Conduct an Audit

“Life is very interesting…in the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.” – Drew Barrymore

Chapter 4 – Conduct an Audit

(Selected Text from Disruptive Compassion: Becoming the Revolutionary You Were Born to Be by Hal Donaldson)

“I’m not Bill Gates – what difference can I really make here?” That was the burning question as I trudged through Mathare Valley, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya, inhabited by 700,000 people. No running water. No electricity. No sewage system. It looked like a city of children’s forts—tiny hovels made of tin, plastic, and plywood. Where do we even start?

Our guide—a young man who lived in Mathare—hollered, “Follow me.” As we descended farther into the slum past some stern-faced men, I started to wonder if this was safe. A gunshot rang out in the distance. I guess that was my answer.

“That is far away,” he reassured. “Come!” My photographer and I exchanged worried glances.

“What do you want us to see?” I asked.

He pointed. “This.”

There, on a patch of dirt, eleven boys lay motionless.

“What’s this?” I asked. “Are they sleeping?”

The guide shook his head. “No, they sniff glue to take away their hunger. Some even use drops of jet fuel to get high.”

I had no response.

Nearby, I watched dozens of children scavenge for food on a mountain of garbage. These kids were living in an abyss with no way out.

I didn’t smile for three days. How could I? What if they were my kids? Could I just “get over it” then?

My colleague sensed I was struggling. “You never get used to seeing hungry kids,” he said.

“It isn’t fair—these kids didn’t choose to be born into this life,” I said. “I wish there was something we could do.”

“I know Convoy of Hope is just getting started,” he said, “but someday you could help a lot of people in Africa.”

“It would take a lot more money and workers than we do have,” I said.

“I think you have greater potential and more resources than you realize,” he countered.

That sounded promising, but seriously, what did we have that could transform Mathare Valley? I was in my thirties, paying down a mortgage, driving a refurbished car, and trying to keep food on the table for a wife and two kids. What could I realistically offer Mathare?

Despite my doubts, I posed the question: “What do we have, and what can we do?” That question was the first step toward Convoy of Hope establishing a feeding program for one thousand children at a school in Mathare Valley. It all began with an internal audit and the discovery of new resources and opportunities.

The world has enough resources to address the greatest problems of our time—hunger, pollution, poverty, and more. Still, millions suffer and our world deteriorates, largely because we don’t fully know our potential. It’s easier to blame our inaction on a lack of resources than to acknowledge what we have at our disposal. It’s the “I can’t do everything so I do nothing” excuse. Maybe you don’t have as much power as you wish you had, but you definitely have more assets than you realize. As a revolutionary, you endeavor to maximize your assets and strive for greater outcomes. Golfing legend Arnold Palmer said, “The secret of concentration is the secret of self-discovery. You reach inside yourself to discover your personal resources, and what it takes to match them to the challenge.”

Have you ever told yourself, “I don’t have enough clothes”? Then you clean out your closet and discover shirts and sweaters long forgotten? Internal auditing is much like that. It’s a “verification activity.” It tells you what assets you have and identifies waste and weaknesses in your systems. Hopefully, about now you’re connecting the dots. You’re saying to yourself, “I need to conduct my own internal audit. Maybe I’m not as limited as I thought.”

Good—you got it. Now take a moment to consider what assets you have in the following areas: your passion, your voice, your finances, your network of influence, and your time.

And as you consider what you have, remember this: You have an asset that towers above even these. It’s called “your life.” You have an opportunity to multiply your gifts—to make yourself a better person. The needs are so great that the world cannot afford for you to be less than. Your best. You have so much to offer. Beyond talents and assets, you have a deep love for people and a concern for the world. How do I know that? Because you’re reading this. Whatever you do, don’t ignore the growing discontentment inside you. You know there’s something more out there for you. But don’t overthink it. Rather than rushing to change your vocation or location, look for opportunities to use your assets and practice disruptive compassion right where you are. That’s how you live like a revolutionary.