Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Help Needed for Water Project, Uganda
Where does the time go so fast? That is my question as I have a difficult time realizing that it is already June when just yesterday it was January. Is this another sign of "old age"? or is it true for everyone regardless of age?
I want to devote this update to a cause that involves helping others who are less fortunate then most of us in America. Namely, the wonderful people in Uganda who live surrounded by genocide, poverty and lack of most everything we have. These are things our news does not report. After the Holocaust in Germany, most governments and countries said they would never allow genocide again. So, what happened? There is mass killing going on and the news fails to report it. Our Governments fail to act as they said they would. And we all stand by and just let millions die. Ignorance is bliss they say, is that the reason? If we don't know about it, it must not exist?
Several years ago I got involved helping one young person who sincerely wanted an education, not only for herself, but to then be able to help others in the community in Uganda. Today I find myself involved with 3 such students, all from one parent families who exist on virtually nothing. Each one desires not only the opportunity for education, but to learn how to help their communities.
The rewards for helping have far exceeded the aid given as these people are so genuinely thankful and humble. Through this process my learning experience of this country, and the surrounding ones of Rwanda, Burundi, the Sudan, where genocide has run rampant, has both enraged and enlightened me. It has also been a huge blessing to my life being able to focus a portion of my time and money to providing some little aid as best I can, inspite of MS.
Two years later I have been made aware of how much we take for granted. Water for instance. We just turn a faucet and have either cold or hot water, without much thought at all. The small college where these students live and study is one of the few that teaches both men and women, and those who have little or no means. This school also has not much in the way of monetary support. The headmaster alone supports 30 of the students, out of a total of 400 that attend. His income is less then what we call poverty level here. And, they have two dorms, one for women, one for men, and outhouses for bathrooms. They also carry water in jerry cans for 2 miles for use in drinking and bathing. Needless to say, they do not have showers as we do, nor indoor plumbing. On top of this, the country has little electricity, Kampala itself has power perhaps 1 to 2 hours per day at best.
February of this year I learned about this water situation and the fact that the school and 3 small surrounding villages would much like to have wells drilled that would provide easier access. This involves 400 students and about 7,500 villagers all within close proximity to the school. A study was done to learn how much it would cost to bore two well holes, a time frame, etc. This study showed that a total cost would be $7,500.00. Not too much for us here in the USA, but to these people - way beyond their reach. So it would remain a dream that may or may not happen in their future.
It was easy to say I would raise the money. What is not easy, is doing this with the "Challenge" this body lives with daily - MS! Even so, there are reasons larger then feeling sorry for myself and the "challenge" the body lives with -
Two reasons -
first, helping others reduces the time spent analysing the question "why do I have this "challenge"? and puts the focus on those with worse situations.
Second, the headmaster of the St. Catherine's College in Uganda is a friend and since we are both helping students whose families cannot support them, it was almost natural to say yes when he talked about the fact the college had no water system.
However, it is more difficult to find people willing to part with some of their dollars because of the "wants" they have for more materialism. So far, have raised some $3,730 towards a goal of $8,000, so they may drill two bore holes and have easier access to water. This does not provide running water, just much easier access.
Getting out and talking to people when one's speech is not good, and mobility is nil, takes effort for sure. The rewards of sending them $3,730 far exceeds any suffering this body puts up with. Since this is the day of computers and electronics, I have put together a special web site - www.bestbuysusa.com with the main purpose being that of raising money for the water project and to help with tuition for those young people who desire an education .. to then help their communities. 50% of all net earnings will go directly for these causes.
I am asking each of you to support this web site, tell your friends, family to make their online purchases using the 100 plus sources with thousands of products available. They will save on their purchases and the commissions this site earns will then help others. or ...
Direct contributions would also be terrific and graciously accepted. This is a very good and worthwhile cause so if you desire to help others less fortunate, donations can be made out to:
St. Catherine's College, Uganda
and mailed to either:
| Jim Haverlock PO Box 728 Twisp, WA 98856 | or: | North Cascades National Bank P.O. Box 7 206 S Glover Street Twisp, WA 98856 |
The bank has set up a "no charge" savings account for this purpose, from which a bank money transfer (wire) will then be sent to the bank in Kampala, Uganda.
Thank you in advance, your help is appreciated. And, we will notify you of the progress as the months continue.
Sharing another exciting piece of news - my book, "Challenging the Dragon" has been printed and available now!! This is a book I have been working on that contains some of my life story, experimental trials for progressive M.S., the new umbilical cord blood stem cell trial and much more. It has been quite an experience, this attempt to write a book to share with the world and more exciting to see it come to fruition. The publisher informed me the book will be on Amazon.com, Borders, BookSurge, Alibris and others. It will also be available on this site at Challenging the Dragon for $12.99 plus S&H You can read "preview pages here" in .pdf format. Will mention too, that a portion of each book sale made through my web site, will also go towards aiding Uganda school and clean safe water.
"YES" - yes I am happy about doing these treatments, the daily lifestyle of supplements, nutrients and diet - even if only to stop the progression of my Progressive M.S. The improvements are definite pluses which I thoroughly revel in.
"A strong positive attitude will help bring about more miracles than any wonder drug."
This statement is born of personal experience, for without my own positive attitude, there is no doubt but that my body and emotions would be on a downward spiral. The matter of being happy despite this daily "challenge" is a major "miracle" for me. At least I believe it is, for a positive attitude has made life interesting and enjoyable, and each change is an adventure. And as all of you with MS know, every day presents new challenges, the likes of which most of us never dreamed would happen. But, they are happening.
For more information regarding stem cells, here is a link to a Stem Cell Handbook that Dr. Anthony G. Payne has put together. It is full of updated, good information for those of you researching this topic. The 89 page handbook is in pdf format, so you can save it to your computer, print it out or just read it. This is the link: http://www.14ushop.com/wizard/HB082505.pdf
You can also order Dr. Steenblock's and Dr. Payne's just published book on stem cells HERE! - title is "Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Therapy", the gift of healing from healthy newborns. Regular Price is $24.95, order here at $15.72 through Amazon.
# posted by Best Buys USA @ 5:11 PM 
