Summerland Homes & Gardens: An African Adventure!

Usually I use this space to blog about home design and garden landscaping, with the occasional travel post thrown in. Design is one of my passions…it is what inspires me, allows me to be creative and create beautiful spaces.

But today I’d like to share with you another passion of mine. While in college, I spent a summer in Uganda, Africa. I went with a team of college students and together we worked at various orphanages. These beautiful children, with their huge smiles and even bigger hearts, radiated joy and captured my heart.

It’s been twenty years since I’ve seen them, but they have remained in my heart all this time. I’ve always said one day I will go back. Over the years I have contributed to various organizations who do work in Uganda and currently I am sponsoring a little boy from there. But earlier this fall, I got to partner with a truly amazing organization, Beauty For Ashes Uganda.

www.beautyforashesuganda.org

Beauty For Ashes Uganda is a non-profit organization that helps single mamas & widows of the Teso region of Uganda. By forming cooperatives, BFA gathers women in a village together to support one another, carry each other's burdens & pool their resources. These mamas contribute approximately $0.20 each week to create a fund to help each mama & to work towards sustainability. These "lady banks" (as they call them) grow each week. They are able to draw from these banks as a loan or sometimes distributing evenly among the women a certain amount to better their families and to work towards sustainable options.

With the global measure of extreme poverty being an income of $37.50/month ($1.25/day), our mamas are struggling to support their families and community on just $23/month ($0.76/day). Despite the ashes they've seen, these mamas fight for beauty in their lives and their community. Their commitment to help one another is nothing short of remarkable. However, the needs still remain too much for them to be able to meet, either alone or together. The needs are just too great!

This fall I became an advocate for the village of Ojemoru, Uganda. I am stepping up to be a voice for Ojemoru and the women in the cooperative. My role as an advocate is first to understand this village and get to know the women (and their children) who are a part of it. Working with founder Brandi McElheny, we determine the village’s needs- it could be school fees, mosquito nets, medical needs, etc. From there, I spearhead fundraising efforts to meet these needs.

This week, the advocates of the 29 villages are excited to launch “Join Our Village”, a unique opportunity for YOU to be a part of this African adventure!

I am looking for 30+ individuals on this side of the world to support the village of Ojemoru. Each of us will match what one mama makes a month by donating $23 each month. Together, we will create pools of resources for our village. Our pool of resources can send their children to school, provide emergency medical care, buy nets, fund water projects and so much more! Together, with the beautiful mamas who are already doing so much, we could make a difference!

Once you sign up to join Ojemoru, we will add you to our private Facebook group! This is where we will post photos, pictures, updates, stories and more for YOUR village!

I assure you, you will fall in love with your village, your mamas and their kiddos. They are absolutely precious. Wait until you see their faces and hear their stories! I'm excited for you to be a part of this!

Your $23/month will have a huge impact on these womens' lives. But as we choose to love the poor, YOU will be changed as well. You will be inspired, your perspective will change and you will learn and grow and love more because of the mamas you are honored to know.

If we each give a little, together we can give a lot!