My departure for Kenya (and whatever else I find) – Keith Ives
I’m sitting in what is as close to home as I get: A friends house in the woods of North Georgia a few yards away from the Bartram Trail. In the late 1700’s William Bartram set off to explore the southern colonies. He documented his travels & is known as one of the earliest naturalists and historians in America. Growing up in this area I have hiked and explored most of the same trails, mountains, and forests they he wrote about.
Bartram is said to have fallen in love with travel and nature at an early age. Trips with his father, the Royal Botanist, opened his eyes. In his thirties, he left his home (what would be Philadelphia) and began his exploration of the south. He learned and wrote about the Cherokee, nature, and mans’ relationship to our earth in a way that probably didn’t agree with society at the time or his Quaker beliefs.
Much like Bartram I am taking off for an adventure and exploration of my own. I won’t be exploring Appalachia on horseback, but I hope to find experiences as impressionable on me as nature was on him. This past fall I began to sell everything that I owned and prepare to pursue my passion: poverty.
A few years ago I was exposed to the images, faces, and facts of extreme poverty. Since then the burden of social injustice has pulled at my heart. I have read, studied, listened to lectures, followed documentaries, volunteered, taken short-term trips, and advocated around the issues of poverty. I am confident that extreme poverty is the greatest threat to domestic security & basic human rights around the world. That being said, the greatest thing that I can see myself doing now is joining the fight against poverty.
On Friday I fly out of Atlanta to begin my life in Africa. I will be living and volunteering in Nairobi, Kenya to support the work of The 1010 Project & the communities they partner with. This hasn’t been an easy or quick decision, but I know that it is the right one. It is not just about social justice either. It is about me. It is about living a life of passion and purpose. It’s about chasing dreams, embracing adventure, and pushing past fear and doubt. It is about the things that so many of you have taught or instilled in me.
As I leave all of you an on my mind, & I ask that over the next few months you keep me in mind. There is a list of ways for you to support & encourage me HERE.
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Shelter Box Update
ShelterBox has also worked with the women’s charity V-Day in providing 40 ShelterBoxes to vulnerable women in Port au Prince. In addition, 50 ShelterBoxes have been given to the French association, Enfants de la Rue, to help house children caught up in the quake.
Meanwhile the aid operation from the UK continues. Another 1,800 ShelterBoxes are set to be flown from Stansted Airport, London to Santa Domingo, the Dominican Republic, on Friday, where they will be transported overland to Port au Prince. It will bring the total number of ShelterBoxes deployed in Haiti to more than 7,000 boxes, providing emergency shelter to more than 70,000 people.
ShelterBox Founder and CEO, Tom Henderson, added: ‘None of this would have been possible without the fantastic fundraising efforts from ShelterBox supporters around the world. The need is huge but the response is matching it.
'I know our supporters will keep on going, keep on fundraising and keep on helping us make a difference.’
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