Hi everyone,

I'll be participating in this years Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Bangor. My boyfriend Tom and will be supporting my aunt who is a breast cancer survivor!!!!! Wooohoooo!

Please help us support this cause by making a donation using the link below. If you're in the area in the 15th come and join us!

Thanks so much,
Bri



http://maine.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/BAN_MaineAffiliate?px=14746320&pg=personal&fr_id=3499

It's been a busy couple of weeks as the summer starts to leave us. The cold air is already blowing in. I've been trying to spend my time scooping out the job scene and I've been applying to things that interest me. I've also been trying to find interested people two help me with fundraising to help complete the grade school in Zambia and to partner with the Green Living Movement. 

I thought my best bet was to contact the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute but they said they are not able to extend their reach right now. So.......it's back to the drawing board. I was really hoping Maine would be a pioneer for this project but I guess my next move is to look outside the state. I've also contacted a local group called the Maine Network of Community Food Councils to see how I can get involved with issues of food stability on a local level. 


I've also sent a few messages out to my former university. I'm asking the University of Maine at Augusta for help in raising the needed funds to complete a community school in Zambia. I think a lot about the kids who are not going to school day after day because of various hardships such as their parents ability to pay school fees, gender inequality, and the 10 mile distance to get to the next nearest school. That's why this school is so important. I've asked for students to get involved. I'm hoping we can hold fundraisers during games or have an art auction. I really hope I hear back from them. I'm also planning to contact area businesses to donate or to allow me to fund-raise outside their stores.  
I'll keep you posted on my progress and please send me good thoughts for my job hunt :)
Bri     

My Last days in Zambia

I've been home for 1 month now. Readjusting to the comforts of home has been strange. Where I'm glad not to have to carry buckets of water and hitchhike around the country, I think about my friends who are still serving and the villagers I miss. Daily life for them is still difficult. I want to try to support them in anyway I can. It's been so nice to be with family and friends and to work on the relationships that were strained while I was away. I'm happy to say that things are getting better and I have no regrets in my decision to come home.

First of all, I'm so happy to report that we got Jazzy HOME! I was so worried for awhile that we weren't going to make it happen. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me. To those people in Zambia who picked up a white girl on the side of the road carrying a dog to my friend and family who donated for her plane ticket! I appreciate your generosity so much and I will always thank you! During those last few days in Zambia as I made it step by step closer to getting onto the plane I told Jazz I wasn't going without her! Whether I was trying so hard for her sake or for mine I'm not really sure. I suppose a combination of the two. When I dropped her off at the airport I worried the trip would be to much for her and I questioned if bringing her to America was the right decision. The plan was for both of us to board the plane in Lusaka at midnight and land 10hrs later in Amsterdam. From there, I would continue on to New York and then Boston while she flew the next day direct to Boston. I tried to get her on my same flight but just couldn't make it work. It was so great to finally hit Boston on July 19th and see three people I love and missed so much! I missed New England too even if it was the middle of a 90 degree heatwave when I arrived! We were going to spend the night in Boston and pick Jazzy the next day. That's not quite how it happened though. Because of the intense heat the airline didn't put her on the flight and said she would be coming the next day. I was worried like crazy wondering if she was being taken care of and fed. They told me she was probably less stressed out that I was and that she would be fine. There wasn't much we could do so, we headed to Maine and went back the Boston the next day. Thankfully the heat broke and the lady at the cargo desk said she was here! When I opened the cage it was the same little puppy as before! She didn't seem fazed in the least! She looked up at me as if to say "oh, there you are. I knew I'd see you again"! I guess she had more faith than I did. I don't know if I could have managed my year in Peace Corps without that little dog and now readjusting to being home is easier because she's with me.

 The new adventures of Jazzy!

  These are some of my last days in Zambia spent at Victoria Falls in Livingstone.

The rarely seen hunchback of Victoria Falls caught on camera

Elephant Ride!

Wildlife!

Sunset Cruise!

In the days to come my plans are to fundraise for the school in Chibobo and to try to find interested partners to continue work with the Green Living Movement. I'm excited to see what I can do to help my village from America. I'll be keeping you posted on my progress and news.