My Departure for Haiti (and whatever else I find)

*This is from my "e-newsletter" that I use to send major updates to friends & family. Click Here to add your email to the list.

...For some of you, this is the first time you have heard from me since I left for Kenya. I have had an incredible five months in a beautiful country that I have started to call home. I arrived in Nairobi to give what I could to The 1010 Project and the people of East Africa, but the people here and their relationships have instead been a gift to me.

Tuesday afternoon I was offered a position with Doctors Without Borders. I applied to work with their international relief teams in September, and this week they asked me to join one of their Belgian teams in Haiti. I accepted the six-month posting as a logistician today, and leave for Port au Prince via Brussels on June 10^th.

This is an incredible opportunity for me, and an exciting adventure. I am looking forward to the challenges of working in disaster relief again. The hands-on and intense fieldwork is a great match for my personality. I love the problem solving and sometimes adrenalin it takes to get the job done. That said, this was a very difficult decision.

I am very loyal and personally tied to The 1010 Project. Our partners and beneficiaries in Kenya are my friends, the staff is like my family, and our mission provided a vehicle for my values. 1010 mobilized me as an advocate, and was a catalyst for my professional development. --- I am also not done exploring East Africa. I arrived in Kenya with the goal of standing on the summits of both Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya, and I haven’t done either. On the other hand, this new position is the next step in my professional goals; it just arrived a lot sooner then expected.

Please think of me over the next few weeks as I prepare for this step. My thoughts and memories of you are what inspire my life. I will continue to be a part of the 1010 family (as I have been the last 4 years) as a donor and volunteer, and I ask you to do the same. Their model is proven, our partners are phenomenal, and their opportunities are dependent on your involvement! Please go to the website this week and see how you can Join The Story.

Thank you again for your friendship, support, and empowerment.

Keith B. Ives

Field Visit: Potential Partner

Yesterday evening I visited an informal school in a slum community near my home. The Director was able to acquired a small area in the sea of rusted tin shacks. I peaked into the unlit "classrooms", dim with the the late day's sun casting long shadows across the homemade desks. Kim, the Director, talked about the 160 students that squeezed into the seats & their chance at a primary education. He charges KSH 400 ($5 USD) a month for students to attend. Despite the lowest price I've seen yet in Nairobi, only 30% of his students are able to pay. This leaves the school unable to provide a mid-day meal, teachers without consistent pay, and the future of the school & the students in jeopardy.

Kim's hope now lies in an alternative revenue source for the school. The disadvantage of his slum-setting also provides the potential for his success. There are no water sources in the immediate vicinity of his school or the families that share his tin walls. He is completing a business plan/proposal that would have the school purchase a large water tank that could be filled daily by the Nairobi Water Company. The school could then sell the water (for about 1 shilling a gallon). Considering other sources, community size, and operating expenses, the water sales would be able to generate 30% of the needed revenue annually.

Selling water would be a service to this community, an empowering business for the school, and a gift to the disenfranchised children in the area.

I walked home in the dark, energized by the buzz of this community. The muddy path out was lined with families selling fresh fruit, fried tilapia, brass padlocks, pencils... ...life was happening all around me. Yet despite the worst of conditions everyone's smiles seemed to glow as brightly as the kerosene lanterns that marked the way.

Hiking w/MCK

Now that I know I will be leaving Kenya, I am on a mission to see as much of it as I can. Today I went Hiking with the Mountain Club of Kenya. We knocked out a fairly difficult hike up a smaller mountain outside of Nairobi. I just posted the album so go check out the pics!

Quick Update-Wind of Change

Normally I try to write to & from myself on here. However, this one is for the few of you who take the time to follow me:

I'm back in Nairobi and trying hard to stay focused and disciplined in my work for The 1010 Project.  My immediate goals are to complete the NGO registration process with the government here, write the constitution & standard operating procedures for in-country operations, & to do a written evaluation of all of our current partners.  In the meantime I am also being intentional about getting out, exploring, & having fun. I really want to climb Mt. Kenya (& maybe Kilimanjaro) before I leave Nairobi. Yes, I will be leaving Nairobi. I have been accepted to work with Doctors Without Borders/Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) as a logistician. This is a "Roster" type position where give them my availability, & they try to find a "mission" to match my skill-set. I don't know where I will be; that's half of the excitement. The missions are typically 6 months at a time. I have posted myself as available starting in August. That should give me enough time to finish up what I am working on with 1010. I cannot tell you how excited I am to move back towards the relief side of the house. I have been craving something a bit more physically challenging, faster pace, & with more immediate results. I suddenly realized that I like to sweat, have my adrenalin pumped, and see the results of my work quickly... ...ok maybe I'm a bit impatient.   Anyways, that's the update. I am taking french lessons at the local Alliance Francaise. Brushing up on it will help me pick up missions with MSF faster. Check them out. They are a impressive org doing very intense work... 

I also have uploaded a number of pictures from my explorations around Kenya. Check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/KeithBIves

Thank God for Whiskey

I have so many good memories tied to whiskey. It is my favorite way to finish a good meal. It’s my favorite way to welcome a good friend into my home. A tumbler with whiskey and a few ice cubes has been enjoyed during some of my most memorable nights, worst days, and longest flights. Some days I get sophisticated & feel I deserve a nice single-malt scotch, but most days a simple serving of cheep whiskey reminds me of my humble roots. It is an honor to be able to share Stranahan's with a friend, but its nice to find yourself holding a glass of "Jim" too. I’ll stop here for fear of sounding like an alcoholic. But seriously, when I taste a bit of sour mash on the back of my tongue a flood of memories are triggered… … some smooth and some bitter.