Uganda, Africa (August 1 - August 20, 2008)

Dear Friends,

I am writing you today to share some important new developments in my life. These developments, with a little hard work and planning, will provide me with the unique opportunity to serve the people of Uganda.

Recently, I was accepted into a graduate program at The University of Vermont in Natural Resources and Environmental Economics. I begin my master’s research this fall focusing on the role of environmental conservation in impoverished communities. With nearly 3 billion people around the world living on the equivalent of US$2 a day or less, millions are forced to make decisions that damage their environment in order to feed themselves and their families.

Since my arrival in Washington, DC two years ago, I have spent a large part of my free time advocating and fundraising for the crisis in northern Uganda with a close community of friends. Like genocide-stricken Rwanda, northern Uganda has been the subject of a grievous 21 year-old civil war. Afflicted and displaced to refugee camps by the terrorizing, child abducting, cult-like Lords Resistance Army, many northern Ugandans lack basic infrastructures, leaving the poorest citizens desperate for water and food. However, a recent ceasefire and peace negotiation have enabled many to return to their homes allowing us a crucial opportunity for outreach..

As a community of friends, we view our commitment to Gulu, Uganda as a long-term one, utilizing our talents, resources, and relationships, to love our international neighbors. To date, we have sent fourteen individuals serving in a variety of different capacities through three non-profit organizations. Last summer, I supported a group of ten friends volunteering in Gulu, Uganda with Living Water International. My friends helped provide sustainable, clean-water drinking solutions by drilling two wells on a small agricultural plot owned by Sports Outreach Institute.

Sports Outreach Institute (SOI) is a nonprofit organization working with the afflicted youth of Uganda, Kenya, and Mexico. SOI owns a small compound in Gulu with a schoolhouse, living quarters, and a newly acquired 32-acre parcel of land. This summer I will be working to develop this land through sustainable agriculture with the help of a local, native agricultural expert, a hydrologist from the University of Kampala and other members of SOI. With the newly found peace, many are returning to their homes lacking the basic agricultural skills needed to earn a living and feed their own families. This project will help meet those needs.

Working through SOI, local experts, and funding partners, my hope is that my trip will serve as a catalyst both physically (through hard labor, the identification/planting of site specific seeds, and creation of an agricultural curriculum and handbook) and financially (through additional grant writing and identified contacts for continued funding) giving locals’ ownership in their natural resources and the basic skills to sustain their own livelihoods far beyond my departure.

It is with great excitement and confidence in our ability to make an impact that I ask you for your support through your thoughts, prayers, and finances. Dates for this trip will be July 20 – August 20 at an approximate cost of $3,500. If you wish to partner with me in this financially, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through SOI. Please join me in meeting the short-term and long-term needs of this beautiful and hopeful community of people.
Sincerely, Lee

Getting started...

Sunday, May 18th - from the confines of my spacious basement apartment I'll start this blog. Conservation for Humanity I'll call it, in hopes to inspire a continuing dialogue around the interconnection between humans, our well-being and the natural environment.

I've just returned from a work trip/vacation in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Towering ancient Mayan ruins, vast coastal wetlands, and white sand beaches as far as the eye can see, no wonder tourism from this one region of the country represents over 3% of the country's total GDP. Hiking into one of the largest Mayan ruins in Central America, Calakmul, surrounded by a 1.8 million acre biosphere an interpretive sign caught my attention. Translated into three languages (English, Spanish and Mayan) this particular sign provided a brief introduction into the history and importance of the civilization at Calakmul finishing with a charge that resinated with me deeply. "You are about to enter an exceptional historic site. Take care of it, for it is yours." This statement seemed to shrink the world small enough to grasp in the palm of my hand. Here was this picturesque ancient ruin in the middle of the nowhere and it was mine, to treasure and enjoy, but to also care for just as much as the people who lived there.

Sometimes I wish we could all view the world in a similar light, perhaps we would realize that we are all in this together - one world, one humanity.