GUEST BLOG: Giving Up 2 Mochas For Africa
by Christine Bailey

Last week, I introduced you to The 963 Coffee Project, where you can get involved in helping release coffee farmers in developing nations from poverty by purchasing fair wage coffee beans. This week, I’d like to introduce you to the idea of giving up coffee…mochas, to be exact!

While my husband, Steven, runs 963 Missions, my job is the coordinator for Mocha Club, an online community where people are giving up $7 a month – the cost of 2 mochas – to support a project in Africa.

It’s sorta the running joke that Steven’s job is selling coffee, and I’m telling people to give it up…it could be cause for dissension in the Bailey home! But Mocha Club is not necessarily about not drinking coffee – it’s about giving something up. Ridiculously overpriced coffee drinks just happen to be quite popular here in America. Maybe for you, $7 a month is a midnight run to a fast-food restaurant (hopefully not!). Maybe it’s a few movie rentals or 7 songs on iTunes. Maybe it’s 2 mochas. The reality is that $7 goes an incredibly long way in Africa, and most Americans, if they’re being honest, can afford $7. Check this out…

The reason we started Mocha Club is that we kept hearing from so many young people that they felt they either needed to have thousands of dollars or move to Africa in order to help with the poverty, HIV/AIDS, orphans, and genocide this continent faces on a daily basis. Because it’s so overwhelming, and sending a few dollars can seem like dropping a pebble into the Grand Canyon, many people do nothing. Instead, Mocha Club provides a tangible way for people to do something that really does make a difference, because as you can see, $7 goes a long way in Africa.

One of the unique aspects of Mocha Club is that you’re not just giving; you get to invite your friends and family to join you. To sign up, you choose a project that resonates with you and start a team. Then you fill out your profile and invite your friends and family to your team, and each person gives $7 a month towards your project! You can only imagine how much more we can accomplish as the teams grow!

Members can also choose to support any of the projects alongside an “MC Sponsor,” which is the term for any group – a musician, church, organization, or company – that introduces their community to our work.

Mocha Club helps fund the work of our parent organization, African Leadership, a Christian Education and Development organization offering Biblical training for church leaders and meeting physical needs of the poor in Africa. I couldn’t believe more strongly in the mission of African Leadership. Having worked for this organization since 2005 and having traveled to Uganda & Kenya for the first time last October, I have seen firsthand the benefits of empowering Africans to develop Africa by meeting the needs of their fellow people. Through our partners in Africa, we provide Mocha Club members with monthly updates on exactly where their money is going, including video, podcasts and blogs. Our work is focused in 6 major areas…

• Child Mothers
• Education
• HIV/AIDS
• Job Creation
• Orphan Care
• Sudan Regrowth

We firmly believe we are not to pity Africans, but we are to partner with them where they describe their needs to be. They know best. Often, they will ask us to equip them, which is what we do through micro-loans, developing farming practices, animal farms, sending children to school and college, and operations as the self-sustaining “Village of Hope,” a village for almost 500 “Child Mothers” and their babies in Gulu, Uganda. These young women are called Child Mothers because they were only children themselves when they were abducted, trained as fighters, and given as sex slaves to the rebel paramilitary group in Northern Uganda. Now that they have escaped or been excused as expendable, the community at large rejects them and their children. At the Village of Hope, they not only live safely, but have the opportunity to receive Job Training, education for their children, medical care, and emotional counseling. Who knew your $7 a month, pooled with the contributions of others, could go so far?

Sometimes, we need to provide relief. In the war-torn Sudan, where they have been entangled in a deadly conflict for over 3 years with over 400,000 people killed and 2 million innocent civilians forced to flee their homes, relief is critical right now. In the midst of that, we are also very active in leadership training, preparing for a hopefully peaceful day. We take all this direction from our 20+ African National Directors.

Lastly, let me say that I do realize $7 a month is a sacrifice for some Americans. I remember being in college. My roomie and I would go to the grocery store and pool together $40 each to buy enough groceries for an entire month. We rationed and scrimped. Giving $7 a month back then would have been a huge sacrifice. I get to meet people like this all the time, and then to see the smile on their face when they realize their sacrifice is going to provide life-sustaining hope for someone in Africa, really makes my job worthwhile.So as we enter this holiday season, I’m challenging us all to refocus. Kerry posted a great reminder about consumption. You can do it! By giving up 2 mochas for Africa, you will see how $7 a month can truly can change a life.