Tags: aggressive mall, amall, belize, cameron talbott, cinder block, justin hertel, misty flip, orphanage, orphans, shadrock, skate shoes
Hey, my name is Cameron Talbott, I am from Missoula, Montana and I ride for Valo and Aggressive Mall. Recently I took a trip to a small village in Belize, where I did some volunteer work for a place called Liberty Children's Home. Prior to leaving I contacted my friend Justin from Amall to see if he would be in to sending some stuff down for the kids. Even though my trip had nothing to do with skating, Justin was more than willing to send me down we some things to help contribute.
Text and photos by Cameron Talbott
With my pack mostly full of Mad Mongoose shirts and various other goods, I headed south to Ladyville, Belize where I would spend the next month living with 30 plus orphans. During my stay I learned a lot about the Belizian ways of life – everything from organic farming to giving massive 300 pound pigs their annual vaccinations – there never seemed to be a dull moment.
When I wasn't working and contributing to the facility, I was surrounded by kids who always provided great company and good times. Interacting with all of the children on a daily basis and seeing how they go about their day caused me to look at my life back home in Montana from a different perspective. I thought about how accessible everything is for me, and how fortunate I am to have things like a skatepark – or even skates for that matter!
When I was handing out all of the gear Justin had sent down with me, I had to explain to the kids what Aggressive Mall was and its association with skating. Most kids here at the orphanage and even local people I had befriended during my stay all said they would love to learn how to skate. However due to the lack of resources and absence of paved surfaces, it is not a reality for them.
Although after showing them a few online videos and pics, many of them said they would want to make a trip to the states to put themselves in a position to learn how to skate. It made me think that even though our skating community is not the biggest or richest, we are all very lucky to be able to head down to our local skatepark with a few homies, shred for a few hours, and not even think twice about it.
All in all my time spent here at Liberty Children's Home was amazing, and I am glad I was able to help out in any way I could. I want to thank Justin Hertel for his generous donation – you not only gave the kids some fresh gear but also helped open their eyes to a sport they hardly knew existed!
-Cameron Talbott
Hi Cameron,
I'm Nattie's Grandma Trish, It was good to see your photos. Thanks for what you did in Belize. I happen to sponsor a teenage girl in Haiti; maybe you could go there sometime. Hi and love to Nattie for me.
Very cool.
Cameron, Opa & I are very proud of you. Keep it up
i never post on be-mag but this deserves so much props! trully impressed!
That is fucking amazing....cameron is awesome
What a great story and photo journal. Good on ya Cameron!
Hey Cameron, that is upercool what you did man. Thought you might be interested in what we are doing here in South Africa with rollerblading reaching out to the poor community - giving hope and skating.... this is our website: http://www.inspired2become.org/. Hope to hear from you man, if you ever want to do a trip to South Africa to come and teach kids rollerblading, hit me up!!!
Great work man! This is the type of article that makes me happy to be a part of this community. Keep it up Be-Mag and great work Cameron.
great work cam. ;) awsome to have somthing like this shown in a any positive light and especially in a volunteering or charity...
very nice!
fuck yeah!
:)