Kicking it all off !

Welcome to my first post for Build an Orphanage in a day.
To Kick this off let me start by explaining the background to this !

Why I want to build an orphanage in a day

In November 2007 Myself and my wife went to Zimbabwe to work with Alan and Dorothy Graham in the Orphanages and schools that they support. It was our 10^th wedding anniversary so we wanted to go on a special memorable trip but little did we realise how life changing it would be.

Coming from a life of plenty in Ireland to see people with no money, no food and for many no hope was quite an experience but the shocking thing was that through everything these people are experiencing they still had a smile on their faces and were genuinely grateful for what little they had rather than being bitter about what they didn’t have. Their attitude really blew me away and humbled me.

I am a guitar builder by trade so I built a guitar for Alan to use in his work but when Alan heard how much the guitar was worth he asked me to take it home and sell it because what the people really need is food and medicine rather than a guitar. I thought about it and decided to leave the guitar with Alan as a blessing to his work but went home and listed a guitar on ebay with all the proceeds going to Zimbabwe.

The response was amazing and rather than selling one guitar I actually sold 2 and raised US$3,000 for their work. To build these guitars took a small amount of effort for me but the money raised will have a huge impact in Zimbabwe where a teacher only earns US$25 per month. That means that what I was able to earn from building 2 guitars could pay a teacher for 10 years. That is an incredible thought and it made me realise that each and every one of us in the developed world can have a massive impact by giving just one day of our time and skills no matter what that might be.

This was the moment that build an orphanage in a day came to life. Ordinary people doing ordinary things to create extraordinary results. Your one day spent in your office or driving a taxi or working in a factory or washing windows or whatever will pay for a carpenter or a builder or a plumber etc to build that orphanage and everyday you give will provide many days of labour locally. Not only does this help us build the orphanage but it also provides employment locally in an area where there is 80% unemployment so every one wins.

I hope you will share my vision and see this orphanage built using your one day!

Alistair Hay