I've relocated for at least the next 6-8 months or so to Kenya... no, please do not believe what you see on CNN (in general, actually). The entire country is not aflame.
After an intensely challenging time of painful upheaveal and struggle on almost every front in my life in 2007 in which I tripped over my own enthusiasm and did not take enough time to mourn some deep losses... well, I began 2008 with the realization that I had to start from the ground up and get re-centred, and that meant I needed to shut up and start following all my own good advice. So following the motto of whoever it was who said "90% of success is just showing up", I just showed up -- in India for a while, then in New Zealand for a long and wonderful rest with my family there, and I began doing sensible things like eating simply, sleeping enough each night, and enjoying daily hugs.
At long last, I have begun to feel my energy returning -- and with it, the reactivation of my nearly-dormant writing muscle! After my long, long silence, I've finally resurfaced. I feel the resurgence of my usual "tales from the road" writings coming soon...
So here I am at the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON), and about to undertake a half-year project working with my extraordinary friend and (by mutual adoption agreement) brother, Karun. I'm halfway through my MA in Human Security and Peacebuilding but have chosen for personal reasons to take 2008 off and to go back and complete the second half of the intensive curriculum from Jan-Jun 2009 instead. 2008 is being reserved for adventures and new experiences in my chosen "second career" field of peacebuilding, humanitarian work, and international development.
I promise a much more colourful (and also possibly irreverent and rambling) tale soon to catch you up on my travels in such far-flung locales as Nelson, BC, Colorado Springs, CO, India, and New Zealand. The traffic in Mumbai alone is worth one whole email.
If any of you intrepid explorers out there have been contemplating a vacation to Africa, then let me be the first to encourage you to come to Kenya... you could not pick a better time for great deals at some of East Africa's most wonderful locations, and seriously, the place ain't going up in smoke, don't buy into that media hype.
I would really like also to send out a broad-spectrum, but heartfelt, thank you to all of you who have extended your support morally, financially and materially to my undertakings as Fundraising Coordinator with my MA class at RRU for "Blueprint for Peace", our student-founded organization working in partnership with students in Uganda to assist internally displaced-persons in the North of that war-torn country. Speaking of Uganda -- with the reports of the LRA leader signing a peace agreement, I am praying for long-overdue demilitarization and the rebuilding of torn lives there and invite you all to give a moment's thought and prayer to the same...
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