While we filled our glasses with wine, the children were dying. While we ate our bellies full, the floods were raging. While we raised a lot of money for One Village at a time, people were drowning and the rivers and Lake Victoria continues to sweep entire villages away. I can’t make sense of all [...]
I know that most countries are born of blood. No one cedes territory easily. I guess the French were happy to get paid for Louisiana, but by and large it’s fought over and someone wins. The war in South Sudan breaks my heart. For so long the north and the south have been fighting, and [...]
Few people get the chances I do. Or maybe few people take the chances I do. I suspect it’s some of both. I was 55 when life turned me around. I accepted an invitation to an AIDS conference in Addis Ababa. I’d never been to Africa nor knew anyone who was going, but somehow it [...]
Ah Dear Readers, Welcome back to the remnants of the Director who got chased by machete man. As you recall from last week, I wound up bound by the insane red tape that is day surgery. However, undaunted I did get through it. It’s always good to be “first up” on the operation schedule. What [...]
I never cease to be frustrated by the medical system in this country. I suppose it’s better than Kenya, but that’s not saying much. Last fall, dear readers, as you recall Mama came home from Kenya with an unset broken leg.(Yeah that was the no X-ray machine, no tech and no splint post). While in [...]
It began with Lillian really. I fell in love with her, her courage, the dignity of her mother. And I fell in love with being able to give in a way I could see. Lillian was part of our first project. I had one donor, $4000 and was feeding 22 children. I thought I was [...]
I had dinner with a friend the other night. We both come from the land of misfit toys. We still believe we can make a difference in Africa, but it is getting harder and harder to explain ourselves to our peers. Going to places where grenades go off and people are routinely killed with machetes [...]
Imagine finding out you are pregnant and then wondering if it will also kill you. That’s a cold hard fact where I work. Never has that been more true in Kenya than now. Healthcare is not great to start with. You all remember the broken leg story of Mama’s in November. Broken equipment, long lines, [...]
I didn’t think turning 65 would bother me, but it has made me pause. I know now that most of my time has been used. I’m ok with that. I have been talking to a few people about how One Village at a Time got started. I pulled out a video that I put together [...]
We grew prize-winning roses in our backyard when I was a child. I pored salt down holes in the rock garden to kill the weeds. And then the gardener did the rest. I was back in Virginia this weekend. I forget how riveting the countryside is. I got to the horse country during photographer’s light, [...]
One Village operates on a very small budget and 100% of all donations go directly to helping the villages we serve. Even the smallest donation can have a large impact!
