I leave next week for my 2 month trip to Kenya. There are many purposes for this trip. There will be a service component, research component, site visits and some tourism too.

I plan to spend the first month in the Pipeline IDP camp (IDP= internally displaced persons) in/near Nakuru in the Great Rift Valley. I will be volunteering with a local organization called VICDA. Most likely, I will help teach English, arts-and-crafts, physical education, etc. I'm not exactly sure yet. There are many different projects in progress---new school construction, food aid distribution, development of a medical clinic, etc. I'm not going there thinking I'm going to change the world. I will inevitably gain more than I could ever hope to give.

Completing a Capstone research paper is the last step for me to complete in order to earn my MA in Nonprofit Management from Regis University. Although I am behind in my planning and thesis development, I'm very interested in the role of NGO's/Civil Society in education and empowerment of marginalized and displaced women in Kenya. Although I haven't made as much progress as I had hoped, my goal is to observe and participate in the local cultures that I encounter.

I will also be visiting 2 remarkable women, and the projects they coordinate. Deborah Katina (pictured with the Harvest of Hope planning committee) runs an organization called Yang'at on the W. Kenya/Uganda border. This NGO is focused on improving water access and empowering young girls. Sarah Buretti Tum coordinates a "School Safe Zone' project in/around Nairobi. Both women were excellent keynote speakers at past Harvest of Hope events. I'm so excited to visit their programs and communities that benefited from our special event fundraiser.

I will try to get to Kakuma refugee camp, via a new program at Regis University. "Higher Education at the Margins" is a new online academic program for refugees in the camp. I'm not sure if this will be logistically possible, but I have been in contact with the coordinator. I also hope to make it to the coastal city of Mombasa...the heart of Swahili culture. There is a training on post-traumatic stress disorder that I have been invited to attend. Who knows where I'll end up. As I have learned in the past, nothing really happens as planned....

Thanks for your interest in my trip and all your support. I'm really excited and anxious for this experience.