Two fifty pound suitcases sit in a garage of dear friends in Genval, Belgium for four nights. On the 26th of June these two bags will make their way to the Brussels Airport and then fly ten hours to a new home in Uganda. That's 100 pounds of gifts and supplies that will have flown east over the Atlantic, then south over Europe, across the Mediterranean Sea, and onward down below the Sahara Desert. 100 pounds over 8,000 miles. Of course Carolynne, Patrick, and I will accompany them along with our eight personal bags. I like traveling light by the way but with two lap tops, 3 cameras and a camcorder, fragile personal effects and gifts, and clothes for modern Brussels and a two week home on the African equator, it adds up fast. And it adds up to an additional 750 pounds.
The 850 pounds of people and bags will arrive late Saturday night on June 26th. On June 27, there will be a meeting with the parents and caregivers of Brain Tree about the up coming grand opening of the Cultural Center. Just before I left for the Philadelphia airport on the 21st, I received an email from Martha asking me to speak about the vision of the school and self-sustainability during this meeting. Many in the school community silently and incorrectly believe (and sometimes not so silently) that Brain Tree is free, that no one must pay, because it has been sponsored over the years by outsiders. It is true, that the school has been 'free' to orphans and under-priviliged children, but for those who are able to pay, pay they must. Our goal is to serve children in the village regardless of financial ability but also attract and educate children who are able to pay competitive tuition and fees. Our ultimate goal is for Brain Tree to be a state-of-the-art not-for-profit African primary school, where tuition and fees that come in will subsidize the under-priviIiged children. Self-sustainability. For every three children paying full tuition and fees, one child can be subsidized. Our dream is to realize this three to one ratio. This dream is also our intention, our vision, and we've been working towards it for several years. A computer lab and an eating pavilion are still needed; these will be our next projects. We are well on our way in realizing a school that can stand on its own two legs.
Though I haven't formulated what I will speak about, I have given it some thought as I drifted in and (more often) out of sleep on the plane from Philadelphia to Brussels. My first thought is to speak about community through story telling; how we do things together, that we can not do alone. Community needs its individual's support to survive and the individual needs the community's support to survive and thrive. It takes a village. I am sure that this story of survival, of community, will be symbolized in many of the traditions that the Cultural Center will hold. I also thought about using a garden metaphor. Almost everyone in the village is a farmer and understands what it takes for survival. The garden is priority. You can not harvest from a garden with out tending to it. Brain Tree needs tending to, from the community that it serves. We will share our bounty because that is tradition. It is the right thing to do and we do it well. I'll write my speech during the ten hour flight from Brussels to Uganda on the 26th and be ready the next day. Though till then...I am open to suggestions.
I've also given much thought to my mother. Her death afforded these tickets to Uganda for my children and me. It was her parting gift to us. Going to Uganda this summer started the Cultural Center project. This house of treasure, already amazing just on its own, will bring positive attention to Brain Tree. Community attention because of the royal attention. The Cultural Center led to the Queen coming to Brain Tree. The Queen's visit will be the best marketing the school has ever had, aside from the success of our students. Brain Tree often praised my mother while she was alive because of all the work I have done for the school. She was my mother. She gave me life and I helped give the school life. Both in life and in her death, sustenance and vitality came to the school through Doris Ann Yoder DiGuardi Schaeffer ( I mention all her names following African tradition.). On the 27th of July, I will be sure to mention my mother. She's as much of Brain Tree and the Cultural Center as I am.
Though I haven't formulated what I will speak about, I have given it some thought as I drifted in and (more often) out of sleep on the plane from Philadelphia to Brussels. My first thought is to speak about community through story telling; how we do things together, that we can not do alone. Community needs its individual's support to survive and the individual needs the community's support to survive and thrive. It takes a village. I am sure that this story of survival, of community, will be symbolized in many of the traditions that the Cultural Center will hold. I also thought about using a garden metaphor. Almost everyone in the village is a farmer and understands what it takes for survival. The garden is priority. You can not harvest from a garden with out tending to it. Brain Tree needs tending to, from the community that it serves. We will share our bounty because that is tradition. It is the right thing to do and we do it well. I'll write my speech during the ten hour flight from Brussels to Uganda on the 26th and be ready the next day. Though till then...I am open to suggestions.
I've also given much thought to my mother. Her death afforded these tickets to Uganda for my children and me. It was her parting gift to us. Going to Uganda this summer started the Cultural Center project. This house of treasure, already amazing just on its own, will bring positive attention to Brain Tree. Community attention because of the royal attention. The Cultural Center led to the Queen coming to Brain Tree. The Queen's visit will be the best marketing the school has ever had, aside from the success of our students. Brain Tree often praised my mother while she was alive because of all the work I have done for the school. She was my mother. She gave me life and I helped give the school life. Both in life and in her death, sustenance and vitality came to the school through Doris Ann Yoder DiGuardi Schaeffer ( I mention all her names following African tradition.). On the 27th of July, I will be sure to mention my mother. She's as much of Brain Tree and the Cultural Center as I am.
In addition to the two 50 pound suitcases that will find home in Uganda, a pebble from my garden will have flown the 8,000 miles too. Before I left, Jeffry suggested I take a stone from my home property and bring it to Brain Tree as a symbolic gesture. Though the pebble doesn't weigh a thing, it holds a lot. In some African traditions, stones and bones hold the wisdom. They tell stories if you just stop to listen to them. Even those of us in the west will often say 'I knew it in my bones'. Stones and bones. Why not? This little pebble holds wisdom and stories then. And in its symbolic gesture, ties two lands together, two people together with an entire school community. Just maybe it will help me know what to say when facing the hundreds of people at Brain Tree. I'll keep it in my pocket while I speak, and before I cross the threshold of the new home for African tradition at Brain Tree, I'll place this little stone in its new home in the red earth just by the front door of the Cultural Center.
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