The last dance

Hello! There is a long time since my last post! It is because I was very busy in Africa! :-)

I would like to thank the people that helped us to get there. My six months in Mozambique volunteering were really amazing! There are so much to do over there. I visited the community and educated the people about HIV, besides other iniciatives related to help sick people and orphans.

I did a beautiful documentary about my project that is available in youtube, just search for TCE Beira, and a movie with the activists and community about a HIV positive guy. Incredible experience, and amazing people that just deserve our love.

Thank you very much!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2009 arrived and with it a lot of expectations. In less then 2 months we are going to Africa! After the fundraise in Santa Barbara, that was nice, we have specialization weeks at school studing about our specific projects and the home travel week. I went to Brazil to see my family after almost one year far from them.
And now we have one more fundraise and a big goal to reach before to buy our tickets, 11 thousands dollars. We didn't get our goal and we are not soo near from it... It make us worry, specially because the crises we know is happening in USA. We are afraid about the money to accomplish our work in Africa.
We have a lot of faith because we believe that if we are trying something really good, will happen the best to us. But our fundraise didn't started so good, because ours friends from San Diego, the city we planed since last year to go for, canceled our accomodation in their homes at the last time, and now we are a little lost, without accomodation in San Diego and working with the probability to be in San Francisco even if the people here doesn't like our stay, because the house is completely full...
We need to work with this fellings again... The fundraise that we were thinking would be great, in our friends house became a completely frustraded thing! But is the begining of the year and we can't lose the hope because we must fell good the raise all this money! We are so anxious to go to Mozambique and Namibia... We are desesperate looking for accomodation in San Diego!
Something have to happen... The African miracle... Some good soul to help us! But we need to trust to, maybe here in San Francisco we will raise more money than there? But to be in a small house with more then 20 people and some looking bad to you its very difficult...
Anyway I hope everybody have a great new year, happy, health and beutiful!

Sunday Blood Sunday

If saturday was a bright day, on sunday the day was cold and cloudy... I hope it´s not a bad announcement for the rest of the week... I hope the weather get better as well as the people´s hearts.
I´m from Brazil and there is a lot of poverty there, even so I wanna go to Africa because I see them worst then people in my country. I can´t understand why some americans think they need more then this devastated country that is Africa. The majority there can´t have basics thinks that almost 100% of the people here has so easily, clean water is one of them.
I don´t agree to simple send money to this countries, especially with out a good control. Because of this we are going there in person, human resouces, sponsored by all the donators that believe in us.
I´m proud to go to Africa with the donations from people that belive we can do something real there, and we receive more than money, some people suport our souls. Somebody can think we are lazybones, vagabond, when see us asking money in front of the stories, but everybody left jobs, house, friends, a good life to donate two years for this cause, and to listen it really hurts. I prefered to be working to raise the money we need to go to Africa, but unfortunetly I can´t. In this country if we don´t have a permission to work... Well, but is part of my training... Talk to people, spread the idea, and be modest enough to live this experience.
Then I can learn a lot from it and come back to my country and help people in need there... I think that in USA there is people in need too, and we try to help them, like when my team do action weeks in the community here in USA, but the African problems are huge and they need help from everywhere...
So help us to go there people!!! Make a donation... :-)

Saturday, beautifull day

Today our fundraise was really good. Though the fire accident there are a lot of people here that can understand that Africa are in fire every single day. We would like to remember every face, every smile, but unfortunately We can´t. People that donate few coins but that were so excitated with our proposal, others that fortunately can help more, some hugs, some beautiful words, and everything will worth. We would like to say thank you for everybody again, the donators, the store managers, the people that gave us moral support, and our friend Marilia that is providing us free accomodation this two weeks. Thank you for the first week Sana Barbara!

Jose Craveirinha

A Spring of Bullets

I take hold of
My last humiliation
And without leaving my land
I emigrate to the North of Mozambique
With a spring of bullets on my shoulder.

And there
In the North I dine on roots
I drink the remains of rain where animals drink
During the rest-hour, instead of my spring of bullets
I take the handle of my spring of maize
And clear a plot, or if necessary
I crawl on my elbows
And on my knees

Then

Hidden in position in the middle of the bush
With my spring of bullets aimed
I make the reddest flowering flowers
Sprout on the dress-jacket of the Captain,
The hard price of our beautiful
Freedom reconquered
With shots!

Translation by Stephen Gray and Luis Rafael

Jose Craveirinha was born in Maputo, Mozambique, in 1922. He has published four collections in Portuguese, and won the Camoens Prize, the premiere Portuguese-language award, for his lifelong dedication to poetry. Craveirinha is considered to be Mozambique's foremost writer.

Fundraising again

The results from the second fundraise was not very satisfatory... We raised only half goal, and the better decision was send two of us to Los Angeles, because the work there gave us wonderfull results.
After all that emotion, sometimes not really good, We went back to school and we had one action week and two studies weeks. In our action week we visit the Yreka Hospice and helped with the Halloween community party in Fort Jones. In our two study weeks we studied about income generation and we produced fast courses to give to african people.
This weeks were a little sad, because we said good bye to a lot of people from may team and Central America team.
Now we are in Santa Barbara fundraising again. The city is small and rich, but the fire last week left the people here not so friendly... Thought the suffering from Africa be one of the worst in the world, people insist to compare... I thing that people from everywhere need help, but We think that Africa need much more than USA, even Brazil or Korea. If everybody I say hello in front of the store fundraising donate only one dollar I´m sure we already could buy our tickets to go there.
Of course everybody need to help their own people, I wanna help Brazil too, but to donate a little for the more in need it´s the minimumm to us that fortunetly had all the opportunities.

HELP! Second Fundraise Time - SF and LA

It´s like this... The second fundraise is not challenge, it´s problems and the goal damaged. We should be all together, but we are separeted for the circumstances and the impositions. People in San Francisco have accommodation but are confuse with the work, and here in LA we have activities to fundraise but a unstable acommodation, and the result is a bad fundaraide result. We need to raise around U$ 13.000,00 in three weeks, and after the first week we raised around U$ 2.000,00, we are pretty bad... But let´s see if we can recuperate the last week, or at least reach the goal for this week. If you know some opportunity to brazilians raise in SF or accommodation in LA please tell us!
HELP us!