5:24am and morning prayers ring through the streets, and through the windows of our rented apartment in the center of Arusha. He sings, joined in turns by believers from their homes whose voices, when lifted in unison, surely must be heard in heaven. I wonder for what they pray.

Just a few miles away, I’m sure many of the Masai have just gone to bed with their cattle after a night full of elder storytelling ’round a fire, singing and jump-dancing.

Neither the singing of morning prayers nor the distant dancing of the Masai woke me, but instead some combination of jet lag coupled with the constant refrain that is sung in my own head, a prayer in its own right, that I might somehow find help and weave together enough of it to not only help Mama Lucy build her school here, but to do the same for many more people like her whose prayers to improve the lives of those around them are not simply words, nor songs, but impassioned hard work, sweat and tears poured out endlessly to create miracles.

Morning prayers ended, a mysterious goose-honking begins which will be followed soon by the sounds of roosters wakened by the sun rising over Mt. Meru, birds singing, dogs barking and second-hand trucks handed down for profit from the West whose brakes sound like fingernails scraped along chalkboards and which spew black clouds of smoke into the air and the windows of local homes. Today is a public holiday, though, so the sounds of human bustling may come a little later than usual. Normally, it comes early, the old women crouched on broken sidewalks selling mangos they’ve cultivated likely on small patches of land behind their huts, the throngs of young men with no hopes of employment who instead hustle toward tourists to showcase art they’ve fashioned from banana leaves, and women dressed in vibrantly colored khangas shelling peanuts they’ll roast over personal fires to sell to passersby.

As I wait for them to arrive in town, I flip on the television, greeted by Britney Spears shaking her bon-bon to what I believe was her most recent chart-topper, Gimme More - how fitting. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve a warm place in my heart for the former mouseketeer, but her voice (and jiggling tush) cut through this place like the giant rusted machete the toothless man on the corner uses to peel his oranges.

There are many such strange juxtapositions of local traditions and foreign influences here. Chickens wander outside the front doors of internet cafes. Masai warriors travel into town from their bomas to charge their cell phones at sidewalk booths that supply electrical outlets. A blue, mirrored high-rise built for westerners towers above a bus stop where rickety dala dalas meant for 12 passengers are packed with 30 or more locals who pay a dime for the privilege. Huts of mud and sticks lay next door to brand-new stucco homes. Pristine Land Rovers full of safari tourists barrel past wooden banana carts pulled miraculously by the body weight of children. Land that has for generations belonged to tribal ancestors is being purchased by speculators, developers and investors.

A local school has been evicted to make way for a new hotel.

Tanzania is in the midst of transformation. Who will lead these changes, who will benefit, and what will remain of her rich cultural heritage remains to be seen. My hope is that the impassioned hard work of Mama Lucy and many like her will harness these changes for the good of Tanzania’s children.

Posted: July 7th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: none

Recently Mama Lucy wrote this note, and sent the photos below, to share with you her next goal: a school bus for Shepherds Junior. She wrote:

“Our next goal is to have reliable transport for children and teachers. The school van we have is for 18 passengers, but carries more than 30 pupils and five teachers. In order to fit, they have to carry one another. More than 140 of our pupils depend on one school van and one hired van for transport each day.

If it was possible for our school to move from a rented building to our very own new beautiful buildings, and if we started carrying pupils with one “Toyota Corolla” as transport (carrying up to 10 pupils instead of 5) in 2004 and now we have a school van, definitely, we can move from that to our school bus. How? I don’t know, but I know there’s a way!

This came in my mind several times one evening before I went to bed, on 19th June 2008. I closed my eyes, then started to see the trend of pictures of how we started. It was like a movie. A very interesting one!

Abruptly, a certain song came in my mind called There’s a way to Cross River Jordan. I found myself singing the song for not less than 15 minutes.

By then, I was trying to think of how pupils are squeezing in our school van and a hired vehicle. There’s no more space for even a single child. The teachers too, are squeezing in the same vehicles. Not enough air inside, but they are still happy! That’s how we are moving!

What will be next if more students will join our school, and need to use the school transport? That is a major question clicking in my head.

We do remember of how you good people struggled to make sure we have land and buildings. As you did for that, your donations still count a lot! Many new children have come to our school since you’ve helped us to build such a great facility; now we need to find a way to get all of the children who want to attend our school safely to and from school each morning and evening.

Thank you so much for your help. We do really appreciate it!

Tomorrow, I’ll depart Frankfurt for Tanzania. On this trip, I’d hoped (and still hope!) to make our next loan, for a school bus for Shepherds Junior. While we’ve raised over $6,000 toward the effort to date, the total cost of the bus is estimated to be $25,000 - so we’re definitely not there yet. As of now, we also have outstanding commitments for an additional $12,500, but we’re not certain when these funds will be made available to us; they may not come in until later this year. In any case, to cover the entire cost, we need to raise an additional $6500 as soon as possible. I really hope you’ll help by donating now, and spreading the word to others who might be able to help out. Remember, this school was built primarily from donations of about $20; if we all do a little, together we can make an epic difference.

One of the parents at the school, Gidori, once told us that his son, Gideon, wouldn’t be able to attend Shepherds Junior if transportation weren’t offered. He simply can’t afford any other form of transportation that’s safe for his son.

What impact has the availability or lack of school transportation options meant to your child’s education?

Posted: July 2nd, 2008 under The Foundry, Updates from Mama.
Comments: none

I have writer’s block.

There, I’ve said it. Recently, I’ve even found myself referring to dictionaries of quotations for inspiration like some seventh grader with an essay assignment. It’s funny, because it’s not at all as if I have nothing to write. The truth is, there’s simply so much going on that my brain, even on all cylinders, is unable to process it all.

Funny, today I looked back at some of what I’d written in anticipation of my original trip to Africa, long before I’d ever met Mama Lucy and before Epic Change was born. And I noticed something profoundly different from then to now. That first trip I had no agenda, no project plan, no objectives, just a blank slate on which to scriven the experience. Back then, the words were flowing; like Salt-n-Pepa or Missy Elliot spinnin’ a rhyme, I could weave a story. Everything was seen through fresh, new, yearning eyes wide open. I recorded every taste, smell and sound religiously to savor and share, not out of necessity, but out of wonder.

Recently, my eyes have been too focused on mundane to-do lists to look up. I’ve been fixated on computer screens, project plans and html code. The how rather than the why.

But I believe there’s about to be a moment when all this noise comes to an abrupt and total silence, when I remember the hope, wonder and wide-open eyes and heart of my original footsteps on the continent.

I will see the new school for the time.

And I can’t even begin to imagine how that will feel. But I know I will feel it wholly. For at least that split second (and hopefully longer) my brain will have no gnawing thoughts of “gotta get it done” or “what’s next?”. I’ll simply be basking in the glow of very tangible, very real fruits of our labor over the past several months. I only hope that my words return to me by then, because I must somehow capture the marrow of that moment. Save it in a bell jar, a relish for later when the season passes.

I remember stepping off the plane as I arrived in Kiliminjaro for my most recent visit near the end of last year. I remember the smell of warmth in the place, its drought-browness. I remember the look in Mama Lucy’s eyes, her broad, “welcome home” smile that seemed to say, “I wasn’t sure you were coming back…but I’m so glad you did.” So many people visit, make promises, leave with the best of intentions and never return.

I, on the other hand, am going back. After all, I have things to do, a gannt chart a mile long.

But here’s the thing: I need to forget about them. Sure, there’s a lot to get done. But for now the nagging voices of tasks, deliverables and deadlines need to fade. They will get done, but so much heartfully, so much more beautifully if I can forget about them for a minute and just reconnect with our purpose:

We share the epic stories of hopeful people to help them create change in their communities.

We share stories of hope. Instead of listening to the constant nails-on-the-chalkboard sound of my inner project manager, I need to listen and connect to the inspiring voices of the children, their parents and their teachers, and the incredible potential of this community - potential you’re helping to realize by investing in Epic Change.

So, as I wrote in my journal the night before I left for my first trip to Africa:

The rest of the trip is eyes (ears, heart and mind) wide open.
I wonder what we’ll see . . .

Having now been before, this much I know: it will be beautiful.

I leave today for Germany, and after a few days there, arrive in Tanzania on Friday July 4th. Stay tuned to see where the journey leads…and thanks for coming with me.

(Today’s inner soundtrack: Little Wonders by Rob Thomas)

Posted: June 30th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 3

Meet Pius, a kindergartner at the school in Tanzania, and his courageous mother, Anna:

I wish I had the vocabulary to describe how I felt as Pius played while Mama Anna stood singing in her living room, her voice raised to beckon love, acceptance and a cure. Words escape me, so instead I’ll leave you with her song, in its entirety: listen here.

Posted: June 22nd, 2008 under The Foundry, Story Spot.
Comments: 1

If I learned anything from junior high (other than how to survive the ridicule that accompanies pubescence), it’s that nothing says love like a mixtape (or Casey Kasem). So, in addition to the eighteen videos that have now been submitted by people from three continents, I’d like to bring the children an additional gift - a CD of songs dedicated to them by our friends, donors and supporters that share a little bit about who you are and your personal messages for the kids.

To participate, all you need to do is post a comment below with your name, the name of the song you’d like to dedicate and why you’ve chosen that particular tune. If you’d prefer, make your own muxtape, and leave your dedication and a link below.

If you need some musical inspiration, here’s a few songs that I’ve posted to Twitter and the blog throughout the last few months that somehow serve to commemorate the journey:

• The Sweetest Gift by Sade (posted on 5/29/08)
• Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield (posted 5/28/08)
• Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall (posted 5/23/08)
• Say by John Mayer (posted 5/7/09)
• Look Up by Lauren Hayworth (posted 4/30/08)
• New Soul by Yael Naim (posted on 4/27/08)
• Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (posted 4/9/08)
• Let the River Flow by Up with People (posted 4/9/08)
• Even a Miracle Needs a Hand (posted 4/7/08)
  

In retrospect, I may need to move farther afield from the genre of cheese. Here too are a few songs that the children have shared with us:

• Be Happy Before You Die
• It’s a Small World
• You Are My Sunshine

PS: If you’d still like to submit your video for our Stories Matter project, we’ve extended the deadline through Monday, 6/16/08. For more info, check here.

Posted: June 13th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 10

In my last post, I mentioned our commitment to building the capacity for you to interact directly with those impacted by your donations and support. Just as we’re working to enable direct conversation between our supporters and the community with which we’re partnered in Tanzania, our organization is also committed to providing direct forms of support from our donors to our loan recipients.

In one of Mama Lucy’s recent comments on the blog, she wrote, in response to a question in the blog which asked, “What are the top 3 reasons that you personally support and/or are interested in Epic Change?”

“Their support goes directly to the targeted group/community. This minimizes the chances of misuse of funds; compared to the funds given to the Central Government to be distributed to a certain Ministry then to the targeted group.”

While I am hopeful that corruption is waning in Tanzania and across Africa, recent reports still suggest that graft is a very real problem in the country. As Berkeley professor Edward Miguel writes in his recent article in the Boston Review, “Healthy skepticism about foreign aid’s benefits is particularly appropriate in countries where corruption remains widespread and much of whatever aid does arrive will be squandered.” A few years ago, Der Spiegel published an interview of Kenyan economics expert, James Shikwati, who emphasizes the disastrous impacts that Western aid can have when provided to corrupt governments, saying: “Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted.”

A video I recently ran across by Andrew Mwenda, a provocative Ugandan journalist, underscores their points with his analysis of government spending in his country:

So, unlike many forms of aid which are provided to governments and government-sponsored organizations, and still many other efforts that are primarily led by Westerners without a relevant cultural context, Epic Change is providing loans directly to a grassroots local leader who is working to transform her own community through education. Her results, too, are immediately and completely transparent. Not only does she provide regular photos and blog updates relaying her incredible success, but she even recently sent to us an incredibly thorough catalog of all her receipts.

In addition, as Mwenda’s talk also recommends, Epic Change is not engaged in pureplay charity (in fact, we don’t really ever use that particular word to describe our efforts). Instead we’re investing - providing a loan - to a local woman who is an entrepreneur in every sense of the word. Her expected profit (as ours) may not come in the form of cash, but in the form of something far more valuable: the education of hundreds of children who are in her classrooms now, and the thousands more who will follow in their footsteps through the doors of Shepherds Junior School.

Finally, donations are able to go directly to Mama Lucy because we make every attempt to minimize and/or eliminate overhead expenses. So far, we’ve raised over $43,000 and have spent about $1200 on non-loan expenses, including a mandatory $820 for state & IRS tax-related filing fees and a few hundred dollars in small fees incurred from our donation processing services like Paypal and NetworkforGood. $35,000 has been provided in loans, and nearly $7000 remains available for providing future loans. Not $1 has been paid in salaries (as we have no paid employees) or travel (which has been paid entirely out-of-pocket) and, because our graphic and web design was donated or performed by yours truly, we’ve spent less than $50 on marketing. Your donations go, quite literally, directly to provide loans to the school in Tanzania. As our organization scales, we’ll be able to absorb fewer expenses personally and will certainly begin to incur more overhead costs. Hopefully, we’ll even eventually be able to pay staff, but our perpetual goal will remain to minimize costs that are not directly related to successful project outcomes.

Because your donations to Epic Change directly support the school in Tanzania, I hope you’ll consider donating now toward our next loan, which we hope will provide the opportunity for Shepherds Junior to purchase its first school bus, as Mama Lucy has planned. Your donations will help ensure the safety of small children, ages 2-13, who may live miles from the school, but would walk the distance on dangerous roads to obtain the high-quality education offered there.

We’d also love your opinions: How do you feel about Epic Change’s direct-support model of providing loans to entrepreneurial local leaders who are creating social change in their communities, especially in the context of the insights provided by Miguel, Mwenda and Shikwati? How do you feel about their thinking?

Hat tip to my twitterpal @whiteafrican for the links to the Boston Review and Der Spiegel articles.

Posted: June 6th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 4

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but recently a few folks in Tanzania have begun to leave comments here. I read a comment from a parent at the school the other day; he wrote:

There is is a common Swahili sayings - “Uchungu wa mwana aujuaye mzazi” which means the pain of the child is known by the parent. Mama Lucy is the one who bears this “pregnant” for a more than 9 month. She knows the pain that is why she is so careful to care of this little child who has only 4yrs old! If the vision comes from the owner the result will be 9 times than it could come from the donor/supporter. Many oversees have been providing fish but not teaching how to fish. Do you think there is a way for the project to be sustainable in a long run? It is good for the project owners to feel the the pain of bearing children and they would have the desire to see their children growing and bear fruits. That is what Mama Lucy is doing! Keep it up mama Lucy!

When I read it, I was actually moved to tears, not only because of its content, which presents a profoundly insightful perspective on aid, but simply because it exists.

It’s no small ordeal to use the web in Arusha. The school itself has neither electricity nor internet access. Electricity across town is spotty at best, and web access at anything better than dial-up speeds is nearly impossible to find. It’s also somewhat expensive, especially when compared with the cell phone text messaging that is their primary form of electronic communication. And yet, they’re starting to come here to participate in this evolving conversation. Real people in (nearly) real time.

Admittedly, many online forums provide an opportunity for supporters to engage in dialogue about a particular cause. Others exist that provide static progress updates, some directly from beneficiaries of charitable efforts and many more a layer removed, provided by intermediaries. I’ve found few, though, in which both the supporters of a cause and members of the community targeted by their efforts participate in interactive conversation. I’m just a little excited by the prospect - okay, maybe really excited. I believe there’s so much to learn from one another if we’re able to engage in meaningful, interactive dialogue and truly listen to one another’s ideas.

This is part of the reason for our ongoing Stories Matter video project. Already, we’ve received over 15 videos from London, Pennsylvania, Texas, Silicon Valley, Oregon - and even Elmo! - that include messages for the children, parents and teachers in Tanzania. If you haven’t already seen them, take a look at what’s been submitted, with questions ranging from “what superpower would you like to have?” to “what’s your favorite food?” to “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and “what makes you happy?” These will provide an excellent spark to fuel online conversations, and provide topics to explore that are meaningful to us all. We’ve decided to do less editing than originally planned, so if you’d still like to participate, check out the previous blog post for details; we’ll now be accepting videos through June 15th.

A huge thanks to Nick, Zoe, Ashlee, Sanjay, Elijah, Isa, Laura and my twitterbuds Christian (@Documentally), Will (@wbboyd - w/ guest appearance by @Janetta), Moses (@mskpetigo), Wayne (@wayne_rowe), Fi (@firestar9s) Aronado (@Aronado), Maria (@MaThurrell), Scott (@greenskeptic) and Deidre (@Deidre), for taking the time to include their diverse, interesting and heartfelt videos! Thanks to Laura (@Pistachio) and Jason (@JasonJarrett) too for all their amazing help spreading the word!

We’ll be spending significant time over the coming weeks and months developing new technologies to support this burgeoning dialogue. I hope you’ll start to use these tools as an opportunity to engage in direct conversation with Mama Lucy, Gidori and future participants from Arusha who will undoubtedly soon join this community. What types of online interactions would be meaningful for you?

Feel free to ask a question as a comment here to get the dialogue started or read their comments to the posts here or here and respond to their questions and insights.

Posted: June 4th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: none

When I left Africa on my last trip, I asked a question to the teachers and parents at the school: “what should I bring when I return?”

They replied, without hesitation: “bring friends.” They want to meet you, to know the invisible people who somehow helped to rebuild a place that represents, for many of them, the cornerstone of their community. And while I’d love for all of you to join me us on our upcoming trip, I know for some of you that’s just not possible.

So I want to bring you in the way I’m able - on film. I want them to hear - from you - about who you are, what you’d like to know about them, and why you believe their stories matter. We plan to combine all of your responses to create a movie for the kids - some of whom may have never seen a movie before, and certainly not one just for them. Check out George’s picture to the right for some indication of just how interested the kids are in movies. You can see his makeshift video camera fashioned from pencaps, paper and rubberbands.

Already, we’ve had participants submit videos from London to Texas, but your voice is missing - and the kids would love to hear from you. To inspire you, the little redhead has again busted out her video camera to show you how easy it is.

As she mentions, all you need to do in your video is:

1) Introduce yourself & share something interesting about your life.
2) Ask the kids, teachers or parents at the school a question.
3) Tell them why you think their story matters.

Once your short clip is complete, all you need to do is add your video to the YouTube group at http://www.youtube.com/group/storiesmatter. That’s it.

So we have an opportunity to edit before we leave for Tanzania, your submissions are due by Monday, June 2 Sunday, June 15th. If you can’t get it to me by that date, just let me know when you can submit yours. If you have a question, or need any help with your video, email me at stacey@epicchange.org or call me directly at 415.630.0631. In addition, if there’s simply no way I’ll convince you to get on video, do this: email me at stacey@epicchange.org with a photo of yourself that includes your personal message to the kids.

You can’t imagine what their faces will look like when you remind them of their significance, through your eyes and in your voice. And I’ll make sure you get to see their reactions, all the way from Africa, right here on the blog.

Posted: May 28th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 6

I’ve had the incredible opportunity to have many conversations with Mama Lucy, and some of the parents at the school, about the many various ways that “aid” has been provided in their country. I’ve sat over chai at Lucy’s table and discussed our mutual frustrations with many failed, and some quite arrogant, approaches. I thought you might be interested to hear some of her thoughts, too. I realize, of course, that whatever she shares is now cast through the lens that she is our partner, but nonetheless I think she expresses a frank, thoughtful position that you’ll likely find interesting and thought-provoking. If you have questions, I’d encourage you to ask them directly to her. Though her internet access is somewhat limited, I’m sure she’ll be excited to respond as soon as she’s able.

Mama Lucy’s first language is Swahili, but she speaks remarkable English. I’ve no doubt that you’ll be able to understand the meaning of her note. Additionally, since we hope to build an online community where people from both of our cultures can meaningfully connect, I believe it’s imperative for us to begin to share these communications without mediation.

When I asked her to share with you her perspectives on aid, and our approach in particular, Mama Lucy wrote:

Dear Epic Changers,

What is aid?
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, it has the following meaning:

• Money, food, etc. that is sent to help in difficult situations.
• Help that you need to perform a particular task.
• Help that is given to a person.

Now let’s come to the point.

Those definitions give us a picture of how beautiful it is. For me, an aid seems to be a very good thing too, but it has two sides. One, it depends on how an aid giver decides to give (the approach). To the right people/community/country at the right time through those who have direct connection to the targeted group.

The other side, it depends on how an aid receiver is prepared to use/utilize such aid. Positively or otherwise. Someone can decide to send an aid with very good intention to help a community to cater a certain need, but can end up with no good impact. The receiver must be related to that need. There must be connection between the two.

Giving aid through “participatory approach” can bring great change to a community. Such community can value what they have participated in, rather than what they’ve just received ready made.

Epic Change has this unique approach of giving aid to our community. (participatory approach). They support us by giving us loans and strengthening our muscles by giving us chances to do planning and decision making. We do these practically.

Epic Change does not leave us to be passive recipients but active participants. It helps and encourages entrepreneurship and initiative in our community; which brings economic empowerment.

This is the only way a community can be taught how to fish, and not only be given a fish.

I wish other organizations could come up with this approach, there would be great change in our community!

Lucy

When we originally conceptualized Epic Change, we knew two things:

• We knew nothing about building a school in Africa.
• Mama Lucy did.

Therefore, you’ll see from the earliest documentation of our organization that our first, and most important, core value is local leadership. Epic Change does not design, develop or implement community improvements. We do not build schools. We’ve simply created an experimental business model that we hope will enable us to create a renewable source of capital to invest in the crucial efforts of grassroots change agents across the globe like Mama Lucy. While she calls our approach “participatory,” Mama Lucy does far more than participate. She independently founded and is leading this effort. As she mentions, she does the “planning and decision making.” After all, she created the school, and made it successful, long before we ever arrived. The vision is hers to realize, along with the parents’ committee, the amazing staff of teachers she’s hired and, of course, her students.

I recently ran across a link to the film They Come in the Name of Helping by Peter Brock on Peter Dietz’s Social Actions blog. The film takes a critical look at the effectiveness of foreign development programs through the eyes of young adults living in Sierra Leone. They offer thought-provoking perspectives on the value of local involvement in identifying the needs of a particular community and the solutions that are most appropriate in a given cultural context. It’s definitely worth spending some time to take a look, and provides some compelling reasons why locally-led initiatives likely have the greatest potential for success.

In it, 24-year-old journalist Zainab Kamara says:

“They [i.e., foreign aid workers] come in the name of…solving the problem, in which they don’t even have an iota of an idea…When they come, they just say, ‘we have the solution to your problem; don’t worry, we’re here.’ So their assurance is there; we’re just waiting on them to solve the problem. Instead of telling us that you [i.e., local people] have the solution to your problems, all they’ll do is say, ‘we have the solutions to your problem, so just wait on us and we’ll solve the problem.’”

Mama Lucy knows the problem, has the solution and waits for no one. As it should be.

How do you feel about our approach as Mama Lucy has shared it? Given what you know about our partnership with her, do you have suggestions for how we could improve our approach? Do you have any questions for Mama Lucy - or for us? Any other insights from watching Brock’s film?

Posted: May 21st, 2008 under The Foundry, Updates from Mama.
Comments: 6

In my birthday post on Go Big Always, I asked for three things: videos, donations & volunteers. It’s now 10 days later & several folks have now asked if I got my wishes, so here’s the skinny so far:

Videos
I’ve asked for everyone supporting our efforts to participate in making a movie for the kids that will be called Your Stories Matter. So far, several people have indicated interest, but no one has yet submitted a video. I figure maybe you were just waiting for me to jump first, so in the wee hours of this morning, before I went to bed, I made my own. Please note that 1) I am not pretty at 2:30am; 2) I hate seeing my mug on video; and 3) There’s nothing super genius about my submission - but it’s true. That’s all I want from you.

You have some time; videos are due by Friday, May 30th, but the sooner the better. All you need to do is create a video that includes your name & location and answers one or more of the following questions:

• Why do the stories of the children, parents and teachers at a school in Tanzania matter to you?
• What’s something interesting about you?
• What’s a question you have for the students, parents or teachers of the school in Tanzania?

Once you’ve made your video, upload it to our Stories Matter YouTube group. Even if you watch my example, I hope to get something that’s uniquely you.

Donations
Last week, we received Sam’s amazing gift of Clearspace Community, and raised $421. $191 of that was birthday gifts from my friends & family, so $230 came from the six trendsetters who have been the first to donate since hearing about our story on Go Big Always.

THANK YOU SO MUCH:

	Richard Fahey		Gia Lyons		Todd Kalhar
	Rachel Happe		Ben Wern	T.G.

If you get a chance, tweet these folks a thanks! It’s incredibly significant to add 6 new donors to our cause, but we’ve got a long way to go to get to our next goal of $25,000 to make a loan for the school bus, which I’d like to do before we depart this summer, probably in late June. So far, we’ve raised $6,046 toward that effort, so we’ve got $18,954 to go. Any great ideas?

Recently I learned via @Silverbell that, according to Convio, only about 8% of supporters, activists & advocates for a cause actually give to that cause. Why do you think that is? In your experience, what differentiates a cause to which you give from one which you support? I’d love to get a sense about what would motivate you to give.

So far over $40,000 has been raised and four classrooms have been built in Tanzania because of the generosity of many, many individuals, most of whom have donated about $25, and a handful that make small gifts of $5 - $25 monthly. So often, I think folks assume that philanthropy is the realm of the rich and powerful, or the job of corporations and foundations. In fact, according Giving USA, only 4.3% of total donations come from corporate contributions, and 12.4% from foundations. 83.3% - the overwhelming majority of charitable gifts - come from individuals like you who believe they have the power to make a difference. While we’re looking for help from corporations and foundations too, based on our experience at Epic Change, I’m a firm believer in the power of micro-philanthropy. Giving is for everyone and together, we are all powerful.

Okay, so maybe I thought (or at least secretly hoped) that pennies (or dollars) would rain down from the heavens when I posted to Sam’s blog; perhaps you hoped so too. And the money will come - it’s only been a week, and we’ve just begun to spread the word. I think, though, that this is probably an eye-opening case study for folks into just how difficult fundraising really is. We could really use your help. Remember, no one here gets a salary, and we don’t have the overhead of an office. Your donations directly build on the efforts of one amazing woman in Tanzania to provide a great education to kids like Glory & Gideon.

Besides, according to a study recently published in Science Magazine and the Boston Globe, a team of researchers from Harvard and the University of British Columbia recently found that “spending money on others promotes happiness.” So get happy, give now. And ask everyone you know to do the same.

Volunteers
Whew. Boy, howdy. This has been perhaps one of the coolest weeks ever in terms of getting connected to great people who can help.

Friday, for instance, I spoke with Jim Long, an NBC producer/cameraguy & founder of Verge New Media, who actually worked on the team that produced Ann Curry’s live interview of the president & first lady from Arusha, Tanzania for the Today Show. He’s, um, the expert. I reached out via twitter to find out the best, cheapest way to get video from the school to the web, because I’d love to build a community where we can interact more closely with Mama Lucy and her students. He sent me his cell number, and I called him in Crawford, TX, where he was covering the wedding of the daughter of no less than the POTUS. (How rad is that? This guy totally rocks.) In addition to Jim and many bloggers I’ve mentioned who’ve now started to help us spread the word, check out who else has now jumped in to help:

• Social Media & Social Networking: Harvard senior Avi Kaplan, Jive’s resident community guru Barry Tallis, Genentech Project Manager (& my friend & go-to techie) Dan McCall, and Forrester Social Computing Analyst Jeremiah Owyang (yes, that Jeremiah Owyang) have all contacted me to offer advice and/or assistance with our plans to build an online community using Jive’s Clearspace Community software. In addition, Veronica Giggey found three engineers at Jive who have volunteered their time to help us implement Clearspace Community. (Thanks Chase, Alex & Scott!) Dustin Jacobsen too has passed along some SEO advice (which we’re looking for help to implement!).
• Hosting: Mario Olckers, all the way from South Africa, has volunteered hosting resources - for free!
• Accounting & Audit: Amy Worley, Digital Marketing Director at H&R Block is looking around to see if she can find us some pro bono support for our accounting and audit needs. Cross your fingers; accounting is not my bag.
• Design: Nicole Andrews, Art Director & owner of Blue Design has volunteered her incredible creative talents & Clay Newton has also volunteered to tap some of his art & design peers to see if they might be interested in helping us out.
• Marketing: Marketing 4 Change blogger Will Boyd has asked us to participate in a podcast interview. Hack Artist blogger Cara Byington has offered to help us with writing. Dustin Jacobsen & Paul Greensmith have also reached out with an offer to blog about our efforts. Paul also has connected us with a potential collaborator for future fundraising events.

These folks rock - and their expertise and offers of help will be invaluable to the evolution of Epic Change. I’ve learned too that there’s some invisible people too quietly working to bring attention and resources to our cause, so thanks, even if I don’t know your name. As you can see, too, most folks have volunteered to help with our online efforts, which is awesome - but we really need help with the other volunteer opportunities we’ve posted as well.

I hope you’re as excited as I am about all the progress that’s been made in the last few short days. With this kind of momentum, together, we’re about to create Epic Change. Of course, we still need many more volunteers, plenty of donations and your videos to make my birthday wish a reality. So I’m willing to extend my celebration for as long as it takes.

After all, there’s no such thing as too much cake.

PS: Sorry for the super-long post, but this is a great example of the reason Epic Change really needs Jive’s Clearspace Community. Cobbling together all of your amazing contributions is far better done by great tools than my feeble hands.

Posted: May 13th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 5