I'm Just Sayin'

Please visit the newly launched blog dedicated to this project: http://mercimercy.wordpress.com/

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In May of 2009, I traveled to Togo to do a series of stories for my job at Compassion International The work I saw there was incredible. The children enrolled with Compassion were fed, clothed and cared for. I can’t speak highly enough about the work Compassion is doing in this small country in West Africa.

But there are still many, many children living in poverty who are not part of Compassion’s program. I will forever remember a school our group visited. The vast majority of the children there are not in Compassion’s program. And while I stood in that dusty schoolyard, I watched the principal go from classroom to classroom, sending children home who had not paid their fees.

One little girl in particular shuffled across the yard, tears streaming down her face. We found out that her school fees for the year were only $25. How often do I spend that amount without even thinking. While I stood numbly, a woman in our group whipped our her wallet and paid for that little girl. She stood before us, and whispered “Merci.” But the word that reached my ears was “Mercy.”

And that was the inspiration for this little project. I am setting out to raise $20,000–enough to pay for every child in that school’s fees for a year.

In the coming days, I will add information to this page, including a way to give online. However, school fees in Togo are due the first week in September–less than two months away. I’ve contacted them to see if I can pay a portion in September, and send the remaining balance at a later date, but I’m not sure if that’s possible. So, instead of waiting, I am acting. The foundation is in place. I have trusted friends in Togo who have met with the school principal, as well as a local pastor. The Minister of Education will also be involved, as an extra layer of accountability. Parents will receive a receipt, ensuring they will not be charged.

I know that there are more details that will need to be worked out. I would love to have non-profit status, to give you a receipt to turn in on your taxes. I would love to launch a website, have a way to give online. But more than any of that, I would love to help a school full of children get their education. Because if I wait, children will be sent home. And many of them will never return to school. And the cycle of poverty will continue.

Until I set up a way to give online, you can mail personal checks to me. Please contact me at merci.mercy.project@gmail.com for my mailing address. And please bookmark this page to check back for details.

Thank you!