Space at Last!
I’m sitting in the Sacramento airport waiting for my flight to Portland Oregon to visit my friends Dawn and Ken. I’ll be spending the week painting the last two sides of Dawn’s house as a 70th birthday present for her. My smart phone says the weather will be perfect the whole time. Yippee!
Our big news is that we finally have a workspace! I am so grateful to Faith Methodist Church in Schenectady for providing this room for us. This will make the many parts of this project so much easier to handle.
Last week I went to help clear stuff out of our new work room along with LuAnn Santabarbara and a young, very energetic teenage girl. We lugged toys, books, furniture and an air hockey table from the room leaving it with just a few things that needed more muscle than the three of us had. With a rug cleaning and some fresh wall paint it will be perfect for housing all the totes and supplies that have accumulated in my studio, porch, front hall and friend’s basements. I can’t wait to be in there. We’ll keep you posted about what we may need but we probably won’t know until we see how all of our supplies, fabric, crafts and files fit into the space.
The home of our new MoonCatcher Office is thanks to the generosity of the Faith Methodist Church in Schenectady.
While in Portland, I’m hoping to meet a woman from Bend Oregon who works with a school in Nepal and is a Rotary member. She’s interested in bringing MoonCatcher Kits to the school and hopes to get some support from her Rotary Club to make this possible. It’s fun for me to travel around the country and meet people interested in what we are doing.
As I was sitting here in the airport, I had a conference call with Maureen (my traveling partner) and a woman who runs a medical clinic in Haiti. Maureen and I asked lots of questions about Haiti and how best to navigate our trip there in January. Of course, most of what we need to know we are finding out from our partners from Bay Road Church in Lake George who we will be traveling with but the more information we have, the better.
Our “Moon-vie Night” was a great success. I find myself having long conversations with people who saw the film and are amazed by the stigma of being a menstruating woman. PadMan is such a fun yet educational film. I’m so glad we decided to show it.
It’s been a busy Summer. Our MoonBees have helped us finish another 350 kits that will be going to Zimbabwe for a group of AIDS orphans. The Glenville Rotary Club is helping us to get a grant from Rotary International for further work in Uganda. Sage college is partnering with us to involve students with a Kenyan school that needs our kits and menstrual education. Union College is kicking off the new school year with a MoonBee. We’ve been working with girl scouts in Lake George. Zonta is hosting a costume ball to support us on October 26 at The Water’s Edge Lighthouse in Glenville. Come dressed up (or not) and help make this a success! The International Foundation gave us a $25,000 grant and we have several other grants pending.
This looks to be a very fun eventing!
One of the most exciting things about to happen is that Phoebe Nabwami our partner from Uganda who makes The MoonCatcher Project happen there, is coming to the US to see us. She’ll be at our MoonWine and Cheese Party on September 17 and at several MoonBees and presentations too. If you want to meet an angel here’s your chance. We are so blessed to have Phoebe as part of our MoonCatcher team.
Phoebe Nabwami with students in Pallisa, Uganda
Enjoy the rest of the Summer. Mine has been great and I hope yours has been too.