Red Barnet Ungdom Blogs

Nobody expected -well, at least I didn’t- that easter in aalborg was so sunny, as we thought that Spring in danish was just an imported concept.

But just when the sun begun to shine and the weather become to allow us to live in the street and be in an -even- better mood, it come the time to cometravel to Kenya. As we started to write the first lines of the project way back in October, the possibility of going to Africa seemed a somehow exotic hope in the future, but without noticing the end of April suddenly approached, and we were in the last day of preparations, running up and down to set everything for the travel, buying pills for Malaria and wondering what the next days would bring.

Day 1: Going down.

Monday begun in sunny but empty Aalborg. First breakfast with Malarone. After taking a bus we were in the airport ready to take our plane. The luggage was not as heavy as it could be, as we were expecting a really welcoming weather and to have room to bring back some Kenyan souvenirs. After taking our first plane, an hour and a half later we landed in Amsterdam, the capital of Netherlands, well known by their channels and hospitable architecture, and also for some souvenirs they sell to really happy tourists from everywere in the world. As we have 4 hours remaining in order to take the next plane to Nairobi, we decided to go down to the center for a city walk. Our first impression was that the city streets were incredibly active, we were definitely not used to so many people coming up and down the street. There were people sitting everywere, and as the weather was nice, many people had their house opened and were having dinner in their doors. Channels were bursting with people laying at the sun in their boats. We had lunch there and then just time for a walk and some photos, -we didn’t smoke any cigarrete and we just ate healthy food- and then back to the airport-controls-queues and then long distance flight. This first stop become a shiny but fleeting remembrance in a few hours.

Day 2: Mambo.

Karibu would have been a more appropriate title for our first day in Kenya, but as we are writing this two days after, we have learnt that karibu (welcome), jambo (hello) and asante (thanks) are the three swahili words that every tourist try to say while in Kenya. But between Kenyans, they greet themselves with mambo (at least that is what we have been told). And as we want to be cool swahili speakers, we just use the local form. The plane arrived in Nairobi, and three hours later we were then heading to Mombasa. The eastern coast of Kenya welcomed us with a grey cloudy sky, so from the plane we were still wondering if we somehow had travelled back to London. But before landing, the humidity reminded us that we were almost in the equator. After reaching the hotel, we went to have lunch and a small walk through the beach. As we walked throught the beach, many people started approaching offering fruits, bracelets and many other typical goods from Kenya, so we realized that, even thought we come here to develop a project, we were still seen as tourists.

And as we didn’t wanted to be the tourists that come from Europe to do a Safari, this afternoon, as we had to go to the supermarket, we decided to begin a little inmersion in Mombasa culture. We took the very local mean of transport, the Matatu. The matatu is like a public bus in Denmark, the only differences are that it is not a bus but a van full of people and with Bob Marley’s music in the background. And of course it is cheaper than in Denmark. After buying all the materials we needed, we came back to the hotel to try to eat something. The first day in a so different country is always really exhausting, as you always try to “save” everything into your mind, looking to every building, new ladscape and new people. As as Kenyan are naturally really hospitable people, you cannot feel but a little overwhelmed by so many interactions.

The flight to Nairobi was unexpectedly light and bearable, even short (or so it seemed since we managed to get some sleep). Luckily we were alone on the 3-seat row so I could stretch my legs a little to reduce the pain in my knees after a 4 hour walk in the colourful, cultural and vivacious Amsterdam – a perfect stop in between flights. Unfortunately, the small tv-screens on our row didn’t work properly so no movies this time, although we could enjoy some good old jazz and rock

At 6:35 am, Nairobi appeared friendly. though a bit moody, because of the clouded heavy sky. It seemed tropical rain was just around the corner but in the end we were left with only a few drops. Air humidity, however, struck me.

Afer receiving a very uncommon boarding blue card, on top of our boarding pass, we spent two very long hours at the gate. Then, to Mombasa we happily went!

One hour later, karibu (welcome) Msa! A nice taxi guy awaited us and together with him some other chaps hoping for some British pounds. Too bad we were Romanian & Spanish, so we could provide none.

The first image of Mombasa for me were the outskirts encountered on the road from the airport to the hotel: dusty streets, derelict buildings, vivid traffic, people on both sides of the road, sitting, moving, working, staring or just selling things. Also, I could easily notice the religious and cultural differences of the area , as there are christian churches on the same road with mosques just about everywhere.

Arriving at the hotel, we were pleased to find everything as expected and much more, as the Indian Ocean sandy beach is near and the people around are very friendly and welcoming. Almost too friendly, I’d say:) Instead of resting after travelling we decided to give a stroll on the beach, so many people approached us trying to selling us hand-made stuff or offering us a safari experience, as they supposed we were tourists.

Also, first day, first typical Kenyan experience: taking the matatu to the closest supermarket, Nakumatt, to buy water and an internet modem. Matatu is a minivan used by Kenyans as a means of local transportation, very cheap and very creative: loud music, fast driving (oh, you should see the local traffic! Besides the British left-side style, it´s crazy but nontheless safe, as everybody´s used to it) and knocking two times on the car top whenever people have to get off.

Mener du også, du kunne blive bedre og hurtigere til at finde rundt i dine emails – gamle som nye.
Så bør du læse videre her! Hvilken søgemaskine bruger du ofte?

• Google
• Bing
• Eller en anden.

De fleste af os vil nok svare Google – og det er ikke tilfældigt. For det google er så gode til, er netop at tilbyde os søgeresultater vi kan bruge til noget, også selvom vi ikke altid lige søger helt præcist. og den muligheden har de også ført med over i deres mailsystem. Det system vi bruger. Den tillader at vi søger i vores mail. Vi ved at når vi taster et søgeord, søger den i hele mailen: afsender, emnefelt og i teksten i mailen. Men få af os ved, og er gode nok til at specificere vores søgning, så vi får en mere begrænset søgning. Og som kan hjælpe os til hurtigere at finde, det vi søger.

Nedenfor er nogle gode fif til, hvordan du kun søger efter “ikke læste”, “stjernet email, eller endnu mere specifikt

Søg kun efter “ikke læste” søg med is:unread
Søg kun efter “stjerne markerede mails” søg med is:starred
Søg kun efter “e-mail sendt til en emailliste” søg med to:mail@redbarnetungdom.dk
Søg kun efter noget i “emne feltet” søg med subjet:hvad du søger efter

Søg kun efter “e-mails med en vedhæftet fil” søg med has:attachment
Søg efter en “e-mail med en fil vedhæftet med filnavn eller type” søg med filename: ord i filnavnet

Du kan fx. søge efter et referat. filename:referat doc – Du søger med dette efter et filnavn hvor ordet referat indgår, eller filen er en doc fil.

Ønsker du at se den fulde liste over, hvilke “søgekald” du kan benytte til at præcisere din søgning. Så se mere på google egen liste i linket nedenfor.

Se den fulde liste

Finally after two long week was I on the way back to Jordan a country I left two weeks earlier after spending five months as a youth leader at our Jordanian partner. Jordan quickly became home to me so I have been so excited about going back. I am especially excited to work with the Jordanian group under different conditions than I have been used to. It is no secret that my work as a youth leader was difficult most of the time, as I did not feel the group in Jordan was developing or moving as much as I hoped. So I left Jordan with a felling that this project identification seminar would be very important for our future cooperation and if we were able to keep the two groups together. Luckily things turned out great. Before we arrived the groups in both Jordan and Denmark had been working hard to prepare for the seminar. The Jordanian group surprised me with their dedication and extremely hard work up to our visit. I got several e-mail every day with questions and updates on the progress. So I had high expectations while at the same time being prepared to face some of the same problems I experienced during my youth leader.

Maren and I left Denmark the 15 of April the same day, which the ashes from the volcano moved closer to Denmark and eventually closed the airports. We got out in time and after a long day with transit in Istanbul we finally arrive in Amman. The second day in Amman was also the first workday and I who have become custom to Jordanians knew that everything works in Jordanian time. Again did the Jordanians surprise me when Aya, the Jordanian youth leader, call me 20 minutes to ten asking if I was on the way because everybody was present up and waiting for me. The first day was amazing everybody was working hard, participating full of ideas and open towards all the new people and suggestions. The Jordan group had found three new members who turned out to be the most wonderful hard working girls. I am so impressed by them and how they naturally became a part of not only the Jordan group but also our big group consisting of both Jordanians and Danes. We quickly made progress the first day as everybody came prepared and with knowledge about our two ideas. It became apparent that all of us agreed on a project idea, namely to open a homework café in Amman. We talked about the target group, where to implement the idea etc. We really accomplished a lot the first day much more than expected and we were all happy and exhausted after the first day.

The third day we worked in WE Center and it was nice to be back in the small office where I had spend many hours working. Again we had a very productive day where we made the longest plan of action we ever made. We also made a couple of SWOT analysis, brainstormed on the next steps and the next application and agreed on the tools and skills needed in order for us to implement the project in Jordan. We discovered in the Danish group that it is productive that we lean back some times and let the Jordanian who in the end are the once who will implement the project talk without our interference. A lot of crazy and very good thoughts were created and we gained a lot from talking and dreaming big. The day ended with a visit to City Mall the closes thing to Europe you can get in Jordan.

Fourth day was rough, everybody was tired and the energy level was at the lowest point so far. We still had a lot of work to do but we were also all of us happy for all the work we had done so far which was really more than expected. We started working on our project description, which was difficult when ten people are coming up with ways to write it down. The Jordanian group had arranged a field trip where we would visit a potential partner for the project in an area in East Amman. East Amman is the area we have chosen to focus on as this area in general is poor and people can not afford any extra help for their children. We arrive in this neighbourhood that turned out to be a refugee camp. The Jordanians felt very uncomfortable and we Danes were talking about the area being too rough for them to implement the project in. The organisation turned out to be an UN organisation, which worked with disabled children. The meeting was difficult as the lady only spoke Arabic and us Danes was left out. But the things they did translate concerned us much and we were prepared for along battle with the Jordanian group afterward to convince them that this was the wrong partner for us. The lady told the group that they had to chose between working with orphans or disabled children and let her know within a couple of days. We felt that the group were pressured into something that was too much for them. But it turned out that the Jordanians had become so overwhelmed that they did not control the situation and it that way was taken over by this lady. They luckily agreed with us and we used the visit as a good learning experience especially as practice for the meeting the next day.

The last day of the seminar was hectic. Maren and I realised that the airports in Denmark were still closed. We therefore had to skip a meeting with Save the Children Jordan to call Turkish Airlines, Gauda etc. But we had Kristian as the Danish representative so we were completely safe in this situation. We solved out our practical stuff while the others visited the organisation and solved out some of their internal problem. So when Maren and I meet the group again they had a new project leader Aya, which we were very happy for. The last day was strange, as we all knew this was the end. We were tired but everybody agreed that is has been a great seminar and how amazing it had been to be around so many wonderful people.

For me personally it was amazing to finally see a Jordanian group functioning and taking responsibility. In many ways this is what I have worked so hard for during my five months without achieving what I wanted. But the group had worked hard to prepare for the seminar; they turned up well prepared and came on time for the first time while I worked with them. I was so proud of all them and so impressed by the new members who participated as they had been in the project from the beginning. I have returned home with a feeling that this project will be amazing and that out two groups finally overcome all the problems we faced before.

Så er der kun 10 dage, til Maren og Caterina fra Jordan-gruppen tager på forundersøgelse til Amman… Alle arbejder hårdt på de sidste forberedelser, og vi tror alle på et super godt resultat, som uden tvivl vil føre til et fantastisk projekt:-)