This is the foundation that we will begin building upon tomorrow morning. Over the next seven days we will post updates often so please check back here often. This is going to be a wild ride!
Where it all begins
Sunday Morning Mass with the Kids
We are in the bus, en route to mass with the kids from the orphanage Hogar BohÃo de Maria. This is a favorite time for some of the volunteers, to see a Catholic Mass inundated with hundreds of orphans. This is the way all church services should be, a respite for the weary, the broken, the unwanted. More pictures to come!
Thank you for your Generosity!
The TXProject wishes to thank all those who helped make our GoFundMe campaign a success! It means a lot to us that you would put your trust in us and in our project. We made our goal and we now heading to Colombia to do the construction. Please check back with this site frequently this week for updates, pictures and stories about our progress. We want you to feel like you are a part of the team. Even though you aren’t able to be with us this week, you are a large part of our success. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Of Manual Labor, Joy and Switchfoot…
Why do we say things like “we want to make a difference”? What is actually being desired? It’s not merely recognition, it’s deeper than that. It’s not happiness, happy is a shallow word, isn’t it? In the words of a Switchfoot song “happy” is a yuppy word. There’s something much more profound that gets generated when you help someone who is incapable of helping you back. I think that something is Joy. It is hard to pinpoint, but somewhere in there is a mechanism that converts Manual Labor into Joy. So, as it says in the song from Switchfoot, I went looking for an Orphanage.
Looking for an orphanage
I’m looking for a bridge I can’t burn down
I don’t believe the emptiness
I’m looking for the kingdom coming down
Everything is meaningless
I want more than simple cash can buy
And we found The Emiliani Project, and we fell in love with the kids in Medellin, Colombia, and we found our well of Joy. Here’s the best part, you can join us by helping us raise funds to build a dormitory bathroom. We started a GoFundMe Fundraiser with the express goal of purchasing the materials necessary to build this building, so we can put it together when we get to Colombia on July 27th. Here are my top 5 reasons for why I recommend donating to this campaign!
- The cause ultimately benefits orphans. These are kids that do not have a home, and don’t have the means to live and grow without the aid of others.
- It is tax deductible. The Emiliani Project is a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all donations go directly to them.
- 100% of the donations go towards the construction materials for this building. GoFundMe does not charge a platform fee. Emiliani does not take any off of the top. My team is already paying their own way to Colombia, so 100% of all donations go right where we are saying they go.
- All donations (up to $10,000) are matched. If you donate $25, you’ll really be giving $50, so every little bit helps AND counts for double.
- You will have a front row seat to watch the construction of this building. You’ll be able to follow first hand accounts of where your money went and how it was put to use by seeing and reading about our progress as we are blogging about it on our site https://thetxproject.com.
Find out more from our GoFundMe page!
Please consider giving to our campaign. Please consider sharing the campaign link with your friends. Most importantly, please consider following our trip from July 27th to August 4th as we build this building with the funds you helped us raise!
The attached image is our work site being prepared for us. This is where, from July 27th to August 4th, we hope to transform Manual Labor to Joy. Please check back here during that week to see the progress in action!
Generosity
What you see here is a trunk full of necessities that were purchased for the kids at the home in Bello. Clothing items, toiletries, and other supplies that we were told they were in dire need of. It would have been fun to purchase treats or toys for the kids, but how could we do that when some kids don’t even have underwear.
Thanks a million to Sherry and Leslie for their generosity.
Leaving Caldas…
Such mixed emotions. We are all very proud of the work we were able to accomplish, BUT, we are leaving behind some very dear friends.
We finished the painting we were given to do. We finished the tiling we were given to do.
Over the years, we have touched every building you see in this picture. Some we painted, some we tiled and some we built from the ground up. All in expectation for that day when orphaned and abandoned children will call this place home.
So we are proud but also sad. We packed, cleaned, hugged on each other and said adios and chao. Volveremos!