A Busy Year
UNIFORMS
Before I left Kiryabicooli last year,, Teddy and the sports teams were preparing for upcoming tournaments. This was to be the first year DAA had participated -- competing against 8 schools in their district. They did not have uniforms so the girls wore their dance attire -- and won!!
When I got home I sent money for new athletic uniforms for the football (soccer) and net ball teams, and their traditional dance group.
Last year's traditional dance costumes and the new costumes. The dancers, singers and drummers will now compete and perform in neighboring villages.
JOINED THE BUSEESA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTRE BOARD
In October I was invited to join the board of the organization that supports the Deirdre Ann Academy, Em's Clinic, Microfinancing Program and the Mill. It's been an eye opening experience seeing what these members have created over the years, and the obstacles that get in the way of doing good work. Each of these amazing people bring love, compassion and expertise to the board and villagers of BCDC.
Nicholas Smith Emily Rymland Casey Conlon Scott Lehr Maria Chal Chris Runyen
PRESENTATIONS AND NEW PROGRAMS
I was invited by many to share my experiences, show photos, tell stories, and answer questions. Out of these presentations some exciting things happened.
A New Traveler
After a presentation at Marin Dance Theatre I received a beautiful text. I'm thrilled to say Kya joined us on this trip and it was wonderful to watch how she worked and interacted with the children of DAA.
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She was also helpful prior to our leaving with collecting and organizing donated items, and was AMAZING in distributing and sizing while in Uganda.
Feathers and Wolves
Jeanine Allpress Cliffe, founder of Feathers and Wolves, created a letter exchange program. One of the goals of Feathers and Wolves is to promote connecting children around the world through the forgotten art of letter writing. Through this program, children will deepen their understanding of other cultures, people, and parts of the world.
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A class of second graders from the Dixie Elementary School studied Uganda in their classroom. They learned about the flag, its history and their National Anthem (they sang it to their school at an assembly). They then wrote letters to the students at Deirdre Ann Academy. I came home with letters from the P6 and P7 students, and these will be given back to the Marin students when school begins. The letters were lovely -- talking about their homes, families, interests, and asking lots of questions about each other. It will be wonderful to watch these relationships continue to develop.
SO DANCA STEPS IN
Through the incredible support of Jean and Maria of D'Lynn's, So Danca heard about the work we are doing in Kiryabicooli and stepped in big time this year to support the dancers there. They donated 300 shirts, 150 leotards and 100 ballet slippers. We were selected to be part of their program, "Giving Back to the Community -- Let the Dance Go On". Needless to say, their items were beautiful and received with many smiles and squeals of delight.
With the help of Lenora Oliveira and her team at So Danca, 5 boxes of attire arrived at D'Lynn's.
5 fifty pound bags ready to head to Uganda.
Thank you Digit for keeping the bags safe as we prepare for the trip!
Finding shoes that fit!! Look at my shoes! Hurrah! They feel A year later -- Head Teacher Keeping shoes clean good! Joseph gets his shoes!
PLAY STRUCTURE
Nobody could say no to this lemonade stand!! They also sold dream catchers they had made in class.
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Here is the slide that is being named the "Etzim Slide".
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Thank you so much all of the wonderful families of the JCC, Tiburon and your efforts.
The smiles say it all!
Before I left last year the Preschool teachers said they'd love some equipment for the younger pupils to play on. So -- I dedicated the year to raising funds for a play structure for Deirdre Ann Academy. The estimate was $6,600 US dollars and 2019 was the year of my 66th Birthday so -- I celebrated my 66th by raising money at my birthday party and through a FaceBook birthday campaign.
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Also, The Etzim Class at the JCC, Tiburon (where I teach Movement classes) took the play structure on as their Mitzvah Project. In learning about Mitzvah ("when you help people") and listening to my stories about the pupils in Uganda they began to ask questions about the school, their homes, and to learn about the differences and similarities between their lives and those in Uganda. One thing that really disturbed them was the children had no play equipment to play on at school. One little girl, Sivan, raised her hand and said, "We need to buy them some things to climb and play on". The class agreed and from there the Lemonade Stand for Uganda's Play Structure became their project. This group of adorable children raised $480.81 for this endeavor. One of the slides is going to named the Etzim Slide.
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At the birthday celebration, shirts were decorated, African cookies were baked, we danced with Naby Bangoura and his drummers, and we raised money!! A fun way to celebrate 66!! Thanks to the generosity of so many at the party, JCC Tiburon's Lemonade Stand and the Facebook Birthday Campaign, $7,046.39 was raised. Enough to purchase this:
First day on the play structure! Such wonderful giggles!!
"People passing by the school keep standing and wondering the paradise",
Michael Garabuzi