So Far...

In the past three and half years I have had malaria 15 times.  I’ve been in one fatal vehicle accident and three other less serious vehicle accidents.  I’ve had so many bouts of diarrhea that not having it is abnormal.  I have been robbed three times.  I have pulled ticks out of my own neck and hundreds out of all the stray dogs that seem to adopt me.  I have had a deadly snake on my foot whilst vomiting in a long drop toilet in the middle of the night. And, I’ve had my faith restored in humanity.

Where the hell am I you may wonder?  Well, I’m never in one place.  In fact, I’ve not spent more than 10 days in one place in the past two years.  I have, however, spent the majority of my time of the border of Tsavo West National Park near Taveta.  And, I love the place; and the people there.  So much so, that I’ve recently decided to devote the next chapter of my life to starting my own NGO out there.  The NGO does not have a name yet, nor does it have anywhere near enough funding to make a dent in the ridiculous amount of problems faced by people in the Taveta district.  But in time, it will.

For now, the NGO is not important.  I’m starting small with a few projects and whole lot of research.  In two days, I’ll be returning to Taveta to begin surveying every village in the Taveta district of Kenya.  Once the research is complete, I’m hoping to run my first construction project by the end of this year.  The research will involve determining where critical infrastructure exists and where it is lacking.  All distances to key facilities such as schools, water access points and medical facilities will be determined.  I would like to say that this information will be readily available from government offices and the like; it won’t be.  I already know that.  Therefore, all distances will be measured on foot by me.  It’s going to be a whole lot of walking – but it’s a beautiful place and I’m happy enough spending my days trekking through tiny villages in Tsavo West and chatting to the communities out there.  Watch this space for the results of the research, the adventures I have along the way and I might even reveal how far I had to walk to find all of this information out!