Greetings to everyone from Africa.
Amahoro. (Peace)

Heidi and I have just returned from two days “up country” to visit some more Batwa Villages and take a bit of a hike thru the Kibira Park, escorted by some of the villagers from the Batwa Village, Busekera.

I wanted to give you a little vinette on the Batwa Dancing. You have to imagine the setting first of the poorest of people, clad in very ragged clothes. The youngest children wear torn t-shirts only that you would say has been rolling in the dirt for many, many days. The women are colorfully dressed, but not as bright, generally, as the rest of the population in Burundi. The men are wearing trousers and torn shirts, sometimes a ragged overcoat. All are mostly bare footed, but if not they will wear flip flops or plastic sandals. I think there was a recent run on bright yellow ones, however. ha ha …many seem to have that one in particular. Quite cute…

We are also up in the upper country, as they call it.. We gained elevation of maybe several thousand feet by car…So, it is all country side, rolling hills with terraced farming throughout. Banana plants, tea plants, potatoes and the like.

When we come into the village, it doesn’t take a minute before the dancing begins. First of all, they know we are part of the Community for Burnundi, an organization that advocates for the Batwa people. So, we are friends…come with people that are steadfast and focused on helping the Batwa.

The women and men both dance with incredible enthusiasm. Often it seems to begin with a group of ladies. The whistle (either regular whistle or a small pipe kind of whistle) goes into the mouth and then the feet begin to move in rhythm, the arms wave and the body follows. The sound of the bare feet hitting the dirt has a collective thump to it that propells forward the body and adds the rhythm necessary to frame the singing and dancing.

They will shake their head in a circular fashion and follow with a twist of the feet and turn a 360 with their body. All the while chanting, singing a welcoming song to us with great gusto.

The men jump in as soon as they hear the whistle blow and have an intensity and strength to their moves that add another competing yet compatible fit to the entire chorus.

Even as we dashed into the shelter of the local pastor’s home to avoid a downpour, much of the village remained outside still singing and dancing.

After we toured the village and turned up the trail to our car, spontaneous songs broke out accompanied by the bare feet thumping the ground, hands clapping a great staccato beat.

Throughout all of our visits to the villages we join them in dance, twirling, pounding our feet as best we can, of which they have a tickling delight.

Scantily clad, many of them smelling as bodies that have infrequent washings (cannot afford soap), theirs is an infectious joy that they exude and which slips into your heart for the Batwa people of Burundi.

I can’t tell you what it was like to be here in Africa when we heard that Barak obama made history! we are 11 hours ahead of you, so i woke early this a.m. and went out to the garden area to just spend some time there, and after being there a bit, one of the workmen were walking around carrying a radio to his ear..i did not catch his eye at first but after a bit, i looked over and he came quickly over to me and said Obama, Obama…It was 6 a.m. on Nov. 5th…and I wanted to just cry! It was such an historic moment both for America and for the world.
Everywhere we have been, both in Kenya and in Rwanda, doesn’t matter if we are out in the villages or along the street, everyone is excited for America by having obama as the president of change. They are so involved in the process.
The Kenya news would cover the entire electoral process, interview people on the street who would give their opinion of the election. They would speak words of hope for change even all the way to Africa. Walking the streets of Kigali this morning, we would walk into stores and find people gathered around TV stations. Luckily we came into one that was CNN so we could hear his acceptance speech. We were so proud to be Americans…it was amazing. People would flash smiles and thumbs up and say obama…yes obama…pretty cool!

On other fronts, we headed out to the village of widows and orphans…I think steven calls it the Widows project. We presented the sewing machine that Molly and Kelly Bean had bought. We were so fortunate to be the deliverers of an answer to much prayer and an answer to them getting a business going. They have already been making material to sew (tye-died) sp?–and now will have to learn the machine and make the clothes. They are so grateful. Several spoke up and shared their story of living thru genocide; of all their children and husband and family being slaughtered..and of being the only survivor, yet they were grateful and hopeful for their life. many of the women have AIDS..many of the children there are orphaned from parents who died of AIDS. They have few if any resources, but Steven has given them hope and a way to help themselves and these children. Amazing things. Much more to tell…also trying to process things myself. Also, Heidi pulled out her puppets at the Widow’s project and was a huge hit–in spite of a few kids being so frightened at first that they cried..

Later this afternoon we went and visited another project Steven is doing which is gathering teenage boys who also have no parents and are alone, living hand to mouth…He had compassion on them and saw them wandering around with the potential to make alot of trouble, so decided to form a soccer team. I believe they actually compete with other teams. they did a fantastic job .. They are very assertive on the field and play 100%…but very gracious off the field…Other teens did a native dance for us…Wow…never boring…Heidi and i are surrounded by little kids at every turn…we could hardly breath at times..we create quite a stir with our cameras and our presence…

There’s lots to process and absorb…tomorrow we’ll be going to the Genocide museum…This country has a story to tell..and they seem to be trying to recover from the damage of an inconceivable and horrific trauma to their lives.

I’ll probably stop here…but just for fun, Africa wouldn’t be the same without a car breaking down or getting caught in a ditch and everyone coming out and yelling about, discussing the remedy and then gathering around the car and pushing it in one direction or another. today was no exception. We stood around laughing (and hoping) at the situation — It was our car. The driver was particularly obtamistic about the enormous ditch..Oh well, it all turned out well…as he was rescued and we jump started our way down the road. Actually, he has to jump start the car each time he starts…ha ha backwards and forward it can be done.

….
Leigh

We are advocates for children in the world who are victims of poverty and injustice. By partnering with in-country NGO’s, communities and individuals tackling these complex issues we are jointly able to determine where we can be most effective. We believe that injustice and poverty can be overcome by working together.

• We provide you with a way to bring yourself, your resources, your time and your talents to interact with those from the developing nations in unique and meaningful ways.

What sets us apart?
Two things set us apart from other mission trips and volunteer travel organizations.

• We do not believe in gratuitous giving designed to just make us feel good.

o All of our field projects have been determined by the end users and generally require participation by those who stand to benefit the most from our work. Our objective is to empower the nationals towards sustainable goals while opening the eyes of the volunteer to the richness of the culture that surrounds them.

• We recognize that often the greatest transformation from short term giving trips are in those of us exposed to a foreign culture for the first time.

o We purposfully cultivate transformative opportunities through a series of pre and post meetings designed to take advantage of the experience. We continue to develop more short-term volunteer programs, opening up the possibility for more people to experience the satisfaction of global travel as a unique way of giving back and serving others.

Who have we helped?

o Malawi, Africa We give financial assistance to the Tiyamike Mulungu Children’s Center caring for children orphaned by aids in Bangula Malawi, Africa. The couple running the center now have 140 children the vast majority under the age of 5. There is a team trip planned for 2010.
o Rwanda, Africa We contributed to the needs of a team going to Rwanda Africa and staying in the RNURC Peace village an intentional community of Tutsi and Hutu families building a peaceful life together in the aftermath of the war. We have continue to assist others and give towards the on going support of 14 orphans and 4 widows. A small team is leaving on the 3rd of Novemeber to finalize plans for a return servie trip in 2010.
o Philippines, south east Asia. We partner with Arms of Love, (www.armsoflove.org) an organization that has Children’s Centers in 5 locations world wide. We will be taking a trip back to the Philippines in Spring of 2009. to work at the center in Bohol, Phillipines, engage in work projects and close interaction with the children at the center,as well as exposing our team to other organizations involved in preventive and/or advocacy work for abandoned children and children working in the sex trade.We have sent money to build a pig pen helping towards their goals of self sufficiency.
o Acuna, Mexico: We took a trip in June to work with the Alpha y Omega school in Acuna, Mexico. This school represents the only Jr and Sr. high school educational opportunity many of these kids have as the government run schools are prohibitively expensive and too far away from this poor section of Acuna. We were the first organization working directly with the children in a project focused on cross cultural interaction that directly benefits the school and promotes citizenship in the local students to “give back” to their community. We have a return trip planned for late June of 2009.
o Shangrla, Traditional Tibet, China: We contributed to the building of school in Nisu, Tibet, and will take another team back to this remote village in Fall of 2009
o PERU,South America We support two street children now living with foster parents in Iquitos Peru as well offered consultation and teams to the Campos Blancos Childrens’ Center for children formally living on the street of Iquito’s.

Changing lives, one trip at a time.

Please see the upcoming schedule of Volunteer Travel opportunities under team travel.

Where will we be working? We’ll be  primarily working with the Alpha – Omega Primary and Secondary school which is a donor based school serving an extremely impoverished population located in a section of Acuna called San Antonio Colonia. If it were not for this school these kids, with nothing to do, they would be  targets for  the increasing mafia and drug trafficking presence in all of these towns along the boarder.

What will we be doing? Although there are many needs at the school they would like us to partner with them introducing a new aspect of their curriculum based on the concept of volunteering.  We willl be helping them to clean up their school, landscaping, painting, cleaning the grounds and in general enhancing both the interior and exterior.  Alpha Omega’s hope is that this work will not only teach the students about  giving and serving others, but  will have a lasting impact  on the school with a  spill over effect on the surrounding community increasing both community and school pride. The visibility of an international team in the community working with the local students will help underscore the value of education, Alpha Omega, and the student themselves. There is also  a small Orphanage next door that is in the beginning stages of operation with only 4 orphans. We have begun discussions with them on a collaborative effort with our team and the local students to  clean up their property as well. (More on this as it develops)

Who should go? This trip is a great one for  teenagers(15+)and their parent(s) or for people wanting to check out international volunteer work for the first time.

How long will we be in Acuna? We will spend roughly five days working and living along side the Mexican students helping them complete their projects.  The capstone of the week of work will end in a music festival held near the school grounds with a band.

What about the rest of the time? The final leg of our trip will involve two nights and three days at a Texas Dude ranch located in the heart of Bandera,the Cowboy Capital of America.

What will we do here? We will use this time to process our experience, share our impressions, and insights as well as immerse ourselves in  true Texas style on  a 16,000 acre working ranch. The kids will share a bunk house and the grown ups a cabin(s). With three Texas meals a day  and a wealth of things to do  that includes horseback riding and Texas style BBQs, inner tubing along the Medina River and for some, much needed rest and relaxation.

How much will this cost? This trip will cost around $1,800.00. The price includes round trip airfair from Seattle to San Antonio Texas, transportation to Acuna, food and lodging while in Acuna, and all of the cost assocotatiaed with the dude ranch. It also includes emergency medical insurance, pre trip planning meetings and rcultural training, as well as a post trip meetings.

I am so excited about Global’s upcoming trip. We have always known that we wanted to do work AFRICA but to date, had not found the right fit. Obviously there is no shortage of needs there– needs that far outweigh our capacity. Our  desire to partner with local groups or individuals that have similar values to us, takes time.. It is also difficult to know how to respond to the complex issues that result in the injustice in Africa, so we have been waiting–waiting to see what doors open up; to see where we might fit; where we can really make a difference. 

The over all plan has always been to establish 4-5 places in the world that we have an ongoing relationship with. The upcoming trip to Kigali and Bujumbura is just that. In Kigali We will be visiting a man names Steven who is attempting to support a group of orphans and widows that live in the aftermath of the tribal wars and genocide that destroyed much of their nation. The other locale, Burundi is the small nation adjacent to Rwanda and did not fare much better during those times.  We are checking out an organization called Amahoro which among other things has come along side the Batwa people, a very marginalized and discriminated group in Burundi.  Amahoro is assisting them in high school education that has been elusive in the past.  It will be interesting to see how the trip plays out and where we can help.