This last month has been amazing! We have made some serious progress and have had an inspiring amount of support. The feedback we have received through email, facebook and face-to-face talks has been nothing but positive and encouraging. We want to give a big thank you to everyone that has shared about The Positive Change Project and has been so generous to give us financial support. Since we believe in transparency we are going to be releasing a monthly “State of the Union” to show what we are doing with the support we are receiving.

And if you haven’t had a chance to read our previous posts yet (here, and here), our first program is supporting 12 AIDS orphans in a town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa named Sada.

The Garden

We are excited to announce that the first tangible piece of support we are providing is purchasing and helping plant seed in their garden. At this time we are waiting for a nursery in East London (2 hours away) to prepare enough seedlings. We will purchase 500 cabbage seedlings, 500 spinach seedlings, and a bag of potato seeds. This will cost us between $100-200 US. The seedlings should be ready the week of 11/22-11/26.

This is a very big deal, and a huge first step in helping these AIDS orphan safe houses obtain sustainable care. Food is an obvious necessity and as we all know can be expensive. But if they have a garden that can continually provide nutritional food and create a small income for them then it’s a double win. They have a good base of food for themselves, and any extra income they can make selling the extra produce can be used to buy more food or other supplies they may need.

A Backup Water Source

One issue with Sada is running water. The safe houses have access to running water but run into two main problems. One is the cost of bills.  They often times they do not have enough money to afford their water service and simply lose access. And two, is the dispersion of water; when water levels are low the village’s water is shut off.

To ensure the best production of the garden and access to water would be to create a secondary source. One way to do this is a JoJo tank. It is a simple tank that is connected by gutter and piping to collect all of the rainwater from the roof of the home. This is another one time purchase that will create unlimited positive improvements for now and into the future. This will cost between $400-$600 for the tank, but we haven’t yet calculated the cost for the piping and gutters yet.

How Much We Have Raised So Far

We have been absolutely blown away at people’s willingness to give. It is this part of the human spirit that we have built this project on, the piece of our human nature that wants to do good for others who are in need.

So far we have managed to raise $2,487. This is a fantastic start, and puts us in a great spot to make a tangible positive impact from the get go. Before the end of the year we will be able to say that we have provided a sustainable food source and a secondary water source for two safe houses of AIDS orphans in South Africa in the first 3 months of our existence. And when I say “ours” I mean you too. This is your project as much as it is ours.

In addition to the excitement we have about the money we have raised, we proudly report that 100% of that donated money is currently going directly to helping these kids. So far we have boot strapped and financed everything to do with the running of The Positive Change Project from our own pockets, and with some clutch help from Arron and Lauren’s family.

The 40 @ 30 Drive

Today we are officially launching our 40 @ 30 drive. We are looking for 40 willing people to commit to giving $30/month. What this will do is allow us to commit to funding the AIDS orphan’s safe houses. Our policy when providing long term support for a program is to be absolutely positive that we will have the support we need. Our current projected budget for supporting these houses is just $1,200 a month for 12 children hence the 40 people at $30/month. This will help pay for food, warm clothes and school needs. Many AIDS orphans are left without a chance once their parents die but your support in this drive will literally change the lives of these children, and give them the positive future that we all want and deserve. If you would like to be a part of the 40 @ 30 you can make a recurring donate here for $1 dollar/day. Again, we want to say thank you for joining us in continuing to make this project a success, and more importantly creating a Positive Change in our world!

Related posts:

1. Meet Anga, the Survivor.