If you wanted to build a new school in China - where and how would you start? What do you think would be the most difficult part? Well my company just graded the lot and the school construction will be the easiest part. We should have the school done in about 100 days - now that the Monsoon season is over. Again the actual construction is the easiest part.

The most difficult aspects of building a school -

1. Getting the money from the USA to the remote village where you are building;

2. Getting the Chinese governments approval

3. Choosing the right village

4. Convincing the villagers you are completely nuts and getting them to help. And it doesn't help you don't speak any Chinese and you truly are at the mercy of the translator. And you hope the translator is liked by both the village and the government.

Let's start with the money. The average Chinese school will cost you around $20,000 to build for the material; another $15,000 in labor if you can't rally the village into providing the labor for free. So how do you get $20,000 from Atlanta Georgia to the remote Village of Dhia Soong in the remote village of the Yunnan province? Dhia is an 8 hour bus ride plus a 4 hour llama ride up the steepest mountains from the nearest banks in Beijing. It's more money that you can legally carry if you wanted to fly there and drop it off. I won't disclose the how to this because I hop to do it again in the spring when we start another school. All I can say is there are some Chinese ladies I trust a whole lot who are sleeping tonight with $20,000 buried or hidden somewhere in their house - the mud shacks with dirt floors. Holding $20,000 when they will make about $200 for the year. At least I know they love their children of the village more than they love money. At least that's my prayer every night.

The Chinese government is very proud and admits PROUDLY they don't need any help from anybody - especially from outsiders and especially from Americans. Unfortunately they are ignoring the remote villages to the West and focusing on trying to keep the infrastructure up to meet the explosive growth of the East. Throw the money back where it is coming from. Since the local Chinese government had no funds to build schools they welcomed us with open arms. Our big goal was to get their blessing to not only approve us but to accept the new school into their system; to then provide the books and supplies; to pay the teachers and keep up the maintains. Amazing they approved it all in one meeting. And we didn't mention God one time - though he was there.

So we decided to build our schools in the poorest villages of Western China. We decided on the Yunnan Province because it is still a Third world country still living like its 1000 AD. No civilization here - no modern infrastructure. No money and no school. The goal each day is to survive - find enough food to make it till tomorrow. Girls go to school - are you kidding? So we identified 10 villages - all without schools. And decided to build the first one which agreed to provide the labor for free.

So we went to the first village of Dhia Song. And got all the villagers to agree to stop farming and to listen to us. The long and short story - after hours of disbelief and wanting to know the trick - they agreed to build the school. For free to provide their labor in shifts so their farms would continue. If we are dumb enough to give them their money they would be dumb enough to provide the labor. See how much they need the education.

The lot is graded. The villagers are helping. The Chinese government is watching. As is Our God. All in disbelief but Him. With Him and everyone rallying together they will have the school done by the Chinese New Year. And what a celebration it will truly be.

Boake Moore is an IT Sales engineer by trade and founded a non profit coffee company called Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee -http://www.missiongrounds.com/ourphilosophy.php

It donates all its profits and proceeds to helping orphans and impoverished children. We currently are building schools in rural China, orphanages in South America; supporting orphans in Russia and Africa. And helping homeless children in the United States. Lets make the world better - George "Boake" Moore

Mission Grounds

http://www.missiongrounds.com