Sad News

I would say almost 100% of my trip so far has been one word-excellent! However, something unfortunate has also happened here in the last few weeks. Charles, the leader of the orphanage, and all of the children have found out that the land they are renting has been sold. As you can see in the photos posted here and in the blog the previous volunteers made, they really didn't have much to begin with. But losing the land and all of the buildings and classrooms has been devastating for all of us.


Front of the Orphanage, photo from previous volunteers' blog




The good news is we found some land about 20 minutes away from the current location. The cost is 2 400 000 schilling. Sounds alot eh?! Well really it's only $2500 for one acre of land! Impossible to imagine compared to where we live isn't it? They currently have an acre of land so it will be the same size which is the good news. Further good news is that Charles has one year to pay off the land, which is great because we sure don't have the money now.

The bad news is that the new land is 20 minutes away which means we can't do all the moving ourselves. We will need vehicles and helpers to get us there and move everything. But what is really the worst is that there are no buildings at all on this new land. Which means we are going to have to build everything from scratch again, all with no extra money :(


These were our classrooms before - again picture courtesy of previous volunteers

I'm sure that some of you can imagine that things cost a lot less here in Kenya. We know that land is definitely cheaper here and the good news is so are building materials and supplies.

So I know that the reason I am even here is because so many of you have been so generous in helping me get here, and I really can't thank you enough. I am a very lucky girl :) However, my new friends aren't nearly as lucky as we are. So I am graciously and humbly asking if any of you would be able to help me again now, in helping these orphans build their new home?

I am going to repost the donation details now. My mom has helped me a little with some banking information and we learned that most Canadian banks require you to go to the bank to transfer money to Kenya. So if you would like to do that, I will post Charles bank account details below.

OPTION 1:

Donators can make a bank deposit. Details as below:

Bank: Equity Bank

Account Name: Light Orphanage Centre

Account Number: 0610 296 227 569
Swift Code / BIC: EQBLKENA

Or, if it's easier for you, you can email either of my parents your donation and they will ensure that the money is transferred to Charles account (they'll go to the bank and do all the transferring).

My mom's email address is:

leeann.taylor@fraserhealth.ca

My dad's email address is:

jasonclegg@telus.net

I want to thank you all for even considering to help us. Like I said, EVERY little bit goes a very LONG way here in Africa. So even if it's only $5, $10, $20, whatever you might be able to spare, it will be greatly appreciated and certainly needed.

And all donations WILL receive a TAX RECEIPT.


THANK YOU ALL and I will repost some photos of our new land when we start moving over there.

Missing you all,

Alyssa

Photos

I am having so many experiences I can't begin to tell you about them all! I thought instead I would post a few photos here and you can see yourself some of the kids at the orphanage and some of the fun we've been having!!

Me and some of my new friends.

Thanks Dianne for all the toothbrushes!



Sack Races - Notice who's winning? :)



April, another volunteer with me from China, and I bought the kids pumpkins to celebrate Halloween!

I've had lots of fun teaching the kids about Canada and what makes us special...maple syrup, hockey, the RCMP :)

For any of you that are my friends on Facebook, you'll know that I have MANY more pictures posted! I have taken so many pictures here trying to remember every moment of my amazing trip.

I hope you're all well and I miss you all.

Alyssa

Adventure of a Lifetime

Welcome to My Blog!!

Hello, and thank you for stopping by to read my blog :) As many of you know, I graduated from high school last June and wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do next. With being a little unsure what I wanted to do with my career, I started to wonder if there was something else meaningful I could do until I decided exactly what I wanted to do long term.

I found out through a co worker of my mom's about this organization called International Volunteer Headquarters and I knew what I wanted to do! I did my research and chose to volunteer in Nairobi, Kenya. The volunteer organization placed me doing volunteer work at an orphanage called Light Orphanage Center. I will attach a blog all about the orphanage that two sisters created when they volunteered here just before me so you can get a better idea of what it's like.

Light Orphanage Center Blog

So thanks to the generosity of my family and friends, the most exciting and scary moment of my life came on Friday October 12th. Twelve of us headed to the airport and I said goodbye to my family and friends and boarded my flight to Kenya! I wasn't sure what I was getting into...