...change a life. As many of you know (ok, all 14 of you, just humour me here ...), I traveled to Rwanda several weeks ago, where my uncle and I were essentially carrying out "assessment mission", aka "checking out the scene to see if it's all good to go".
In short, we are working with a small, rural community in southern Rwanda, where they are hoping to be able to complete the secondary school - currently the only one in the area - which, today, goes only to the 9th grade. Unable to travel the long distances to reach the next closest secondary school and / or pay the tuition, most students today (many of whom are "genocide orphans") simply drop out of school.
So, we scoured the potential building site, spoke with local community leaders, local government leaders, Church leaders, teachers, students, parents, builders ... and we think we've got it all figured out - $530,000 USD, and we can have ten classrooms, a dining hall, a residence hall, restrooms, a computer lab, a library AND an assembly hall built ... given hundreds of kids - the future leaders of a truly inspiring country - a shot at a university education.
Now all we've got to figure out is just how to collect that much needed money.
We're thinking the "Obama strategy" might work. "If everyone gave just $1, it would only take ... " ok, perhaps I should be a bit more humble. Even adding in all my FB "friends" that I haven't talked to in nearly a decade, I still don't quite come close to reaching 530,000 friends. Hmm. Time for a new strategy ...
HUMBLY ASK FOR YOUR HELP. Perhaps if I spread the word to all of MY friends, who spread the word to all of THEIR friends, who then pass the word to all of THEIR friends ... we might just make it. Know of a foundation, a church, a community service club that might be interested in chipping in in some way or another? Please let me know!
We've put together a very simple website that tells a bit more about the project; please check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks a million.
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