December 11, 2014

December 11, 2014

This weekend I traveled to Nairobi to order the brand new basketball systems that I successfully fundraised over $1000 to order. Thanks to all those who donated to this amazing project! Luckily the Village had a car in Nairobi early in the week so we were able to pick up the hoops just a few days after the order went in. In addition, we raised enough money to buy new Spalding basketballs that should last a long time. Today was installation day! I gathered together the basketball coach as well as members of the high school basketball team to help with assembly. It only took us a couple of hours to get everything together. First we had to get some tools from the Polytechnic and read the extensive manual but after some trial and error we got the first system together. After that putting together the second system was easy. It was great that the boys helped out and got it done so quickly. Now the court is ready to be played on!

Assembly

Old vs. new

Some team members

Our court

On another note, on Monday I am flying back to Boston for Christmas! I’m very excited to get back to some cold weather; it has been super hot in the Village the last couple weeks. It will be great to see family and friends as well!

December 4th

Ticksy, "my" dog in the Village, gave birth to her puppies!

December 4, 2014

Happy December! I can’t believe that it is already December. Its really hard to imagine that it is winter back in the States, when it is still boiling hot here in the Village. I also can’t believe that I have been here for 5 months! Time really has flown by.

The past couple of weeks have been filled with toothbrush distribution and my basketball fundraiser. As the children are on school vacation, it has been difficult to gather then all together in one place for the brush distribution. However, there are been weekly life-skills training sessions undertaken by the Home Care Department. These meetings have given us a perfect opportunity to reach the kids and distribute the brushes. In addition, we also had enough brushes for the grandparents. Toothpaste was distributed to each family during weekly food pick-up, which occurs every Tuesday. Hopefully the paste will last for a few months. After that, we will be buying and distributing supplies for the making of homemade toothpaste.

The Polytechnic students during the oral hygiene/hand washing presentation

Also, in less than one week I was able to raise $1000 for the purchase of new basketball hoops to replace the current ones, which are worn down and broken. I am extremely thankful to all those at home who supported this project. Basketball is one of the children’s favorite sports and it is heartbreaking when the equipment is in such bad condition that they game cannot be played. Now because of the generous donations from friends and family, we have been able to purchase top-quality durable basketball hoops, as well as a supply of high quality basketballs. Hopefully our new equipment will be available for pick-up next week! I hope to get everything installed before I head home for the holidays on December 15^th. I will post some pictures of the new systems as soon as they are up!

The current basketball hoops (but as of now, the hoop has follow off, this photo was taken previous to this)

I have a lot to get done before my holiday begins, but I’m looking forward to going home and seeing all my friends and family! (and it won’t hurt to get some good food, sleep in my own bed, and have a real shower and toilet)

           

Enjoy!

Maggie