How It All Happened?
Four years ago, I asked a friend of a friend of mine to meet up for a coffee. There was something about the way he spoke, the way he carried himself, and the way he viewed things in our world today that interested me. Every time we meet up, a thousand questions come to mind. How is he so secure? How can he be such a good listener? He is asking questions about my life like he really cares… WEIRD!!
That man was Ron Abarbanel, a pastor with Navigator Canada and a chaplain with the SMU hockey team. In the fall of 2008, after a few years of knowing each other, he asked me if I was interested to go to Uganda to volunteer. When I asked him what the trip entailed, he said it required a lot of hard, physical labour. I thought to myself, why would a 40-something year old guy want to do a lot of hard physical labour? - But quickly I got over that thought and said, Sure, I think it would be awesome!
Thanks to the support of my family, community and friends. I was able to fundraise $4,000 to go on the trip! On May 1st, 2009, I landed in Uganda. I was hot, tired and heartbroken –I had just terminated the longest relationship of my entire life. I looked around me and there were at least 200 people that walked (for hours potentially) from all around the village to come welcome us. I saw the hope in their eyes, the huge smiles on their faces and the love in their hearts. This was all because the Canadians were there! They knew we were coming to help. And I knew that play time was over.
What did we do?
One project we were involved in was building a dorm for orphans who have lost their parents to AIDS. We made great progress on it – shoveling dirt and moving bricks in the hot Ugandan sun. Until then, the children had been sleeping on cement floors in classrooms.
Our team had many opportunities to travel to nearby villages and run day camps for children. We took these opportunities to talk to them about an HIV/AIDS testing day being planned at the school. Testing in rural areas like Tabiro is riddled with challenges. People have many fears about being tested and good education is lacking. We were pleased that 365 people were tested and those who tested positive will receive free treatment for life. We hope that as a result of this initiative other communities nearby may also become more open to the tests. This will save many lives and slow the spread of AIDS.
How can you get involved?
This first post in my blog was to publicly say that I am going back to Uganda in April of this year. The experiences, human interactions, and learning opportunities that I had while in Africa were invaluable. But the most satisfying part of the trip is helping others that are in need.
Please donate towards my trip. You are not only helping your old buddy Fadi, but you are also helping 6000 people in a village that desperately needs our help!
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