I’m in Chicago this morning on business, and found a little bit of time to post a long overdue update here and get back to regular blogging.

It’s been a busy few weeks! My sweetheart and I celebrated our 10th anniversary (and thanks to Delta SkyMiles and Hilton HHonors points, we did it in style on Maui). Between that, working with my team to get our new product ready for prime time, and Sierra College’s presidential search, something had to be on hold. So glad to be back.

Most of you remember the Adami Tulu Project that we launched last year to raise $35,000 and build a new school building for orphans and vulnerable children in a tiny village in Ethiopia.

We’ve had an incredible fundraising team on this project…amazing folks who are dedicated, hardcore advocates for orphans and I’m so thankful to be working alongside them. (You know who you are!)

Since the project was fully funded, a few great things have happened.

First, a few of the team members decided to keep fundraising and raise another $7,500 to replace the restrooms at the school. The current facilities are charitably called restrooms…one might actually call them a “concrete-covered hole in the ground.” That fundraising is almost complete!

And second, our Adami Tulu Project t-shirts arrived. The money raised by the sale of these shirts will go to cover the ground transportation costs (hiring two vans and drivers) to get the team around Ethiopia when we go in August to help with the finish construction. (Other than the ground transport cost, each team member is covering their own airfare, hotel and food costs.)

So we’d love for you to get a t-shirt and support this effort. They come in Men’s (cactus green) and women’s (hot pink). You can see the front of the shirt above (a great conversation starter, let me tell you!) and on the back of the shirt, there’s a famous African proverb that is a great reminder.

“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito.”

(It’s even more profound when you live in a country with malaria outbreaks!)

Thank you for all of your support for the Adami Tulu Project, and if you’d like to get the t-shirt and help the team cover these ground transport costs, check them out and place your order here.

I’m a planner…a strategist…and a worrier by nature. When we have a goal, I want to know how we’re going to achieve it, and what our backup plan is if Plan A doesn’t work out.

So I have to admit that, as excited as I was to see us hit 67% completion on the Adami Tulu project, I was a little worried.

The “low hanging fruit” had been picked. We still had a third of the mountain to climb and it looked a lot steeper from here on out.

And once again, I was proven completely wrong.

Yesterday morning, my phone rang and it was our Adami Tulu teammate Casey Picker. “I just had to call you,” he said, having just stepped out of church to make the call. “Somebody looked up how much we had left for Adami Tulu and handed me a check for $12,000.”

Amazing. Mind-blowing. World-changing.

As Psalm 68:6 says, “God sets the lonely in families.” And there are a lot of orphans in the little village of Adami Tulu who may never know a permanent family, but through the incredible generosity of every single person who gave – whether they gave $1 or $12,000 – several hundred more will have a “family of teachers and classmates” and a building will rise on this construction site.

Will our one little project singlehandedly solve the global orphan crisis? Not by a long shot.

But together, we’re laying the groundwork. Piece by piece, brick by brick, to change the world and equip these children with the education and skills they need, so that they can break the cycle of poverty and build a sustainable future of hope that brings the global orphan crisis to an end.

I know I speak for the entire fundraising team, and the team that will head to Adami Tulu, Ethiopia to complete this project in August, when I say…we just can’t wait to see it filled with kids and in operation.

To each of you who helped to make this happen…a heartfelt thank you.

Photo Credit: Ryan and Cassie Williams, Judy Johnson

Check out this great article in The Union about the Adami Tulu Project to build a school for orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia.

A Sustainable Vision for Africa: Educational leader lends a hand in Ethiopia

By Kyle Magin

Call it the “teach a man to fish” philosophy.

Aaron Klein, president of Sierra College’s Board of Trustees and a representative for part of Nevada County, is taking a different tack on lending a hand to Africa.

Rather than write a check to an aid organization in Africa, Klein is working with a group of people to finance and build a school in Ethiopia, with hopes of denting African dependence on Western aid.

“We’ve seen billions in aid go to Africa over the last 25 years,” Klein said. “What that has done is create a culture of dependency. Most of the aid we send there never gets to the people. And, what does, in effect, creates a continent-wide welfare system.”

Klein first visited Ethiopia in early 2010 to adopt his daughter, Emma. In September he visited again, this time to a village called Adami Tulu, where a school for about 100 orphaned and vulnerable children operates on a campus with three school buildings.

“I was out on the lawn at recess with the Adami Tulu kids,” Klein said. “And, as a lot of adoptive parents joke about, it’s a good thing you can’t process paperwork on the spot, because they are just amazing kids.”

Adoption, though, is another unsustainable answer, Klein said.

“You can’t have one continent adopt another continent’s kids,” Klein said.

After he returned, Klein and wife Cacey began work on a fundraising initiative to raise $35,000 for another school building in Adami Tulu, which currently offers three grades, to enhance the village’s offerings and eventually give it a K-12 school system. It costs about $11.23 per child, per month to finance the school, and only about 40 percent of the kids can pay tuition there, which is $1.50 per month.

“The idea is to build a foundation for self-sufficiency,” Klein said.

The school’s focus is to offer an education that will provide the children with technical skills and conversational English with an American accent.

“The ultimate job these children would love to have, is working in a call center,” he said. “In an area with monumentally high unemployment, you’re almost guaranteed a job if you speak conversational English in an American accent.”

Backers have raised about $20,000 for the new school building, which would take the school to a seven-grade offering and double its enrollment from 100 to 200.

Klein is planning a trip back in August to finish construction at the new building. Visit www.hopetakesroot.com to find out how you can donate to the school.

You may be visiting this post because you read or heard about the Adami Tulu Project in the local media. If so, thanks for being interested enough in our project to come visit, and learn more!

You can read about the genesis of the Adami Tulu Project here.

As of this writing (March 11), we’re exactly two-thirds of the way to our fundraising goal of $35,000. We’re a mere $12,000 away from being able to build this school for orphans and vulnerable children in the tiny village of Adami Tulu, Ethiopia.

Can you play a role in bringing hope – and helping to build a sustainable set of solutions for the global orphan crisis – to orphans and vulnerable children in Africa?

If you make a donation of $25 or more, as a token of our thanks, we’ll send you an Adami Tulu Project t-shirt. (Men’s shirts are gray, women’s are pink, and shipping is free. We’ll e-mail you to get your preference and shipping address after you donate!)

Donate Online

As an old African Proverb says, “if you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.” Thank you in advance for your help!

With all of the massive life changes I’m in the midst of executing right now, I forgot to post the results of our National Super Bowl Party to raise money for the Adami Tulu project!

Some people joined the party from their couches. Others came together in places like Atlanta, Georgia, Middlebury, Indiana and little old Colfax, California.

You all pledged some amazing amounts of money. Most people pledged $1, $2 or $3 per point that their team scored. Some pledged for every point the winning team scored. Many pledged per point that either of the teams scored.

Before the game even started, each Packers touchdown was already worth $287 and each Steelers touchdown was worth $140!

And by the end of the game, thanks to your amazing generosity, we had raised a grand total of $3,235 to give these orphans and vulnerable children the gift of a lifetime: education.

A very heartfelt thank you.

PS: Just a reminder, we’re not done yet. With the combined efforts of everyone involved with the project, we just cracked $20,000! We’re well on the way to our goal of $35K. If you want to “score the extra points” for this touchdown, you can give online by clicking here.

If you’re in the 530/916 area, you’ll have to check out the local production of Fiddler on the Roof, directed by my amazing mother-in-law, Jennifer Steward, and starring several of my in-laws!

Live music, great acting and an incredible story – and admission is only $6!

The cool thing? All profits will benefit the Adami Tulu project to build a school for orphans in Ethiopia.

There are two more performances on February 18 and 19, and doors open at 6PM at Garden Valley Chapel, about 30 minutes south of Auburn. Their productions almost always sell out, so you should call for reserved seating at 530-906-0376.

Enjoy!

I’m sitting in the play area at Chick-fil-a and the kids are climbing, running and playing. A girl of about eight walks up to me and points to Emma.

“Was she adopted?”

I was a little surprised. Most people just assume my African-American daughter is adopted. But of course, eight year olds don’t assume. They ask.

It also struck me that she used the past tense. The few adults who ask usually say “is she adopted” as if the act of adoption is a status (like “I’m American” or “I’m married”) instead of an event that happened (like “I was born”).

“She was adopted,” I replied.

The little girl beamed.

“I was adopted, too,” she said.

I blinked back surprise again. A moment I had thought was about my unusual looking Korean-Ethiopian-American family was actually not about us at all.

Instead, it was a moment of affirmation for this precious eight-year-old girl, who knows that a piece of her history is different from many of her friends, but caught a glimpse that told her it was normal. Good. Positive. Accepted.

I smiled back at her. “That’s very special. I’m sure your mom and dad are so happy you are their daughter, just like me with my Emma.”

“They are,” she said. “They are.”

Many of you already know about the Adami Tulu project to make a big dent in the global orphan crisis by constructing a new school building in a small village in Ethiopia.

We’re raising $35,000 to more than double the size of the Adami Tulu school. In August, a team will go to Ethiopia to complete the construction of the building and work with some of the kids there. And thanks to you, we’re already 30% of the way there on our fundraising goal!

So how can you help?

We’re holding a National Super Bowl Party to help raise the remaining funds for this project.

So whether you’re rooting for the Steelers or the Packers, or whether you’re just watching the Super Bowl for the commercials, you can still help change the world!

Here’s how it works.

• You can join the party from the comfort of your couch, or from the party you always go to. There are parties cropping up all the way from Atlanta to Colfax where we’ll pause at half time and learn more about the Adami Tulu school project. And you can even host your own local Super Bowl party to support the project (you can e-mail me for details).
• Simply pledge $1, $2 or $3 per point that your team scores. You can pledge by leaving a comment here, or posting it on the Facebook event page, or e-mailing your pledge to me.
• Every time one of the teams score, the amount we’ve raised goes up! You can follow Facebook or Twitter to get the running total of donations throughout the game.
• Your friends can join this National Super Bowl Party as well! Go to the Facebook event page, and you can invite your own friends to join this important cause. Or you can tweet or e-mail this post to your friends and family. Let’s make a huge impact on changing the world!

I’ll update this post with the Super Bowl parties happening across the country as I receive them. Please check back here if you’re looking for a party in your area to join!

Let’s get ready to rrrrumble!

Local Super Bowl Parties

Remember, you can join the national party from the comfort of your couch, but here are some local Super Bowl parties that you are welcome to join (we’ll pause at half time to learn more about the Adami Tulu project). Please e-mail the contact below for address and directions.

• Atlanta, Georgia – Details TBA – Contact: Casey Picker, caseypicker@gmail.com
• Colfax, California – Starts at 2PM Pacific – Pizza, Snacks and Drinks Provided – Contact: Aaron Klein, ak@aaronklein.com
• Middlebury, IN – Starts at 6PM Eastern – Pizza, Pop, Chips and Veggies Provided – Contact: Terrance Waggoner, dr.waggoner3324@gmail.com

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” -Martin Luther King

As I was thinking about Martin Luther King Day this morning, the progress we’ve made as a country and reflecting on the year since we brought our daughter Emma home from Ethiopia, it struck me how blessed we are to live in the United States. This is an exceptional country.

We are blessed to have education systems that give anyone who wants to work hard the ability to make a prosperous life for themselves. Is that system behind the curve? Sure. Does it need reform? Badly. Does it generally propel its participants to the top 10% of the world’s wealthiest people? It does.

We are blessed to have an economic system of entrepreneurial capitalism. One that gives the dreamers of our land a way to create wealth out of silicon crafted from sand on our beaches, and glimmers of light sent through a fiber optic cable. Does the ever-growing weight of taxes, regulation and bureaucracy make us wonder if our government truly wants the job creators to do their thing? Sure. Do we need reform to unleash job creation? Badly. Are we still the best place on earth to build amazing things? We are.

I’m amazed by what I see when I travel to Africa.

Every single person knows that education is critical to the future of their children. Every single person is an entrepreneur in some way, shape or form – it’s almost always a necessity to survive. Yet while freedom and opportunity is on the rise there, they are still decades behind. And the global orphan crisis is one result.

Every single person I’ve met there – without exception – sees the United States of America as the greatest nation on the face of this planet because of the freedom, opportunity and equality that we offer.

Not equality in outcome, mind you – but equality in opportunity.

And as I look at the incredible gift I was given to be born in the United States, it makes me all the more determined, as U2′s Bono said, to be the generation “that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies.”

That’s what the Adami Tulu project to build a new school building in Ethiopia is all about.

As you know, Cacey and I have committed to raising $7,000 as a part of that project. We’re about 13% of the way there in our own personal efforts.

Another one of our fundraising team leaders have stepped up with a hugely generous offer of a dollar-for-dollar match for Adami Tulu fundraising in January, up to $3,500. (There is still $2,800 of match money available.) That means that every dollar of your tax-deductible contribution will be doubled in the impact you can make.

So as you consider what role you want to play in making “justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” in our small world, I hope you’ll consider this incredible opportunity.

We can build a world where 163 million children aren’t waiting for the love and permanence of a family. Accomplishing that goal won’t be easy. It will take change in governments. It will take hard work, dedication and perseverance.

But that day is coming.

I hope you’ll be a part of it with as generous of a contribution as you can afford.

Reminder: 100% of your contribution is tax deductible and the first $3,500 raised in January will be doubled in impact through the generosity of Terrance and Juli Waggoner in Indiana. So please don’t delay – we hope you’ll join us in this project today!

Update: I’m reminded again that most people prefer to contribute via check rather than credit card, and that’s GREAT! Two choices for you. One, you can leave a comment below and I’ll send you a stamped-and-addressed contribution envelope. Two, you can mail your check to the following address:

Lifesong Adami Tulu Fund

PO Box 40

202 N. Ford

Gridley, IL 61744

Thank you again for your generosity!

Photo Credit: Bing.com

After weeks of work by our families and friends, the Hope Takes Root fundraiser is upon us.

If you forgot to RSVP and still want to come this evening, "there’s always room for one more." Please drop in at Veteran’s Memorial Hall at 100 East Street in Auburn.

For those of you who can’t make it, or the many of you well outside the 530/916 area, I’ll do my best to post a few photos throughout the evening via Twitter.

Another great way you can "join us" in spirit? Donate to this incredible cause.

And a very happy 30th birthday to my sweetheart – I’m amazed to see the impact she is having on changing the world!