Keepin’ this blog alive!!!

I know Liz and I have been back from out trip now for over 4 months…  but I’d still love to use this blog to continue to share updates with you guys.  So….I thought a good thing might be to post some exciting things going on with the organizations and people we met during our trip.  I’ll try and do my best to post cool stories and updates as they come along.  

Here are a couple to get you started…

From Preemptive Love Coalition:

We marshaled all the resources we needed to help Shad and in less than a month he was admitted to surgery in May 2009. Unfortunately, Shad did not respond to the corrective measures of the surgeries as we had all hoped he would. Too many years of living with his heart defects had hindered his body’s ability to operate as it was intended. A series of blood clots finally contributed to Shad’s death a week after his surgery.

Click here to read more about Shad’s story and the Shad Faraydoon Memorial Fund.

 

Heard about this from Chris Marlow of HELP:

HELP has been running a Campaign to End Poverty, and a church in PA decided to have a garage sale to raise money for the campaign, and they raised $3400!!! Click here to read more about this awesome story.

Chris also told me to check out a book called Scared.  Here’s a little about the book:

Once a celebrated and award-winning photojournalist, Stuart Daniels is reeling from debt, a broken marriage, and crippling depression.  The source of Stuart’s grief is his most famous photo, a snapshot of brutality in the dangerous Congo.  This haunting image indicts him as a passive witness to gross injustice.

Stuart is given one last chance to redeem his career: a make-or-break assignment covering the AIDS crisis in a small African country.  It is here that Stuart meets Adanna, a young orphan fighting for her life in a community ravaged by tragedy and disease.  Now what seemed like a chance encounter will forever change their lives.

You can download a free PDF of the book for a limited time, or purchase the book on Amazon.

 

Once a celebrated and award-winning photojournalist, Stuart Daniels is reeling from debt, a broken marriage, and crippling depression.  The source of Stuart’s grief is his most famous photo, a snapshot of brutality in the dangerous Congo.  This haunting image indicts him as a passive witness to gross injustice.

 

Stuart is given one last chance to redeem his career: a make-or-break assignment covering the AIDS crisis in a small African country.  It is here that Stuart meets Adanna, a young orphan fighting for her life in a community ravaged by tragedy and disease.  Now what seemed like a chance encounter will forever change their lives.

THANKS!!!

Many thanks to all of you who came out to our photo exhibit this past Saturday! I was so excited to see so many people come by, and to be able to share a little more about our trip with all of you.

I was so excited to see people participating in the silent auction and wanting to help the Children’s Home in Zimbabwe.  All but two of the exhibit prints were auctioned off and several 8×10 prints were ordered, raising $520 for HELP! We also received several orders for our Eyes to See book, raising an additional $180 for HELP!

Also…we showed our slide show on Saturday, and I’m working on putting it online so that those who couldn’t make it to the exhibit can still watch the slide show online.

We will also have more info soon on how to order the book online. Meanwhile, if you already know you’d like to order one, feel free to email us at eyestosee2009@gmail.com and we can add yours to an order we’ll be placing soon. Books are $35 each, and $5 from each book goes to Musha Wevana Children’s Home in Zimbabwe.

Thanks again for all of your support!

-B

More info!

Just wanted to give a quick update with more info about our photo exhibit tomorrow.

1) You definitely don’t have to stay the whole three hours! (But you’re more than welcome to… ) Feel free to just stop by whenever you can for however long you can. Also, we’ll have some snacks/refreshments as well.

2) We will be showing the 15-minute slideshow at 11:30, 12:30 and 1:30.

3) We will be taking orders for our Eyes to See book. They are $35 each, and $5 of each book sale goes towards Musha Wevana Children’s Home in Zimbabwe.

4) We will also be silent-auctioning each of the prints in the exhibit.  All proceeds over $25 from each print will go to Musha Wevana as well.

Right now, our friends at Help End Local Poverty (HELP) are having a Campaign to End Poverty, and hope to raise money for new mattresses and school uniforms for the kids in Zimbabwe, as well as help raise money for them to build a new orphanage! Liz and I are REALLY excited to do what we can to be a part of this Campaign. For those of you who have heard or read about our experience in Zimbabwe this past January, you know that we were both greatly impacted by the people we met there.

For more info on HELP’s campaign, please go here: http://www.campaigntoendpoverty.org/

We are excited about tomorrow! And can’t wait to see you there!

Thanks again, Blanca and Liz

Photo Exhibit and Book Release!!

Liz and I are very excited to announce that our church is hosting a photo exhibit for us next weekend!

Details-

Date: June 20, 2009

Location: Liveoak Bible Church, 7500 WOODROW AVE., AUSTIN TX

Time: 11am-2pm

The exhibit will feature photos from our time in the Sudan. And we will also have a slideshow of photos from throughout our trip. I have been anxiously awaiting to share more photos with all of you, and I hope you’re able to stop by for a bit!

Also, very exiting news – we’ve finished our book!!! Many, many thanks to our friend, Michele Bennett, for helping with the book design. And thanks to Rebecca Evans and Ellen Rees for helping with the editing. I cannot believe we’ve actually done it! We will have a few hard copies on hand at the photo exhibit, but we will also be taking orders that day. (More info to come on how to order the book online as well.)

Also, $5 of each book sale will goes towards helping the children at Musha Wevana in Zimbabwe get new mattresses and school uniforms!

I am REALLY excited!!!! I didn’t realize I was going to be this excited…BUT I AM!!!

I wish I could have printed a billion photos from ALL the countries we visited, but I’m excited to have the exhibit focus on the Sudan. And actually, towards the beginning of the exhibit time, I plan on sharing a little more about my heart and thoughts behind choosing this specific country for the exhibit.

I hope to see many of you there! Feel free to email us with any questions: eyestosee2009@gmail.com

Thanks!!!!

-Blanca and Liz