MY DAUGHTER, CARLEIGH, WILL JOIN ME IN UGANDA!!

Carleigh has an adventurous spirit just like her mama!! She LOVED spending the night with her girlfriends when she was a little girl. She made friends with nearly EVERYONE she met in elementary, middle and high school. So it really didn't surprise John and me when, at 15, she came to us exclaiming that she wanted to be an exchange student her junior year and just needed to complete the paperwork. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Even though I was excited for her, I couldn't imagine living without her for one whole year. But, she went to Brazil and had an incredible experience and returned to the US more determined to live a life full of adventure. That love of adventure has taken her many places since then!

I am so very thrilled to say that Carleigh is going to join the group from PED traveling to Uganda for mission work!!! How cool is that?  I'll be in Uganda for one month (June 18-July 15) and Carleigh will come during the second half of my trip. In 2004, when I went to Guatemala for the first time, Derek and I went together with the First Presbyterian youth group. The following year, Carleigh and I went together. There was something quite humbling, yet exhilarating, when you witness your children experiencing life away from home in a foreign country.

Life is short and while I'm still healthy and ABLE,  I wanted to share my passion for Uganda with my daughter!!! I want her to see Glory Primary School that now houses 220 students, meet my precious GLORIA, Peter, and Anthony, as well as our sponsored family, Nakasi Justine and her grandchildren, Anna,  Marvin and Ibrahim. This past year, we have  become involved with a child-led family that even I have not met as yet---James, Clovis, Enid, Silvia, and Derrick.  I am just overjoyed to make them a part of our life!! It will be so much fun having Carleigh by my side!!

Can't Wait to Get Back to Uganda!!

It's been a year since Dianne and I went to Uganda to officially open and dedicate GLORY PRIMARY SCHOOL! That trip was such a huge blessing for us. March 22, 2011, will forever be etched in my mind as the day we helped change the lives of children in that community! Looking at the little school with its brilliant turquoise color, I about melted with joy. The smiling faces of the children, teachers and parents was all I needed to realize the impact this school will have on their futures!! The gifts given and received deepened our commitment and assured them (and us) that our lives will forever be entwined!! God has certainly blessed this project!!

When I returned to work at OTHS the end of March, it wasn't long before word got to the Noon Rotary president, Pamela Beckett. Pamela had dreamed of getting an international project going in her club. She had mentioned this information to OTHS teacher, Kellee Sandifur, who had just stepped up to be the new INTERACT sponsor at school and Kellee immediately mentioned how a school was being built in Uganda right then and probably could use some future funding! BINGO!!!! The wheels started rolling and before I knew what had happened, Pamela was scheduling speaking engagements and I was giving powerpoint presentations to numerous Rotary Clubs in and around LaSalle County (Ok, I must confess that this was a HUGE HUGE endeavor for me as I am NOT a public speaker by any sense of the word!!) Many thanks to Rotarian Cindy Duncan for creating the power point for me and for God giving me the courage to share my passion with so many people!!

Pamela and Debbie at recent Noon Rotary meeting.

With Pamela at the lead and with hundreds of hours of work between Noon Rotary, other local Rotary Clubs (Ottawa Sunrise and Rochelle) and the Kabarole Rotary Club in Uganda that Milton is involved in, we are proud to announce that THE GLORY PRIMARY SCHOOL PROJECT will be receiving significant amount of money for the following work:

1. Eaves and water tank at Glory Primary School which will serve the children with clean drinking water, improve hygiene and for cooking. Families of the children will also be able to access water from this tank.

2. A bore hole water system will be dug for the surrounding community. Again, this will allow the families to get clean water CLOSE TO HOME and eliminate the many hours of walking to a water source. More children will be able to attend school. Clean water will eliminate the many diseases that are associated with dirty water consumption.

3. A maize-milling machine, the sustainability project selected by the community, will be purchased and housed in the village near the school. The funds received from the use of this machine will keep the school running for many generations to come. Money received can also be used to purchase other school necessities as noted by the community.

4. The school library is being built and Rotary is hoping to help stock it for the children! This will be a FIRST for these children!!! Many thanks to Presbytery for their $6,000 grant money providing textbooks for this school!

5. Playground equipment and additional school supplies will round out the giving for GLORY PRIMARY SCHOOL! Children will experience physical exercise through fun outdoor games which is imminent to improve their over-all health.

All in all, we feel very grateful for the hard work of Pamela Beckett and the Noon Rotary team to make this project possible. The Ottawa Sunrise Rotary Club, the Rochelle Rotary Club, Rotary District 6420 and Rotary International also provided funding toward the total Rotary grant. I feel such satisfaction for what started as a small nudging from God to answer the need of providing a new school, to seeing how hundreds of people from all over the US have become involved in providing HOPE for these very special friends in Uganda!

"IF YOU WANT TO GO FAST, GO ALONE--IF YOU WANT TO GO FAR, GO WITH OTHERS!"