A seed is planted

Why I am going to a city/country that is currently under a Government of Canada travel advisory alert for a genocide-y activities and other kill-y type troubles? Well, there are two back stories before we can answer that question. 

The first is my cancelled trip to Churchill.  As my regular blog readers know, my mom and I were booked for a two week vacation to Churchill, Manitoba in June.  But, while we were in Winnipeg, there was a train derailment on VIA’s northern line which meant we could not get to Churchill and Bird Camp so my second week of vacation time was unused.  http://www.joannecumberland7.blogspot.ca/. Between my extra week for long service, my carry over days from last year and my regular allotment of vacation time, I still have over four weeks of vacation time to use up by December. 

I wasn’t sure what to do with all of those days.  I didn’t want to just stay home.  I don’t think I have ever used a vacation day and stayed in my house, let alone a month’s worth of vacation days.  So there I was, back to work a week early, telling my tale of woe to the other staff and wondering aloud (closer to whining) about what I could do this fall for my holidays.  I was not getting much sympathy.  But then Rhonda said in her quiet, gentle voice “why don’t you go see Sam’s school?”.  Which leads to the second backstory which I mostly got second hand so forgive any minor mistakes and let me know of any major ones.

This story is a real tragedy, unlike my cancelled vacation which I know is just a minor blip, so I will not dwell but it is integral to my trip and will have to be acknowledged.  Rhonda works on the front desk in my area.  She is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.  She has many very young grandchildren and will happily give updates and show their pictures if you ask.  I imagine she is the best grandma ever.  Then one day in January of this year, Sam, one of Rhonda’s grandsons, died just after his second birthday. 

In what I can only imagine is the worst of the worst times of their lives, Sam’s parents, Tara and James (Rhonda’s daughter and son-in-law), crossed paths with Anke.  I think they all live in the same building but I am vague on the details.  Anyway, Anke is involved with a preschool an hour or so outside of Mombasa, Kenya.  There is no other pre-school in the area.  The school is called Jipe Moyo and is run by volunteers on donated land.  They have such a long waitlist for students that Anke was raising money through A Better World Canada to build a second classroom when she met Tara and James.  You can read about their meeting and about the project in their blog http://samsclassroomproject.weebly.com/sam.html.  Tara and James decided to raise money to build the classroom in Sam’s honour.  I haven’t met them but I imagine they are as wonderful and loved as Rhonda is because they raised enough to build a two classroom building within a couple of months.

Jipe Moya students holding Sam's picture

So, this is where the two stories come together.  They are going to start building Sam’s school this summer and it will hopefully be open early in 2015.  Rhonda thought it would be nice if someone could go and visit and meet the teachers and students and just get a feel for the place.

When she first suggested that I go, I thought it was a crazy idea.  But Rhonda had planted a seed. And we all know from tiny seeds, mighty travel plans grow.  By the next day, that seed had taken root and I was checking ticket prices and airline schedules.  Around the same time, things were getting sketchy in Kenya and particularly on the coast.  Mombasa got a special mention in the Government travel advisory. http://travel.gc.ca/destinations/kenya.

I contacted Anke who had just left Canada and was in Germany on her way to Kenya.  She was reassuring.  She gave her personal advice on how to stay safe and it was very similar to the travel advisory; avoid big crowds, avoid touristy establishments (no problem there), avoid the mini-buses.  I can stay with her (in her house on the beach!).  Rhonda also spoke to the Better World people and they were also reassuring about the safety of the area.  

I can help out at Jipe Mojo and Anke’s other school (right in Mombasa - http://www.kencadaacademy.com).  When I asked what I would be doing, she said I can play with the kids.  Sounds grueling.  I know, in my Churchill blog, I said that volunteer vacations may not be the best way to go.  But this is not an organized situation.  The personal connection is what makes the difference, at least for me. 

Anyway, I bought my tickets and I am going for a month (late October to late November).  I used my travel points to pay for most of the ticket (KLM) and I will contribute to Anke’s house (as she says, rent, cleaning and security) but it isn’t much, so other than any side trips I might take, this trip to the other side of the world is not going to bankrupt me.  

I had some trouble setting up my blog (a huge thank you to Sean for fixing my messed up blogspot) so this is more like two posts in one so I apologize for the lengthy post (if you know me you know it is likely the first of many). 

Here is the A Better World Canada website.  You can link through ‘Education’ -> ‘Kenya’ to find Jipe Moyo and Sam’s school.  http://www.abwcanada.ca/.