Making a Difference One Kid at a Time

By: DeAnna Britton

One Kid One World

picture courtesy of onekidoneworld.org

Have you ever watched the news and have seen the pictures and videos of innocent children fighting for their lives? Fighting for just one full meal? Or maybe just fighting to be able to read and write. How did these pictures make you feel? Did you want to reach out and help but you just didn’t know how? Or did you think that one person can’t make a difference? The organization, OneKid OneWorld, has committed their time and efforts to helping children get a better education and athletic program in their communities.

OneKid OneWorld has been connecting their world with ours by creating partnerships between U.S. students and students in a country in need. In their efforts since 2006 they have directly changed the lives of over 3,000 kids. They have built class rooms, paid teachers, paid for the child to go to school, build athletic facilities and have given children the supplies they need while in school.

In Suba, Kenya, the organization has made a huge impact on the Nyamasare Girls Orphanage by building a two-story computer center and library, a science lab, classrooms, a dorm and a fresh water catchment system for these girls. They also supplied the textbooks, athletic equipment, bunk beds and mosquito nets for the dorm. Not to mention, they paid for tuition for over 200 of the girls. This may seem like a small victory but for those girls of that community it has made a world of difference.

The list goes on of the projects OneKid OneWorld has already accomplished and the projects they have yet to do. What makes the organization’s efforts possible is volunteers and donations of time and money. Each year they have a volunteer trip to Kenya and El Salvador to help work in the schools. Go to their website to see how you can volunteer: www.onekidoneworld.org.

On their website they explain what sets them apart from the rest of the non-profit organizations:

“• One: We’re small. And that’s on purpose. We know you can’t save the whole world. We are just trying to help one school at a time. Each of our projects will focus on one school and will have a clear and comprehensive plan for what that school needs.

• Two: The money goes to what the money should go to. We are a volunteer organization. Our promise is to make sure that on every project at least 95% of the donations go straight to the school.

• Three: The most important one of all; it’s about the kids. Our goal is be an organization for kids, run by kids. We want the students in the United States to find the schools in need, organize the donation drives, figure out the logistics of getting the donated goods and money to the schools and, eventually, travel to the schools to see, first hand, what a difference they can make.”

Kristin Cavallari is also involved with OneKid OneWorld. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez0YR-lX-b8

OneKid OneWorld is dedicated to give the children of the world the basic needs of education and sanitary living. Their mission is truly authentic and they open the doors for everyone to contribute and help out too. Take the time, educate yourself on their mission and give a part of yourself to the cause.

Tags: difference, making, onekid, oneworld