Changing Our View of Africa

Mocha Club [http://mochaclub.org] has been working hard for years now to reform the way people, especially those of the Western mindset, see Africa. Africa means hope. Africa means joy. Africa means smiling faces. Africa means faith.
There is a future in Africa, all we need to do is help them to heal the past and current tragedies occuring all over the continent. We can do it. I can do it. You can do it.

Join in and help make a difference!
[http://mochaclub.org/joinme/makeanimpact]

I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me

A few years ago, I got involved with the Mocha Club. Recently, I was asked by Mocha Club to write about the concept of why ‘I need Africa more than Africa needs me.’ Mocha Club [www.mochaclub.org] is a community-based website where members can start a team and invite friends to join them in giving $7 a month – the cost of 2 mochas – to support a project in Africa. Mocha Club's vision is to provide a way for people who don't have hundreds or thousands of dollars to make a difference in Africa.

At first, this concept seems backward... doesn't Africa need me? Aren't the African people in despair? Yes, but they have something that I don't. They have faith, and they have an optimism and a hope I could only dream of having.
What Africa means to me is a new way of world thinking. We need to stop over-analyzing the little things and look at the bigger picture. We need to start embracing the positive and letting go of the negative. What this means for me is that people, myself included, need to stop saying "I can't" and start doing. We CAN make a difference- look at Mocha Club. We HAVE made a difference, and we can keep going, keep helping.

I need Africa because I need a way to make sure that people act humanly and help others rather than complain about the things that they can't have. I can't afford the latest trends or the new iPod or computer or an Ivy League education, but I can afford $7 a month to save someone's life. I can give up drinking two mochas a month to ensure people get clean drinking water, that children get to go to school, that refugees of sex slavery have somewhere safe to live. I can do that. You can, too.

I need Africa because I need to see human kindness. I need to see an interaction that is worthwhile, that makes a difference in someone's life, puts a smile on someone's face. Africa fulfills this need.


So what do you think? Please post your comments, I would love to get a conversation started and see what other thoughts people have about Africa. Or, even better than a comment, post your own blog about it if you'd like!
Join in the worthwhile cause of recasting the damaging images that force pity over partnership. Come back Dec 1st to see what Mocha Club is doing about reforming that image. Thanks in advance for your time!


http://mochaclub.org
http://mochaclub.org/joinme/makeanimpact

Thanks

Though I rant and rave about all the "problems" I am tired of in my life, I have so much to be thankful for...
I love my family, and my friends, (and my puppies :]) who have been there for me through thick and thin and support me in all that I do.
I have a great job, and though it's just part-time, it's something where if my ambitions did not work out, I could potentially continue to move up in the company and make a difference.
I do well in school, and love to learn. How lucky am I that my "homework" is to read, write, and analyze? Something that I love to do. The next time I complain about how swamped I am, I need to sit back and recognize that a) I put this upon my own shoulders, no one is pressuring me but myself, and b) I do the same things in work and pleasure, read.
I also have numerous ways to reach out and help others. While I'm still trying to decide whether or not this is selfish of me, I enjoy doing it. What do you think? Does finding satisfaction in helping others take away from the act itself?

I've been involved with an organization called the Mocha Club for about two years now, and and currently trying to start up a new project with their outlet called "Make Change". I'm going to try to partner with one of the groups on campus, one of the boys in my class told me about an organization he is part of that would be nearly perfect for the project, so I am hoping that will work out.

I will keep you posted, and explain more about Mocha Club shortly. If you would like to get involved, please click on my link in my Info or click here: [http://mochaclub.org/joinme/makeanimpact]. $7 a month can do so much. Please help!


Stay safe, and spend tomorrow with loved ones- in person or in thought.
xo

After the fallout.

Well, that was a long time ago.
Jim and I broke up in May.
I started dating Matt in July, we broke up in September.

I decided to just live life. Fuck forcing relationships or trying to find one.
If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, well, then it doesn't.

Got my eye on someone, but for practical and logistical reasons we'll let that simmer for the next few months at least.


Classes are overwhelming, but I'll pull through...
Time to read now, then work until close. I got a promotion there, so obviously things are going well. I transferred stores in June and now am much closer to school and home, which is great.


Getting to work, now.
xoxo.

Ugly or pretty, it's still my city.

Missing Boston so bad today.

I feel like Jim and I have been fighting a lot lately. Or I've been bitchy and whiney and complaining and crying over nothing, I should say. I don't know what my problem is. I feel so helpless. I'm not sure whether it's stress, hormones, missing the city, or what, but I keep freaking out on him. He told me that he's not sure how much more of it he can take... which doesn't help me much. I wish I could just trust in people. Or believe in myself. Or both.

I wish I knew what to do. I wish I knew how to control my emotions better, and how to just let the little things go. I have such an issue with that.

Aside from that...
I finally got my resume done tonight. I've been "working on it" for a while.
Hopefully it's decent, I've never had to write one before.

I really can't stop thinking about/being worried about things with Jim. I just talked to him on the phone a few minutes ago. He said "Hey Mollie, what's up". No big deal, I guess, but he never calls me by my name. He always says babe or baby or some other pet name like that.
That's probably one of the things that I keep freaking out over, though, that I shouldn't. It's probably no big deal, nothing to worry about, but I over-analyze EVERYTHING.


For now I think it's time to head to bed and read until I fall asleep. Up early tomorrow morning for exercise and getting ready for work. Work 11-6, meeting 6-8. How exciting...

Goodnight. xoxo.

So make up your mind
and get in, or get out.

Spring!

The weather is finally warming up and the flip fl0ps have been broken out. It's the time of year when everything starts looking a little bit better. I still miss my city, but I've come to terms with the fact that I really can't do anything about it, so I really just have to make the best of it. I'll visit whenever I can, but I'm here, so I have to deal with that. I have a wonderful boyfriend here and great friends, so it's definitely not that that's the problem, it's the classes. Like I've said, it's not the difficulty, it's the ease that bothers me. I guess I'll just take Jim's advice and be happy that they're easy. At least it will look good :/ I just hope I get something out of them.

Last night my friend's house caught on fire. I guess her roommate was cooking and the whole kitchen went up :( I was at my boyfriend's house down the street, and no one knew the number but they said it was a bunch of girls outside and a few were blonde, and one had a coat on that sounded like hers, so I ran out the door to go find her, and indeed it was her. Everyone was okay and got out with time to spare and everything, but they were obviously very upset. I felt really bad, I hope that the damage isn't too much :(

Well I guess I should start getting ready for class. My first one got canceled today, so I don't have to be on campus until 11, but, parking here is absolutely ridiculous, so I need to leave like 45 minutes early to get to class on time. Sigh.

xoxo.

Just When You Get Comfortable...

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. What have I done?
So not only am I questioning whether or not I'll be able to do anything with my life after school here, I'm questioning why I'm here if I'm so unhappy.

Why did I leave the city? It was so spur-of-the-moment. Just one day "hey, I think I'll transfer!" And did it. That was so fucking stupid.

I love, really, love, my boyfriend, and I have wonderful friends, but academically and just overall I'm not happy here.

I don't know what to do.

All I needed tonight was a big, huge, gigantic hug from Jim. I needed it so badly. Went to get in the car to drive over and see him, and my car won't start. I somehow managed to leave the lights on (which are supposed to turn off automatically when the driver's side door opens) when I didn't even drive in the dark today. Great. And he was drinking, so he can't come here. Wonderful. So I called him up in a fit of tears. He's coming tomorrow morning, early. He's going to take me to class and hopefully charge my battery so I can go to work. If not he said I can take his car... I really don't want to do that though. It's a truck, and I'm not entirely comfortable driving trucks, they're too big.

I'm going to go clear off my bed and go to sleep. Hopefully I'll feel a little bit better in the morning. At the very least I'll wake up to my wonderful boyfriend giving me the hug I'm dying for.


That's what I'll drift off to sleep dreaming about.

If you're thinking about transferring... really think about it.
What will you be giving up?
What will you be going to?
What kind of education will you be getting?
Will your teachers have an education themselves?
Will you be in classes that challenge you?
Will you be in a place you feel that you belong?

Sit, and think about it.
Do not rush this.