A group of big dreamers from the small town of Boston Bar, will soon take action to put their dreams into reality. On Saturday, June 30, seven teens and six adults will embark on the epic adventure of a lifetime.
“This trip is the final step in a four-year odyssey” says community trip leader, Michele Dekok.
Four years ago, some elementary students and their teacher were sparked by a visit to WE Day! Motivated to change the world, they started with small activities to raise awareness and funds with much success. As small actions multiplied and awareness grew, so did their impact. After two years of individual and global action, they had fundraised the money to build an entire school in Sierra Leone.
But what to do next?
Their decision was to travel to Africa and build another school themselves. So in June 2010, the plan was hatched — travel to Kenya in July of 2012 and take part in a EF / Me to We school building trip.
This is a huge trip, so two years was chosen as a reasonable goal for completion. Well that two years is up and tomorrow, dreams become reality. Children who have never left the country, let alone the continent are travelling half way around the globe to change the world.
Brand new passports, christened with Kenyan visas await their adventure. They will travel through Amsterdam to Nairobi where they will spend a night at Kolping House a former nunnery. The next day they travel on through the Great Rift Valley to Salabwek, a small community in the Masai Mara. There they will live in a tent village and help the local people on a development project. The community has a population of about 5,000 Kipsigis who will welcome the travellers into their homes, lives and communities. They will take Swahili lessons, collect water from the watering hole and work the build site daily. Evenings will be filled with global issue workshops and action planning to help them process the vast differences they will be experiencing. Travelers will also get a chance to take a day long safari in search of the elusive 'big five'.
This is truly a life changing experience for these 13 travellers and they will be available to speak to both community groups and classrooms on their return to share their experiences. They have one more goal on their trip; that is to carry medical kits to donate to the community. They are collecting small closable plastic bags filled with toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, wash cloth, first aid cream and band aids. Travel size items are most welcome. For more information, contact Michele Dekok at micmcintosh@hotmail.com or call 604-869-1514.