Hi all,
So we completed our first full day in N’Djamena, Chad, and will be taking off for the east tomorrow. Just to re-iterate, we’ll be blogging on a daily basis at: http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact5. Please check out that site daily, for both our entries and an accompanying video. I’ll cross blog everything afterwards, but while we’re in the camps, please visit the other site.
For people who have not visited the site yet (I know STAND just sent out a newsletter about it), feel free to browse our previous entries on Zimbabwe and Kenya. If you have questions or comments, let us know and we’ll respond! We hope this blog is informative, and let us know what more information you’d like to hear.
Scott
Colin and I are both leaving the country in about 18 hours…and we’re both pretty excited. We have a long trip ahead of us. Both of us will be spending about 30 hours en route to our first destination, Harare, Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, however, we’re taking completely different routes there (I’ll actually be spending a night in Kenya on the way).
Before getting to each country, we’ll post a summary of the current situation. Look for a post on Zimbabwe in the next day or two
Also, we’ll be updating the blog much more regularly once we get to Africa. We’ll have at least a post a day, if not more (unless we have difficult African internet connections, which does happen). We’ll also be updating the photo gallery pretty regularly.
Please let us know, either through commenting or contacting us, if you have any specific questions or anything you’d like us to blog about. We’d love to hear from you!
Scott
Friends and activists -
Thanks for visiting the website. As Scott said, we’re really excited to get going on our trip this Monday. We’re not completely sure what to expect, but it promises to be a rewarding experience.
I wanted to emphasize the fact that this website was made as a means for communicating with you all. Scott and I are incredibly lucky to be able to go on this kind of trip. We want to be able to give some insight to people in the US who are working to resolve conflicts in Africa, but don’t have the opportunity to see it firsthand. It can be frustrating to try to really understand whats going on in another country from NGO reports and news articles, so we’re hoping to give you all more of a personal perspective. We’re very open to comments or questions that you all have, so don’t ever hesitate to shoot us a note using the contact button in the top right corner of the page.
Scott and I will try to post as often as possible, and we should be able to do so almost daily in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ethiopia. In Chad we’ll obviously have a lot less internet access, but thanks to the awesome resources that Stop Genocide Now (the org we’re traveling with) is providing, we’ll be able to link blogs, videos and pictures almost every day through their project, called i-Act. You can read more about the Chad portion of the trip and i-Act through the link on the left.
When I’m in Tanzania, most of my work will be on a research project in a hospital, but I’ll try to post regularly to keep you updated on what I’m up to and anything else you want to hear about while I’m there.
Colin
Hi all!
Thanks for visiting the site. We’re really excited to get this going; it should be a great trip. Please continue to read this blog throughout the next month, and tell all your friends and family about it! We should be updating it at least daily. Please post away and email us as well….we want to hear your thoughts and feedback.
Just a little more info about the goals of our trip: Colin and I have both worked on Darfur activism for the past few years. It’s been a valuable experience; we feel like we’ve made a difference and increased awareness in the United States. At the same time, though, it’s frustrating working on a cause without being able to interact with the people you’re trying to help. This trip gives us an extraordinary experience (we recognize we’re lucky to do this) to talk with actual African individuals about their lives, and how the conflicts affect them. We hope to talk to Zimbabweans, Kenyans, and Darfurian refugees about their thoughts and hopes, and broadcast them to all of you.
I lived in Africa for three years during high school (in Kenya) and to say it changed my life would be an understatement. I always think of Africa as a representation of the best and the worst: sure, there are conflicts replete throughout the continent. But at the same time, the land is absolutely beautiful; game-filled plains, mountains, exquisite beaches. And most of all, the people are beautiful. They remain optimistic, caring, and giving despite the seemingly impossible obstacles they continually face.
I hope you join this journey as we talk to the people of Africa. We’ll be providing analysis and background for each country we visit. It should be an amazing experience!
- Scott