work in Africa and Central America. But Livingston has
become comfortable going by himself as well.
“You quickly realize that this culture deals with things
like lack of food, shelter and education on a scale that is
difficult for us to comprehend. While we worry about
clean water, they get their water from loading plastic jugs
onto donkeys to make three trips (about two kilometers
each way) per day, or simply going without in some
cases. This scale of poverty really alters your mind as to
what the word ‘important’ really means,” Livingston says.
As a devoted grandfather to Sarah’s son, David, it’s
no wonder the kids in the orphanages have left such a
mark on Livingston and are the main reason he returns
twice a year to give back. He became a personal tutor
for a 14-year-old boy named Eliud who was too old for
the orphanage’s school. Livingston adds, “I asked him
what he wanted to be when he grew up. ‘A lawyer,’ he
answered. When I asked why, he said that he wanted to
help people. It’s hard to imagine that this boy, who has
Daring To Matter
A
ART LIVINGSTON’S VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE IN AFRICA BRINGS HIM IMPORTANT LIFE
PERSPECTIVE
BY JULIE RICHIE
DECEMBER 2015 •
PPB
• 83
CONNECT
TOP
Livingston (center) with the board of directors for Jesus
Helpers Children’s Home and Youth Network in Turash (2 ½
hours from Nairobi) in front of galvanized metal huts where
the children in the orphanage live.
BOTTOM
From left, Sarah,
Becky, Amanda, Art and grandson David.