Remember "Blind, Gas-Can-Guitar Guy" from Africa? Let's Help Him Out.

Do you remember, Wesseh Freeman, the "blind gas can guitar guy?" He was the viral sensation that was filmed singing on the streets in Liberia, Africa.  Here's that original video:



That video chalked up over 800,000 hits on its original Youtube page.  Several pirated versions of the video then hit Facebook and racked over a million hits.

All these web pages got traffic and ad revenue. 
Wesseh is still homeless in Liberia.


But guess what?  I've become friends with Wesseh through several kind folks over there who have put him on Skype with me.  And...in a turn of events that can only be described as having "fingerprints of God" all over them, I have made contact with an American church who just happens to support a missionary pastor in Wesseh's neighborhood! 

Let me repeat, I just made a secure financial connection between the "Master of the Gas Can" and the pastor in Liberia who's helping to take care of him.

Working together with missionary, George Monten Flomo (pictured, right), we have come up with a three part plan:

  • Get Wesseh off the streets!  A nice room rental in their village is $50 a month, but you have to pay a year in advance.  ($600 total)
  • Provide essential needs for Wesseh to get him on his feet.  This includes a woman to wash his clothes, food and necessities.  This is about $50 a month as well.
  • Get Wesseh a job within the missions school, teaching the children to make and play musical instruments!!!  This was my idea as a way to not just throw money at the musician, but to give him a better live altogether.  George loved this idea when I proposed it to him.  It takes Wesseh's God-given talents to raise the next generation of Liberians up to love the arts and music. 


I'm starting with a basic fund drive to raise $600.  Let's get him off the streets.  You can donate via credit card through the secure EasyTithe website.  You will even get a receipt for tax deductions. 
NOTE:  You must follow these steps for your donation to get to Wesseh and his provider, George:

1. Go to www.immersionoutfitters.com 
2. Click the "Donate" tab 
3.  Again, hit "Click Here to Donate" in the new page
4.  This will take you to the proper Easy Tithe page.  Click "Quick Give (no login required). 
5.  Add your amount. IMPORTANT: Make sure to hit the drop down menu for "IO Liberia" fund. 
Fill out the rest of the info. 

 




George and I talk several times a week.  Sometimes he even puts Wesseh on the phone so we can catch up.  (I sometimes make them repeat things over and over as I get used to their deep Liberian accents!)  I also communicate with George Ramirez, head of Immersion Outfitters located in Texas.  They will let me know when the $600 mark has been met for this first goal.  After that, we will set up the second and third objectives.

I am putting this charity together myself.  This has been something I've wanted to do for a long time. 

There is no Paypal donation yet.  Maybe as I get this going, I can do that.  However, I like the fact that your donations go directly to the ministry and are not funneled through my Paypal.  You get an immediate email confirmation from them.

As far as updates, I will be creating a dedicated Facebook page for all of this, including photos and hopefully some new videos.

Someday, I want to start a band with Wesseh. 

Shane Speal
July 2016







 

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Comment by Ted Crocker on November 26, 2017 at 5:36pm

I know I've seen posts about 2 years rent paid somewhere on the nation megasphere somewhere some where else one social media
. Post a link here!! It's 2017 and we did the PayPal thing to support a cool dude!

Comment by PBlanton on July 27, 2016 at 7:05pm

Shane.

That's great. Thanks for all you normally do, but especially for what you're doing for Wasseh. Helping each other out across the world... If that's not the best use ever for the Internet, then I don't know what is.

Comment by Cigar Box Nation on July 26, 2016 at 8:03am

PBlanton, I'm with ya. This current solution is the absolute best I can offer for right now.  it took a long time to find a reputable source for sending funds to Liberia. When I heard about this American ministry, I had them set up the special IO Liberia account just for us.  

I talk to the Liberian pastor a couple times a week. I'm waiting to hear the early results from the American ministry. I'm pretty sure we got enough to secure him a room so far.

My end goal is not to just throw money at Wesseh, but to work toward something sustainable in his town through this ministry.  

Comment by PBlanton on July 26, 2016 at 5:44am

I donated $20 to Wesseh, but I'm used to a better donation experience. I picked the IO Liberia fund, but I wanted to see a little graph that shows how much of the $600 has been reached. With all that missing, I at least wanted a text field where I could type in exactly what I wanted this donation to go to.

I held my breath and clicked [Submit] with the hope that 100% of the money will make it to Wesseh.

Comment by OBSIDIAN on July 26, 2016 at 3:56am

Need a video of him playing with the new guitar!

Comment by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 23, 2016 at 3:51pm
Bump...c'mon, y'all, kick in for Wesseh! He needs clean shirts and underwear, and a place to store them!
Comment by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 20, 2016 at 11:06pm
Oh, and you're now 1/6 of the way toward your goal...
Comment by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 20, 2016 at 11:04pm
Hmmm. Tried to donate from my iPad while on vacay here in the Loire Valley (yes, my family is spoiled due to my day job), but the Make Donation and the Immersion Outfitters link above on this page isn't working correctly.

However, if you go to the Immersion Outfitters webpage on a new browser window, you can follow Shane's steps given above. I chose to register with EasyTithe, which was pretty standard. Also, when you type in your debit or credit card number, remember to remove spaces between the 4-digit clusters on the card; otherwise, your transaction will be declined.
Comment by the anonymous pick on July 20, 2016 at 3:00am

good  on  you  Shane  ,  real  good  ;-)

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