Warning: this post is long and may contain a crazy request.<\/strong> Please read to the end before you decide.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve written here about my friends, documentary sculptor Keisha Luce<\/a> and Dreams for Kids <\/a>founder Tom Tuohy.\u00a0 I admire them both and try to support their work whenever I can.\u00a0 And although they\u2019ve never met, their \u201cvirtual paths\u201d have crossed and set in motion a remarkable series of events.<\/p>\n During Sierra Leone\u2019s long civil war, rebels terrorized civilians by using machetes to chop off hands or legs.\u00a0 (See BBC article here.<\/a>)<\/p>\n The legacy of any war lasts much longer than the fighting. \u00a0Just over a year ago Keisha traveled to Sierra Leone to help tell the story of the amputees and their families. Like her work in Viet Nam, her intent was to combine oral history and life-molding sculpture to examine the personal and social issues that arise from war-related disfigurement. \u00a0I spoke with Keisha before she left for Africa and she was concerned. \u00a0She’d not been able to arrange in-country contact and did not know how that would impact her ability to do the work.<\/p>\n Ready for a crazy, goose-bump-inducing twist?\u00a0 Within hours of that conversation, I visited Dreams for Kids<\/a> online group and saw an introductory post from a young man named Andrew Benson Greene — a child advocate from Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n Needless to say, Andrew and I \u201chijacked\u201d the group conversation for two days to figure out how he and Keisha would connect in Freetown. \u00a0He appointed himself host, advocate and guide<\/a>,\u00a0offsetting conditions that were far more difficult than any Keisha had encountered in Viet Nam. \u00a0Andrew\u2019s support, generosity and kindness to strangers made it possible for Keisha and photographer Kirk Torregrossa to start to tell this story. \u00a0(They are currently creating the finished pieces for an exhibit.)<\/p>\n This would be a good story about peace, cooperation and crazy coincidences if it ended here. \u00a0There\u2019s more.<\/p>\n Andrew has dedicated his young life to helping that same group of war victims.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a link to the organization<\/a> he founded. \u00a0(He also studied at McGill with a Sauve Scholarship for “developing the leadership potential of promising youth from around the world.”)<\/p>\n Andrew has been accepted into the Peace, Conflict and Co-Existence Studies program at Brandeis University<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0 has received scholarship support.\u00a0 But he is $2600 short\u2026. With all that has been going on in my own life I missed an important fact:\u00a0 The program requires a $500 non-refundable deposit by May 25th.<\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0Yes\u2026\u00a0 two days.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s the truly crazy part:\u00a0 I think that in 24 hours you can help me find 25 people to commit to $100 each\u2026. Or a few more people willing to make smaller contributions.\u00a0 We\u2019ll each need to pay $20 by Wednesday and the rest by July 1st<\/sup>\u2026 and Dreams for Kids<\/a> has agreed to collect and disperse the funds, with no administrative costs.<\/p>\n There are lots of ways you can help.\u00a0 If you\u2019re as confident as I am that we\u2019ll raise what is needed, then click here and make your donation now.<\/a> \u00a0(Please follow it with an e-mail to shellyg@dreamsforkids.org<\/a> \u00a0letting her know that you are contributing to Andrew\u2019s scholarship.)<\/p>\n Or, if you want to make sure that all the money is committed before you donate e-mail me at TheShengGroup AT gmail dot come\u00a0with the subject line \u201cThat’s Not So Crazy\u201d and tell me what you can commit to. \u00a0Of course any sharing, re-tweeting and asking others helps as well.<\/p>\n Gifts for donating, you ask?\u00a0 Other than the good feeling that comes from helping wonderful people do important work?\u00a0 How about gratitude, a big tray of virtual brownies and an invitation to dinner when Andrew\u2019s here?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n