Dear Friends,
I know it’s a busy time of year for all – so busy that you might find yourself “Going Bananas.”
In the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle, if you begin feeling like you are… Going Bananas, take a moment, think of your favorite banana recipe, jot it down and email it to me! Banana can be the main ingredient or not, but some form or variety of it must be in the recipe. You and your favorite banana recipe may then be included in our cookbook fundraiser called…. Going Bananas! Contributing to a cookbook fundraiser is a perfect way to immediately turn a stressful feeling into a creative contribution that doesn’t cost a thing. Way to reframe it!! Here’s the back story:
My friend and local publisher, Leslie Golden, has an “adopted” son, Richard, in Uganda. He and his younger brother, Isaac, have a passionate dream of establishing a primary school for needy children in an underserved rural village (Sserinya) in Uganda. They understand how helpful a school like this can be because they experienced similar help with their own sponsored education when they were growing up. Their grandmother, a retired teacher – 91 years young, donated her 6 acres of land for the project and now the dream begins to take form. Richard and Isaac work tirelessly on the business plan while going to school and working full time.
As you know, I spend over half of each year doing volunteer work in South Africa. When Leslie told me about Richard’s dream, I made arrangements to travel from South Africa to Uganda to meet Richard and Isaac, visit the village, and help with the project. Scrolling down, you will see pictures I took of Richard and his grandmother and the existing school which consists of one teacher, a couple of benches, a small chalk board, a tree and a “bell” (a rusty rim from a tire hung in the tree). To say there is a need in this small impoverished village is an understatement.
Going Bananas will be a cookbook dedicated to recipes using the fruit I saw growing everywhere in Uganda, and contributed to by supporters from Africa to the US. Our intention is to publish and sell the cookbooks to generate funds to help build the Primary School Project: Save Humanity Primary School Sserinya. If you contribute a recipe, I will be happy to send you a complementary cookbook.
Thank you for participating by sending your favorite banana recipe to me at: mjtraugott@gmail.com
Should you wish to make a tax-deductible donation to the project, you may make a check out to my nonprofit organization, One Future at a Time, and deposit it at any Bank of America branch, designating it to the organization’s account number: 3250 1095 5956.
I promise to keep you posted as Richard’s and Isaac’s dream takes form and becomes a reality!
Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon with which you can use to change the world.” YOU can be part of the process.
Wishing you all the joys of the season – Marilyn
