I had a longstanding wish to go to Africa, and the time was right when I met Sandy in Kingston, ON, at a fundraising event for her humanitarian projects in Kenya.

      My first introduction to Kenya was to see the extreme poverty in that country, and a lifestyle of probably two centuries past…..was on the road to Kitale; an OH MY GOD, said it so well. To say poverty in Canada cannot match this level of despair. As most of our projects were in the rural areas, the picture of poverty was an ongoing experience and a very profound one. As a nurse, I must say our health clinics were indeed an amazing event of planning and production. To see 2000 people (with minimal or no access to healthcare) in total does say it all…and then include the physical and emotional exhaustion with the completion of four clinics.

      I can still feel the sense of comradeship that developed within this quite diverse group of talented and compassionate people on our team!!!

      AND one cannot go to Africa without an encounter with the animals…baby elephants and the “big five” were a much needed release after the “strain” of being in the “underbelly of Kenya” (from a book I read). All in all, a life-altering experience for me….this wee farm girl from the Ottawa valley.

     Jane Sinclair