.the doorways project::uganda.

Travel. Beauty. Connection. When I think of these three words, one name comes to mind. Lisa Field-Elliot, the Doorways Traveler. Today's post, however, is not really about the beautiful soul that is Lisa. Rather, this is a call for your attention and your support. Uganda. A country where men, women, and children - some older, some perhaps even much younger than you or I - have endured atrocities that I cannot even fathom. Each one a survivor. Each one with the fragile hope and prayer to live a life of freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from pain. Freedom to simply be. Many of us have hoped at some point in our lives, maybe even today, that we were in a position to be able to help, to take that flight across a vast ocean, to go beyond our own comfort zones and social networks, in order that we may have a part in seeing beautiful things happen for those who deserve it and much more. They have stories to tell, and I want to hear them. But I cannot make that trip. Not today. That is why I believe that we must help support someone who can. Lisa is the vessel that will be making this journey. On April 3rd, she will be in Uganda assisting Community Action Fund for Women of Africa (CAWFA) for two weeks, documenting the stories of those who have been supported by their work. It is there that she will be our hands, our ears, our heart. I cannot think of a more humble and generous individual that I would encourage than her.

"My heart breaks and leaps when I think about what is ahead. I am not pretending to have done this before. To have been somewhere and sat with women who have experienced the kind of atrocities that the women of Uganda have. These are the kinds of unthinkable things that fold into long and complicated stories of pain, struggle, and loss. But they are not the only stories that have to define these women and their families. While I am realistic and reverent toward the stories of death and devastation that I know I will hear and see in the faces of those I will listen to and photograph, what I hope to capture is the future of possibility that CAFWA is striving for. That and the basic human desire to be our fullest as women and as mothers that is the same no matter where we are." -Lisa, March 12, 2010

To learn more about how YOU can help make this journey possible, please take the time to visit Lisa's blog at www.doorwaystraveler.com. Also, to find out more about CAFWA and how you can help, visit them at www.cafwaafrica.org.