DECISIONS...Decisions...decisions

Here are some thoughts I have had as of late about putting this together.

• We have a price quote on land, just under $4000/acre. There are 5 acres that are in close proximity to Hopewell and a nice and safe positioning for a guest house. Total cost than just for land is just under $20,000 USD. 5 acres, assuming it is a square piece of land...however that is very unlikely...but for this case lets go with a square piece of land that is 466.7' on all four sides. Our drawing with fences is 120' x 140'. That leaves a lot of extra space for growth.
• Here is a question out there for you: What makes a quality community? When we bring more clean water to this area of Barut will more people come? What if we brought more jobs would more people come? What if we brought high quality and reasonably priced food would more people come? When we use the money to invest in the area by adding more clean water, more food, more jobs, micro-loans, etc...will people trust more than they question? As we add jobs, improve the community, and the Hopewellian students are investing their time to learn these skills and taking these job skills, experiences, and work ethics to other parts of the country/world? What about education? With an increase in international visitors...how fast can the Hopewell school infrastructure grow? Can we get a full school building with a school farm, computer labs with internet, Jr Academy with age appropriate toys, games, and experiences, a technical school for high school graduates that are not going university where students can learn trade skills, a high school job program to help students pull their families out of poverty while learning life skills?
• How do we pull in more international travelers with an emphasis on charity and volunteering while highlighting the natural beauties of the Kenyan lands and the Kenyan people? This week I will be making a list of travel magazines, websites, and blogs. In addition to this we are going to need to find a huge group of travelers for this coming summer...wouldnt it be sweet to see IV-Hopewell open up and be booked for the entire months of June and July and parts of August? Lets say 100 people stay at IV-Hopewell during the first few months. Now take those 100 and their positive experiences and multiply it...what can happen next?
• My vision still is to have International Villages across the world. People can rest assured their money from their stay supports locals through jobs, charity, infrastructure, and promoting more international exposure...all while saving money from traditional hotel stays and tour brookers. How about the beach in Unawatuna Sri Lanka? Ravished by civil war, tsunami, and poverty...the people of Sri Lanka are amazing. Can you see it WTW's IV-Unawatuna.

Dear friends...we can do this...think big, pull it all together and lets change the world!

What would the "Trip" look like?

With our email list growing I have been fielding some questions in regards to traveling to Africa in the Summer of 2009. While I currently have...um...yes...I have exactly 0...zero answers; I can add some insight with experience from our previous trips.

Caveat: This is all speculation and I cannot make any promises in this regard, this is meant to be a dream building process to get people thinking about challenging their comfort zones to make a difference in another part of the world!



What would we do?

• Fly to Nairobi


• Travel the "one of a kind" African roads


• Game Drive (I highly recommend Masai Mara) Note: Picture to the right is of Shelley and Joanne at Masai Mara on the Kenyan/Tanzanian border.


• Visit and volunteer at Hopewell Jr. Academy. Note: Picture on the left is a picture of the Hopewell Jr Academy...think pre-school.
• Eat lots of interesting food!
• Meet lots of great people!
• Celebrate the grand opening of WTW's International Village-Hopewell, and hopefully be the first guests during our stay.

How long would we stay?

• Probably anywhere from 10-17 days; remember travel to and from takes a "few" hours :)!
• There is at least one person who is considering staying a longer time ie. from Mid-June through the end of July/early August.

What would we need to do to make this happen for ourselves?

• First, you have to have a dream and align this with your priorities. Most people never make a decision to go...you are elite!
• Next, make a decision, make a commitment, and just do it!
• Passport...if you don't have a valid passport you will need one...head over to the Post Office today and get an application...what's it going to hurt?
• Shots! Close your eyes, grin, and bear it! Really, they are not that bad. Everyone will need to call the travel clinic and schedule the shots they need to travel safely.
• Money...everyone knew this is coming...and for those couples out there, get out your calculators because you will need to do some multiplying. Some guesses would be about $2000 for airfare and probably another $1000 for everything else. Now this is just a guess...so please don't hold me to it. These costs may rise and they may fall depending on everything that is going on.
• Participate...get active! You know, read your email, check the blog, comment on it...attend fundraisers, take some responsibility, etc. You can do it!

That's all I can do for now...Ill post more later.