Reflections of Africa, Berkeley

another great showing last night in berkeley. with a live classroom installation, spoken word pieces, and original music we celebrated the story of sudan, its people and future schools! if you are interested in purchasing a photograph from the show (though it will not be framed or matted) you can see all of the images here: http://3see.zenfolio.com/reflections

Reflections of Africa Photography Show

Alone, Michael Kuany, is just a man from Africa. Born into a war-torn country, destined to lead a difficult life, Michael – by himself – can do very little to change the world. In community, however, Michael Kuany is the catalyst behind a growing movement. Friday night, his story provided the context for a few artists, Mosaic and friends came together and dream of a better future for Sudan.

How would your impact change if you teamed with others?

Thank you so much for participating in our Reflections of Africa photography show! We were overwhelmed with the turnout and the participating in the project. We raised over $1000 for the project in one evening and are excited to use that money to invest in RebuildSudan.org.

photography from africa

Thank you so much for all of you who could attend last night’s Reflections of Africa Photography Show. We sold nearly all of the images and were able to not only raise money for the project, but tell the story of it as well.

If you would like to purchase a photograph online, Jill [see jillm.com] has added the photographs to an online gallery where you can purchase unmatted/unframed images. Half of all of the proceeds from these photographs will go directly towards RebuildSudan.org. Please join us in supporting this project, this art and this cause.

Sudan Photo Album

Uganda Photo Album

the children…

and then there were two

it’s just sarah and i left to represent our team in africa. after a day of white water rafting the nile and watching aryn fall 150ft from the air on a bungee cord, we’ve wished all our team members traveling mercies and are now left to our own devices here in kampala, uganda. after traveling with a team of 12, let’s just say we’re kind of excited at the possibilities.

this week, we’re going to be teaching photography and graphic design at a summer camp for kids in kampala. we have high schoolers in the morning and elementry students in the afternoon. we really have no idea what to expect or how it will go, but we’re ready to jump in and teach them about topics which keep us up late at night. we’ll let you know how it goes and hopefully the rest of the team will be able to write some of their thoughts upon their return to US soil.

best.
.jill

last and only team photo

back: kevin [mosaic], local elder, michael [rebuild sudan president], gene [structural], dave [mosaic], aryn [ventilation/daylight], blake [designer... aka jack of all trades], henry [project team leader]
front: jill [architect], bishop phillip, phil [civil], alyssa [civil], danna [project team leader], john [civil], sarah [architect]

return from sudan

ah, we’ve returned from sudan and are sitting under the veranda in the capital city of kampala, uganda. there will be much to come as we upload photos and tell our stories. but a quick recap of our adventures includes…
+ 30 min flight over the fields of africa
+ lots of beans and rice
+ new appreciation for cold coca-cola
+ being told we could have as much land as we want for our project
+ 3 hour drive for 30km through 1m mud puddles and with air born tires
+ steripen a ridiculous amount of water every day
+ meeting his Excellency (minister of infrastructure)
+ lots and lots of welcome meetings and hand shaking
+ teaching the kids red light-green light
+ playing soccer with the kids
+ hourly snake searches by dave
+ make-shift fly swatter
+ blakes random stories
+ being called ‘kwanja, kwanja’ (white person, white person) every where we go
+ casting a tangible vision for rebuilding sudan

welcoming

Although it took us 7 days to get to Michael’s village in Jalle, our trip has been a meaningful one up to this point. We’ve had the opportunity to meet with many influential people along the way, including the Jalle community elders (both in Juba and in Bor), a leading Bishop in the area and his pastoral team, two military officials in Juba, and the Ministers of Education and Physical Infrastructure respectively. All of these meetings have allowed Dave and I to collected significant information about how Mosaic might partner with RebuildSudan down the road. As for the school, the design team presented Michael with their initial proposal late last night. Sarah and Jill worked hard all day yesterday to come up with a simplistic, yet thoughtful master plan for the future campus. Michael loved their ideas.

- kevin

reality

we’ve spent the last week in the city of bor. desolate two years ago, the city is now one of the economic centers of southern sudan as the refugees return. everywhere we look, we see remnants of a displaced people – people who have survived a civil war but have been stripped of all of their possessions in the process. there is no waste for there is nothing to discard. there are no luxuries for the essentials are rarely provided. there is no permanence for everyone awaits what will happen next. but there is hope. there is a hope that the sudanese people will rise again out of the rubble and reclaim their culture. there is a hope that those displaced will return to empower their people to create a future for the next generation. and there is a hope that the past 50 years were not endured in vain but fueled a fire for freedom. in some ways, i feel completely out of touch with reality in this place so far away from the world i know. yet in other ways, i feel as if i’ve never known life to be more real.

.jill

What is the What

michael kuany [rebuild sudan] and dave gerber [mosaic]

I have been reading a book called “What is the What” – a memoir of one of the Sudanese Lost Boys. It is the most heartbreaking thing I have ever read. It describes in vivid detail what many of the people of Southern Sudan have been through during the past 20 years. If you have time to read it, it is definitely worth your while. It is just crazy to think of myself growing up and playing soccer and baseball, moving from place to place, and going about life…meanwhile some of the most horrific human tragedies were being committed across the world. And the world stood by…for whatever reason – some of us had no idea, those who did were afraid…either way, the things happened. But now that we know, we must step in and help. Whether it is across the street or across the globe, we are called as humans to make a difference with our lives and to make sure others have the ability to do so as well. This is what God calls us to give our lives to What more noble cause can a person truly give themselves to?

Continue to pray for things going on here. Pray that hope abounds in this region

Love wins, hope wins, faith wins,

David