Saturday, December 5, 2009

Give a little bit...


My resolution at the beginning of this year was to "make it better"... whatever it was or in whatever small way that I could. I'm not sure how well I stuck to that resolution, but I'd like to introduce you to some folks who are "making it better" right now.

A little bit of history; the above photo was taken in Sri Lanka, I was there in November 2007 for a work related project. We had the opportunity to see the island and spent an amazing 12 days there. This photo was taken at Kotdoowa Raja Maha Vihara, Madu Ganga, an island temple located in the middle of a lagoon in southern Sri Lanka. This day changed my life forever. We arrived at about noon... we were given a tour and took quite a lot of photos... the boys were very interested in all that we were doing. It was wonderful to see their joy as we showed them the images...

I recently met someone through Twitter who is doing something I can only dream of for the moment. His name is Jeff Speigner, he is a graphic designer and the founder of Design4Kids.org, "...an opportunity for creative professionals to experience international travel and make a real difference in the fight to end the cycle of poverty. Design4Kids helps talented but underprivileged teens in developing countries learn the technical and business skills needed to establish and operate successful design studios."

Right now, they are beginning their third workshop in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. You can learn more and follow their progress by visiting the Design4Kids.org website. You can also follow Jeff on Twitter at http://twitter.com/inspiritu.

As this year comes to a close, I am wondering where next year will take me. I do know there will be changes, that is inevitable. It is my hope that I will be in a situation to be able to give something back and "make it better"...

Now's the time that we need to share...

2 comments:

Starman said...

That's quite an organization.

QBParis said...

It truly is... Jeff was inspired by Nancy McGirr... her story here: http://design4kids.org/2009/12/03/meet-nancy-mcgirr-inspiration-behind-design4kids/