That is the question!
This week has been busy with preparations for my upcoming trip to Uganda with Mother Health International. So far I’ve been collecting donated supplies from midwives as well as money so that I may buy the supplies and equipment that are needed most at this moment. Clients, friends and family have been incredibly generous and I’m feeling very blessed! As soon as things get purchased and ready to pack I’ll post a photo here so that you can all see the amazing things I’m going to take with me. And possibly once I’m there I’ll be able to post photos and continue this blog so that you can all see the Traditional Midwives, the cute babies, and amazing Birth House.
The Birth House is solar powered so although there is no electricity in the village there is power at the clinic. And there is cell service – Everywhere! I was selfishly hoping to be able to ‘unplug’ while in Uganda. To take time to not interact with the digital world, to be off-duty with regards to e-mails, phone calls, etc. But, I want to be able to communicate with my loved ones while I’m in Uganda. I also would love to be able to share my experience with my community – to share the stories, post photos, and really allow everyone to feel that they are a part of this journey (because you are!)
Most of the time when I travel I send very few e-mails home and although I may journal about my experience I don’t share it. But this time feels different, it feels less about personal gain and enrichment (although of course there will be that as well) but more about giving something of myself to a community that has a desire for my skills and experience as a homebirth midwife, working in the US. And I want to be able to give something of that experience back to you, my community in the US! As midwives we love to tell stories and I’d love to be able to share some of those stories with you as I go.
So I will leave it up to the Universe and the kindness of others in my community to help me decide whether to blog or not! If somebody will let me borrow (or wants to donate to Mother Health International) an unlocked iPad with 3G, I will blog! Supposedly 3G iPads work the best in Uganda. I think what it means is that a device that can get onto the cellular network as opposed to wifi, and it needs to be unlocked – so I can put a different sim card? inside. I don’t really know anything about that stuff, but I’ve been told that’s the way to do it! If not, then I’ll still try, but it’s less likely to happen as I may not have an ability to get online more than every few weeks. I don’t want to buy a brand new device because, as many of you know, I’m against purchasing new things (especially electronics) if at all possible. And I don’t really have the need for an iPad in my regular life!
But if you’d like to subscribe so that you can get an alert whenever I do make a post then you’ll know if I’m blogging or not and you won’t have to check! Either way, I’m excited to share this experience with you, and hope that you’re excited to experience it with me!!