This Thing Called Life: Half A World Away

I got some exciting news over the past week!

In January 2009, I went to Uganda to help build a school through UWRF and it's involvement with Building Tomorrow. Through the experience, I met some amazing people!

We spent 2 weeks digging, moving bricks, hoeing, wheelbarrowing, doing some pretty intense and dirty work in the hot African sun. It seemed like this little building that was sprouting out of the ground was going nowhere...

Then, after completion in August 2010, the doors were set to open. And over the weekend, pictures were posted of the finished building.

Building Tomorrow Academy of Gita

supported by the University of Virginia

For the past several years, we did fundraisers at UWRF. We tried everything. Everything from reaching out to the high school to benefit concerts with Shawn Mullins to pancake breakfasts to biking the distance to Uganda to carnivals to selling Amy's amazing book purses. Everything.

Finally, we raised enough funds (along with the city of Indianapolis) to support a school. As of January 16, that school is now OPEN! Here are some pictures from the grand opening, which even featured the Vice President of Uganda.

Building Tomorrow Academy of Jomba

Supported by the University of Wisconsin - River Falls and the city of Indianapolis

"Thank you the City of Indianapolis and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls"

This feeling is unbelievable.

I find it so hard to imagine that after all these years, this process is complete.

The money. The events. The meetings. The ideas. The phone calls. All of our work from thousands of miles away.

The dirt we dug helped lay the floor that the kids will learn on.

The bricks we carried are now the walls of a school that they never had before.

My sweat. My soreness. My blisters. My blood (I'm accident prone). My heart and soul are in those buildings.

I am so proud of all the people that were involved, everyone that supported our efforts, and for all of us that were able to travel to Uganda (or attempted to) during UWRF's trips there.

Everything has made a world of difference, and for that I say

WEBALE!!

(thank you)