Brian Morris writes:

I would like to take this opportunity to clear up any concerns
about the One Sky Project that anyone has, and open up this discussion! As I
feel I am personally representing Hang Gliding in this project, I really value
your feedback and suggestions on how to make this more than what it has already
become! This project's reach is going to be tremendous, and therefore it is
important that we all understand exactly what our mission is.

Let me first start by introducing myself and sharing the inception of how the
One Sky Project came to be.

My name is Brian Morris. I am a hang
glider pilot that was born in South Africa during Apartheid, to parents that
were working in the US Embassy in Lesotho. I left as a young child, and grew up
in the states to later serve in the US Air Force and obtain a degree in
Entrepreneurship with a focus on Marketing from Radford University. My last year
of college was spent serving as a Presidential Scholar and Global Ambassador,
aboard a study abroad program called Semester at Sea, leading a philanthropic
community project, engaging students with local communities overseas. We visited
21 different countries, and started a program called Operation Global Swap,
which encouraged students to donate items that meant something to them to
children in the various countries, and then share the pictures and stories with
our shipboard community of 800 people. This went viral almost immediately, and
it encouraged students to engage with more locals, in simple and happy ways that
made a difference in someone’s day! These joyful interactions with children and
local families are the memories that have made an un-doubtable impact in my
life, and in the lives of many others. We way too often overlook the impact that
a smile can have on someone’s day, and we certainly take for granted how good we
have it in this country.

Semester at Sea was a life-changing event for me, and it has given me the
longing for the past few years to go back to Africa, and to immerse myself in
the cultures of those in need. From my collective years of experience, the best
way to give back is to share your best skills with other people to help make
their lives better. To share any knowledge you may have to help give people the
tools they need to increase the success of their visions! On a more humble note,
I believe it to be impossible to show up in an unknown place and expect to save
lives and change the world.

There are organizations on the ground in all of the places we are visiting that
we have researched heavily, and frankly, we have fell in love with their
dedication to what they are doing. These organizations are lead by giving and
caring people that have devoted their lives to helping their respective
communities. They have gauged the support, the tools needed, and the fundraising
needed in order for them to be successful in their missions. Whether that
success is in the sustainable orphan care of HIV/Aids recipients, the building
of schools and communities to support the children, or the teaching of skills to
marginalized female refugees that have come from war ridden countries, to no
family or way to put money on the table to survive. You can find more about them
here: (http://www.oneskyproject.com/partners/)

Shortly after I finished my tour with the Air Force, I saw a Youtube video of a
hang glider pilot flying off of Table Mountain in South Africa, arguably one of
the most beautiful places I have ever been. This 3-minute video sparked
something inside of me that changed my life. I set out to see how I could
accomplish this amazing feat, in a homecoming to my birth country. The next day,
I travelled to Kitty Hawk Kites, and met an amazing person named Zachary Marzec.
He was just getting off of work, teaching on the dunes, and offered to spend his
free evening to take me out on the sand dunes, a complete stranger, and
introduce me to free flight. He encouraged me to chase my dream of Table
Mountain, and to learn more about this sport. He even spent the entire next day
(his day off) teaching me to fly and running next to me down a 65 foot dune in
100* weather. He inspired me to dive into this, and to want to share this
amazing thing with as many people as possible. I think we can all agree that
this is necessary for the continual growth of our sport.
I am forever grateful for this act of kindness,
and this has made one of the biggest impacts on my life.

I learned how to fly with Kitty Hawk Kites, and soon moved to Lookout Mountain
Hang Gliding, the largest hang gliding school in the world, to lead their
marketing program. I was creating content through high quality media, to share
with the world how amazing this sport is, and to encourage people to become a
part of it. My marketing experience, my college experience with documentary film
making and story telling, and my undeniable passion for this sport enabled me to
encourage more people to learn to fly and join our amazing community here.
This has furthered my confidence, that the
sharing of this sport is what I want to dedicate my life to.

So, here are my take-aways:

• A compelling image, or an amazing video, can
inspire and change someone’s life. (The funds we are looking to raise will pay
for the creation of videos that have the potential to be seen by a million
people. The potential is much larger than a $21,000 project. If everyone viewer
donated $1 to the organization in need, well do the math, and imagine the
impact)

• Flying has changed my life in so many ways and I want to share that with as
many people as possible that may never have the opportunity.

• The best way to help a community in a place you have never been is to go
there, immerse yourself in the culture, to learn and to listen. Listen to those
that know what needs to be done for their mission to succeed, and then to help
share that with the rest of the world.

The One Sky Project, for me, is a collaboration of my dream of giving back to
the land where I was created, my dream of sharing free flight with as many
people as possible, my dream of flying off of Table Mountain (a promise I have
made to 2 fallen brothers in our sport) and my dream of using this project to
inspire more people to consider taking their free time (referred to some as
“vacation”) and altering it to make an impact on the lives of the people that
you interact with. I have left my family business, am moving into my car, and
have devoted the last 3 months (more than 60 hours a week) to making this
project happen. Our entire team has put their
lives and families on hold for the winter, purchased plane tickets,
visas, and have spent well over $12,000 of our own money, before the kickstarter,
to ensure that we get there and make sure this happens, because we strongly
believe that what we are doing will make a difference. This could have been a
tremendous “flying trip,” months ago, with half of that money, and energy.

We are trying to raise the rest of the funds we need to travel to support these
organizations (http://www.oneskyproject.com/partners/)
which I want you to check out and consider joining us in supporting. Their
stories are incredible, and it is the transformation of those stories into
compelling media that will capture the attention of donors, and that has
inspired us to make this model happen, and help them out in any way we can. Our
budget is outlined clearly on our kickstarter, but I am more than willing to
answer any specific questions about where our funds are going.

Instead of just Marc Radloff and I going, we have created an incredible team (
http://www.oneskyproject.com/team/ ) to make sure this is done
professionally, with the highest quality available, to then in turn, make the
biggest impact we can. We have added a producer, Suzy Beck, (non pilot) that has
produced for Master Chef and The Amazing Race. We have a documentary
cinematographer, Jonathan Fambrough, (
https://vimeo.com/75817314 ) that has travelled to over 25 countries,
sharing stories of non profit organizations, devoting his time to travel with
us. We have a media production company in Miami run by Federico Wood Behrens,
coming with us to assist in high quality video production. In effect, we have
the perfect team to make this happen and The One Sky Project is growing to be a
sustainable organization that will undergo annual projects that will make a
difference, in conjunction with sharing free flight.

The One Sky Project has the support of the Cloudbase Foundation, one of the best
hang gliding companies in the world (Moyes) one of the best paragliding
companies in the world (Ozone), the largest hang gliding school in the world
(Lookout Mountain Hang Gliding) one of the best instrument companies in the
world (Flytec), and one of the best portable solar power companies in the world
(Goal Zero). Our flying community has donated over $10,000 and a significant
amount of materials to ensure that this project happens. D|Focus Systems, Inc.,
TCPrint Solutions, Kip Stone and his printing company Art Forms, Hawk Air
Sports, Dean Funk, Tracks4Africa, and Grace K. Stansbery's media talent have
helped us tremendously. We are extremely humbled by the amount of support and
help we have received, but would still love to have yours.

Please continue to learn more about our project and it would mean the world to
me to have your support:

You can contribute here on kickstarter to help us raise the further logistical
funds to make this trip happen.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oneskyproject/one-sky-project

You can donate here to The Cloudbase Foundation and have your pledge be tax
deductible under 501C3 status

http://thecloudbasefoundation.org/site/one-sky-project/

You can donate here now, directly to our
organizations that we will partner with:

You can donate here to support Amani ya Juu
(Peace from Above)

http://www.amaniafrica.org/…/donations-give-the-gift-of-pe…/

You can donate here to support IKhaya le themba
Project

http://www.ikhayalethemba.org.za/make-a-donation-2/

You can donate here to support No Danger Diaries


http://www.nodangerdiaries.com


You can donate here to support Child Welfare
South Africa
http://www.childwelfaresa.org.zaz