ETA: At the current rate, I will reach 400,000 contributors in about 300 years. While I’m optimistic I will live that long, I can’t bank on it. Therefore, I will end my blogging hiatus satisfied that 26 wonderful people helped and many many more helped spread the word. Thank you!!! 
This morning I saw an amazing story – the kind of story that puts everything into perspective and makes me want to get up and do something equally awesome.
The story was about a woman named Luma Mufleh. Born in Jordan, Luma came to the US, attended Smith College, and then got a teaching job outside of Atlanta, Georgia. A wrong turn took her to an apartment complex where barefoot children were playing soccer on a makeshift field. It was a scene Luma had seen in many other places in the world, but not in the US. As it turned out, the children were all refugees from countries that had been torn apart by war and violence.
What began as Luma bringing the kids a new soccer ball to play with evolved into the creation of a Fugees (for Refugees) soccer team. That evolved into an academy that helps the children in school, because no one was paying attention to the fact that these kids couldn’t read or write in their own language, not to mention in English.
Now, Luma wants to create a permanent home for her kids called the Fugee Village. It will be a school, a home, and a place for these kids to safely establish themselves.
But creating something like that needs money. Lots of money. And the Fugees are not funded by the government.
The minimum recommended donation is $12, because $12/week is enough to help one student get tutoring for a week. If 400,000 people donated $12, Luma would be able to build her village. How many people in the online world have that many people following them on Twitter right now?
I think this is entirely doable.
So, I’m going to leave this post up until we have gotten that many people to donate. I don’t need to write posts. There are plenty of people doing that. This is more important to me than any other message I could put here.
All you have to do is let me know you donated – you don’t have to tell me the amount. You can comment here or anywhere else you know me, and I’ll keep a running tally.
Let’s change the world, starting with one little village in the state of Georgia.
I am donating $12. You can donate here. Or visit the Fugees wishlist for in-kind donations, including clothing and soccer equipment. We’ll certainly count those contributions too!
Tally of contributors: 26
Image Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/falto
[...] my good friend Margie Clayman posted that she will not do another blog post until we reach her goal. I think the goal is doable, and I am here to help however I [...]
[...] Yesterday, my attention was drawn to a group of kids known as the Fugees. They’re a group of refugee kids from war-torn countries found purely by accident by Luma Mufleh. Luma, a woman born in Jordan who came to the US to further her education, took a wrong turn and witnessed some children playing soccer barefoot on a makeshift field around an apartment complex. (Read the original article here.) [...]
[...] enough water to all the children in Jordan, or we can set a goal to get 100 people to donate to Fugee Village. But the goal needs to be focused, concrete and achievable. Changing the world is not a goal. [...]
[...] for last. Blogger, and queen of awesomeness, @MargieClayman posted this week that she was on “A Blogging Hiatus Till We Get This Done,” and of course I was instantly intrigued and had to find out more. And I’m so glad I [...]
[...] I wondered who or what in the world this @fugeesfamily could be, to inspire such passion. So, I clicked on the link and it took me to Marjorie Clayman‘s blog, “Social Media, Marketing and Musings,” and specifically to her Oct. 23 post titled, “A Blogging Hiatus Till We Get This Done.” [...]
[...] A Blogging Hiatus Till We Get This Done by Margie [...]
[...] written about Luma Mufleh and her Fugees before. For all of the info you can just revisit that post, but suffice to say that her cause is [...]
[...] Yesterday, my attention was drawn to a group of kids known as the Fugees. They’re a group of refugee kids from war-torn countries found purely by accident by Luma Mufleh. Luma, a woman born in Jordan who came to the US to further her education, took a wrong turn and witnessed some children playing soccer barefoot on a makeshift field around an apartment complex. (Read the original article here.) [...]