Freedom Through Business with the Pandermanns
Donación protegida
Update 16/11/19 - We are here! We arrived safe and sound in Myanmar and are in the small regional town we now call home. We have started our learning journey and greatly anticipate the day we will have learned enough to start working towards our dream of a Freedom Business. Your support is greatly appreciated and keeps us here!
"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."
Nelson Mandela
Update 06/08/19 - We want to live a life full of passion, and that requires some big steps. We are going to 'go all in' and leave Australia on the 17th of October and make our way to our new home in Myanmar. An amazing opportunity has come up for us to do our language and culture learning in a regional area instead of the large city of Yangon. This radically reduces our financial needs, because housing costs and utilities are a fraction of the cost and our daily living expenses are reduced as well. We are thrilled and excited that this option has become available, so we are leaving with what we have and going with the expectation that the rest of what we need will follow. Our hearts are very much in this for the long haul, so we still need to see more come in to allow us to stay for as long as we can. We are so grateful for all who have donated so far, and we thank all those who will contribute! With gratitude, we thank you for your involvement!
Our names are Jake, Megan, Liliana (9), Thomas (8) and Eila (3), and we currently live in Australia. We are moving to Myanmar to make a tangible impact on those bound by poverty, and we need your help.
To sponsor us regularly, click here: https://mailchi.mp/d453384c134e/sponsor
SOME HISTORY
Life was just about perfect. We had built our 'forever' home. Trees and hills surrounded our block of over 1/2 acre. Our business was at its peak, and we had a great lifestyle. But a growing awareness of the poverty that exists beyond our part of the world gnawed at us until Love pierced our hearts, and we could no longer continue. We had to make a change. So we left all we knew and spent our life savings to move to India for a year.
We lived in Kolkata and volunteered in a ‘freedom business' - a business that exists for the purpose of bringing freedom from slavery to those it employs. This particular business employed women from the neighbouring red-light district and gave them a new start to life, something they would never achieve if not for outside help. We watched these women transform before our eyes. They came in broken and insecure, eyes downcast, robbed of all hope. But in the workshop they flourished - they stood tall with their heads high and shoulders back, dignified and proud of who they are and what they do. It was an incredible privilege to witness and be a part of.
THE PROBLEM
We learned poverty and trafficking go hand in hand. The traffickers prey on the vulnerable, they trick the poor. With the promise of a good job and a good wage, mothers and fathers send off their older children to work only to find they disappear into a false promise of hope and a reality of slavery. Young boys or girls travel to the city to try and find work but are pounced upon while they are vulnerable and alone in the train station.
The poverty and need we saw during our year in India are not unique to that nation, and our experience served to further open our eyes to the needs around the globe. Our hearts have been drawn to Myanmar. It is a country with great need and has been identified as a source country for the trafficking of men, women and children for the purpose of forced labour or sexual exploitation. We know the huge role poverty plays in human trafficking, and we want to do as much as we personally can to combat it. The reality is, fighting to make an impact on poverty isn't easy and it comes at a cost.
THE CALL TO ACTION
We are a family willing to pay that cost. We see the power of business to transform and change lives. We believe that is worth every sacrifice we will have to make, and we know our faith will carry us through the difficult times that surely lay ahead. We really believe in this and are in it for the long haul. We saved and paid our way for the year in Kolkata. This time we are investing our savings and some of the money we got from selling our 'forever' home, but we aren’t able to fund the whole endeavour on our own this time.
This is where you come in! We can't do this without your help. We need to create a community of people committed to seeing a change in the disparity between the rich and the poor, people committed to making a difference in the lives of those affected by poverty - by sponsoring us to go and live in Myanmar. The goal for our first two years is to get a firm grasp on the language and begin product research and development so we can start a social enterprise. We are confident that by the end of our first 2-year term, we will have some good business concepts and be ready to hit the ground running when we return to Myanmar for our second term.
This gofundme account is what we need to live for the first 2 years in Myanmar (This includes some initial set up costs, and our annual budget x 2. This means it actually includes 3 years' rent and 3 years' visas because of how these expenses are accumulated. Please see our FAQ for a more in-depth explanation and a further breakdown of the grand total). We are asking you to rally behind us with your money, to be a part of making a tangible difference in the lives of the poor in Myanmar. You can give a one-off donation here through gofundme or commit to giving on a regular basis - weekly/ monthly/ annually - whatever suits you. Every amount helps get us over there and set the wheels in motion! Regular sponsorship amounts are projected and come off our total. Plan A is to leave in the next 4 months and we need to have our entire target given or pledged before we leave.
Regular sponsorship is crucial to enable us to continue this important work longterm. To do this, please click here: https://mailchi.mp/d453384c134e/sponsor
Who knows what can be accomplished when people unite together and fight for something that truly matters. We are so grateful to be able to battle alongside you to bring light to the dark places and help bring an end to poverty!
Visit FAQs: https://mailchi.mp/75babf13a4e8/faqs
Sign up for our regular updates here: https://mailchi.mp/8e2e59b6b232/pandermann-news
"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."
Nelson Mandela
Update 06/08/19 - We want to live a life full of passion, and that requires some big steps. We are going to 'go all in' and leave Australia on the 17th of October and make our way to our new home in Myanmar. An amazing opportunity has come up for us to do our language and culture learning in a regional area instead of the large city of Yangon. This radically reduces our financial needs, because housing costs and utilities are a fraction of the cost and our daily living expenses are reduced as well. We are thrilled and excited that this option has become available, so we are leaving with what we have and going with the expectation that the rest of what we need will follow. Our hearts are very much in this for the long haul, so we still need to see more come in to allow us to stay for as long as we can. We are so grateful for all who have donated so far, and we thank all those who will contribute! With gratitude, we thank you for your involvement!
Our names are Jake, Megan, Liliana (9), Thomas (8) and Eila (3), and we currently live in Australia. We are moving to Myanmar to make a tangible impact on those bound by poverty, and we need your help.
To sponsor us regularly, click here: https://mailchi.mp/d453384c134e/sponsor
SOME HISTORY
Life was just about perfect. We had built our 'forever' home. Trees and hills surrounded our block of over 1/2 acre. Our business was at its peak, and we had a great lifestyle. But a growing awareness of the poverty that exists beyond our part of the world gnawed at us until Love pierced our hearts, and we could no longer continue. We had to make a change. So we left all we knew and spent our life savings to move to India for a year.
We lived in Kolkata and volunteered in a ‘freedom business' - a business that exists for the purpose of bringing freedom from slavery to those it employs. This particular business employed women from the neighbouring red-light district and gave them a new start to life, something they would never achieve if not for outside help. We watched these women transform before our eyes. They came in broken and insecure, eyes downcast, robbed of all hope. But in the workshop they flourished - they stood tall with their heads high and shoulders back, dignified and proud of who they are and what they do. It was an incredible privilege to witness and be a part of.
THE PROBLEM
We learned poverty and trafficking go hand in hand. The traffickers prey on the vulnerable, they trick the poor. With the promise of a good job and a good wage, mothers and fathers send off their older children to work only to find they disappear into a false promise of hope and a reality of slavery. Young boys or girls travel to the city to try and find work but are pounced upon while they are vulnerable and alone in the train station.
The poverty and need we saw during our year in India are not unique to that nation, and our experience served to further open our eyes to the needs around the globe. Our hearts have been drawn to Myanmar. It is a country with great need and has been identified as a source country for the trafficking of men, women and children for the purpose of forced labour or sexual exploitation. We know the huge role poverty plays in human trafficking, and we want to do as much as we personally can to combat it. The reality is, fighting to make an impact on poverty isn't easy and it comes at a cost.
THE CALL TO ACTION
We are a family willing to pay that cost. We see the power of business to transform and change lives. We believe that is worth every sacrifice we will have to make, and we know our faith will carry us through the difficult times that surely lay ahead. We really believe in this and are in it for the long haul. We saved and paid our way for the year in Kolkata. This time we are investing our savings and some of the money we got from selling our 'forever' home, but we aren’t able to fund the whole endeavour on our own this time.
This is where you come in! We can't do this without your help. We need to create a community of people committed to seeing a change in the disparity between the rich and the poor, people committed to making a difference in the lives of those affected by poverty - by sponsoring us to go and live in Myanmar. The goal for our first two years is to get a firm grasp on the language and begin product research and development so we can start a social enterprise. We are confident that by the end of our first 2-year term, we will have some good business concepts and be ready to hit the ground running when we return to Myanmar for our second term.
This gofundme account is what we need to live for the first 2 years in Myanmar (This includes some initial set up costs, and our annual budget x 2. This means it actually includes 3 years' rent and 3 years' visas because of how these expenses are accumulated. Please see our FAQ for a more in-depth explanation and a further breakdown of the grand total). We are asking you to rally behind us with your money, to be a part of making a tangible difference in the lives of the poor in Myanmar. You can give a one-off donation here through gofundme or commit to giving on a regular basis - weekly/ monthly/ annually - whatever suits you. Every amount helps get us over there and set the wheels in motion! Regular sponsorship amounts are projected and come off our total. Plan A is to leave in the next 4 months and we need to have our entire target given or pledged before we leave.
Regular sponsorship is crucial to enable us to continue this important work longterm. To do this, please click here: https://mailchi.mp/d453384c134e/sponsor
Who knows what can be accomplished when people unite together and fight for something that truly matters. We are so grateful to be able to battle alongside you to bring light to the dark places and help bring an end to poverty!
Visit FAQs: https://mailchi.mp/75babf13a4e8/faqs
Sign up for our regular updates here: https://mailchi.mp/8e2e59b6b232/pandermann-news
Organizador
Megan Pandermann
Organizador
Kahibah NSW
