The past two weeks have been spent understanding my small knowledge of html while combining two websites into a cleaner, more simplified website to host Emma Simmons Photography.  This also allowed me to go back through my photographs I took while in India (2008) and I came across one that I had never really paid attention to. 

I always enjoy seeing how others travel  (what gets pushed into the dala dala’s in Tanzania, or how many people can fit onto one single moped).  It makes me feel like we live so cautiously, while in other places, there are no limits….

Every Christmas we have our fingers crossed for a white Christmas.  Being that we are in Maine (the North Pole?) in December, snow covered grounds just seem right.  But, like most places this winter, except Alaska, where they are getting dumped with feet of snow at a time, Maine was without a lick of snow in our parts. 

I woke up on Christmas morning and our yard was still dry and there weren’t many signs of winter, until mid morning, in between opening gifts and having some bubbly… Santa must have saved our town for last. 

In an earlier post I did an Ode to Trees and I couldn’t help but do another post about the dance of the tress. 

When I was home last week for Thanksgiving, I wanted to get some shots of our street, because I think it is one of the most beautiful tree lined streets.  The branches lend themselves as dancing arms and legs and during certain times of the day, rays of sun break through the dance and make it one of the most breath taking views.

What would happen if each of us decided to donate $10 knowing that our $10 went to building a secondary school for children in Tanzania? 

Epic Change, a non-profit in the US, helped raise funds to build Shepherds Junior School and out of gratitude and an outpouring of love from across the world, more than 500 kids were given the incredible access to an education every child deserves.  The challenge was what happened once the kids graduated from primary school?  Where would these kids, who ranked at the top of national exams in the Arusha district, go on to attend a secondary school?  This is our mission! 

If everyone donated $10 (which equates to 1 Brick) we could help the 500 + children from Shepherds Junior School secure a prolonged education and remind every child that dreams, in fact, do come true.

If you give, your donation will:

• $10, you’ll add a brick to Mama Lucy’s secondary school.  1,000 bricks=1 classroom.
• $100, you’ll be able to add your own personal dedication of gratitude to the walls of the new school.
• $250, you’ll make room for one student in a classroom at the school built from your gratitude.
• $10,000, you’ll build an entire classroom.

To make a donation, use the paypal icon below.

Many many thanks and I wish all of you the very best of a happy Thanksgiving. 

Here is a video of Leah and Gideon, two students from the Shepherds Junior School, singing with Robbie Schaefer that makes my heart melt. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mMNUswX7SM

~Emma

Grateful ( greyt-fuhl): warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received; thankful.

As Thanksgiving approaches this week, I like to reflect on the people and things I am grateful in this amazing world and be a part of Epic Thanks again this year. 

I am forever grateful for my family, for the love, friendship and support I receive from them every.single.day.  Last week my oldest sister gave birth to her first child, a precious little boy who I fell in love with the moment I saw him in the email announcing his arrival to this world and our world.  I fell in love with him all over again the moment I met him and each time I see him it is the same grateful and warm feeling of love.  A true joy to our family!

I am grateful for my loving boyfriend, who I continue to share many laughs, delicious meals, deep conversations and a close bond with.  Almost 8 weeks ago, I had a tumor removed off of my ankle, keeping me off my feet and living with crutches in our third floor walk-up apartment.  His support, patience, and nurturing care has been absolutely incredible.  After spending day after day in discomfort and keeping myself entertained while being constrained to the couch, it was his (and other friends and family members of course!) encouragement and company that kept a smile on my face.

For the friends who I have had in my life since day one, to the new friends I am lucky to meet each day. I am grateful for the relationship we have and the memories we continue to make and share. Thank you!!

And for the little things in life: a butterfly that appears at the moments most needed, a flying dandelion seed, a smile from a stranger and random acts of kindness…they go a long way!

Thankful, I am, to be a part of Epic Thanks to share our gratitude and stories and help Epic Change raise the funds to help build Mama Lucy a secondary school out of our gratitude.  Just a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet in person the founders of Epic Change, Stacey Monk and Sanjay Patel.  I have been SO inspired and thankful for the hard work they put in to help children across the globe, in Tanzania, to access an education these children deserve.  I also got to meet Mama Lucy, who used the income from her chicken business to rent land next to her home to educate the children of her village.  Classrooms and a library has been built out of gratitude from the past and this year during Epic Thanks we will help build the secondary classroom.  On their first trip to the U.S., two students from the Shepherds Junior School accompanied Mama Lucy: Leah Albert and Gideon Gidori and meeting both of them was incredible.  They spoke so passionately about their school and to hear their dreams of being an astronaut and first woman President of Tanzania was so touching.  It makes me VERY excited to help with their next step, to have a secondary school where they can continue to accomplish their dreams. 

Yesterday on twitter, I received a message from @Leah_Albert with a photograph thanking me for being a part of EPIC THANKS.            

So, join me in posting a photograph or note showing what you are thankful for and lets join together to help build Mama Lucy’s Secondary School out of gratitude.

ADD YOUR GRATEFUL PHOTOGRAPH TO THE PHOTOBLOG OF GRATEFUL GRATITUTE HERE: EPIC THANKS PHOTOBLOG

When your donation is broken down:

If you give:

• $10, you’ll add a brick to Mama Lucy’s secondary school.  1,000 bricks=1 classroom.
• $100, you’ll be able to add your own personal dedication of gratitude to the walls of the new school.
• $250, you’ll make room for one student in a classroom at the school built from your gratitude.
• $10,000, you’ll build an entire classroom.

How amazing would that be, to know that your donation, however big or small, helped build a child’s future?!  To make a donation, you can use the donation tool at the bottom of this post or go to www.epicthanks.org and make your contribution there.   

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving week and hope you too, will be able to reflect on the people you are grateful for. 

~Emma

Mothers Day is just around the corner!

A few times a year Epic Change hosts some really incredible social media fundraisers, but with a great catch in the process; TweetsGiving was started to Tweet your Thanks to help raise money for the Shepards Junior School outside of Arusha, Tanzania, which has not only built a school to educate 400+ students but has also started to build a boarding house for a secondary school for these children.  The school, which I was able to visit last summer, is outstanding and a classroom was built from TweetsGiving.  To Mama With Love, was started over Mother’s Day last year to honor mothers from around the world with online e-cards, which raises funds to help remarkable women around the world.

“Originally launched in 2010 by US nonprofit Epic Change, To Mama With Love appeared at the top of Mashable’s 2010 lists of 4 Innovative Social Good Campaigns for Education and 9 Creative Social Good Campaigns Worth Recognizing. In less than a week leading up to Mother’s Day, the site raised nearly $17,000, which was invested to build a children’s home in Arusha, Tanzania. Construction is already complete, and children have now become residents of this home built from love.”

You can go online and create your own E-card expressing your love for your “Mama” and any other mama you want to thank, with a donation to this cause. 

Once you have made your e-card feel free to share it here!  My “Heart-space” can be found here: http://www.tomamawithlove.org/heartspaces/3697 for my Mom.

By visiting: http://www.tomamawithlove.org/ You can join Me   ->

show your LOVE for your Mama like I have for mine   ->  

I am excited to announce that Emma Simmons Photography has partnered with www.knackregistry.com and is selling some fine art digital photographs on their site!  “Knack is a flexible gift registry that enables you to support boutique retailers and artists all the while ensuring you get the gifts you really want. Knack lets you register for any gift, from any store and also allows you to opt for cash on gifts you decide you’d prefer not to receive, without the hassle of returns. Quite simply, Knack is a better way to give and receive gifts.
While the majority of Knack’s registrants are engaged couples, Knack can be used by anyone giving or receiving a gift.” (https://knackregistry.com/info/aboutus)

So, to anyone looking for gifts from small boutiques or a place to register for your wedding, I highly recommending checking out Knackregistry.com!  The site just launched on Monday but continue to check out the site as I’m sure more small boutiques from all across the U.S. will be adding certain products to the site to make sure people like you and me have plenty of options when looking for a gift!