that "moment"

Today is 72 degrees and sunny - I am impatiently waiting for the time when I walk onto a plane with 7 awesome kids to begin a journey of service, learning, compassion, teaching, and self-reflection.  Working with these students and the children we have yet to meet will be an amazing experience.  I clearly remember the first time I experienced a people with a lifestyle so drastically different from mine (my upbringing being a middle class, rural mid-western, and a quite sheltered existence... all of which I cherish).  While walking the streets of Marrakesh, Morocco one of my travel companions sat down on the curb of a busy street and wept; I did not understand at first why she was crying - but then looked around to actually absorb some of what we were seeing.  From the children working on the streets to the all-encompassing poverty we were surrounded by, everything hits at once.  This moment in time is representative of one of my fist experiences with a culture so dramatically different than mine and emotions one feels when put in an unfarmiliar situation with an overwhelming amount of information of the human experience.  My youthful naive spirit was forever changed and opened to understand the beautiful aspects of life that survive in absence of material things.  I can't wait to witness and guide this moment for the lucky students who will undoubtedly have a "moment" of their own.

The journey of fundraising has been interesting and has taught me about what type of front-work needs to be done in order to complete these types of missions.  The fundraiser at Dish went well and amazing people donated time, services, and goods to the event.  This helped me realize how many giving people there are out there and how many various ways exist to give back to your local and global community.  I want to thank all the parents, community members, students, and businesses who made it happen.  Lisa Marie has worked her butt off to make this happen and deserves a round of applause (insert round of applause here).  Thanks for all who donated time, effort, and $$$ to the event and to the organization.  It is not too late, if you'd still like to donate, just visit http://www.childrensglobalalliance.com/ and click on "DONATE" at the bottom right of your screen; tickets to Cambodia are $500 more than expected and we could use any donation -  large or small - to get students over there.  There is an army of people who would be forever grateful!


Until next time,
Jenna Ileen