It’s ‘Kwaheri’ (goodbye) time at last! At least for a little while. I leave for the little town of Isibania near the Kenyan-Tanzanian border tomorrow via Amsterdam and Nairobi and what sounds like an extraordinarily long and bumpy bus ride.
Some of you have asked for my address, which is:
Jessica Hansen
PO Box 176
Isibania, Kenya 40414
It only costs 98 cents to send a postcard or letter! Some of you have mentioned care packages too, so FYI: Things have been known to arrive already opened and scrounged through by postal workers, and sometimes they don’t arrive at all. The least expensive way to ship is usually with the white flat rate boxes you get at the post office. They can weigh up to 20lbs and the cost depends on the size of the envelope or box as seen on this list: https://www.usps.com/send/priority-mail-international-flat.htm. A padded envelope or small box cost $13.95 to send and the largest box is $58.50. The average shipping time is about 3-5 weeks.
Some tips that may help the package arrive without being opened:
· Tape it very very well
· Make 2 copies of an inventory list (place one in the box and hold onto one or email it to me and I can verify that all contents arrived)
· On the international customs form you will be required to fill out, no matter what is actually inside, I’ve been told to list highly uninteresting things that wouldn’t be too valuable if stolen (i.e. books, magazines, soap, etc.) and put a low dollar amount
· One friend had luck when her mother would write Jesus Loves You and put religious stickers all over. Ah, the guilt of having God watch you as you contemplate stealing…No, it seems some people hold religious orgs in high reverence and are less likely to try to steal from them.
Things I have been told are excellent things to receive:
· A letter or postcard if you have time.
· Non-perishable food items that aren’t readily available there (I am packing a little chocolate, the kind of cheese that doesn’t need to be refrigerated (like you get in a Hickory Farms basket at Christmas) pasta sauce packets, brownie mix, hot sauce, and soy sauce to name a few)
· Photos (I will miss your faces and would love to decorate my room with them, but you can always share via email and save yourself the postage : ) I will completely understand) magazines, movies, books, etc.
All this being said, I am not expecting anything at all and shipping is quite expensive and not reliable, so I plan to use the internet to communicate more than the mail.
If you get a chance, check out the organization I will be working with: Nuru International at http://www.nuruinternational.org/. (Don’t Google just Nuru, at least at work or in front of small children or your in-laws,….in Swahili it means light or brightness, but in Japanese it’s a form of exotic body on body massage.) I will also be posting in the Education Blog section of the Nuru website (http://www.nuruinternational.org/blog/category/education/) about developments in the program I work on. I’m very excited and feel really good about Nuru. As most of you know, for about a decade now I’ve worked for some of the most incredible international aid, relief and/or development agencies, and what I love about Nuru is that it combines all the very best practices of all the great agencies, infuses them with innovation and critical/creative thinking, and gives all this over in the form of support to the local community to create sustainable and comprehensive solutions to the many manifestations of poverty they experience. It’s all about working with the local leaders to identify the source problems and find sustainable solutions, then handing everything over to the local population, exiting ideally within 5 years from each location.
I apologize in advance if I fail miserably at keeping this blog up. I’m one of those people who always bought journals with the very best intentions, but they all got torn up and used for to-do lists instead. A planner, not a chronicler I suppose. Also, my Skype is jessica.hansen888.
I will be in DC and then traveling a little in December for our break, so keep me posted on your whereabouts and hopefully we can meet up! Thank you everyone for coming out on the ‘Farewell Tour’ to give me a goodbye hug, wishing me well with your texts/calls/emails, and/or just sharing in this experience with me.
Lots of love and many thanks to all,
Jesi
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