Check out what our amazing students have to say as they open the letters they wrote to themselves during one of our camp activities in January. This exercise was really an opportunity to reflect and guide; many of the kids were vocal about being excited to really connect with themselves on a deeper level.…

Thanks Mr. Monaco! Check out his blog.

http://www.parishepiscopal.org/page.cfm?p=921&eid=2221

Today is our day to explore Kampala.  We woke up for breakfast and were greeted by several of the EAC kids, as always- lots of warm hugs. We loaded on our coaster and headed out.  Our first stop was the Nakasaro Market.  The market is an outdoor array of everything imaginable with rows of vendors crammed together selling their goods.  The first booth we came to was selling fried grasshoppers- and by…

We cannot believe that Day 3 has already arrived.  It has been an incredible journey exceeding all of our expectations.  We started today in our typical manner with music and dancing.  The EAC kids came in happy and ready to start working.  Several commented that they were not ready to see this come to an end.  What a great compliment.

William Malouf had the kids complete a really fun and energizing ice breaker.  Everyone in the room was instructed to write down 3 sentences…

Day 2 was even better than the first! After an exhausting dinner the night before, we went straight to bed and were ready for the next morning! The kids arrived early once again, all wearing their ReThink T-shirts. They were so excited for another day and eager to see what we had in store. We started the day off with dancing and music, which created a really light and fun mood. 

After everyone settled down, each student went around and picked a favorite quote, from the leadership…

We prepared the room the evening before. It looked great. Everyone was very excited about getting everything set up. We had lime green string bags, composition books, curriculum books, pens, thumb drives, markers, name tags, candy and a giant screen for our power point and videos. By the end of the night T-shirts were all organized, the tables were set with waters and supplies, and everyone was ready to go. It looked like a professional conference and we knew the kids would be excited to see…

We arrived in Uganda via Kenya on New Years Eve 2012. Usually when we arrive in Uganda our drive to Kampala is one filled with excitement. Though the streets were filled with even more chaos than normal because it was New Years Eve, our drive to our hotel was different this visit. 

Before we left Kenya, we learned that one of our students had tragically lost his life. Joseph Chan died in a Boda…

It was Sharon's mother we moved into her new home several years ago. I am proud to share this story about what successes she is accomplishing at school. Check out the blog below.

I cannot wait to see her this December. We will be in Uganda with all of the Empower students - ReThink Leadership Camp!

I will keep you posted on all of the details.

It will be amazing.…

ReThink recap for the year 2011-2012

• Thanks to everyone for all of the help and support, especially since this was a year that the Spirit of Uganda troupe was in the United States.

• We raised over $10,000 dollars in cash and gift card donations. We also collected thousands of dollars worth of supplies and donations that were solely intended for Empower African Children.

• Hours were spent volunteering for various activities, projects and events: painting…

I wanted to share this post from a mom that brought her daughter to see the "Spirit of Uganda"  performance in Santa Rosa, Ca. last week. Her daughter, 'Queen Teen," is deaf and blind. Read what she has to say. I know that each of you that has had the privilege to be with our Ugandan friends are not surprised by their humble warmth. I am so proud to know these kids and I have so much to learn from them. Thanks for sharing and caring about my Empower African Children brothers and…

Future Goals for ReThink:

Raise money to bring Empower students over from Uganda for a semester, year or weeks to be a part of our schools community. Our headmaster is completely on board with this idea. The link I am adding is about the 3 EAC kids that came and spent a few weeks with us at Parish. I was able to pay for their flight with money that continued to be donated through my ReThink project. it was great having Sharon at school with me because she was able to share with our…

Ford Noble Runner-Up #3

Google "Teen Impact - Huffington Post". I submitted a blog post about my work with Sharon's family in Uganda. Huffington post is sponsoring a contest with Universal and the movie "Big Miracle". I was notified that I was chosen as a finalist, 11 finalist and 2 runners - up. They have not posted my blog yet but have posted #'s13-5 so far. I am honored to be among those chosen and I am grateful to Ms. Gende, my honors physics teacher, that brought this opportunity to my attiention. She is the…

Missing my Empower friends...

My parents have instilled in me from an early age the importance of traveling and experiencing other cultures. Last Thanksgiving on a trip to Uganda, I finally realized the significance of other cultures and the position I am in to help others. We traveled to Uganda to help start a learning lab for underprivileged children in Africa. My experience began with an emotional encounter with a young African girl named Sharon. Sharon is an Empower African Children (EAC) student. Her father died of…

Dear Friends:

 

As many of you know, I started a club at school called Re-Think. Many of my classmates are involved and we plan to raise awareness and support for changing the future of kids and families that are a part of Empower African Children, a non-profit that is based here in Dallas and Kampala, Uganda. Re-Think is partnering with WOW (Women for Orphans Worldwide) at school. I am really excited and proud that we are working together on some great initiatives, learning so…

Three of my Empower friends were able to come to Parish for a week and be a part of our community. Moses, Noel and Sharon are all high school students that are a part of Empower in Uganda. Sharon is the student who I was able to help when I was in Uganda over Thanksgiving. She brought pictures of the business we were able to create for her mom. It was great to see her mom so proud at her little kiosk selling vegetables and coal. Knowing that she is able to feed her…