Dear Beloved Friends and Family,

I'm reaching out to share an incredible opportunity I've been given and to ask for support from community. I am taking this time to allow my dreams to feed each other, allowing my birth work to inspire and inform itself. I made this crowd fund many weeks ago, but have sat on it, feeling awkward and unsure how to ask for financial support at a time when there are so many places our dollars can go for care, relief, and resource.

But I also know this is worth it and I am ready to receive.

Two things....an upcoming trip to South Africa...AND an album dream in the making!

As you may know, I've been working as a doula for over 10 years, and my passion for supporting birthing people continues to deepen with every birth, every story, and every family I serve. This year, I've been accepted into an advanced, immersive birthwork training program in South Africa with an organization called Wombs of the World.

I heard about Wombs of the World years ago and have been longing to attend one of their programs. Although I have much knowledge and even expertise in my field of birth, when I saw the opportunity to journey to South Africa, something deep in my bones did a sacred shimmy. I felt in my whole soul that there was something there for me, something deep and true to unlock the next layer of my work, calling, purpose, and mission as a birth worker and as a woman.

For 12 days, I'll be traveling across South Africa- learning directly from indigenous midwives, healers, and community leaders who are preserving traditional birthing practices and cultural wisdom. I'll participate in ceremonies, engage in deep cultural exchange, and sit in circle with women who carry generations of knowledge. I'll also have the honor of working alongside Dr. Mmatshilo Motsei, a powerful South African leader, midwife, and advocate for women's health.

This experience will allow me to grow both personally and professionally, and most importantly, to return with a deeper understanding of global maternal health, ancestral birth knowledge, ancient spiritual connection, and how to show up more fully for the birthing families in the Bay Area and beyond.

The tuition for the program is $5,750, not including airfare (~$1,300), travel insurance ($500), personal travel expenses (~$1500), and time away from work. While it's a significant investment, I feel deeply called to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I am also deeply called to record some of the songs I sing at births, both my own and those that belong to other local birth workers. I have had this dream for years, and am so ready to begin recording these songs to share with those giving birth and those supporting birth. The cost for this small album will be about $4000.

Your support would mean the world to me! Whether through a donation or simply sharing this with others, every contribution brings me one step closer to this experience.

As a thank you, I'd love to share my album with you, as well as what I learn from my time in South Africa, whether through my writing or a community workshop storytelling circle.

Please stay tuned!

Asking for support is incredibly vulnerable, and in all the years I have been supporting birth, I have never done anything at all like this, but I do believe this experience will ripple outward- to every future birthing person and family I walk alongside and for my life as a birthkeeper, woman, tender of life, and, Goddess willing, a mother myself one day.

Thank you for believing in this work, and in me.

With deep gratitude and devotion,

Verana