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Several
years ago I met a gentleman who was donating
money to a non-profit organization to build schools
in Africa. The organization would raise about $40,000
to build a new school in a much needed region. After
9-11 most organizations pulled out of Africa, but we continued on our own to continue building these schools.
When working directly with the contractors we discovered
that the real price was closer to $9,000. After finding
out that most of this money was being put towards “Administrative
Fees” we decided to set up our own organization
and devote our
time to directing the organization. And today…
it’s amazing to see the accomplishments!
 I
was lucky enough to take part in this venture and able
to contribute some of my own time, talents and resources
to helping out in Africa. In fact, I feel a lot like
family when I go there! It’s an amazing experience
to see several thousand children running up to greet
you when you arrive in the villages. The overwhelming
feeling can’t be put into words.
We’ve
learned that it isn’t best just to “give”
everything to a region that has virtually nothing
by our standards but it is better to teach skills
and to help the people learn to be industrious. The
slogan “Hard Work Bears Fruit” is all
over everything we do. We’ve worked closely
with Brigham Young University
to develop and implement child carousels that generate
electricity
and seesaws that pump water from wells. The locals
work on each project and are an integral part of everything
we do there.
 On
a trip a couple of years ago I was there to celebrate
3 young men from our school passing our equivalent
to the ACT tests in the U.S. The young men were so
excited for their accomplishments and so were we.
They were the first boys to ever achieve the accomplishment
in the entire region! I’m proud to announce
that the first young woman has now accomplished the
same thing recently. While there I was trying to come
up with different things we could do to create jobs
for the villagers. There isn’t much around them
so it’s difficult to pull something from your
hat. My first thought was to try growing Agave in
Africa. The cost and time constraints for starting
a project in that region made it an almost impossible
task for us. Luckily, an idea came to someone else
from the group and the wheels began to turn. They
have coconut trees growing naturally all over the
region. Why not learn to harvest coconut oil? Not
knowing much about the industry we turned to BYU for
some help. Their students researched and created the
original process for turning coconuts into coconut
oil. The method has been improved upon and the end
product is FANTASTIC!
We
are now starting a new business in Africa to produce
drums of Organic, Raw,  Expeller
Pressed Coconut Oil in a region where they have so
little. The young men and women who are currently
being sponsored in college in Africa will now be able
to return to help and teach the next generation and
will be able to run the business that we (you and
I) help start. Not only will coconut oil benefit you
and your health, but know that by purchasing Global
Goods’ Coconut Oil you will benefit thousands
across the world!
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