RAK Revisited

Taking a break from my broken hip saga, here’s an update on how I ended up spending my RAK money this time.

For any of you who haven’t been reading for too long, here’s a little background on the neighborhood project we affectionately call RAK -- Random Acts of Kindness. We have a neighborhood group that gets together monthly with the intention of making the world a better place. At each meeting, every person throws $20 into a basket. The money is divided between two people at the end of the meeting, who will be charged with spending it in the following month. Meanwhile, those who spent during the past month report on what they did. There are very few rules imposed and as a result there have been a wide range of projects, ranging from buying specific items for specific needy families to randomly paying for gas to providing massage for those in eldercare.

January was my month to spend. I had been thinking all year long about what I would do and nothing had really clicked until I read in Angela’s Blog about the work being done by people like Val and Sharon and Karen in the southern countries of Africa. I determined that I wanted to support a day care center in Botswana, which is run solely on donations. Fellow Blogger E stepped up to add to my RAK money and we had a whopping $220 to donate.

The problem was how to get the money to the right people. Then I heard of Kristin’s trip to Africa and appealed to her to be my courier. She managed to talk her tour leader into making a couple of deviations that would allow her to visit the daycare center and see firsthand how what our money would be used for.

Kristin graciously agreed to make a guest appearance at our RAK meeting last night to talk about her experience. She described the Kamadine Daycare Center in Kazungula, Botswana, a place dedicated to help children with HIV or those orphaned by parents who had died of it. For much of the week, these children are provided life’s essentials in a happy, healthy setting, where they can feel safe and at home. Here’s a link to Karen’s Blog describing Kristin’s visit and showing you some great photos of the daycare center kids and their visitors.

I felt so good about supporting this worthy cause halfway around the world and am determined not to end with this single donation since there is a continuing need for help. This is definitely the furthest our RAK money has traveled in its efforts to improve the world.

I’m eternally grateful to Kristin for helping me pull this off and to Angela and those mighty women in Africa for caring for a continent that cries out for help.