Let's turn their lights back on

In summary, this gofundme is to raise $60 to enable the four families (22 people) behind my house to get their lights turned back on.

I will document their reaction and the impact on their life and update on this page and publicly on my facebook page you are welcome to follow www.facebook.com/austinepp

If we raise more than expected, I will find families in similar circumstances here and do the same thing for them also documenting the impact on this page and my Facebook page.

For the full story and fantastic photos, check out http://blog.jennasuedesign.com/

This is amazing guys! Really exciting to see the shock already of people here who are seeing the support from strangers. People here have never even heard of crowd source funding let alone felt connected to the western world in any way. Same goes vice versa for the reaction from my friends in the US who are amazed to learn about what poverty means and what it doesn't mean. Thank you for being involved in this dialouge!

----- Start Story -----

For the past three months they have been working 10-12 hours a day making Philippines traditional Christmas star ornaments known as lanterns for just a mere $0.35 an hour with the goal in mind of paying their 2,800 PHP ($60) overdue electric bill to get their electricity back by Christmas. But each day they have had to use what money they do earn to feed themselves.

It would be all too easy to just donate the money myself; but, I want these families to see that people around the world are caring and supportive. I want them to feel like the world is one. And for their kids who haven't spent much time online due to not having a computer in their family to see that the Internet is a gateway to opportunities beyond what they see around them. That's much more significant than me possibly becoming the foreigner who people come to for help. So, even if you only have $1 to give, it will count.

I equally want for people from developed worlds to have an opportunity to see what poverty is and is not. Sharing my story and allowing you all to become a part of it is a good place to start. So, here's my story.

My bedroom wall seperates two worlds.

As an American living in The Philippines, my side of the wall has A/C, 50 MBPS internet, and tubs of Nutella. On the other side of my wall 12 adults with their 10 kids crammed into about 500 sq feet of crude housing with no running water or electricity.

They don't mind it. It feels like normal. It feels like enough. I wake up every single morning to only laughter and joy. That's the beauty of The Philippines - they know the secret to happiness is being highly social. Having few things and little space only fosters that quality in life. But they live a hard life. They make sacrifices. Their daily focus is to eat enough calories while they wish it could be on education and bettering their kids futures.

I decided to start this gofundme when I realized that Jena, the young girl in the cover photo, comes out of the dark area every night and sits under our porch light just to do her homework. I've seen her there. I just never really thought about it. But when I did start to think about Jena's daily routine, I saw how far even $3 would go to helping her complete her school work.

In the day time each day, these families work all day making bamboo lanterns. 




At night, 9 year old Jena comes to use our porch light to do her homework assignments. I asked her if her parents told her to go there. She said, "No. My teacher told me I should do my homework." She wants to succeed.






How the money will be used:

The first $60 will go to pay their overdue electric bill to get them ahead in their life and get their lights back on.

If people are moved by this story as much as I am and choose to contribute above the $60 goal, the next $200 will go to this group of 4 families for them to use for any other health, food or educational expenses they haven't been able to take care of. I'll share with you all what causes they chose to put the funds towards.

If the campaign receives more than this, I will find additional families who are in similar situations and I will give 100% of the extra funds to go to those families in need also while updating you all about the stories that come out of this project.

I will update this page and my public facebook page with videos and links showing people's reactions and the impact that the donations made.

Thank you all! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. This is my first gofundme campaign.

Let's help this family have a happy Christmas season!