OUTREACH TO THE VILLAGES

Off  to the a village today known as Big Tree in the sub location of Nakwana in the location of Baratone within the division of Kiminini in the District of Tranzoia West in the county of Transzoia.  Now that we have that straight..my poor word dictionary is having fits as I need to add every one of these to it. We took a 30 min ride in a taxi that was a beater car at best.  The roads are indescribable as there has never been a road grader anywhere near them. It was probably 10 km to the Village of Big Tree. There we met with 8 women average age 45 with 3 plus daughters.  The lowest education level was 6th grade up to a master’s degree. This is the starting point for the vocational program that hopefully will bring in teachers to teach the skills that these women need to have successful small businesses. Joshua spent 20 mins in Swahili telling them what the vision was and then I had a “enrollment form” for each to fill out that we had done the night before. 
Names like Sabina, Hebsibu, Janet, Betty, Jean, Violet, and  Faith were on our days lineup.  They want so desperately to get better at farming maize, vegetables, tailoring and general business skills. Some have daughters at home who do nothing just waiting for marriage ages 20 to 39 or they may have children already.
  What an incredible thing to be a part of and to support them in the effort.  My buzz word is AWESOME to use as a cheer and they seem to love it.  By the time 3 hours had elapsed the women’s whose house we met in had wanted to talk with me so out we went to the garden of skumu (kale) and she shared with me. Her husband was sitting out holding court and was twice my size so we know he has had enough to eat. It was next to the school that Sabrina had started as her youngest daughter was born crippled and it was the only way she could get schooling was to start one. She was as candid as she could be and I felt so honored that she would talk to be about the things that made her life such a challenge. A coke was offered as a thank you YUM!

I am here and life is good

After 5 days in Nairobi and an 8 hour bus ride through Nakuru, Eldoret to Kitale I am at Common Ground.  THere are 420 children in attendance and 220 who live here due to the fact they have no parents mostly due to AIDS.  I will try and post weekly but connections are spotty and I should write it before I go online..  I have tried for 6 days and I lucked out.  The rooster here is on my hit list however the cows , chicken and goats are ok wandering about. The kids are wonderful and the family who runs this place are a wonder as are the people. more to come  check facebook it seems to be easier than the blog.  off to town today theys say there is a coffe cafe that has wireless. we will see much love kwahei the karebear

Packing and the last minute AGHHH

So this is what  the packing looked like and if you are reading this there has been a change to the blog so that you can get an email when I post, or when ever anything is posted your choice. On the right hand side under where it says ABOUT ME  you will see two buttons one that says "subscribe to posts" one that says "ALL COMMENTS" and under that Follow by email so you can choose any one of the three you wish.

T-18 days and counting

OK so now this is real...85 boxes of supplies gathered, sorted, lovingly packed by Deb, Meagan, Rita, Lindsey, Barbara, Joan, Joanne,  Bruce, Early, Geri, Jason, Cam, Tom, Kat, Willow, Tutch etc. The sewing machines will be done this week and the tools next week. If I never see another roll of packing tape or cardboard I won't be upset. House is 80% packed up. One more shot to go and a few checkup issues and September 18 I am outta here. Renters fell through so I am hoping that will settle before I go.
I am excited, nervous and not really dealing with how to say goodbye to the people who I love and who have been overwhelmingly supportive of this trip and me. stay tuned

T-MINUS 62 days and counting

So the house is starting to be packed up, what a challenge that is after 35 years. shots are almost done. Container is being finshed up in the next two weeks so we can start loading all of the supplies that have been donated by people up and down the East Coast. mosquito repellent in many forms has arrived, sorting out of needs versus wants. The level of emotional excitement, fear, etc is building as the days pass as well as trying to finsh up the 25th Annual Karebear Invitational details. YOWSA after 9 months of preparation the journey begining is in sight...

SUPPLIES I WANT TO TAKE WITH ME IF YOU WANT TO DONATE STUFF

People have asked if there is anything they can donate so that I can take it with me when I go.Here are some suggestions that were given to me by Village Volunteers. I will be staying in 4 villages so everything that I get will be split evenly:


Village Volunteers Federal Tax ID: 20-0342079


Pencils and pens,Erasers,Pencil sharpeners, Scissors, Chalk and chalkboard erasers,Staplers,Staples,Compasses, Protractors, Rulers,Tape measure (metric), Notepads,Educational supplies/games, Flashcards,Puzzles,Scrabble (travel version)
Playing cards,Deflated soccer balls or other balls – (small pumps)
Sewing supplies,Toothbrushes,Toothpaste, Nail clippers, Tee shirts (any size)
Cotton panties for girls and women, Flip flops,Solar camping showers, Solar calculators,Solar battery charger,Solar flashlights, Crank Flashlights, Bicycle tools,Pumps (for bicycle tires or balls)

PLEASE NO TOYS OR CANDY

Medical Supplies:

ACE bandages-Adhesive medical tape-Bandages (all sizes)-Blood pressure cuff
Digital thermometers with extra slip covers-Fine-tooth combs for nit removal
First aid kit-Gauze pads (4x4 and 3x3)-Gloves-Hemostats-Ophthalmoscope-Otoscope
Pen lights-Scissors-Stethoscope-Suction bulbs-Syringes-Tweezers-Antibiotic ointment
Antifungal creams-Children’s Tylenol for fevers-Echinacea tablets-Pine tar soap
Pain medications (infant, child and adult dosages)-Sulphur ointment 6-10% (for scabies) Vaseline (for scabies)-Vitamin C (chewable)-Childrens’ Vitamins (chewable) WE ARE ALSO LOOKING FOR HAND TOOLS:HAMMERS, SAWS, PLIERS, WRENCHES, SCREWDRIVERS ETC. ALSO GARDEN TOOLS:SHOVELS, RAKES, HOES, HANDWEEDERS ETC. PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE UP UNTIL END OF AUGUST kws4205@gmail.com

T-6months and counting

So the ticket is purchased the visa has been applied for and I have started the shots for Hep B and Typhoid and Yellow fever to follow. Trying to ship stuff to take with me to the villages is just an incredible maze. DHL wants $7,000 to ship 8 boxes of supplies @ 50 lbs a box. Virgin Airlines only wants $1250 to take it with me and the cargo arm of Virgin won't even accept stuff to ship from me as I am not a regular shipper. Hmm if i change the p's to t's I am really regular, honest. So the logistics and the lists continue to develop and as I check things off more seem to appear. It is starting to become real as when this project started in October it was 11 months away it is now less than 6 months. D day is September 18, 2012 10:40 pm JFK to London and the following day on to Nairobi.None of this would be possible if I was not blessed by my friends who are just the best (FOKer's I yub u).stay tuned. I can't wait.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

#1.The only challenge is that this “volunteer” will cost approx. $15,000 for the year. The costs in country are $28 a day which covers room, board, all in country travel, and hospitality fees while in the villages. The balance is for travel, medical insurance, shots (UGH) etc. To make a monetary contribution, please make checks out to K2K or for a tax deduction, make it out to Village Volunteers. This can be sent to K2K c/o Geri Rybacki PO Box 982 Great Barrington MA 01230. All monies will go toward the trip and if there is any surplus that money will go toward the projects I am working on. I am hoping to plant a grove of Moringa trees in each village I work in.
#2 The FOKers aka ( Friends of Karen) are throwing a 60th Birthday/Roast on April 28 here in Great Barrington at the VFW and if you would like to go you can email Marianne at marianne.young@gmail.com for information. The cost is $28 and all proceeds will go toward the trip. Mail your checks for the roast made out to K2K to K2K c/o Geri Rybacki, PO Box 982, Great Barrington, MA 01230.
#3 There are items that I hope to take to distribute as gifts to each of the 5 villages where I will live with things like pencils, school supplies, girl size underwear, office supplies, first aid kits etc. No toys or candy, please

K2K Logo

9/99 Karen in Kenya in the Massi Mara

WHAT I WILL BE DOING...

VILLAGE VOLUNTEERS:

So this is the first of many informational blurbs that will chronicle the journey I am commencing on. As of today January 5, 2012 the plan is to leave mid to late
September of 2012 for Kenya to volunteer for a year with a group called Village
Volunteers.

I will be assisting two women’s cooperative projects in setting them up so they
can function as an ongoing business. So hopefully I can help them learn to fish as well as sell fish, market fish, package fish, etc. You get the drift.

WHAT I WILL BE WORKING ON:
The first project is called “The Moringa Tree Project”. The moringa tree is a drought resistant tree that is also called the “Miracle Tree”. The next paragraph tells you how and why.
Moringa trees are: rich in vitamins A, C, calcium, iron & potassium; higher in protein than soybean meal; adds nitrogen to the soil;anti-bacterial; also can be used for water purification; and is a source of edible oil, bio fuel, and cattle feed. So the seed pod can be processed in to a flour, pressed for oil, and the husk can be
chopped for cattle feed, and also mixed with non-potable water to purify it.The
Moringa tree contains: All the essential amino acids, 4 times the Vitamin A of
carrots, 7 times the Vitamin C of oranges, 4 times the calcium of milk, 3 times the potassium of bananas, and 3 times the iron of spinach.

The 2nd project is as follows:

The Water Hyacinth Sanitary Pad Project is a sustainable social enterprise that produces sanitary pads out of water hyacinth, an invasive aquatic species becoming a worldwide scourge. The production of a locally made pad from water hyacinth provides girls and women a low cost, biodegradable product that sustains income-generating jobs and provides school girls with access to necessary personal hygiene products.
Girls without access to sanitary hygiene products can miss up to 50 days of school per year causing them to fall behind in class and be ill-prepared for national exams. Therefore, they are rarely eligible for scholarships and are often unable to attend secondary schools. Access to education can significantly change the course of a girl’s life. It is estimated that when a girl receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children, giving her the opportunity to reach her full potential. Additional schooling also provides life-saving public health education, such as HIV/AIDS prevention.

Most young women lack privacy to be able to wash and dry reusable cloth pads.
Without access to clean water, dangerous bacteria can grow on cloth pads and
menstrual cups. Imported pads are plastic, difficult to dispose of and expensive.

Water hyacinth is one of the fastest growing, invasive plants on the planet. This non-native species grows rapidly causing obstruction of water-based t transportation while limiting access to fishing and valuable community water sources. Water hyacinth also provides optimal breeding conditions for vectors that spread illnesses such as malaria, encephalitis, bilharzias, gastro intestinal disorders, and schistosomiasis. The proliferation of water hyacinth threatens biodiversity and destroys native plants, fish and other species by depleting natural nutrients and deoxygenating the water. Water hyacinth speeds water evaporation, therefore, shrinking sources of fresh water at an incredibly rapid rate. It is estimated that the flow of the Nile has been reduced by 10% as a result of the water hyacinth in Lake Victoria.

The rest of what is leftover after processing can be pressed in to blocks and used as a fuel source for cooking.

So you can see I will have a busy year along with much
more.
Stay tuned..KWS
.

Why I am going...

I have been accepted to volunteer in Kenya, Africa as a business coordinator to help set up two women’s cooperatives through as non-profit called Village Volunteers (www.villagevolunteers.org). They are a US registered 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization based out of Seattle, WA. This is a lifelong dream that started back in 1998 while I was visiting Ghana as part of a mission team and was amazed by the African people doing all that they could with nothing and they always did it with a smile. As I stood in a concrete block building watching children sit on the dirt floor doing their math problems in the dirt with sticks, the thought ran through my mind that if I was ever unencumbered I wanted to come back and do what I could to help. A year and a half later I went to Kenya on vacation with a good friend to see the animals of Africa and again those same thoughts ran through my mind.

FAST FORWARD TO SEPTEMBER OF 2011-I was up late one night watching "Oprahs' Most Memorable Guests". A story was introduced about a woman who lived in Botswana who had 5 children and lived with an abusive husband. She had 4 dreams and wrote them dowm and put them in a can. She buried that can in the jungle outside her village and when things got tough she woudl go to that can and pray that she woudl be able to accomplish those dreams. The dreams were to go to high school, college,get a masters degree and then a doctorate..she did all of that and was inroduced by Oprah on that show. I was dumbstruck as to how she had ever accomplished that. She wanted to build a school in her village and Oprah donated 1,000,000 dollars for her to do that. This is where it gets interesting. She showed a picture of the school that she went to and the chills ran up my spine as it was a twin of the school I had stood in 13 years before IN Ghana. That statement I had made came rushing back in to my head and that was the beginning of the journey.