Today’s image was taken by AJ and Melissa Leon, and is of a newly-installed windmill in a little village called Gambella, in a remote part of Kenya. The windmill is the final piece of a 5-year project to help Gambella and its villagers become self sustaining. It’s a graduation present, of sorts.
The 5-year village transformation project that Gambella has just completed is run by Global Hope Network International, and gives people in villages like Gambella the education and skills they need in areas like agriculture, cash crops, food crops, sanitation, schooling, and maintenance of their new infrastructure, so that the village can be self sufficient, and support families and micro economies.
What’s especially exciting to me about this windmill, is that my daughter and I helped build it. Specifically, we were part of a small group of just over 30 people from around the world who each raised at least $500USD, and our combined total of over $21,000 completely funded construction of this windmill.
Indrani wrote about this at her blog, and ran a fundraising movie night with her schoolmates. I shared the story with my networks on social media, and amazingly some of them pitched in their support too. Between the two of us, Indrani and I raised over $650 to go towards the windmill!
AJ and Melissa Leon have become dear friends of mine through the work they do with their company, Misfit Inc. They were the ones who conceived and executed the amazing event I attended in Fargo, North Dakota earlier this year. (I wrote about this experience here, here, and here, and published a photo essay about my time in Fargo here.)
AJ and Melissa were also the ones who came up with the experiment in social philanthropy called Good Misfit, which ultimately funded this windmill.
Margaret Mead’s quote is utterly perfect for today’s IQ.
With Good Misfit, AJ and Melissa created that small group of thoughtful, committed citizens. My daughter and I are privileged to have been a part of that small group, and had the opportunity to make a difference for a village we’ll probably never see. To us, the world hasn’t changed all that much. But to the people of Gambella, their world has been monumentally changed by this project, and that is what makes me swell with pride and satisfaction.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
With lots of love,
Israel. xo