What We Did on Our Humanitarian Trip to Africa

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”   Margaret Mead

I've had a ton of people ask us for more details about the humanitarian trip to Uganda our family participated on this past Christmas. It was an incredible, life-changing experience, and I don't think my words or pictures could ever do it justice, but I thought I'd try to share a little glimpse of it here for those who are curious.    (Read this other post if you're interested in hearing about how this trip came to be)

We went on this trip  with high expectations and it exceeded them all.   We'd forgone our Christmas presents to help make the trip possible and I have to say that it ended up being the perfect mix of work and play, especially for the more hesitant of us in our family. Just when we were completely exhausted from the long days of service, we had the opportunity to do something fun. I thought that the organization we worked with (Family Humanitarian) has the right idea--get people to the country, introduce them to the locals, and get their feet wet in doing some good. Though the work we did was focused on a small group of people, I wholeheartedly feel that the work we did was impactful for the people we interacted with AND now they've got a whole big group of vested people who care and are looking for ways to continue to contribute and make a difference. People who have been on the ground, seen the problems first hand, and developed a love for the people are ones that are poised to make an even bigger impact in the future.

Uganda has one of the highest birth rates in the world, and only 22% of the population has access to electricity and about 30% have access to clean water. Most of their population lives in rural, agrarian communities, and as such very few Ugandans are able to attend school for very long. They’re needed for help taking care of household tasks and with the care of their siblings (I can’t even tell you how many young kids we saw taking care of babies).

  One day we sat with a family to de-kernel corn with them--a task which was surprisingly difficult for us--and watched with amazement as their 4-year-old daughter was able to do it far more efficiently than we could! She'd clearly had plenty of practice.  And I have to say that after helping a family tote their {very heavy} water jugs from the local well about 1/2 mile away I was humbled to think how little thought we give to turning on a faucet here at home while they spend much of their time and energy getting the water their families need.    Additionally, many of the adults we talked to lamented that their families had not been able to pay their school fees and thus had their education cut much shorter than they wanted. Just like any parent anywhere, they wanted more for their children.

We had two main objectives in our service (in no particular order).

1.  help a local Uganda-based organization with clean water training and water filter installation

2.  help with projects at a school  that is being funded by Family Humanitarian but is being built primarily by local skilled labor


 Here's a glimpse in a little more detail what each of those looked like...

OBJECTIVE #1:  Clean water and hygiene training:
We worked with a Ugandan organization on this project. The local organization had a structure in place, as well as a list of who in the community hadn't received the training and the water filters yet. They had us, from Family Humanitarian, teaching a series of lessons on hygiene and clean water to small groups of locals. Because we were in small groups, we had the opportunity to be interactive and to answer questions. They shared with us some of the struggles they face accessing clean water and how heartbreaking it was for their children to be sick with diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, all of which still kill people in Africa regularly and can be prevented with better access to clean water. It was eye-opening and humbling.

After the training, we were able to work one-on-one with people and show them how to use and install a simple water filter affixed to a bucket. Though these water filters are simple, they are also durable, effective, and 100% operable and maintainable independently by the families that received the filters. They last about 10 years and filter out 99.99% of harmful pathogens. The families we left the filtration units with can simply pour their water (straight from the river, community well, or wherever) into the bucket and VOILA clean water comes out through the filter ready to drink. Family Humanitarian donates the buckets and water filters and coordinates with the Ugandan organization to distribute them. The people are absolutely thrilled to receive the filter and bucket and many expressed how much it meant to them to know that their families would have clean water now.

OBJECTIVE #2:  Help with projects at a primary school being funded by Family Humanitarian:

"EDUCATION IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO REDUCE POVERTY AND IMPROVE HEALTH, GENDER EQUALITY, PEACE AND OVERALL STABILITY." 

 Quote from Family Humanitarian website 

The school is being funded by Family Humanitarian but is actually being built by locals. We were there to help with several projects related to the construction and preparation of the school to be opened.

 

 We helped move some heavy materials to where they needed to be (many hands make light work), we helped build the latrine, built and stained some bookshelves, and most meaningful of all...got to help fill those bookshelves with books we'd brought from home! Family Humanitarian believes strongly in education over handouts and we were thrilled to be able to contribute to that school's ability to provide an education for the children in their community.

The community members were so EXCITED about that school being built and we talked to several proud parents who were thrilled that their children would have the opportunity to go to school for the first time. In fact, interacting with the members of the community that lived around the school was one of our very favorite parts about our time there. At any given time, some or all of our group was holding, entertaining, and playing with the children who swarmed us the second we stepped off the bus. We weren't allowed to give them food, candy, toys, or handouts of any kind, so they weren't clamoring for things, as much they were just clamoring to be held or talked to.  We colored together, painted their nails, played ball with them, sang songs and danced with them, read books, and just played like all kids everywhere like to play.

 

 

 Most of the younger kids did not speak English yet and wanted to just hold our hands or jump into our arms and snuggle. Most of the older kids spoke at least a little English  and they seemed just eager to be near us and to talk to us. As a family full of introverts, being surrounded by people for so long was tiring, but our exhaustion was tempered with the awe we felt. These people had so very little--and were still glowing with happiness.

 
I feel like I need to be honest that this trip did not come without difficult emotions. From the moment we arrived, it was painful to be confronted with our own privilege in such a stark way. It hurt to be surrounded by so many hungry children while we had backpacks full of snacks to eat between our three square meals every day. Thoughts of “are we really doing any good” were ample as we returned to our gated, guarded lodging (complete with a private chef and running water) each night while the kids we spent the whole day with went to sleep on the dirt ground. I can understand why so many people have concerns about "voluntourism" and whether humanitarian trips such as this one actually do any good. To people with those concerns, I would like to say two things:

•  We were very intentional about choosing an organization  that aligned with our ideals and did what we believed was the "right" kind of service. Family Humanitarian is very cognizant of making sure that the service they support is impactful, sustainable, and does not foster dependence. They work side-by-side with Ugandan based organizations to make sure their service is making a difference where it matters and really focus on educating and empowering the locals to improve their own lives. I loved that they hire locals to lead the expeditions. Our expedition leaders, cooks, drivers, etc. were all locals. The actual builders and director of the school they are building are locals too.

• Despite choosing the best organization we could find, we still felt our share of guilt and constantly wondered if we were really doing the most we could to help the people we were serving. I think that’s the whole point of trips like this; in battling these emotions we found an increased empathy for people who really aren’t so different from us. In the discomfort of facing our privilege, we were able to break down cultural barriers and exist with the Ugandan people in their reality as they welcomed us into their homes, communities, and lives. It is obvious that we gained just as much if not more from the people we were serving than they did… and I think that makes the importance of this trip even more obvious. We don’t serve just for others, we serve to change our own hearts.

We left our time there with blistered hands, clothes caked in the red dirt, and our hearts and eyes opened to the beautiful Ugandan people. I don't think anyone needed us to be there to accomplish the work that we did, but we needed to be there to let these experiences and people sink deep into the chambers of our hearts. We needed to see how much we take for granted in our comfortable lives. We needed to see that the people in Sub-Saharan Africa are just like the people everywhere else in the world. They are intelligent, loving, hard-working, and just want a better life for their children. We didn't change the world, but I believe that we absolutely did make a difference in the lives of the people with whom we were fortunate enough to work.   If you ever get the chance to do this kind of trip with your family, jump at it.    You'll never be the same.

“Do a little bit of good where you are. It is those little bits of
good put together that overwhelm the world.”   Desmond Tutu

1/2 Page Activity Sheet for 1 Nephi 16-22 (Word Search and Dot-to-Dot)

Here is a double-sided 1/2 page activity sheet to go along with the Come, Follow Me reading for 1 Nephi 16-22.  It's an original word search as well as a dot-to-dot from the church website.   Hope your families/classes are enjoying these sheets! 

 

"Broken bows litter the landscapes of our lives, representing yesterday’s frustrations. These were real enough at the moment. Dotting the same landscape, however, are many more reminders of blessings than of discarded broken bows. May we have the eyes to see that which an outside auditor would surely see as he counts our blessings"  Elder Neal A. Maxwell

The Choice: Embrace the Possible

When I was young, I was a bookworm.  I devoured any book I could get my hands on and felt like I was pretty well-read for someone my age.   But then there were several years of my life when I felt like I was too busy with raising the kids to find time to read a book.   I would guiltily read the occasional light read on a trip or something, but for the most part I just didn't read much for a number of years and I missed it.   

I remember going to a RS evening meeting during that time and a woman with young kids sharing how making time to read was something that kept our brains active and engaged.  Intuitively I knew it, but I wasn't living it.   Her comments awakened in me a desire to read and I left that night with a resolve that I would join the ward book group and strive to read one book a month.

That resolve changed everything. 

That was probably 12-years ago or so, and I have kept to that resolve pretty faithfully since then.  I occasionally miss a month here or there, but these days I usually read more like 2-3 books a month.  To be totally honest, these days, a good portion of the books I "read" I actually listen to as an audiobook.   I'll have to tell you about my favorite site for that sometime (it's not Audible).

I used to mostly read fluffy, fun reads, but lately I've found myself seeking depth and meaning.    This past year I read several thought provoking books that rocked my world and changed my perspective. 
This is one of them: 

 "The Choice: Embrace the Possible" by Edith Eva Eger. It's a memoir written by a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who is still living. I found myself entranced by her story of healing and hope.  She got past the horrors of her past by reinventing her life, going back to school, and helping others to heal.  There's a good dose of psychology in it, something I love reading about, and I really was inspired by her energy, her ability to overcome, forgive, and help others to do the same...all the while being true to herself and to the pain she'd experienced.   I also love that she tells her story all the while validating that we all have our own "concentration camp" experiences and mindsets that hold us back.

I was so rocked by it, that I bought and sent copies to all my kids that live away from home.    If you read it, send me a note.  I'd love to hear what you thought of it too!

“We cannot choose to have a life free of hurt. But we can choose to be free, to escape the past, no matter what befalls us, and to embrace the possible.”  Edith Eger

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*This post contains affiliate links. This means that a special tracking code is used and that I may make a small commission on the sale of an item if you purchase through one of these links. The price of the item is the same for you whether it is an affiliate link or not, and using affiliate links helps me to maintain this website and support my family. 

An Update on Our Family

For the last several years I have been immersed in the world of homeschooling the kids and keeping busy with church callings, family,  and life.   Blogging has taken a back burner and I've missed it.  With only two kids left at home now, though, I am feeling the call to blog again.   I've got lots of ideas and am trying to figure out the best way to bring this blog back to life. 

Is there anyone still out there?  It's been a long time since I've posted anything more than CFM printable or YW idea, so, before I delve any further,  I thought I'd give you a little update on our family first.   

My oldest, Spence, is 24-years-old.  He's had a rough road since his cancer diagnosis when he was 16, but he's doing okay now, figuring out his life, and living and working in Utah. 

My oldest daughter, Cami, is 22.   She served a mission in Lyon, France (2016-2018) and married her sweetheart in the SL Temple shortly after finishing her mission.   Her and her husband, Garrett, are going to school in Austin, Texas, where she still bakes cakes to earn money.   Our son-in-law served his mission in the Netherlands and is in medical school.  

My next daughter, Emma, is 19 and a freshman at BYU in Provo.  She is still figuring out what to major in and is working on her mission papers right now.    She loves singing and all things music and is the queen of making foods healthier.   

I've only got two kids left at home, both of whom I am still homeschooling.  

Adam is 17 and a junior in our family high school.   He runs cross country, plays rugby, and is a cookie baker extraordinaire.   He loves math and science, and is hoping to be an engineer someday.  

Ellie is 14 and a freshman in our family high school.    She sees the world through a creative lens and loves art, dance, and all animals.  I have no idea what she wants to be when she grows up, but I imagine it will be something that will either have something to do with animals or something that engages her creativity.  

What about me? 

I went through some rough years after Spencer's sickness.   I battled some PTSD and depression, gained a bunch of weight, and in general struggled with my physical and emotional health.   Somewhere along the way, I came out of the cloud, lost 50-lbs, and got my life to a better place.

And our family?    

After living in the DC area for nearly 20-years, we recently moved to the Philadelphia area for Glen's job.  It was a HUGE move for our family, but it was just the change of scenery that we all needed and we are enjoying being the new "kids" for now.   We have no idea how long we'll be here and anticipate that the next few years will likely bring more change and more moves.  I have mixed feelings about entering  this nomadic phase of life with the kids as old as they are. 

 

So, what do you think?   I'll keep posting the Come, Follow Me activity sheets, but are you interested in my thoughts on parenting adults and teens?   Do you want to hear about life?  Our travels?  My journey to health?  Are you interested in the occasional new recipe discovery?   Or are you done with blogs?   Should I create an Instagram page to keep you up to date and let you know when I post?    Now's your chance to tell me what you're looking for!   I look forward to hearing from you!

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How Our Humanitarian Trip to Africa Came to Be

For a long time, I've longed to take our family on a humanitarian trip.  I talked to friends and looked into many options over the years, but never found one that seemed like a good fit for our family. Then sometime last year I heard about an organization called, "Family Humanitarian."

Family Humanitarian was everything we were looking for.   They are not interested in just bandaid fixes that cover problems and don't do any real long-term good.  They strictly forbid their participants from bringing handouts and  they earnestly seek to work with local organizations and people to do projects that are sustainable and focus on education.   I loved the idea that we would be busy and engaged in doing and supporting a good cause, but in a way that did not harm the local economy or make the people we were serving more reliant on others.   The goal is education, health, and self-reliance.   Add to that that they are family friendly and include some cool sightseeing trips on the side, and it was the perfect balance of work and play we were looking for and we decided to go for it.  
Family Humanitarian offers a variety of options for locations and timing of  service expeditions.   With kids in college or working, one that hopes to leave on a mission at the end of the school year, and Glen with an intense job, we really felt like Christmas was the only option for timing for us.   Location wise we were drawn to Peru and Uganda with Uganda being our strong preference, but since only Peru had a scheduled expedition at Christmas, that's where we put our efforts.   We researched, discussed our budget and other considerations,  made the decision, and signed up.  But we were too late.   We had no idea that the trips filled so fast. 

 I had felt such strong impressions that our family needed to do this trip, it was discouraging to only be on the waiting list, but still we held out hope that something would work out.   In the meantime, we decided to keep our Christmas calendar completely open.  I didn't even buy the kids their tickets home from college, because I wanted to be sure about dates before committing to anything. 

Sure enough, somewhere along the way we were contacted and informed that, because there were so many people on the waiting list, that they were considering opening up another expedition or two at Christmastime.   We were totally thrilled when Uganda was mentioned as one of those potential add-on trips.  A trip to Guatemala was the first to get added.   We considered it, but reluctantly decided to wait to see if Uganda would open up too.  Eventually it did... but only if they could get the minimum number of participants to commit.  

At this point, the spiritual impression that this was something that our family needed to do had only grown stronger.   We jumped at the chance and hoped and prayed that other families would feel the same pull, so that the trip could happen.

We didn't hear officially that the trip was a go until mid-October, a fact which was frustrating to me as the planner and organizer of our family, but we were truly so excited that it was hard to focus on the frustrating aspect of it.  

At that point, it was full speed ahead with buying plane tickets, getting the right vaccinations, visas, preventative medications, etc...all with us living in different states.    Stay tuned for the next blogpost, which will be about some of those preparations...

Come, Follow Me Crossword Puzzle and Activity Sheet for 1 Nephi 11-15 (CFM)

Hello Come, Follow Me Fans! 
This week's activity sheet includes a crossword puzzle and a little activity about the Book of Mormon.   Hope your kids and/or crossword puzzle loving adults in your life enjoy it!  




As always, please let me know what your families/classes are enjoying about these activity sheets.   If there's something I can do to make them more engaging or meaningful, I'd love to hear about it.  Or if you  are simply enjoying them, I'd love to hear that too.

Have a great week!

Word Search and Activity Sheet for 1 Nephi 8-10 (Lehi's Dream, CFM)

Here is a word search and activity page to go along with Lehi's Dream (1 Nephi 8-10).    These 1/2 sheet activity pages make for a great quiet sacrament activity, a review for the CFM reading, or a great intro activity for a class or lesson.   Hope your families/classes are enjoying these!



And if you're looking for other resources, here's a link to a Family Home Evening lesson relating the Tree of Life to the Atonement.   Here are some cute printable visuals of Nephi and his family.

Have a great week! 

2020 Come, Follow Me Activity Sheet for 1 Nephi 1-7 (1/12/2020)

Alright, I guess I'm making these activity sheets again this year.   I don't know that anyone else out there is appreciating them, but they're good for helping me to stay a little more focused, so off I go. 

Hope your classes/families love these activity sheets!

2019 Book List

Hey friends! I've decided to start posting on this blog more often. I'm even thinking of recombining my family blog with this one, just for simplicity's sake. We will see if I can figure out the details of that. haha.

So, I decided it would be fun to keep a record of all the books I read this past year. Most of them were listened to as audiobooks, but considering I was selling a house and moving to a new state during a good chunk of the year, I'm pretty happy with my 29 books for 2019. Have you read any good books lately? Is there anything I should add to my to-read list?

If I were to recommend one book from the past year, I would say to read "The Choice: Embrace the Possible" by Edith Eva Eger. It's a memoir written by a Holocaust survivor who is still living. I was inspired by her story of healing and hope. Watch her TedTalk to get a glimpse of her spunk and inspirational message. Happy reading to you all!

Books marked with asterisks** were favorites of mine.   

JANUARY:
"In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette"  by Hampton Sides
**"Before We Were Yours: A Novel" by Lisa Wingate
"The Problem of Pain" by CS Lewis

FEBRUARY:
"The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

MARCH
**"A Place for Us: A Novel" by Fatima Farheen Mirza
"The Secret Lives of Color" by Kassia St. Clair

APRIL:
**"A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel" by Amor Towles

MAY:
“Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” by Matthew Desmond
"Little Men (150th Anniversary Edition): Illustrated Classic" by Louisa May Alcott

JUNE:
**"Where the Crawdads Sing:  A Novel" by Delia Owens
"When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi

JULY:
**"Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption" by Bryan Stevenson
**"Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel" by Mark Sullivan

AUGUST:
"Becoming" by Michelle Obama

SEPTEMBER:  (this is when I started reading with the kids for the new school year, so we picked up the pace here)
**"The Choice: Embrace the Possible" by Edith Eger
**"The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
"Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
"Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry
"A Girl Named Zippy" by Haven Kimmel

OCTOBER:
"The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice" by Anthony Ray Hinton and Lara Love Hardin
"The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare
"The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

NOVEMBER:
"7 Tipping Points That Saved the World" by Chris and Ted Stewart
"I Heard the Owl Call My Name" by Margaret Craven
**"The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope (P.S.)" by William Kamkwamba
"Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

DECEMBER:
"Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption" by Katie Davis
"Book of Mormon" (currently reading for the 2nd time this year)
“The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women”  by Camron Wright


ON MY SHORT LIST TO READ SOON:
"Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
"Resistance Women: A Novel" by Jennifer Chiaverini

"A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story" by Linda Sue Park
"The Orphan Keeper" by Camron Wright

"Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End" by Atul Gawande


*This post contains affiliate links. This means that a special tracking code is used and that I may make a small commission on the sale of an item if you purchase through one of these links. The price of the item is the same for you whether it is an affiliate link or not, and using affiliate links helps me to maintain this website and support my family.