Day 57: Helped Build a School

Being able to see first hand due to my wife being a teacher, I know the importance of education. I know the impact that it has on someone's life and their future. Unfortunately, I also know that not all education is equal (and in some instances, even existent). Socioeconomic status should never determine the quality or availability of education for anyone...even in one of the most remote places on Earth.

In late 2009, Brooke Laura took a trip to Kathmandu to work at a children's' home and trek throughout Nepal. During her trip, she became close friends with her tour guide, Sudan, and through many discussions learned that educational opportunities in Nepal were few and far between. Brooke, someone who seems to have always been a very giving and selfless person, knew she wanted to do something. After 8 days of discussions during her trip, Brooke and Sudan came up with an idea. This idea would allow children in one of the most remote regions of Nepal to receive an education. With the blessings of the community, Sudan and his family moved their lives into a single room, and donated the rest of their home so that the Shining Star Academy/Saprinu could be born. From the start, children flocked to the school, and more children are looking to join the school each day. Sudan's home can not support the sheer number of students, so Brooke, Sudan and the community need to build a larger facility. They want to be able to provide a promising education to as many people as possible, but as of now, they don't have the means to do that. That is where my random act of kindness comes into play.

I never expected 366 Random Acts to spread as far and wide as it has. In fact, it is one of the most overwhelming aspects of all of this. Although I never imagined the reach that this could have, I can now see how awesome people are all around the world, and the impact that we as a group can have. So today, for my random act of kindness, I am donating $1 to help build the new Shining Star Academy. I am then going to spread the word about it to everyone I know and try to get as many people worldwide to donate at least $1 to this cause. I want to see the impact that we can have, so if you have the means, please donate $1. If not, please spread the word to as many people as you know. Tweet it out, Facebook it, send smoke signals and morse code about it. Whatever it takes.

The reason why I want to do this is because Sudan, who so selflessly gave up his home and has been acting as principal of Shining Star, has recently been struck with devastating news. His son, Avi, after 2 long and arduous trips to India, was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma of the spine. There are moves in the works to try to get Avi to St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, but Sudan and his family have had to use anything and everything they have in order to save Avi. I want to try to do my part to take as much stress off of the family as possible. Concentrating on getting his son better should be priority number one, and I want to help make it that way. So again, please spread the word to as many people as possible, and if you have the means, even a $1 donation would go a long way.