We are completing projects in Kenya, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Nepal, Malawi, Indonesia, and Ecuador. And, in a few weeks, students will travel on service trips to Kenya to build a classroom, to Nepal to build a library, and more. It will be a busy summer! In our next newsletter, in August, we will update you on all that has been achieved.
Thousands of people have given a dollar to help make these projects possible. Are you one of them? If you are, thank you! The world is a better place because of you. If not, join us! Go to
odfl.org
, pick a project, donate any amount you want, and watch the world get better.
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Nicaragua Learning Resource Center
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These photos show the center before and after renovation. Parents helped with the work and this kept the price down.
This center is already providing a safe, fun and encouraging learning environment. It will provide reading, tutoring, library and computer services, and after school games and sports to the children who attend.
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Thank you to students and staff at Jefferson High School in Daly City for helping make this possible!
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Until recently, Karat School in the Ivory Coast had no electricity. Working with our local partner, KSP, ODFL has recently installed electricity. The 500 children at the school have now started their first-ever computer classes. The children shown here are about to use a computer for the first time.
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The school, also, doesn’t have running water. It is carried by local women, on their heads. A coffee shop in North Hollywood,
Half Mile to Water
, has just funded the costs of bringing piped water to the school: $2,650
Thank you Half Mile to Water! The world is a better place because of you!
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ODFL’s
Girls’ Equality Project
(GEP) provides washable sanitary pads to adolescent girls in the developing world. Last year, we opened a sewing center in Kenya to make the kits. It helped bring the cost down from $16 per kit to $5.
We just opened a similar center in Nepal. Four seamstresses are making extremely high-quality kits. There is a huge demand for the kits, which last for three years and help girls finish school.
These centers provide respectable, meaningful work for the seamstresses and allow thousands of girls to reach their educational potential.
They were funded by members of FUMC Palo Alto. Thank you!
If you would like to sponsor a kit to help even one girl stay in school,
click here
.
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Seti Devi Library
Student travelers will help build a library at the Seti Devi school in Nepal. The school has 200 students, but no library. Last year, we helped the school build a science lab.
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Last year, ODFL helped drill a water well so the village of Manyesa could grow a second crop. This year, we are installing water tanks to help improve water usage. A similar project in Kenya a few years ago helped boost crop yields by 500% for the same amount of water used.
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Summer Service Trips
We have two summer service trips going out next month. One group of students will travel to Nepal where they will work on a playground at a school in Nagarkot, and a library at a school in Pharping. They will also distribute GEP kits made at the new Nepal Sewing Center. They’ll squeeze in a little local culture on the side, trekking in the Himalayas and staying at a local monastery.
The students traveling to Kenya will help complete the classroom we are building at
Ngungu School
in Kirinyaga. They will also visit the GEP Sewing Center in Nyeri and distribute kits made there. They, too, will squeeze in a little local culture. They will stay with local families, and take a safari in the Maasai Mara national game reserve.
These students pay their own way and work extremely hard on the projects they help build. Almost to a person, they describe their experience as "life changing." We expect this year will be no exception.
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Almond School 5th grade class
Mrs. Day-Bobb’s 5th grade class at Almond Elementary School in Los Altos has collected school supplies to send on our service trips to help students in Kenya and Nepal. They heard about ODFL and wanted to help. They are also holding a silent auction to raise money to give to ODFL for whatever project needs funds.
Thank you Almond School students!
You are exactly the way the world becomes better.
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Social Media
Last October, ODFL had 1,000 'Page Likes' on its
Facebook page
. As we go to press today, we have over 100,000!
We’re now extending the conversation to Twitter. PLEASE FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER
. And please encourage your friends to do so as well.
What we’re really building is a movement of people who have the vision and the courage to DO SOMETHING to make the world a better place.
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Final Word
There are two simple ideas behind ODFL. First, we are bigger when we help others. And second, if we will each do the smallest bit, the effect is enormous. We sum them up in our motto: “Even the greatest waterfall starts with a single drop of water.”
Does it work? These two ideas—and 400,000 people giving a dollar—have helped us complete
110 projects
in 13 countries in the developing world. Classrooms, medical clinics,
computer
labs, latrines, water wells, and more.
These projects
dramatically
improve life chances for hundreds of thousands of the poorest people in the world, mostly children. In most cases, they are the only leg up in life these children will ever have.
Is it worth a dollar to give a child a better chance at life? Is it worth the effort to build a movement that can help
millions
of children have a better chance at life? What else are we doing with our lives?
If you are one of those who have helped make this vision possible, thank you. The world is a better place because of you.
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