Help Give Education to 100 Children

gofundme...gofundkids:
The donations for this gofundme will go towards sending 100 elementary students to school. These 100 children are located in Tacloban, Philippines. In November 2013 their lives changed forever when they survived one of the strongest tropical storms recorded. Tyhoon Haiyan claimed over 6,000 lives. These kids lost everything, and were lucky to survive. At such a young age they witnessed more death than most do in a lifetime. Not only were they left homeless, but they were left without food and clean drinking water. One of the girls is an orphan because her father died from leptospirosis from drinking bacteria infested water. These children deserve an education, and I would like to help give them one. I met them in January, 2015 and the families were still waiting to have legit homes built. They were living in make shift homes made of scraps of materials. Gawad Kalinga (gk1world.com) has raised the money for the homes, and they will be finished later this year. These children are poor, but they deserve a chance to change that. In order to break the poverty cycle people need education. Unfortunately these children come from large families and school is not paid for by local taxes. Students need to pay school fees. Parents often take their kids out of school because they cannot afford these fees. Once out of school they may begin to work, and never finish their education. I would like to make sure that doesn't happen with the help of your donations.

About Me:
My name is Lesley Brielle Barnes. I am 27 years old, and was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I graduated from BYU-Hawaii with a degree in International Business Management, and am currently working on my MBA at Houston Baptist University. Thanks to my education I was able to find a career in Oil and Gas. For the last four and a half years I have been traveling around the world. I have worked in 16 countries on 6 different continents. I have seen gorgeous places and met beautiful people. I have also seen some situations that have changed the way I view the world. In Mexico you can see street children selling gum and begging for money. In Brazil as you drive away from the Rio de Janeiro airport you can see the favelas that the government has tried to hide by building a wall to seperate the poor. In Buenos Aires, Argentina there are areas where the hotel tells you to make sure not to pass through. In South Africa white travelers are told not to go into townships. In Mumbai, India families sleep in piles of trash. In Indonesia there are huge slum areas that should be avoided. It doesn't stop. When it comes to the poor I have always been told the same things when I travel. "Keep walking!" "Pretend like you don't see them." "Ignore them." "They are dangerous." "You are different from them.""They don't deserve your money. They are just beggers", "The children are part of a syndicate, don't help them." When I am told these things I become emotional, and I know these people are wrong. We can't just "keep walking", or nothing will ever change. I wanted to do something, and a couple of years ago I found a way to. 
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -Martin Luther King Jr. 





Gawad Kalinga (GK):
These words are Filipino and mean to "give care". Gawad Kalinga is also the name of a Filipino movement to end poverty for 5 million families by 2024. The founder of this movement is an amazing man named Tony Meloto. He has been ignoring people when they told him to "stay away" from the poor for quite some time. The results have been incredible. My dear friend Gemma introduced me to Gawad Kalinga, and I am so thankful she did. Last year I was able to help raise over $59k to build homes for the poor in the Philippines. I won a service leadership scholarship and traveled to the Philippines this past January. For the first time in my life I had real conversations with the poor. I was moved by the happiness and greatful hearts of those in the GK villages. I wanted to go to the Philippines to share my love with the poor, but they overpowered me with their love and generosity. There is nothing separating us from the poor other than the opportunities that we have been given. I want to help those kids that I met. They are beautiful, kind, and strong children that deserve to be doctors, lawyers,  or the president of the Philippines if that is what they decide to do.

I am currently a leader in the GK Texas Next Gen group. We are building a group of global citizens with the young professionals here in Houston. This gofundme is our first project of the year, and we are excited for your participation in it's success. Below you can find the financial breakdown of school fees and food for the children. It is hard to learn when you are hungry.


Gofundme Financial Breakdown:
-One year of school for 100 children

Contributions & Projects  (51,000 pesos= $1,155.79)

School Supplies (85,900 pesos = $1,946.71)

Food Allowance  - Breakfast & Snack = 20 pesos/ .45 cents per student daily = (384,000 pesos = $8,702.39)


Total needed: $11,805 

If you would like to sponser a child that would be $118.05 for one full year of school. Any donation is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your generosity and kind heart! 

Aloha,
Lesley