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Diane's Kenyan Adventures

Diane (ACCA)
Yellow House, Kenya

Only a short time now (48 hours to be precise) until I head off to Kenya to work with the Yellow House Children’s Charity based near Kisumu, and I hope that at least some of you will enjoy my blog and even inspired to undertake an assignment of your own in the future. Accounting for International Development (AfID) are always looking for new volunteers!
 
I first became interested in the work of AfID after reading an article in Economia and immediately thought this is something I could do in retirement as it would enable me to do some voluntary work in a fixed block of time and work/travel overseas. I have always undertaken voluntary work of some kind throughout my life but the retirement plans did not really bode well for a regular commitment.
 
I stopped work in mid 2015 and after an initial sailing trip, booked to attend an AfID introduction day which I found helpful and very informative. I subsequently identified a potential gap in the diary for November and approached AfiD to see whether they could match my skills to a charity. I was delighted to be offered a choice of assignments in different parts of the world but decided that the Yellow House Children’s Charity ticked all my boxes.
 
As I start to tick off the items on my packing list and publish my blog it is all starting to feel very real. Tickets, visa, passport, camera, head torch (for power cuts), binoculars, kindle, crossword book, meds, dark chocolate and Earl Grey tea. The latter is apparently ridiculously expensive in Kenya and a favourite of my hostess.
 
I was also somewhat alarmed to read that I may potentially be one of the oldest people in the locality as the average life expectancy in Kenya is 55!

I plan to update my blog on a regular basis during my four week trip and let you know how it is going. I am also hoping to do a little bit of sight seeing so the potential for some photographs too!
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