Changing Your Concept of Charity with the Jhai Coffee House

Changing Your Concept of Charity with the Jhai Coffee House

I’m sure you are already aware of the responsibility for water collection that weighs heavy on the shoulders of women on a global scale. In developing worlds, it is the women and children that bear the primary responsibility for water collection for their households. This makes up a massive amount of their time, time that is not spent working at an income-generating job, caring for their family members, or attending school.

This is no different in Laos.

In the past, we have functioned as a traditional charity to help solve the clean water crisis in Laos. We would dedicate our time and energy into fundraising, then we would purchase and install a water pump in the extremely rural villages, and then the money was gone. Repeat. This model is highly unsustainable, which is why we have evolved.

This is one of countless experiences that will make up our realities after Tyson and I move to Laos in September. Abnormal becomes normal; custom becomes uncustomary.

We think we know what we are getting ourselves into… but do we really? …for the full story, check our blog!

Inspired by Muhammad Yunus, we now see how tapping the free market to solve our humanitarian needs is the key to sustainability, and what we believe is the future of philanthropy. We are asking you to change your concept of charity. We are taking those same charity raised dollars and putting them in a for-profit model so that those dollars can now have endless life to do endless good.

We are building a Social Business, the Jhai Coffee House.

Jhai is the world’s first completely philanthropic coffee roaster and cafe located at the source. All business profits are invested into children’s sanitary education and clean water projects in the local Lao coffee growing community.

What are the problems in Laos?

As a part of its efforts during the Vietnam War, the U.S dropped a planeload of cluster bombs on Laos every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, for 9 straight years. This makes Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world.

A third of these bombs did not explode and still remain littered throughout the country waiting for unsuspecting victims, 40% of them children.

Because of this, Laos has spent the last 40 years rebuilding, effectively leading to a clean water and sanitation crisis. Under half of the population of Laos has access to clean safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, leading to diarrheal disease being the second biggest killer to children under the age of five.

How can you help?

Share this campaign! Facebook, Twitter, email or any other social media avenue. Additionally, if you personally know anyone that is Lao American, please message them directly to spread the word. There are many Lao Americans living in the U.S. with the desire to serve but they just don’t know how. This campaign provides them an opportunity.

For those of you who don’t know Stacy La, she’s our Creative Director! Stacy is all the way over in London working hard to get our campaign out on time.

Let’s send her some Facebook LOVE!
 
— with Tyson Adams and Stacy La.
 

For more information and to follow our journey to Laos:

www.jhaicoffeehouse.com

https://www.facebook.com/JhaiCoffeeHouse