like a brick

Tweet

The impact of this project hit me again today – square in the face. Maybe it’s because this phase of creation is coming to an end… and we don’t know when the next phase will begin. We’ve run out of funding and as of next week, this project will be shelved.

Maybe it’s because the photos on our walls of the trip to South Africa stuck me again suddenly. The photos have always been moving, but I suppose that seeing them every day, my eyes started to glaze over them and they became more of a background fixture. Not today. Today they stirred up my emotions all over again. Alone in the office early this morning, I got teary looking at all the faces of the people we met… some sad, some oppressed, but mostly hopeful and full of possibility. Looking at the young girls and young boys, knowing that they are the reason we are pouring so much energy into this project. My eyes were filled with tears, as a huge smile spread across my face.

Photos by Nichole Magoon, Raymond McCarthy Bergeron, Ann DeMarle

Presenting to the UN Today!

Tweet

As I type this message, 6 students – Dan Bergeron, Amanda Jones, Heather Conover, Lauren Nishikawa, Brian George and Wesley Knee – as well as two EMC staff, Ann DeMarle and Heather Kelley, are taking the stage at the United Nation’s building in New York City, NY, USA. They will be presenting the game concept, and research behind it, that has the potential of changing lives globally. How often in one’s life does an opportunity like this happen?!

The work to reach this stage in the project has been a long, exhausting, emotional and worthwhile. The students sacrificed a lot of their time to get what needed to be done for the presentation today. They worked straight through for the past 2 weeks, weeknights and weekends, to prepare for this day. This sacrifice was well worth it in my opinion having seen what they will be presenting.

We are currently working on seeing if we can post the presentation online for everyone to view. The style of the presentation may not translate as well as reading a book, as it is intended to be mostly spoken, but we’ll also include the transcript to help elaborate on the visuals of each slide. There also is a video attached to the presentation that we may post on YouTube once the UNFPA approves of this as well.

I know they will do well, but for those reading this blog at this time, channeling your positive energies towards them would be greatly appreciated. :o)