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Every morning, I drive to work in my comfortable car listening to my favorite radio station. On one recent morning, I had a glimpse into a world very different from my own. At the school bus stop I pass each morning, I saw only one young boy instead of the usual multitude of children waiting. I looked around, hoping to find a parent nearby.

I wondered what he was doing waiting at the school bus stop during spring break. Being the mother of a young child myself, I couldn’t resist making a U-turn.

Let’s call this boy “Johannes.” I asked him, “Where is your mother?”

“Home, sleeping,” he said with a slight foreign accent. “School bus gone – have to go to school,” he added in his broken English.

Johannes didn’t know that school was out all week. “No school today; I take you home,” I replied in my best broken English.

“Yes, have to go school, no go home,” he responded emphatically.

I admired his determination. Thinking I might have better luck with his parents, I asked for his telephone number. I dialed and heard a woman at the other end, clearly awakened from deep slumber. I tried to convey to this mother that her son was at the bus stop but there was no school.

“I bring Johannes home – where is your home?” I asked?

Instead, Johannes enthusiastically said, “I show you my home,” and hopped in my car. “How old are you?” I asked. “Six – I go grade one” he said with great pride.

We entered a broken-down neighborhood with endless rows of apartments. We parked and got out of the car. I walked behind him protectively as he led me to the right door. Standing on his tiptoes, he rang the doorbell.

After the third ring, the door slowly opened, and a man closely resembling my young friend appeared. I asked Johannes, “Is this your father?” He eagerly nodded and slipped through the entrance.

“No school for five days,” I said. “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday – no send Johannes alone – sometimes bad people,” I preached. With a perplexed look and a thick accent, the father said, “OK, thank you.”

I left and went to work. The thought of Johannes stayed with me all day. The thought of a chance encounter with the “wrong” person. The thought of how quickly and easily he got into my car. The thought of not knowing whether his father understood there was no school all week.

Though Johannes’ parents simply may have been faced with a language barrier, there are other children like Johannes who could use our help.

Every morning, too many of us drive to our destination, oblivious to another “world” that’s right in our neighborhoods. We must agree that it’s not someone else’s problem, it’s not just some community agency’s job, it’s ours.

Imagine the impact we can make if each of us vows to do something to help improve the life of a child – by mentoring, volunteering in an early reading program, helping abused children or in so many other ways. The opportunities are endless.

Mashal Husain is the director of strategic development in the health division at Principal Financial Group Inc.