Last year, we set out on a mission to surprise an entire town with handwritten letters with our Mysterious Letters project. Our leadership team pulled together, brainstormed, used the Internet to find as many addresses as we could and hoped our project would be a success.

The town we picked was Omer, Michigan. With the help of a few amazing It Starts With Us members (you know who you are), we were able to send handwritten letters and postcards to almost everyone in Omer. We also received e-mail messages from members around the world, which we wrote on stationary and sent to the town in Michigan.

However, the amount of handwritten letters we received from members outside of the leadership team was disappointing — two letters (so, thank you to the two of you who took time to do this).

Overall, this project turned out to be an interesting experiment. Perhaps more members would have written letters if we promoted the project more, or if we created more enthusiasm around it. Albeit the lack of member participation, the Mysterious Letters project was still a success, as we did end up doing what we intended from the beginning — surprising a town with anonymous, handwritten letters. It certainly wasn’t a failure. Thank you to all who participated.

After reflecting on the way the Mysterious Letters project turned out, I’m willing to try this again with another small town. How about you guys?Similar Posts:

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Just wanted to throw up a quick video update for you guys on this week’s Love Bomb mission as we partner with Love Drop for Jill, our very first Love Drop recipient! Check it out.

Love you guys!

You can read more about Jill here on the Love Bomb website, or go directly to the blog post to leave her a comment. Similar Posts:

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This is the second in a series of posts featuring ISWU members from around the globe sharing what they are doing in their communities to make a difference.

Alia Mohamed…Superstar

Most people would not consider Alia Mohamed famous.  She’s not an actress, pop singer, politician or even an athlete with exceptional abilities.  But at age 22, this Marymount University biology senior has a fan club of 200 Somali orphans.  To them, Alia is a true superstar who has changed their lives forever.

What moves someone to take action with passion and commitment?  Alia is the fifth of eight children who, with her family, fled Somalia when she was only one year old, escaping the country’s civil war.  Although she was raised with charity work and selflessness as part of her upbringing, she admits she never really thought about Somalia.  In January of 2009 when she heard about the incident where nearly 100 Somalis were killed in a roadside bombing she realized that no one was talking about Somalia, which is the poorest country in the world.

Then, in the summer of 2009, she attended a Somalia youth conference where the attendees were encouraged to get involved with topics like politics, education, health care, immigration and refugees.  When the speaker talked about how the orphan population was rising rapidly, she couldn’t get this out of her head. “Just like Somalia as a country has been abandoned, the orphans have also been abandoned.” Although everyone was eager to engage in discussions about politics and other topics, no-one seemed interested in the startling statistics….Somalia has the largest orphan population in Africa and maybe the world, yet no-one seemed concerned about the children.  She kept thinking, “The children are the future of the nation, and if provided with the necessary care, they will lead the nation into a different path.  We can focus on all other dilemmas our country faces, but how far will they go if we don’t educate our kids and care for them?”

With the education she received at the youth conference on how to start an NGO (non governmental organization), she knew exactly what she had to do.  Mercy to Mankind was born and with the help of family and friends, fundraising efforts quickly allowed them to raise enough money to hire two teachers, rent a house in Mogadishu and initially bring 50 children a new home.  The foundation is dedicated to orphans who have lost both parents, as these are the most in need.  Currently they house 200 children ages 3-13.

She is sincerely hoping that in the spring of this year, the foundation will have enough funds to start building a children’s centre and bring even more orphaned children a permanent home.  In talking with Alia you know that her heart and passion is with the children. Her vision sounds simple. “My dream is to see every orphan in Somalia provided with basic needs such as education, medicine, home and love.  I am so blessed to have changed these children’s lives and hope to brighten the lives of many more. Orphans and children in general, are prone to violence in Somalia and I’m glad that’s not the case with my children.”  To the orphans of Somalia, Alia Mohamed will continue to be a true superstar.

To find out more about her foundation please visit: http://www.mercytomankindf.org/

This is the first article my ISWU team member Beverley:

Beverley is a freelance writer and songwriter who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has written everything from full length magazine articles to song lyrics and loves to research, design and build stories. She is passionate about helping and supporting others who reach out and help as well and is delighted to be a part of the ISWU team. You can visit her personal website at http://www.beverleygolden.com.

The first article in the Continent Series can be read here.

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Happy New Year Everyone!

 I came across this artistically powerful video re-posted on Neal Hightower’s site www.sixsimpletruths.com.  Although it’s a long commercial for a company’s inspirational artwork, I must admit it’s very well done and it gave me goosebumps (especially since I love good quotes).  As we’re transforming ourselves and the world, words of wisdom from those who have traveled the road before us can make our travels over the speed bumps a bit easier…

Thanks Neal for sharing some great inspiration with others. You’ve inspired me to pass it along:)

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Priyasha, age 15, lives in Indonesia and  is one of our young ISWU team members making a difference in the world.  Following is her first blog post as a new writing team member.

Simply said, I think teenagers are awesome. Yes, I may be biased based on the sheer fact that I am a teenager, but I sometimes feel like my generation right now is amazing just because we (well, some of us at least) still have little bits of innocence from our childhood combined with maturity as we turn into adults. Kind of like a butterfly halfway through metamorphosis, except in our case, we get to explore the world during our time of change and not in a cocoon.

Sometimes I think teenagers today, and throughout history, are underestimated because of the stereotypes bestowed upon us. They say we all listen to music too loudly, are moody, mean to our parents, and rebellious. Sure, I’ll admit, that might be true, but at the same time I think it should be known that lots of us do have ideas on how to change the world around us and it would be incredible if teenagers and adults could work together more often to combine our thoughts and hopes to create something of greater good. This teenage generation has the power of the Internet, amongst other things, and we are stronger than ever, if our “powers” are used correctly, of course.

With Ryan Hreljac. I'm the second from the right.

One of my favorite examples of teenagers impacting the world in a massive way is Ryan Hreljac. I met Ryan and he is one of the humblest, nicest guys I’ve ever known. Ryan started the Ryan’s Well Foundation with an idea of his when he was only six years old. He started with raising enough money to build a well in Africa and the foundation has spread from then on to eventually help “over 700,000 people” get access to clean water and sanitation services. Ryan’s only 19.

I could go on about all the amazing teenagers in this world trying to benefit our world and who are helping in all sorts of different ways, but I just wanted to give everyone reading this one example of a teenager who I feel is making a giant change to make the world a better place.

Finally, what I’m trying to say is, sometimes teenagers are undervalued because we are younger, and if teenagers and adult worked simultaneously, it could create something immensely powerful which would help our world in some way. Of course, since teenagers are so young, we do need help and guidance, and working with people older than us would definitely help us solve that problem.

Meet Priyasha:

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In our consumer culture, the holiday season is often marked by a shopping frenzy as millions of people around the world venture to stores in search of gifts to buy for family and friends. This year, in a changing economic climate, ItStartsWith.Us has compiled a recession-friendly holiday gift guide of our own. Here are a few of the most timeless and precious gifts to share with family, friends and strangers.

Although never on sale nor even available at retail stores, these items are certain to make lasting impressions.

Photo Credit: Luis Agrerich

10. Time
 Try slowing down instead of hurrying off to the next destination. Giving generously of time to others can mean letting go of the numbers on the clock and being present in the moment. Give time by staying a while longer in conversations or eagerly lending a helping hand with unplanned requests.

9. Gratitude

There’s nothing like the genuine sincerity of a thank you to spread cheer and goodwill. Words and gestures of appreciation never go out of style.

Photo Credit: Lz.

8. A Second Chance

It was plain wrong. You know it and they know it. Nevertheless, everyone makes mistakes. This season, how about a do over? An opportunity to right a wrong is a powerful act of forgiveness.

7. A Smile

We’re not talking about the artificial, two second, discount smile. Instead, go for the 100-watt grin that doesn’t care about crooked, straight or missing teeth. A heartwarming smile that reaches into the soul can create a returned smile of equal delight.

Photo Credit: ganesha.isis

6. A Hug
 Goes perfect with a smile. Five, ten and 15 second hello and goodbye versions are recommended.

5. Laughter

Wrapped in a joke, funny story or goofy expression, the gift of laughter can fill a room and break even the most awkward of silences in an instant.

4. Encouragement

Convincing ourselves that everything is really going to be okay in the midst of difficult times can be hard.  Hearing it from someone else helps us get through the rough patches of life.

3. Patience

In a fast paced world, an overflow of patience allows for a soothing calmness guaranteed to amaze and inspire others.

Photo Credit: Tiree

2. An Open Mind

Suspending judgment to whole-heartedly considering another perspective creates a whole new world of possibilities. Transform a relationship or two by really understanding another’s life experiences and viewpoint.

1. Love

For the biggest gift-givers of this holiday season and year round, the gift of Love includes the listed items above and more than the mind can ever conceive. With love, go for the big wow factor to create a world of pleasant surprises and infinite joy.

Photo credits:

 www.flickr.com/photos/lrargerich/3093287432/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macjewell/2736570618/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ganesha_isis/4439563089/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28223602@N04/3200265645/in/photostream/Similar Posts:

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The cool guy in the pic above is Chris

Not many people know this, but when I first started planning out the ItStartsWith.Us project two years ago, I was focusing on the “Change the World” idea, and time after time I kept seeing Chris Guillebeau’s name pop up. As soon as I read his stuff, I knew he was someone special – someone who spends his life doing what he loves and making a difference for others at the same time. Chris is one of the best role models out there not only for me, but for so many of us in the ISWU group. I’m proud to call him my friend, and thankful that he’s giving us some of his time today. Enjoy.

1. What’s the most valuable small thing someone has done for you this year . . . a tiny action that ended up making a big difference for you?
So many things! This has been a year of gratitude. For example:

Stephanie Zito took my book to Mongolia and got a picture of it on a camel… then she took it to Beijing for a photo shoot in the Forbidden City.

Etsuko Tsukagoshi sent cookies for my book launch even though we’ve only met once.

J.D. Roth came to Chicago with me for the launch of the Empire Building Kit.

I met Jonathan Fields in Pittsburgh to speak at TedX (he was very supportive of me even though his talk was better).

The list could go on and on; every day I encounter small-but-significant acts of kindness that make a big impact on me.

1b. And vice versa – can you tell us a story about a small action you did for someone else that had a bigger than expected outcome?

A fun thing happened this week, actually. When a couple of friends put together a great business offer, I decided to endorse it with an affiliate link (I don’t usually do that) but instead of keeping the money, I’d give my proceeds to our Ethiopia project. I hoped it would do fairly well, but I wasn’t exactly sure how people would respond. My readers ended up raising more than $24,000 in three days — I called it The $24,213 Blog Post.

2. You’ve been all over the world. Which places do you feel that the people honestly and genuinely care about one another, and go out of their way to show kindness to others in ways both large and small?

Most of the world is fairly hospitable — the places that aren’t are the exceptions. In almost every part of the world, plenty of people have welcomed me and shown kindness, even when I don’t speak the language or don’t even have a good reason for being there. A few standouts in the hospitality department include Macedonia, Chile, and pretty much all of sub-saharan Africa.

3. Every week, we have Assignment Missions for our members. Could you recommend a small, simple assignment that every single one of our members can do right now, no matter where they are, to change the world?

First of all, let me say that I love the whole #lovedrop idea — so that’s obviously a great path to follow. But from my side, I’d add –

Sit down with a piece of paper and answer these two questions:

1) What do you really want to get out of life? (Most people don’t honestly know.)

2) What can you offer the world that no one else can? (Most of us spend our time focusing internally rather than externally; this question — and your whole project — is all about flipping that around a little.)

Then, resolve to pursue the answers — right now, wherever you are in the world. If everyone did that, I think the world would be a better place.

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It’s been a busy week for ISWU with the  Love Drop launch.  And as usual, it’s been a non-stop week for me as well with life.

We’re putting some finishing touches on more new blog content launching next week.  In the meantime, today is a wild card day as I’m figuring out what to write at this very moment. 

Looking around in our members forum section for ideas, I lucked up and quickly came across a recent forum discussion started by Jopinon.  He posted a couple of powerful questions that I’m pondering right now:

How would you make someone smile or feel cared for with one requisite- you can’t speak or vocalize anything.

- what would you do to a friend or family member?
- what would you do to a total stranger?

This is a cool question, as I’ve been walking around the city for the pass few days, intentionally talking with strangers more than usual.  However, after hearing for most of my life that I have a nice one, I realize that the gift I can give to everyone is my smile.

So, for family, friends and strangers I would of course give a geniune smile in an effort to get a smile back.

An easy one perhaps, but the little things can make a big difference.

So, I’m posing Jopinion’s question to everyone reading this blog post: What Would You Do?

This is of course, not an official mission, but I would encourage everyone to think of the respose and DO it as well. Or just leave a comment in the section below.

 P.S. Thanks Jopinion for the starting the discussion and RiceballAttack for keeping it moving Similar Posts:

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This is the first of a series of posts featuring ISWU members from around the globe sharing what they are doing in their communities to make a difference.

We would like to introduce you to Arriba las Manos and its founders, sisters Aurora and Luz. Aurora and Luz were born in Brazil and grew up aware of the troubles that some children face. Their passion for changing another person’s life led to their own lives being changed in the process while starting Arriba las Manos, which “works to reduce poverty and promote essential values in Cartagena, Columbia”.

1. Can you briefly tell us what Arriba las Manos is about?

Arriba las Manos is brand new grassroots organization in Cartagena, Colombia. The whole reason Arriba las Manos exists is to connect underprivileged children in Colombia with opportunities that can change their lives. So far we’ve launched a pilot character development program for kids and a hygiene education campaign. And there are exciting things on the way—like a multimedia library in a remote island village and English courses to help teenagers access better jobs in Cartagena.

2. There is so much need in this world, what made you and your sister decide that this is what you were going to do?

Quite frankly we fell in with Colombia. The love affair wasn’t overly premeditated. But then we did our research. We found out there was a need for programs tailor-made for the people living in these little villages across the coast of Colombia. And that’s what we’re starting with.

3. How have your lives changed since beginning this journey?

I think probably two things have surprised us most since we embarked on this enterprise. First, we’ve been taken aback by the wonderful people we’ve come across that are absolutely ready to roll up their sleeves and get busy with us. There’s this small army of people giving their time and their talents, totally for free, to make things better for Colombian children. All we’ve done is the slightest bit of catalyzing. Ever since we’ve started saying “This is what we’re doing,” it seems like people have come out from under rocks to help out. We’re really inspired by this disposition.

The next thing we discovered is how much we have left to learn. Community development is serious business. We want to make sure that we’re sensitive to the children and communities we’re working with. Our progress so far has been encouraging, but it’s also served to highlight where we need to improve. So this whole undertaking has definitely reminded us of the need to maintain humility in all our efforts.

4. “If you can move a grain of sand a day, eventually you will move a mountain.” George Sotiropoulus. I love this quote that you have on your website. What do you hope that people will take away after reading that quote?

I think maybe that quote is there to tell people that you have to start somewhere. Don’t wait till everything is sorted. If you want to get something done, you have to get out there. Get going, get learning. Every worthwhile enterprise—big or small—started with little grains of sand being added day by day.

5. What is your ultimate goal and what can others (we) do to help?

We want Colombian children to have opportunity to pursue the things they value. That’s the bottom line. We want to see these kids growing up nurtured and safe from harm. We’re a brand new organization, so obviously one of our challenges right now is to get the funding for all the exciting programs we’re dreaming up.

How can you help?

Help us build a movement. Right now we’re working on building a net of support for our efforts down here in Colombia. Join us! Talk about us on Facebook and Twitter. Know someone that could help in big way? Tell them about us! We want to see you and hear from you.

Get creative. On our website you can find ideas of how you can help. But better yet—get creative. What industry are you in? What do you know? Someone in Sao Paulo is selling a painting to raise funds for us. Nate is setting us up with an ISWU platform. A filmmaker in New Zealand is making a short to get the word out. How can you use your talents and your position to make a difference?

Big and tiny. Right now, $25 dollars is a godsend to us. Contributions like that help us increase the quality of our programs and prepare them for deployment in communities across Colombia. So no matter what sum you think you can contribute, don’t think for a minute that it’s not worth the trouble. Add that grain of sand! Believe me we will jump up and down for joy.

Thank you so much, Aurora and Luz, for sharing your organization with us. To find out more about Arriba las Manos, visit their website: http://www.arribalasmanos.org
You may also visit them on facebook and follow them on twitter.

This post was written by Jamie – Check out her Video Bio to learn more: 

 About Jamie
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I’ve been serving as the new writing manager around here for about a month now but I haven’t written any in- depth blog posts just yet.  I’ve been thinking about possible topics I could write about. 

However, as Nate mentioned when I first started, part of my job would be to contribute my own voice to the blog. Focusing my energy on getting the writing team together behind the scenes has been a convenient excuse to put off writing a blog post for as long as possible. Besides, I like giving others a chance to write (my other great excuse…). Besides, I haven’t really felt like doing it either (excuse #3).

You see, it’s safer that way. I can still make a difference without the notoriety that comes with putting my own thoughts and opinions on the frontline. So, I’ve been putting off sharing all of myself with the world.

I’ve been doing a little here and there, but most of my efforts have still gone into thinking about the things I really want to do with my life. One of which includes expressing my feelings about the current state of humanity through writing.

Over the holiday weekend, I learned an important lesson about procrastination in one of the most painful ways with the sudden loss of a friend.

Joel Rodriguez was a new friend of mine for the past couple of months. He was also a beloved Kung Fu teacher for decades in the Atlanta area. We hung out about every other week or so and talked about our shared love of books, music, health and entrepreneurship. Joel was a cool guy with positive energy and a wealth of knowledge. I was interested in eventually becoming one of his students. I didn’t mention it much, because it was just something I was just thinking about at the time. I told myself  that I wasn’t ready due to a number of reasons that included feeling like I didn’t have the money nor time to really commit and do it right.

But, I knew it was something I really wanted to do.

After getting back from thanksgiving holiday, I was again thinking about ways to get back in shape and develop a higher level of concentration. I finally chose to take action and called Joel on his cell phone on Saturday evening to discuss how soon I could start training. I left him a voicemail message to call me back. I still didn’t have the money or time, but I wanted to figure it out as I went along.

Later that day, a few minutes before midnight, I learned that Joel had suddenly died. According to the FaceBook status he posted, he wasn’t feeling too well on Wednesday and it would be the first time in 11 years he missed teaching a class. Sometime between Thursday and Friday, Joel passed away and was found at home Saturday morning.

Joel’s unexpected death taught me that putting things off for tomorrow may be too late. I missed an opportunity to spend more time with my friend while learning from one of the best in the business.

Yes, life and death happens. But perhaps in this instance and others, many of us stay too long in the land of thinking rather than doing. Indecisiveness can be a mask for subconscious fear at times. We think we all the pieces have to fall into place rather than to begin where we are with creating possibilities.

Putting things off, such as sharing my voice through writing has been a disservice to myself and others.

There is never a single perfect moment to take action. Every moment is perfect. Now is the perfect opportunity to bring our best selves everywhere we go and share all the gifts we are given as we’re developing them. Taking action is essential to moving beyond our comfort zone in order to show gratitude to others, voice our concerns about the status quo and ask for what our heart truly desires.

It’s essential for changing the world.

I joined ISWU because of a desire to replace my own wanting, wishing and hoping with action. I will keep taking more action rather than just thinking.

My action today is writing my first of many public posts for this site and others.

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