Greetings fellow earth dwellers!

So, why blog?

Well, as of Monday, January 11, 2010 I decided to join the exciting world of expats and venture away from the safe cocoon of my hometown, Dallas, TX, to seek adventure in Nairobi, Kenya and I figured this was the best way to keep all of my stateside buddies up to date on my African escapades.

What on earth possessed you to move to Africa of all places?

I have been to Africa twice in as many years. For the past two summers I have spent a week volunteering at Camp LIFE, a camp for AIDS orphans in Lusaka, Zambia, and this past summer I also toured Rwandan genocide sites as part of a human rights course. In addition to my coursework and volunteering, I did take some time out to go on a photo safari in Botswana, discover the beauty of Victoria Falls, and do something every little girl dreams of: riding elephants in Zimbabwe. Ok, well maybe that wasn't the exact dream, but point being, I wanted to see the natural beauty of the continent as well as help those less fortunate than myself and learn about one of the worst genocides from my lifetime. After experiencing Africa from this perspective, I truly feel like there is still so much more that can be done to help the people of this struggling continent.

What's the plan?

While in Rwanda I learned more about ALARM, African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries, an organization that is doing amazing things for the African people. ALARM operates in eight countries including Kenya, Sudan, Rwanda, Zambia, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda to bring hope and transformation to the communities of African pastors and other leaders. ALARM offers a wide array of ministries including Women's Leadership Training Institute and a Youth Advocacy Program. You can learn more at alarm-inc.org/about/ministries. I will join ALARM staff sometime around the end of February in Kenya in a communications/resource mobilization role.

I hope you will join me in my journey as I move almost 9,000 miles from home to a new country, a new continent, and a new life.