Your chance to donate is now!!!

We are currently in a situation at RACOBAO in which we are waiting for some big donations to come through…but they involve a lot of paperwork, a lot of meetings and a lot of waiting…and it will probably be June before the money is available for projects. So, I thought this would be a great time to remind my friends and family that you can help too! I know I mentioned in my mass email when I first arrived that you can donate to RACOBAO by wiring them money. But I also know that wiring money is not something we all do very often and don’t feel comfortable doing. SO, I have come up with a plan that I hope you like: if you can send your donations to my parents in their names, they will put the money in the bank for me and I will directly withdraw it from the bank here. That way, there is no waiting, no paperwork, no bank hassle. My parents deposit your money into the bank in the U.S. and I take that same amount out here in Ugandan shillings. We will send a receipt via fax, mail or hand delivery (me this summer in DC or Pittsburgh) and will let you know what your money helped us to do. Please let us know if you prefer the receipt and mini-report faxed, mailed or hand delivered.

There are so many projects that we are doing and some that are being put on hold…so any amount, from as low as $5 (2 second hand shirts) to as high as you want to donate can be utilized to help someone here. You can specify how you would like your money used or you can let us use it where we need it the most. Here are some examples of what we do with donations:

· School supplies (book bags, pens/pencils, geometry sets, notebooks): $30/student
· School uniform: $30/student
· Secondary school fees: $150/one term for one student
· Vocational center school fees: $200/one term for one student
· A bale of second-hand clothes for children and parents: $350/about 100 people (Smaller donations work too as I can go and pick up just a few pieces!)
· Pregnant Goat (Give me a Goat, Give me a Chance Project): $100
· New House: $1500
· Water Tank: $720
· Kitchen: $735
· Latrine: $735
· House/tank/kitchen/latrine: $3700
· Family Sufficient Kit (bed, mattress, blanket, mosquito net, cup, plate, knife, basin, jerrican [used to fetch water]): $100/one person
· Treated mosquito net: $11
· Blanket: $18
· Bicycle (gives people living with AIDS transportation to get their treatment; is income generating for child headed households because it gives them a way to get goods to/from market to sell; etc): $89
· Set of drums (for theatre/music performance by Drama Club which sings and performs skits all around the community about HIV/AIDS, getting tested, getting treatment and living healthy lives): $235
· Soccer ball or volleyball: $35

In my 6 weeks here, I have seen families before they have a new home (above top) and when their new home is in the middle of construction (above bottom, still in front of old home, but look at the smiles on the dad and older boy, the life in their eyes...I wrote about this widower a few weeks ago; i can't tell you how it warmed my heart to see him laughing and smiling with his baby!!!). I wish you could see how big their smiles were and how much those smiles came from deep down inside just from seeing that house going up; it really gives them such HOPE! The kitchen, the latrine, the water tank, the family sufficient kits…they all provide a much more hygienic and sanitary lifestyle for families who would otherwise not have a chance to have that. I have heard stories about how the goats (one of the most successful projects) have provided a sense of calm just in knowing that they are there and can be sold in an instant if there is an emergency in the family or if the person living with AIDS needs treatment, etc. And goats produce fast, so some families given one or two goats now have 10 or 12! It becomes a sustainable source of income and security for the family. I just met all of the students we sponsor in the secondary schools at a workshop this past Saturday and they are such bright children who without our financial help, would not have a chance to go to school. I work with the children coming to our vocational center and know how grateful they are to have the opportunity to learn a skill that will help provide an income for their families in the future and just to attend school and learn in general (they are begging me for an English exam!!!). I have seen children in the field wearing t-shirts much too big for them, completely filthy with no other shirt available to change into and in many cases, no shorts/skirts to wear either. And I have watched the Drama Club perform in front of almost 100 people and heard how beautifully they sing. Many of the people in the club have HIV/AIDS, some have been affected by the disease in other ways… and all of them are providing an amazing service by educating their neighbors. All of these things, big and small, make such profound differences in the lives of the people we are helping.

Please help us continue our work…no matter what the size of your donation, it won’t compare with what I will see in the people when they receive what is on the other side of that donation: the gratitude, the new hope and the big smiles on their faces and in their eyes are all truly priceless.

Please send donations to:
Bonnie Varley
204 Old Farm Trail
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
**Be sure to write any checks out in her name and to specify how you would like the money used if you have a preference.**

If you’d like to email me (mvarley_03@hotmail.com) and let me know about your donation, I can try to put it into action even before my parents receive the check!

THANK YOU!!! From me, from RACOBAO, from all of the people in the field…THANK YOU!

The Best Day of My Life

April 12, 2008: Truly the best, most happiest (yes, most happiest) day of my entire life. I have no idea how to even begin to tell you about rafting on the Nile this past Saturday. You know how sometimes the world really just comes together in such a perfectly random and unexpected, unplanned way and creates a perfect experience? Well, that was Saturday. I started the day alone on a one hour shuttle ride from Kampala to Jinja (where the source of the Nile is), had breakfast with a room full of strangers and then by chance, got on the smaller of the two trucks loading all of the rafters in the back to take us to where we'd start our day of rafting...all complements of Nile River Explorers, probably the best rafting company in the world! The group in the back of my truck consisted of me and about 9 American college students who were on a program together in Uganda, but had been separated for several weeks and had come together for this little mini reunion. So they were all so excited to see each other, but also joining me in their conversation. And honestly, no offense to American college students (I used to be one!), but this group was SO FAR from being like so many I have met before. They were not obnoxious and immature but fun and adventurous and they adopted me into their group which is part of the reason I had such an amazing day and for which I was so grateful!

We got to the river and split our group into two groups of 5, were joined by 2 other random travelers and only by the luck of the world walked onto a raft with the most amazing raft guide of the day...Alex, although it took us forever to get his real name out of him! His nickname is Muzungu (white person), but we thought he was just kidding around with us until the guys at the bar were calling him that later...and I think it may actually be his last name...but we may never know:)!

We all agreed before we got on the water that we wanted to go HARD. All the way! We didn’t want to take any short cuts or easy routes, we wanted to go through the hardest waves and rapids. So we let Alex know (I think he was more than happy to oblige) and our quick 30 minute training started. I was SOOOOO nervous, he actually laughed at me because I looked so scared…but it was AMAZING. On the first rapid, a grade 4 or 5, when he yelled, “back paddle, back paddle” we all paddled like we had never paddled before…I mean, I thought this was SERIOUS. A matter of emergency. After we were back in the boat recovering from our first flip, Alex laughed as he told us that we had made ourselves flip over because of that back paddling! We loved him for that.

And so the day went. It was amazing. TRULY. I’m so excited thinking about it that I can’t figure out how to write about it. Luckily, I bought the DVD and will be able to show anyone who lets me pop it in for them once I’m home! I plan to go back in a few weeks and will even try to go again in June before I head home. Just everything about that day, from the group that adopted me, to Alex, to the rafting on the Nile freakin’ River, to the periods where we were just floating and swimming and enjoying the day and the gorgeous scenery (the clouds here are gorgeous), to me being the Flying Squirrel on the second to last rapid (something I can’t figure out how to explain in words on paper, but I can try in person or you can see it a few times on the DVD)…it was all part of what was the very best and happiest day of my life. The universe really came together and made that day nothing short of perfect.

On the bus ride back to the Nile River Explorers campsite (where we would enjoy a BBQ, some Nile Special beers and celebrate into the night), we were all on such an adrenaline high, still shocked and amazed by the day we had just experienced…truly intoxicated by life. I know I just wrote about drunk happiness last post, but the intoxication I felt on Saturday afternoon was about a million times as intense as after my jog when I discovered a piece of heaven. It seems that heaven, and whatever that means for each of us, is really all around us and it just keeps getting better if you take the time to open up your soul to its power.

To Alex, my raft group, the safety kayakers, NRE in general and anyone else that was a part of that day…THANK YOU! To all of you that couldn't be there, I probably thought of you at least once and wished you could have been…so you were with me in spirit!

"I'm in heaven...."

I wish I could really describe and explain to all of you reading my blog how amazing this experience is. Although I was surprised by the month long adjustment period and the difficulty I had, that time has made me appreciate being here so much more. Like Taoism and the yin and the yang, which create unity in opposites…in everything in life, you have to have the bad, to appreciate, understand and learn from the good and vice versa. Having survived the loneliness and isolation, I am now able to soak up the beauty of every moment and am extremely grateful that I am here.

Not only are the people I am working with and meeting inspiring and amazing and helping me to open my eyes and gain new perspective on life and the world we live in; but the land here, the environment in which I am living…it is indescribably beautiful. I went on a jog on Friday afternoon to this big stone at the top of one of the hills here; my friend suggested this route after I mentioned to him that running on the road attracted a lot of curious stares. Not only am I a white girl in the middle or rural Africa, but I am wearing shorts and out for an afternoon jog…all things that are not a normal part of daily life here! As I found my way up to the huge stone, I realized I was about to have an unbelievable view: the sun was slowly starting to set and I could see all around me for miles and miles and miles. I could see the endless rolling hills of Uganda and all that they contain; I could see the whole world. I had seriously found a piece of heaven not even ¼ mile from where I’ve been living for 5 weeks. I wanted to shout as loud as possible, I wanted to cry, and I wanted to jump with happiness. I was surrounded by untouched land and it was gorgeous.

Normally, I really do not enjoy running; I just do it because I know it’s good for me and, especially if it’s a nice day, it usually relaxes me. But even when I jog in the park at home, I am counting the minutes til I am done. Here, I feel as though I could jog forever; I never feel tired afterwards; but re-energized and with a new sense of calm. After my jog Friday, I swear I was drunk with happiness. It was the most intoxicating feeling. I just felt so HAPPY and so very grateful. Happy to be here. Grateful that I have the chance to live this experience. Happy and grateful for all that is “Marci’s Uganda”.

A few hours later as I walked to town to meet some friends, I looked up at the sky and marveled at the thousands of stars above. Because there are no street lights, you can really see THOUSANDS of stars and it just made the feeling of drunk happiness that was still dominating my soul stronger. I tried to explain to my friends how I was feeling…I’m not sure how successful I was, but I think the childish grin that was spread from ear to ear on my face may have helped.

I spent Saturday with some of the same friends at Lake Mburo National Park only 30 km from Lyantonde. It was such a treat to see so many zebras, hippos, impalas, eagles, storks, warthogs (okay, that was not a treat) and more all in their natural habitat. It was an awesome day and a perfect extension of the positive energy from the day before. On the nature walk we were lucky to come within 20 yards of 2 grazing hippos (a rarity at that time of day) and then on our boat trip we saw one of the rarest birds in the world. Although the warthogs were uglier than ugly, the zebras looked like they had been painted into the scenery; I never could have imagined that they could be THAT beautiful in person. And on our way out of the park, we saw the national bird of Uganda, the crested crane (above right)…a perfect way to end our adventure.

I remember in my first weeks I felt as though the 3 ½ months I was supposed to be here would not pass fast enough. I was determined to lend a helping hand with RACOBAO, but I looked forward to my return home daily. I missed my family and friends and I longed for the life I had left behind…well parts of it! But now, as I soak up and truly appreciate the culture, the environment, the beauty and the stories, I find myself thinking that time here could never be long enough. For the first time in a very long time, I feel stress-free. All of those moments from the last years of feeling overwhelmed with my work and my life are gone. My spirit has found a sense of calm; my soul is at peace; and I am truly happy and grateful for this moment in my life. If I could reach through this screen to each of you and give you a piece of this love and calm, I would. But in its place, I hope you each try to find your own moment of drunk happiness. If not today or tomorrow, then sometime very soon…just look out for it, because it will find you in the simplest of simplicity and the calmest of calm. My thoughts, energy and love are with you all.