Linda Farm - A special project after the fact.....

“POST” VOLUNTEER PROJECT

As Aaron and I were winding up our International Volunteer Headquarters (IVHQ) Livingstone, Zambia volunteer stint, we both enjoyed a strong connection to our assignments, and in Aaron's case, a real desire to "make a meaningful difference" that he could be sure had a beginning and a long-lasting outcome. To that end, the Francine Perry Painting Project was born at Linda Farm.  Francine Gilman Perry is Aaron's younger and only sister. She was 54 when she died earlier this year after 2 1/2 years battling cancer.

SOME BACKGROUND ON LINDA FARM:

The farm has 12 houses which are not well maintained with lots of cracks and leaking roofs. Some accounts suggest the houses have not been updated for 35-40 years! The main activity on the farm is vegetable farming and poultry on a small scale. Blind and handicapped people each have a portion of garden in which they grow vegetables for selling in order to sustain and support their families. The gardens are surrounded by a small stream where they fetch water using buckets or other containers to water the vegetables. This is very challenging for these people. There are approximately 90 people living at the farm, among which, 60 are children. Aaron's volunteer project with IVHQ, was to help finish the brand new preschool built on the premises, for the local children and plant a flower garden around the school and playground. The new school building, perhaps, highlighted the state of disrepair of the Linda Farm homes in comparison.  

"BEFORE" PROJECT PICS----------

 

 

THE FRANCINE PERRY PAINTING PROJECT:

Due to the above problem with houses, a painting project started in November 2014. We wanted to fund a meaningful project for the Community to repair and paint their houses in memory of Aaron's sister. The idea of a housing related project has particular significance to us as both Francine's husband, Hap and brother, Stuart are in the construction/trades business, Francine's daughter, Sydney is a new preschool teacher and Francine, had a flair for home decor. She would be very happy to have the Linda Farm homes look as nice and "fresh" as the new preschool and its' flowerbed surroundings, thus giving the Community residents' a real sense of pride.

Dream Livingstone Zambia, a local non-profit and IVHQ's partner, contributed to our financial contribution to make the Francine painting project a reality for Linda Farm. Rabeccah and Kennedy, our sponsors at Dream Livingstone, also supervised and monitored the work until the project is done. The project was completed in approximately 3 weeks, with a combination of volunteers and Linda Farm community residents participating in the effort. 

WORK IN PROGRESS:  

 

 

 "FINISHED" PROJECT PICS: 

 

We encourage volunteers to look for meaningful, sustainable “post volunteer” opportunities that benefit their projects' recipients. This could be a memorial as in our case, an honorarium, a dedication or “just because”. It's not everyone who can create a legacy (modest in our case), in another part of the world! We hope to do it again when it makes sense. We have since learned of additional funding through our volunteer sponsor, IVHQ, via Booster Grants as well as other GoFundMe options that could complement fundraising for similar or larger projects. We hope this inspires others to consider local volunteer projects in their own way. 

UPDATE: This video clip (4 minutes) was made shortly after we left Zambia. It's a great overview of what some of the volunteer projects are like and gives you a sense of Livingstone, Zambia. Click on "PLAY VIDEO," then click again on the "arrow" in middle of screen. Check it out! IVHQ in Zambia 

Final stretch, Seventh week - Cape town and the Garden Route

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Check out a few of our videos related to this post on YouTube:

Driving the Garden Route on the "other" side
More Driving footage
Local musicians at Sunday market in Sedgefield
Absailing on Table Mountain


 Well, camp/tour part of trip is over and we have been been "dropped" into Cape Town. Wow, what a difference a days drive makes. The city is big, modern, bustling with people and surrounded by mountains, specifically, Table Mountain. Just beautiful. Our hostel, Once in Cape Town, is a happening place full of younger people, helpful staff and easy access to everything. One sad observation tho, is how many young (20-35ish) people smoke, everywhere and all the time. Oh well.

We start our visit by taking 2 free walking tours, one historical and one, more focused on the local muslim area and its culture. There is so much to learn, appreciate and be aware of in this city. Its come a long, long way, thankfully, yet according to our local guide, a recent editorial in the paper and some personal observation, it still has a way to go. Of course, you can say the same thing about the good ol US of A when it comes to certain diversity issues.

Pics of Table mountain are self explanatory.....looks just like a giant table top. Synagogue was beautiful with a rich history and still vibrant community of approximately 30,000 today.

Parliment and British Dutch
Architectural influence

Bo Kamp is a colorful area, housing mosques, the Muslim community, many who came from Indonesia. Homes were painted to tell of the owner, eg. the blue house at the top of the hill is the doctor, the red house, the tailor etc. Today, the colors bring tourists to the area and visibility to this community.

And then, there was Robben Island, home to Nelson Mandela and other political prisonors for decades. The tour starts with a guided bus ride around the island and then a personal tour of the prison, conducted by a former prisoner, and is as real as it gets. Tho some reviews suggested tour was contrived, we found it believable, incredible and well done. No complaints for boat ride or tours once you arrive. If you are so Inclined, read more here.
Robben Island info

Mandelas cell 

Starting to feel like a "regular" vacation vs traveling about now. We leave Cape Town by car (rental), and drive East to see much of the Garden Route. Aaron tackles driving on the other side of the road, dealing with stick shift on your left and a picky clutch while I navigate. We make a great team the next 700 miles!! Only a few wrong turns, one wrong side of the road and lots of white knuckles! We surprise ourselves at each town with the beautiful rooms we reserved, the fabulous views and great food we are treated to each meal. The internet, Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet for planning don't let us down. As a side note, we actually met one of the authors of the Lonely Planet book on Cape Town that we were using. She was updating the next edition. What a neat job!

Brenton on the Sea, near Knysna, the furtherest point on Garden Route for us, on the Indian Ocean. The Heads, East and West cliffs are supposedly one of the most dangerous harbors to navigate due to rocks, depth and width of entrance.

Mossel Bay was next, known for sand beaches, surf, cliff walk and great seafood. Another, probably our best,  room with a view.

Finally, Hermanus, known for one of few places in world you can see whales from land. And we did! Drove the scenic coastal way back to Cape Town before rush hour to drop off car. We were happy to walk our final days, including a few miles down from Table Mountain,  after a cable car ride up, walk around and ride down. A couple absailed (rock climbing) down about 340 feet. Crazy rush just watching!

Our last day, we were happy to stay on our feet, out of the car. We lucked out with a perfect day to take the cable car up and down Table Mountain. Winds and cloud cover kept it closed over the weekend, so lucky us! Had nice walk along the top, watched absailers (rock climbing and descenting using ropes) and caught a rush just watching! Walked a few miles back to town before lunch at our favorite local spot and taking our taxi to airport.

Table Mt. - we were first in line for 8am cable. The
clouds seemed to part for a fabulous visit!

Then, home it is. 10 our layover in London again. Thank you United and Chase credit card partnership, for use of the United club, its showers and conveniences all day. Well, this is the End of this blog. Hope you have enjoyed as much as we have liked writing? We are open to feedback and suggestions for improvement before our next trip. Will work on email link alternative! Asia, we look forward to returning..... January 2015!  Until then, see some of you back in the USA.

Susan and Aaron

Sixth week - The best of the rest of Namibia and South Africa

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Driving 4 x 4 to Sossusvlei in Namib desert


After Swakopmund, which I like to call Truman Town,"  we continued in the truck toward the Namib desert. After setting up our tents in Sesriem, during our first mild sand storm, and waiting to cook until the winds died down, we were treated to a beautiful starry night and cool sleep.Woke at 4am, in another sand storm, to take down our tents and drive to get to the sand dunes in time for sunrise. We, along with other tourists, scrambled, well, more like walked, up the ridge of the red sand dunes against raging winds.....or so it felt against our legs. We made it to the top and you tell me, isn't this a pretty site worth getting up early for?

Slid, walked down the dunes to meet our truck and have breakfast. Kirsty, one of the gals from New Zealand,  took great shots of our descent.  And yes, Patti, a little bit of the Namib is coming your way!

Our time in the desert stretched the rest of the day to include a walk in what is called the DeadVlei  (prounced flay), in a place called Sossusvlei. A dead vlei is basically a section of what was once riverbed, that over the years, the dunes shift and close in on both sides, stopping any water from getting through and killing off whatever was in the "live" vlei. Looks sorta like a Harry Potter death valley stage set to me! A bit more walking and then we travelled by 4 x 4 open jeep to return to our truck and drive the rest of what was already a very long, hot day starting at 4am. It isn't a surprise that Aaron and I chose to upgrade for 16 US dollars and sleep in a little cabin, no tent set up, and 2 beds. Ahhhhhhh, what a good feeling after showering off the sand! Bed came with pillow and a towel! A novelty when camping.

Today, still no wifi but a lovely campsite in Fish River Canyon, one of the largest canyons in the world. Dont know how it compares to the Grand Canyon yet, but after our sunset walk, I will have a better idea. Until then, some of us read, hung out by the pool, did a bit of laundry or nap. Yep, the latter would be Aaron. This canyon is allegedly, second in size to the Grand Canyon. Perhaps in total volume, but it seemed a lot smaller to me.

One surprise "guest" joined us as we rolled up our tents in the morning. A fairly good sized scorpion decided to spend the night under one of the travelers tents....thankfully, not ours!

Trip with our group is winding down. After tonight, only 2 more nights before ending in Cape Town, where Aaron and I will travel on our own, before heading home. A few personalities are showing strain, anxiety for what is next, or weariness which is not a surprise. The youngest gal on our trip, Lauren, will be ending a 60 day odyssey,  without one upgrade! To be 23 years young!?  The oldest of our gang, Mari, continues to keep an amazing pace at 64, with 2 hip replacements in the past 5 -7 years! She climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro just a few weeks before joining us. An inspiration for all!

Onward to Orange River, a beautiful drive past vast grape farms full of green grape vines, with the Orange River cutting through Namibia and South Africa. Along the way, we could see the straw and stick homes of the workers. Our leader guesses 6-8 people live in each shack and reminded us how cold it gets off season in these simple accomodations. A few of our fellow travelers went canoeing and actually stopped on the South Africa side without passport or customs! That's how close we were. We opted for the pool with a view of S. Africa. Quite a contrast to the grape pickers digs, I know.

Looking into S. Africa across the river from our pool

Our final stop on the tour and last night of camping was in West Cape, South Africa along the Oliphante River (Elephant River). We stayed at a lovely vineyard where we set up camp, some, like me, attended a wine tasting, and then we were treated to a "home cooked" meal by the staff. The owner used to run overland tours like ours, with Intrepid, before settling down and buying this place.

Mari and I try our 3rd of 6 tastings before dinner

Last day was a long drive to Cape Town and the truck's final destination where the trip ends. We say goodbye to our travel mates, the Intrpid team (leader, driver and cook), check in to the hostel, and begin exploring this very pretty city, mountains, ocean, history, architecture and all.

A BIG THANKS to Simon, our cook, Ingway, our leader and John, our driver

A great adventure with Intrepid and now a week to ourselves before returning home. One more post of Cape Town and the Garden Route (east) should do the trick!