This blog is soon to be left behind. I must be beating a dead horse by this point. Those of you reading know what’s in my heart- helping our friends in Central East Africa whose lives have no way of changing or being improved upon without outside assistance and pushing people to realize they CAN make a difference. And a huge difference for only ten bucks which is so minimal it will not impact the rest of their day and probably be forgotten before the second cup of coffee. So I would like to share their story with more people. The school cancelled the penny drive for Batwa (they’ve already done one fundraiser this year AND a shoe drive for Togetherness- thank you to those kids who have such huge hearts!), the local library said I could do a photo event, but it could not be public, the newspaper was willing to do a story and said she’d get back to me, the local Rotary chapter has never gotten back to me and I’ve left messages asking for help starting this thing up which are never returned. I must be doing something wrong. I must need to go get in people’s faces, eh?
My summer change of plans means I will be working all summer on a farm near Salem. The owners are some of the most amazing people I know! It feels like I have learned more in the past two months here than I did in a lifetime from working for my dad! This farm is nearly self sustaining, providing nearly everything their families need as far as produce is concerned as well as the best bread you’ve ever tasted! They have offered to let me stay here in exchange for work and even offered to let me take over the basil selling business (Basil for Batwa has a nice ring to it, eh?). We are also hoping to invest in some dairy sheep to sell the milk since my Ivy cow was not bred. If you know of anyone with dairy animals they’d like to get rid of, let me know!
Anyways, the farm is amazing, but tons of work. I don’t have any impressive photos to share and would rather my hands were in the dirt than on the keyboard. From the day the hike starts [for those still going], April 7, until it’s completion at the end of the summer, I am dedicating everything I earn to the Batwa fund and paying for education for Patrick of Patrick’s kids. Every penny for my friends in East Africa. There is room to grow extra veggies to sell, but the thought of a CSA intimidates me.
Foot rot, 5am wake up calls and raw milk, however, excite me :-D!
Eulogy Postponed 