Bunabumali Chronicle

I realize the below doesn’t ask for anything…. it is more of a project summery…. open to change with your input. I just needed to get this out now, so you can see the direction I am headed in. I have always wanted a group to bunch ideas off of… and share the whole thing with, so I am honored to have you all in this circle.

I can’t do it alone, and don’t want to. I am learning through this whole process… and learning to create a collective is a big part of that, so please bare with me, and take on whatever you feel called to do. This project can be anything you want it to be. We have great video and photos to show the kids we are working for, and their school staff talking about needs, so feel free to use these.

I am seeking to get two kids I have identified as exceptional to come to Canada next summer to visit a bunch of Summer camps and schools to share their stories. They are Robina Namee and Daniel Olara. This is one thing I’d like to raise money for that will take some help.

Getting the hammocks we make there for sponsors back here may also be a challenge…. the cost, and physically carrying the duffel bags. So once we get our plane tickets, we’ll have to contact the companies we are flying with. We are all coming back on different flights as well… but plan to fly there together.  Could be another challenge for flying there together.

I will visit a bunch a schools before and after the trip, asking students to create an awesome day for the youth in Bunabumali, and we will carry out that task(could be making a picnic and teaching how to build kites), whatever they create and fund, and we will record it to show them when I return. This is the project I will present to UNB and the Board of Education… seeking funding.

There are two people in the UNB tech Dept waiting for me to send them a pitch. We could do a bit of chatting online with students while in Uganda, but the net access will be limited. Mbale, a city near Bunabumali, has net access, but not great. We could work something out.

I want to have this project summery ready before creating the event invite for the 30th. It will basically be a craft show/ auction/ fashion show… a bunch of artists… all welcome… just asking they donate something to the auction and everyone will have a chance to talk about their art… on a model of their choice… could be someone wearing their clothes or jewelry, or holding their art… painting, etc.

I’m working to get a bunch of stuff ready for this now, and Angela will send it out to the Fredericton crafters group via email as soon as we have it, nailed. We have now the location and time, so tomorrow we could send it and create the facebook event. CBC radio is always good about promotion through interviews and we still have time for the papers too.

Still more is needed with regard to creating a pitch. Any suggestions will be appreciate. 
-Cor
Stitch Uganda Together is a social entrepreneurship project providing beds to Uganda’s homeless, while promoting cultural exchange opportunities through video, pen-pals, multi media presentations, and workshops to demonstrate the power of creativity and unity.

What can you give to the person who has everything and the person who has nothing? How about a HANGING HUG?

HANGING HUGS are fabric hammocks sewn in Uganda to benefit the large population of homeless children and adults who need nothing more than a cozy place to rest. For every Hanging Hug purchased in North America, a twin hammock cut from the same cloth will be given freely to a needy person in Uganda. A photo of that Ugandan enjoying their HANGING HUG will be placed in the hammock pocket that gets shipped to the sponsor who pays $80 for both.

HANGING HUGS are being sewn by Life in Africa, an art collective in Kampala, Uganda’s Capital, and Bunabumali Good Samaritan Orphanage and Needy School, located in the mountains of Eastern Uganda. The Action Hero Network donated sewing machines to these non-profits, taught how to make hammocks, and will employ those who take part in creating HANGING HUGS.

Action Hero Network community organizer, Cory Richardson, will be in Uganda managing the HANGING HUGS project mid-November to mid-January, and will return to Canada with HUGS for sponsors. $80 includes shipping, which a great deal for a high quality hammock. This pilot project will be expanded to full production with a better understanding of all costs involved. HANGING HUGS can be used to provide beds in orphanages, hospitals, schools and disaster relief around the world where emergency accommodation is needed.

Creativity and Unity will fashion the life we want for ourselves and others. 
KidSing director, Casey Yerxa, will be with us in Uganda to develop a cultural exchange project between students in New Brunswick and youth at the Good Samaritan school in Bunabumali. Each Kidsing student has a photo of their pen pal who will receive a book about what is important to them, and we will create videos interviewing all children, both Uganda and New Brunswick, asking what they could teach each other. This documentary film will be posted online and tour schools around New Brunswick.

Kidsing’s 10th year anniversary show “Be the Change” will feature youth in New Brunswick singing songs they learned from youth in Bunabumali, and youth in Bunabumali singing via video songs Casey will teach them, so it will appear they are singing together on stage, much like the award-winning documentary, “Playing For Change: Peace Through Music” ( http://playingforchange.com).

More Questions than Answers.
It is common to think rural people in Uganda are poor and sad, due to what we may consider a lower standard of living. Video shot in Bunabumali shows people are very happy. This makes us question: what do people need to be happy? What do we have to offer? What do people need to know to live healthier, more sustainable lives? Are we any happier or healthier with all that we have?

Fortunate to be blessed with resources, do we have a responsibility(an ability to respond), in way that will truly make a difference? We believe, yes! If we can help one child, then we change the world for that one child. But the question remains… what can we do to help create a sustainable life for the people of a small village in Uganda? 

Our objective is to celebrate fulfillment through service, creativity and unity.
The premise of this documentary is that we have as much to gain from a relationship with people in Bunabumali as they do from us, if not more. Through the process of learning about what they need to be healthy and create a sustainable lifestyle, we will also learn to not take what we have for granted.

Most of our food is not grown locally, but is transported thousands of miles. Availability of cheap oil and soil depletion as a result of chemical farming have put us in a precarious position, relying on many factors beyond our control for our most vital needs. In a short time… the tables could turn.

Those living simple lifestyles in rural villages as they have for many generations will be a lot better off than people living what is considered a modern lifestyle dependant on global economics.

Located at the base of Mt.Elgon, Bunabumali is within a green dot on the satellite map of Eastern Africa, where there is an abundance of rainwater for growing plants. The political climate is very stable, without any sign of tribal or rebel warfare.

This is a safe place to invite friends who will together build a playground and garden where orphans and seekers will come to learn natural building techniques, circus skills, literacy, languages and methods to enrich the soil to grow everything needed to thrive as a community. This relationship will birth many documentaries and presentations to institutions around the world, which will result in a model for international skill-sharing and social development.

Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and perennial agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecologies. It was first developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and their associates during the 1970s in a series of publications. The word permaculture is a portmanteau of permanent agriculture, as well as permanent culture.

The intent was that, by rapidly training individuals in a core set of design principles, those individuals could design their own environments and build increasingly self-sufficient human settlements — ones that reduce society’s reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution that Mollison identified as fundamentally and systematically destroying Earth’s ecosystems.

While originating as an agro-ecological design theory, permaculture has developed a large international following. This “permaculture community” continues to expand on the original ideas, integrating a range of ideas of alternative culture, through a network of publications, permaculture gardens, intentional communities, training programs, and internet forums. In this way, permaculture has become both a design system and a culture of rewilding the human species.

• More

After 2 years preparation TimeDesk Africa is almost ready for launch . The business model is based on the adventures of Ben and Norman, talking about developping a new future for Bunabumali.

Bunabumali Village is one of the most unique communities I have ever experienced. Houses are peppered on steep slopes connected by foot paths. (Corry Richardson, Action Hero Network).

Our approach is not to rely upon AID but build global community awarreness and show progress to the extend outside organisations  companies and private sponsors start showing an interest in the progress made with minimal financial resources.

The infrastructure we have build is based on the idea that the next generation organisations no longer operate their own dedicated website, but make creative use of webtools.i

It’s an interesting challenge to make this work, as creating one easy to understand swiitchboard is, despite all mashup services still not a task for the faintharted. After 2 years playing around we now need to clean up the mess of dead wood web sites, blogs, and half finsihed registrations.

An even larger challenge is to create a crouwdsourcing platform so fans and sponsors realy start working together. All bits and pieces are there now. Over the next 4 weeks thhe puzzle will be completed.

Ugandans in Diaspora demonstrate against President http://bit.ly/3wz0s

Box awaiting transport so that l can take them to Children http://bit.ly/xUGyA

Commented on Google Uganda Is Now Available In Luganda / TechMasai http://tinyurl.com/naxl36

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Am getting much improvement on my Health and l will meeting the Doctor Again Tomorrow Monday

Thanks for the wonderful heart towards my health Am getting better but The Nostrils are still paining yet children need my efforts