Project Chicken
A
couple of years ago, a group of my friends served in Cambodia for a
week to build a house for a very poor family. On the last day, with only
US$20 left, Darren approached a HIV-positive lady who had been
ostracized by her village. He gave her the money, with specific
instructions, “Buy some chickens.” The money was just sufficient for a
rooster and two hens. Two years has passed, and the lady now has a small
farm of forty chickens. Inspired by this success, “Project Chicken”, a
program to help poor families achieve self-sustainability through
poultry farming is born. If you've got a great idea, don't chicken out
or keep it cooped up. Lay a plan, see it hatch, and give yourself
something to crow about. That’s a feather in the cap for Darren!Wheels for HOPE
Due
to ruthless land-grabbing acts by greedy property developers, thousands
of poor families in Cambodia have been displaced and forced to move out
of Phnom Penh. Not only did they lose their homes, they also lost their
jobs, as they could not walk the twenty miles to work every day. The
nearest school is three miles away and the children have to walk for
hours daily. But with just a simple bicycle for commuting, the people
can put a brake on their decline and break the cycle of poverty.
Rallying a bunch of fellow cycling enthusiasts, CK started “Wheels for Hope”,
a Singapore-based group that raises money to buy bicycles. Riding on
the success of their first campaign, two more were launched, and the
group has now donated more than 300 bicycles.Project Bytes & Bites
In
the resort island of Bali, Indonesia, an NGO wanted to start a
computer-training center to provide free skills upgrade, to help the
poor get better paying jobs. Karen, a tourist, learnt about it, and
asked the NGO’s director what he needed. When he requested for a
donation of five used “Pentium I” computers, Karen replied that people
were throwing away “Pentium IIIs” back in Singapore. Upon returning
home, she made a few phone calls to friends. She collected seven used
computers, and raised US$2,000 to fund the center’s operation for a
year. She even had some leftover money to buy snacks for the students.
It gave her the perfect excuse to visit Bali again, not just for the sun
and sand this time, but to help start a great enabler for the poor.Reading Room
When
Jessie learnt that an orphanage in Chennai, India, wanted to start a
library, she rallied the help of some like-minded friends. Cheng Shek, a
schoolteacher knew that his school’s library disposed many books every
year when it purchased new ones, and most of the used books were still
in great condition. He convinced the principal and librarian to donate
the books to the orphanage, and the team managed to get a few thousand
books from the school. It took hours of packing into boxes and raising a
few hundred dollars for air freight, but the books were finally shipped
to India. Their story teaches us to never close the cover on a novel
idea. Help others to turn a page on their past as they write a new
chapter in the exciting story called LIFE!
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