I Get Muddy; They Get Technology
On Sunday, July 24th, I did a Half Tough Mudder on Long Island! That’s a five-mile course with 14 obstacles, each involving MUD. Lucas couldn’t keep away and also did the mini-Mudder to support this great cause!
Our motivation has been to bring technology to the 88 students of Namelok Junior Academy in Kisamis, Kenya. A goal of $5000 will purchase 40 Kio tablets containing the latest in local and international educational content, a BRCK charger, plus connectivity and initial training.
WE MADE OUR GOAL OF RAISING $5000! A huge THANKS to all who jumped in to support us!! If you’re interested in helping us further equip Namelok with the latest in learning tools, below you’ll find options for donating. Thank you, again, from the bottom of our muddy sneakers!
Read on for more about this great cause or please GIVE here:
or here:
Lucas in the mud
Lift the Lid has a two-fold mission.
For those of you who don’t know, I started the global educational charity Lift the Lid, Inc. back in 2010. We sponsor schools committed to the well-being of students in low-income communities, raising money to improve their quality of education.
The second part of our two-fold mission is to encourage self-expression and confidence-building through creative writing. For every donation, a student writes a poem or personal essay, which is posted here on our website and shared with the donor, who is then welcome to leave a positive comment for the student.
Our involvement is long-term.
Lift the Lid (LTL) sponsors three schools in rural Kenya and one in metro Manila, the Philippines. We arrange annual poetry/writing competitions at our schools and poetry exchanges with other students around the globe. (Here is one example: Poems Without Borders.)
Our involvement with the schools is long-term, so we see firsthand how the students are progressing with their writing, how they are defining and refining their unique voices, and how their confidence and self-awareness is evolving beyond the constraints of living in poverty.
We’ve published 125 students’ essays and poems.
Since we started in 2010, LTL has raised over $60,000, 100% of which funds scholarships and projects such as the construction of classrooms, a library and a science lab, buying uniforms and shoes, implementing and sustaining a lunch program, providing menstrual cups, starting a band with free music lessons, and funding a summer school program.
In conjunction with our annual writing competitions, we make yearly book donations in an ongoing effort to build/expand the schools’ libraries. Finally, since we began, we’ve published 85 students’ personal essays and 40 students’ poems, which adds up to a fair amount of reflection, expression, and believing in oneself!
When we started supporting Namelok Junior Academy, the school consisted of 10 children and a few determined mothers using a tree for shade.
They still have water delivered on the back of a donkey, but the school now has five classrooms, books, chalk boards, an outhouse, and a kitchen providing daily lunches. It works, but IT’S NOT ENOUGH…
The next step has to be technology. The students who started with Namelok when it first opened are now in their teens. I can’t imagine how intimidated I’d feel graduating from high school and setting out in the world having never turned on a computer. Instead of a door to knowledge and the greater world, it would feel like an explosive. DO I DARE PRESS THIS BUTTON?
I WANT THESE KIDS TO DARE! In addition to learning how to navigate an app, to understanding the importance of passwords, and familiarizing themselves with the keyboard, which is replacing handwriting in many schools, they will gain the confidence and entitlement to use technology for the betterment of themselves, their families and community.
Please help us give these intelligent, hardworking children the chance to understand our modern world, so that they may contribute their own talents and ideas. The alternative is to leave them in the dark. Together we can easily set them on a new and brighter path; they’re so ready and eager to learn!
…and I’m ready and eager to get MUDDY for this cause!!!
Please DONATE through Paypal or by check or through Crowdrise
Thank you!
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