Friday, January 4, 2013

Guys take over the blog


the four guys on this trip are on blog duty. Here's their male-inspired insights....
 
Hello everyone! We all slept peacefully as the sounds of guitar and song lullabied the group to sleep from the campfire. It’s a beautiful (hot) day here in Umoja village on this Friday afternoon.  The best parts of the day are early in the morning and in the late afternoon when the climate is cool.  We joke with many of the Samburu about the cold in Colorado and how they find the relieving nights here intolerable.  Meanwhile the local Samburu disagreed as they bundled up around the morning campfire. 

Day by day our bonds with each other and the community here grow stronger and stronger.  This morning our group divided into a few different parts.  Fadzai and Karina took of group of girls from the Girls Conservation Club (GCC) on a game drive to Buffalo Springs National Reserve while Nicole, Courtney, and local Umoja boy Isiah took the rest of the GCC on a nature walk along the river.  The game drivers also brought along Matt, a member of our group who has been with us since Nairobi who is finishing his Ph.D.  They dropped him at an airstrip where he began his return journey to the states, we will miss his wonderful sense of humor.

The rest of the group headed to Lorubae Primary School to partner on a project of repainting classrooms.  We played and wrestled with the young ones of Unity village as we prepared to begin on the classrooms.  The children along with teachers and administrators all worked alongside the group to complete the project.  We found it most effective to roll the children in the paint and slide them across the walls.

Hope everything is well with everyone back in the States! We send our love from Umoja!

Brent, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you have a wonderful day. I can’t wait to celebrate with you when I get home! I will see you SOON! I love you. Meghan  

6 comments:

  1. Happy new year! Curagious Kenyan campers!, keep up the great work!

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  2. Hi everyone! Wow! One week past already!! Sounds like you all have been busy working hard and playing even harder! How wonderful! Things here at home aren't much different from when you left! I am sure some of you are missing home, but truthfully it can be so uneventful and mundane here. It's funny how we can get stuck in a rut and never become brave enough to venture out of it! So proud of all of you for venturing outside of your comfort zones!!!! Keep going!!! The best is yet to come!!!

    "It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."
    -Alan Cohen

    "Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for."
    -Dag Hammarskjold

    "Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained."
    -Marie Curie

    Keep on keepin' on world changers!!! It's gonna be a GREAT day!!!

    P.S. Love ya Corazon ;)

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    1. It's so wonderful you all are doing such great work! I know the villages and all of you will benefit so much from your efforts and the interactions with such warm people in a terrific land. Since Karina has been there twice now, I'm sure she's warned you to 'beware the burrs' when you are hiking! Your memories will last far longer than your photos... enjoy!

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    2. Hi folks... this is Karina's father. Just read your reply, above. Small world... Alan Cohen and I were in graduate school together and worked the program where I met Karina's mother! The kids will be forever changed for the better after this experience. Cheers!

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  3. Kristin M Redding,
    I LYTTMAB! :)
    Love, Dad

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    Replies
    1. Kristin,
      (British accent) Once again, technology has failed our bloody parents. Neither of them can figure out how to post a comment :) That is why their comments are from me. Words cannot describe how much I miss you. I heard this song on my Pandora station today and thought it was perfect for you all: “It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life.”

      xoxo
      Katrina

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