Kareena's Missions

I felt anxious and nauseous as the red sun descended. I can't explain it; maybe it was the apple I ate without cleaning it, but fear gripped my heart. Tears welled up in my eyes, as the front of the bus collectively gasped. The bus swayed from side to side, and then a sudden impact jolted us. Shouts erupted, we came to a stop and people began to exit. We had struck a man. I wasn't crying, but tears streamed down my face. I was shocked, confused, and terrified. Would these people seek revenge, or would they remain peaceful? All of us "muzungus" chose to stay on the bus. Olivia and Netanya wanted to help, but we advised against it. What if you get blamed, and you don't have licenses here?  Later the villagers informed us that two trucks had narrowly missed him earlier that day, and it seemed he wanted to die. We feared we could have caused of his death. I frantically texted Remmy, "What happened? We hit a man, and he's bleeding from his head. What should we...

The evenings as a student missionary are always busy, but it’s in the little moments where I find so much joy. At least 2 to 3 times a week I go to an expat house. My favorite times, are when I am the only SM. Don’t get me wrong I love when everyone is there, but when it’s just you, you can almost pretend you are a part of the family. Last week, after Monday game night, I went up to the Hardings. We just hung out. Alica came home and we had spring rolls and avocado toast for dinner. (If you haven’t tried that combination you should!) Then we just talked about our days. A beautiful moment that meant the world to me.  There are some mornings I sleep in, due to having to schedule a 1am meeting with people in the States and I'll have to stay up late. Those mornings are my favorite.  Everyone in the house is waking up and we all sit around the living room/kitchen/dining room and talk; about our days, what we look forward to, what we are dreading. We laugh together about the absur...

  The Monetary Journey to the USA  In January, Akuna’s business coach, Jonathan, let me know about an amazing opportunity at Southern called Hyve Creators. It was set to be early March and focused around a pitch competition called the "Lions Den." There would be investors judging Shark Tank style and he thought Akuna should pitch, plus there were a lot of people there that we could connect with. I jumped on the opportunity for two reasons, first of all, the connections and who would pass up a chance to visit the States!  I immediately texted the president and vice president of Enactus ready to pitch my idea. My proposition was that they would pay for half and I would fundraise/cover the other half, an equal investment. Well… that call did not go as I had expected. I got rejected pretty hard. The president had his mind made up that it made no sense for me to go when Akuna in the states could represent… My argument was that they would not have the depth of understanding in...

  The factory looked like the house right before aSuper Bowl party, that my parents have hosted for many years... Empty. Clean. Waiting. The floor, not spotless but swept. Normally messy tables were cleared and the corners full of things organized neatly. The air feels like anticipation. That’s what it felt like before the Zambia Revenue Authority came to the factory... or was supposed to come.  The past couple of weeks, I’ve been working on applying to the ZRA to obtain a Country of Origin Certificate for our 7 types of soap. I thought it would be easy. Just submit a letter and get the certificate… but no. It involves a letter, invoices from all materials required including factory overhead, customs clearances for anything imported, documentation of production, and a cost analysis for every single soap.  We first applied for it in the middle of December. The hardest part of it all was collecting the invoices and clearances because, there has been no system for storin...