My last post seems so depressing. On a positive note, much has changed since that time and life has seemingly picked up. The negative side of course is that the struggles of attempted hero-ship still exist, every day.
Managing a startup nonprofit has been the biggest, never-ending lesson life has offered me. One of my coworkers suggested I share my strifes, challenges, and learnings on a blog to connect those that have answers with those that have questions.
In an effort not to write novels on a daily basis full of my "challenges"... I figured I could start with an opportunity and a challenge each week. This also serves as self-reminder why I work every night from 5-9 and every weekend, trying to make a difference, despite the reoccurring feeling that the difference is unachievable.
Please comment with suggestions, contacts, solutions, or general pep talks - all are welcome. This is, after all, the purpose of digital media - finding solutions and resources so one does not re-write the wheel.
Week of 1/29- 2/4
Opportunities:
1. There's a little girl that lives around Jue School. She's 8. She lost her father and mother within two months of each other due to HIV/AIDs. Her sister, who she now lives with in a rented room, has resorted to prostituting herself at the age of 12 to feed the two of them. Thankfully, this week, my good friend Natalie felt a calling to sponsor her. Anna is now living in Jue's attending school. She is still in need of a second sponsor to make sure she can move into the orphanage.
2. Feeling very frustrated with the logistics of our book drive with the Rotary Club, I was connected by the Annapolis Rotary Club to a wonderful man that runs a transportation company dedicated to shipping humanitarian goods. He provided me the advice and answers that I was looking for regarding filing for duty-free tax forms in Tanzania and land transport companies that were trustworthy. I seem to now be back on track to deliver 20,000 books to Arusha. Never. give. up.
Challenge:
1. As we have not had the opportunity to hire a local coordinator yet, we prioritize annual trips back to the schools. In order to do this, we need miles. We have been researching ways to donate miles online and it is appearing a bit of a bigger challenge than initially thought. Does anyone have experience with this? Any contacts or thoughts?
