A side note. I had this great idea of having a real photo of me or something I did every day but I do not even have that many photos of myself. So what do I do? I’ll start inserting cute cats probably…
Aaaanyway, here’s today’s thought of the day. I’m giving away the idea I and my wife have (and aiming to fulfil in our lifetime) for free. If you have time and money or would just like to help us, feel free to get in touch or just steal the idea. It’s free.
Let me introduce my wife (who’s completely oblivious currently laying in bed next to me and reads some book about forgiveness? Am I in trouble?). My wife Maria is from Colombia, a beautiful country that I am sure will be a subject of many posts this year. A country of rich culture, amazing food, unforgettable views and kind people. But at the same time a country where social inequality is huge and growing. We have visited Colombia twice recently and even before that we had an idea how on a micro-scale we can help some people.
The idea
I strongly believe in the power of education and knowledge. That is why our simple idea is to rent/buy a house in Colombia and settle homeless people to resocialize them. By that I mean give them shelter but from day one give them full-time responsibilities. That is why, ideally, this house would have commercial space included where inhabitants can run a simple and small restaurant. The restaurant will feed them, other homeless people based on donations but most importantly it will also feed the general public as any other restaurant. This way having, say 6 people in the house plus a real employee with the experience, you can teach 6 homeless people how to cook, clean, manage money, do taxes, organise supplies, pay the bills and so on. They can even earn money to go back and join a normal workforce. This way after a few months, probably up to a year we have not only 6 people out of the streets but most importantly we have another 6 citizens contributing with their taxes and work to the community. And every year those 6 people change.
The key is in numbers, you can have a restaurant, a car mechanic, a hairdresser, a little convenience store, anything you can imagine. This way you don’t have to pick people who want to cook only. I fully understand that there will be a queue much bigger than the capacity for this idea but isn’t it better to start small and maybe turn this idea into a big “homeless free university” long term? Anyone can apply because, in the end, everyone is good at something. All they need is a will of changing their status quo and believe me, being in Bogota and seeing all those Venezuelans – I believe that the first 6 positions will be filled overnight.
So in a few months hopefully I’ll give you much more details about a big change in my life and the new startup that I want to grow. But what I do want is to that startup to be the main feed for one of those ideas – whether it’s idea number 1 or any other I’ll post later. I just want to build, no, I will build a big international corporation that will pour a lot of its profits into social startups because I do need a change in my life and that change need to be – make the world better. So… 3,2,1 go. One week has gone, better hurry up Mr Klis. With the help and support from Mrs Cruz I’m sure we will make it.