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friday. how did we get here?

in

somehow this week got away from me. i chock it up to a few things: 1. another foot (at least) of snow pounding down on the city 2. the realization that these allergies keep my brain working at half-speed (if that)--i'm doing things now like washing my face with shampoo (painful. don't try) and 3. the slow ticking of things off of my life to-do list.

it is this last thing that keeps me going. reminds me why i've remained in this city. small steps, slow steps.

i'll announce the giveaway winner on monday. i can't thank you all enough for the kind and encouraging response. my heart swells at your kindness. and i owe you each a debt of gratitude for your goodness.

for now i leave you with my version of eye-candy... (and the promise {or hope} of some more interesting posts next week.






photo credit:
original sources  found here

nakate (and my little-blogspot-lover's first giveaway ever).

in

i've never done a giveaway here before because it never felt like it was quite time. but when shanley, a one woman wonder who's changing the world, came to me with her new project nakate, i was in. 

nakate 1

nakate 2


nakate 3

nakate 4

"I went to Uganda this past summer to document the work of an aid organization in the Luwero district, which is off the main highway running through Uganda to southern Sudan. I spent several days focusing on Kakooge, a village almost completely wiped out by AIDS in the past few decades. The families left are struggling intensely: many mothers left alone with children, wrecked by polygamy, without hope, many fathers that openly wept when speaking to me, saying that they could not feed their children, that they were too weak from the disease to work. 

I discovered, while there, that there was no market for wares in the village. Even those who were strong enough to work couldn't find sustainable occupations. I struggled, especially, with the way the women in the village were fighting to feed their families and were often brutally mistreated or taken advantage of in the process.

I had heard that people that had traveled to Uganda on medical missions had brought back beads from Kakooge, and I sought out the women who made them with my guide. I found that many of them were depending on the beads to pay their children's school fees, their rent, buy food, etc. but that sales were sporadic, and couldn't be counted on. I brought back a huge bag of beads intending to make sales more regular, and met Emily, who was finished up her MBA and had a heart for helping the impoverished. Together, we set up the Nakate Project, which sells the necklaces online, and at parties held by volunteers in our area. We pay the women back three times what they could make within the country, and use the rest of the money to invest in business opportunities for them in Kakooge, in effort to bring a sustainable market back in the area."


one lucky blog reader will receive the kaunna necklace. 


in order to enter please visit nakate and leave a comment below. 
for more chances to win, tweet or blog about the project and then leave an additional comment letting me know. the giveaway will close thursday at midnight--i will choose a winner at random on friday morning. 


i hope you all are as excited as i am--it's for such a great and worthy cause! happy monday!

book club (vlog follow-up) .

in


book club selection: the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society. 

my reasoning: i've actually read this book before i adored it in every possible way. it's a quick and easy read that both charms and moves. i find it perfectly fitting since it deals with a book club and the power of words--and lordy i can't wait till we sit down and talk about the power of words!

a note about the book club: if you haven't read the book--i still want you to come. but if you are so inclined to read it, please do (i promise it's lovely). this book club is meant to be a way to meet people (and know that on my first draft of this i spelled meet, meat. really?), stir-up discussion (and not just that pertaining to whatever we've just read). i have found in my nearly seven years in this city that it can be difficult to meet people--especially when they fall out of our normal circle of work or school or some such. so as long as you bring a smile (even if you're secretly terrified), then that's all i care about.

if you've emailed me: (and i haven't emailed back...) all of the emails are in a specific folder in my inbox and as soon as i figure out a location then you will be getting an email with details and a hop-stop direction guide!

let the discussion begin! this is what i had to say about the book last go round.