Talkin’ Bout A Dream-Job

Yes.  I really did buy a goat today.  But this isn’t about me, and no the goat isn’t in my apartment.  Read on, and you can buy a goat too, or a chicken if you prefer.

I believe that the best jobs are created, they are not found, filled, or posted on job boards.  This is the story about an individual who did just that.  Meet Barton Brooks.  He says “….traveling to take pictures and collect souvenirs started feeling a bit hollow, and it was in Cambodia where I finally was inspired to make a difference.”

Many people  feel a similar tug, or even strong pull when they are moved by certain stories, events, or causes.  It only takes a split second for most to be overwhelmed  by the hundreds of objections of their rational mind -- rent, work, mortgage, family - as to why they couldn’t do it.   Barton Brooks story is different, it is one of inspiration and doing something about it.

Brooks started Global Colors, an organization that  bypasses bureaucracies to bring aid directly to communities  in need around the world.  It is not a story of politics,  advocacy,  ego, it is really a story about action.

Guerrilla Aid is  Global Colors current project.  It has Brooks spending 52 weeks to circumnavigating the globe creating grassroots aid.  Not only is he having direct impact, the endeavor demonstrates just anyone like you or me can go somewhere and make a difference.  Take a look at his blog, he may have one of the best jobs in the world.

It is not always glamorous, earliers this year in Batwanna, Uganda Barton was critically injured after being hit by a truck. He even made that look like an adventure.  On the mend, he is back in Batwa helping the villagers buy goats, chickens, seeds, and chalkboards for schools.

There is a striking contrast to the hot news topics of  U.S.,  and other developed nations.   Are these villagers having a recession, or are we?  Where is there a health care crisis?  What does 10% unemployment really mean?

Most of all if you are spending an inordinate amount of time worrying about things that will never happen, perhaps the ideal prescription to eliminate that anxiety is immersing yourself in taking action for a cause or purpose that speaks to your soul.  I can’t imagine being in Batwa, or with another impoverished community and fretting over whether the stock market was up or down.

Following Global Colors efforts for over a year and Guerrilla Aid since it started, I kept planning to donate, to reach out, and see how I can be of help.  Today I bought the villagers of Batwa a goat.

Barton has a plan, some of which he has accomplished, there is still much more to be done. Here’s how you can help:

• One acre of land -- $4,500
• Chicken coops (lumber, chicken wire, tin roofing, and all tools) $215 each.
• One chicken is $10.00
• Chicken feed for one month -- $35.00
  
• A GOAT! $50.00
  
• A new dress purchased at a shop in town is $15.00
  
• A thumb piano is $15
  
• Material for one beehive is $25.00 (including bees is $45)
• Chalkboard for the school $150.00
• Wood for a school bench is $30.00
  
• A milk cow is $285.00
  
• Seeds for a garden- any amount towards “seeds” would be great

Or you could fly over and meet Barton in the midst of his 52 Worldwide Guerrilla aid tour to help some of the poorest nations in the world.  I started investigating going myself.  Dancing with pygmies of Batwa looks like it is worth a trip around the world.