What if, instead of making goals on how we were to improve ourselves this year, we instead focused on goals where we can prepare to help other people. Some may say that there is no difference, but I believe that we can make a difference as we build others around us rather than focus on ourselves. Consider a quote from Charles de Montesquieu

“To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.”

We need more people in this world who focus on others in order to raise themselves rather than pushing others down, trying to raise themselves. This is what we are building with Global Outreach Alliance. Each volunteer has bought into this. We invite you to do the same! See how you can contribute and join us so that we can make 2012 the best year yet in each of our lives!

“Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you.  So carve your name on hearts and not on marble.” – C. H. Spurgeon

I received a report today – it’s from one of my managers and a family she works with. People are always asking me how this all works. This report tells how it works but it’s in their words – not mine. The English is not terrific and the grammar not the best but I do believe that they express themselves better than I ever could. Let me share this with you.

“At Choung Tieng Village, Tebthi Commune, Kors Kralor Distrcit, Battambang Province, there are many poor people who live there. They are living in miserable conditions. Most families have a lot of children so they have high responsibility in their family. They meet many problems because of hard to find money and earn less than spending.

I am Meurn Teurm and my wife is Paeth Ry. I live in Choung Tieng Village. I have 7 children; there are 4 boys and 3 girls. I am a farmer and my wife is seller of Khmer noodles at home. It is very difficult to support a big family but we still try hard to work more and more – but my food is not enough because we are a lot of children. Before, my house is very small. Fortunately, there is an organization called Tabitha Cambodia who come into my village. The population here was very happy, including my family also.

Tabitha Cambodia taught the villagers to know how to save money. I had to join saving money with Tabitha too. In one week, I putted money 3000 riels until 11 weeks pass by to get 10% interest. Every eleven weeks, I got enough money from Tabitha to buy things like:

Small House – 7 children

First ducks and chickens

Second a pig

Third a sewing machine

Fourth Water storage jars

Fifth Table and chairs

Sixth Tabitha team built us a house, Seventh bought bricks to connect new house

Finally Tabitha Cambodia helped people to build house and also my family. I had contribution 100,000 riel to Tabitha for the house ($25.00 US dollars). Now I still continue saving money. All the people in my village and my family are living here with pleasure. I joy and gratitude to Tabitha Cambodia so much.”

I love the expression “all of us are living here with pleasure”. I thank my God for the pleasure He gives my staff and myself for the privilege of working alongside these families. I am humbled and thankful for all of you who enable this to happen. May you all also live with pleasure.

You may be reading this as someone who hasn’t become a volunteer yet, or you may already be a volunteer.  Either way, you’re reading this because at one point, something has caught your eye.  Something has jolted you into action, whether it was organizing an event or clicking a link to read this blog, you’ve sprang into action.  Now what?  What can you do?  What WILL you do?

The Global Outreach Foundation is all about empowering communities to thrive on their own.  To build confidence, to help one another out and to realize that the human race is an incredible creation of God.  It’s not a competition, but a collaboration on how we can help each other out.  The problem is, like Godin talks about, is that “without leaders, there are no followers.”  The solution follows: “You’re a leader.  We need you.”

Join us and get involved with The Global Outreach Foundation.  Sign-up for our newsletter to tie yourself in.  Donate if you want to further solidify your commitment.  Find your passion, your spot in our organization and tie yourself together with our team.  Then lead!  Amazing things are happening, and it’s your choice to be a part of it or not.

What’s something concrete and tangible you’ve learned in the last three months?

People are amazing! Without people, you have nothing.

With whatever we’re doing in life, we can create the big plans, draw up the strategy, and begin building it. But it will always take people to allow the dream to become a reality because ultimately it needs to be people who buy into our product or inspired means for change.

Recently, working in Cambodia on a volunteer mentoring program for orphans in Phnom Penh, I realized how important it is to have good people on the ground. For months we weren’t able to get moving on some plans there. It took me going there and working with some of the locals to move things forward. Without good people to trust, to work with, to catch the vision, and to take ownership of principles and ideas, our organization’s mission will never be realized.  We will never grow. However, good people (locals) who can share the dream with us will be our complete force for progress. Without people, the vision will perish!

What is a mistake or mishap you’ve learned from?

Just the other day, I used the word “underdeveloped” while commenting on the infrastructure here in Kenya. That was the wrong word. That was short sided of me to use that word. My dear friend, and member of our board, looked at me with a lot of conviction in his eyes, reminding me that his country and people are not underdeveloped at all, but simply “developing.” “We are constantly moving forward. We are an empowered people doing the best we know how to do. We will achieve our goals with time,” he said. I believe he is right on. I learned a valuable lesson.

May we never forget the value of people. My hope is that we will never undermine their improvements and capabilities. People are divine! Daily, people around the globe are sincere with their attempt to make daily progress and provide for their families and loved ones.

The part that struck me was when Mortenson is talking with Jahan, the granddaughter of Haji Ali (the leader of Korphe, the first village that had a school built) about her education and what she wanted to do.  Jahan basically told Mortenson that she wanted to start a hospital, and be the executive over the hospital (she went to school to be a health worker) and to look over “all the health problems of all the women in the Braldu,” and even saying that she wanted to be a “superlady.”  With that, Mortenson’s jaw dropped at the potential this young lady had finally realized through the simple means of education.

“Five hundred and eighty letters, twelve rams, and ten years of work was a small price to pay, Mortenson thought, for such a moment.” – Three Cups of Tea, p. 313

Mortenson didn’t just want to help educate a few kids here and there, he wanted them to see their full potential and go after it.  There’s nothing like laboring for someone you love to realize how good, how amazing they can really be through them finally seeing their potential and grabbing hold of it with every bit of energy they’ve got.  I believe that’s what Mortenson finally got to see in Jahan’s face that made ten years of work, tears, sweat and sacrifice worth it.  A life was truly changed.  It started with the seed of education.

“So many of our dreams first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” -Christopher Reeve

When I was first approached by Steven Wrigley about The Global Outreach Foundation, many things caught my eye.  What the organization was about, his vision on where it would be, the contacts he had to make it happen and more than anything, the drive that he had to make a change in the world.  However, something else stuck in my mind.  Something that I absolutely love.  Something as simple as a word choice.  I’ve been thinking a lot recently about our tagline, empowering children, and what it really means.Why did Steve use ‘empowering‘ rather than ‘enabling‘ or ‘helping‘?

If you look in the dictionary, there isn’t much difference between the two words.  To me, there is a colossal difference!

To me, enabling children would create a culture of co-dependence. The children would absolutely NEED us to be there 100% of the time in order to create something from the opportunities that we would be providing.  They would need our money, they would need our guidance, they would need our help every step of the way.

On the other hand, empowering children would create a culture of self-reliance. Empowering someone allows the individual to be taught correct principles, given the help that they need, but the key is creating a sustainable model or system that can be followed for long after the teacher has left the student.

Remember the oft told story and cliche, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”

Our mission, as The Global Outreach Foundation, is to empower children by providing opportunities and tools for education, coupled with mentoring services. Through education and mentoring, we are able to improve their overall quality of life and help to instill self-reliance and confidence deep into the child’s sense of self.

I’m the type of person that loves being involved in a wide variety of interests and activities.  I tell people all the time that being involved in a lot of good things helps me feel balance and keeps life interesting.  However, it has dawned on me once again just how many good things are competing for my time and attention.

At different times of my life, I’ve seen that over-committing myself has led me to be less productive in many areas rather than narrowing in on a few key ambitions. This overdose of commitments subconsciously occupies my mind and often prevents me from finishing or getting one thing done well.  I believe it could be said of these times that I become a ‘Jack of all tasks, finisher of none!’ I have come to the realization that in the pursuit of accomplishing so much good stuff, I run the risk of spreading myself out thin and becoming a generalist.

A generalist can be defined as someone whose competence, while covering a number of areas, is superficial in all of them.  This leads me to ask: Are you happy with being competent in many endeavors but not outstanding in any particular one?  Or are you happy with starting many endeavors and finishing none??  I know that I’m not!!  So how do we overcome this?

“We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives.”  (Dallin H. Oaks, “Good, Better, Best,”)

Because things change in life, it is fundamental to periodically take time to step back and assess what deserves your priority attention at that time.  This assessment includes a) taking an inventory of the commitments in your life, b) identifying what’s most important to you, and c) adjusting your commitments to master and finish those things that are better than good.  Empowering children and working in the field of human development is a commitment for me that is certainly better than good, and it always will be.  I prefer to make a meaningful contribution to a few ‘better than good’ things in life, rather than make a shallow contribution to a thousand average pursuits.

Take a minute to assess your commitments and make sure you’re dedicating yourself to the causes that you feel are ‘better than good.’  You can become a master of whatever you give sufficient time and effort to.  Here’s to helping each other focus our efforts and master the art of empowering our friends around the world!

(above photo attributed to Mike Seliski)