Sent Wednesday, January 24, 2001
Adventure Journal UPDATE! and E-vents
E-MAIL ADVENTURE JOURNAL UPDATE:
I just have to tell you. (I'm not sure I'll have the Of Global Interest News
in a snail-mail form before I leave for Nepal.)
Remember my last E-mail Adventure Journal titled "The Prison"? I wrote the
story about bringing gifts to the children in the Kathmandu Prison. You (the
people on my mailing list) seem to be sending these stories to your friends.
(Keep it up!) One of you in particular, Mr. Tom Peretti, sent the Prison
Story to members of Habitat for Humanity who were soon on their way to Nepal
to build homes for the Nepalese.
Soon after that, I got an e-mail from Maya Hamilton in California! She was
on her way to Nepal with the Habitat for Humanity group and was SO inspired
by the Prison Story, she was now determined to bring gifts to the prison
children like I had. She asked me for directions and some other details.
I promptly sent her what I knew. It felt good knowing someone (so far away)
had been touched by my story. Joe Connaughton, who gave me the original $50
to 'do something nice for the children of Nepal,' not only inspired me to
start the Of Global Interest Random Acts of Kindness Fund, but now Maya in
California had the goodwill bug, too.
A few weeks passed and another e-mail came from Maya. She said the authors
of Chicken Soup for the Soul wanted to publish the story in their next book!
Yikes. That alone gave me goose bumps for a week. And Maya also said that
the authors of the book had given her $1,000 to help the children in the
Kathmandu Prison. Maya's plan was to take the money to Nepal and 'see what
she could do.' (!)
A few more weeks pass. I went skiing and was away from e-mail for a while.
When I got back to the keyboard, there was a pileup. Blaring on the screen
were titles like "Urgent --Media Event--Nepal Children being released from
Prison" and "Your $1,000 released Children from Prison in Nepal!!"
It turned out, Maya DID visit the prison and eight children (eight of the 41
that I had met) were released! And they will be sponsored for the next 5-10
years at a home in Kathmandu run by Prison Fellowship International (PFI).
This American based group helps innocent children caught in prison systems
around the world. Adding these eight children to the home filled all the
available spaces. 17 children were already there.
Then Maya said she is now going to raise $129,000! Her plan is to have a
second home built that will house 25 more children. This money will also pay
for the costs of supporting these children for the next 5-10 years.
The release of the children from the prison was filmed by a Dutch film maker,
and there will be a press conference in Pasadena, California on February 22.
Maya wants Joe and I to be there (though I will be in Nepal). A celebrity
(TBA) will be there along with important people from the PFI organization in
Washington. I plan to send the press release (whatever she sends me) off to
various papers and TV stations around here, too.
Lastly, Maya wrote: Oprah's Angel Network is next.
One of many lessons here: Every action has the potential to become something
-- unbelievable.
DONATIONS:
If you would like to donate to the prison children, I will get the money to
the right people. I plan to visit the home during my next trip. If you
would like to sponsor one child, it is $40 to release a child from the prison
and the cost is $40 a month for 5-10 years. If you want to give any sum to
the effort of building a new home and the costs for raising these children,
please call.
The Of Global Interest Random Acts of Kindness Fund may go toward the prison
children in some form. I will also use this money as originally planned,
randomly offering dinner, a toy, a pair of shoes, work (such as collecting
trash around the sacred Bagmati River) to anyone in need.
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