If at First You Don't Succeed....

 

Two things happen when I face failure.

 

The first thing that happens is that I get angry. It’s natural to get angry. Anger is a very human emotion. So, I allow myself to feel all the bad feelings that come with failure: Anger, disappointment, frustration and sadness. I might even throw out an “Every time I try to DO something!” when faced with failure.

 

The second thing that happens is that I pick myself up, dust myself off, and carry on.

 

Whether or not moving forward means trying again or biding my time until a new solution comes along remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: If this particular thing that I tried to do is important enough to me, I will not give up on it. I mean, I will if the other parties involved have given up too, but if it’s a thing that’s all on me, then I won’t give up on it.

 

That was the situation for me recently, when I was trying to help out a friend who runs an orphanage in Uganda.

 

Bob Rich is a fellow writer who lives in Australia. I was encouraged to sign up for his newsletter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, who I have known for decades. I not only signed up for his newsletter, Bobbing Around, but I also subscribed to his blog. It was through his blog that I learned about an orphanage in Uganda that was desperately in need of financial assistance.

 

I clicked on the link provided in the blog post and started following them on Facebook. When the owner contacted me directly asking if I could help them out by sending money, I was unable to do this at that time, so I decided to create a GoFundMe page for the orphanage. Once that was created, I shared it on my social media pages.

 

That was, until the GoFundMe for this orphanage was deleted. After this was brought to my attention, I tried contacting GoFundMe to find out what was going on, but I got a message that the email address I used (a “support” email address) was not valid. I was not able to log in at GoFundMe to find out what had happened.

 

Acting on a hunch, I responded to the message I had received from GoFundMe notifying me that the fundraiser was deleted, asking why this happened. It took a while, but when I finally got a response from a GoFundMe rep, they said they needed proof that the orphanage was a legit operation.

 

While I understand their reasons for needing this proof, I had no way to provide it. So for a few days, I was going back and forth from the orphanage owner and the GoFundMe people, answering questions and explaining about what was needed to bring back the fundraiser. One of the things needed was proof of registration.

 

Unfortunately, this orphanage is not fully registered with their country because they can’t afford the fee. And because they are not fully registered, GoFundMe decided that they could not restore the fundraiser for it. They did reinstate my account, which I am grateful for, but they didn’t reinstate the fundraiser.

 

When I informed my contact about this, they were disheartened. When I was able to, I did send them some money, and Bob also sent them some money, but they are still in need of funds.

 

They are actually in long-term need of funds. There are 38 kids there in one building. They need money for food, clothing, medication, rent and school fees.

 

If I had the financial capability, I would pay off the fees so they could OWN the building they live in and have extra money besides for getting fully registered and being able to afford other necessities. But contrary to popular belief, this particular author is not financially well-off, so I can only do so much to help them. This is why I tried to set up a fundraiser for them, something that could help them out long-term, but that did not pan out.

  

I felt bad that I was unable to help them out in this way. But, you know, there’s always more than one way to do things! There ARE other ways I could help them out. There was actually ONE particular way I could help them out. The problem was, I didn’t know what that way could be.

 

And, I was unable to see it.

 

There was a need for a website for this orphanage. When both Lugonda and Bob sought help from organizations, everybody told them that they needed to see the orphanage’s website first. Lugonda was unable to create a website, and the last time he made his Facebook page public, he kept getting hit by a bunch of scammers. So he did not feel comfortable making his page public in order to show that this orphanage was the real deal.

 

Unfortunately, with my schedule being the way it was, I was unable to set aside time to create a website for them. Bob was not able to create the site, either. 

 

Lugonda started asking me several times to create a website for him. (I mean, it was either Bob or me to do it.) And I kept telling him that I just didn’t have the time. (I spend my morning hours doing my own things, the things that I enjoy. Like reading, social media, working on personal goals and writing. I wasn’t ready to give that “me time” up.) Little did I realize that his insistence about it was all a part of the Universe's plan to help me see that this was something I needed to do. The Universe was tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "Pay attention!"

 

The Universe decided that it would change things around a bit so that I WOULD have the time to create the website.

 

My schedule changed and I suddenly had a free hour that I normally devote to “work” and “parenting responsibilities.” I grabbed that free hour and decided to use it to help out my friends in Uganda. I would find a way to create a website for them! Hopefully, this would help to not only show that they were legit but also provide a way for people to make donations to them.

 

I spent all week using my free hour to work on this project.

 

And, of course, something had to go wrong after I got it set up! (I always have the worst luck, you know!)

 

I had set it up to use my PayPal for the donations so that I could send them to Lugonda. But then my bank account was compromised and I could no longer use my PayPal account for this purpose. Yes, I could have created another PayPal account for this purpose, but PayPal makes people creating new accounts jump through SO MANY hoops to get it set up, and they take FOREVER to process everything, that this was not an option. So I removed the button from the site and explained the situation to Lugonda. I didn’t know what else to do, so I asked Bob if he had any ideas. He did! Being the amazing person that he is, he granted permission for me to use his PayPal for the donations. He said that a bonus was that there would be no fees. (That’s always a good thing!)

 

I thanked Bob and put the PayPal donation button back onto the website. (Lugonda was pleased with this arrangement, and he told me that Bob and I are the only people he trusts for this.) 

 

In hindsight, I am starting to feel that everything happened the way it did for a reason. I don't know why. But I believe that things happen for a reason and that I should trust the process. That said, I'm not upset about the turnout, because I have a feeling that this is how it should be and everything went the way it was supposed to go, even if it is not the way I originally planned for it to be or how I wanted it to go. But we still worked together to make a way for helping them out a reality, and that's the best part we can take away from all of this. 

 

So the Home Of Faith Orphanage in Uganda now has an official website where people can not only learn more about them and see pictures of the children, but also make donations to help them out. Yay! 

 

And they are once again able to receive donations from anyone who wants to help them out. The best part this is that there are two options for sending them donations. One option is through Bob via PayPal and the other is through Worldremit, where donations will go directly to Lugonda. (The info for this is on a lower part of the website.)

 

If anyone reading this blog post is interested in helping them out, please visit their website for information on how to do so. Please feel free to share this blog post and tell everyone about this orphanage’s need for financial assistance. Every little bit they receive will help.