Matt's XO Proposal
Since some of you may not read the comments or the older posts, I've decided to promote this to the front page of my blog. Matt has suggested a community effort to participate in the One Laptop Per Child initiative that I refered to at the end of my previous post about the XO. His proposal was:
I have a proposal. Naomi told me about these, and thought it would be really cool to send one to the Lucien family in Haiti (I mention them by name because BethAnn knows them). I was wondering if maybe a few of us (your readers) might want to go in together on the $400.00 deal where one would be sent to a random family and we'd get the other one to send to the Lucien Family. Their ministry is HIM in the links on our blog. Miles, if you'd like me to administer this proposal on my blog, just tell me. My proposal specifically is:
1.) Buehrles donate $200.00
2.) Others collectively send us the other $200.00
3.) Buehrle's order them and have the computer sent to us.
4.) Buehrles send it to Haiti via the U.S. contact for H.I.M.
5.) In summary one computer goes to whoever the company chooses (the one randomly donated computer), the other goes to Haiti.
I applaud Matt and Nome for coming up with this scheme and putting their money where their mouth is. Much more generous than I can be, since honestly, I don't think I would be able to contribute nearly as much. But if 6 or 8 other readers would be interested in sharing the expense, I think we could all be a part of a very fun act of holiday kindness. If you want to chip in, please post a comment to that effect, and I'll email you the details. If you have a blog of your own, think about posting a link to this entry in case any of your readers would like to be involved. (If we some how found 20-25 folks who wanted to contribute, we could do this twice and send 2 XOs to the Lucien family, making the XO's community networking tools much more relevant.)
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We can't give $200 since Jesus is not working right now & money is a bit tight, but we could give $50. I'd like to. The Luciens are awesome people, awesome missionaries. I stayed at their house for 3 1/2 weeks when I went to Haiti. Wonderful folks, and I can't think of anyone more deserving.
BethAnn,
Thanks for offering to contribute!
For everyone else, please do not feel the need to specify a dollar amount online. You can if you want, of course, because it's exciting, but feel free to simply say that you want to help, and i will contact you behind the scenes. I don't want anyone to be intimidated because he or she can only offer a few dollars.
Also, do not post your email in the body of your comment, because that could earn you alot of spam. Just put it in the email field, and I will get it without exposing you to the spambots.
I can chip in for the computer project. It sounds like this comes highly recommended. Miles, just email me and let me know how we're collecting money and I'll get my share to you.
Quick question - and this might be unnecessary since several posters seem to know the family well - are we sure the Lucien family actually wants this computer and has a use for it?
Piggy back to Kristy, does the HIM project deal with these computers? Aren't there XO initiatives that work with these computers and the people who need them specifically?
Hopefully BethAnn can speak to it better than I can. The Lucien family has a number of kids living with them. Those kids usually go on to do well in school, etc., and I think this could only help them futher. I will do the groundwork of getting in touch with them, though to find out for sure. If they truly will not, I can void your checks. Also, it was wholly unintentional on my part, but I linked this effort to helping HIM, when in actuality I was more thinking of the specific family and the kids who live with them that would benefit (the kids). So, "behind the scenes," if you don't want to contribute after knowing this, just let me know ... just got off the phone with Naomi who said at last count, the Luciens had nine kids living with them (besides their own). I don't think they specifically know about the project, but again, I'll let them know. I have just sent Miles our home address. Also, know that if there is a tax deduction, I will take into account NO MORE THAN $200.00 of the total on my taxes. You'll just have to trust me on that one - or I'll send you a copy of my itemized tax return;o) ...
The way the Lucien house is set up (if it is still the same house, I heard they were building a new one) is that it's two floors. The bottom floor is the 'orphanage' which is kind of not really true - some of the kids' parents are still living but brought them there because they knew they (the parents) would not be able to feed, clothe, or educate their kids. They are watched over by Debbie and I think they have kind of a 'house mother' that makes sure they get to school etc. There's a girl (late teens) that cooks the meals in return for room & board there (I think. I could be wrong on that part.) The top floor is where Caleb, Debbie, and their two girls live. It's all kind of open...no doors on the stairway or anything, so the kids are always coming upstairs to tell/ask one thing or another.
The kids all have little chores to do around the place - getting water out of the well to put in the cistern on top of the house, killing mice & tarantulas (!) around there, etc.
This may have all changed so if the information is wrong, it's not intentional. And, I apologize if anyone felt pressure to donate a certain amount of $$ just because I put an amount up there. I just honestly did not think about emailing it to Miles. I do think it would be nice if we knew for sure that the Luciens have the need/desire for this before we start.
Well, the latest is that the Luciens are very interested, and tried before to contact the company. They would use the XO for their school. I'll go ahead and order it. We're just a few dollars shy of the goal.
Thanks,
Guys - put me down for $45 for now. I can give more in the future. This is great!
If you are short on your goal I am sure I could contribute to this as well. Let me know.
Doug