A visit from the Broadhead Optimist Club

This past week we had the exciting opportunity to meet up with the Broadhead Optimist Club.  We are extremely grateful that they arranged for a local hardware store to donate some garden supplies! They also delivered bags of seeds for the community garden, and soaps and shampoos for us to donate to communities in Burkina Faso.

We have been told by teachers in the communities that we're visiting that the children are creating lists for us in their classes!  Students in Dedougou are creating lists of seeds and other items needed to build the community garden as one of their assignments.  The gardening tools donated by the Broadhead Club will help create sustainable food so these children have enough to eat while they're attending school.

We are so grateful for the support from surrounding Optimist Clubs.  This is a tremendous undertaking and we could not do it without the help and support of our families, community members, and surrounding Optimist Clubs.

If you'd like to make a donation, please contact Kim Adams at adamsk@uww.edu.

August Shirt

We can't believe how quickly August has gone!  January will be here in no time!  We are very excited to meet with another optimist club tomorrow to get some gardening supplies and take photos with the ambulance.  We are so grateful for the help and support of all of you! We only have a few weeks until we retire this amazing shirt, designed by one of our travelers!  Get one before they're gone!

Exciting meetings with artist Eric Lee

Our group has been very fortunate to work with artist Eric Lee.  Eric has a very unique approach to his artwork.  His artist statement says, "My approach to painting reflects my philosophy about aesthetics in general... that the key to what "works"... and by the same token doesn't work for me, lies in the transitions. The effective juxtaposition of what may seem to be conflicting or incompatible colors, may lie in the way they blend... how one handles the segue."

Eric has graciously donated gorgeous artwork in order to help us raise money for the trip. Last week some of the travelers were able to visit his studio and see some of the amazing artwork Eric creates.

We were also excited to host Eric in Wisconsin to further discuss the trip.  Eric's artwork will be auctioned very soon!  Please check back for updates!