I love freelancing. But every now and then, a full-time possibility presents itself that is just too good not to jump at, and last month one such possibility came to me via Idealist.
Before I go any further, I’ll kill the suspense: I didn’t get this particular full-time job. Somebody with deeper, more applicable experience did. (Pshh. I guess for some reason a seasoned Communications Manager with lots of “experience” running a “department” and “doing a fantastic job” moving the organization “forward” is somehow better than, you know . . me. I know, I know, it strains credibility, but not everyone can be so prescient as to instantly realize my infinite worth.)
But I still want to talk about the organization, because they’re the bees knees.
They’re called Goods for Good, a New York-based nonprofit whose missions is to turn excess into progress by taking surplus goods scheduled for destruction in the U.S. and making them available to partner NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) in Malawi, Africa.
Having spent time in the kinds of classrooms they supply–you know, the kind with 40 kids packed into a 15′ x 15′ room, concrete floors if you’re lucky, no furniture, and perhaps 5 textbooks and 3 pens for the lot to share–I really love their mission. A few tons of pens might be headed for a landfill or a zillion yards of fabric might be languishing in a warehouse, unused. G4G steps in and says “Um, if you’re not using that, I’ve got a great idea . . .” They ship the pens to schools in need around the Lilongwe area (near the middle of the country). The fabric goes to young tailors-in-training to make badly-needed school uniforms.
I’m especially a fan of the priority they make of partnership, developing relationships with schools and other NGOs. There are way too many people who show up in Africa with “a Land Rover and a plan” without any intention of truly learning about the culture and what locals are saying and doing about development in their own country. Like Lao Tzu said: “Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say ‘We have done this ourselves.’” While the people in this case won’t exactly believe they made the pens, fabric, and everything else, they’re the ones who use them to give the kids a better shot at success.
In addition, the idea of using surplus from a rich country is pure dynamite, both for the practical reasons and for the massive potential it holds for getting people excited to help here in the U.S. “Wait, I can join an organization that’s not only helping schools in one of the world’s poorest countries, but simultaneously cutting down on waste in our country?”
Of course, there’s much more that they do, which you can read about for yourself.
Big ideas always find people to help make them happen. I’ve got to think Goods for Good has a bright future, and I wish them well.
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