Laughing for a Cause

By Tunya Griffin

Imagine downloading a ring tone on your cell phone that makes you laugh, raises money for clean water wells in Sierra Leone and supports a local organization in Buffalo. Well, that is exactly what you get with Let Them Laugh Out Loud, a grassroots organization founded by Joe and Kate Vacanti. If you want in on the fun, just purchase a ringtone on their organization’s website- www.ltlol.com- and proceeds from every download gives one person access to clean water. “Laughter is often the overflow in someone’s heart,” said co-founder Kate Vacanti, “Joe happens to have a really unique laugh. When others hear it, it’s contagious. As a result, we decided to create a ringtone that would cause others to laugh, and all the money from the ringtone goes to a good cause,” she added. Let Them Laugh Out Loud was formed in October of 2009 to create awareness regarding the desperate need for clean water and water wells in Sierra Leone, Africa. Their desire was to bring hope and joy to those who have no voice by providing resources for the people in Sierra Leone, giving them an opportunity for a better future.

  “We want to raise the awareness and supply the tools necessary to educate people on the clean water issues, sanitation, homelessness, trafficking, and slavery. It is our goal to get people to act,” says Kate. “There are many people in the world today who experience some type of unjust suffering and it’s because they do not have the resources to allow them to have a happy and healthy future.” Consequently, they believe it is our job to empower people to take action. “We have material abundance here in America, but we live in poverty of community and commitment,” explained Kate. “Africa has physical poverty, but they are abundant in community and commitment. This makes me wonder, which one is the greatest poverty?” said Kate. As I listened, I was awed by her statement. My mind started to quickly race thinking of those who were less fortunate than I am. My eyes started to swell with tears, but this was only the beginning of our conversation.

According to the Vacanti’s research, over 1 billion people in the world have no access to safe drinking water, 3.5 million people die every year from water-related illnesses, and everyday 4,000 children die as a result of dirty drinking water. “I must say it again that, our goal is to educate, empower, and increase awareness among people so that they can act,” said Kate speaking with such compassion and experience. I continued our conversation by asking, “What methods are you utilizing to get the information out?” “My husband and I have created a few methods  to get the word out to others. One method that we use is called “The Justice Experience.” She pointed at the huge tent that was erected at Kingdom Bound in August. The tent was similar to a huge museum, a maze of nine small rooms. Each room was designed to focus on three different social justice issues: Clean water, Human Trafficking, and Homelessness.

Prior to entering the tent, the guide said, “Welcome to the Justice experience, a journey of awareness for action.” He proceeded to say, “What you see will be shocking and a little bit overwhelming, but I assure you it will be life altering, I approached the first room with a bit of hesitation, because I wasn’t sure what to expect. The first room, I entered was filled with cardboard boxes, barrels used for heat, and photographs of homeless people all over the walls. “28.7 percent of the population is in poverty and Buffalo is the third poorest city in America.” “Homelessness is in your backyard,” the guide pointed out. We were allowed to take our time in each room and stand or sit in silence as we took all this in. In the few moments of silence, I decided to read some of the signs on the walls that were written by people who were homeless. One in particular stood out that read, “I lost everything and I am trying to start over, would you please help.” I literally was taken back, insomuch, I felt as though I could hear the voices of the homeless crying out for help.

The next room I entered addressed the issue of clean water. “There are six billion people in the world and one billion do not have access to clean water, that is one out of every six people,” explained the guide. He progressed, “In other countries children are being abandoned by their parents if they feel that there is no hope for the child to live.” To drive his point home so that we could understand the reality; he shared a story and pictures with us about ‘baby Jonathan’. Baby Jonathan was only a few months in age, and he was struggling for his life; because his parents were unable to provide water resulting in the health of the baby being strongly affected. By the time doctors had arrived in Africa to help with Jonathan’s condition it was too late. The only solution now was to take baby Jonathan to a hospital where he would be made as comfortable as possible to die. People were sobbing uncontrollable, while others facial expressions were those of shock.

The last room that I entered addressed the issue of Human Trafficking. Stolen identity and stolen virginity are two words to explain human trafficking. When I entered this room there was a mattress, forty cents on the mattress, and a dirty nightgown. The room represented a brothel of where the girls are kept. I did say, girls. These are girls who are age seven and older and whose virginity is sold for $3,000-$5,000 dollars. The girls are sold the first time, the second time and thereafter they are paid as little as $2.00. I was flabbergasted, angry, and alarmed by what I heard and saw. What really threw me overboard was a sign on the wall that read, “memories of my family lurks in the shadows…I remember playing in a dusty field with other children.  I was sold by my parents at age 7. My parents struggled to care for me and my five siblings, so they sold me so they could feed my brothers and sisters grey (Cambodia).” I remembered thinking, “How could this happen? This can’t be overlooked and what are we really doing about this. Am I so far removed from these issues, because it isn’t happening in my house or church that I am not doing anything about these social justice issues?” 

Finally, there is hope. Let The Laugh Out Loud has implemented various ways that people can get involved. In particular, after the tour of each of the rooms there is an action plan room for each one of the social justice issues. For example: $5000 dollars can provide water for 1 town. As a result, LTLOL has provided a couple of solutions. The first get the laugh ring tone now and give one person access to clean water. It’s as simple as one-two-three just text lethemlol water to 69937 for just $2.99. In addition, visit the website www.letthemlol.com and purchase  t-shirts, art, and water bottles. With each purchase at least one family gets access to clean water. Keep in mind that LTLOL main objective is to have wells built in the country of Sierra Leone, Africa. LTLOL has also partnered with Global Health Services who have the resources to actually build clean water wells in Sierra Leone. Kate’s words were ringing in my mind, “We have material abundance here in America, but we live in poverty of community and commitment. Africa has physical poverty, but they are abundant in community and commitment.” I still wonder which one is the greatest poverty, you choose.