Good News Monday!!!

It's Monday. And usually on Mondays (always) I wake up only after hitting the snooze button 15 times. Usually (always) I need coffee and a cold shower to get my shoes on the right feet. Usually (always) it feels like a marathon to drag myself to work, mourning that the week has restarted.

BUT. Today is a happy-glorious-shout-and-jump-for-joy-wake-up-an-hour-early-to-cook-an-omelet-and-blow-dry-your-hair-before-work kinda Monday! BECAUSE I HAVE GREAT NEWS! Lots and lots of great news. Such great news that I can make a list. Here it goes:

1. I'M GOING BACK TO UGANDA.
It's official. I dropped my check in the mail this morning. As long as that clears the bank (fingers crossed, ha) I'm gonna be on a plane across the Atlantic on November 10th! I can't even type words that can explain how ecstatic I am. I'm dancing-in-the-office happy. 

2. I'M GOING BACK TO UGANDA FOR A MUCH MUCH LONGER STAY.
So I've decided to make this trip a bit more of an extended stay. I'll be gone for 2 months instead of 3 weeks. This means a few things will be different: 
(a) I won't be able to live out of a suitcase so I will learn how to fully shower and laundry clothes at the river 

(b) I will become much more homesick  for all of you as the days without cell service and Internet creep by 
(c) I will develop even deeper and stronger relationships with my friends in Kishanje 
(d) I can learn more about the children. I will leave Uganda with better insight into the needs of Juna Amagara and a stronger plan on how I can truly help in the ways that are needed most.

 3. I'M GOING BACK TO UGANDA TO MEET A NEW CHILD I STARTED SPONSORING!
A lot of my friends and family have heard me talk about Gilbert, the child that my mother and I sponsor. We began sponsoring Gilbert when he was just 6 years old in 2006. At the time I was 16 years old and living at home, so even though I wrote to Gilbert often, it was my mother who was picking up the monthly costs. A few nights ago I was laying in bed and all the sudden I realized this. My mother is sponsoring Gilbert. Which meant that I had the finances and the opportunity to make sure another child had a sponsor, all on my own. I got online around 3 am and set up an account for my credit card. For only $35 a month a child can eat three meals a day and go to school! Register here: http://amagara.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115&Itemid=56

I decided to choose a little girl because we already had a boy. I also choose a younger student so I'd be able to have a long relationship with her and watch her grow. Lastly, AND MOST EXCITING... I chose a little girl in Kishanje so that I WILL SEE HER when I'm there! Meet Bibian!

Honestly she couldn't be more adorable. I am so so so excited to sit with her and make bracelets, paint our toe nails, play hide and seek. I am so excited to visit her home and look at her schoolwork and meet her teachers. I am SO excited to introduce her to Gilbert and play with them together! These kids give me so much happiness. Thanks to Juna Amagara Ministries they will grow up to be happy, content, skilled, educated, healthy and successful adults--proud of their country and eager to help others in return.

4. I AM RECEIVING A LOT OF SHOES. 
Generous family and friends have been dropping off their children's shoes and I have a great pile going so far! As I mentioned above, I won't be living out of a suitcase this trip....which means I have two empty suitcases to fill with SHOES. Please if you feel lead to help, go through your children's shoes, call up nieces and nephews, even stop by a thrift shop for some good finds. Then, call me and I will pick them up! I will photograph the shoes for you when they are in Uganda on tiny little feet. 

5. THE NEEM INITIATIVE
My good friend and JAM Founding Board Member, Lee Mulder, has started a new project in Uganda. I travelled with Lee on my first two trips to Uganda and he has visited Uganda twice a year since 2003! Please go check out this revolutionary idea at  http://www.theneeminitiative.com/ Lee discovered a tree called the Neem tree, which naturally and perpetually wards off the mosquitoes which spread Malaria. More people die from Malaria than HIV/AIDS and any other cause in Uganda. If you look at some of his research you will also find that cases of Malaria are most prevalent in the country that we love. This project will save lives, create jobs, and transform communities. The photos below are shared from Lee's website above.

We need thinkers like Mzee Lee (and like you!) to bring change to the world. Just like the Soccket project that I love (http://unchartedplay.com/), sometimes the answers to enormous problems are smaller and cheaper than we think!