Welcome to the first installment of the second ‘Kicks Project’ Blog. Our first blog, created in 2008 during the Brazil Kicks Project, was mistakenly deleted along with all of the content. So, as in life, we will rebuild – and make this blog better than the first.
The idea behind this Blog #2 is two-fold:
Of course we will be updating the Kicks Community on our annual “Kicks Project”, as well as documenting “Kicks Gives”, like our recent shipment of soccer balls to U.S. troops in Afghanistan to distribute to local children in a "hearts & minds campaign". We will also be posting photos and stories from Kicks speeches and presentations to schools, humanitarian clubs & other groups.
Secondly, this blog will serve to issue monthly dares to the Kicks Community that are called “The Kicks Challenge”. These challenges might be along the lines of going an entire day without speaking or not using your hands to eat your dinner. They will be issued every month and come with downloadable instructions, rules and a debriefing checklist for group members after the challenge, and... oh yes, I myself will be a participant. The purpose is not simply a means to test your level of resolve, rather they will server as important interactive lessons to share with your partners, children, family and neighbors. This could be a great opportunity to connect to your friends, family and neighbors for a life lesson that you and your kids will never forget.
It may sound silly, but one of the messages Kicks emphasizes at schools is an “Understanding Through Empathy” and we issue these challenges to the school children as well (with teacher/parent approval). Examples might be walking for 30 minutes during recess with a gallon of water on their head to simulate a fraction of the journey children in sub-Shaharan Africa make every day for clean water. Another might be to not eat lunch one day on a weekend to feel the brief pangs of hunger that more than 100 million people suffer every day.
The purpose of these challenges is to mimic hardships that many people around the world face on a daily basis and give children and adults alike a frame of reference for what it is like to be disadvantaged. So please participate in the monthly Kicks Challenge and post your experience along with photos from the challenge to the site. After all, if a 5th grader can do it, don’t you think you can too?
You will also notice a link to the right of this blog entry titled “The Kicks Project: A History”. Here I have attempted to reconstruct the history of The Kicks Project all the way back to 2005, where it all began with a chance encounter with 3 children in East Africa who, through being lost in the jungles of Marangu, turned out to be exactly where they were meant to be.
So, please check out the “History of The Kicks Project” link to get a full understanding of The Kicks Project and our development over the years. I hope that this will give some context to the direction of The Kicks Project, the lasting change that we have left in our wake, and what we hope to do in the future.
To be sure, realizing the dream of The Kicks Project has been a hard fought task, and is far from complete. Our ultimate vision is to construct a youth leadership program by connecting young Americans with their counterparts around the world to affect real change in impoverished communities through something called the “Kicks Friendship Campaign”. Though our incarnations have morphed over the years from a simple orphanage/school donation project to a malaria/dengue prevention mission to a child leadership program, we have attempted many avenues of philanthropic endeavor in order to alleviate human suffering. But of all the transformations of Kicks one thing has always remained the same: the idea that The Kicks Project will work to empower children to become leaders in their community right now. Not tomorrow. Not when they grow up. Right now, for they are the future of the planet. The sooner we start teaching them how to lead, the better their leadership will be.
Please check back frequently for updates on Kicks Projects and details on our newest initiative, the “Kicks Friendship Campaign”, and be sure to participate in our monthly “Kicks Challenge” beginning in June 2010. Stories, replies, comments, photos … all is welcome. Please help to make this blog a communal effort by participating and contributing to the challenges every month.
Our goal is to eventually organize a mass Kicks Challenge in Philadelphia, possibly even break another Guinness World Record… but first we must get as many followers to this blog as possible. Please click to “subscribe” as a follower of this blog and share our posts with as many friends as possible.
Your support has been paramount to the success of The Kicks Project. Please help to make this blog go as viral as possible.
Thanks for reading – I look forward to hearing from each of you.
Michael E. Gage
TheKicksProject@gmail.com
www.TheKicksVision.com
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
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