Welcome My Kids!

Doin the "happy dance"

The children have arrived!

What a happy day this is. I finally received the welcome package from the Guinea Bissau Children’s Village containing the information of my 2 new children.

They are Josefino age 6 and his sister Delcimara age 8. According to my information they are both in good physical shape and very well adjusted.  Next step is to write them letters so that we can become acquainted. Although  the official language of the country is Portuguese, the suggested language for correspondence is French or English.

Here are their photos. Sorry they aren’t very clear. I took a photo of the photo (my scanner is working) but you get the point. 

I think that the children at the SOS Children’s Villages receive better treatment and have access to schools and resources that children at some of the other orphanages do not have. The philosophy of SOS is different and although the children will never be adopted they have the benefits of living in a family unit. I’m sure personal sponsorship plays a big part as well.  

Please follow Josefino & Delcimara over at devon4Africa

Little Dresses for Africa - (Wisconsin style)

Today we have a "Guest Blogger" who happens to be my dear friend Toni.  She is a fellow artist and we have been friends for a number of years.  We used to ride the ferry into San Francisco each day to work before she moved out of state (I miss those conversations). She was also one of the first people I told about my idea to do the Little Dresses and she was immediately on-board. Toni has been a great source of inspiration and support as this project unfolds. 

Her group will host their Little Dresses for Africa party at the same time that we host ours here in CA.

Check out her story below and the beautiful flyer she created

I knew I wanted to spend time during the winter months doing some sewing, relearning the skills I had from years of sewing my own clothes, being creative in use of fabrics, and just enjoying the construction process. I didn’t have an idea of what I would do, just something. That night, my dear friend Devon, emailed me a story about a project called “Little Dresses”  where pillowcases are turned into cotton sundresses for children in Africa. Tai Chi has taught us that when we send intentions out into the world, that they are felt by those we have thought of, but I couldn’t believe that my intention was answered that quickly!

I formulated a plan to host a sewing party, and created a flyer to pass out, hoping to get some material donations. I was astonished at the reception! I spoke in front of my Tai Chi class, and was amazed at how quickly people agreed to participate. Even both of the men in class said that they would like the opportunity to do something like this for these girls. I assured everyone I can put them to use, sewing skills or not. So far, I have one woman awaiting her adoption process, one woman with superior sewing skills, one woman and her 93 year old mother coming to sew, one who will donate pillowcases, and Joseph who says he can sew a button on, and perhaps a family of 3. And a promise of another sewing date in February at the spa where the Tai Chi classes are held!

As I told Devon, people want the opportunity to do good, and thanked me for the chance to participate in this project.  And I thank Devon for seeking out this opportunity and allowing us to participate with her. World Sewing Day coming up on January 23!

Thank you Toni

I'm Just Sayin!

Holiday Pup Photo update

Giving a little direction (Lily & Lola)

Lola

Lazy day for the Retro Urbandoggs

KWANZAA Basics

A neighbor invited me to a Kwanzaa celebration this coming Thursday.

Kwanzaa is practiced for 7 days and Thursday is the 5^th day. Day 5 is dedicated to Nia (meaning purpose). What a perfect day for me attend, as I’m feeling very purpose driven these days.

In case you don’t know the Kwanzaa basics

 here they are

Kwanzaa starts on December 26th and ends on Dec 31^st

Kwanzaa: pronounced (kwahn-ZAH) meaning; First fruits in Swahili, is an African American social tradition, practiced by people of African decent to celebrate black identity and a reinforcement of community.

The tradition of Kwanzaa is relatively new and started after the Watts riots in 1966. Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chairman of Black Studies at Cal State Long Beach was the creator.  Kwanzaa is a combination of several different African harvest celebrations such as those of the Ashanti & the Zulu.

There are many ways to celebrate Kwanzaa but usually families gather together each evening and a child will light one of the 7 candles on the kinara (candleholder). The black center candle is lit on the first night and one of the seven principles is discussed. The principles are around values of the African culture which contribute to building and reinforcing the values in the African American community. Each night thereafter a candle is lit and the corresponding principal is discussed.

Seven Symbols of Kwanzaa

I'm Just Sayin

Tribute to Lady T

TEENA MARIE  (Mary Christine Brockert)

March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010

A bright light has gone out today. Legendary singer, song-writer, musician and producer Teena Marie, has passed away. Reportedly, she had been feeling fine but passed away in her sleep last night at her home in Pasadena, CA. She was 54.

Born Christine Marie Brockert to a Portuguese father and French mother, Teena’s big vocals and R&B tone come form her godmother. She was a native of California and raised in the predominantly African American enclave (Oakwood) in West LA. She attended Venice High School in LA.

Christine changed her name to Teena Marie in the 1970’s and was discovered shortly there after by Berry Gordy. Teena worked with many singers but was probably best known for duets with Rick James (who also sufferered an early death at 56 back in 2004.

Teena has one child, a daughter (Alia Rose) stage name - Rose LeBeau (also a singer).

I, for one, am stunned and saddened by this news. I have a large collection of music by Teena Marie and have used her songs as background for slideshows I have posted on this blog. Her favorite album was Irons in the Fire (1980) which she wrote and produced. It was one of my favorites too. Unfortunately I could not find a video of Irons in the Fire to post so here is Lovergirl instead.

 Lady Tee Rest In Peace. You will be missed

I'm Just Sayin

Christmas Day 2010

Happy Holidays!

Christmas - Back in the Day

Christmas Time in Detroit circa 1950’s

Me & my cousin on Xmas age 4

 Me on Xmas age 3

Me on Xmas age 4

Let's Hear it for the Pres

DADT

The Start Treaty

9/11 Responders

Net Neutrality

Child Nutrition

Extension for UnEmployment

The last couple of weeks have been like a political whirlwind. Whew, I'm tired!  
What a glorious day it is today for President Obama and the American people!!

And…I gotta give credit where credit is due. The man got some sh*t done! Period, full stop - Applause, Applause. President O is some politician. If I’ve learned anything, I learned that.

Don’t get me wrong, I still harbor a high degree of pissocity at President Obama for not fighting harder to repeal the Bush Tax Cuts (forever after known as the Obama Tax Cuts – for better or worse). I refuse to piece back together the picture of him which I ripped into a million pieces over its passage, but I am happy for the progress that was made on these other issues. (centrist as they may be - except for DADT). I don’t really think that the Republicans had all of this in mind when they challenged the president to a game of chicken last week.  I’m pretty sure that after the tax cut deal they probably figured that was the end of it. They could not have forseen all of this coming. POW!

Anyway, it’s done and the Pres has mustered up some spunk and gained a little bit in the polls. The people are happy and all is right with the world.

Until January.

Get ready when the Repubs take charge. They are mad as heck now cuz they sorta got played. They are not shy about their agenda either and have made it CRYSTAL clear who they work on behalf of.  

The next two years are going to be scary

So Middle class “you better hang on tight”

It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

I'm Just Sayin!

Pot Belly

I thought this was a cute little music video and 

an excellent example of diversity at work.

Music by Freshlyground, an Afro-Fusion Band from Cape Town, South Africa

NJoy

It makes sense, doesn't it?

I'm Just Sayin!

Paris Snow

It will all be gone when we get there!

I'm Just Sayin!

A Different Kind of Christmas

If you were to come to my house today, you would notice right away that I do not have one - single - solitary - Christmas decoration up. Not even a candle. I’m just not in the mood to decorate or get into the holiday gift buying spirit this year. I have been listening to Christmas music on my iPhone and on the special Comcast channel“Sounds of the Season” but that is the extent of my involvement. I think part of it is the terrible economy. I can’t justify spending the money on a bunch of, soon to be forgotten, lost or broken toys and gifts.

I bet if I asked my 2 grandchildren if they still have the nice little Sony portable Dvd players, matching carry bag and headphones I bought them last year for Xmas, they would get very quiet and only if urged, begin to make excuses about why they can’t find them, why they don’t work anymore or who broke whose. So, I won’t ask. This year I sent each of them a generous Visa card. They can buy themselves whatever they want. Whatever they buy, I can assure you, it won’t last long. American kids! You gotta love em.

So anyway, this year I am going to do something different. I am going to spend my time and money trying to help some children who are way less fortunate than any kid most of us have probably ever seen.  In yesterday’s post I told you that I was sponsoring a little girl from Guinea Bissau. Today the sponsorship office told me of a pair of siblings at the SOS Children’s Village in Guinea Bissau. They are a boy age 6 and a girl age 8. I had not thought of sponsoring a boy but these 2 might have a difficult time getting sponsorship since there are 2 of them. So I agreed to accept the responsibility of sponsoring both. So, now I await my sponsorship package with all the exciting details surrounding the children and the Village. Actually, I figured this would also give Mr. C an opportunity to join in on the experience.  My gift to him in a way.

And even though I’m a holiday drop out this year I feel happier and more alive than I have in many years. 

Hope you’ll all take time to celebrate the TRUE meaning of the holiday!

I'm Just Sayin!

New Blog

I started another blog today. It’s just getting up and running so please be patient as construction may take a few more days. The new blog will be devoted solely to my efforts in Africa.

                      devon4Africa

In the future I will post all of my Africa volunteer projects on that site. That will free up this site for the continuation of my musings on everyday life.

And BTW - I'm very excited to tell you that I'm sponsoring a little girl from Guinea Bissau. Don’t know who she is just yet so you’ll have to follow my progress over at the other site.

See ya there

And please continue to follow me here as well.

New Blog devon4Africa

I'm Just Sayin

In the Beginning

I haven’t put up any flyers yet. Still just word of mouth. Have to work on it this weekend and Ms Starr has volunteered to make them up for me. 

We do have some fabric though. Thought I would post it for you to see. They are so colorful and bright. We still have to get seam bias tape but at least we have a start.

Thank you CW for getting the beautiful fabric for us! These will make colorful dresses for the girls. Can’t wait to post the pictures of the finished dresses and better yet, photos of the girls actually wearing the dresses!  

I'm Just Sayin!

Music I forgot to post

In case any of you wanted to hear an excerpt of music by Kimi Djabate,
 I found this short YouTube of his music.
Kimi is playing guitar here but his primary instrument is the Balafon (African xylophone). An instrument I have now fallen in love with is the Kora (made from the half of a large calabash – it sounds like a jazzy harp to me) There is a Kora musician who plays with Kimi by the name of Braima Galissa. LOVE him! I should have posted this the other day. 
(Kimi isn't doing much on vocals and there is no Balafon or Kora pictured in this video)

Anyway

Here ya go

I'm Just Sayin!

A Snowball's Chance

I love to put em in their place

Ha Ha!

Take that, Mr BMW!!

He Ain't Heavy

Today I bought a Cd (Karam) by a musician and griot (African historian/poet/singer) named Kimi Djabate. He is from Guinea Bissau – SURPRISE! –

This is Kimi Djabate’s 2^nd Cd. He sings about the social and political realities of Africa including freedom, poverty, women’s rights and love.

I’m enjoying it, even though he isn’t even singing in English. I think I’ll listen to it during my commute this week. Catchy melody and beat.

I purchased the Cd at Arts Africains (an African art & gift store in Emeryville). Conveniently, it's right next door to the Apple Store. After I decided I probably didn’t really need that iPad, we stopped by and I talked to the owner a little about Africa. He told me that he is from the Ivory Coast and his wife is a Fulani from Guinea (located right next door to Guinea Bissau). His wife used to teach Fulani at Stanford. He also - just happens - to sell fabric. And yep, you got it! He said he would get me whatever African print fabric I needed. Just let him know. (and of course - not for free - so don’t even go there) It’s just good to have a resource. He then took out a Cd and sort of pointed it at me and he said, “here’s a Cd by Kimi Djabate - he's your brother” So, of course I bought it.

Hmmm that reminds me of a song by The Hollie’s

I'm Just Sayin!

A Story of Hope

roasting cashews in the village

I’ve been searching for as much information about Guinea Bissau as I can find.  There is a gentleman (who shares the same maternal genetic ancestry as me) who posts on the community forum at African Ancestry (where our DNA was tested). He has managed to visit Guinea Bissau on several occasions. He evens wants to move there (now that’s a HUGE under taking) In the meantime he’s also on a crusade to provide aid to the people. I have contacted him and hope to obtain some additional information about the country. He posted a link to an organization there called Lead International 
their goal: working to break the cycle of poverty
 Three Cheers!!!

Guinea Bissau's primary export is cashews

Lead Int has an 8 minute video which I am posting today. It gives some background on the country for about 3-4 mins and then for the remainder the video highlights some of the work of Lead Int. 

Please watch

***Please Note: I am not soliciting donations to Lead International. I am posting this video for the info on Guinea Bissau only

I'm Just Sayin!

So Far, So Good!

Things are moving along smoothly. I’m getting the word out to people about helping the children by donating to the Little Dresses for Africa.

We set up a launch date here in CA for Sunday Jan 23rd from 2-6pm. We located a room downtown which can hold up to 75 (I'm not expecting 75 people but I want people to feel free to stop by and drop off donations, even if they don't have time to help out in any other way) The room also has tables for cutting and sewing as well as a kitchen. I think this spot will be just perfect. I plan to hold a similar sewing party in Feb.

I am putting an announcement in the January bulletin at my condo complex and will work on some flyers this weekend. So far we have about 10 committed people locally and a growing support team in WI (thank you Toni). I think as the word gets out our numbers will grow.

I'm going to start a pillow case donation drive and the invitation to the Launch Party will ask each attendee to bring 2 pillow cases (new or slightly worn) or about 1 1/4 yds of cotton material to be used to make 1 dress.(ribbons and embellishments encouraged) 

I’m telling you, I have seen some REALLY cute dresses online made by other Little Dresses for Africa groups but I was really impressed with the dresses I saw on a blog called 

Con Tain it. They were so cute that I actually wrote to the blog's owner (Roberta) to ask permission to post the pictures on my blog today so that you could see them too. She was very kind and gave me permission to post them as well as a few tips and a link to a tutorial on how to make the non pillow case dresses (thanks Roberta). 

Everyone I have contacted through this process has been so generous that I’m not even worried about whether or not I can actually pull this off.  

we can use a variety of fabrics 

including African print

Oh, and please, when I start to freak out later, feel free to remind me that I said this!

I'm Just Sayin!

Rescuing Children

This is the December Newsletter from Life Link which supports the orphanages we will be making the Little Dresses for. Hope it prints Ok

In this edition:  Christmas In Africa!

Life Link December 2010

Greetings!  December is here and Christmas is rapidly approaching! Christmas cards, decorations and cookies are starting to creep into the edges of my days.  While I love Christmas in the states, my heart is with the children in Africa. As you read the article below, open your heart - embrace the children with me. God bless you.  Connie

Christmas in Africa! We need sponsors! There's nothing quite like Christmas morning.  Bleary eyed parents watching squealing children ripping open package after package.  The smell of turkey or ham baking in the oven.  Stacks of cookies and candy covering counters.  Stockings with candy, action figures, and iPods.  A typical American Christmas. Now imagine a typical Christmas for the orphans of Africa.  No presents, no food, no toys.  Not mother, no father. Now, picture Christmas in a Life Link orphanage.....Each child receives a present wrapped in colorful paper.  It may be a ball, a doll, a drum.  There is a game or books for all to share.  And there is a dinner.  All the African favorites are cooked.  Everyone gets meat, fruit, and especially candy!  It is a heaven that many have never seen before.  They may have only heard about Christmas for the first time.  Their eyes sparkle as each child carefully opens the paper; it too is a gift.  Then the oohs and aahs, the clapping and laughter.  You really understand what Christmas is about when you see the little ones who had nothing, so thrilled to have one toy that really is their own. We need your help, today.   We have about 350 children to provide for this Christmas.  For only $10 a child, we can make certain that each one has a present to open on Christmas morning and that Christmas dinner includes meat, fruit, and candy for everyone. Please -- consider sponsoring a child.  Or two, or more!  Maybe your church or Sunday school class would like to sponsor 5 or 10 children.  What a wonderful way to share the joy and true meaning of Christmas. If someone would sponsor 50, that would be amazing!  I promise I will shout hallelujah and dance around my office! Holidays create Christian traditions that in turn spread the gospel.  Join me in creating an unforgettable Christmas for kids who will be thankful all year. They never forget your kindness. Although many of you will receive this newsletter, our experience has been that some will respond.  I'm urging you to be among those who do.  The children need your help.  Start a new tradition this year.  Before you get caught up in the holiday rush, take a moment to help Life Link's children. Shalom Christmas 2009 Please, send your special Christmas Gift to Life Link today - before your good intention becomes a lost opportunity. You can donate with Pay Pal directly from this email or mail a check to: Life Link, PO Box 1808, Claremore, OK 74018. simply write "Christmas Donation" on the memo portion of your check and your gift will go directly to buy treats and gifts for the children. Together for the children! Connie Alessi President -  Life Link Join Our Mailing List   Did you know? Did you know you can donate through PayPal without having a PayPal account? Why not give something today? God bless you!   If you wish you can donate by check. Checks should be made out to "Life Link" and mailed to: PO Box 1808 Claremore, OK 74018 Life Link is a non-profit international human service corporation committed to improving the quality of life for children everywhere.  All donations are tax deductible.  Quick Links Register Now Newsletter Archive Related Topics More About Us www.lifelinkrc.org Follow on Facebook Become a Life Link Facebook Fan! Invite your friends to become fans too!   Prayer Needs  Baby Andrew, in Oasis Orphanage, has been     diagnosed with hydrocephalus.Please pray  for a miracle. The African doctors have said there is nothing they can do.

Contact Information Life Link PO Box 1808 Claremore, OK 74018 President~Connie Alessi 918-379-0055 Email: mamaconnie@lifelinkrc.org