http://www.indiegogo.com/joshkenya
Hello friends and family!
I have launched the fundraising site above to raise money for my trip. If you are able, please consider making a donation.
Many thanks!!
Josh
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
A real new year
So 2012 has been pretty darn good so far. I had a fantastic time at home with my family over the Christmas holiday. While the 20-something angsty Josh would blow into town for three or four days.... the 30-something Josh stayed nine days this year... and wanted more. I am lucky to have all four of my grandparents and loved spending some time with them..... as well as my sister and parents of course. I got to re-connect with my friend Sam and her brother Adam and his new wife. Quality time was spent. Lovely.
After Christmas I went headlong into training for my first half marathon. In February I attended the American Choral Director's Association Eastern Division Conference in Providence, RI with my new friend Brigette...
The day before my 30th birthday my old roommate Suzanne came out to D.C. to run said half marathon with me. I did well and we celebrated my birthday and it was fantastic. The following weekend my friend Cris came up from Tampa for the Reason Rally on the mall-- the largest Secular/Atheist gathering in world history. Fantastic. Then Cris flew to Tampa and I flew to San Francisco where I spent a week in the Bay Area re-connect with old friends. I am so lucky to have all these people in my life.
One of the things I've been working on since the fall is a grant proposal for a program through my school that sends teachers on summer trips. The story that follows is why I think the D.C. area is so amazing and interesting.
When I first got to Norwood I heard about an art teacher that had volunteered at a school in Kenya last summer. Owing to my new-found obsession with Africa, I sought her out and asked for information about the school. She told me about this amazing place called the Red Rose School in Kibera-- the second largest slum in Africa. Red Rose is a part of the Children of Kibera Foundation. My friend and colleague, Amanda, had a phenomenal experience teaching there and subsequently told me about the grant program through our school.
Amanda put me on contact with the man who started the CoKF, a phenomenal human being named Ken. Ken grew up in Kibera, came to the U.S. for his collegiate education, taught at Potomac School in McLean, VA (right across the river from Norwood) where he taught Amanda's kids, and then started the Children of Kibera Foundation with some friends and supporters (many of them involved with Potomac School). It happened that Ken was in D.C. fundraising for the foundation the week after I emailed him... I was able to attend a fundraiser in D.C., meet Ken, make a donation to the foundation, and conceive a preliminary vision for my trip to Kenya with Ken.
Then I went to writing my grant. Two weeks before the grant proposal was due, Amanda informed me that the foundation runs a trip every summer where Washington area highs school students volunteer at Red Rose for two weeks. She put me in contact with Sarah, the woman who heads up the trip each summer. With the dates I was looking at going, I would have just missed them. Then Sarah told me that she was in need of a chaperone for the trip and wondered if I may be willing to serve this need. I agreed, re-wrote my grant to include their itinerary, and submitted the grant. The proposal was for a purely service-oriented trip. While the students are volunteering I would be able to teach music to the students in the school and even start the first-ever Red Rose choir!
I found out right before spring break that I received the grant!! I will be traveling to Kenya from June 28-July 24!! I will stay for six days after the high school students leave to do some professional development with local teachers about music education and to study Kenyan folk song and drumming. I am beyond excited for the opportunity to serve students in Kibera and to get a sense of what their day-to-day is like.
I won't lie-- a part of me was incredibly disappointed I didn't go to the Peace Corps to live in Africa for two years. But I see that I can travel to Africa to serve using my real gifts. I am so lucky to be able to do this kind of work. I am so excited to go to Africa again.
I will be fundraising in the coming months for my trip so stay tuned for updates about that!
After Christmas I went headlong into training for my first half marathon. In February I attended the American Choral Director's Association Eastern Division Conference in Providence, RI with my new friend Brigette...
The day before my 30th birthday my old roommate Suzanne came out to D.C. to run said half marathon with me. I did well and we celebrated my birthday and it was fantastic. The following weekend my friend Cris came up from Tampa for the Reason Rally on the mall-- the largest Secular/Atheist gathering in world history. Fantastic. Then Cris flew to Tampa and I flew to San Francisco where I spent a week in the Bay Area re-connect with old friends. I am so lucky to have all these people in my life.
One of the things I've been working on since the fall is a grant proposal for a program through my school that sends teachers on summer trips. The story that follows is why I think the D.C. area is so amazing and interesting.
When I first got to Norwood I heard about an art teacher that had volunteered at a school in Kenya last summer. Owing to my new-found obsession with Africa, I sought her out and asked for information about the school. She told me about this amazing place called the Red Rose School in Kibera-- the second largest slum in Africa. Red Rose is a part of the Children of Kibera Foundation. My friend and colleague, Amanda, had a phenomenal experience teaching there and subsequently told me about the grant program through our school.
Amanda put me on contact with the man who started the CoKF, a phenomenal human being named Ken. Ken grew up in Kibera, came to the U.S. for his collegiate education, taught at Potomac School in McLean, VA (right across the river from Norwood) where he taught Amanda's kids, and then started the Children of Kibera Foundation with some friends and supporters (many of them involved with Potomac School). It happened that Ken was in D.C. fundraising for the foundation the week after I emailed him... I was able to attend a fundraiser in D.C., meet Ken, make a donation to the foundation, and conceive a preliminary vision for my trip to Kenya with Ken.
Then I went to writing my grant. Two weeks before the grant proposal was due, Amanda informed me that the foundation runs a trip every summer where Washington area highs school students volunteer at Red Rose for two weeks. She put me in contact with Sarah, the woman who heads up the trip each summer. With the dates I was looking at going, I would have just missed them. Then Sarah told me that she was in need of a chaperone for the trip and wondered if I may be willing to serve this need. I agreed, re-wrote my grant to include their itinerary, and submitted the grant. The proposal was for a purely service-oriented trip. While the students are volunteering I would be able to teach music to the students in the school and even start the first-ever Red Rose choir!
I found out right before spring break that I received the grant!! I will be traveling to Kenya from June 28-July 24!! I will stay for six days after the high school students leave to do some professional development with local teachers about music education and to study Kenyan folk song and drumming. I am beyond excited for the opportunity to serve students in Kibera and to get a sense of what their day-to-day is like.
I won't lie-- a part of me was incredibly disappointed I didn't go to the Peace Corps to live in Africa for two years. But I see that I can travel to Africa to serve using my real gifts. I am so lucky to be able to do this kind of work. I am so excited to go to Africa again.
I will be fundraising in the coming months for my trip so stay tuned for updates about that!
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