A new year......new trips

Yesterday I had two amazing dreams about Africa that were so vivid. I awoke renewed and excited that I have something that I am so passionate about. The trip I took this past summer to Kenya changed my life. I had felt a calling to Africa for several years and waited for the right opportunity. I look to the future for more ways to make a difference. A difference not just overseas but also at home. I am more aware of those in need around me and the comfort that a smiling face can give a scared patient.

I saw children that could not remember the last time they had eaten.

I saw families that did not have any shoes.

I saw children that would soon be orphaned by AIDS.

I saw diseases that have been eradicated in the western world.

I saw simple illnesses, that we treat over the counter, damage lives.

I saw love.

I saw thankfulness.

I saw simplicity.

I saw beauty.

I saw my future.

This February I am going to an orphanage in Haiti for one week. A coworker, RN, will be accompanying me. We will be giving the children vaccines and medicines and treating part of the immediate community. After that I am planning on going to Tanzania in June for two weeks and working with an unusual population, albinos. These people fear for their lives because of myths in voodoo medicine that say if the flesh of an albino is eaten it gives special powers. They also have to battle skin damage from living so close to the equator and vision problems. I am hoping to go back to Kenya in August and Uganda in September.

I am ready and willing. I need your support to make this happen. Even ten dollars from enough people will make the difference in the number of lives I can touch and the number of people that can go with me on this journey.

Each journey begins with a step....

Or an airplane ticket! My daughter Margaux's trip to Kenya on a medical mission was the culmination of a lot of planning, a lot of saving and the generous support of a few good friends. Little did I know it was just the beginning....

I am a mother. My daughters have never gone hungry. My daughters have never lacked medical care. My daughters have a world of opportunity through education always available to them and they have the luxury of choice! I am blessed that they have open minds, generous hearts and compassionate spirits. Margaux's experience in Kenya has brought home life change for each of us. Now the need of other mothers and motherless children has a very personal face, one we can't ignore. To that end, we are starting World Care Connections. In just a few brief weeks, a small team of volunteers were able to give medical care to over 3,000 people with no access to it in remote villages. They brought and dispensed over 20,000 prescription medications. Margaux and I will be sharing photographs she took and her experiences with the people she met through this blog and the website we have under development. We are finalizing the status as a non-profit foundation. Erica's creative talents and computer wizardry will help us connect with you who want to share with the ones in need!

Other trips are planned for this upcoming year to Kenya and Tanzania. Our goal is to financially support trained medical volunteers who feel the call to serve under challenging circumstances around the world. In third world countries, a little goes a very long way.

I hope to find ten people who each know ten people who each know ten people who would not miss parting with $10 a month. By forming small GIVING CIRCLES of ten people who can commit just $10 each per month we can raise $1,200 a year. With great love, if we multiply these small gifts by 100 GIVING CIRCLES we can accomplish so much more!


Now imagine if you could see the faces and hear the stories of those people whose lives you touched..... we intend to have you share the experience as it unfolds.

We can do no great things, only small things with great love.  ~Mother Teresa