People of the Year, Indeed

ABC News called bloggers the people of the year; meantime, Architecture for Humanity appealed to bloggers to help them raise $10,000 to build homes in the areas destroyed by the quake and tsunami. People came through. Fast.

Other websites and blogs have picked up and promoted the appeal. Within a day the reconstruction appeal surpassed its goal, and within seven days donations and pledges pushed it over the $50,000 mark. $50,000 will be enough to build more than a dozen homes, a small clinic and a school.

Given the response, we think, we can do more. We have now raised the target to $100,000.

Raising $100,000, when coupled with pro-bono design services and material donations, will allow for the building of more than just basic shelter, but the construction of schools, infrastructure and medical clinics. With a more holistic and sustainable approach of reconstruction, a truly worldchanging idea, the funds will help to build beyond simple dwellings to live but create real communities for life to grow, rebuild and renew.

This is exactly the kind of long-term reconstruction that will be essential once the immediate needs for food and medicine are met. People of the year, unite. I don't know if we can remake the world, but we can certainly help rebuild it.