North Bay Woman

S P R I N G | S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 NORTH BAY WOMAN 35 International humanitarian leader Heidi Kuhn at home in Marin County. – Photo by Trevor Henley | Desire to Inspire Studios Foundation always been a family enterprise. Honoring the land by organically raising both food and flowers is integral to Kyleigh Kuhn's life in Guatemala, including growing herbs on the roof of her home. "My norm was so different from other kids growing up in Marin," Kyleigh Kuhn said in a telephone interview. "Mom took me to visit my first minefield when I was 13 years old. After that, it was normal for me to visit former war zones once a year or every other year. Having dinner conversation in our home was about different strategies, because my dad ended up supporting my mom's vision and they were constantly strategizing how to accomplish her mission. It became a co-vision of theirs. In our family it was totally normal to talk about how to connect with which person in which high embassy, or who was the right person to help us at the UN. It was pretty interesting. My mom always made a point to bring me along on her travels." Heidi Kuhn's vision and early success with Roots of Peace inspired Kyleigh to create what was known as the Penny Campaign following the tragedy of 9/11. "That event triggered my memories from visiting mine fields. So we drummed up this concept to extend a hand of peace out to Afghanistan, after seeing what happened in the Balkans war." According to Kyleigh Kuhn, who graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies (now called Global Studies), the Penny Campaign, which encouraged people to simply give pennies for peace, raised $250,000. "From those proceeds we built two schools in Afghanistan from the ground up, and helped refurbish four schools. That really gave me a sense of ownership in doing something helpful on my own," she said. Other projects in the works include developing a food marketplace in Antigua, where Kyleigh Kuhn, her husband and business partners plan to sell locally grown spices, run a couple of small restaurants and develop a market for the artisan foods such as cacao, coffee and black pepper, that grow well in Guatemala. Continuing the Kuhn family's humanitarian work during Covid was difficult. The whole family came down with mild cases of the virus. Heidi Kuhn, however, became so sick (it morphed into double pneumonia) that she ended up hospitalized, and broke a hip in her weakened state. The loving support of her family, she said, and her indefatigable will to keep on doing the work, even from bed, helped her recover. "Roots of Peace…I am a mamma bear about it. It is about the land, respecting people," Heidi Kuhn said. "This is so deep in my heart. As a Marin County woman, bestowed with a beautiful home overlooking the bay, I knew I couldn't be a society queen but I had to do something to help the world as I promised my grandmother I would do. I walked my first minefield in Croatia, in January 2000. "I do think my children suffered greatly for my passion; they thought something was wrong in their family because their mom was always off traveling somewhere," she reflected. "Sometimes they got teased by the other kids. I was very lucky to have extended family in Marin who helped take care of my children as I built Roots of Peace. I have to tell you, it was very difficult to travel these war-torn regions of the world to witness the suffering, to hold children who have lost their legs to land mines, then come back to the Mecca of materialism in Marin County and tell people you need their help. Ultimately, I wanted my children to know the legacy of what their mother stood for. That this was my life's destiny, to take out these insidious land mines. I cannot sit with apathy, turn on the news and simply watch the devastation going on in Ukraine at this time. I need to suit up and go out and do something." n Leslie Harlib can be reached at lharlib@gmail.com.

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