Off we go, with heavy hearts
It has been challenging to find the emotional energy to post after having received some horrific news on the eve of our departure this past weekend.
On June 18 we learned that the community that we have been involved with for almost 20 years, and the school we helped build, in Bwera, Uganda, was brutally attacked. There were 37 students killed and another six are presumed to have been abducted. Community members that we know have shared heartbreaking accounts of the attack, and our close friend’s daughter was among the girls who were killed. These horrific acts have left us reeling and deeply saddened. We provided a short statement to CBC as there is so much misinformation floating around:
We are working with others in Victoria to get a GoFundMe page up to raise money for the Bwera community that has lost so much. The link is now available at:
Although we stepped down from the PODA board in 2020, we continue to be in contact with the board members and the community, and we are in support of their continued efforts. It is our intention to give the funds raised to the community via PODA to use in ways needed most in these days and weeks following the tragedy.
Although our personal adventure has been deeply affected by this news, we are doing our best to keep things as positive as we can for our kids who are adjusting to a new place and way of life after having said many personal goodbyes.
We arrived in Paris having had little sleep on the flights as we had much on our minds, so we were all pretty tired. The planned afternoon visit to the city after arrival didn’t happen but better to have well rested kids for the long car ride to La Rochelle. We’ve now settled in an Airbnb in La Rochelle while we await our boat (Friday) which had to return to production to have it’s keels re-affixed.
It has been a hard few days for us all but we are working through it and looking forward to getting on the boat later this week and our adventures ahead.