    A TRIBUTE
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Steven was an inspiration to many people, not least to me his father. He was the inspiration behind this and other websites, each with the purpose of helping to change the way Street kids are viewed, treated and helped. Steve worked hard at his ideals. He cared about people, all people, and continued working for others long after he became ill. He worked with Street kids in Romania, and was appointed an "honorary Street kid" by the children themselves. He had no time for petty rules, when he saw a need he took direct action. He took food and kind words to places in Romania designated "no go" areas to all but gangs of Street Kids. When threatened with violence, he was defended by Street Kids. He saw corruption there, and challenged it. Food, supplies, clothing, money, all siphoned off by the very people appointed to care for and treat the kids. He discovered that these people had power, the power to move him out of the way, but he still refused to give in. He came home horrified that any human could treat a child in such a callous manner, and swore he would do all he could to provide good honest care for these kids. Steve was intelligent, a computer whizz kid, and he worked hard at his job raising money for the project. At one time he was running his own business while holding down two other jobs, but was still haunted by the thought that he was not doing enough. Steve never looked to lay blame on those who mistreated the kids, for he saw the best in almost everyone, believing that they just needed a chance, a little education maybe, or help with their individual problems. For over two years Universal Archives was the target of a spammer who sent a stream of viruses and pornography to our mailbox. Eventually, Steven used his expertise to trace and identify this person, and for some time kept an eye on his activities. He wasn't interested in taking action against the spammer, saying he would rather offer help than seek revenge, that it would be wrong to add to the problems the person already had. He set up a firewall to protect our machines, and though that solved our problem, still considered making contact with the spammer to see if he could help. As I said, Steve cared about people, all people. ~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~ By March of 2003 it was clear that Stevens' illness was serious, and though he tried hard to carry on he was finding it more and more difficult to fight against it. Steven died on Thursday 22 May 2003. He was 25 years old To his family, and his many good friends, it still seems impossible that someone so full of life could not still be here. It will be a long time before we can bring ourselves to say goodbye, and even longer before we can become used to not having him around. In the meantime his work will go on, we who are left behind owe it to his memory to continue, and we will do that. Some three years ago I wrote in our Street Kid Link page - "No man stands so tall as he who stoops to help a child" Steven stooped to help everyone, and he was by far the tallest man I ever knew. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have a God, please pray for my son's soul, pray for a man who gave his love to all. 17th June 2003 Just before Steve became too ill to work, he began building a small website around the work he did in Romania. He never launched it, and so I intend to add it to this site as soon as possible. If the link below is blue the website is open. Steven's Romanian Street Kids |
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