We recently connected with Dawn Airhart Witte and have shared our conversation below.

Dawn Airhart, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

One of my favorite quotes is “To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have existed, that is to have succeeded.” This is how I define being successful and it is what I want my legacy to be. To be able to help someone with a physical need or to help them believe in themselves, to offer a shoulder to lean on in difficult times, or make someone feel seen and heard is how I want to leave everyone whose life I touch. Uplifting, inspiring, and encouraging are the gifts I want to share with others in this lifetime, and how I wish to be remembered. To know that someone’s life has been changed for the better because of something I have said or done, is truly the highest honor I could ever have. I know that I alone cannot end all of the ills of the world, but I can be the change I wish to see. Every life I touch in love and kindness is part of my purpose, my path, and my calling.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started the Desire to Inspire Foundation (www.desiretoinspirefoundation.org) in 2017 with the hope to share inspiring and elevating stories of people who are changing lives through love and kindness. The media is constantly bombarding us with negative stories and I wanted to share the best of humanity with others so that everyone can understand that we all have the capacity to make a difference and be the change we wish to see in the world. . After traveling to Africa for the first time, I met the most inspiring people, who against all odds, were taking care of orphaned children with love and the utmost compassion. These people who are struggling themselves for access to clean water and food still find it in their heart to help children in need. I want to share these real life heroes to show that there is true goodness in the world.

Because donations are sacred to me, I want every cent of every dollar to go towards feeding, clothing, and educating the children I work with, I created The Be Line Products (www.thebelineproducts.com) to help raise the funds to do the work I want to do on the ground and make the biggest impact possible. The Be Line Products offers merchandise created to help uplift, encourage, and inspire with our specially designed t-shirts, sweatshirts, and products with inspirational messages of hope and love. When a customer purchases an item from my online store, they will know that they are supporting children in Africa and beyond.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

My greatest hope is to help children live into their own greatness by building educational community centers where they can learn the tools and skills to put their unique gifts and talents into the world to help themselves while extending that same love and compassion to others. I want them to not only survive, but my wish for them is to thrive because that is how we can contribute to making the world a better place for all. My journey is fueled by my love for humanity because I truly believe that every soul is important and we all have a purpose to share with the world. Margaret Mead is quoted as saying, “Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” I believe that from the depths of my soul.

To date, we have drilled three boreholes in Ghana, providing clean water to 1000’s of people in remote villages, we have built a medical sick bay in Nzulezu, Ghana to provide medical services to the residents there. We have also moved our girls in Sierra Leone from one room where they slept on the floor to a home with beds for each girl. I have personally delivered over 2500 “Little Books of Be…” to children in five different countries throughout Africa, and have been meeting monthly basic food and medical needs for our children in Uganda. While I am proud of the projects we have been able to complete, there is so much more that I want to do and that is where the educational community centers come in. I want to create a place where children can play organized futbol games, learn vocational trades, and explore vocations that light their souls afire.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I have learned so much over the past several years about myself and my place in the world. I have learned that it is okay if others do not understand my calling and vision because it is MY purpose and MY calling. I have also learned to believe in myself and to let love guide me in all that I do. When I learned to surrender and allow the Divine to direct my path, opportunities and connections have entered my life that I would never have imagined. I have learned to believe in a higher power because the things that have happened in my life cannot be explained in the limited physical reality that I had understood before. I have always believed that love and kindness are why we are here but I have watched love and kindness open doors I did not even know existed. Last, and far from least, I have learned to believe in magic and miracles because we are surrounded by them everyday if we open our eyes to the possibilities that are available to us all. We do not have to know what is on the other side of doing the “scary” thing but doing the things that scare us is where we will find our greatest growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.desiretoinspirefoundation.org, www.thebelineproducts.com, www.thesoulfulconversations.com
• Instagram: @thescpodcast, @thebe_line
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawn.witte1
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-airhart-witte-19910920/
• Twitter: @desiretoInspir7, @TheSCPodcast
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thesoulfulconversations,