together.

in lamogi camp. Gulu. Northern Uganda.

we were not meant, as women, to walk alone. we need one another. to hold babies, to cook, to feed, to tend. to support. to share. to know one another's story and to know that another, who knows, will have our back. it doesn't always work. trust is challenged. our lives assume importance. survival trumps all else.

but when it does, when we have the resources and the opportunity to come together and work collectively, it is golden.

CAFWA sponsored women's group, opit kic, in lamogi. Gulu.

CAFWA sponsored women's group, manyero onyee in omel. All women in this group are HIV positive.

click below to learn more about what CAFWA is all about.

CAFWA

Categories: doorways project, photographing, revealing, traveling, uganda

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oroko.

IMG_9131-2 Emma. member of CAFWA women's group in oroko.

i know better than to attempt to attach words to an experience too soon. to generalize what is proving to be, as expected, a complex and layered experience. i know better than to water this time down; not to rush an an attempt at understanding that asks for conscious time and many questions.

the one thing that i can tell you now is that visually, i am sated. full to brimming with beauty and expression.

graduates of CAFWA sponsored FAL (functional adult literacy) program, lined up to perform a song to welcome guests.

and overcome with gratitude, once again, for the opportunity, the abundance, the ease with which i live.

brother, girl mother and son at home in oroko.

and that linda cole is one hard-core, determined, and compassionate woman (with the kind of mad back roads driving skills that only years of living in africa can bring)

linda giving certificate of completion of the FAL (functional adult literacy) program.

there is, as always, so much more. most will wait until i return home next week. i will try to do another update or two here, if possible. and again, if you want more frequent status reports, check in on my facebook or twitter acounts as these are accessible from my mobile phone.

much love.

ofoyo.

Categories: connecting, creating, doorways project, giving, inspiring, photographing, traveling

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departure.

seagrass. canon 5d mkII, april 2010.

i depart for uganda in about an hour. i'm sitting on the floor at LAX, near the departure gate. plugged-in. charging. feeling the buzz that can only be experienced in an airport. i am soft. quiet. less outgoing than i usually am when traveling. this trip is different.

will do my best to plug-in some while i am away. show you a photo or two. internet will be limited, though, and i learned in india that to effort too much to offer real-time updates only serves to stagger and fragment the immersion in new. my focus is clear and the itinerary will be busy.

after a 12 hour lay-over in dubai, i will arrive in kampala on monday afternoon. we'll stay in kampala for one night and then head to gulu on tuesday. gulu will be home-base, with day trips to villages served by cafwa. i am resisting any mental imagery of what i will see. how it will feel, smell, look. best to just let the moments happen as they will.

the hardest part of going anywhere, is saying goodbye to my children. we're getting better at it. systems in place on the homefront, faith in the return, memory of how quickly the time does pass. if it wasn't for them, for how much i want them to have reverence for their dreams, i know i wouldn't be able to keep reaching for mine.

departure. iphone (taken by my husband). april 2010

so i sit here in gratitude. in anticipation. in a calm other-worldliness. ready. willing. and feeling like the luckiest and loved woman alive.

see you soon. with photos and stories that will rip the doorways of our hearts right off their hinges.

love.

ps. due to limited internet services where i am going, i will be using my phone to offer updates as much as possible. if you don't already, i welcome you to follow me on twitter or become my facebook friend (links in the sidebar) as i may be using those platforms more frequently than the blog while i am away.

Categories: connecting, creating, experiencing, mothering, photographing, revealing, traveling

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everything.

windy day beach day. canon 5d mkII. march 2010.

immersed in packing and preparing. senses alert and keen. opening and emptying. being and connecting.

grateful for the wind and the solid, the porous, and the feathery things.

And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?

~mary oliver, from 'the swan'

Categories: connecting, creating, experiencing, photographing, traveling

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