I'm trying to build a school for needy students, any help would be amazing!

[Chiefspants]

Update 8/4/14:

We did it! Thanks to your incredible support and our organizational partners around the world, we were able to break ground on a new school that will provide education to deserving students in a rural community in Nepal. In addition to providing educational access, the school will serve first hub of clean, running water for the community.







We are now turning our sights to traveling to the school next summer to build a fourth classroom (this will allow the school to accept and educate every available child in the community) and teach a group of students for a month next summer. Any more of your support would be incredibly appreciated.

Thank you all again.

Open World's Website -> http://www.openworldcause.com

Open World's Facebook Page -> http://www.facebook.com/openworldcause

Open World's Twitter -> https://twitter.com/#!/OWProject



Update 12/31/13:

Spoiler!

Update 12/31/13

Hey, everybody! My charitable organization is making a big push for New Years, and it would be great if you were involved! You have all done so much for us in the past, and your support continues to mean so much to our organization.



http://www.cafepress.com/openworldcause

Update 10/14/12:

Spoiler!

Update 10/14/12: We are now officially partnered with a non-profit known as the Foundation for Leadership and Learning and can now officially accept donations, we also have established our own store on Cafepress. (And are open for requests/suggestions )

We also just completed a six minute documentary that covers the struggles and success of the first phase of Open World while laying the foundation for the second phase of our mission.

Original Post 12/19/11:

Spoiler!

Hey, Chiefsplanet! As some of you are aware, I helped begin a mission called "The Open World Project" over the last year. I am thrilled to inform everyone that the project was successful in sending two laptops and internet access to a rural school in Nepal, (known as the SAV School) and have skyped the classroom on several occasions over the past year.

However, while we were successful in that ambition, we were dismayed to learn that due to a complication with a leasing agreement, the school we were working with lost half of their buildings and some of the students that previously attended the school.

After a wide array of conversations, we decided to launch a second phase to the project that would bring entirely new buildings to the school, but unlike before, these buildings will be in sole possession of the SAV school. We are in the beginning phases of this mission, but we are hoping to drop the "project" aspect of our cause and become a fully fledged organization known as "Open World."

We are currently in the process of establishing our own 501C3, so we are unable to accept donations at this time. All we are searching for are new supporters for our cause, any new followers on Facebook or Twitter would be absolutely incredible.

Project Announcement (Made in Another Thread) 1/12/11:

Spoiler!

As many of you already know, I am currently a senior at a high school in central Kansas. As explained in the video, My friend Jake and I started a project attempting to raise enough money to bring two laptops and internet to a school in Nepal. This original goal of the project was to raise enough money to bring a library to this school, but after having a multitude of difficulties launching that project, Jake and I turned our focus to bringing internet to this school. Our hope is that we will soon be able to share skype conversations with the students in this classroom, and that this will open the school to an innumerable amount of possibilities.

To find out more information, you can visit our website here -> http://ouropenworldproject.org/

Or, to keep up with our daily aspirations, you can follow our facebook page here -> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-W...78084412211706

I'd also like to shout out to one of our sponsors who brought us a good amount of initial support, you can find them at this page. http://the-gathering.net/

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this!

Chiefspants.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Slainte

Posted the clip on my FB page...

I hit "like" and "share" so their updates get posted on my wall. I don't put all that much on there so it's not a big problem for me.

[mikey23545]

Bumperooni...

[Chiefspants]

If anyone's curious, Chiefsplanet is now the fifth highest external referrer we've had to our page.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

If anyone's curious, Chiefsplanet is now the fifth highest external referrer we've had to our page.

That's great!

[listopencil]

I wonder if those kids are still surfing the Planet, and how many of them grow up to be Chiefs fans?

[mikey23545]

If they are taught correctly, all of them...

[Micjones]

Viva Nepal!

(Sorry, had to.)

[Dartgod]

As newly appointed ambassador to Nepal, I will see what I can get President Rain Man to do.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

As newly appointed ambassador to Nepal, I will see what I can get President Rain Man to do.

Sounds good.

[Chiefspants]

This is quite the bump, but for anybody interested, Open World is up and running and now has the full ability to accept donations. Today my partner and I were interviewed about the cause by an esteemed educator who published it on the examiner.

http://www.examiner.com/article/stud...-global-impact

I want to again thank the Chiefsplanet community for their continued support of our efforts, you all have been truly wonderful.

[lewdog]

Can any of these kids play quarterback?

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Can any of these kids play quarterback?

We can always ask, I know a few of the students dream of becoming soccer players, a fact that could catch the interest of Clark Hunt.

Why don't you just go to nepachiefs.com?

[Jive Ass]

The article for anyone not wanting to leave Chiefsplanet for a second.

When Ben Honeycutt and a friend decided to try to raise $2,000 to purchase laptop computers for a small school in Nepal called the SAV School, they never thought their project would continue past high school. Since successfully raising the funds, Honeycutt and another friend, Connor Janzen, realized the school can continually benefit from their efforts, and created an organization called Open World Cause to raise awareness of the school and their hope to provide a more stable environment for the students and teachers.

Currently, the school needs approximately $50,000 in order to purchase land so that they will have the security of owning the school property and buildings. Open World Cause is working toward raising the funds for the purchase, as well as creating opportunities for classrooms across the country to connect with the students in Nepal and make a real difference in the world.

Honeycutt and Janzen recently agreed to answer some questions about their project. These well-spoken, responsible young University of Kansas students have a clear vision for the school. Their dedication to the school is evidence of the sense of responsibility they feel for making a difference in the world, whenever possible. Following is a transcript of the interview:

Q. Give a brief history of the project - how did it start?
Ben: Open World began as senior legacy project at my high school. Started by a close friend and I, our mission was to raise $2,000 to bring two laptops and Internet access to the SAV School, a school with limited resources in rural Nepal. After an array of setbacks and breakthroughs, we far exceeded our initial expectations and raised $5,000 for our cause, enough to bring two new computers, Internet and a new library to the SAV School!

Q. What is the current goal of the project?
Ben: We're now focused on bringing school buildings with running water and electricity to the SAV School. Though we initially suspended the cause to focus on our newfound collegiate obligations, we were inspired to rekindle our efforts upon discovering that the school lost half of their buildings due to a leasing complication. After they were forced to say goodbye to a portion of their students, Open World became determined to give the school new land, school buildings and above all, a stable learning environment.

Q. How do you maintain communications with the students and teacher at the SAV School?
Ben: We keep frequent contact with the school through Skype and Facebook conversations with Govinda, the principal of the SAV School.

Connor: We have also attempted to use some different solutions past and present. For example, usually Govinda is able to send us videos through a program called WeTransfer – something extremely helpful due to bandwidth limitations. E-mail is, of course, essential as well.

Q. Who is managing the project?
Ben: Open World is primarily operated by Connor, myself, and another University of Kansas student named Nikki Richardson (a recent addition to our team!) Another vital team member is a man named Nicolas Lal, Nick has been a crucial addition to our cause, as he has traveled to the SAV School and provided pictures and videos to the Open World team. Our donations run through The Foundation for Leadership and Learning, a nonprofit run by the Educational Services and Staff Development Association of Central Kansas (ESSDACK).

Q. How can people donate?
Ben: Individuals can donate through our website, by buying a product from our Cafepress store, or by sending a check directly to ESSDACK (with Open World in the tagline).

Q. Are donations tax-deductible?
Ben: Since our cause collects donations through the Foundation for Leadership and Learning and their 501C3, all of our collected donations should be tax deductible.

Q. What do you think the biggest challenge is for the Open World Project?
Ben: After being involved with this effort over the past two years, I would say that the greatest challenge has been learning how to move on from failure. Throughout life it seems that everyone is told and retold that failure is never an option, but, with a cause like this, temporary failure is almost inevitable. I honestly believe that the biggest growth I've had as person over the past two years is rooted in my involvement with Open World. I now never look at a failed idea as justification to abandon an element of this cause. Instead, I'm now driven to try, try and try again until we've fulfilled our deepest aspirations.

Connor: I joined the cause about 6 months into its existence. As an outsider and someone who had always had some kind of indirect involvement, I know that a particular challenge I took on from joining the cause came in the form of becoming a leader and taking on responsibilities I had never experienced before. Our greatest lessons have been learning how to become diligent and accountable entrepreneurs. Of course, we do not make actual profits, but we learned how to manage professional and effective web presence. Build numerous websites and learned to appeal to important and crucial audiences for our cause. We were forced to acquire skills that would make us successful. Without them, we’d be struggling in so many ways.

Q. How do you think the Open World Project has impacted the lives of students?
Connor: The most important aspect of what they have now is rooted in the possibility of learning about the world around them. We’ve been able to give them a more global view of their surroundings and connect them with classrooms in countries thousands of miles away. Their dreams of becoming professional athletes, doctors, nurses and teachers – dreams we’re all familiar with – are so much closer than ever before.

Q. Are there opportunities for collaboration with other schools in the U.S.?
Connor: Absolutely. Our current mission to build a new school is premised in connecting the students with a classroom in Inman, Kansas. The SAV School will be drawing their dream school ideas, and a sixth grade class at Inman Elementary will recreate models using Google Sketchup and a 3D printer. This is just one of the opportunities we have, and we believe there are so many possibilities.

Q. Are there any future plans for expansion to fund projects in other schools?
Connor: Our grand goal for the cause is to create numerous educational collaborations around the globe. It’s sort of like Pen Pals 2.0. We want Open World to become an organization that catalyzes these relationships between classrooms, so there’s really no “end” in sight!

Ben: With everything Connor and I have learned and experienced from our involvement with the SAV School, we know that these types of relationships could benefit a countless number of classrooms all around the world!

Follow the progress of Open World Cause by liking them on Facebook.

[Spott]

There's some real disturbing avatars in this thread.