so now I have been gleefully checking my mailbox and doing the happy dance every time I receive a blue envelope:) as the stack is growing I feel just an overwhelming feeling of love and support and connectivity to everyone...it also makes it very real!  As soon as one envelope came in, my commitment was not just to myself, but to my family and friends who are supporting me on this journey! hhhmmm...I see where this is going!...Another way that our group had raised money for missions before was a garage sale, so in my neighborhood we are permitted 2 community garage sales per year and they were  scheduled for the first weekends in April...perfect!  So I scheduled for both, the first would be a practice run to get the bugs out and then the following weekend all the families in my bible study group brought items to donate...My parents brought furniture that was virtually brand new, my brother and his wife donated items, my parents friends donated 3 bikes and my realtor(i am downsizing!) donated a great set of speakers! many people were dropping by items all week and it was crazy wonderful! so equipped with lots of coffee, bagels and a small group that is just utterly amazing, we sold items big and small all day!  It was a great time and for all of us the bonus was that we got a little spring cleaning done too! We sold our little hearts out and by the days end we had made 883.43 towards the mission.  I was literally exhausted but also sooooo excited because I knew we had a group meeting the next night and I couldn't wait to share the good news:)
deborah of africa

education training

 I am not a morning person. this is not really news to those who know me, I am also not a coffee person, so getting the show on the road is a great effort..at the time the alarm goes off  the temptation to hit the snooze button one more time,as if its just once;)...(just 5 more minutes!!) usually outweighs the of pitfalls being late. I am working on this, because I hit it like 3 times and ultimately being late super sucks, but sleep feels so good...you see the dilemma!  On Saturday March 27 we met at the church to attend our first health and hygiene training class.  I was very anxious to get a peek at what we would be doing in our time in Rwanda..It was a long day and packed with information and it flew by in the blink of an eye! I wanted to slow time, it was going so fast!  There were 17 different segments that we would be covering..sort of a training the trainers to train others. WHEW!! We started with community mapping which was a great tool for assessing current conditions, getting to know each other  and think about future planning.  I was pretty dumbfounded...our village was pretty sparse and not very well thought out.  It had a stream and a church and a school and  only 2 cows! and NO places to wash your hands! OMG!! we were obviously very green in creating this village and had much to learn in mapping our community! and when I say green I don't mean the fabulously globally aware kind. Throughout the day we covered how to do the very basics like hand washing and how to build a "tippy tap"...that one was really fun...with an empty gallon jug and some jute twine, wooden sticks and a few other things we learned to create a hanging water hug that is controlled with a foot pedal that allows for handwashing in a very water efficient way.  we learned how to save a life from dehydration with the simplest of measuring of salt and sugar and water, ORS-oral rehydration solution. We learned about teaching personal hygiene and hygiene in the community  and we also learned about nutrition.  By the days end, we took a peek at that village we had created in the morning and gave it a once over with all that we learned and thats when I thought...I can't wait to take this class again!!
deborah of africa