Some news from here. Aria and I have been not 100% healthy since we got here. Mostly minor things; Aria had a rash, I had diarrhea.
Our project is moving slowly, at the pace of things in Kenya. We are stressed about the personal investment that we are putting into the project, without looking for any return (being a volunteer, community project). We came here blind and ambitious. Next time proper fund raising and such will be in order before coming. But we had no idea what it would be like I've here, so we had to try.
I think the project is feasible, but will take more time than I think we may have to give it. My friend Charles Reith (former professor at Tulane) is now the head of AUN sustainability department (American university of Nigeria).
In mid march we hope to fly there to do a similar project for AUN and a part of one of Charles' classes. This will be a payed gig (but for sure not a huge money maker).
I don't see us getting this project off the ground that fast. Things move very slowly here, so we are faced with some hard decisions. The best scenario would be for the AUN project to be delayed, so we could give the Kenya project complete and patient attention.
This has added stress to stress that we already have, including the brand new laptop that we were borrowing from the community was stolen out of our office. We had it 5 days, Aria working on it consistently, and we left the window open out to the roof. A child most definitely was used to squeeze through the small opening between the security bars. We have reason to believe that it was one of the orphan boys in the community in which we have been staying.
Loosing all the work she had done, including her jump drive with all her personal info, Aria (and I) were very put off.
In short, we've had difficulties. But good times as well! At least two of the major 5 star hotels of Nairobi have committed their oil to our project, and we have our own transportation, a small 175cc Chinese made motorcycle. A crew of Danish actors and circus performers were just here. They did a community performance in Kibera slum (one of the biggest in the world) that was amazing! See my blog for pics!
We are resuming our efforts and going to keep trying. Logistics are a nightmare. We will be giving this our best shot and the success will rely on the team, not the individual.
More reports soon. We are still looking for donations! Please if anyone can donate or knows anyone who would like to donate send them our way! One can obtain a tax credit if a donation is $250 or higher by our fiscal spinster the Alliance for Affordable Energy in New Orleans!
Please write and let us know what is happening back home. It's a comfort to hear news from back home, in a place of hard comfort!
Much love to all
Our project is moving slowly, at the pace of things in Kenya. We are stressed about the personal investment that we are putting into the project, without looking for any return (being a volunteer, community project). We came here blind and ambitious. Next time proper fund raising and such will be in order before coming. But we had no idea what it would be like I've here, so we had to try.
I think the project is feasible, but will take more time than I think we may have to give it. My friend Charles Reith (former professor at Tulane) is now the head of AUN sustainability department (American university of Nigeria).
In mid march we hope to fly there to do a similar project for AUN and a part of one of Charles' classes. This will be a payed gig (but for sure not a huge money maker).
I don't see us getting this project off the ground that fast. Things move very slowly here, so we are faced with some hard decisions. The best scenario would be for the AUN project to be delayed, so we could give the Kenya project complete and patient attention.
This has added stress to stress that we already have, including the brand new laptop that we were borrowing from the community was stolen out of our office. We had it 5 days, Aria working on it consistently, and we left the window open out to the roof. A child most definitely was used to squeeze through the small opening between the security bars. We have reason to believe that it was one of the orphan boys in the community in which we have been staying.
Loosing all the work she had done, including her jump drive with all her personal info, Aria (and I) were very put off.
In short, we've had difficulties. But good times as well! At least two of the major 5 star hotels of Nairobi have committed their oil to our project, and we have our own transportation, a small 175cc Chinese made motorcycle. A crew of Danish actors and circus performers were just here. They did a community performance in Kibera slum (one of the biggest in the world) that was amazing! See my blog for pics!
We are resuming our efforts and going to keep trying. Logistics are a nightmare. We will be giving this our best shot and the success will rely on the team, not the individual.
More reports soon. We are still looking for donations! Please if anyone can donate or knows anyone who would like to donate send them our way! One can obtain a tax credit if a donation is $250 or higher by our fiscal spinster the Alliance for Affordable Energy in New Orleans!
Please write and let us know what is happening back home. It's a comfort to hear news from back home, in a place of hard comfort!
Much love to all