CRITICS
Dang. Critics seem to come from the closest places. Who knew that as soon as you try to do anything of worth we would begin to get criticized much more than if we had tried nothing at all.

but... if I am real honest, the voices we are hearing are the voices of those who haven't dared to dream as big as we are dreaming.
Dave H.

PS. IF YOUR INTERESTED IN SEEING MY PERSONAL INSPIRATION VIDEO BLOG THAT I AM CONSTANTLY UPDATING, CLICK HERE.

Every once and a while we come to the place where we're simply holding the pieces in our hands - starring at them and wondering 'is this working?'

If you've read any of our recent blogs or noticed our attempts at building transparency, you've probably gathered that Light Gives Heat is in a transitional stage. The last month has been restructuring and trying to be proactive (instead of reactive) - thinking about longevity for both LGH Stateside and particularly in Uganda.

A couple weeks ago Rachel & Randy called a meeting with the women of Suubi - a time when they could talk to the women about how things were going and offer the women an opportunity to evaluate Light Gives Heat and the Suubi project. After dispelling some rumors that Suubi was ending and that Dave and I were getting a divorce (it all sounds so ridiculous until you have spent time there and see the desperation and the jealousy of people who have opportunity - people say just about anything (or will do just about anything) just to take advantage of someone or ruin an opportunity for others), Rachel asked the question..."Is buying necklaces from you every week the best way for us to help you?"

We've never presumed we know it all or have the 'best' way of doing it - it's a journey. And our aim from the start was to love them well and meet real needs (not presumed needs). If a consistent weekly income is not their greatest need then we want to be humble enough to end the Suubi project tomorrow.

Their answer? "Yes!"

The reliable weekly income from Suubi is such a huge help because most of the women have no other sources of income and most of them are widows or have husbands who don't provide much for the families. Although a few women had gardens they tended to before Suubi started, none of them had jobs with steady incomes.

The Suubi meeting also addressed issues around the Literacy classes, English Classes, and FINCA accounts. It was encouraging to hear that the women still love having our volunteers hang out at their homes. When asked if it's an inconvenience, one woman responded "how are mzungus (white people) supposed to learn from our stories when they cannot see how and where we live?" I love the women! I love their open hearts and arms and the way the understand that they have so much to teach us about life - truly reciprocal relationships!

Rachel reiterated the importance of unity and suggested dancing after Suubi meetings once a month. The women were ecstatic, but there is one slight problem...many of the women do not know how to dance. My heart sank when I read those words. Some of my fondest memories in Uganda are when we were dancing - shoes off, feet in the dirt, drums banging, women singing and chanting...even though our homes were worlds apart, dance connected us and I knew it was the same blood running through my veins as theirs. After my most recent trip to Uganda I came home and had my neck tattooed with the phrase Wan Wenge Waribe Kacel (We're all connected together) - a constant reminder of my connection to the people of the world.

The 25-year long war up North has stole their culture and opportunity to learn and pass along their traditional dances. To top it off, the women were concerned that they have nothing to dance with - no outfits, no drums, no calabashes (gourds they bang on)! So, LGH is going to invest in some drums and gourds and find someone who would be willing to teach the women dancing a few times a month!

Upon reading the email recounting the meeting my shoulders felt lighter and I felt myself take a deep breath - reassurance. For those fleeting moments when we feel like it'll crumble, we are reminded of the even bigger picture - the importance, the influence, and the connectedness.

Running an organization alongside your spouse is beautiful but also messy...

Light Gives Heat was birthed out of a 6-month trip to Uganda to complete the adoption of our daughter in 2007 - out of personal story an organization was born. We saw a need and responded - sort of a jump first and figure the details out as you go type of thing. Once back in America we hit the ground running - figuring out the logistics, selling necklaces, getting our website/store up, selling necklaces, fundraising, and oh yeah, did I say selling necklaces?

We have experienced some tremendous growth in the past year - the Spread campaign in particular has allowed us to partner with people from all over the US and Canada (thanks neighbors up North)! With the growth has come the demand for more time. Rachel joined the LGH team a year ago - an incredible asset and a woman with a tremendous heart for our projects. We've gotten so used to her being around the past year - giving her heart, her time, her tears, and her skills. But she and her husband left for Uganda almost 3 weeks ago to develop the Africa infrastructure. So once again we are figuring out how to restructure things and when everything is also so personal, it gets complicated at times.

Dave and I both work full-time for LGH, but we're also the parents of a 4 year-old and a 2 year-old (and can I say that as rewarding as parenting is, it is also so dang hard at times - taking so much selflessness and patience), so we split our work time between the LGH office and home in order that one of us is always home with the kids. So even though we work together - we actually never work together! Emailing, Gmail chat/voice chat and frequent cell phone calls or texts have become our main mode of communicating. It's just complicated, but we're doing it!

At 27 & 28 (and 8 years into marriage) our lives just look so much different than any other couple we know. We often wish we knew a couple who was in our same boat (and further along) - a model, somebody we could talk to and relate with (if you know of someone - please put us in contact!). There have been times when we've wondered if the stress, the blurry work/home lines, and constant fluctuation are worth it (and it seems that everyone else who is doing humanitarian work is leading glamorous lives!). But over and over we come to the conclusion that yes, it's totally worth it...and we're not in this alone - it's not just our story, but the story of everyone who has ever partnered in anyway with LGH.

So in weeks like this - when we've had website issues/problems, 12 Spread sign-ups that have gone into Spam for the past 2 weeks, a daughter who pooped on the ground by accident (yeah I know), and $450 mechanic bill - a high-pressure hose that went out in our power steering yesterday, it just feels like we're trying to hold it together...but at least I know we aren't alone! Thanks for being on this journey with us!

-Morgan

Oh gosh - where to start?

So much change and growth in the past 2 months! Rachel (our one constant at the LGH office in Colorado since Dave and I are back and forth from the office to take care of our kids) left a couple weeks ago for Uganda with her husband, Randy, to develop and bring leadership to the Ugandan side of things. We're adjusting and we have some great fill-in help with Cory and Dave's mom -Teresa. Thanks!

As we grow, we realize the importance of being true and transparent. We've definitely felt the need to be more honest with the hardships and struggles and sort of 'desexify' work in Africa. Not that it isn't rewarding or worth it, but sometimes (especially with media) it gets easily glorified. We want to be more transparent with the fact that we are simply humans - trying to run an organization with the best heart possible - and that inevitably is messy! Life is messy, relationships are messy, the world is messy - period. No easy solutions, no quick fixes, but we can offer our hearts and lives and we're fully committed to that! It's easy to put up a great website and appear 'big' but we want to make sure we are staying true to ourselves and the vision of LGH by being 'small' - inviting people in and exposing our hearts and the struggles/joys that come along with our work.

So we're asking you to follow us as we start to post weekly (if not bi-weekly) blogs pertaining to what's going on with LGH and our lives. Feel free to comment and ask questions. And thanks for being on this journey with us! - Morgan