Ding-dong. Your doorbell rings. No, scratch that. Your cell phone rings. You instinctively look at the screen to see who’s calling and it says “Mr. Big.” No, scratch that. It says “Big,” just that one word, “Big.” You press the button and say, your voice betraying your ambivalence and curiosity, “Hullo?”
A female voice, nasal, matter-of-fact, comes straight out of a black-and-white movie, telling you that she is calling for Big, who has come to appreciate your talent and vision, who wants you to accept a lifetime fellowship, a stipend for life, that will support you and cover all expenses of any projects that you take on.
Another voice comes on the line. It’s Big. Big makes it clear that this is no ruse, that you’ve been watched, your value as a person of goodness and potential has become clear, and Big wants to back you. Big understands that you need some time to accept, but assures you that the choice is yours, the offer stands. The Big Grant is yours for the taking. The offer will never be revoked:
...a lifetime fellowship, a stipend for life, that will support you and cover all expenses of any projects that you take on.
...a lifetime fellowship, a stipend for life, that will support you and cover all expenses of any projects that you take on.
Now, I need you to get into this! Imagine it! Because I have two questions:
1. What would you do that day, that week, to process the information, assuming that it is true, authentic?
2. How would this change your life?
That’s all for today. No more words from me. I’m giving you three days to reply. Watch daily for what each other says. My next entry will be on Saturday morning. Please send this to people you know. You can do it easily by clicking on the little letter/arrow icon just below the licensing notice. Ask them to reply too.
FreeLemonadeStand by John J. Daniels is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
I've never been a person who wanted to win the lotto and quit my job. If I think about winning a lotto (which will never happen because I don't buy tickets), it is to imagine who I would give the money to. The Racine Dominicans who educated me would get a million, and Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) (http://www.cfcausa.org/) would get at least a million. The four kids we sponsor through CFCA would all get new houses. (You can see I have thought a lot about winning the lotto despite never buying a ticket.) So anyway - if Big comes along and offers to sponsor me for life, I would finish out my obligation to the university and become a full time CFCA sponsor. I would sponsor a child (or two or three) in every country and visit them. I'd make sure they had dignified homes and education to obtain meaningful work someday. When I wasn't traveling to visit them, I would work full time to recruit more volunteers and spread the word about CFCA. Let me tell you the story of one of our little ones - Miguel in Guatemala. We started sponsoring a girl in Africa 5 years ago. The organization offers trips to meet your sponsored child or elderly person but we couldn't make the two week trip to Africa so we went instead to Guatemala. We wanted to see first hand how CFCA operates. What we saw blew our socks off. It is a well-oiled machine that uses the sponsors' money in the best and most efficient possible way. We were so taken by the people of Guatemala - their faith, humility and gratitude that we just had to sponsor a child there. When asked what age and gender - we just said "whoever is in the greatest need". Shortly after that the social worker appeared with Miguel and his mother and baby brother. The mother had been raised an orphan. She met a nice man and had 5 sons. He developed cancer and had died a few weeks before we were there, leaving her with 5 boys - ages one to ten. Another person on the trip decided to sponsor the baby and we began to sponsor Miguel who was three at the time. Recently I emailed the organization because I had my extra summer pay money in hand. I asked what their additional needs might be. The answer broke my heart. The mother deserted the family, leaving them with an older aunt with health problems. The aunt's only request was additional grocery money and tin to repair the roof since the rain poured into her "kitchen" during the rainy season. I couldn't think of anything else for weeks. When we met Miguel's mother she appeared overwhelmed and depressed. My guess is that she is suffering from severe depression which is not going to get treated (or even recognized)in a poor country like Guatemala. My goal is to find sponsors for the other three boys. It is my hope that if all the boys are sponsored, the aunt will not get discouraged them and put them in an orphanage. I wish I could post a picture of Miguel. He and his brothers didn't deserve to be born into poverty and lose both parents. If any of you readers have ever had an interest in sponsoring a child or elder in a third world country, this is the organization for you. I highly recommend it. The secret the sponsors all know, is that in the end, we benefit more than the child.
ReplyDeleteMaureen, I looked on the site and it looks like the cost of sponsorship is $30/month. Is that right?
ReplyDeleteYes, $30/month - a dollar a day.
ReplyDelete