How to involve people in rethinking the meaning of christmas?

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Comment by Ferananda Ibarra on November 12, 2009 at 1:03pm

Hey dear one, you and I are so much in the same space. This is what is on my heart.

Terra Mar, the school that my little one attends, is a mix of kids from all social layers. We got the kids with no money that can be part of the school because of sponsorship. It is also an experimental school where the few cultural creatives of Tepoz have their kids and a place where there is a huge awareness of ecological issues. Kids are building bathrooms with garbage, there is a permaculture project emerging and so on.

So, issue is the school is facing real economic challenges because we don´t have enough sponsors for the kids without money. Last year the directora had friends that payed 27,000 pesos each for sponsoring a kid. This is not the case now and of course, with the crisis no one wants or can give such big quantities.

So I thought christmas is the right time to do a campaign to bring awareness of what generosity means. What it is to give in the world. To support the true, good and beautiful.

My idea so far is to create a similar campaign that the one created a year ago in twitter called thanksgiving. This is how it was done:

1. One page integrating a) the challenge (10,000USD in 2 days) b) the purpose (building for a school in Africa) c) the thanksgiving tag as a currency to spread "what are you thankful for" (you don´t have to give money just use the tag to spread the love and gratitude).

2. Twitters with social capital (actually the ones spreading the voice had very few followers in the time they began. They did contact people with social capital power to begin the wildfire.

By day 2 they had reached more than the target money and it kept coming. The beauty of the messages was crossing the world. This is what happens with follow friday.

This is what I have done so far:

1. Spoke with the school directora who is also a filmmaker. She agrees on the idea of doing a campaign and she is open to produce a 3mins video with some of the children that need the sponsoring. We want to target 10,000USD to sponsor 4 children.

2. Spoke with Childgood and made an agreement that they will give free podcasts to those who donate more than 7USD. Their podcasts are anywhere yet because childgood launches in thanksgiving. They produce music, animation tools to help mothers develop the emotional space of their kids and their own.

3. I am thinking of the currency. I would like help in researching if using twollars or whuffies could give us an edge in the twitter space. The currency can be a gratitude currency. The expression of what is true, good and beautiful in your life. What you think?

4. I am writing to you :-)

Honestly I don´t know how can I pull this out with the little time I got when I am in France. But if you and I get our hands, minds and hearts together. We can do it!

Does it ring the bell?