LPShipham

Ok its been a while since I've given you an update. So much has happened in the past two weeks. We finished our goat farm, opened the farm and the children's center, said goodbye to Odede and went on Safari. The last week was to be a busy week. On the Monday we split in two groups, half heading down to the goat farm to try to get as much done towards finishing it, the other group (with me in it) went up to the Child Rescue Center (now called the Child Development Center) to paint the kids dorm rooms and make them a little more homely. Other groups went on later days and we painted alphabets, number lines, flowers and ladybugs for counting, a tree with a monkey, elephants, giraffes and flowers. It was amazing ... read more

Amosi! So I can't wait to show you all the photos from last weekend. Our 'relaxation weekend' was a little less relaxation and a little more early morning lots of physical activity but SOOO worth it! it was like a mini safari! We travelled down to Lake Naivasha on the Friday, arriving mid to late afternoon. It gave us just enough time to check out the Masaai market and the facilities (there were real showers and a flushing toilet!! luxuries!) The next morning we were up early to ride bikes to Hell's Gate National Park. We were not really prepared for the ride and the terain was pretty much rocks and dirt the entire way. It was 5km from our campsite to the gate entrace to the park. By the time we were there i was ... read more

Wow, so its been a while since i updated! Things have been a bit hectic and its been hard to get any real time on the internet. We have been working pretty hard. Although this week we have a had a number of afternoons off (I think the fundies are getting tired so they tell us there is no work or not enough materials to work). Last week we worked together to build a house for a lady that has 6 children (from 10 to 20) and their house was beginning to fall down, the roof had holes and the rain came in. That was an experience, at first i didn't even believe that we could possibly build a house in 2-3 days! not even a house made with mud. But we did! The process is ... read more

So much has happenend since i last posted. i have to make this quick so i apologise for the spelling and grammar mistakes. In Kisumu we visited Migosi Nursery school, cant remember if i told you this, the school is free for the poorer community and the kids are adorable. this would be their only chance at school since they have to have nursery school before they can start primary school. i gave them the puppets and they were a hit as were the balloons that one other girl gave and some bubble mixture. Theres an awesome store here called Nakamatt that sells everything, including the kitchen sink, we go there for everything! Odede is about 1.5 hrs from Kisumu if you are looking at a map of Kenya and can zoom in to lake victoria ... read more

Ok so last time I left you i was still in Doha, waiting for a flight to Nairobi. I finally got on the Nairobi flight and found myself next to a lovely Kenyan lady who talked to me and asked me lots of things about what i was doing and gave me lots of advice. She also pointed out Mt Kilamanjaro as we flew past it in the plane so i did manage a few photos of it. After i landed and got a card from a Pakistani man who was trying to convince me to visit Pakistan and do work over there, I breezed through customs (didnt even realised I had gone through) and was picked up by Hannah, one of the group leaders. A quick 20 min {Afrcan time} (45 min real time) drive ... read more

Well after much ado, I am in Doha, Qatar. Almost in Africa. I wrote last blog that I was worried about getting out of Melbourne. By the time I left home on Wednesday morning I was no longer worried about getting out of Melbourne but out of Perth at the other end. The Ash cloud was moving over Perth and looked like it was going to settle there and raise children. By the time we had driven the 3 hours down to Melbourne (after trying for over 30mins to talk to Jetstar in their queue) we found out as we arrived that my flight from Melbourne to Perth had been cancelled. I ended up calling the Travel Agent (many times), the airlines, my insurance company and used up ALL the full battery I had on my ... read more

Hi all, Well I'm nearly ready to fly out. My flight out of the country leaves tomorrow at 11pm from Perth. That is becoming a small issue for me given that I am still in Victoria and I am supposed to be flying from Melbourne to Perth early tomorrow afternoon. You may have heard that there is a volcano erupting (erupted) in Chile that is disrupting my plans. So far JetStar who I am flying with is NOT flying out of Adelaide and I don’t think they are flying west from Melbourne. My current options, should JetStar tell me they won’t be able to fly me to Perth is to head to Canberra or Sydney to see if I can get a flight across. That means at least an 8 hr drive or bus trip. Not ... read more

Salamu everyone, Thank you for taking an interest in what I'm doing and where I am. As I write this i am actually still in Adelaide. I have exactly 2 weeks and 5 hours before I leave the country. I've had all my vaccinations, bruises and all, managed to buy most of the drugs I will need to take with me for my time and I am in the process of organising all the other things i will need, clothes, mosquito nets etc. Thank you to all those people who donated, both through monetary donations and through crayons, school supplies and assistance in getting everything organised. It has certainly been a crazy last few weeks and I'm sure then next few will be just as hectic as I finalise all the loose ends. I'm sure that ... read more