When you find yourself in the middle of extreme poverty in Africa looking at the deadly impact of AIDS, watching the tears of orphans raising orphans, feeling the spirit and hope of people finding joy in simplicity, you start wondering, “Who cares about these people?”. You go to Africa thinking you’re going to somehow change their lives, when in fact, they fundamentally change yours. When you leave, you leave a piece of yourself behind, and then when you’re back in the middle of your comfortable life, it taps you on the shoulder, nags at you and asks, “What are you doing? Have you forgotten about them?” A 2004 trip to Malawi changed the way we look at people, business, the world at large and our role in it. We realize we have a responsibility, and the tools to contribute to people’s lives. We believe powerful ideas and compelling stories have the potential to change the world and the lives of the less fortunate, so we jumped in head first.
