Ok Hannah.... I am tired of looking at the seventy two pictures that you took the last day I was in Njabini. We need some new stuff. I’ll be there January 10, 2011.
Things I will do different....
I am bringing my laptop. The blackberry is phenomenal for posting to Facebook but writing on that dinky screen was totally annoying.
I am not bringing thirteen boxes painted with big yellow smiley faces. That big lady at customs scared me. If you want to help, please donate and tell me what you want me to buy. The matrons say we need black shoes, trousers for the boys and toothpaste. Not a bad shopping list.
Groundbreaking for the Carly “Pie” Liptak Memorial Clinic was a few weeks ago. The generosity of Josh and Jared Furtado is allowing for the construction of this facility at our new campus. My guess is that this building will be completed in February. I hope to be part of the process of getting it up and running. Maybe furniture???? Ha!!!
Below is the vision for the Flying Kites Njabini Campus. It is aggressive, ambitious and exciting. These children deserve the same amenities we would provide for our own children. It is not too much to expect that the world's population has clean water and clean air. It is not too much to suggest that infrastructures for transportation and healthcare exist in developing countries. There is nothing that is too much to imagine. "Dream Big Dreams". Flying Kites has taught me well.
Sometimes I wonder "Why do I keep wanting to name my stuff FEAR?" It sounds so depressing or scary or emotional. I know the answer. Every time I make a decision I get scared. My decision in July to NOT go back to work was SCARY. If I didn't sell furniture than who was I? A few people asked "What are you doing?" "Writing a book," came the answer, hesitantly. The chuckles came quickly from the other end of the phone. I hate to admit it, but I would also giggle. I was scared to admit that I was doing something out of the ordinary. I was scared what people would think of me. I was scared that I wasn't good enough. And yet, somehow, I spent weeks holed up in my basement surrounded by stacks of paper. I wrote and edited and made a strategic plan of what my book would look like. I threw out tons of pages that read something like "Waa, Waa, Waa" complaining... whether it was about relationships or furniture or money or cancer or friends. I lightened the load in so many ways. It was the cheapest therapy I have ever had!!! Now I don't know if I was really writing a book or just trying to figure out how to recreate myself. No matter what...it was scary and it was work.
My writing teacher told me I would need a "platform" if I really wanted to write a book.
A what?
A platform. As she described it to me, it is having a presence on the internet. Today's publishers are no longer just looking at manuscripts. They want to know if their potential client has done anything to market themselves. So somehow in this process, an orphanage in Africa is making me learn a TON about technology... Please check out new website/platform.
www.fear-lol.com
I have learned about widgets and gadgets and counters and html and url. So much more than I really wanted to know but it's just part of the plan now. My hope for this website is twofold...
(1) create an identity on the internet (if you have people you think might be interested in this story or this cause PLEASE pass along)
and
(2) motivate people to not take themselves too seriously and help others, even if it is a simple "Good Morning" to a stranger on the street. The only way I have been able to come to some kind of balance in my life since my cancer saga has been to push through my fears and do something equally challenging for the good of others. Let's make the world a better place, a little bit at a time.. WE CAN DO IT!!!!!!!
It's A Wonderful Life and I am so happy to bring you along for the next ride.
I have learned about widgets and gadgets and counters and html and url. So much more than I really wanted to know but it's just part of the plan now. My hope for this website is twofold...
(1) create an identity on the internet (if you have people you think might be interested in this story or this cause PLEASE pass along)
and
(2) motivate people to not take themselves too seriously and help others, even if it is a simple "Good Morning" to a stranger on the street. The only way I have been able to come to some kind of balance in my life since my cancer saga has been to push through my fears and do something equally challenging for the good of others. Let's make the world a better place, a little bit at a time.. WE CAN DO IT!!!!!!!
It's A Wonderful Life and I am so happy to bring you along for the next ride.
Laugh Out Loud....
