Priory St, Ware, Hertfordshire
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Journey to Tranquility
Helping you find Health & Happiness
My Blog
Blog
Getting Down With The Kids!
Posted on 29 May, 2013 at 8:32 |
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Farewell To CRI Hertford
Posted on 20 February, 2013 at 15:32 |
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For the last few years it has been a pleasure to give voluntary treatments to clients of CRI (Crime Reduction Initiative) drug & alcohol rehabilitation centre in Hertford. The clients were able to relax and find their own inner stillness in quite a profound way through Aromatherapy massage, Reiki and seated massage. Many of them found that the benefit lasted for several days afterwards, which all helps with chosing a healthier way to live. Addiction always has an emotional root cause.. the challenge is to uncover the cause and be able to move on from it. In a few cases, I was also able to do Journey work; which allowed one client to let go of the huge guilt and grief felt for the loss of a friend. This person was finally able to forgive themself for something which was not their fault, but which they had taken on responsibility for. It is so rewarding to see someone put down a huge burden they have been carrying around for so long. Sadly, I have now ended my service with CRI, as there are new opportunities I would like to pursue. I would like to say thanks to all of the staff at the centre who made me so welcome and supported my time there. |
Fund Raising For Hill Breeze
Posted on 25 January, 2012 at 13:10 |
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Several months have gone by since I was in Kenya, the school staff still keep in touch with me to let me know how things are going and the children still play the games I taught them! When I was there, many friends asked how they could help with this project, and now I have some facts and figures to offer as suggestions. There are currently four teachers serving at the school, with no guaranteed income other than the donations of well-wishers to back them up. They also have plans for a number of self-sustainability projects for which they will be fund raising. Without the service of qualified teachers, the school cannot continue, so their first priority is to look for a donor or number of donors willing to offer to sustain one teacher's salary for a year. For example, the teacher/ director's salary would be 15,000 Kenyan Shillings (KSH) or £112 per month. If five people pledged £22 per month, this would guarantee that the role of managing and giving direction to the school could be fulfilled. If this is something you feel you would like to contribute towards, I would love to hear from you, please do get in touch with me. I already have a generous donation of £100 which I am going to match, and I am setting up a system of feedback with the school, so that they can let me know each month what work the school has carried out, and provide some photographs and paperwork to record who has received the funding. International funds transfer means that the salary payments can be sent directly to the teacher's mobile phone with confirmation of receipt. You can mail me on: [email protected] or call on: +44 1920 413764 Thank you for taking the time to read this. I wish you all the best for 2012. |
Thanks to the Staff at Hill Breeze
Posted on 14 November, 2011 at 11:07 |
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Ken Ariri –founder of Hill Breeze Orphan Support School (on the right in the photo with me in it). Ken welcomed me with great enthusiasm to the school, involved me in all activities, introduced me to the local community (and his extended family) and ensured that my visit was both enjoyable and successful. Joseph Ouko – co-founderof Hill Breeze school and teacher at Nyabola Girls Secondary School (on the left in the photo with me in it). Joseph introduced me to the pupils and staff at his school and offered (as an alternative option) his house as my accommodation, which was very kind. Samuel Omoro –Head Teacher (on the left in the second photo). Samuel helped me to settle into the school, and was great company during the evenings when we all shared dinner together. Lorenza Ochieng –volunteer teacher at Hill Breeze (in the middle in the second photo). Lorenza worked really hard; aside from teaching, she prepared delicious meals for Ken, Samuel, herself and myself. She also did my laundry. Non of the staff get a formal salary, they may get a small sum for expenses of 2,000 KSh (£13) if funds allow. They do this work out of the goodness of their heart, and to gain experience until they can find permanent employment. |
Farewell Hill Breeze
Posted on 14 November, 2011 at 10:56 |
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Lake Victoria
Posted on 14 November, 2011 at 10:53 |
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I also visited Lake Victoria one weekend with Ken and we took two of the school children as a special treat. The lake is so large that you cannot see the other side so it looks just like a sea. We soon attracted a band of local children who were obviously unused to having many white visitors, providing a new source of entertainment for them. Many of Ken’s extended family live in this area and again I recieved a very warm welcome from everyone. We spent a very entertaining evening dancing to traditional African music, the sight of a western lady willing to get up and dance alongside them caused much amusement! I witnessed first hand the simplicity of a farming community who rely on the land or the Lake for all oftheir resources and sustenance. Many people have quite large pieces of land by European standards, but their lives are hard and entirely dependant on the benevolence of the forces of nature to provide food and produce to sell. Life is based entirely on the priorities for survival; food, shelter, water and clothing. There are no luxuries to be seen in these rural homes. Clothes are worn until they fall apart and furniture is passed down from generation to generation. No self-indulgent consumerism here! With no running water in rural areas, all water for drinking, cooking, washing and bathing has to be brought back from the river unless there is a bore hole on the land. It is a common sight to see ladies carrying heavy containers of water on their heads, and the river may be at least 15 minutes or more distant from their homes. |
Hil Breeze Children at Play
Posted on 14 November, 2011 at 10:43 |
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Watching the children at play was a lesson in simplicity. With no expensive gadgets or toys available to them, a football consisted of a number of plastic bags all wrapped together. A make-shift steering wheel and the imagination of a young boy took him on a drive all around the compound! A bicycle tyre and a stick could be expertly kept uprightand rolled around as yet another play activity. The older children watch out for the younger ones, but they learn to be self-sufficient at a very early age.One little boy of 2.5 years wandered around in his own little world, without any demands for attention from anyone. |
Journey Therapy With The Children
Posted on 14 November, 2011 at 10:32 |
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Teaching At Hill Breeze
Posted on 14 November, 2011 at 10:28 |
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For the first couple of days, I sat in on classes and observed the lessons as an induction into the curriculum. Then I was given my own classes to teach: class 2 SocialStudies, class 3 English and class 4 Science. I am not a teacher by profession, but I have a science background and my life experience has included many public speaking events, plus training and coaching activities; so I found that inspite of my initial nerves, I really enjoyed teaching the classes. It really helped to do lesson planning for the following day to ensure that visual aids and the best means of presenting the subject was worked out in advance. As Kenyan spoken English tends to have quite a strong accent, I had to ensure that I spoke slowly, repeated important information often and said things in different ways to ensure that the class understood me. Sometimes to illustrate a point I used comic actions in order to make them laugh and retain their attention! This amused them no end, maybe because Kenyan teaching methods can be quite formal and serious. |
Hill Breeze Orphan School, Kenya - October 2011
Posted on 12 October, 2011 at 10:31 |
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