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