still interested?

Now that it has been a full 6 months since I returned from Kenya, I have realized that there are several people who have asked me about my posts.  And as I read over them, I say, hey, I'm not such a bad writer!  I am committed in my time at home (ha ha ha) this summer, I am going to work on updating my blog with the stories of the time I spent at the hotel before I left Kenya.  I am also working on editing the movie that I took while there.  By the end of the summer, I should have a finished piece of work regarding the movie and I would love to share it with anyone who wants to watch it.  I am also going to continue efforts to raise money for the Walk Children's Center.  So far, my students and I have raised over $1000 for the center.  If you have neat and interesting ideas about how to raise money for my kids over there, please let me know!

Another interesting thing. . .I was contacted by a writer of SmartMoney magazine who is doing an article on "volunteer vacations."  She interviewed me, that has been a few months ago, but last I contacted her she was still gathering research. . .so stay tuned I'll let you know if I get quoted.  I did not speak well of i-to-i (the volunteer organization that I used) in that interview,  because I was very upset about some issues that I feel that could have handled better.  Like the fact that they called my mother before they called me when they cancelled my project for my safety.  My mom, thousands of miles away, could only worry about me at that point.  Not cool to me.  I also have been in a bit of a battle about getting some of my money back, but that's another story.  I am appreciative of the way that they made my first trip to Africa feel safe and planned.  I couldn't have made the trip without that security.  I mean going to a foreign country by yourself is quite scary!  even when you're 30!  I am a little nervous about the article since I have been reading recently that the writer doing the story was called on the carpet pretty harshly about how she took a story out of context about affiliate marketing.  We'll see how well she represents me and my words.

You will notice that I have included some pictures from my safari trip in Kenya as well as a picture of the Walk Children's Center and my friend Luke with a couple of the kids.  If you would like to see more pictures, just shoot me an email (toniw@alumni.duke.edu) and I will send you an invitation to my photos on Picasa.  Most of my pictures are also posted on facebook.

So. . .yeah I've been saying it for 6 months. . .but here it goes again.  STAY TUNED for more posts about this amazing adventure that changed my life in more ways than I can ever measure.

~t

I went to Kenya?

So I am in disbelief that I have been back from Kenya for 3 months. It is crazy to me to think that I spent that time half way around the world. It feels a bit like a dream. I said that I would come home and write about the last few days of my trip and add the journal entries that I wrote when I was away from the computer, well. . .I got back to the states and life took off! I still want to come back to these posts and update them. In the meantime, I have started inquiring about another trip to the motherland. This time to Tanzania. My family is not to crazy about the idea, but one thing I can say is I am convinced that I am not "through" with Africa. I don't know if I will ever be, but the circumstances of my time there in December have made it so that I feel extremely unfinished. I got work to do.

still tuned in. . .

Well, I'm not in Africa anymore. I am at my mom's house where I am enjoying the speediness of dial up! It is good to be home. It is good to be with the people that I love. I have so much to write about. I was away from a computer for much of the time after we were taken to the "safe house" following the post election violence. As a result, I wrote in my journal rather than on my blog. At some point this week I will transfer those experiences to this blog so I can have everything in one place, so stay tuned!

Just wanted everyone to know that there is more to come about this Kenya story and when I get home, I will also post pictures!

Thanks for all of your well wishes and prayers. I am home. I am safe. Now, please remember to pray for the people of Kenya. I have been quite surprised since I made it home at how hard it is to find news about Kenya on TV. I finally realized why. . .there seems to be good news which is not too good for ratings. It seems that the opposition party have called off the rallying and are looking to have some peace talks with the government. They are still in dispute about whether or not they need a mediator for those talks, but it looks promising and life seems to be getting back to normal. Of course there is still lots to clean up, but things are looking up.

more to come.

election results

So Happy New Year everyone! I do have to brag and say that I made it to the New Year before most of you that are reading this. It was quite an eventful new year. In my last post, if you remember I complained about boredom. Well, things heated up right after I posted that. My friend that was in the internet cafe with me decided to head home without the rest of us. About 2 minutes after she left she came running back in saying she was told to "find a safe place." It turns out the people were starting to fight in the streets due to impatience awaiting the election results. Things heated up from there, by the time we headed home the streets were almost deserted except for the street kids. The next few days almost everything stayed shut throughout all of the town (and I thought I couldn't get any more bored, now we couldn't go anywhere!). All throughout Kenya you have probably heard about the violence. The media's job is to make the world scared. It actually is not as bad as they make it out to be in most of Kenya. However, because the volunteer program that I am working with is based in the UK they heard all of the bad news and ordered all of the volunteers to Nairobi in case they needed to quickly get us on a flight home. So, I'm here. Right outside of Nairobi where the volunteer organization wants me to play the "waiting" game to see if things change. I've been trying to book a flight because I am not good at waiting. It is going to cost me around $600 to leave early. Don't know if I'm going to do it or not. Those of you reading this, don't worry about me. I don't feel as if I am in any danger here. The media has hyped this thing up too much. I just don't want to be here if I can't do what I came here to do. My safari was cancelled, the school where I was meant to volunteer has been closed. I don't want to sound as if this trip is a "wash" it has totally been an amazing and wonderful experience, I just don't understand why I need to stay if I am going to be sitting in a hotel room for a week! Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that I figure out what to do soon. In the meantime, I can't call home because there aren't many places to buy minutes for your phone. I've used all of mine on the phone with the airline. I am hoping that they will call me back. I can't even send text messages. If you want to contact me, then you will have to call me. a little frustrated now, hoping with all my heart that the next time I write to you there will be some resolution to my situation here. Keep your fingers crossed.

~t