The Movie Precious

At about 4:30 today a work we watched a movie called “Precious”. This movie gives a very vivid and real portrayal of different disparities that one girl had growing up in Harlem. I would not suggest watching this movie if you are not mentally prepared to deal with the shocking experiences the main character goes through. Including rape, HIV/AIDS, illiteracy, a mother’s physical and mental abuse and growing up in a family that lives off of abuse of the welfare system.

This movie truly shows how a person can take every unfortunate experience/relationship and strive to make a better life for herself and her children. As some of you may know I am a firm believer in one’s ability to not become a product of their environment. This movie reinforced that for me and is giving me added excitement about this project called “Girlz got SKillz” that I am working on. I only hope that I can pass some of this passion and hope that I share to the participants.

One of the things that was so interesting about watching this movie here in Africa, is that I kind of forget how bad some people’s situations are in the US. Sometimes I feel like people here put me on a pedestal because I am from the US and think that is a place with no problems/no disparities. I am not trying say that life in the US compares at all to life in the townships or in the more impoverished area’s but that sometimes I forget about the people in my home country that experience so many awful things. Or how many (including myself) are sometimes so oblivious to the disparities of other around and sometimes we fail to realize how in need people in our own communities are.

Another really enriching part of this movie was how it showed that sometimes what makes people turn their lives around is one person taking the time to care about them. For me and my experience in Africa or working on the refugee project back in Knoxville I’ve learned that sometimes it is about the simple things you do in life. More often than not little things like taking an elderly person to the grocery store, saying hello and really asking someone how there day is, or taking the time to make someone feel special, is what can make the most difference. I have found that it is not always about the “flashy” projects or the large events, but sometimes just making a conscious effort to be supportive of the people around you, that is what can make the most difference.

It was like the pastor of my church here in Cape Town said, if you can take the time to touch two peoples lives a week, think of all the good that could be done. These small acts of kindness could have a ripple effect, where the people you have affected then start touching people in their lives. I think sometimes we all need to be reminded of that. Additionally, you don’t have move to Africa to try and make a difference (I am so grateful for my experience here), but that there are things that can be done in our own communities; even if it is small.

One thing that I did while working at 21^st Mortgage was become a tutor once a week for a school in one of the lower income areas of Knoxville. I met once a week for an hour with a student that the school recognized could use more support. The girl I was partnered with had a mother who was bed ridden with cancer and ended up passing away during that year and a father who was working on achieving his PHD. Sometimes I would get so frustrated hearing that she missed school because she did not have a ride or how she felt so alone all of the time. But then I met her father at her graduation and he said that he struggeled with how to raise her. He said, "I don't know anything about 11 year old girls." I realized how hard it was for him and the struggles that he faced.

It was so amazing to see what just spending one hour a week with this child made a difference in her life to the point that when her mom died she wanted to call me and talk with me about it. To me I think that the person that volunteers there time gets just as much out of it as the person they are helping. I have heard similar stories from my friend Whitney or Staci on the kids that they worked with. This is just a prime example of how taking a little extra time can make a huge difference in someone's life.

This movie just really affected me today and I wanted to share some of it with you.

With Love,

Sarah

What a Great Day

The past few days..my life has been amazing

Things are finally coming together for me, in the kind of organization that I am use to. Busy all the time, a lot of important stuff going on, and feeling in somewhat control of it. I am really enjoying it. To start I am leaving Cape Town on Monday and going to Windhoek Namibia. I will spend two days there, where I will pick up the bag I left over 4 months ago and go to home affairs to finally get my Visa. Then on Wednesday I am driving to a small diamond mining town, where I am going to give a site visit for a new possible partnership for Grassroot Soccer. I will stay the night in the coast town of Swakomund. Then on Thursday or Friday, I will head up to Northern Namiba and start preparation for the project there. I will be in the North for 5 weeks, where we will hold two week long trainings.

I created a map on google maps to show you where all of these different places are. Just click the link below. You can zoom in and out on it to see the different areas…

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&view=map&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Cape+Town,+Western+Cape,+South+Africa&msa=0&msid=111352366795340182163.00047e16188f51931aba3&ll=-20.228717,15.805161&spn=29.726633,56.513672&z=4

I am also spear heading a big project to take place in Cape Town, from April 5^th -11^th, titled Girlz got Skillz. We are having girls from Northern Namibia, the US and some from South Africa participate in a week long cultural exchange. This exchange will focus on increasing leadership and self-efficacy in regards to HIV/AIDS prevention and to help instill that these girls can make choices (friends/organizations that they can belong too) that can help them create an environment that will lead to success. Therefore, not becoming a product of their environment. This is becoming an amazing event and something I am really excited about. I am helping design and will be running the programming for the event as well as organizing a lot of it. This kind of work, is right up my alley.

As things get more organized with both projects I will keep you updates and pictures..(I promise)One of the neat projects of Girlz got SKillz is that the participants are going to doan Amazing Race Cape Town. In this, they will go all over Cape Town, take pictures, have a scavenger hunt and get to see the city. However, instead of just running around taking pictures, each group will have been given a female in South Africa's history, who was a leader, overcame obstacles and had an influential role in SA and try and tell their story through the places they see and pictures they take. One of the nights where all of the girls are staying, we will have each group share their adventure. This is going to be so neat.

We are also having a soccer tournament at the end of the week. Part of this tournament will be the Call to Action Festival. We are going to ask organization that support women in the community set up booths where people can walk by and get information from an organization of a service they might need. I am excited to see how the "Carnival" type atmosphere goes over here in Africa.

All of these projects are in the early stages, but my job is to organize everything. I am really working on my delegation skills and am handing over some pretty big jobs to other interns. But I am excited to see what different ideas they bring to the table.I will keep you posted as the ideas develop more, I am just so thankful to have them on paper and start checking activities off. The next few months, time is going to fly by!!

Also, I just found out that it looks like I will be in Johanasburg for the World Cup, which is what I wanted to be doing. I know this is a vague taste of what I have coming up, but I will have a lot of pictures and new adventures to share in the next couple of months to come.

Sarah

You are a creation of God, made in his image. You are not on this earth merely to exist – Paula White

This blog is dedicated my Grandma Mary Elizabeth Sarro, she passed away on January 6, 2010.

I have just come back to Africa home from my trip to the US for the Christmas and New Year Holiday. The trip was very fun and needed. I was lucky enough to spend 6 days in Knoxville and 10 days in Oregon. In Knoxville, I was able to spend time with my Tennessee Family the Moyes, visit 21^st Mortgage, spend time with church and soccer friends, and had one of the greatest Christmas Days. I am so excited for my friend Whitney who is going to have a baby and I can’t wait to meet him or her when I come back to the states. Spending time in Knoxville made me realize how much of a great life that I had over the previous 3 years, it was a truly amazing place to be!!!

I then headed to Eugene, OR and spent 10 days with my family. I had so much fun with all of my brothers and their friends, my parents, my grandma and my friends. We also had an amazing Christmas Day. My family got me a total of 54 DVD’s to help me get through the months and weeks I will spending in Northern Namibia. Between both Christmas’s I got more than enough stuff to keep me going for the next 6 months; for that I am so thank ful. We also watched a lot of movies, played Apples to Apples, and went bowling.

I had the most amazing two week trip back home and what makes it so amazing is that I got to spend 2 days with my Grandma before she passed away. I am still in a little shock, last Monday I was talking to her and she was fine and healthy and then she passed away 3 hours into my flight from Los Angles to London on Wednesday.

There have been very few experiences in life where I have wanted to be at home with my family and not been able to be there. They are playing the song, “My Favorite Things” – from the Sound of Music before people say their favorite memories of times with Grandma at the funeral today. So whenever I start to get sad about the situation, I sing parts of that song and it seems to make me feel better.

My brother Aaron is reading what I wrote at the funeral today, here is what I wrote:

I guess as relationships with Grand Parents go I was pretty lucky because of the relationship that I had with my Grandma Mary. I think it was that I was sick all of the time as a kid had something to do with it. I would go over to her house and she would make Tomato Soup, we would play scrabble, read books and eat chocolate. Somehow it made having strep throat all of the time not that bad.

As a kid there were things about Grandma that always amazed me, like how she made your bed in the morning even if you were only out of it for a few seconds, how she kept her house so cool with only 2 fans in the hottest time of the summer, or how her hair always looked so good. But it wasn’t until I was a little older that I realized what an amazing and independent woman my Grandma was. I have enjoyed talking with her about her favorite places to travel, what it was like being in the Navy and a little about my Grandpa Joe. I have really enjoyed just being her friend.

The past couple of years have been really hard seeing how age started to change Grandma. I consider it a true blessing that I lived in Eugene one year after college so that I could spend time with her either by taking her shopping or the time Joey and I were able to sit at her house and hand out Halloween Candy.

One of my favorite memories of that year was a surprise birthday that we had for her. I picked her up and told her that she and I were just going to dinner. As I was driving she said that she was glad that we were going to dinner, but that she wished that she would get to see all of her kids. It made me laugh because I knew that her kids, grandkids, and dear friends were waiting for us at the pizza parlor. That was such a special day.

The past few months have been a real true blessing. It was so great to hear how good she was doing and that she had made some new friends where she was living. I even got to hear grandma sing while her friend Judy played the ukulele. I am so grateful for the peace that my grandma had over these past four months.

I know today is a sad day, but grandma would have been so happy that all of her kids, grandkids, great grandkids and dear friends were together. I wish that I could be there with you today, but I think I am exactly where my grandma wanted me to be. I will miss her dearly!

I would have never guessed that this was going to happen but I am so thankful that I was with her 2 days before she passed and that my brothers are still in town to be with my mom. Sometimes life sends you challenges that you never expect, but I have to believe that there is a reason for everything, even if I don't know what that reason is.

I am having meetings tomorrow that should help to decide when I am heading to Namibia. I am getting excited about the projects I am working on and can’t wait to tell you about them.

Love,

Sarah