Welcome to The Seeds Storyteller Series: Difference-Making During the Corona Crisis. We’ll be talking with Marcellina Otii about HOW and WHY she is committed to BEing and DOing life with love in the communities of Colorado/USA where she now lives and in Uganda where she was born and grew up. Get ready to discover your next steps (or leaps!) of inspired ACTion to make a tangible difference amidst these challenging days of the Coronavirus pandemic.

In case you missed the livestream, check out the replay right here or head to your favorite social media platform: YouTube | IGTV | Facebook. While you’re there, subscribe to join the fun with us at Seeds of Exchange. Keep the convo goin’ in the comments below.

 

 

I cannot wait for you to hear from one of my beloved soul sistahs and elders in life. Really, make sure you join us … you will see just how amazing Marcellina is! You’ll soon see why this is her favorite quote:

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. -Nelson Mandela

 

WHAT you can look forward to in this conversation:

–  ARMCHAIR TRAVEL and a virtual visit to Gulu in Northern Uganda – hear what is happening in Marcellina’s native community and country amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Corona virus lock-down increases the hardships on the already vulnerable community. The urban poor in Uganda survives on inconsistent daily domestic or unskilled labors, but those sources of income disappeared overnight. Some of the families who have ancestral land to grow food on, have to walk for miles to get there because there is a ban on carrying passengers on motorcycle “taxis” (called “bodabodas” in Uganda). -Marcellina

– LEARN MORE about Marcellina’s lifelong passion and calling as an educator ‘round the world and what fueled her to begin Northern Uganda’s first Montessori School, Mother Earth Montessori.

– SOME UNEXPECTED GIFTS amidst these days of lockdown for Marcellina that might shed some light on gifts in your own life.

These days of quarantine have filled me with eagerness to meditate and be still and reset my personal life.

I’ve also been so blessed by my family’s care of my husband and me each day through dropping off groceries and dinners … and setting up family video calls so we can see one another’s faces.

In the midst of lock-down, I’ve been able to guide Mother Earth Montessori school to focus on growing vegetables, beans and corn to feed eighty children daily when school reopens. Introducing raised beds for urban farming will be a game-changer on a small school property. -Marcellina

– TANGIBLE nudges for inspired ACTION to be of service in whatever ways you can.

Become an informed citizen so you can make knowledge-based choices which are beneficial to you, your family, community and our world at large. Choose and commit to do what is helpful to your family, your community, and our world at large! -Marcellina

– A GUIDED MOMENT to be still and take a “PoP” (Place of Pause) together with a specific idea or two for you to take into your everyday life and practice on your own or with your family so you can experience peace and strength within these stormy days.

Singing or humming a favorite reassuring song, even in my head even in some confining or challenging places is a blessing. -Marcellina

 

NUDGES for inspired ACTion:

1 – SMILE CHALLENGE. In your activities today, see how many smiles you can bring to others.

2 – DONATE. It’s quite an honor and opportunity to be able to bring a smile to children in Uganda who want to go to school but cannot. The main challenge lies in creating new ways to sustain the new school of $7 each month per student to complete the 7 years of primary school education. Donate what you can to Mother Earth Montessori.

3 – REACH OUT to someone in need today and do what you can to help.

4 – COMMIT TO YOUR OWN PLACES OF PAUSE. Choose 1 thing to weave into your life from our storyteller’s practices or your own that will create plentyFULL peace within you. – remember Marcellina’s was simply singing or humming.

5 – CONNECT WITH, follow, and friend our team:

 

MORE words of wisdom from Marcellina:

Convinced that it is God’s steadfast love and mercy which has brought me this far, I serve others, especially children with a grateful heart. In humility and intentional openness, I reach out to others relying on grace to fire me up every day, so I can pass on the love with which I am blessed.

I would like to invite people to become informed as much as possible about their own local communities as well as the larger global communities. I believe that seeking to understand our world impacts the quality and process of our engagement in it.

Each of our purposes joined in beneficial goodwill for humanity will overcome – quarantine, shelter in place, and any devastation today and in the days to come.

My faith in God is the fuel which fires my engine, however challenged I am. It keeps me grounded and not fearful all the time. My spiritual life guides my choices and use of my income.

What inspires me most these days is that God is with me through it all! My second great source of inspiration are our health workers and all the unsung heroes who clean potentially coronavirus laden places.

Each person, from the very young to the oldest matters. You, you and you have a purpose in this world.

 

ABOUT the Seeds Storyteller Series:

Difference-Making During the Corona Crisis | Stories of community, compassion, and creativity in the midst of everyday life, today. We share these stories about everyday difference-makers with you in the midst of the Corona pandemic so you can be informed, inspired, and ignited to care for yourself and others in the midst of these disrupted and challenging days. Get ready to find a bit more of your story as you listen to the stories of ARTivists (artist-activists), students, parents, elders, entrepreneurs, and activists!

 

xo,  -Sarah Davison-Tracy ❤️🙏🏻🌏