|
|
Trip to Nairobi - February 2006 My second home is a land of great extremes. I arrived in Nairobi in early February during horrendous droughts, and within days the season of 'short rains' was upon us, causing floods! It's always a shock re-entering Africa, and this visit was no different. The sights, smells, sounds, chaotic pace and multitudes of people are such a change for this little RMT from Pleasantville. But it only takes a day of connecting with friends and familiar places to settle back in. Best stuff first: I visited Alex, the street-boy who I'd befriended a couple of years ago who is now living at the Emanuel Boyz Rescue Center (EBRC) www.ebrc.org. I purchased a keyboard from money I matched at a pub night send-off with friends in Victoria. Toonies for Tunes went towards this gift that they are using constantly! Many thanks for your contributions. While I was at EBRC, I taught 30 street kids an introduction to Compassionate Touch and massage. I used the book 'I Can Show You I Care' as a tool to convey compassion, kindness, and respect for others. The Upledger Foundation has done studies which show that children who massage other children display increased pro-social behaviour, decreased aggression, and increased attention. This is not surprising to me, and was incredible to see first-hand as I trained these boys who had been victims of abuse and hardship on the streets of Nairobi. It's a dream of mine to some day work with a team who rehabilitate child soldiers in Africa. Click here to see photos and a brief video clip. The chairman of The African Touch, Joe Bonga and I had an interview with the Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF). This is a potential donor for the Massage Academy Project. They were quite impressed with our fundraising proposal and curriculum outline, especially our Professional Development course that imparts life- skills to the students. An added bonus was for our pilot project apprentice Dorothy. We were unaware of the arts program through KCDF when I showed the director Dorothy's art cards. She was so impressed with the design that she handed us a grant application on the spot! Two days later Dorothy and I wrote up a business plan to develop and market her art work. It's an incredible opportunity. 
Other great news: The African Touch is now an officially registered Non-Governmental Organization in Kenya, and a member of the National Council of NGO's. Back in Canada: Yvonne is here in Victoria working part time at Back in Line Chiropractic and Massage and fundraising for The African Touch.
If you wish to email a message of congratulations to either Peggy or Kristi, please contact us. E-mail address: info@africantouch.org Sincerely,
|
Special Congratulations are due to 2 of my irreplaceable directors of The African Touch Education Fund Society: