Merry Halloween and A Little More Hippyness

As I've written many times, last rotation in Canada I bought a ton (or at least an entire suitcase full) of Halloween costumes and decorations to bring back in hopes that the expats and I would have some kind of Halloween party.

Not only was the party was a total blast (in fact it was one of the best weekends of my life) but what's even awesomer* was some news I got via email this week.
*(I've decided I can make up my own words on my own blog)

That night, a project employee and his wife came with a little donation box. They discretly put it on a side table with envelopes. A few hours into the party, the couple told us about the donation box (which was brilliant...wait until we've all had a few drinks!). They were collecting donations on behalf of a small orphanage about fourty-five minutes out of town. This orphanage is ran by a Malagasy lady in her own home and without any government funding. She cares for eleven children - plus her own family!
The partiers all got out our wallets and donated $370,000 Ar (roughly $225 CDN) - and the husband made an pact to match all donations received that night.

The wife of the couple sent out an email this week describing the delivery and showing the Halloween partiers just where our dollars actually went.
In total - $450 CDN was collected. Really... an insignificant amount of money. But managed to buy all this:

A stock of fruits and veggies, 3kgs of sausage, 3kgs of hamburger, 1 kg of chicken, diapers, 25kg of white rice, 25 kg of red rice and a bunch of other food and household goods.

And...even better....just in time for Christmas .... TOYS!


All the partiers did was open their wallets. The actual work came from the group of expat wives that continue to raise money and make regular deliveries. Actually... the REAL work is done by the lady that for some reason has decided to take in eleven children...that weren't hers...that she could have turned away.
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I had ended this post earlier this week and it was sitting in my "drafts" unpublished. It didn't feel... finished. I kept going back to it, but... well, I've been busy and tired and busy (needs to be said twice), I left it and thought I'd come back to it later.
This post was originally titled "The Halloween that keeps on giving"...because I thought, that based on what I knew of the party attendees - at least a few of them would reply to the email offering additional contributions....
Because...that's what I did. I emailed her back saying that I would love to get involved somehow, but at the very least, I could open my wallet to assist in any upcoming supply drop offs.

And her reponse? (Summarized in two words) No thanks.

My first reaction...was a little...offended, actually. A charity that turns down money?
But my next reaction was a little different. Maybe it was a sign (I know, I know...I'm totally becoming a hippy).

I have this habit of putting so much on my plate until....it all topples over, or at least I feel like its about to all topple over. (Example: June and July 2009? Training for and completing a 200km bike ride in the Rockies for charity; fundraising $5000 for the bike ride; night school; work; purchasing and moving into a new condo; preparing to move to a 3rd world country 15,000km away from Canada.)
I seem to have extreme issues understanding the concept, "Balance".

Although sometimes I feel like I've lived here forever...its only been a short four months. So...I'm going to take my time, and when I've settled in a little more, have a little more time on my hands, or feel like I understand the concept of "balance" a little better...I'll find a way to give back to this wonderful, crazy country that I am so in love with. I just think that I live a far too fortunate life to not give back....

But...for the next little while...I'll continue to do the little things that make a tiny, tiny (kelly-kelly in Malagasy) difference: bringing my driver a Coke on a hot day; giving out granola bars to the little street kids (instead of money - which they don't actually get to keep); helping to throw birthday party for a friend; or making sure that an expat that has been looking out of sorts lately gets a big sandwich hug from me and another crazy expat...

For now at least - I will continue to focus on me and my own life. I will be selfish (in a good way) and just continue to love Madagascar, write in my blog, run (when its not +35*C), do yoga, socialize, sleep, think, daydream, rest...(oh...and work of course)...and just continuing to....be me.