Tribute to Go-Givers

I enjoy the immense privilege and blessing of working in a country that I consider a "Go-giver haven". Although very small and little known because it is completely land-locked, Lesotho is truly "the kingdom in the sky".

I look forward to giving the friends and people I have made connections with here copies of The Go-Giver as a belated Christmas present and can't wait to read it myself.
You must be wondering how I can share Go-giver stories without having read the book. Well, I first heard about Bob Burg and "The Go-giver" from business coach David Wood, who researched the Laws of the Stratosphere for his own book, Living a Lifestyle of freedom from a life of service (due to be published in janaury 2009). While I don't yet know exactly what the laws of the stratosphere are as described in The Go-Giver, I am quite sure that they are the same ones I see people applying here in Lesotho to create a lifestyle of freedom from a life of service.

Your next question will undoubtedly be : "Why hasn't the Go-Giver community ever heard of its counterpart in the 'kingdom in the sky'?
The first reason is that that Go-Givers here are the missionaries, leaders of humanitarian agencies, volunteers and field workers who actually live out the "life of service" part of the equation.
The second reason is that the number of Impact Partners in this part of the world far outweighs the number of Giving Partners. When David Wood first told me about HUB (Humanity United by Brilliance), I knew at once that this is what is most needed in Lesotho to create awareness about the many ways in whcih Go-Givers of a different kind are leaving a positive, lasting impact on the communities they serve.

I am now trusting in the laws of the stratosphere to attract HUB representatives to Lesotho in 2009 so that we can share Go-Giver stories in person. My partner and I are in the process of creating a website that will make these stories available to other Go-Givers and anyone who wants to become part of HUB but if you would like to use the stories in the meantime, it would be a real blessing to the Impact Partners in question.

This is a summary of the Go-Giver stories I would like to contribute:

Ilze Stolt went from living on the streets of Cape Town for 10 years to making peoples' dreams come true. As she struggled to overcome a debilitating disease, the loss of her first love and the devastation of being rejected and abandoned by her family, one goal kept her moving in the direction of a better life and growing into the Go-Giver she is today: the burning desire to reclaim her son from foster care and make his dream of becoming a photographer come true. You can read the full story of how Ilze and her son manifested their dream and went on to bless others in their self-published book Dreams Come True. One third of proceeds from the sales of the book go to the Dreams Come True Refugge Fund that Ilze and her son established in September 2008 to help victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa rebuild their lives.

A new educational model for the 21st Century called Full Circle Learning:Teresa Langness developed this educational enrichment model to teach kids and youth the value of character development, spiritual perception and community service. The success of the first centre in Los Angeles that serves inner-city youth atrtacted the attention of Go-Givers on the African continent and a Full Circle Learning pre-school was built in Lesotho as a pilot project. Thanks to the dedication, selfless service and contributions of private donors, the project director, youth facilitators and volunteers, Full Circle Learning schools are being built in Zambia, Ethiopia, China and Japan.

In the Footsteps of Moshoeshoe Expedition.
"The banks in Lesotho say that they would be willing to finance Controlled Leverage projects but there are no bankable projects available." -Director of Public Finance for a large consulting group operating in Southern African countries.

When Lesoetsa Makafane heard this comment on the radio, he decided to submit his PHd thesis to government ministries. He realised that if he could get a positive reaction to his thesis from them, he would be able to appraoch banks, corporate sponsors and investment companies with a proposal to convert his field work into a long-term, sustainable, bankable project.
The focus of his thesis and field work was to re-create the route travelled by King Mosheoshoe and a French missionary in 1860 through the mountains of Lesotho.
'In the Footsteps of Moshoeshoe Expedition' will take place from June-August 2009 and will identify projects along the route that will benefit from HIV/Aids awareness and training, community service initiatives, outreach programmes and eco-toursim developments. This gives communities, humanitarian aid agencies, government ministries, investors and Go-Givers an awesome, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help accomplish Lesotho's Millenium Development Goals.The organising committee of the expedition is recruting 10 teams of 12-15 members each and each team will be assigned to a specific component of the journey. I am confident that we will see a few Go-Giver stories emerge from this initiative.

The Go-Giver Phenomenon

Go-Givers are people who consistently apply and live by 4 golden rules, no matter what the conditions, circumstances or challenges facing them: Keep Growing, Keep Moving, Keep Giving, Keep Creating

We gave intent to receive copies of the book published by Burg-Scott Communications in exchange for promoting the Go-Giver Stories Competition but nothing materialised. As there are no bookshops in Lesotho and very few people here can purchase items online (thank the universe that the credit crunch has not affected this part of the world!) it seems we will have to wait until one of the missionaries makes a trip back home before we can share in the Go-Giver phenomenon.

Thank you to all the Go-Givers who contributed christmas gifts for the children who are discipled at the United Pentecostal Church, funding for the Word of Life Christian pre-school, donations for the Jewels of Hope Project that provides food, care and a childrens' ministry to Aids orphans and the people who ordered copies of Dr Brown's guide to Controlled Leverage Investments in support of Louis Gregory Foundation projects. You will all be receiving VIP invitations to our annual fundraiser.