Hi everyone! 

I am asking my friends, family, and community to help me in my journey to study herbal, folk  and indigenous medicine! A few weeks ago I was accepted to the program of my dreams -- Ancestral Apothecary's School for Herbal, Folk and Indigenous Medicine. I will be enrolling in "Cecemmana -- Year One: Fundamentals of Herbal Medicine 2020". 

I am asking for your help for two reasons:  

1) To help me pay my tuition. The total cost of the program is $4000, and I must have that paid before I begin the program on February 1st. 

2) To help offset travel, food, and misc. expenses. The program is based in Oakland, CA but I am taking the unconventional approach: rather than uproot my life and my community, and move up to Oakland, I will instead be commuting weekly to Oakland via plane and car. 

If you know me, then you know that I take my decisions, my words and my actions very seriously. Deciding to  attend this program while still residing in San Diego is a decision that I was thoughtful about in making, and means a lot to me. I've spent most of my adult life moving from city to city, looking for "community" and "action" -- but the place where I belong, the place where I feel called to be, is the place that I was born and raised: San Diego, CA. There is an abundance of ancestral knowledge that exists on this land (Kumeyaay Land) and I believe that it is my duty to work with my community in San Diego in order to further that knowledge, and be present in the many stories that this land tells. 

There are many reasons why Ancestral Apothecary's School for Ancestral, Folk and Indigenous medicine means a lot to me. It is the only program that I have found that does not place the emphasis of herbal and indigenous medicine on the individual, but rather is rooted in community. It's also one of the only programs that expands the understanding of healing to something outside of the physical -- healing isn't just about resolving physical ailments, it's about healing our hearts and our souls, and it's about serving community. It is the only program that I have found that offers any sort of module related to herbal practices of the African Diaspora -- being able to connect to my blackness and my ancestry in this particular way, is something that I didn't think I'd be able to do, and now I can. 

There are a million and one reasons why I know this school is a perfect fit for me, and why I know I am a perfect fit for this school. But above all, I feel honored to be able to serve my community in this way. It isn't the path that I initially saw for myself, but that doesn't mean that I am not being called to it. 

My goal is to raise $2000 by January 30, and it would mean the world if you would help me reach my goal and get me to Ancestral Apothecary. 

Love and blessings,
Carmen Elida