Jesse here.
I arrived a few hours ago. Travel was long, but had very few bumps. I just checked into a room. Andy is out trying to arrange transport with our good friend Fama. I'm really excited to see Fama! Time to get some shwarma and a Flag!
-- go gently.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Goodbye USA
Jesse here!
Andy and his crew have successfully left the country and are en route to Dakar as I type. I arrived in Queens, NY last night and stayed with my good friend Steven Ropers. Thanks Steven! Andy dropped off my bike with Steven. It is in a bike box and in just a few minutes I'll be carrying it on the subway during rush-hour! Good times.
I'll leaving from JFK this evening on my way to Brussels and on to Dakar!
-- jesse
Andy and his crew have successfully left the country and are en route to Dakar as I type. I arrived in Queens, NY last night and stayed with my good friend Steven Ropers. Thanks Steven! Andy dropped off my bike with Steven. It is in a bike box and in just a few minutes I'll be carrying it on the subway during rush-hour! Good times.
I'll leaving from JFK this evening on my way to Brussels and on to Dakar!
-- jesse
Friday, June 26, 2009
Getting Ready To Go
Hi Everyone, Andy here.
For the last few weeks, an especially the last few days, we have been gathering all we need for the trip. As anal as I am sometimes, I have my packing list from the 2007 trip. Needless to say, the 2007 list I made was very, very detailed (it accounts for numbers of each type of battery, etc). All of the things for this trip are now laid out on my living room floor. This includes the 5 bikes, in boxes, donated to us by R Community Bikes, here in Rochester.
Our original plan was to drive the luggage, bikes and ourselves to NYC, get on a plane and leave our car with a friend. However, I very much understand how leaving a car in NYC with a friend is actually not a nice thing to do to a friend. So we're renting a car to move the bikes and drop off at the airport.
I do want our supporters to know, that there are a lot of these types of expenses that the Netlife Team members cover. Chystal's vaccinations, for example, cost her about $500. Our bikes were donated, so thankfully that was free. But we bought tool kits, helmets, extra tubes, saddle bags, pumps, etc, with our own funds. Technically, we will keep these receipts and have them as tax-deductible donations to Netlife. I write this, because I want our friends out there to know that we're in this too. Our volunteers have and will give up so much time and effort to help distribute these nets. They've bought their own plane tickets.
We do this, because we believe in responsible, efficient outreach work. When I get a letter from E. H. Miller (the 2nd grader who donated his paper route tip money), I want him to know that his donation buys mosquito nets and gets them to where they need to be, not paying for my plane ticket or a back up bike tube.
Ok, sorry for the rambling. Tomorrow we are off.
Anticipated challenges:
1. Getting from the Dakar airport (my least favorite place in Senegal) to the hotel with 5 bikes
2. Working a smooth transition from nets on a shipping freighter to trucks going to Kedougou
3. Travelling with African newbies on our team - I will be explaining and translating a lot.
4. It is crazy hot there, even crazier hot when we travel accross the country
For the last few weeks, an especially the last few days, we have been gathering all we need for the trip. As anal as I am sometimes, I have my packing list from the 2007 trip. Needless to say, the 2007 list I made was very, very detailed (it accounts for numbers of each type of battery, etc). All of the things for this trip are now laid out on my living room floor. This includes the 5 bikes, in boxes, donated to us by R Community Bikes, here in Rochester.
Our original plan was to drive the luggage, bikes and ourselves to NYC, get on a plane and leave our car with a friend. However, I very much understand how leaving a car in NYC with a friend is actually not a nice thing to do to a friend. So we're renting a car to move the bikes and drop off at the airport.
I do want our supporters to know, that there are a lot of these types of expenses that the Netlife Team members cover. Chystal's vaccinations, for example, cost her about $500. Our bikes were donated, so thankfully that was free. But we bought tool kits, helmets, extra tubes, saddle bags, pumps, etc, with our own funds. Technically, we will keep these receipts and have them as tax-deductible donations to Netlife. I write this, because I want our friends out there to know that we're in this too. Our volunteers have and will give up so much time and effort to help distribute these nets. They've bought their own plane tickets.
We do this, because we believe in responsible, efficient outreach work. When I get a letter from E. H. Miller (the 2nd grader who donated his paper route tip money), I want him to know that his donation buys mosquito nets and gets them to where they need to be, not paying for my plane ticket or a back up bike tube.
Ok, sorry for the rambling. Tomorrow we are off.
Anticipated challenges:
1. Getting from the Dakar airport (my least favorite place in Senegal) to the hotel with 5 bikes
2. Working a smooth transition from nets on a shipping freighter to trucks going to Kedougou
3. Travelling with African newbies on our team - I will be explaining and translating a lot.
4. It is crazy hot there, even crazier hot when we travel accross the country
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
