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We have a lofty goal here at Mothers Fighting For Others.
We need to raise $30,000 to put ten water purification units in ten different orphanages and schools in and around Nairobi, Kenya. We will be partnering with A Child’s Right to get this project accomplished. You can read about the work A Child’s Right has done in country’s such as China, Nepal, and Cambodia by clicking HERE.
When Julie and I started on this venture, we knew one of our main goals was to get clean water to as many kids as we could. We did our research and A Child’s Right seemed to be the perfect fit for us.
So our first big project is now underway.
I take my tap water for granted. It might not be as clean or taste as good as bottled water, but I am not going to get sick from it. That is the point I am trying to make. I will not die from my tap water. I might have a bad taste in my mouth, but the reality is, that is no big deal in the scheme of my life.
After spending time in Kenya, I know for a fact that 2-3 girls, on average, at Saint Monica’s Children’s Home come down with Typhoid every month. Every month. The CDC explains Typhoid as a
life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. In the United States about 400 cases occur each year, and 75% of these are acquired while traveling internationally. Typhoid fever is still common in the developing world, where it affects about 21.5 million persons each year.
The interesting thing in can be easily taken care of by eliminating the source of unclean water.
And that’s what we plan to do.
I am hoping that you can help. And time is of the essence. You can help us in the next few weeks.
How? Easy. Have a party. We are looking for 100 moms to raise $100. That will be one third of our goal. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? It is. Thanksgiving, Office Holiday Parties, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Years are just around the corner. This is the prime time to ask our friends and loved ones to help those in need. $100 from each woman. That’s all.
You have complete control. Want to have an ice cream party? A BBQ? Are you having big Family-Get-Together this holiday season? Are you going to your office party this year? You can help thousands of children by collecting only $100 and getting us closer to our goal of clean drinking water for the girls at Saint Monica’s and thousands of other orphans in Kenya.
Interested?
Let me know if you are. I would love to help any way I can with your questions. Here are a few FAQ that I thought I would answer now.
1. Who do we write the check out to? The check should be written directly to A Child’s Right. In the memo of the check needs to have MFFO Kenya Project. That will guarantee our project be credited the amount.
2. How do I know this is not a scam? This is a legitimate question these days. A Child’s Right is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) corporation (tax ID# 56-2600599). You can locate them on the IRS, GuideStar.org, and GoodSearch. Julie and I will be accompanying A Child’s Right to Kenya next year. We will be helping them with the installation itself and meeting all the children that receive your donations.
3. Who do we send the checks to? You can send them directly to Mothers Fighting For Others. Here is the address.
Mothers Fighting For Others INC
Clean Water Project
27943 Seco Canyon RD # 533
Santa Clarita CA 91350
If you are able to throw a party before the end of the year, and checks are written no later than 12/31/07, you and your donors will be able to receive the tax deduction for 2007. So take advantage of the tax deduction this year!
So let’s get on it my friends. Who is ready to jump on board? I hope you are. I am excited to work with all of you on this very exciting and important project.
Let’s Party!
Okay, I’ll admit it… I like MySpace.
In recent days I like it even more since they have spent a lot of their time in recent days promoting the Impact Awards, the Red Campaign and now, the Rock for Darfur Event taking place on November 10th.
On November 10th you can see a concert in a major city in your area, and be assured that a portion of the proceeds from your ticket will go directly to the Save Darfur Coalition and to Oxfam’s humanitarian work in Darfur.
The crisis in Darfur is still urgent. The people are still real.
We need to end the genocide taking place in Darfun in Sudan Africa right now. The devastation on humanity is heartbreaking, the reality is undeniable. America needs to intervene and we need to do it now.
Corporate America listen up… I know where your tax deductible donation will have the biggest impact. I know the kids that your donation will have the biggest impact. There is no middle man. There is not cut off the top. I will take your money straight to the kids who need it most. Every single dollar of every single donation
will go directly to the children of Africa.
Mothers Fighting for Others will be an official non-profit organization within the next few months. When everything is “official” we will make an announcement on where and when to make direct, tax-deductible donations to our organization.
In addition to working with Eric from A Child’s Right, we hope to work with Father Augustine at St. Monica’s Orphanage in Kenya to send ALL of his girls to high-school next year! They deserve it.
You can be the drop in the bucket. We can make a difference!
Mothers Fighting For Others
After much talk, and serious consideration; both Rocky and I have decided that our hearts and souls have been poured into the children of Africa. We have decided that in our collaboration with A Child’s Right , that we will now focus all of our attention on the continent of Africa.
I can’t imagine not taking our passion for making changes in this world straight to the vein that feeds this passion for the kids who need us most. Long ago, when I saw the very first episode of Christmas Kindness on Oprah, did I have any idea how much of an impact those 60 minutes would have on my life.
They were not immediate minutes, but rather, very deliberate minutes, that changed the way I thought.
Africa has long been forgotten. Long been ignored.
Is it because racism and bigotry still exist here in America? Or is it because it is a continent so broken, that no one knows how to fix it?
I am an average woman. I live an average life. I come from an average family….but no matter how ordinary my life has been, I feel compelled to do extraordinary things. I’m nothing special, and Rocky isn’t either. Our militia is comprised of ordinary moms who know that the power of making a difference begins by taking action.
What will you do today, to make difference in the world?
Mothers Fighting for Others
In five days, I will be boarding my Virgin Atlantic flight heading to Nairobi, Kenya.
I have two 65 pound duffel bags containing over 1,300 pairs of underwear. The actual final count is 1,324. The amazing thing is we only started this three weeks ago. September 7th was the day that I met an Angel. Three weeks, 1,324 pairs of underwear. Simply amazing.
So I started packing only yesterday.
I thought it would be nice to share some of the photos of the work that was done. I have to say a BIG “Thank You ” to my dear friend, Miss Dugan, for helping me unwrap, separate by size, and finally pack all 1,324 pairs of beautiful new underwear. So here you go!
There are so many people to thank.
To all of those who who donated, sent out emails, posted on their own blogs and have supported me through this interesting and amazing three week journey, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are all just simply amazing.
So keep them coming! This isn’t over. Underwear For Africa will continue through 2008. My husband, Jeff, will continue to collect while I am gone. Our own Amy here on Mothers Fighting For Others, will be traveling to Kenya in January. She will take this opportunity to visit other orphanages there and pass out these much needed little items. Julie and I will be traveling to Kenya next year with A Child’s Right and Taryn and I will travel to South Africa for a new upcoming project that we will announce in the new year.
So these are just three different times that we will be able to distribute our underwear throughout Africa. I am hoping to find partners to help ship them also.
But until then, I will take our 1,324 pairs of amazing underwear to the children of Nairobi, and personally hand them to the kiddos myself!
Thank you all for making this happen! It is because of you that this is all possible!
The last few months have been a quite an experience. I will try to describe the roller coaster I’ve been on since February and hope that it all makes sense! The days that have followed have given greater meaning to my life and filled me with a purpose…
In February of this year, I became a member of a website for moms, called Café Mom. Nothing really monumental, but in the grand scheme of things, I had no idea how that decision… and watching Oprah, would put catapult me toward becoming a person of action!
It was at Café Mom that I met my very dear friend, Rocky Turner. Rocky is the founder of www.Muthahood.com, and she and her husband Jeff are the proud parents of SIX, adorable children. Her, tell it like it is t-shirt business, first made me take notice of the work that she was doing. Shirts with sayings like… “You silly little man. You wouldn’t last one day in this hood!” and “24-7-365, Muthahood Ain’t for Sissies!”
Her blogs are funny, insightful and witty. It was there that I began to learn more about the global causes she supported, and more importantly, about the world beyond my back door.
We exchanged numbers in on Café Mom, and before long, we were calling each other 3-4 times a day. We did this between feeding and caring for the 10 kids we have between us every day! All while entertaining a 2 hour time difference!
It was in these conversations, that the idea for Mothers Fighting for Others was born.
Deciding that we still wanted to do more than spread awareness, we went a step further to make Mothers Fighting for Others a 501-C non-profit organization, which will become final later this week!!! We are so excited to have the opportunity to take our dream for Mothers Fighting for Others in this direction!
We have several projects that we are working on, including partnering with A Child’s Right, to bring 10 water filtration systems to orphanages in Guatemala, as well as, the One on One Project which we have submitted to American Express for consideration in the Members Project.
Project Description:
Uniting individual companies with individual orphanages all over the world. One On One will match businesses of all sizes with orphanages whose needs will be directly and specifically addressed by that single business. The goal is to use the power of one on one relationships, to the benefit of both. The orphanage wins because they have a single additional resource on which they can depend. The corporation wins, because they have the ability to see and feel how their dollars are directly impacting the lives of children. There is power in relationships. One On One will enhance that power and deliver a unique giving experience, one that will change lives on both sides by providing Internet technologies to unite real people with real people. They’ll see the progress, feel the change, know each other in ways unavailable through other organizations. Through Chat, Video and other real time and dynamic forms of electronic communication, we will engage people on a very real and personal level. One On One.
If you have an American Express account you can login, and vote for our idea. The more “conversation” that takes place on our idea, the better the odds we have of winning! Also, when you log in to access your American Express account, $1 gets donated to the funds for the charity that wins… up to $5 million dollars! As of right now there are more than 4,000 entries and ideas, so we need your help to bring us closer to being chosen for the prize!
We’d love your support and suggestions as we begin working on fundraising efforts for our organization. Do you have a resource or acquaintance that would be interested in networking with us?
We are moms answering a call to provide the basic necessities of life to all children. We are moms lending the power of our own opportunity to those that are less fortunate. We are moms acting as the voice of those who have none.
We are… Mothers Fighting for Others.
In 2007 & 2008, we at Mothers Fighting For Others, have chosen to join the organization, A Child’s Right. They believe,
“All children, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender or location, should be and can be afforded the most essential of needs to improve their lives and ensure their healthy development.
Clean drinking water is the single most important ingredient for healthy children the world over- yet thousands of children die every day due to a lack of potable water. In this day and age, with the support of those in the more prosperous nations, this should no longer be a privilege for some, but should be a basic right of every child.
A Child’s Right is committed to providing the very best in water purification technologies and clean water systems to desperate children in orphanages, street shelters, children’s hospitals and schools in impoverished nations throughout the world.
Our organization is young, vibrant, and dedicated to providing better lives for children in need. We hope you join in our mission.”
So, our efforts will go towards raising awareness and funds for this cause. Our goals are high. The cost to install ten water purification systems is $35,000. Our aspirations are to raise MUCH more than that. We know we can do it.
Our chosen relief project this year will be in Guatemala. We chose Guatemala because 80% of the population live in poverty. Two-thirds of that number, about 7.6 million people, live in extreme poverty. Facts such as infant mortality rate and illiteracy, are among the worst in the hemisphere.* (And of course, my daughters are from there.)
We know that if we do the hard work, we can help save thousands of children from dying every day from waterborne diseases. Water is essential. It is the beginning to a bright future. We can keep a generation alive by providing them with the basic necessity of clean water.
I hope you will join us.
I hope you decide to make a difference in not just one child’s life, but thousands.
*Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
February 2007 US Dept. of State
