Liz has arrived in Tanzania

Well here I am in Kampala, Uganda and it is amazing! The weather is perfect and beautiful, not too hot (not like Dubai, YIKES!) and a nice tropical breeze. I had a wonderful flight down on Emirates Airlines into Entebbe airport and was picked up at the airport by Matthew Mcilvenna's driver and then headed into the heart of the city of Kampala. It is a tropical paradise here. The city is built on 7 hills, just like Roma, but that is pretty much where the comparaison can start and end. The earth is red, just like in Niger, but it GROWS! Palm trees, large bushes and tropical trees, grasses, mango, pinapple, lettuce, yams, maize, you name it, they grow it! Matthew works for the UN's WFP (World Food Program) and has been living in East Africa, on and off, for more than a decade. Although he works full time, his side project is IZAAS, the community service program in Bukoba, Tanzania. I will be spending the next month over there working with the children and the orphans trying to help them in several different capacites. Apparently there is email there (whew!) so the next update will be live from Bukoba and I will be able to give a better picture of my daily life and the needs of the children. For now all is well with me, I am happy, healthy and well adjusted.

xox Love to all

Liz Ross

HELPING ECUADORIAN CHILDREN JOIN THE WORLD WIDE WEB

Palms for Life Fund is pleased to announce a new partnership to provide computer access and environmental upgrades to 37 elementary schools in marginal regions of Ecuador. Palms for Life and Mercy Corps will ship 200 computers and roughly 800 gallons of paint to education centers run by Fe y Alegría, an organization that operates throughout Central and South America in educating children in impoverished areas.

By the end of the year the computers, donated by Mercy Corps and featuring Pentium 3 processors and 500 MHz, will have high-speed broadband access. Fe y Alegría will be implementing IT educational programs for the school's teachers, and give the school children an electronic portal to the wider world. While the technology will be used to emphasize networking opportunities between the schools themselves, it will also serve the purpose "to adapt them to become the technical foundation of the struggle against the negative impacts of globalization and for social justice." The program's end goals are very much in keeping with Palm for Life's emphasis on the idea that "we are all connected to the poor:" This technology will allow the school children to enter the global digital family and share their experiences and culture with those around the world.

This new partnership will also provide the school children with the materials with which to enhance their classrooms and engage in creative teamwork. The paint will be used to commission murals emphasizing peace, non-violence and children's rights. These murals will encourage children through the creative process to work together, overcome their differences, and create a peaceful environment in their schools.

This is an exciting opportunity to combat poverty by empowering individuals to engage and overcome the challenges of their immediate environments as well as those of the wider world. In order for Palms for Life to continue to fund and explore opportunities like this one, please consider a contribution to the Fund via www.palmsforlifefund.org. For every gift of $50.00 or more, a FREE T-shirt will be donated.