Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Sleepless Nights
No, not the title of a bad 80s romance song... "I'm having sleepless nights... waiting for your love to arrive...", sung by one of those guys with really BIG hair, but rather my last few nights. Seems I'm having a lot of thoughts running through my head when I lay down for the night, a lot of things going on at the moment. And unfortunately counting sheep isn't working for me. These Kenyan sheep don't move quite as fast as their Aussie counterparts and so between sheep there's just too much time for my mind to wander... and so here I sit at 3.00am...
It's certainly been an action packed first couple of months, talk about hitting the ground running! From the get go I was given the unenviable task of finding additional donors and funding for some of our programs. Whoa! Think of the hardest sales job, and then double it. Basically I'm approaching organisations who have had hundreds of people come to them asking for exactly the same thing - money. Plus with the drought conditions still lingering up north east, why should money go to our street children programs and not there where people are dying each and every day? Good question, and one which I really have no argument against.
So I'm in the middle of trying to get some proposals written up in the required format, which is not the most exciting task, plus damn difficult with all the differing advice coming from so many sources.
I've also been trying to get my head around exactly where our programs fit within the big scheme of addressing the street children problem, and what else we could be doing to compliment our current work. While Action for Children in Conflict (AFC) have been fairly effective dealing directly with affected kids, it's becoming increasingly apparent that we have to address more effectively some of the contributing environmental factors, such as livelihood issues for the parents and families, and wider community issues such as poverty and basic services. I would certainly hope that, over my time here, I at least facilitate some initiatives that help to address these wider issues within the community.
For example, I am planning on having further discussions with the local professional football team, Thika United, on how they may implement some sort of community youth training program and competition. There are some good programs running in slum areas around Nairobi such as Kibera and Mathare, and I'm hoping we can use those models as starting points. They have programs based around football and recreation, but use it to further other areas such as education and advocacy on HIV/AIDS, gender issues, and similar issues.
I have also heard mention of water projects within urban slum areas, where the provision of water for a fee (water is a purchased commodity) is used to fund community hygiene and sanitation projects. If anyone knows or hears anything about this, please drop me a line.
Along with all this I'm also in the middle of redesigning/building the new AFC website, which as you can see from the current one is much needed, and have also just finished a new brochure for them.
Oh, and then there's the personal stuff, though we don't really want to go there do we? Suffice to say, I have family members who do not support what I am currently doing at all, and dark shadows from my past coming back to ruin a present day relationship in the ugliest way imaginable.
Just another month in the life of yours truly...
Anyway, chin up and tally ho chaps! Now where's some of them Kenyan cockroaches I can count instead of sheep...
It's certainly been an action packed first couple of months, talk about hitting the ground running! From the get go I was given the unenviable task of finding additional donors and funding for some of our programs. Whoa! Think of the hardest sales job, and then double it. Basically I'm approaching organisations who have had hundreds of people come to them asking for exactly the same thing - money. Plus with the drought conditions still lingering up north east, why should money go to our street children programs and not there where people are dying each and every day? Good question, and one which I really have no argument against.
So I'm in the middle of trying to get some proposals written up in the required format, which is not the most exciting task, plus damn difficult with all the differing advice coming from so many sources.
I've also been trying to get my head around exactly where our programs fit within the big scheme of addressing the street children problem, and what else we could be doing to compliment our current work. While Action for Children in Conflict (AFC) have been fairly effective dealing directly with affected kids, it's becoming increasingly apparent that we have to address more effectively some of the contributing environmental factors, such as livelihood issues for the parents and families, and wider community issues such as poverty and basic services. I would certainly hope that, over my time here, I at least facilitate some initiatives that help to address these wider issues within the community.
For example, I am planning on having further discussions with the local professional football team, Thika United, on how they may implement some sort of community youth training program and competition. There are some good programs running in slum areas around Nairobi such as Kibera and Mathare, and I'm hoping we can use those models as starting points. They have programs based around football and recreation, but use it to further other areas such as education and advocacy on HIV/AIDS, gender issues, and similar issues.
I have also heard mention of water projects within urban slum areas, where the provision of water for a fee (water is a purchased commodity) is used to fund community hygiene and sanitation projects. If anyone knows or hears anything about this, please drop me a line.
Along with all this I'm also in the middle of redesigning/building the new AFC website, which as you can see from the current one is much needed, and have also just finished a new brochure for them.
Oh, and then there's the personal stuff, though we don't really want to go there do we? Suffice to say, I have family members who do not support what I am currently doing at all, and dark shadows from my past coming back to ruin a present day relationship in the ugliest way imaginable.
Just another month in the life of yours truly...
Anyway, chin up and tally ho chaps! Now where's some of them Kenyan cockroaches I can count instead of sheep...
posted by Dave | 3:09 AM |
1 Comments:
Hi Dave - what a fantatstic Blog! I was searching for charities in Kenya and came across your Blog. I will be visiting Nairobi for a couple of days in March next year as a springboard to a safari. I was looking for information about small, pratical items I may be able to bring with me eg: pens, notepads, plastic cups & plates etc. Perhaps we can chat closer to the time. In the mean time, I have bookmarked your Blog and will try to visit often. I think the work you're doing is great! - Fiona
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