Friday, November 30, 2007

a long and winding road...

We got in this morning around 5:30am
We left yesterday morning around 10am
You can do the math!
I think i've slept for three solid hours (maybe?)

All was fine with our caravan of five cars until our rickety white jeep broke down on the side of the road in nowhere Ohio. We literally waited for about six hours for triple A to arrive, tow the car to a shop just to hear that we couldn't afford the part that was needed...then we needed to find a cheap part, searched everywhere, found one that couldn't be shipped until Monday, and ended up renting a car do drive four out of the five people back home to the mountain. Poor J.T. has to spend the week-end in a motel in the middle of nowhere Ohio because the car can't be fixed until Monday morning. Then he will drive 12 hours on his own. I don't envy him at all.

It is so nice to be home!
The mountain is empty. Most people are away fundraising. A few of us will stay behind and fundraise in Boston, Massachusetts College Towns, Bennington Vermont and Albany. It will be so nice to be on the mountain in one place for the three weeks before I go to Maryland for Christmas.
Hopefully we'll make goal and this will be our final trip. Two of our team members dropped out of the program, so our fundraising goal is now $12,000.00 lower. I really don't want to fundraise in January and freeze to death.
We will kick off our fundraising efforts tomorrow in North Hampton, Massachusetts, selling red ribbons to commemorate World Aids Day.

Am in town on the Internet because as usual, it doesn't work on the mountain.
And i've got to get to work now!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

a long road to massachusetts...




On the last night of the conference, we had a Mozambiqan/Angolan dance party. I learned the subtle art of dancing the xu-zosa (i'm sure i'm spelling this incorrectly).

Now I have a 15 hour drive ahead of me
woooo...hoooo.....

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Curative Herbs

Curative herbs:

HERB INDICATIONS HOW TO PLANT

Aloe Relieves constipation. Boil and drink the concentrated water. Grow outdoors in warm climates, plant in full sun or light shade. Needs fast draining fertile soil. In the winter needs less water in the summer soak the soil and make sure it is completely dry before re-watering.


Basil Antiseptic for mouth sores. Use as a gargle. Boil in water and cool and gargle. Soil must be well dug and weed free. Moist soil is needed so water the day before planting. Sow in late March when there is no frost. Sow thinly, cover with ½ cm of compost and firm gently. Water every week (avoid wetting stems). Pinch out any flowers that grow. Harvest the top leaves first.

Coriander Helps to increase appetite. Controls bacteria and fungi. Add to meals. Needs light well-drained soil after the last frost. Sow thinly in shallow drills and cover with compost. Pinch the flowers off.

Eucalyptus Anti-bacterial (lungs/bronchitis). Prepare a tea from the leaves. Plant in full sun, in average soil. Don’t use fertilizer. Will not tolerate much moisture in soil. Water before and after planting and plant before winter sets. Plant 1”-2” inches below soil surface. Firm soil and water regularly.

Garlic Anti-bacterial/antiviral and antifungal. Aids in digestion and feelings of weakness. Good for treating throat infections, herpes and diarrhea. Make in a tea or add to food. Plant in full sun and in well drained soil. Good with all soil types. Fall planting is best. Plant 4-6 weeks before significant ground freezing may occur. Plant 2” below soil. Water the soil several hours before planting so it is moist and not muddy.

Ginger Improves digestion, relieves nausea, relieves diarrhea. Drink as a tea or add to food. Plant in a lightly shaded site with rich and well-drained soil. Plant in the Spring when temperatures are 75 degrees to 85 degrees F. Soak overnight in warm water before sowing then set them just under the surface with the buds facing up. Water lightly at first then more heavily when growth starts. Is mature when 2-4 feet.

Lemon Grass Calming, stress-relief, good digestion. Drink as a tea. Purchase lemongrass stalks with roots. Place in shallow water and room temperature to sprout. Once roots are an inch or two long it’s time to transfer to soil. Plant after frost and bring indoors during winter months.

Mint Anti-inflammatory helps digestion. Drink tea or gargle for mouth sores or chew leaves for digestion. Mint needs room away from others to roam freely. Plant in partial shade and in moist moderately rich soil. Plant in early Spring. Does not grow well from seeds. Keep soil moist. Pinch stem ends off each spring to keep plants bushy.

Neem Brings down fever. Boil twig and drink as tea or chew bark. Grows in almost all types of soil. Well-drained soil is necessary. Thrives on dry stony shallow soil. Neem tree needs little water and sunlight. Neem grows slowly during first year of planting. A neem tree bears fruit between 3-5 years. Protect from intensive shade, frost and cold.

Peppermint Helps nausea and controls vomiting and sleeplessness. Drink as a tea. Grows naturally

Thyme Antiseptic, antifungal, relaxes coughing and increases mucus secretions. Gargle as a mouthwash. Plant in well-drained light soil. Sow seeds in March and cover lightly with compost. Once seedlings sprout and danger of frost has passed move outside. Plant a distance apart. Don’t harvest first year. Water only in day conditions. Harvest year round.

Wormwood Antiseptic, helps with gastric pain and is a fever reducer. Plant in dry soil in bright sunlight. Make sure the soil is rich. *Toxic if taken in large doses!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

michigan

So i've arrived.
After 15 hours in a four door sedan with luggage and plastic bags jostling us around, we reached Michigan.
We're here for the Development Conference which is held once a year at the IICD school in Michigan. All of the Development Instructors from Massachusetts and California have come to brainstorm about you guessed it "DEVELOPMENT"!
I'm so tired.
We've been working like crazy.
There have been lectures and meetings and presentations and I haven't slept in er.... I don't know how long.
Monday I gave a presentation on education in Angola.
Today, I'm giving a presentation on the African American experience in America in an interpretive poem.
Our main task at this conference is to update the DMM system which is an educational data base containing the courses Humana uses to train it's teachers at the Teacher Training Colleges. So we are busy creating and uploading files. The work is tedious. We do this from 9am to 10 pm minus our food breaks.
On the up side the food is fantastic. I'm usually first in line. It's also great to meet all of the Development Instructors from the schools in the US to hear about their experiences with the program or in Africa.
It's interesting that we have all totally segregated ourselves here. The Americans and other English speakers (all seven of us) stick together like glue. The Brazillians, all twenty something of them are a team and the Japanese and Koreans have formed an alliance. To an extent things are segregated on the mountain by nationality but this is an extreme version. Its interesting to observe, there are a few floaters people who are sole representatives of there perspective countries, but for the most part, we separate.
Ok, i'm supposed to be working.....

Saturday, November 17, 2007

sunday brunch photo shoot






Here are some pictures from last Sunday's brunch at La Palapa.
Thanks guys for a great day!

Friday, November 16, 2007

site-finding sucess!

today
we found three sites in lebenon pa. (don't ask!)
it took a long time
it took a lot of work
but it happened
wew!
(granted four is goal but it's better than zero!)

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Site-finding blues!

Site finding in Philly is hard!
We're working for a non-profit organization that is affiliated with IICD called Planet Aid. Planet Aid's aim is to improve the environment by recycling clothing and supporting economic and social progress in developing countries.
Basically, Planet Aid has a bunch of yellow clothes collection boxes that they place at sites. They collect the clothes (usually 70 million pounds/year) and sell them wholesale to a number of customers in the U.S. and abroad as a means to financially support development projects (like IICD) overseas. Planet Aid donates 3/4 of their net income to support projects in eleven different countries in Africa, Central America, China and India.
Yay!
So we get to go from business to business to see if they would be willing to host one of the big yellow boxes. For each box we place, Planet Aid donates $150.00
Once again YAY!
But there is a catch...
Nobody wants a box. It's so frustrating. We need to try to average two a person/day and well, as seems to be usual for this trip, we are behind. We are very very behind.

Monday, November 12, 2007

So we're now in Philadelphia site finding for Planet Aid because we didn't make enough money in New York!
C'est la vie!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

oy!

fundraising in new york is difficult
too many people
too many distractions
too many other organizations competing for the attention of frustrated pedestrians and business owners
but i will not be defeated
if at first you don't succeed
try
try
again...

Sunday, November 4, 2007