3 Cups of Tea in Reality

I have already waxed poetic about the book 3 Cups of Tea. You can scroll down and read the review if you haven't yet. Making a difference is a big deal to me. Its certainly a reason for why I teach and even how I teach, but there is definitely part of me that wants to do something on a larger, grander scale. After reading 3 Cups I wanted to find an organization like that to lend my support to, also I had just finished teaching a unit on Africa in which I might add nearly every problem exists, so I wanted to do something. Luckily I didn't have to look far. One of my neighbors and friends is a core member of a group whose purpose is to help small mountain villages get water and education. Boy that sounds a lot like 3 Cups, except its in Honduras instead of Pakistan. My friend assures me that other than the religious aspect, the two places are the same. This past week the organization, aptly dubbed, Amigos of Honduras, had their annual golf tournament and raffle.

Admittedly I am new to the whole golf tourney lifestyle, however, as far as I am concerned it was first class. The tourney was at Stonebridge in WVC. Tougher course than I thought. Lots of water. I lost a few balls. Had a great time though and luckily we had a stud in our group or we would have had a lot more strokes than the 65 we ended up with.

Afterwards there was a raffle in which I won a gift card for dinner. Guess I got my own father's day gift. In all it was not only heartwarming but humbling to see the charity given to benefit these kids and families a world away in Honduras. I was glad I was in attendance and wished I could have given more.

Let me say a few things about the Amigos of Honduras. Not all charities are equal or even really non profit. For example the head of the Red Cross makes over 150,000 annually. So is your donation going to pay his/her salary or to actually help out. With the Amigos they don't pay anyone to administrate, in fact when they go to Honduras each person who goes is responsible for paying their own way, that way the money is being used for what it should be. Another item I really like is that when the village is picked for the school and water, the villagers are informed and told that if they help they will get water piped to their home(beats a 2 mile walk or so). In other words the villagers do the majority of the manual labor, they are getting the materials and the know how, of which they wouldn't be able to do on their own, but they have to supply the man power. Which means that they will appreciate all the more.

Finally education is the key for these countries to get out of poverty. Building schools is the first and biggest step to ensuring that these people can get a balanced education. I think of the Perpetual Education Fund in which people in similar situations have their education paid for and then after getting a job pay it back. The church has recognized that governments in some of these countries cannot properly or even improperly educate their citizens.

I am glad to have found an organization with which I feel perfectly comfortable supporting both monetarily as well as with my name, time, and resources. I am linking their site so you can see firsthand the good of this project. I will let you know of future events and if you feel so inclined to donate I can put you in touch with the right people. Lastly I would say if you are waiting for the 'right' time I would say that you will always be waiting. There never is a 'perfect' or 'right' time. Something will always get in the way. Just make sure its not you.