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The Irigithathi School, in Naro Moru, Kenya, is one of only three schools in the country that educates Special Needs and mainstream students in the same classrooms. It is also one of the highest performing schools in the country. Those two facts are not unrelated.
The school holds high standards for all its students. It works. Its chess team is #4 in the country. Its Scrabble team is #1! Its success is so singular, the Kenyan government is evaluating the school’s “Integrated Model” for application to other schools in the country.
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TGUP is working with Irigithathi to expand the school so it can serve more Special Needs students from around the country. We have just completed a new classroom which you can see, here. This was funded by the Fremont, California-based Special Need Children Center Foundation and the Kiwanis Clubs of Campbell and Palo Alto, CA. Next, we hope to add two dormitories and a kitchen/dining hall.
Those organizations will have an impact on Special Needs education for the entire nation of Kenya. That is the kind of effect that is possible with TGUP.
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Special discussion of the TGUP Model here at home.
Most of our newsletters focus on our work “out there,” in the developing world. But the work here at home is just as important, in some ways, even more so, since it is what enables the work out there. Below, is a longer-than-average discussion of that work, why we pursue it, what makes it different and valuable, and why it works. We hope this is interesting to you.
There are three fundamental ideas behind everything TGUP does. They are:
* Everybody can participate.
* We are bigger when we help others.
* We are stronger when we work together.
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TGUP began in a high school, in 2007, as One Dollar For Life. We asked teenagers to donate just one dollar so we could build schools for the poorest children in the world. One dollar was little enough that everybody could participate. We engaged more than a hundred thousand students and built schools in Kenya, Nepal, South Africa, Indonesia, Nicaragua, and other countries. It worked!
Our motto exemplifies the core ethic: “Even the greatest waterfall starts with a single drop of water.” EVERY single person can help make a better world.
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In 2020, when COVID closed the schools, we opened to adults and changed our name to The Global Uplift Project. The ethic remained the same. Everybody can participate. There’s no minimal contribution anymore but it’s like pocket change: the money you lost in the couch and then found. You never knew you had it, so you didn’t miss it.
The idea is to engage as many people as possible—tens of millions—in the act of making the world a better place, no matter how large or small their donation. It’s not about the money. It’s about the better way we feel about ourselves when we help others.
That leads to our second idea, that “We are bigger when we help others.” Isn’t it true? We ARE! We used to tell the teenagers who gave a dollar, “You’re not a dollar shorter. You’re a dollar taller.” And, they got it. It’s the same with adults. Think about it…
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Have you ever seen a baby fall, or an old person stumble in a cross walk? Did you have to do a cost/benefit calculation to decide whether to help? Of course not. You instinctively rush over to help. We are hard wired to help others.
In this way, we’re working against a central cultural ethic: “I’m getting mine; screw you.” But that ethic was taught to us so we would behave in a self-interested way, essentially, buy more. And it’s worked. But even with that ethic emblazoned in our culture, you still rush over to help the baby or old person. Don’t you?
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We know, before cognition and before culture, that helping the other person, especially one in need, is the bigger thing to do. It is a joyful thing to be able to help others. TGUP is simply a structured way for millions of people to be able to do that and experience that joy.
The third idea is that, “We are stronger when we work together.” It, too, is so simple and obvious. It’s why we organize ourselves into companies and service clubs and churches and (formerly, tribes) and such. Because we can do more of good things (anything, really) when we work together.
The irony is that here, too, the culture tells us differently. The cultural ethic is, “It’s every man for himself.” Isn’t it? How many westerns have you seen where the hero is the lone tough guy with only his horse and saddle and gun to get by with? But how many towns or railroads were built by a lone tough guy with a gun? Exactly none.
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When you put these three ideas together, the effect is amazing, and the portent is astounding. Imagine millions of people, each doing just a little—whatever works for them—but working together to make the world a better place. Would that make for a better world? Would it ever!
The proof is the 440+ projects we’ve built to help the poorest people in the world have just a slightly better chance in life: classrooms; science labs; desks; water systems; playgrounds; libraries; sanitary pads for girls so they can go to school; and more. Please take just a second to look at those projects.
Most are in the field of education, both because that is where we come from and because once a person is better educated, they remain better educated for the rest of their lives. And they pass better education on to their children. The impact ripples into eternity. There is no place where altruistic efforts have a greater multiplied effect.
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The startling and heartening truth of it all is this: reality is malleable. It can be changed. If we are compassionate, collaborative, courageous, and persistent we literally can change the world. We manifestly are.
And the more people we have behind it, the more change we can bring about. Instead of our energies being weak and diffuse, like the rays in a light bulb, they become strong and focused, like in a laser. A laser is strong because all of its light waves travel, not randomly, but synchronously, together, in a common pattern.
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So, what we are building here at home is a growing constellation of consciousness, effort, and outcomes that are effective because they are both pragmatic and idealistic. It takes the world as it is, and uses simple, proven motivations and methods to make it still better. And, as woo-woo as that might sound, it is working. The proof is in the chart.
Almost 2.8 million people will be helped by the projects TGUP has completed so far. And, we’re just getting started.
Humanity is like a boat in the water that we’re all riding in. When the tide lifts any part of the boat, we’re all lifted. When even one human being is made better off, we-as-a-humanity are all better off.
The final point is that we’re consciously intending that this work and this community leave an enduring impact on the culture. If the culture of “I’m getting mine, screw you,” and “It’s every man for himself” can be modulated even just a little, it’s our bet that the world will be a better place. And, that's to say nothing of the Better World "out there" that comes along with it all. It’s also our bet that you think so, too.
So, if you’re looking for a “change the world” idea to be a part of, one that actually works, that is The Global Uplift Project. And, now you know why. It is ecstatic for the thousands who participate. Not only are they making themselves bigger personally, their efforts are demonstrably effective in making the world better, which almost all of us want, don’t we?
We really are changing the world. You can, too. Join us, and bring a friend along. It is so fun, and the world needs you.
TGUP
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The Global Uplift Project
tgup.org
100% of all donations are tax deductible
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