As we finalize our packing, review our checklists, sit on that suitcase to get it closed….our team is in the final stretches of readying themselves for departure, and are extremely excited. Tomorrow will be a day of emotion…for those who are reuniting once again to carry out our mission and for those who will be joining us for the first time. Some may be experiencing some anxieties or trepidation, uncertainty of what to expect, but mostly excitement at being able to see our wonderful friends and colleagues in Kenya. Some will be able fulfill some life long career and life goals, to provide some measure of help and hope to those who do not have the ability to obtain the necessary care that they need.
The first few days or our journey will be long full days of travel… think plains, trains, and automobiles…well maybe not trains but you get the idea. We depart at 1835 hours April 27, 2023…at least that’s what my ticket says, from Toronto to Nairobi. Some of our team will have a longer day as they travel from their homes across the country. We have some members scattered around southern Ontario and a western contingent coming from Alberta.
I will introduce you to the team over the next couple of days, with some interruptions in daily posts as we do some time travelling across the world. My name is Karen and I have the honour of writing the blog for the 2023 mission. I have participated in 2 missions, 2018 & 2019, and was all set to go for 2020 but we all know what happened there. I am one of the Western contingent hailing from Alberta and have several decades of nursing, under my belt. I currently work as a Clinical Development Nurse with Alberta Tuberculosis Services. Mission work had been a lifelong career goal and in 2018 I was able to fulfill that goal. CNFA came across my Facebook newsfeed when colleagues I had worked with, posted their adventure. CNFA is small and personable where we get to know one another and work together to a mutual end. For someone participating in their first mission CNFA was the right size of an organization to introduce one to this type of work. This was the group for me. So stay tuned for updates on our mission.
