june project: building a future/tegucigalpa, honduras

Time's 'a tickin' as the June 2nd kick-off for The Global Citizen Project grows near. (Insert loud squeal of excitement here.) First stop will be with Building a Future in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and I'll be working with them in a variety of capacities for nearly three weeks. Of course, I'll blog, tweet and post about the experience as much as possible. I also have my Sharpies ready to send postcards to the 25 pledge recipients, which span six countries, and at least six decades. Cool, right?

Here's a sneak peek of where in the world I'll be in June and a little bit about the organization I'm volunteering with. Twenty-seven days until the volunteerting adventures begin!

Where is this? Tegucigalpa is the capital city of Honduras and is also the country's largest city. It is located in a basin surrounded by several mountains, at an elevation of 3,250 ft. According to 2005 estimates, the city of Tegucigalpa has approximately 1.25 million people.

About Building a Future: Building a Future’s (BAF) mission is to transform communities by promoting the educational and social development of underprivileged children in Honduras.

Sundry stuff:  BAF hosts an annual trip to Honduras with Texas A&M University Aggie Men’s Club (AMC). This year’s trip took place in March and the group built a home for a family of four, as well as interacted with children from orphanages and support centers managed by Jorge Mahomar. BAF also distributed over 75 soccer balls and over 100 tee-shirts to deserving children. If you’d like to get a better sense of the work BAF does, take a few minutes to check out this video created by AMC’s Andrew Paton documenting the recent trip (the editing is way cool). Also on this trip, I will find a happy home for the XO Laptop that Foodista.com so generously donated. Thank you again, Barnaby for spreading the worldwide tech/educational love. And thanks again to everyone who played a part in making TGCP happen. It's hard to believe that an idea I conceived just seven short months ago (a) got funded within 90 days, and (b) is actually happening within the next 30 days. It's overwhelming and exciting and I'm humbled every day that I have this opportunity ahead of me to make a difference in so many lives around the world. Thank you.

back in action

Thank you for bearing with my social media hiatus as I caught up on sleep, allowed the whirlwind of the last 90 days sink in, had a few, much-needed celebratory moments and attended to a long list of post-project admin details the past few days. I'm still in awe that so many people rallied on behalf of The Global Citizen Project to make it a success with just 7 hours to go). Wow. The funding state of affairs was a little touch and go one week out, but so many people pledged, increased their pledges and put out APB's on behalf of the project. Thank you so much. Your love and enthusiasm is beyond inspiring. It's been a little strange not fundraising 24/7 or being such a round-the-clock slave to social media, but I'll be back in action this week as the real adventure begins. Stay tuned and hang on tight - the journey you helped make possible is just beginning.

Maybe you've been grateful for a social media time out (I know my tweets were getting awfully repetitive there at the end), but I know I've missed you. Here’s what I’ve been up to the past few days:

My inbox was slammed with more than 500 emails upon the successful funding of The Global Citizen Project last Monday afternoon, so I've been slowing working my way through these thoughtful messages and notes of congratulations.

I’ve been a busy bee packing up and mailing backer rewards – more than 100 in total. The BF has been been extremely helpful, wielding a box cutter, packing tape, and whipping up custom-sized shipping boxes for everything from body butter to water bottles. Everything, but coffee and postcards will go out today (a lot has already been shipped). I should have coffee ready to mail by tomorrow, and I want to wait a few days until I'm in a calm, happy place to pen the postcards from Seattle.

On Friday, I swung by Foodista, the cooking encyclopedia everyone can edit, to pick up a One Laptop per Child (OLPC) donation from CEO Barnaby Dorfman. Barnaby volunteered translating at a medical clinic in El Fuerte, Mexico a couple of years ago, where they treated 300-500 people per day. He just set down the OLPC XOs with no instruction and the kids figured 'em out -- I'm excited to do the same with whichever project this OLPC will land. Here are some pictures from Barnaby's trip. Thank you Barnaby for the OLPC XO donation and to everyone at Foodista for being such rockstar cheerleaders.

I enrolled to take a First Aid & CPR Class with the American Red Cross in Seattle. It's probably time. I haven't sucked face with a blow-up doll in the name of safety since high school.

I’m trying to finalize the exact 12 project itinerary ASAP and still need to connect with two one-month sponsors to determine those projects. Otherwise, I have a pretty solid plan and am waiting on final confirmations from the slated projects before moving forward. Excel is my friend.

Tomorrow, I will make an appointment with my travel doctor for in a few weeks (once I have my project itinerary nailed down). I'm slightly scared of what Dr. Dell's reaction will be when I run The Global Citizen Project by her -- she thinks my travels are pretty wacky already and I always leave with a sore arm, balloon animals (I'm an injection wimp) and piles of informational material and health warnings.

Also, now that life has far fewer distractions, I'll get back on Rosetta Stone this week for a Spanish refresher.

Last, but not least, the last round of backer thanks go out to:

• April and Con Williamson
• Bill Dillard
• Cindy Duffer
• Jerome Hodos
• Kathleen Sweeney
• Leah Reimer
• Lindsey Wildman
• Lisa Rogak
• Lola Akinmade (Lola’s pledge put TGCP over the $20,000/funded mark!)
• Marcia Rowland
• Mckenzie Brown
• Sydney Smith Gordon

Big huge thanks and high fives to all 223 people who helped fund The Global Citizen Project. This has been one big collaborative effort and if the success of TGCP doesn't renew your faith in people, I'm really not sure what will. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm so looking forward to getting down to TGCP business this week. XO

giving thanks. four days to go.

My apologies for keeping the commentary brief, but I have an intense four days ahead of me as I try to raise the remaining 41% necessary to fund The Global Citizen Project. I do want to take a quick "time out," though to thank the following people who believe in TGCP and backed the project over the past 24 hours:

Warren and Betsy Talbot of Married With Luggage, their blog on goal-setting, living well, managing your money, and simplifying your life. In a little over seven months, Warren and Betsy are taking off for round-the-world travel adventures. You can follow Warren on Twitter here, Betsy here and their Fremont home, which is up for sale here.

Patrick Mahaney, a dear friend of mine and dorm mate from my freshman year at University of Delaware, Los Angeles veterinarian and owner of California Pet Accupuncture & Wellness, Inc. Patrick educates pet lovers on pet issues through his LA Pet Care Examiner blog on Examiner.com. I can't wait for him, Phil and Cardiff to come to Seattle next month.

Marc Rand, constant source of love and friendship for the past (gasp) 20 years, one of the most thoughtful, creative and funny people I know. Husband to Scott Montgomery, another incredibly warm soul. Spending a few hours with these two has the restorative/relaxing effects of a full-blown vacation.

Jane

Barnaby Dorfman, CEO/Founder of Foodista.com, the cooking encyclopedia everyone can edit. You can follow Barnaby on Twitter here.

Helen Pitlick, digital media-ite, Foodista's Social Networking intern. You can follow Helen on Twitter here or read her blog here.

Sheila Beal, editor of the award winning travel blog Go Visit Hawaii. You can follow Sheila on Twitter here.

Matt Villano, dear friend who increased a previous pledge, freelancer writer covering travel, food, wine, gambling, science, business and technology. You can follow Matt on Twitter here.

Viv Draward, travel writer I met in Honduras and shared lovely conversation and company with over copious glasses of wine at The Lodge at Pico Bonito. She's also the PR and Communications Manager at Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Thank you to the 155 people who've pledged $11,866.42 to The Global Citizen Project. I still need a lot of help to reach my $20,000 goal or else I will not receive a penny and the project will not help. If you want to see TGCP come to life, please do what you can to spread the word. Thank you. XO