Random Ramblings by Robin

Goings-ons

2010-07-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

It is almost the end of our third week in Kenya and I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I've been super lazy about writing blog entries, so I'm finally going to sit down and write a little update of how things have been.

After taking about three days to actually get to Asembo, it was great to unload all of the books Josephine and I had brought over from Canada. So, as Jason worked all day figuring out what needed fixing with the computers, Hilary and I organized the books, made a bunch of posters (which is surprisingly really hard work!) and spent the afternoons reading with the kids and making the centre much more open to the younger kids who were curious to see what us muzungu were up to.

During the second week, it seemed all too perfect that things were running so smoothly. Hilary and I had developed a routine where we'd have a lazy morning in the centre, head back to Bertha's for lunch, then go to the centre for the afternoon and hang out with some kids, and then come back home in the early evening. Obviously things are not meant to go so smoothly, and I ended up getting a pretty nasty stomach bug which set me back a couple of days. Luckily for me, Josephine and Hilary had switched off on Wednesday and it so much better to have my longtime friend (you rock Josephine!) put up with my complaining and illness then poor Hilary who I've known for just two weeks! Not getting any food and lying in a humid room completely listless is really not something I would ever wish upon anyone. It just plain sucks. But after taking the lovely antibiotics that my wonderful travel doctor had prescribed, I was back on my feet and ready to take on Asembo, and the yummy Kenyan food (kales, tilapia, plantains...) I had been missing out on. We headed to Kisumu for the weekend to spend Jason's last weekend here all together, and we had an amazing time walking around the city, checking out a few markets, and we even made it out on the lake to spot some hippos hanging out in the water.

Now it is nearing the end of our third week in Kenya, which means that we've been teaching computer classes in Asembo for about a week. After a few schedule changes last Friday, and then some very last minute changes before starting classes on Monday morning, we learned that we would have far fewer students than expected, and would only need to teach 5 classes a day instead of the 6 originally proposed classes a day. This is working out really well, as there are only three laptops and about 12 students per class, which still leaves around 3-4 students to share each laptop. I can't even imagine what it would have been like to teach the proposed 16-17 students per class 6 times a day!

With the exception of maybe one or two students in the entire group, Monday was the first day for them to ever see or use a computer. We started out with some basic information about keeping the laptop plugged in and identified the main parts of the computer, such as the mouse, desktop, keyboard, on & off button, etc. Since then, we've moved on to using the copy and paste functions, using shift and the other very useful keys, and just getting the kids to practice typing, which they seem to really enjoy. Also, we've stressed over and over again how important it is to save a document you are working on... we even got the students to write in their notebooks "ALWAYS PRESS SAVE!!!" While the students were writing this all down in their notebooks, I noticed that one had written: "The most impotent (instead of 'important') thing for me to remember is to press save," which set Josephine and I both on a laughing fit. Another student also held down the 'f' key which showed up on the screen like "ffffffffffffffffffffffff" which perfectly described the way we were both feeling at the moment.

Despite having to take things super slowly, and having to get past the little frustrating moments, the majority of the students seem to be getting the hang of things quite quickly. Obviously we're taking it step by step because they really knew absolutely nothing, but they are all very keen and have asked about how they can practice outside of class time. Hopefully they'll start coming on their own to the centre the use the computers without our help!

Currently I am sitting in an internet cafe with Michelle, who's been showing me the ropes in Kisumu. I'm so excited to finally be in Kisumu to see what's been going on here, but I'm not going to lie, the showers and toilets are definitely a perk! Today was a long day, beginning in the morning spent at the orphanage playing with the babies and reading a couple of stories to a group of very excited young kids. It was so sweet to see how attentive they are to us and I'm looking so forward to spend more time there next week! Who knows, maybe I'll get around to writing a new blog post around that time!

For now, I'm off to dinner and then some good old r & r in my lumpy bed back at Novelty!

Robin

Breaking News: Robin was stabbed

2010-04-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

Not exactly that dire. And also not so breaking news.

Some good news though! My arms have finally recovered from the bombardment of inoculations they received on Monday. Success!

Thinking I was only going in for a consultation at the travel clinic, I hardly expected to get one shot, let alone five. Needless to say, I definitely earned the dinopop the lovely nurse gave me for my suffering. It certainly lessened the blow of finding out exactly how much my visit was going to cost me.

However, despite the soothing comfort one can only get from a sickeningly sweet and ultra artificially dyed cherry red lollipop, my arms began to feel like dead weights almost immediately afterwards. My left arm was noticeably more sore because it got three of the shots, whereas my right arm had only received two shots. It's not even the needle that bothers me, nor the not so "small pinch" I felt each time when it pierced my skin, nor the burning sensation of the foreign substance entering my body, but just the general mopiness I experienced during the next two days. At the soccer game I attended later that Monday afternoon, I had to get one of the girls that I coach to zip up my jacket pocket because I honest to goodness could not move my arm that way. I couldn't use my left arm to buckle my passenger side seatbelt. That night, I could barely lift my arm up to my head level to shampoo my hair. Tuesday evening, I almost dropped my blizzard that I had just switched to my left hand so that I could open the car door with my much stronger right arm. What a horror that would have been!

Anyhow, things are looking up. The misplaced band-aids courtesy of the nurse-lady have now come off, and I will not have to look like a failure at quitting smoking with five poorly stuck on patches distributed between my left and right arms. Just in time for the sunny weather we are expecting this weekend!

Also, Josephine and I have planned our first fundraiser event: a fun bike ride through Stanley Park on Sunday, May 2nd, followed by a BBQ at my place. We will meet downtown at the corner of Georgia and Denman at 11:00am, and from there will proceed around the seawall at whatever pace you feel like.

As this is a fundraiser, you might ask how we plan to raise funds. Well, that is where each of your individual roles in our success come into play! We are asking each participating rider to raise a minimum amount of $20 in pledges, and all proceeds will go towards our trip. I will post more info and the route in a separate entry (see above I guess).

I hope to see many of you out there next weekend!

For now, guten Nacht.

2010-04-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

Merci Nico! You made my page look so awesome! T'es trop fort

Your contribution to my success!

2010-04-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

If you want to donate some funds to help support me on my volunteer trip this July, please click the donate button! Thank you so much for you wonderful generosity and consideration : )

And so it begins...

2010-04-13T12:06:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

This is my first blog post ever! Please bear with me and my inexperience in this new venture.

The main reason I've set up this blog is to follow my preparations for my upcoming trip to Asembo Bay, Kenya, where I will be volunteering for one month with Tumaini Children's Project. However, I will also fill it up with other random thoughts and ideas, or whatever my busy mind comes up with.

In a nutshell, Tumaini Children's Project is a registered Canadian non-profit (charitable) organization that works to facilitate the empowerment of children and youth in Canada and Kenya, by creating opportunities for sustainable development projects. Through their partnership with orphaned children and youth who are personally affected by HIV/AIDS, TCP's goal is to initiate positive social change in the community of Asembo Bay by assisting them in developing and implementing income generating solutions.

Lest I begin to sound like a broken record, here is the link to the facebook group I have already set up. You can find more detailed information about what I will be doing there:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=110045032363359&ref=mf

Also, please check out Tumaini Children Project's website to read about the amazing things they are doing for the community of Asembo Bay:

http://www.tumainichildrensproject.ca/

One last thing, a couple of people have suggested I set up a paypal account in order to accept donations online. I will post a link later today to my facebook group that should redirect you to this page. There you will find the little paypal button to make donations (which are greatly appreciated!!). Without your financial and moral support, I would not be able to make this trip happen!

Thank you and ta-ta for now,

Robin