What I'm up to . . .

Hello Friends and Family,
I thought I'd give you guys an update on my projects. I don't know if I have really explained what I am doing, so here it is!

Project #1
I'm working with the group of xylophone artisans. I'm trying to help them with their quality control and their marketing. I just completed a short documentary about xylophones and how they are a part of African culture. I'm trying to post it on youtube.com but it's taking forever! I've been trying to post it for the past two days, but have had no luck. I'll let you know as soon as I get it posted.

Project #2
I'm working at the Methodist AIDS Clinic and Orphanage. The staff is some of the most amazing people I've ever met. They look after and treat 70 people with HIV or full-blown AIDS, and they take care of 20 orphaned children. In order to maintain the costs of running the clinic and orphanage they make and sell soap. I get to play a lot with the kids, and I'm helping the staff to improve their soap sales.

Project #3
I'm running a music club at the high school. Right now I'm teaching some students guitar. We listen to different types of music from around the world. We also sing songs. The kids absolutely love it, and I'm having a blast too. There's a little Aretha Franklin in the class, and there's a couple of really good rappers.

Project #4
I'm working with a women's group that processes peanuts, peanut butter, and rice. I'm trying to help them to get some equipment to make their projects a little more efficient, and a little easier.


If you are able and want to help, here's what you can do. Sorry, I won't solicit from you guys too much. I know that times are tough in America these days.



Project #1
Watch my youtube.com video about the xylophones. And show it to your friends. I want to show it to people that are interested in African culture and especially interested in the music. So if you know anybody that is interested in African music, please show it to them. Hopefully they'll want to buy some xylophones from us.

Project #2
The soap that they make is called Moringa soap, because it comes from the Moringa tree. It is amazing, it's really good for your skin and it smells great. If you have the money, please consider buying some of this soap. Like I said, I know times are tough, but you're probably going to buy soap anyways, right? And when you do, it would probably be overpriced and made by children in sweatshops. And the money would just go to some rich asshole. Buying this soap would directly help orphaned children and people suffering from HIV or AIDS. An order of soap would make a huge difference in their lives.

It cost $1 per bar. I have no idea how much shipping to America would cost. If you were to order about 50 or 100 bars of soap, I'm guessing it would cost about $250 in shipping. That's $350 for an order of 100 bars of soap. That's $3.50 per bar of soap. You're probably paying that much for soap already. If you and a couple of friends go in on an order it would be pretty manageable. $3.50 per bar of soap ain't so bad ,right?

It's win win! I'm not asking you to give up your daily coffee this year so you can sponsor some little kid. I'm not asking you to “donate” at all. I'm just asking you to buy some soap in bulk, if you can.

Project #3
If you have any instrument that you don't use anymore send them. It doesn't matter what it is, I promise the kids will love it. They don't really have an outlet for musical or artistic expression, so they're really into this project. Or, if you just want to donate some money for me to buy some instruments here, let me know.


A little side-note about the schools here. They don't necessarily have toilets, or running water. The school next to my bungalow has a latrine (a public toilet, which is just a hole in the ground - much like the one pictured earlier) but it is full. So, the school has 1,100 students who shit in plastic bags and just throw them away outside. It's pretty horrible. I am looking into what it would take to build another latrine or even a toilet for the students. That's going to be my next project.

Thanks again, and sorry to solicit help from you guys. I promise that there won't be too much of that anymore.


Take care,
Adam Martyn
martynadam@gmail.com