WSJ had an article today that has sparked a lot of interest.  In it, the writer advocates running non profits more like the for profit sector with similar salary structures for executives and allowing more time to achieve goals.  Check out the link here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444017504577647502309260064.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

Let me know what you think.

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief

Hurricane Isaac

Hurricane Isaac roared through the Carribean and into the United States recently.  The difference in the destruction between the Carribean island of Haiti and the southern coast of the US is stark.  In Haiti, as a tropical storm, Isaac killed 24 people at latest count.  As a hurricane, Isaac will certainly cause material destruction and inconvenience but will most likely not result in the loss of life like that in Haiti.  On the one hand, in a country with little infrastructure and emergency preparedness, the death toll is great.  On the other hand in a country with every conceivable advantage, we suffer property damage.  It's quite a contrast that two countries two hours apart and connected by the same hemisphere suffer such different fates.

To find out how to get involved click here Mobile Medical Disaster Relief

The Iteration of Social Capital

The Iteration of Social Capital
In a democratic capitalist society, social capital may revolve around cooperative interaction between peers that results in productive commercial or noncommercial enterprise.  The focus on peer to peer networks and mutual benefit drives the interaction and the perceived success of the endeavor promulgates future interaction.  When success is achieved by both parties, the process is encouraged to become iterative.   Further innovation is encouraged by input from others who possess skill sets not present in the original exchange and thus is the market place improved and expanded.  Incumbent on the continued success of this entrepreneurial engine is the continual infusion of new ideas and skill sets that were not previously realized.  This requires either a robust educational process or some ability to incubate, focus and apply new ideas to the market place.  Obviously, in advanced democratic societies, education is the centerpiece of the development and application of ideas and schools and universities are the launching point of many of our pivotal advances. 

What other factors impact the growth of social capital?

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief

Great example of social entrepreneurism: LAVE MD

Here is a great article about Social entrepreneurism. LAVE MD is a for profit company that was started to support the non profit, Mobile Medical Disaster Relief. http://www.brentwoodhomepage.com/treating-varicose-veins--cms-8948

David Vanderpool speaks at Texas A&M Bush School Commencement

Augmenting Social Capital in the Developing World

How do we augment social capital in the developing world?        Defined as the expected collective or economic benefits derived from the preferential treatment and cooperation between individuals and groups, this asset is often overlooked in the discussions of advancement in the developing world.  For social capitalism to augment an economy, it must potentially apply to all members of the society.  Unfortunately, in many situations, social capital is available to a small, exclusive part of the population which may actually inflict damage to the remainder through the crucible of racism or elitism.  While social capital is used in all societies in some form, factors exist that decimate its effectiveness and render it unable to provide support to the economic system.

Developing Capital

Just as entrepreneurs use innovative solutions to solve business challenges, the social entrepreneur uses innovation to solve the world's societal problems.  Twenty first century ideas can be recast to address age old problems such as poverty, hunger and disease.  The social entrepreneur marries the robust profit driven world of capitalism with the austerity of the developing world to produce long term, sustainable solutions to the most vexing of challenges.  

The infusion of capital is key in the process of improving life in the developing world. This capital, however, takes many forms some of which are obvious such as physical capital and some of which are more obtuse such as social capital, human capital and spiritual capital but perhaps equally important.  Interestingly, most of the developing world's problems were solved by the developed world some time in the past with techniques that are far less effective than those that we have access to now.  Developing solutions to these issues is not the problem, finding people to implement these solutions is.

Of the types of capital available to the developing world, which do think is the most valuable?

Live Beyond Fund Raiser

We've just finished our first Live Beyond Fund Raiser and it was a great success.  Hall of Fame Head Football Coach, Gene Stallings, was the night's lead speaker.  After having travelled to Haiti the month before with the Live Beyond team, he was passionate about leading the charge to raise funds for the suffering in Haiti.

Rudy Kalis of Channel 4 news did a wonderful job emceeing the evening and brought a unique perspective to the night as only a reporter with his experience could.

Big Daddy Weave provided great entertainment for the packed house with their new top hit, "Love Come to Life".

The silent auction was particularly lively with items from Sheryl Crow, Brad and Kim Paisley and Dolly Parton driving the bidding through the roof.  One of the highlights of the night was the live auction of a quilt made by a group of Haitian orphans in the area in which we work.  It was so exciting to see A-list Nashvillians bidding on a quilt made by poor Haitian orphans!

The 562 people who turned out on a rainy night underscores not only the important work that is being done by the MMDR and Live Beyond Teams but also how generous and passionate Middle Tennesseans are about helping the poor.

MMDR.org

Hunger in Haiti

Two hours off our border, to the southeast of Miami, lies an earthquake ravaged country forgotten by the world in the rush of new news, new disasters and new financial meltdowns, that continues to suffer in the aftermath of a devastating natural disaster.  

After sustaining the loss of one thirtieth of its citizens, Haiti continues to slowly die.  Subsequent hurricanes have claimed thousands in smothering landslides, cholera continues to drain the population of life with possibly 20,000 lives claimed by this preventable disease.  Now a bean crop failure has produced protein deficient starvation that further threatens the marginal people of the Artibonite Valley.  

As we provided medical care to the people who streamed to our mobile clinics, we saw the devastating effects of a marginalized people without food.  The cries of, 'Mwen grangou!' filled our ears as the desperate mothers filled the mouths of their starving children with mud pies to keep them quiet and lessen their grief.  

Repeatedly, our nutritional assessment team returned with the cold hard data: 

age 2, weight 9 lbs; 

age 5, weight 19 lbs; 

age 21, pregnant, weight 60 lbs; 

age 65, weight 67 lbs.  

We distributed tons of food to the hungry but needed much more.

As we drove away, our food stores depleted, I wondered how many of the hungry we had missed and how many of these faces would be absent from our clinic next month.

Only $300 will feed a family of 8 for a month.

Isn't it time to open up our wallets, our influence, our lives and remember our neighbors in the Caribbean?

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief, http://www.mmdr.org, is a Brentwood, TN based 501 c(3) non profit organization that provides medical assistance, clean water, nutritional support and micro finance solutions to those affected by man made and natural disasters.  

Significance

Choosing Significance. Lot versus Abraham

Genesis 19:19-22
19 Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there( is it not small?) that my life may be saved. ” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. ” Therefore the name of the town was called   Zoar.

When Abraham and Lot parted company, Lot selfishly chose apparently the best land for himself. Abraham, on the other hand had faith about the future and chose eternal inheritance. When God chose to destroy Sodom, he delivered Lot because of the righteousness of Abraham. Lot's lack of faith was demonstrated by his weak leadership of his family. His wife, walking behind him, was turned to salt when she looked back to see her prized possessions burned up by the wrath of God. His daughters, believing that their were no men left to marry, got their father drunk and raped him resulting in creation of one of Israel's primary enemies, the Ammonites.

Finally, he chose the small insignificant route when God was delivering him from the evil of Sodom.

Abraham, in contrast, chose faith in obeying God's call to leave his home and travel to a foreign land. He chose faith in the sacrifice of Isaac because he knew that God would honor his promises and resurrect Isaac.

Which will you choose: big or small. Significant or insignificant?

GO BIG OR GO HOME!

Starvation in Haiti

We just returned from our 27th medical mission to Haiti since the earthquake.  We had 23 wonderful team members working in the medical clinic, dental clinic and sewing school.  The children at the Children of Hope Orphanage looked great.  They were healthy and happy and loved for us to show them attention.  The couple in charge of the orphanage, Bobby and Lourdie Toussaint do a fantastic job taking care of these wonderful children.

As we worked in the surrounding village, however, we saw a much different picture.  Due to a recent crop failure, many men, women and children were starving.  Because they live at the margin of life on a regular basis, a small decrease in their food supply is devastating.  We identified 200 families who wouldn't survive the month without additional food and we bought and distributed enough food to them to last until we return next month.

Isn't it amazing that two hours from the United States, where obesity is the norm, there are people who are living so precariously close to starvation.

Second Anniversary of Haitian Earthquake

Today marks the second anniversary of the crushing earthquake which hit Haiti.  

At 4:53 pm 330,000 people were killed and close to one million were injured in the worst natural catastrophe in recent history.   While billions of dollars and man hours have been spent, Haiti still lies in ruins.  Close to a million people are still living in squalid tent cities with insufficient water, food and hope.  UNICEF estimates that there are 380,000 orphans in Haiti, most of whom receive insufficient care. 

There is still no clean water, minimal electricity, no sanitation, no jobs and scarce food and medicine.  Cholera is still rampant, claiming the lives of thousands of people who have no choice but to drink contaminated water.  

As we go about our day today, eating more than we should, drinking clean water from our faucets, enjoying easy access to the best health care in the world, let's consider our neighbors in Haiti living desperate lives and dying horrible deaths only two hours from our border.  

Pray for the mothers and fathers who are losing their children to the painful death of cholera.  Pray for the grandmothers who are slowly losing the battle to starvation.  

Make a decision to help.  Live Beyond...

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief

MMDR.org

Connecting Forprofit company's with Nonprofits

Why CSR'S Future Matters to your Company
Susan McPherson, Harvard Business Review

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/why_csrs_future_matters_to_you.html

Great article on why it is important to connect for profits with non profits.

New Criteria for Success

Here we are at the start of another year.  

So, how did you do last year?  

Were you happy with your outcomes?  

What criteria do you use to evaluate your performance?  

Was it

How much money you made?

What size house you built?

How much stuff you accumulated?

Where you went on vacation?

How about a different set of criteria?

How much money you donated?

How much stuff you gave away?

How many hungry people you fed?

How many homeless people you housed?

How many poor folks you clothed?

How many sick people you cared for?

Jesus said, ”Give and it will be given to you... for with the measure you use to give, it will be measured to you.”  Give big, get big.  Give small, get small.

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor...for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”

MMDR.org

Recap of Mobile Medical Disaster Relief in 2011

    Provided medical care for 8,000 people in the developing world who had no     access to health care.

    Provided clean water for 10,000 people who previously drank only contaminated     water.

    Rescued 6 children from slavery in Africa.

    Took 200 volunteers overseas to participate in missions, comprising 16,000     man hours of work in developing countries.

Utilized    1600 volunteers working 3200 hours at MMDR HQ.

Spread the Gospel to 6,000.

Baptized 32 precious souls.

Built widows’ houses, medical clinics, schools and orphanages.

Thank you to all who made this happen!

Be a part of the solution, join us at MMDR.org

   

Under the Mango Tree

Under the Mango Tree

 We crossed Lake Volta for the second time, coming back to the island of Bakpa where we had previously met the chief under the mango tree.  Meeting under the mango tree means that our meeting was important enough to be accepted by the elders and the chief.  Coming back the second time meant that we honored our promise and would now be accepted as friends of the tribe.  As our underpowered rented boat approached the shore, the island children recognized the "abrunis" and danced and waved. Soon the news of our medical team's arrival spread throughout the island and we were surrounded by men and women who were excited to have the first medical on the island since our last visit 4 months ago.  They quickly directed us to the shady mango tree, produced hand hewn wooden benches and we resumed the friendly conversations that we had suspended months before.   As is polite in Ghanian tradition, they inquired about our mission and we honored the chief with questions about his health and his people. 
Our mission was to provide medical care to these terribly oppressed people in a way that both honored them and their tribal traditions.

As we erected our modern, portable medical clinic under the mango tree, the people of the village crowded around looking in wonder at the pulse oximeters, the immunohistochemical based lab equipment and the latest medications. Since they were without electricity, we set up solar panels to charge the sodium hydride batteries in our equipment. Since they were without clean water, we implemented water purifiers which employed state of the art electromagnetic chlorinators to provide clean water for the clinic.   

As patient after patient came into our clinic to be rid of their various diseases, it occurred to me that we honor them by giving them the best medical care possible and they in turn honor us by allowing us to sit under the mango tree.

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief

Celebrating Christmas

 This year, instead of buying and decorating a Christmas tree to adorn our house for two weeks, instead of spending time putting up holiday lights which last a month, instead of buying thousands of dollars of irrelevant Christmas presents for our friends and family, we decided to do something different.

We enlisted family and friends to sew stockings, collect presents and travel with us to Haiti where we shared these gifts and the gift of time and love with the fifty orphans at the Children of Hope Orphanage in Thomazeau, Haiti.  Since these children had never celebrated Christmas, they had no frame of reference for Santa Claus or the sickening commercialization of this frantically materialistic holiday. 

Instead, they shared the Love of people who desperately care for them. 

They countenanced the Joy of playing with soccer balls, board games and making crafts with their new found friends. 

They found Peace sitting in our laps reading their new books.

A Godly man once said, “...give to those who can’t give back to you without expecting anything in return.  Then your reward will be great.”


Mobile Medical Disaster Relief

Clean Water in Ghana

Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water related disease.

Here in the developed world, we take clean water for granted. When we turn on the faucet in our kitchen we don't even stop to wonder if that water will make us sick. In fact, for us, clean healthly drinking water from our tap isn't enough, we even add filters to alter the taste. Even more astonishing, we won't even drink our clean tap water but resort to buying bottled water on the often mistaken notion that it is purer than our tap. But one in eight people in the world lack access to healthy water. How can we as wealthy Americans help facilitate clean drinking water to the 884 million people who are dying of something we take for granted?

Healthcare in Haiti

This week, we met Israel in our Haitian clinic.  Israel is 9 years old and came in with septic arthritis of his hip.  This condition requires surgery so we took him to 3 hospitals all of which turned him away.  We had a board certified orthopedic surgeon with us but no anesthesia or a hospital to work in.  Now Israel is destined to have a frozen hip which will make walking and working very painful for the rest of his life.  This operation would have taken 15 minutes and cost less than $100.  How can we impact the Health Care system to avoid another Israel?

The Struggle of Micro Finance in Heavily Subsidized Economies

Micro finance loans are a technique to empower poor entrepreneurs in the developing world to create wealth for themselves and their family.  This technique uses small loans to allow them to invest in their businesses enough to overcome inherent gaps in the indigenous infrastructure.  Oftentimes, however, developed countries create cost subsidies for the very products that these entrepreneurs are attempting to sell.  This creates a competitive market system in which the poor are pitted against the developed world.  This decidedly lopsided environ destroys the entrepreneur's business and his hopes for future independent sustainability.
An example of this is our recent attempt to start a chicken farm in Haiti to provide much needed protein and jobs to the people.  After an initial success, we found our model struggling because the developed world was underwriting the cost of eggs sold in the Haitian markets.  In fact, it was cheaper for the Haitians to buy American eggs than it was for them to buy chicken feed.  While the developed world governments certainly have good intentions, the end results curb micro enterprise.
How can we create sustainable growth in developing world markets in the face of such daunting competition?www.mmdr.org