THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I figured I would do a post to sincerely thank everyone that has helped me collect books and laptops!  It really means to the world to me.

This is the photo I took off of the SCHAP website to show you the library!!

This is one of my favorite photos on the whole schap website! I cannot wait to be able to upload my own!!

We have a library in the village.  There are four book shelves (and four walls and a roof!!!!!).  That is our library! There is one semi-full book shelf.  My partner, Brittany, and I are brainstorming ways to make people more accountable for returning their books -- but I think that will be something we will have to implement once we are more familiar with the library and the current procedures.

I am so excited to provide as many resources to the SCHAP library in Matoso!  Gotta love empowering the capable! ThankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU to everyone who contributed...you guys are so awesome!!!

Love to you all!

Amateur Hour

Hello All! I am really excited to start my blog!  I have so much going on that this will be a nice way of keeping in touch with everyone! 

I wasn't sure what to title my blog.  But then I started thinking about why I want a blog -- and then decided to go from there.  My dad will always go off in the backyard and tinker with his "toys."  He will be completely engrossed by his thoughts.  Fully embracing my nosey character, I always ask him what he is thinking about.  His reply is always the same, "The World According to Lou."  It is really admirable that he can takes time out every day to think about his life.  It is something important that I really need to incorporate into my daily routine.  I hope to emulate my father's dedication to his "world."  But unlike my dad, I will actually share!  ;)

The past few months have been so busy!  It has been so amazing to have Jacs and Ben back in the States.  Their wedding two weeks ago was absolutely gorgeous.  Knowing how particular Jacs is, I knew it would be a wedding to be remembered.  But, it exceeded each and every one of my expectations.  It was such a blessing to be surrounded by so much love and excitement!  Then a week later, Alexandra graduated from high school.  I am so proud of her.  As usual, FSHA put on a nice ceremony.  Minus a few speeches ;)  Luckily, I was able to squeeze in a trip to San Fran with one of my best friends, Kate Steigerwald.  She and I had a lovely trip exploring the city!

Now, it's my turn!  I am off to Africa in a few short weeks on July 9.  I will be gone until August 25! I working for an organization called SCHAP (sustainable comprehensive humanitarian assistance and planning). You should check out the website www.schap.info

I am one of 24 community development workers going to Kenya.  We will be living in a village right near Lake Victoria! My area of emphasis, which is different for about every person, is educational facilities.  My partner, Brittany, and I will be doing many different things under the education umbrella: evaluating teachers and current methods, visiting neighboring schools to compare effective strategies, continue to hold computer training workshops, emphasizing the importance of the Internet, adding more books to our existing library and review the current "check-out" system. We also plan to hold a literacy workshop while distributing basic and informative handouts.   I am so excited to put all of my hard work to action! 

Love to you all!