If you are on facebook and have followed much in the nonprofit world, you might have heard of the Chase Community Giving contest. Chase is giving away $5million dollars to 200 nonprofits. I would personally love to see Nuru be among that group. With your help, I believe we can work together to qualify Nuru for a $20,000 gift from Chase.
So how do you do it? Go to the Facebook page for Chase, "like" it, and vote for Nuru. After you vote, you can update your facebook, twitter, myspace, and linked in statuses with your vote so you can get your friends involved. It literally takes seconds to vote and spread the word.
If you don't have facebook, send a link to my blog via email to your friends and contacts, and tell them that you want them to help Nuru Internaional receive $20,000.
The important thing is that you VOTE NOW because voting closes in just a little over three days. Will you take a minute out of your day and help Nuru? We need folks to take action RIGHT NOW.
Thanks so much! Your vote can literally be the difference in Nuru being able to receive $20,000.
As the month of June comes to an end, it’s my pleasure to announce Nuru’s latest partnership to you. We are now partnering with an organization called One Day’s Wages (ODW). The organization is really cool, and you should definitely check them out. ODW was started by a guy named Eugene Cho in 2009 in an effort to raise awareness and funds to combat global extreme poverty. He and his wife actually gave the entirety of their 2009 salary toward ending extreme poverty. Their goal is to see every person in the US give one day's wages (0.44%) of their annual income to end extreme poverty.
ODW has about 750,000 members on their facebook page, and Eugene and his organization have been getting a lot of press and exposure at conferences lately. Some of the other organizations ODW has partnered with include our friends at Charity: Water and Partners In Health.
We at Nuru are pretty exited about the $15k grant that ODW is raising for Nuru in an effort to empower 70 Kenyan farmers to lift themselves out of extreme poverty, but we are even more excited about working together with another top notch organization dedicated to working toward the end of extreme poverty.
To read more about it on their site, follow this link!
For those of you who are regular visitors to this site, you know that Nuru had a nationwide awareness campaign that had 1500 hundred people participate at 26 sites. But what you didn’t know was that there were others who were inspired to take part in their own “Be Hope To Her” events.
For those of you who are regular visitors to this site, you know that Nuru had a nationwide awareness campaign that had 1500 hundred people participate at 26 sites. But what you didn’t know was that there were others who were inspired to take part in their own “Be Hope To Her” events.
In fact, just a few days ago, Mrs. Stewart, a sixth grade teacher at Nimitz Middle School in San Antonio, Texas helped her students organize their own “Be Hope To Her” Event. Collectively, starting at 830AM and ending with the last bell at 330PM these sixth grade students logged over 100 miles carrying buckets of water. They all wanted to be able to say that for one day they “walked a mile in someone else’s shoes.”
These students not only walked through the day, but they have been learning about the issue of extreme poverty throughout the school year. In fact, these students read Greg Mortensen’s Three Cups of Tea as part of their studies this year.
Mrs. Stewart first discovered Nuru through an article that made it on the apple website in November about how Nuru uses Macs in our efforts to end extreme poverty. When she read the article, she was personally motivated to do something, and she got her students involved in Nuru’s work.
These students have been scouring the Nuru website and reading staff blogs to become better educated activists. I am thoroughly impressed with Mrs. Stewart and her students because they are educating themselves on the issue of extreme poverty, and they are taking action.
On June 3rd, I was able to talk with her class through skype. It was amazing to be able to applaud this incredible woman and her world changing students through video technology. We spent about a half hour sharing with each other, and the students had some really great questions to ask. They are serious about ending extreme poverty, and they know that their involvement in this issue matters.
Some would possibly tell these boys and girls that they are too small, or that their efforts don’t matter, but I told them, and I will tell you as well, that everybody has a contribution to make toward the end of extreme poverty.
The goal is huge, but it is achievable. Because Mrs. Stewart took the time to educate these students, and encouraged them to get involved, they are joining a generation of world changers, and I sincerely believe that together with your help, all of us can see the end of extreme poverty.
I hope you will follow the lead of these students and get involved in the issue. Together, we CAN end extreme poverty. Together, we can be part of a generation that sees the end of the greatest humanitarian crisis of the contemporary era.
Tour gives us the opportunity to meet many different people in different phases of life, but one of my favorite things has been having the opportunity to spend time with families. It is always fun to be able to see families function as a unit and how a parent's example can shape who their children will become.
I think of my own parents. My mom is an educator, and I can remember her being the teacher that connected with the "lost causes". She never saw them that way. She took time to make students feel valued, and fostered a love for learning in the most unlikely students. My dad is an engineer. A logical thinker. But when I think of him, I see him mowing our lawn, then going next door to mow our neighbor's lawn as she struggled to care for her son on her own. He engaged even the hardest, roughest kids in conversations that told them that their voice matters. Growing up, he reminded me to remember others who struggled for the basic needs of life despite my own comforts. It's no wonder that today I value education, desire to invest in people, don't believe in lost causes, encourage individuals to use their unique voice, and can't ignore my responsibility to those who live in poverty.
Then, I see these families - parents who want to see extreme poverty ended, and teach their kids about kids across the globe who are just like them but deal with obstacles beyond comprehension. I see servanthood, love, sacrifice, and beauty lived out in these homes. I can't help but be excited about what the future holds. Not only are we seeing a generation of young people stepping out, but we're humbled by the families that care about people a world away, fight the fights that matter, and train their kids to do the same.
Thank you to all the families living life this way. It isn't always the easy road, but you're making a difference now and raising up the future leaders to continue your legacy of influencing positive change in the world. Though often unnoticed, your work is invaluable and integral to what we do. We can't thank you enough for fighting alongside us.
Today, Tiff and I were talking about how being on Tour changes your perception of things. For instance your perception of time is completely warped. You get to the point where you think a 6 hour drive is a short one.
I judge couches based on their sleep ability. I will never purchase a couch that I could not sleep on. I critique cities based on the ease of maneuvering and parking a big van like Lenore.
We also judge the cleanliness of our clothes, not by whether or not they are actually clean, but by their smell and lack of stains.
I no longer rank coffee shops based on how good their coffee is, I rank them based on the number and accessibility of outlets to plug in my laptop. I never realized how difficult it can be to find an available outlet in some coffee shops until I came on tour.
Tour also has a way of sucking just about every ounce of creativity from your being. I used to consider myself a creative person, but day after day, I sit down at my computer and try to come up with something to blog about and find that a can only come up with basically the same thing that I said the time before. My creativity is almost completely gone, so I apologize for the lack of originality in my blog posts.
We are constantly plagued by a baseline level of exhaustion, but it amazes me that night after night we find the strength and enthusiasm to tell the Nuru story. I guess when you are doing something that you truly love, you will find the will to do it and do it to the best of your ability.
