PEN PAL PROJECT FEATURED IN PHILLY INQUIRER!

Thank you, Art Carey, for capturing the heart of this project so eloquently!

A LOVE LETTER BEFORE I LEAVE

 

 

 





         There's so much love and gratitude that I want to express to every person who helped make this dream of a garden in Bupala become a reality ~ thank you so much for helping our pen pals here and in Uganda to see that a little bit of love goes a long way.

 

  First, to SCA Corporation  who believed that teaching kids about living sustainably is a worthwhile investment.  This paper product company was recognized as one of the world's most ethical companies in 2014, and our garden is a small but meaningful way they have chosen to demonstrate their commitment to making the planet a healthier place for everyone.

 
                                                                          

  To Radnor Educational Foundation for sponsoring the Peace Flag Project.  Their generous grant allowed us to purchase supplies to create an outdoor art installation in the garden in Bupala where our community can share our true colors with their community.  This tye-dye and hand crafted flag-making project will adorn the garden in Uganda, and we will be conducting flagmaking workshops with the students at Bupala School so we can bring some of their beauty back to Radnor. 



    To High Road Cycles in Wayne: your donation of a new bike for a raffle has encouraged kids to donate to the Peace Flag initiative.  Some lucky kid will find out next week if s/he gets to cruise around on a brand new High Road bike this summer.  My son worked with their team of talented mechanics for years; if you need your bike tweeked, or if you need a new bike, visit them and tell them the RMS Pen Pals recommended you go there.  They completely rock.

    To Mom's Organic Market...I really hope everyone in Radnor finds this amazing market and gets hooked like I have.  Mom's learned about our project and jumped on board with us.  Developing a sustainable, organic garden was close to their hearts, even if it's in Africa.  They were kind and generous contributors to this mission.  Go there - you'll fall in love with food shopping again.  They spoil you with delicious bread and coffee and tea and snacks while you're shopping, then they carry your bags out to your car.  Kind, kind, compassionate people there.
     We all know that it takes                             

village, well, our village came through in such a loving way.  Rittenhouse Farms is a main staple in my diet.  Honestly, I only eat chicken/poultry from Rittenhouse.  Their turkey sausage and Sassano's amazing pasta salad made the Peace Flag Party on Morningside Circle a culinary event.  Thank you for feeding us so well.  Sassano's catered an event for me six years ago, and I'm still thinking about that food.  Their pasta at our Peace Flag Fundraiser was worth millions.    

                                            



 

   To all the folks in Hollywood who contributed, I thank you.  You know you can take the girl out of Hollywood, but you can't take the Hollywood out of the girl!  I am honored to spread your pure Florida sunshine on this lovely little village, and I'm touched that you helped to support this project.

    To my fellow volunteer adventurers: Catherine Spence-Godin, Molly Samson, Ryan Byrd, HannahWorrell, and our fearless source of inspiration, my college roommate, Joanne Trangle, founder of Kuchanga Travel:  we are about to embark on something huge.  I can't wait to see what wonders will unfold on this journey of a lifetime.  Traveling with Radnor students is the greatest honor imaginable.  

   To my students (present and past), colleagues, neighbors and friends in and around Radnor Township School District: every one of you has qualified for the Accelerated Compassion Class.  Thank you for creating and sustaining this friendship with our pen pals.  There are not too many schools around the world that can claim to have accomplished what we have.  We are helping to heal the world.  To every kid who helped sew, tie-dye or decorate a Peace Flag, helped bake for or contributed to a bake sale, wrote letters, grew plants, made a tile two years ago, cleaned and decorated your old gym shirts to send to Bupala...if you took an interest and/or you made a contribution, thank you. The people in Bupala will be dancing and singing in your honor.  I will do my best to capture their gratitude and joy.  They are very aware that you are making their lives healthier and more secure, and for that they send their deepest gratitude.  I'll send you some pictures.  


                                                                             With love and gratitude,
                                                                                             Jodi

PEACE FLAGS WILL SOON FLY IN BUPALA!

                               

     
       In three weeks, I’m leaving for Uganda. There are hundreds of balls in the air right now that need to be caught and put in their places, so stopping to describe what I’m experiencing is way down on my to-do list, but I want to fill you in before I go.

       Today, my friend and trusted engineer and liaison ‘in country’, Moses Bagonza, visited Bupala Primary School with a representative from Nogamu, an organic gardening outfit that teaches villagers how to become organic and fair trade certified, and then how to bring their organic produce to the international market. The message he just forwarded to me reads:

       At Bupala right now. Jane, the Nogamu lady is really good and keen on details. She has gotten the vision quite perfectly. She will prepare a report we will look at later. I will send over images as well. She is perfect. Am sure you will love her and her services.

Moses Bagonza & Kuchanga Foundation founder, Joanne Trangle

 

Sometimes all the pieces one needs magically fall into place, and then you have to wonder whether all the worry was necessary, because maybe this was all meant-to-be. 

 

For our last ditch effort, we’re creating Peace Flags to hang in the garden we are about to create.  This is a colorful reminder to the community in Uganda that our community wishes them success and well-being.  We are so abundantly blessed, this offering is our attempt to share some of our great fortune with their school community, because, as I often express in my Social Studies classes, we landed here by some accident of geography.  Our pen pals are as bright and curious and deserving of a healthy childhood and a school that encourages them to wonder and learn, so we’re making an effort to share some of our fundamental blessings with them. 

Come out and tie dye with us.  Every $10 donation will provide the flag-making supplies for you and for a student in Uganda, plus you’ll get a raffle ticket for a brand new bike donated by High Road Cycles in Wayne.  If you have a t-shirt or a pair of sox that you’d like to tie-dye to take home, bring it with you.  Stop by and tie-dye or paint a flag to fly in our garden. And thank you for letting our kids know that they can help make a difference in the world.

 

                         

 

 

 

 

Garden Explorers!

    Sixth graders spent the day exploring the pleasure garden at Chanticleer on Friday as part of our investigation into sustainable gardening practices.   Scott took us around the back of the operations to see how the gardeners create compost, and Emma shared the secrets to a delicious edible garden.  After a picnic in the grove, we created PEACE FLAGS to adorn our pen pals' garden, and explored Chanticleer with a sense of wonder and curiosity. 

    When we returned from Chanticleer, we transplanted some of our classroom seedlings into larger containers.   Thank you, SCA, for your generous grant which encourages us all to grow more eco-conscious, and thanks to the gardener-artists at Chanticleer for inspiring us to grow beautiful things!