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| Just a few of my crazy nieces and nephews! |
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| My mom and Dad and I |
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| Camping on the North Shore with my nieces |
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| At Gooseberry Falls with my nieces |
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| Me in my big, red truck! |
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| Minnesota Fall |
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| Beautiful, paper beads made by Beautiful Ugandan Women |
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| Our Halloween Carnival |
Here we are, another year coming to an end, another year beginning. Peel back a layer and start anew, start again and what will you do differently, what will you do better? I'm feeling like a detox, an enema and a power surge flushing of the entire body this time of the year is in store for me! Feeling stuffed and blessed!
It's hard to believe I've been home for nine months already! Six of those months were spent driving dump truck for my brother. The dumping season was a good one, it turns out I have a love/hate relationship with the job! I really enjoy touring around the beautiful state of Minnesota all summer, jumping in lakes and walking along trails when I can. My days are spent hauling pea rock, listening to good tunes and b.s.ing with the boys I work with. My nights were spent under starry sky's while sleeping in the box of my dump truck. Occasionally I'd get rained on, which would lead me to sitting up in the cab of my truck and trying to sleep, and then to a hotel room the following night! The fall was spent trying to navigate my way around the Twin Cities while hauling hot mix for making new roads. I was hauling hot mix directly to my brother, who was running the paving machine out on the road, which was fun cause he is my boss, but I don't usually even see him for the majority of the summer. Working in the Cities also allowed me to be my youngest sisters roommate, whether she wanted one or not!! Brooklyn Park was a great place to crash and a dog to walk each night when I got home was a bonus! There were many long days behind the wheel (10-15 hours a day, sometimes more!) plenty of Saturdays and even Sundays that we worked when there are so many things happening and so much summer fun to be had...hello, layoff and hello, winter fun!!
I lost my Father in September. Which, of course, has been extremely difficult and still today it feels like it can't be true, I'm told time is an amazing healer though and I can only pray that is true. On Christmas Day, it was three months since we lost him. I am so thankful it happened when I was here, in the country and I'm also very thankful for the five weeks we had with him in the hospital to get used to the possibility of losing him and to say our good-byes. If nothing else, death reminds us in a big, bold way that this life is temporary and none of us will be here forever.
Raising money and awareness about my friends in Uganda has kept me busy and it has also kept me catching up with so many old friends! 2014 has been a year of amazing old friends and many wonderful new friends too. Whether it's selling beads in a cafe or a home slideshow and bead party, a community room, a library, a church, a classroom full of eager students with ooodles of questions, a Rotary Club meeting, or a Lions Club meeting with only 5 minutes to speak, I have found so many amazing and really good, good people. I'm so grateful to all of you for opening your homes and hearts to the mission and to my Ugandan friends! I'm returning to Kisoro in February, I'll only be there for three months this time. It's going to be hard leaving my family and especially my mom this time around, which means, I'll have to work hard and fast while I'm there! I've been doing innumerable slideshows and presentations, sharing photos and stories about Uganda and raising awareness of the struggles that life consists of for so many. I've also been selling the beautiful handmade paper beads that Ugandan women make. We were also awarded a $4,000. grant from the Franciscan Sisters in Little Falls! I'm so grateful and so excited to return and start improving lives, little by little, one at a time. We will continue to focus on supplying water tanks and also on creating jobs through crafting co-ops and whatever else the ladies can come up with! All this, in turn is hopefully working also to educate us of the blessings we are surrounded by and remembering what our true blessings are!
I know what you're all wondering!; Ebola is
in West Africa, I am in East Africa, it's like New York and L.A. I feel
confident that it has been contained and that it is safe for me to go
to Uganda right now. No more risky than walking down the streets of
Brooklyn Park!!
Thank you all sincerely for supporting Resilient Uganda and myself in 2014 ~Without love, we have nothing.
Tonight as I listen to the deep gurgling belly of the river as it freezes, I'm thinking about the beating drums that will be soon be my background noise and the children's voices that will greet me when I'm running down the dirt roads of Uganda. All the little faces and arms that are so eager to wrap around my neck. How can it be that that is all they ask for in this world?
Please stay in touch, words from you keep me connected and remind me of the love I am surrounded by. All of you good people I've met through the year who have offered support, prayers, praise and encouragement, you give me the strength and courage to pass it on, I'd love to hear from you!
Thank you all sincerely for supporting Resilient Uganda and myself in 2014 ~Without love, we have nothing.
Tonight as I listen to the deep gurgling belly of the river as it freezes, I'm thinking about the beating drums that will be soon be my background noise and the children's voices that will greet me when I'm running down the dirt roads of Uganda. All the little faces and arms that are so eager to wrap around my neck. How can it be that that is all they ask for in this world?
Please stay in touch, words from you keep me connected and remind me of the love I am surrounded by. All of you good people I've met through the year who have offered support, prayers, praise and encouragement, you give me the strength and courage to pass it on, I'd love to hear from you!
May 2015 be the year that we are all truly grateful of the many blessings that surround us.
Love, Blessings, Peace and Health to each of you,
Bonnie
For a tax deductible donation:
Send a check payable to H.E.L.P. (our partner organization) to:
H.E.L.P.
1041 S County Rd 3
Johnstown CO 80534
Please
include a note (separate from the check) indicating that the funds are
for Resilient Uganda, then let me know you need a receipt and the tax
i.d. number and I will e-mail it to you!
For a non-taxable donation:
Send a check payable to Bonnie Bzdok to:
Bzdok's
9161 Great River Rd
Little Falls MN 56345
or
Visit our website: https://resilientuganda.webs.
Thank you so much, your donation will go directly to improving the lives of Ugandans and building projects of empowerment.
Wacozey Chaney! (Thank you very much!)
