One year.

One year ago today my biggest dream came true.

One year ago today I stepped into the unknown and took the greatest risk of my life.

One year ago today I was changed forever.

One year ago today I left for Uganda.

It's hard to believe one year has already passed. It seems like yesterday. I hope I never forget that giddy feeling I felt on the morning of December 5th. I woke up before dawn and was like a kid on Christmas morning. No, scratch that. I was like ten kids rolled into one. The day had finally arrived and it was one I didn't think would ever happen. (True story: I almost had to cancel the whole trip just a few days before)


I was completely overwhelmed with joy, excitement, and fear. The perfect combination.

The anniversary of this monumental day has me thinking about all the things that have happened over the past year. When I left for Uganda I was at the peak of my quarter life crisis. I had no idea where my life was going and I wasn't even sure where I wanted it to go. Thankfully, that trip sparked a series of events that not only changed who I am, but woke me up to discover who I want to be.

I thought it would be interesting to put a list together and reflect on what's happened since that day.

1. I returned home feeling overcome with emotion. My heart was telling me to do something about what I had seen in Uganda, but I wasn't sure how or what to do.

2. I lost my job as an orthodontic assistant. Thank you crappy economy.

3. I researched organizations that were working with women and children in developing countries, but was disappointed to see few that even touched on menstrual related absenteeism among school age girls.

4. I decided to try to do something on my own about this issue. Teen girls in Uganda were missing school during the week of their period simply because they didn't have access to adequate menstrual supplies. I wanted to change that.

5. I recruited my friends and family to sew reusable cloth menstrual pads, which I planned on sending to the organization I had worked with while in Uganda.

6. I spent hours teaching myself how to create a website for the project, which I finally did after many long nights. I decided to call it Sis Hope.

7. I found a new job and went back to work as an orthodontic assistant. My heart was not it in, but I needed the money to support my project.

8. The website started getting hits and people from all over the world were emailing, wanting to help and get involved.

9. Pretty soon women started getting together for "pad parties", where they would sew cloth pads and send them to me. Before I knew it pads started coming in from places like New Zealand, Australia, Portugal, and Canada.

10. After four months I received over 500 pads for teen girls in Uganda. I was beyond thrilled.

11. I decided to give it a shot and make an attempt at doing this long term, so I re-vamped the website and made some changes to the project.

12. I partnered with an organization in Uganda that employs local women to sew these reusable pads.

12. As of today Sis Hope has given over 600 reusable menstrual pads to teen girls in Uganda.

Wow.

It was the best year of my life. (Not to mention I'm almost 18 weeks pregnant with my first little bean!) I never imagined that trip would give me so much purpose and peace. I'm not sure what the future of Sis Hope will be. I find myself wishing I could have done more, but I'm so happy about what was accomplished...God is good.

Thinking of what 2011 might bring makes me giddy all over again. I'm ready for new challenges and new opportunities, new adventures and dreams.

I can't help but wonder what this list will look like on December 5th, 2011...