Day 212

Back on the road, spent a little while at SafeHouse before I left town this evening. Had a really good conversation with someone I see there all the time but hadn't gotten around to talking to till today. Our conversation started with how we both smile all the time. He then told me a little bit about himself and then we talked about good deeds, challenges, and how each person faces their own set of challenges, has their own way out of those challenges, and that those are the things that make us grateful for each day. He isn't looking for a way off the streets, but he's looking for a way to make each day count!

I also saw one of the guys from my early days at SafeHouse. He had been traveling in California and just got back this week so he shared some of his stories. I think he said he'll be around for a while, so hopefully get to catch up with him a little more next time.

Since I'm on the road, it's another week of virtual volunteering for me and, hopefully, have someone fill in a couple of days if possible.

Day 211

Had a wonderful day of giving! Started with shopping for back packs and school supplies for Back Pack Explosion at SafeHouse - more about that next week though! Then went to SafeHouse for the evening; it's been a while since I did a full evening there and I really enjoyed it!

Of course there were lots of conversations! Talked about tattoos - do they hurt, the different dyes, patterns, details. Talked to someone else about being real, how/why we feel disrespected, comfort levels, and stepping out of your comfort zone. There was another conversation about cover letters and resumes; I read over his cover letter and gave some feedback.

I ended the night with clean up and the gentleman who always helps was there too so we did our thing - cleaned the lot and the street, stacked chairs, caught up with each other (since we hadn't been there at the same time in a while), and had a good conversation.

Looking forward to going back tomorrow!

Day 210

Back in town this evening so I spent some time at SafeHouse. It was so nice to be back and to see most of the familiar faces :)

I helped out in the kitchen some. The group there was serving hot dogs and also had a variety of pies, cakes, muffins, donuts, and cookies. We set up two tables with just dessert - it was so tempting! There wasn't service this evening, instead they did a "show night" - anyone who wanted to perform, speak, play an instrument could do so. It was fun watching some of them perform and have a good time.

Outside, I had a couple of different conversations. I spoke to one gentleman who was working on his cover letter; we spoke about what kinds of key words to put in there and how to show case your experiences. I spoke to someone else about ways to relax and healthy venting; he says people sometimes vent to him and it gets him frustrated, so we talked about how to deal with that.

I left before they served the meal. Exhausted and looking forward to a quiet night and a weekend of giving!

Day 209

Between work and traveling from East Georgia to West Georgia I knew I was going to need some help today. Luckily Jiten was, once again, able to help out. He was back at Books for Africa - I think this place means to him what SafeHouse means to me :)

Here's how his day went:

"Another busy day at Books for Africa. There were only 6 of us volunteering today and we had a lot of packing to do. We packed the books into boxes and on pallets for shipping. I packed 4 pallets of boxes today all in the company of my new shawtie from KSU. Another day of good conversations and laughs while we worked. It was a good day overall although very tiring!"

Once again, I'm in awe with how much my brother has helped with this project - thanks kid!!

Day 208

Spent the evening donating grains of rice to the World Food Programme through www.freerice.com.

Hema, Jiten, and I played an hour or less each and together donated 12810 grains of rice!
Hema did a variety of subjects: french, geography, english vocab, and chemistry symbols; while Jiten and I stuck to english vocab.

Thanks for helping out this evening guys, even with the short notice!!

Day 207

When I'm traveling it's always great to see people help out with the project by helping fill in for me. Today my brother, Jiten, covered for me. He was at Books for Africa, here's his recap:

"It was a busy start to my time at Books for Africa. The Atlanta community bank had a group of volunteers there for the morning, but half way through my time there they all left and there were 5 of us left. We were busy packing books into boxes and getting them ready to be shipped out. I spoke with an elder gentleman today from Atlanta who started volunteering there recently. He was excited to hear that I am from Botswana and we spent the whole time talking about Africa and how African countries are trying hard to rise up against poverty and achieve stable economies. He was very inquisitive about Botswana and southern Africa in general, as to how life is there and how much different it is from America. Overall I had a good day there and had a great conversation. I'll be back on Thursday :)"

Thanks for covering kid!!

Day 206

Back on the road again so I'm volunteering virtually for some of this week.

I used care2 to volunteer today. I went through all the click to donates first. Then moved on to signing petitions for less lenience for child abusers, for LGBT rights, shark protection, saving turtles from shrimp nets, opposing cuts to medicaid, medicare, and social security, and to support efforts to expand banking in Africa.

Giving our time can be really simple thanks to sites like care2. 

Hope you're able to check them out and make a difference in the world with just a little bit of your time.
Happy giving :)