Yesterday, I told you about
my latest book, “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. Tonight I am going to
switch gears and try marketing something else to you.
If you have ever read my blog
before, you know that in addition to writing, I have a passion for Africa. I came
home from my first trip to Kenya in 2006 feeling as if I hadn’t accomplished a
thing, confused why I even went. How things have changed since then! It all
makes sense now and I know exactly why I went to Africa eight and a half years
ago. (And if it is not cheating, I will put in one plug for the book I wrote
about that fateful trip. “A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven – One Woman’sTrip to Africa” is still available.)
What that trip set in a
motion was a string of events which led my daughter and me to start our own
nonprofit organization, Tumaini Volunteers. Why Tumaini? Tumaini (too-my-ee-nee) means hope
in Swahili.
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The following is from our
January newsletter (our first newsletter!).
It has been a busy 18 months for
Tumaini Volunteers! Back in September of 2013 we first became an incorporated
charitable organization. After that, the long process of applying for tax
exempt status began. Just a year ago, we sent in the 31 page form, along with
several attachments, and the $850 filing fee.
On September 5, we found out our
application had been approved. Tumaini Volunteers, Inc., is now an official 501
(c) (3) tax exempt organization.
We wished there was time to
celebrate, but our work had only just begun. We had started writing a business
plan a few months before, but now we had to get serious about it.
In addition to the business plan,
we have begun planning our first volunteer trip. We hope to take a team of five
or six volunteers to Kenya next fall for two weeks. We have several people on
board already, but are recruiting a few more. Within in the next month or two
we will choose a project to work on while we are there. If you are interested
in joining us, please get in touch as soon as possible as deadlines are
looming.
We remain in contact with our
Kenyan friends to help us choose the project which is most helpful to the
community’s needs.
Also contact us if you would like
to join our team here at home, working on paperwork, fund-raising, marketing,
etc. We can always use more help.
You can click here to go to
our Facebook page or here to go to our website. I hate to sound desperate, but
we are at the point where we really need more help. My daughter is so excited
at the prospect of returning to Kenya and really making a difference. Won’t you
help make a difference too? And bring Hope to Africa?
3 comments:
Hopefully, I can. How are your plans looking for the fall?? I know you want a specific project. Just wondering.
Val is still hoping for September or early October for a trip. She wants to get input from the volunteers going as to what project they want to do. Right now, the two projects we have had some feedback on from Kenya are building chicken coops and teaching them how to raise chickens. Or buying a van and outfitting it to be a medical outreach bus. The bus would be a lot more expensive than the chicken project, so that is a consideration for us.
I also just checked on flights for the fall. Out of Chicago, we could get a flight for under $900. If we went in the summer (considered high season), the price is double that. Another reason we are waiting until fall.
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