Inventories (RSA) as of 31 July 2009

Animal Encounters/Sightings
1 - kitten @ Cottages
3 - guard dogs
8 - baboons spotted on drive from Joburg to the Cottages
5 - ostriches spotted on the way into town
1 - horseback safari where we saw:
...5 - herd of zebra
...6 - giraffe seen up-close
...2 - giraffe seen from a distance
...4 - wildebeast
...1 - herd of caribou
...1 - herd of impala
...33 - rhinos who hid from us

Child Interactions
25 - kids at the Cottages (more on the way!)
8 - high school students
3 - preschool-age kids
1 - infant
1 - unborn (expected in August)
6 - children who fell asleep on my lap
1 - child who fell asleep on my head
2 - savings accounts started for children
1 - semester of University registration and school fees for a double-orphan
21 - kids who learned to type
10 - kids who learned to play drums
8 - kids helped with school work
13+ - children taught to play pick-up stix
6 - children taught to play Slide (hand game)
7 - pairs of pants mended
4 - kids who helped me hand wash my clothes
3 - primary school classes taught (Grade 7: Technology & English)

Media
1274 - pictures taken
23 - videos captured
15+ - songs learned
4 - songs taught
1 - song recorded
1 - book started (finished after returning to the U.S.)
5 - books still reading


After 22 hours of flying and 9 hours of layovers (with some logistical mishaps in between) Paul and I arrived back in Seattle last Saturday evening, August 1st. It was a HUGE blessing to be able to see the kids at the Cottages again... I'm still processing everything that's happened in the last 8 weeks, and hopefully I'll be able to update this blog more often to give you a better view of what happened. Check out my Vimeo account, too, 'cause I'll be uploading videos there, as well.

Glad to be back,

Jessica K. Nguyen
Michael G. Foster School of Business, Class of 2010
University of Washington, Seattle
accountingforAfrica.blogspot.com
accountantforAfrica.blogspot.com

The Big Picture

I was just thinking about all the chaos that being a full-time student at the Foster School of Business entails. (Accounting students get an additional dosage of chaos because we need to take four classes to be FT, since our acctg courses are only three credits each.) Someone emailed me to compliment my blog, which lead me to re-read some of the posts I'd written. Then I remembered....

IT'S NOT ABOUT me.

What?

It's not about Jessica. This whole accounting career thing... pulling all-nighters, trying to build an impressive resume.. I've been working for myself, for my glory, for only my own satisfaction, out of stress/paranoia about MY future... It seems that in the midst of all the things to be done and stress to be had I had forgotten that the whole point of me being in school, the crux of my efforts, is for these kids. I say that all the time... but when one says something so often, it's easy for the statement to lose its power and impact.

[photo credit: Agathos Foundation]

This is a starving child in Zimbabwe. I don't know if it's a boy of girl, its name, its story, or specifically how the Agathos Foundation has helped it. But I know that Agathos is making a difference in this baby's life.

In three weeks (6/15) I'll be on a plane to Uganda. Three days prior to that (6/12) I'll take my last final exam. Finals begin Saturday, June 6th. It is vital that I stay focused for the last two weeks of the quarter so I can finish as strong as possible. It is also vital to keep the BIG PICTURE in mind. I only have one year left... this time will fly by.

In lieu of getting distracted by all the typical "noise" that business students face, I need to remember that the better I do in school and work, the more I can help these kids. It's not for my glory... it's not for my fame... it's for the kids. It's so kids like Kwanele can get free access to ARVs to treat his HIV. It's so young men like Zamani can get their education paid for and go off to college so he can become a civil engineer and make his community better. I just need to remember that - at a heart level and not just a slightly-conscious level. I've got to keep the burden visible. Remembering this completely changes my motivation and makes things that would otherwise seem like toilsome annoyances worthwhile because everything I do in the next year will (at least indirectly) affect my ability to help nonprofits become more efficient so they can help more kids.

I hope these words aren't just empty phrases and promises. I hope that these words come from a genuine heart. I hope that my life and decisions will change and get re-calibrated to be rightly motivated. I hope this burden won't die and this dream won't fade. And I hope this with everything I have, however little or much that may be...

Jessica K. Nguyen
Junior - Accounting
Michael G. Foster School of Business
University of Washington, Seattle
accountingforAfrica.blogspot.com

Send Jessica to Africa, help orphans/widows/refugees! (updated post)

Dear Readers,

Some day I’d like to be a nonprofit tax accountant working for an accounting firm like Clark Nuber, Moss Adams, or Sweeney Conrad (who all have significant nonprofit clients). Some day further down the line I’d like to start an association of accountants to provide accounting services for nonprofits working in third world countries. Ultimately, I want to use my skills and degree to enable nonprofit organizations to become more (financially) efficient so they can help more kids in destitute situations.

One of my stepping stones toward these goals is to spend six weeks in Africa this summer to learn more about how nonprofits operate and how administrative decisions affect program work. This summer I’ll be spending three weeks in Uganda doing admin work with two accountants at Pilgrim Africa [http://www.pilgrimafrica.org] and possibly working with students at Pilgrim’s Beacon of Hope College [http://www.pilgrim-uganda.org/soroti.htm]. Then I’ll spend three weeks working at an orphanage in South Africa with the Agathos Foundation [http://www.agathosfoundation.org] loving on kids whose parents/relatives have been murdered or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS. This trip will directly benefit orphans, widows, refugees, and former child soldiers. My work will also serve these nonprofits AND provide me with priceless insight into issues they face so I can know how to better serve them.

The only problem is… I’m about $3,000 short of my goal ($4,300). This amount covers airfare, housing, food, travel insurance, and other travel expenses. Personal/recreational expenses are on my tab. My payments are due on Monday, May 25^th, and if I don’t make this deadline… I don’t know what I’m going to do (other than, you know, cry). So I need YOUR HELP.

If you know ANYONE who is willing to support me in my endeavors to practice accounting for the sake of kids in Africa, please pass on this letter! Any amount helps; every dollar counts! I am willing to provide administrative, basic accounting, child care, organizational, and manual labor services in exchange for contributions.

Tax-deductible ways to give:

1) Make check(s) payable to Agathos Foundation and send to 702 N 128^th St Seattle, WA 98133 (preferred)

2) Agathos' Secure Online Giving: Please note "PT - Jessica Nguyen" or else the money won't go to my trip!

3) Let’s meet up for lunch/coffee; I can tell you more about my trip/vision and you can give as you feel led =D

OR: 4) PayPal (NOT tax-deductible)

Screenshots of my brochure (hard copies available): Click to enlarge

Kindest Regards,

Jessica K. Nguyen
Junior – Accounting
Michael G. Foster School of Business
University of Washington, Seattle
accountingforafrica.blogspot.com
accountantforAfrica.blogspot.com

tossing and turning.

It's happening again.

My mind is whirring. Ideas are formulating. Fears are irking.

Africa.

I can't get away from it..

Africa.

How do I verbalize this burden? It's on my heart, on my shoulders, on my mind...

I need to write support letters.

But where do I start?

Hi, my name is Jessica. I need $6,000 to help widows, orphans, and refugees in Africa.

Okay. Well, that's vague. What does that even mean?

I want to spend three weeks in Uganda doing administrative work for an NGO (Pilgrim Uganda) that serves refugees through a school, university, and relief work - physically and spiritually. Pilgrim also has an anti-malaria program (Move On Malaria) that has been so successful that the Ugandan government wants to adopt their program as a template to fight malaria throughout the entire country. Pilgrim is also making moves to fight malaria in Congo, which is in a very dangerous state right now. Your money will enable me to enable Pilgrim to run more efficiently and accomplish its goals more readily. Your contributions will bring Pilgrim one step closer to eliminating malaria, one step closer to bringing hope to this nation.

I also want to spend two to three weeks in South Africa at the orphanage I visited in 2007. I spent almost four weeks at the Cottages at Injesuthi and it completely changed my life.

Where do I begin with how it changed my life? How can I iterate the life-encompassing implications of holding a dying child in your arms - not knowing how long the child has left, but knowing that his time will be spent with people who love him unconditionally, fully, faithfully....? How do I tell people about the sobering effects of hearing the stories of horror and redemption in these people's lives? Have you ever heard a grown woman tell you about her aunt sending a witch doctor to rape her when she was a child? Have you heard her story of victory - fighting off the man and being rescued from that life? Have you heard her story of redemption? She used to never know where her next meal would come from - or if there would ever be one. All eleven of her brothers and sisters have DIED - mostly from HIV/AIDS. But now she's staying at a place where she's served three square meals per day, she's a caretaker for several of her nieces and nephews, she's got her own business (Lungile's Cards), and she's using proceeds to build a house so that her family can be together. She has the love of her community and her church and her God, when before she only experienced fear and sorrow from blood relatives.

I left the Cottages knowing that I wanted to do something about what I saw. Staying at the Cottages burdened me to the point where I lost sleep and grade points because I couldn't rest without reacting to the glimpses of redemption I saw. After MUCH deliberation, thought, and prayer, I came to the conclusion that I want to use my degree to help these kids. I want to practice accounting to help organizations run more efficiently and better accomplish their mission of serving others.

But I won't be doing accounting work in South Africa.

The Agathos Foundation's flagship orphan village is located in Loskop, RSA (Republic of South Africa). I spent every single day there with a thirteen-year-old girl (Nothile). While she was at school I hung out with two toddlers: Mfundo and Kwanele (HIV+). I got to know a few other kids, but left regretting not spending enough time/effort getting to know them. Ever since I boarded the plane back to America, I have wanted to go back. I want these kids to understand that people DO consistently think about, care for, and love them. I want to go back and get to know them better, offer any advice they might need, and be a person who can just listen to and pray for them. I want to lead Bible studies and point them to Jesus to remind them to have HOPE - because He is the true Source of HOPE.

But this trip isn't all about me and what I can get out of it. It's about the kids. I just want to go there and love on them - show them Jesus' love through my words and actions. I know that I will learn more from them than they'll learn from me... that's what happened last time.

Do you see Kwanele's eyes? Do you see the hope in them? That hope is there because of God's work through the Agathos Foundation - through the help of people like you.

Will you help me do this? Will you support me in your donations and/or prayers to make a difference in the lives of orphans, widows, and refugees in Africa?

I have a PayPal account, but prefer to not use it because they charge for transactions and that's taking money away from these kids. If you are interested in supporting me or in being part of my email list serve of people to pray for my trip, please contact me at jesknguyen@gmail.com.

Okay, it is 2:17 am and I have class in six hours. (Apologies for grammatical/syntactical errors. It is 2am, after all..) I hope you will join me in efforts to better these people's lives.

Kindest Regards,

Jessica K. Nguyen
Junior - Accounting
Michael G. Foster School of Business
University of Washington, Seattle
accountingforAfrica.blogspot.com

Recalibrating.

It has recently come to my attention that all the stuff I'm doing (or trying to do, at least) - if I want to succeed in accomplishing the goals set before me - needs to be focused on something other than myself. It was quite convicting, actually, because I realized that my last several blogs posts have been about nothing EXCEPT me, which is NOT the purpose of this blog. Nor is it the purpose of my career orientation.

So from now on I will make a stronger effort to fulfill the purpose of this blog, of my career. It's the purpose described in the header of this blog. All of this is about the KIDS. It's about LIVES CHANGED, lives changing, and lives yet to be changed. Accounting for Africa means I'm doing this all of the sake of the kids and people there. As indirectly related as it all sounds, I firmly believe that proper accounting practices make a material difference in how able a firm is to accomplish its goals.

And so, I'm starting an internship with the Agathos Foundation this winter. AF is the nonprofit I went to South Africa with in summer of 2007 and I hope to go back again this summer. I've also got an extended internship lined up with Pilgrim Uganda for spring and summer. Pilgrim serves refugees in Uganda. Details are still up in the air, but the hope is that I'll be able to help out with payroll and taxes overseas 'cause that's a very large expense for them. Hoping to also help out at the local school that Pilgrim works with. I expect this summer to see many, many lives changed... and this is what it's all about.

Jessica K. Nguyen
Junior - Accounting
Michael G. Foster School of Business
University of Washington, Seattle
accountingforAfrica.blogspot.com

Updates

I have a midterm in...17 hours, but I couldn't really move on until I shared what's been happening recently.

Informational Interview. Had my info interview with the HR Generalist at Clark Nuber a few weeks ago. I really, really, REALLY enjoyed their office - it's the first time I've walked into an accounting firm and not felt intimidated. The receptionist got up from her seat, out from behind the desk, took my jacket and put it in a closet, gave me a CN nametag/lanyard, AND offered me coffee/tea/other refreshment. CN's website impressed me - not simply because they have a massive number of awards, but because they've made it very clear that CN is about the people, not just the numbers. I love that...! All in all, it was a very encouraging, useful interview. One thing she said that stuck out to me: CN is looking for people with passion, direction, and intellect. I would really love to work for them some day. Through a fortunate chain of events, I have another informational interview set up with a nonprofit tax manager at CN on November 20th!

Agathos Banquet. Last Saturday I spoke at the annual Agathos banquet at the Lynnwood Convention Center. I talked about my most memorable experience: seeing redemption beyond anything I could've imagined. I mentioned wanting to become a nonprofit accountant to help these kids and that I want to go back again this summer. Later that night, Jeff Levell (CFO for Pilgrim Uganda) introduced himself. We talked about my summer plans - wanting to somehow do an internship with Agathos and wanting to go back to Africa. He suggested doing an internship IN Africa - possibly setting up a system of some sort to keep organizations and businesses financially accountable. I talked to the Mae, the Office Manager at Agathos, about it and she enthusiastically suggested partnering with both Pilgrim Uganda and Agathos to do an internship overseas! I have no idea how details of this will work out (do I pay to be there, do they pay for me to be there, how am I going to earn any money this summer to pay for school expenses?) but if it does... what an amazing experience it would be!

The banquet was very beautiful.. I forgot how much I missed/love these kids and how much my heart goes out to them. The director for an orphanage in Zimbabwe also spoke and it was shocking - but touching - to see the things she'd been dealing with. The closing speaker, Lief Moi, urged us to contribute to Agathos.. He made a really good point when he brought up his grandson, who I think was due yesterday. He told us about imagining: what if my grandson were left with NO ONE to love him? No parents, no grandparents... left on his own. And it hit him how horrible that would be - but it's happening every day in Africa. Agathos is doing amazing things over there and I'm honored to be part of their work.

Finance Option. I'm mulling over whether or not to keep Finance as a second option.. for a while it just seemed to not be intuitive at all... but after working in groups and through a bunch of problems, interest rates finally make sense. If I keep Finance, my course load will be very rigorous for the next 3 years and I won't be able to take some Accounting classes that would be VERY helpful in my career and with the CPA exam. There will be little (if any) wiggle room and I don't want to overload myself. Good news, though, is that the difference between yield to maturity and coupon rates finally makes sense! So maybe there is hope for Finance becoming more intuitive. I need to meet with an advisor - but not until AFTER my midterm.. I'll keep you updated on how this goes.

Those are the big things that have happened.. Will update more after midterms. Thanks for tuning in!

Jessica K. Nguyen
Junior - Accounting
Michael G. Foster School of Business
University of Washington, Seattle
accountingforAfrica.blogspot.com