{the time has come}

Well. The day has come. For any one who has talked to me in the past 2 months, there was probably a peculiar longing in my voice that likely could have been attributed to my excitement for our new Country Director to arrive in Uganda.

Well the funny longing voice is gone. Julie has arrived. Julie will be supervising and managing most of our Uganda side logistics. This includes everything from fancy meetings with Parliament members regarding export regulations (Monday) or trudging ankle-deep through the narrow, muddy paths of Owino market looking for tools to revamp our workshop (today.)

As I sit writing this, Julie is decorating our room with cool vintage record covers. Oh, how I appreciate a girl who puts some elbow grease into her aesthetic surroundings. Even if it is a kind of janky room in the middle of East Africa.

And she loves organization. Can you sense a trend in the type of people I tend to hire?? Like grandma always said...Hire your weakness!! (Note of disclousure: My grandmother never actually said those words, but I am sure someone's did.)

Oh. And she laughs at most my jokes. Pretty hard. Could this get any better??

Here are a few words from her to you. I'm sure you will be hearing much more. Enjoy!

Dear world wide web,

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Julie Beckstrom. I have brown hair and blue eyes. I love things like coffee, headscarves, traveling, the occasional reality tv show, etc. I hate things like tea, wet socks, boring things, and waking up early. I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Sseko, living in Uganda, and working with the girls. I’m excited to combine my love for this place with the mission of Sseko. Plus, I get to work with some adorable shoes and even more adorable women. I’ve just started on this journey, but I get butterflies when I think of where it may take me, and I’d love to keep you posted on the way there! That’s all I have for now…I wouldn’t want to overwhelm you since we just met, but you can expect to hear more from me before long.

(**this picture was taken right before Julie hopped, scratch that, THREW HERSELF OFF, the world's tallest bungee jump. what can we say? the Sseko crew is full of risk takers***)