GCP Montly Update: Transformations

I can't believe it's already November! I hope all of you who are eligible to vote in the United States are going out and voting. It's important! Ok. That's about as political as I can get in my capacity as a GCP person, according to the rules. Heh heh.

But seriously, as I think about the changes the U.S. faces, I contemplate what changes we so passionately believe in. What do you believe in? What changes do I believe in? I think about where we have come in the 2+ years I've begun my nonprofit (well, officially 2 years will be in January, but the seeds and efforts were sown about 6 months prior to that). We haven't exploded in growth or project-wise but to be honest, I never expected to be at this point really - having gone to Malawi, returned with many new ideas, connections, and finding direction in research that is somehow connected. And as the months go by, I find myself more and more passionate about social change, especially after having returned from Malawi. In some ways, Malawi seems like a distant memory as my days get filled up with papers, readings for class, and various administrative odds and ends that encompass my life here. But I can never forget the impressions left in my mind and heart during my visit to Africa. Conditions of life, the social welfare --or what we call the well-being--of people really depends on how we as a collective decide to actively participate, or just let the status quo be acceptable. And I am moved to find something to change, even if it is just myself and how I interact with my community and my world. I think of the quote by Gandhi that usually accompanies the end of my emails, "Be the change you wish to see in the world"; if I want to see change in the world, that change must begin with me. We've also often heard that quote that praying changes the pray-er. Transformation, or change, is a part of life - a natural part of life; and yet we sometimes want to just keep the same things, maintain the status quo, and not rock the boat. Isn't there a saying about how water that remains still turns bad (gosh that sounds like such a bad paraphrase of something so profound--sorry!!)? Paulo Freire -- a famous Brazilian educator -- talked about transformation of oppression from the bottom-up. And of course the Bible talks about transformation too. Ultimately, all of these lead me to believe that transformation is something worthy to be achieved, as is activity towards something worth attaining.

So I'd like to ask for your prayers and your support as we here at GCP turn our minds and efforts towards looking for some way to provide that sort of change beginning with one community in Malawi, and spreading that transformation to other communities. We are continuing our Providing Change campaign. I believe I already shared with you in a recent update that we were able to give $500 to the beginnings of a soccer field at a local high school (King's Victory Academy) in Blantyre, Malawi. But that is not enough, due to the cost of renting a bulldozer and the fact that the school is so far in from the main road. So keep collecting your spare change - pennies, nickels, dimes, we'll take 'em all! You have a lot of time now since I won't be going to Malawi until possibly next June, God-willing. For those of you in the Southern California area wanting to get the change off your hands sooner, I'll be in L.A. for the holidays so let me know!

Additionally, though it's been some time since we were collecting votes for our GiveMeaning proposal, it has not died. It has actually been going through some query paper-work and I've had to email back and forth with them in regards to this query form (which I had to send after I returned from Malawi due to the painfully slow internet there). It now looks like that will be cleared in order to begin the actual "project" phase, so I will send out more information on that when I find out. For those of you who are a bit puzzled because you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry; everything will come together when everything is finalized with GiveMeaning.org - a fundraising website. If you're curious, feel free to ask me!

And of course we are discussing and planning our continued project work in Malawi for next year. So please pray for wisdom and vision for us. And with that, let me just leave you with one more reminder of transformation - this is truly beautiful, and something other than my studies that helps me enjoy the fact that I'm here. This is from a retreat I just went to not long ago in upstate New York where fall was in full effect. Enjoy!!