Logistics (Post 4)

Logistics

There are three things that need to happen:  1) Sell House   2) Health Insurance  3) Cover costs.  After these things happen, Jodie and I will pick a date for us to depart based on many factors.

Sell House - We have a nice 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2300 sq ft home in an amazing Midwestern community.  We need to sell to move - cover the mortgage - hopefully get some funds that we will save for our return.  

See the listing here:

Health Insurance - the MUST of American life…we will be losing the Cadillac of Health Care for some sort of catastrophe insurance.  Obamacare?  Maybe, but more likely will be a version of missionary travel insurance thanks to some of our friends that have done something similar.  We just want to be assured that if something tragic happens we won’t lose everything we’ve earned or our future financial stability.  

Cover costs - Since I won’t be working for a paycheck and neither will Jodie, we need to figure out How?  How will we get there?  How will we get back?  How will we eat?  How will we do what we need to do?  

Where will we live?

We will be living at the International Villages-Hopewell in Nakuru, Kenya.  Search it on Google Earth, or take a look here.  

Cottage 4 at the IV

The plan is to move into cottage 4 and build a traditional house on the grounds.  When the traditional house is done, we will move in there.  A 3 bedroom house will cost about $1000USD.  It will be made of mud and it will be amazing.  

A traditional home at the IV and Sonko, our Director of Security, whom lives at the IV

What will we eat?

The IV has a vegetable garden run by an extraordinary gardner (James Tangus), a chicken business run by an amazing group of women (Freedom from Fistula), and we plan to buy a couple dairy cows.  We will purchase some food and will look to hire a person to help us in the kitchen.

What will we do?

Our trip will be a multi pronged approach to community development:

Build relationships - Continue to build the relationships we have been developing since 2006 and start new friendships so that we can work together to make this world a better place

Education - Help support the schools that are in the area, including but not limited to: Hopewell High School, SOAR-Kenya Academy, Barut Primary, Tumaini Secondary, Nine Stones, etc.  Also help support students and families pursue and get the most out of their education.

Women/Girls - Empower women in our community, including the Freedom from Fistula group.

Environment - Trees and more.  Natalie has a heart for planting trees.  We hope to plant thousands of trees to help the community of Barut.  In addition, we look to research new technologies that will help save already established trees.

Document - Record the history of our groups since 2003.  Research and interview those that have traveled and those we have met.  Document the daily activities and share them with the world.

Connect - Connect people from around the globe to form a group that is willing and able to forward these objectives.

In closing, the support has been overwhelming!  Thank you so much for your kind comments, messages, phone calls, and face to face conversations.  We appreciate the love and support from our friends and family.