Inspired by:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHacDYj8KZM
Did you ever lie in bed at night thinking about all the wonderful and amazing things you could do with the life-changing sum of…
Eight hundred dollars?
Didn’t think so. Eight-hundred dollars doesn’t get you much. If you’re a hipster, you can buy thirteen pairs of Converse Classic low-top sneakers. If you’re a beer drinker, you can get approximately twenty-four cases of 24s. If you’re a fashionista, you can get a Gucci bag. If you’re stuck in the past and are still Emo, you might be able to get a month’s worth of black make-up and hair dye.
Doesn’t seem like much, does it?
But eight hundred dollars is the entire budget that MSR has to work with VYDA this year. Each volunteer, in addition to paying for his or her own plane tickets, food, and hotel, donated toward this sum.
With eight hundred dollars, MSR plans to remove two groups of fifteen children from the work they perform in rice fields for one week each and send them to day camp instead. During the time they spend with us, compensation will be given to their families for the loss of wages. In addition, this money allows us to provide two meals per day for every child, rent a location to hold the day camp, pay for a translator and an educator, and provide supplies for workshops in art, theater, dance, photography, and more. We were originally hoping to give the groups two weeks of day camp each, but, come on, it’s only eight hundred dollars.
I know that one week doesn’t seem like much. In the grand scheme of their lives, we are but a bleep on the radar. However, I would like to think that within this limited time we will inspire them to think of futures for themselves that they otherwise would never have imagined. Many of these children will come from families who have done the same kind of work generation after generation, earning barely enough to survive. Such an environment doesn’t tend to encourage the fruition of dreams, hobbies, or interests outside of what is part of their daily routine for survival. But surviving is not living. True, when we leave our resources will leave with us, but MSR is working on helping VYDA establish a website that will allow them to receive direct funding from all over the world. The project may take more time than the month we have in Laos, but in the long-term it will mean that VYDA will be less dependent upon outside organizations for funding, an asset that will ameliorate the services they provide immensely.
In the end, anyone who has watched a child play knows that they don’t need much more than their imagination to have a good time. We just want to give their imagination a chance to roam free, what they do with it afterward is up to them! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHacDYj8KZM
Did you ever lie in bed at night thinking about all the wonderful and amazing things you could do with the life-changing sum of…
Eight hundred dollars?
Didn’t think so. Eight-hundred dollars doesn’t get you much. If you’re a hipster, you can buy thirteen pairs of Converse Classic low-top sneakers. If you’re a beer drinker, you can get approximately twenty-four cases of 24s. If you’re a fashionista, you can get a Gucci bag. If you’re stuck in the past and are still Emo, you might be able to get a month’s worth of black make-up and hair dye.
Doesn’t seem like much, does it?
But eight hundred dollars is the entire budget that MSR has to work with VYDA this year. Each volunteer, in addition to paying for his or her own plane tickets, food, and hotel, donated toward this sum.
With eight hundred dollars, MSR plans to remove two groups of fifteen children from the work they perform in rice fields for one week each and send them to day camp instead. During the time they spend with us, compensation will be given to their families for the loss of wages. In addition, this money allows us to provide two meals per day for every child, rent a location to hold the day camp, pay for a translator and an educator, and provide supplies for workshops in art, theater, dance, photography, and more. We were originally hoping to give the groups two weeks of day camp each, but, come on, it’s only eight hundred dollars.
I know that one week doesn’t seem like much. In the grand scheme of their lives, we are but a bleep on the radar. However, I would like to think that within this limited time we will inspire them to think of futures for themselves that they otherwise would never have imagined. Many of these children will come from families who have done the same kind of work generation after generation, earning barely enough to survive. Such an environment doesn’t tend to encourage the fruition of dreams, hobbies, or interests outside of what is part of their daily routine for survival. But surviving is not living. True, when we leave our resources will leave with us, but MSR is working on helping VYDA establish a website that will allow them to receive direct funding from all over the world. The project may take more time than the month we have in Laos, but in the long-term it will mean that VYDA will be less dependent upon outside organizations for funding, an asset that will ameliorate the services they provide immensely.
In the end, anyone who has watched a child play knows that they don’t need much more than their imagination to have a good time. We just want to give their imagination a chance to roam free, what they do with it afterward is up to them! :)
Lyrics
If I had eight hundred dollars (If I had eight hundred dollars!)
I would buy myself a boat. (More like a canoe)
If I had eight hundred dollars… (If I had eight hundred dollars!)
I could keep my bills afloat. (But only for a month or two)
If I had eight hundred dollars… (If I had eight hundred dollars!)
I could build myself a moat (Nope, I don’t think that that’s true)
If I had eight hundred dollars… (If I had eight hundred dollars)
I could change children’s lives
If I had eight hundred dollars!
I could send kids to day camp
If I had eight hundred dollars!
Instead of working in the fields
If I had eight hundred dollars!
And we could even give them meals.
* A special thank-you to Eve, professional photographer and film-maker and fellow volunteer, for helping me to sing this song, and for giving us the chipmunk voices :)
http://www.evedufaud.com/
Eight hundred dollars will allow people to do different things, some big some small, depending on where they are in the world and what their circumstances are. I'm glad you're using it in a big way and putting it to good use! I was also relieved to hear that technology changed your voice and it wasn't a result of all the sushi you've been eating! lol
ReplyDeletecrazy girls ^^ !
ReplyDeleteEight hundred dollars that have never been spent in a better way. I am sure those children will appreciate their week in camp much more than anyone would appreciate those other expenses that you listed.
ReplyDelete