musings of a ragamuffin

We’re less than a week away from leaving for Uganda, I can’t believe it. April and I finished up packing today, and with the exception of a few things, we’re ready to go. This week we’ve got to get our Hep A & B immunizations, and that finishes up our prep work. The fundraising has been going steady, and we’re sitting at 78% funded. So close. And I believe it’s finally setting in that we’re going to Uganda this coming week. And it’s weird, I can’t say I have any emotions about it. I think the “I’m kinda scared of all this unknown” is balancing out the “Hey, we’re going to Uganda with our friends at Blood:Water Mission, something we’ve always wanted to do.” I will tell you the emotion I do feel is extreme thankfulness for all you’ve donated that we could be able to go on this life-changing experience. 

I have went above and beyond to speak of my all weaknesses and faults, I’ve spoken of my desire to become a better person than I was yesterday to my community, and I am positive this trip will do just that. Gaining perspective and context of my own life outside of the bubble I live in will remind me to put others first, and to care about people on a deeper level. For that experience, I am thankful so many others have helped make it happen. True friends, folks who really genuinely care about us and support us have made this happen, and we’re both very thankful. This truly is a once in a lifetime trip for us, not a vacation, not a trip for fun, but something that really means a lot to us for what Blood:Water Mission does. And the fact that we could potentially get some sense of where we’re both at in terms of our adopting from the orphanage in Uganda really makes it even more special.

We’ve been doing a lot of searching on the internet for things like exchanging currency, charging our devices, what to eat/what not to eat, where’s it not safe to walk, you know, these sorts of things. If you have tips for this sort of traveling, I’d love to hear it. Neither of us have done anything like this before. April arrives in Kampala a whole day before I do, and will be staying at the hotel we’ll all be staying at. She’ll go into the city to find me Malaria medication, and I imagine she’ll be too scared to venture out more than that. She’s not quite as adventurous as I, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m sure she’ll be just fine. Other than that, the iPad is loaded with games and magazines, the iPod is loaded with music and podcasts, and we’re bringing a couple of books. Me? The Steve Jobs biography. 

If you’ve not donated to our trip, and are still interested, we’d much appreciate it. I can assure you my days of asking for donations are certainly over after this. You can donate by going here, and any amount is greatly appreciated- http://www.crowdrise.com/bwmuganda/fundraiser/jasondominy

You can read more about Blood:Water Mission by going here: http://www.bloodwatermission.com