I am so full of gratitude....

It all started with a phone call!

Gia & I talk on the phone all the time! So when the idea of going to Africa emerged one day, a part of me jumped up & down, saying “me too!” and now here I am, chompin’ on Typhoid vaccines and counting down to the day I leave for Zambia!
My heart is singing and my mind is just blown away by my own courage, self realization & joy. I am so full of gratitude. For my friends & family, your open minds and hearts, for letting me fly freely, & supporting me in whatever I do! The response has been amazing and I feel so encouraged, excited & loved!

Share yourself!
Of all the people I’ve connected & conversed with over the last few months regarding this trip to Africa, there is one very clear message....What ever it is I do, see, think, feel in Africa, it will be with me forever.
As our own personal funds have gone into travel expenses, we are left with little resources when it comes to purchasing power. I do understand that orphanages are in constant need of blankets, art supplies and books & these are what we plan to seek out when we are there.
With this said, allow me to explain our one call for help before we leave for Zambia....the monetary donations we receive will be spent in Africa. We plan to travel light and purchase needed items locally. $1US = $3,800 Kwacha. Imagine how this can help the African communities we visit. So please seriously consider donating money.
My eyes are wide open to how much we have here in the US and how habitually we fill our spaces, lives and thoughts with more than we need. To take a boxful of clothing, shoes and even toys would be completely overwhelming, presuming and thoughtless without researching the needs of the African community we plan to visit. I discovered that churches donate frequently to African daycares and orphanages and now the GAP hand me downs have put local Zambian tailors out of business.
Doing something like this changes your perspective on how things are in life and what’s going on around you. This trip is not about taking pictures of animals and more about human life. 2 weeks will go by fast and oh, will we have tons to tell you when we get back!

- Hillary

Somebody pinch me please!

I wake up every morning and ask myself....AM I DREAMING?

I don't know if any of you have always wanted to do something...REALLY bad but you were never quite sure of when you would do it... or if it would ever happen....if so...then you will relate to me. I've been dreaming of visiting Africa for about 10 years or so...but I sort of just tucked the idea away in the back of my mind...not really sure of when I would go or who with... but I always knew that I would.... when the time was right.

So... here's my story...how it all started....

As most of you know I work for the company, The Body Shop and I use my work as a way to raise funds to give back to people in my life & community that need assistance. At the end of each year I send out an e-mail to my customers, friends and family to let them know how their money helped me to make a difference. This January... 2007 I sent out the end of the year e-mail and as people do with e-mail...it was passed along by a friend of mine Trina, (Thank you Trina!) to a woman named Erin McCann. So Erin, a stranger to me, replys...and briefly says... "Gia, I thought you might be interested in checking out this organization that I support." And with that e-mail she sent the most adorable photo of her with a bunch of African children. (see photo) So right away I click on the website she sent and it linked me to a school in Ghana, Africa. I read the entire website and realized that Erin supports this school, has obviously traveled there and has a connection wtih the founder and children there. We are talking on the phone in minutes.

We connected instantly...and within about a week I realized that my dream of visiting Africa was actually going to happen! I told Erin about my desire to travel to Africa...to experience the culture, spend time with the people and give of my time. I expressed to her that I've never made it happen because of timing and trying to find that right person to travel with that has the same desire as I do and that has the time to go. She quickly told me that she wanted to go back and she asked when I wanted to go. I said this fall and she said let's do it! I jumped up and down and ran around the house screaming because I was so excited...you might have heard me! Just know that I haven't even mentioned this to my husband or even thought about who would take care of our son while I was gone or how I was going to pay for it....minor details I decided....when a dream is unfolding...I always say...it will work out...if you believe in it enough.

So to make a long story longer.....Erin was my rock...my safety net...she'd been before...she had connections and she's a go getter....we were a perfect match. We met a few months later and giggled because we felt like we knew each other so well yet not really at all.

A few weeks after we met Erin got a new job...and soon found out that she wouldn't be able to have enough vacation time to make the trip happen this fall. She tried so hard to make it work and she was so supportive of my dream that she wasn't about to let me not go. I had no idea what I was going to do but I wasn't about to give up now!

Meanwhile....Hillary....had been thinking about joining us but she was waiting for more information. By the way Hillary and I met through our work with The Body Shop At Home. Hillary also uses her business as a fundraising tool to give back in her community....and was drawn to the company because of the values like myself. Now 2 years later... we're pretty much soul sisters...with that said....

During the time that Erin and I were sorting through the details of our trip....Hillary ironically met a woman at a work event that helped start a school in Zambia, called The Kondwa Children's Foundation, quite similar to the one we were going to go to in Ghana. Coincidence?? You decide. Hillary decided to do some fundraising for them and just kept waiting to see how the details of my trip unfolded.

Once I found out that Erin was out I called Hillary to see if she would commit....she processed the idea a lot and discussed it with her family then decided to dive right in! I LOVE THIS GIRL!We decided that we would switch the original destination of Ghana to Zambia since Erin wouldn't be joining us this time....Can you guess where my next trip to Africa might be?? Hee...Hee....

So here we are.....7 months later.....planning....raising funds....getting vaccinations...reading travel books....reaching out to people that have been there.....opening our souls to what this experience might be like....getting visas...sharing a journal, talking 3 times a day and squealing with delight at the idea....the dream....that is now a reality.

So that's the story...and if you took the time to read this....and I have you thinking about your dream...the one that's waiting for you...I encourage you to keep dreaming....to hold on to it....and believe in it....because I know it will happen for you....if you want it to....and I'd love to hear your dreams....so post a comment....and let us know what you want to do in your life.....

OUCH!.....thanks for the pinch......it was worth it!

Hugs,
gia

Something much bigger....

"There came a moment in the middle of the song when she suddenly felt every heartbeat in the room & after that she never forgot she was part of something much bigger."

-Brian Andreas

THANK YOU!

Just a quick note to let each one of you know that I wouldn't be....we wouldn't be going on this journey without each one of you supporting us along the way!

Please join us...subscribe to our blog and add comments...we'd love to hear from you!

I can not express in words how much this trip to Africa means to me. (As most of you know I will never claim to be much of a writer...so please hang in there with me...I'm much better at speaking!)
But I do know that I will be changed forever...

From the minute I step off the plane...

To the first smile I share...

To the first tear I shed...

The first hand I hold...

And I want you to know that I will be back to Africa...and maybe some of you will come with me.....This is just the beginning of something much bigger! And I thank you for your love and support...I wouldn't be who I am without all of you.

Love to you!

gia

Who we are...

Our family and friends have said we have a servant’s heart. We suppose there is truth to this if one observes our on-going desire to help people and the planet. This is not pretense, it is mostly who we are. It is entirely who we want to be. We are humbled by a desire to make the world a better place, and not because of our help, those served will think more like us, and thus be “better”. The world is comprised of enormous cultural and bio diversity, our sense of better is simply an improved understanding of our interconnectedness.

Thanks to Jim Rosendale for helping us put our ideas into words! - Gia & Hillary