The Doctor from Kraków

BOMOI BAGS has many faces to its success.

 

I confided in Lydia when the project first began, trying to decide if it would be successful or not. Lydia is from Vancouver and served as a VOICA volunteer for one year. Our service overlapped by a month when I first arrived in October 2010. Lydia returned in December 2011 for a visit and it was during this time that I communicated with her and she spoke in-depth with Mama Aroyo to determine the level of commitment by the local women.  

 

 

 

I met Valentina in Rome as she was preparing to volunteer in Congo. A requirement to being a VOICA volunteer is spending two months of training at the headquarters in Rome, Italy. You are also encouraged to spend a week or two after serving to share your experiences with the next group of volunteers. When Valentina arrived to Congo, she energized the women and continued corresponding with me via emails regarding the logistics and time frame of the project. When Valentina left, Margaret stepped in.

BOMOI BAGS would not be possible without Małgorzata Topolińska. Margaret and I have never met, but I feel as though we are best friends. When I returned to the U.S. in November 2011, she was preparing for her upcoming year as a VOICA volunteer in Congo. We emailed and skyped, and I was excited to give a prelude to the people she would meet and the current VOICA projects she would be a part of, but most of all I expressed to her that when it’s finished, after the all the joyful moments and tearful ones, she would never be the same.
 

Margaret is a doctor from Krakow, Poland. For the past year, she worked at the clinic in Aru and Ariwara. She was also BOMOI BAGS project leader. I communicated everything about BOMOI BAGS through her. Margaret distributed the information packets and model handbags that I sent to the women and organized a market outing to purchase all the material that would be used to fabricate BOMOI BAGS. She monitored the product by ensuring its quality and correctness. She frequented Western Union when I needed to transfer money and also recruited an Italian summer volunteer to bring the BOMOI BAGS back to Brescia, Italy and have them shipped to my home in Nebraska (the international shipping dilemma requires a blog of its own to follow). 

 

THANK YOU & MERCI MINGI – Lydia, Valentina & Margaret!!