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on Um Zayd wa Atheer (Uganda), 23/Mar/2009 14:09, 34 days ago
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Random Acts of KindnessFor many years I had a postcard displayed in my kitchen, which extolled 'Random Acts of Kindness'. I took this to mean unplanned and not asked for small gestures of kindness and generosity from one of us to another. I liked it a lot and hoped that my life could be full of such acts; that I would give and receive. Since becoming a VSO volunteer I now have a new understanding. I have seen that acts are less random and not always small.I was reminded of this postcard during my dreaded and dreadful week of motorcycle training. I stayed in the centre of Birmingham to make for an easier daily journey to Kidderminster. This stay coincided with Ash Wednesday and I joined my friends at the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Chad to receive ashes and to prepare myself for Lent. The sermon, delivered by the Bishop, was simple, direct and easily understood. We should pay more attention to our relationships with one another, every one another, every day. We should smile, listen, be patient, encourage and be generous. Of course, this sounds simple but I know for my self that I often fail and sometimes it seems as if I deliberately neglect others. I excuse myself because I am tired, frustrated or just because I am right and my needs are greater and more important. I decided that during Lent I would focus more on 'Random Acts of Kindness', in my thoughts and in my actions.I have been back in the UK for 3 months and there has been a lot of giving and receiving in many ways. Some of this has been random and some spontaneous and some planned. As most of you will know I have been preoccupied, fundraising for the Miirya Project. I have been asking individuals and groups for money to support me in my quest to provide mosquito nets for 6,000 families in Miirya Sub County, Uganda. It has been an enormous challenge but I have been overwhelmed by peoples' interest, concern and generosity to people they do not know. We now are getting close to our target of£10,000. Money has come from all sorts of directions. I return to Uganda on 31 March and during the next few months the net purchase and distribution will continue alongside the rest of my programme of health promotion. This will include diarrhoea prevention, increasing uptake of childhood immunisation and sexual health teaching.Your random acts of kindness will be carried directly to the people of Miirya. I will tell them about you. On their behalf I want to thank you all so much. Some while ago a Miirya volunteer said to me 'Pamela, thank you for loving us'. You are now part of that loving.