09/20/2022
Short Summary
Eight years ago I was in South Africa doing research for my Steeplejack trilogy, and I was fortunate enough to meet Brilliant Makhubele, a local game ranger in the Manyeleti area. We stayed in touch, and have worked together over the years to raise badly needed money for projects in and around the area. Among other things, we've rebuilt a daycare, and refurbished a school in Mozambique. Life can be very hard on people in this area, and sometimes individual families feel the full weight of the larger economic downturn in ways we in other countries can hardly imagine.
Lodrick and Nwankosi have five kids, ranging from 16 to 2 years old. They live in a single room with a roofless outdoor area, without the most basic of amenities. As you can see from the video, it's simply not viable as a home.
With Brilliant's help, we are going to change that. With a very small amount of money, we can change these people's lives.
I know that this is a drop in the bucket, helping one family won't change the world. But it will improve that world for that family, and sometimes that's all you can hope for.
We've done this before so our connections on the ground are direct and reliable. There's no larger charitable organization who will take a slice of whatever we raise. We're looking to fix a very specific problem for a particular family, and it's totally do-able.
What We Need
We're looking to replace part of the existing structure and build two new rooms. Brilliant assures me that we can do it for $3500.
I'll collect the money through Indiegogo and wire it to him. He'll send pictures and video of the work as it goes forward. We've done this before and it works, keeping our costs down and letting the local people do the actual construction. All we are supplying are the funds for the building materials.
If you can donate, I'll be sure you get project updates so you can see the effects of your contribution directly. It's a small thing, perhaps, but the impact on Lodrick, Nwankosi and their children will be immediate and immense.
Other Ways You Can Help
I know money is tight for a lot of folks. That's ok. If you can't make a financial contribution, you can sill help by sharing our campaign.
