by Sue Orsen
Clayton Fox didn't want to join his mother and older brother last month on a mission trip to Sri Lanka to help tsunami victims. 
"I didn't want to go," admitted the 15-year old.  "I wanted to snowmobile instead and I didn't want to get behind in school."  Clayton attends the Pioneer Ridge Freshman Center in District 112.  For a serious minded student, two weeks away from classes is a big deal and make-up work isn't the same as being there.
But Clayton said he felt a pressure to go on the trip.  That pressure seems to have been internal, however, and not external, certainly not from his mother.
"It was entirely his decision," said Audrey Fox, and she smiled in telling of his vacillation.  "He flipped a coin and it landed on 'stay home.'  The second time it also landed on 'stay home.'  So then he said 'the best three out of five.'" 
Something inside of Clayton didn't want to follow the toss of the coins.  So he followed his heart instead and joined big brother Nelson, 17, and their mother on an adventure of a lifetime.
He's very glad he succumbed.  "It was life changing for me," he admitted without hesitation.  Referring to new friends in Sri Lanka, he said, "I'm going to spend more money on them now instead of on me.  So much of what I have I don't need.  True happiness is in relationships." 
All of this from an American teen-ager!
"It was the best trip of my life," continued the young student who has not exactly spent his short years in seclusion.  The two brothers have traveled extensive-ly in the United States including the East and West Coasts and Alaska, and even to Norway.
Clayton envisions the future for him-self as an electrical or mechanical engineer like his Grandpa Anderson.

A 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean on December 26^th, 2004, triggered a tsunami that reached speeds of 500 mph and waves 100 feet high.  It was one of the deadliest disasters in modern history, with over 230,000 lives lost and 2,000,000 made homeless.

Nelson Fox is a 17-year old student at Chaska High School.  Shortly after gradu-ation this spring, he'll be headed for St. John's University in Collegeville.  His intended major, Environmental Studies, will probably come to focus for a time on earthquakes and tsunamis.
From the beginning, Nelson felt called to visit Sri Lanka and help victims of the 2004 disaster.  His compassion and desire to help others caused him to sign up immediately.  The eye-opening trip to Sri Lanka and firsthand experience of a totally different culture has been a significant chapter in his already full life.
"You're engulfed in their poverty," said the reflective young man.  "Learning English will help them get out of poverty.  It will give them a job in the city.  Work-ing young people bring their money back to the family in the villages.  Ninety percent of the people support each other, not just themselves."
Nelson referred to Colombo, capital city of the island country.  "Colombo was the most modern city we saw," he said, "but it was not up to U.S. standards.  And there is still trash piled high from trying to clean up after the tsunami."
"A lot of the homes are being re-built," added Clayton, but debris is still there.  The homes that are getting built now are better than what they had before."

The earthquake was upgraded to 9.1 to 9.3, the second largest ever recorded.  The resulting tsunami devastated the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and other countries.  Sri Lanka alone lost 31,000 lives with 6,300 still missing and 443,000 displaced from their homes and villages.

Audrey Fox is an ophthalmologist at Lakeview Clinic in Waconia, but it was not as a medical eye doctor that she made the trip to Sri Lanka with her sons.  She thought that the mission would be to help build or re-build houses and actually wield a hammer.  In fact, it came to be about teaching the children English and building relationships with people in another culture.

Click here to continue A Life Changing Experience.