paris to khartoum to nairobi

last night, after what felt like a back alley tour of cario's airport, eric and i noticed a flashing yellow sign that announced we'd be stopping in khartoum, sudan at 3am... turns out, it was less dramatic than we imagined, especially when doped up on as much gravol as i was. i needed a serious amount of sleep after paris.

paris we did the usual things... a lot of wine, cheese and walking through gardens. we drank on the pedestrian bridge which has been on my list of things to do for years. sadly, my french is totally pathetic despite 12 years of immersion.

we connected with devyn at nairobi airport.. almost didnt because turns out there are two very seperate baggage claim areas which would have been a bit of a problem. we're all together though and all in one piece.. just a bit weary.

so far, im really liking nariobi. i pictured it to be a lot more intense than it is. so far only eric has had a near collision with a car but he survived... they don't drive as fast as ghanaians and ugandans seemed to.

i met up with a friend from uganda for coffee this morning. he has been living in east africa since i was last in uganda. he's done a lot of work with schools around the area and its always nice to connect with people that have a bit of insight and history in a very new area to me. tonight a friend has connected me with a guy that works out of nairobi for the international rescue committee in somalia which will hopefully be pretty cool.

as a whole, im feeling very in my element. i remember being intimidated by past african trips.. so far, im maybe too comfortable for a person that hasn't even been here for 24 hours.

tomorrow we're off to an elephant orphanage and maybe a human one too.. then, safari time in mara and onwards to uganda!

eric has been way more detailed with what we've done... its-eric.blogspot.com if you're interested.

the route...

im off with a few friends to see a some new places and visit some old.

leaving tomorrow, we're hoping to cover:

- paris
- kenya
- uganda
- rwanda
- burundi
- tanzania (and zanzibar!)
- egypt
- greece
- italy
- croatia

and beyond?

not sure when i'll be back.. by christmas for sure.

here goes nothing!

a last minute note...

Hi everyone-

I have of course left this, and a million other things to the last minute.

For those of you that don’t know, I’m taking off to east Africa and parts of Europe tomorrow for the next two, maybe more, months… Thanks to some very generous helpers, Eat to Feed Liberians will continue while I’m gone.

A few weeks back I had a small benefit concert featuring Andy’s Ego and Craig Cardiff. We managed to raise the $3000 I needed to support the program for a fourth (!!!) term, taking us up to Christmas. This show, and the money raised, would not have occurred without the support of my Dad and a group of very talented friends (search Andy’s Ego on youtube to see the show).

My mom will be managing the weekly transfers to Jonah who will continue to buy the bread, oranges and water for the students. Cookies will be on break for the time being, but donations are of course, always welcome.

Some people also know that I have been introducing a new project into the mix… I have been selling purses made in the camp by a group of 27 teenaged and single mothers. The profits from these bags are sent back to the camp to fund the education of those women’s children. It too has been incredibly successful and has helped breath a bit of life in to a local initiative that continuously struggles for funds.

A group of helpers will be selling/distributing those bags around town. Currently there are a few yoga mat bags at Bikram and Moksha Yoga, as well as Studio Energi… More sac bags are on the way as soon as William, the Liberian in charge of the organization, returns from a conference with the UN. Email this account if you’re interested… My sister Nora and I will be manning this account as best we can.

So with that, I have some very last minute packing to do. I’m sorry I drifted off the radar for awhile, and am going to again… I will try to revive my blog while I travel, if you’re interested in keeping tabs on where I am (lindsayseegmiller.blogspot.com).

Thanks!

Lindsay

PS. I have Eat to Feed Liberian tshirts if anybody wants them. They’re dark grey with a bright blue logo on the front… Smalls, Mediums and Larges… $20 donation for a shirt. Email here if you’re interested…

here we go again...

I seem to have dropped the ball with Eat to Feed Liberians recently- I suppose the thrill of having something new and exciting always wears off and is replaced with frustration and repetition. I had a pretty quiet January, which was nice after a December packed full of baking, and February just seemed to happen and pass. That being said, I’m back up and going now that March is here and I’m in the home stretch for school, so here is what is in the works…

Cookies, as always, will be made. I’m hoping to take a few people up on some baking offers so that I can start spitting out crazy amounts of cookies again. For March, I’m making at the following kinds (half dozen for $5, dozen for $10 again, baked or frozen). Order up (see below) and pass the site on to any cookie loving friends-


I’m also looking into making t-shirts. I made a few a couple weeks ago and didn’t plan to sell them but they worked out really well so I’m going to expand that. I need to work out details of buying in bulk (any ideas out there?) and then I’ll try and come up with some kind of ordering system. The ones in circulation right now are dark grey with a bright blue logo. Thank you Eric and Brock for making those happen-

I’m working out the details of putting a few events together to raise money. With absolutely nothing to do come April, I think it would be a fun way to spread the word, raise a bit of money, and have fun… I’m just beginning to shape ideas there so, if anybody has tips/experience, its more than welcome.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I need to send out a massive thank you to Andy’s Ego (and the Ego Heads). This band recently participated in Laurier’s Battle of the Bands and let me use their performance as a launching point to ‘shamelessly promote a charity’. I’m not sure why that promotion was reviewed with what I read as a negative spin to it… I’d say it shows pretty solid character in the guys, but go figure. Check out their myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/andysego. Anyway, I’ve never sat through a concert with such an uncontrollable smile on my face or been so inspired afterwards. It meant more to me than I can find words to describe (I’ve spent the most amount of time on this paragraph).

So. That’s about it for now. I need help right now from anybody that is willing to buy a few cookies or make a small donation this way (direct deposit, online through pay pal or directly to me in Kingston). The littlest bits go a long way, cliché as that might sound.

Thank you to everyone that has helped out so far… You’ve helped me come a long way but there is still a huge distance to go.

march cookies

mmmmmmmmmm... winter cookies.

more than 2400 cookies later...

First off, I have at least a couple thank yous to throw out there. After two months of baking, I am excited to say I’ve raised more than $6000 for the students at the school in the Buduburam Liberian Refugee Settlement, roughly $3000 of which has already been disbursed . Over $2000 came through cookie sales, and the rest from very generous donations. On behalf of the students and teachers in the camp – and from me too – a huge thank you to everyone who contributed. I especially need to thank my December bakers. While I have learned that bake and boozing, and baking with a hung over group of people might not be the most effective way of working, the support and laughter made it completely worthwhile.

Of course, it is not even close to over. The children go back to school after their Christmas break on Monday, and while the money raised so far will buy bread, oranges and water well into this term, this school will stay open indefinitely. The hunger doesn’t end, and neither do the benefits that come from the smallest donations. $40, while perhaps a lot for four dozen cookies, takes care of one more day of feeding that wouldn’t happen otherwise. Jonah, my Liberian food coordinator, tells me it has been a somewhat tense time in ‘Little Liberia’… Ghanaian elections and run-off elections have been underway for the past few weeks which make many Liberians nervous. Repercussions from the financial crisis continue to be felt on camp, making everybody nervous, just as we are here. However, Christmas was a pretty happy time on camp and the New Year holds optimism for Buduburam and Liberia.

I have come up with a winter menu of Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Mrs. Davison’s chocolate chip, snowflake sugar cookies, gingersnaps, chocolate dipped espresso cookies and Chocolate and Vanilla Marble cookies (a new order form is up further down on the blog). They continue to all be made with fair trade chocolate and sugar. I’ll be back in Kingston on Monday and will be selling cookies only from there… If there is anybody interested in attempting to do a small scale version of this cookie thing in Kitchener-Waterloo (or anywhere for that matter) let me know with an email - I’d love the help!

All in all, let’s keep this going... Order and re-order cookies, tell your friends, and keep me and the Liberians in mind. I can always use new ideas for expanding, so if you have them please don’t hesitate.

Thank you all again, this has been unbelievable so far.