We have had some very generous contributionsarrive via check! The SDMB is stepping up in a great way!
The Paypal button has been a bit of a fiasco. I have had to navigat a church beauracracy that doesn’t understand Paypal or the internet in general. They are dubious that a message board community will be supportive of something they don’t know first hand. There are “control” issues about the Paypal account because whoever has access to it more or less has access to the church general checking account.
BUT - I am fairly confident that we will have the button up and running withing 2 days. I hope the momentum is not completely dead, and that Doper’s are still willing to help these wonderful ladies out.
And if anyone wants to go, we are going down and work with them for a week, we are going in July and December. It is an incredible experience.
Thank you for your patience. It has taken a while, but finally we have a Paypal Donation button.
I know you all have a thousand things going on in your lives, and this is probably a distant memory for most of you. But I hope the delay has not diminished the enthusiasm to help these wonderful women.
If you feel so inclined, give this thread a bump when you give, to give keep it alive. Otherwise it could fall off and not get noticed.
Promoting the dignity and independence of women gets more than an okay from me. Now if we could go after those thugs who ripped up the women’s school in Afghanistan…
Done - sent in the remaining cash in my Paypal-connected account.
I had missed this thread until now. Hopefully the church will see that having the Paypal button will bring in some extra funds. If they remain nervous about having it tied to their general checking account, perhaps they could set up a small account used just for this purpose (to limit their exposure).
I wanted to thank each and every one of you who were a part of this. We reached our goal. Now the women’s program is funded through the rest of this year! I can’t say thank you enough. I am going down there in July and I will get a pic of the ladies holding a SDMB sign. I think you would get a kick out of that!
Now - going forward…
When we are there in July we are going to create handmade Christmas cards. There are some fantastic artists among the ladies. We will bring them back and sell them around town. If it goes well we will sell them online next year. Hopefully this will be a source of funding that will make them self-sufficient going forward.
So - many thanks for getting them over the hump. You really did change lives with your contributions. I will keep you posted on how things go.
Nava , that is sort of what I am thinking. A lot of things have been falling my way. My most recent client at work is a non-profit consultant who has really taken an interest in this. She works with small non-profits, which means revenues of $3-5million. Me? I am would be thrilled to raise $10k in 2010. She is going to help me for free.
Eventually I would like to get a process in place to raise significant funds to help many other people making a difference in Central America. If I can make a living at it someday, all the better. Right now I work a full time job and do this on the side. But for now, you are right, probably going Fair Trade.
The proverbial camel’s nose is in the tent. They have seen the results and they can’t really argue with it. For the older people, I think it is more a case of fearing what they do not understand.
Hello Dopers! Wherever you are in the world, I hope today you have reason to be thankful!
I am resurrecting this thread to reconnect with the people who supported the women of CEDEPCA in the past.
Marjorie Gonzales Aguilera was a battered and abused woman. She became a bitter and mean person. She says herself that she was a monster. She would never leave her home and her family eventually was run off.
Through the CEDEPCA program she realized she was a beautiful creation of God, worthy of dignity and respect. If you met her now you would see a funny, joyful woman, lit from within. She finished her education and discovered that she is a gifted artist.
When we were in Costa Rica in July, she showed us her designs for some Christmas cards. We helped her produce them on banana paper.
If you would like to support her, and the CEDEPCA effort in Costa Rica, please consider taking a look at the cards. You can see them here.
Our church Paypal button is still up HERE. For a donation of $12 you get 8 cards that reflect traditional Costa Rican Christmas scenes.
Please send me a private message if you make a donation so I can send you the cards ASAP. Any questions, please message me or send em an email at wgbccap@yahoo.com .
