Partnering with Dreams
One Hundred and Sixty-Three Million. 163 Million. 163,000,000.
No matter how you write it that’s an impressive number.
Unfortunately it represents how many orphans are currently in the world according to UNICEF and The Children on the Brink Report.
One organization working within that number is Rice Bowls. This 501(c)3 non-profit was founded in 1980 by Dr. Alastair Walker from South Carolina, USA.
Dr. Walker witnessed the effects of hunger first hand during a trip to developing countries. He decided to do something concrete to address child hunger. He, along with a team of colleagues, designed a plastic bank in the shape of a rice bowl.
The idea was simple; distribute the banks, educate people on world hunger, collect the funds, and give it directly to help feed the hungry.
Twenty-seven years later, in 2007, Rice Bowls began partnering directly with local children’s homes to fund their food budgets. They currently work in India, Ethiopia, Zambia, South Africa, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Philippines.
Oola Tea partners with Rice Bowls. For every bag of tea sold a portion goes directly to feed hungry children. Oola Tea co-founders, Dr. Troy Amdahl and Dr Dave Braun, are all about giving back.
In 2012 they co-wrote the international bestselling book, Oola: Find Balance in an Unbalanced World. The word ‘OOLA’ comes from the term ‘Ooh La La’. They define it as, “a state of awesomeness, when your life is balanced and growing in the 7 key areas (the 7 F’s of Oola): Fitness, Finance, Family, Field (career), Faith, Friends and Fun.”
The Oola system is fairly simple:
Identify a dream.
Work out goals that lead toward the dream.
Complete 3 things everyday toward your goals.
However, in reality, 80% of people never set goals. Only 4% of people who do write them down. And only 1% write them down and review them on a regular basis. Yet that is the heart of finding Oola
Troy and Dave built the Oola brand and an online following of over one million people around the world. They wrote two more books, Oola For Women and Oola for Christians, spoke at events and hosted their own — OolaPalooza
At some point Troy came up with the idea to buy a 1970’s vintage VW bus.
Why? To drive around the United States collecting dreams from people they met along the way.
They loaded up sharpies, Oola stickers, and hit the road. Their goal? To collect 1,000,000 dreams.
Currently the Dream Bus is covered in over 25 layers of dreams.
It wasn’t until 2017 that Oola Tea was born. Oola tea is premium crafted tea specifically designed to infuse with essential oils. But there’s another layer to Oola Tea; a platform to help others. The Rice Bowls partnership was born.
On December 17 , 2017 Oola Tea sales provided 1731 meals. With all those sevens lining up Troy’s and Dave’s super power kicked in: Dreaming Big.
February 27, 2018 Troy picked up a black sharpie, reached for a yellow Oola Faith sticker and wrote down their big dream: provide 1,000,000 meals. He stuck it on the Oola Dream Bus.
Dreaming is a central part of Oola life. The number of dreams and meals Troy and Dave have their sights on is just the tip of the iceberg. Their really big dream is to:
Change the world with a word: Oola.
As more and more people started reading the books, following on social media, asking questions and sharing stories, Troy and Dave recognized they needed help.
October 2019 they launched the Certified Oola Life Coach program. The first Coaches were certified in November 2019 and now, six months later, there are over one hundred coaches around the world.
It’s been six months since Oola Life Coaches have been certified. It’s our half-birthday.
One of the coaches, Tina Gering, wanted to surprise and celebrate Troy and Dave. Knowing their generous hearts, Tina envisioned an event that both highlighted and benefited Rice Bowls.
The first ever Oola Rice Bowl-a-Thon was born.
Today, April 30, 2020, from 7:00 am MT to 7:00 pm Mt, numerous online activities are planned: Scavenger Hunts, posting challenges, picture sharing, opportunities to learn about Oola Life, Oola Tea, and of course Rice Bowls.
Come on. Jump in.
Let’s feed children and Together Change the World With a Word.
That’s so Oola!
Thank you to author, Terry Eissfeldt, for creating this blog entry.
Life Coaching from the Soul 