Funding a School in a Needy Community: Can You Help?

It is sometimes so easy for me to take for granted everything that I have been blessed with in my life.  Sure, my family and I have been through some really tough times, especially recently, but when I look at the big picture, there really isn't much, if anything, in my life that is lacking.  I have cars to take me where I need to go, I have a nice home which only seems small because of all the excess belongings we own, I have access to relatively good health and education systems, I can attend church without wondering if the government will have us arrested for holding a church meeting, and I have so much food in my pantry that I struggle with overeating issues.

Lydia's List: helping impoverished women.

When I opened the doors of Two Cheeky Monkeys I decided that I wanted to use some of the profits to benefit those who do not have access to even the basic things many of us take for granted in the developed world.  (Let me hasten to add that I'm not some super holy charity-funding saint.  I simply believe that we should use what we have been blessed with (and I've been blessed with a lot) to help others.)  I decided to support TEAR Australia's Lydia's List project, which was involved in women-focused community development projects in countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh.  Sadly, this project has come to an end so I have been thinking about new projects which I can support.  Since I have been blessed with the opportunity to undertake more years of study than I care to count (honestly, don't make me count, you'll probably run away screaming!), I decided that I would like to use Two Cheeky Monkeys and Domum Vindemia to support the development of community schools in developing countries.

School children in Zambia

So comes the point of this rather lengthy blog post.  Firstly, I should say a big thank you to those of you who have helped me to support the Lydia's List and community school projects so far through your support of my online stores.  Your committment to handmade living has not just benefitted me, but has also helped women and children in far away lands.  Secondly, I would ask if you are able to help me further by contributing to a once off fundraising auction I am hoping to set up on Facebook.  There are several ways in which people can be involved: you can spread the news via your preferred social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc), you can donate a handmade item (or gift certificate to your store) for the auction, you can bid on items in the auction, or you could do all of the above!
All proceeds from the auction will go to TEAR's community school project.  And due to the far reaching benefits of education, this should hopefully help not just the current generation of children, but the entire community and many generations to come.  If you would like to find out more about helping the Community School auction, please leave me a way of contacting you in the comments, or you can email me directly (see the "contact" tab).  Thank you so much in advance!