When my old friend, Mike Duckwitz, got married this winter, he and his wife asked for an unusual wedding gift. Instead of gifts for themselves, they asked for donations to ASODECIGUA which is a charity for malnourished children that they worked with during their time in Guatemala. I’ve lived in Guatemala for a while myself and seen some pretty shocking poverty far beyond anything I’ve seen either in the US or here in Taiwan. Here’s what Mke’s wife, Claire, said on their wedding page:

Chronic malnutrition impacts 40% of the children in Guatemala. During our trips to Guatemala we worked in a hospital/orphanage with many children who had either been malnourished at some point in their lives (and were suffering from the permanent damage this had caused) or who were being treated for this while we were there.

Mike, Claire, I have to say you two are an awesome couple for choosing this sort of wedding gift. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anybody else doing this. The fact that you went to the trouble of creatingworking with a non-profit organization, Water for the Americas, so that donations can be tax-deductable makes it just that much better.

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