Often, inspiration for something comes from someone else. A fair statement, correct? If you answered NO, I refer you to the thousands of ice cubes dumped over countless heads in the name of ALS awareness during the Ice Bucket Challenge craze of last summer. I know the world seems like a cruel and crazy place a lot of the time, but it does seem like people will certainly step up, when invited by a friend.
A couple of weeks ago, I casually mentioned on Facebook that my shopaholic friends could get their retail rush by perusing the ads and filling a backpack for a needy child, and offered to collect and distribute those offerings. Shortly after that, my Dear Relative mentioned on her blog about the need for small dresses for children in Africa.
It took probably as long to make three small "pillowcase" dresses for Africa as it did for Nancy to fill the backpack, and today we met for lunch, exchanging our offerings, each appreciating the efforts of the other for causes close to our hearts.
This evening, I found out that another friend is attempting to raise $1200 for tuition for two young girls in Ghana, rescuing them from an abusive situation. Social media may very well raise that figure multiple times over, simply by telling the story.
In the fall, I will once again be charged with teaching about the dangers of the internet. I'm wondering tonight how to responsibly teach the idea of social consciousness, allowing freshmen to see the possibilities of good instead of evil in this crazy interweb that is the voice for the "real world" in the twenty-first century.
Because there are hundreds of girls in Africa -- many with new pretty dresses -- who will be needing backpacks of school supplies, if we're all successful in our missions.
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