Ok it's slightly less than three weeks left until I leave for Kenya! So far I have...
Bought flights
Gotten poked and such (vaccines for travel are no joke!)
Packed 1 suitcase FULL (mostly feminine products...that will be fun to explain at customs if I have to)
Practiced music (some in Swahili!)
Bought a bunch of things for myself and the kids
And I did some math!
To explain that last part...
When I set out to raise funds for this trip I kind of chose an arbitrary number that I knew would be high enough but not so much of a reach that it seemed impossible. Math has never been my strong suit...neither has space awareness and packing items which is why I still have a bunch of things to pack in the SECOND suitcase that probably should go in the first one...good thing I already planned on bringing several changes of clothes and other essentials in my carry-on (🤦).
I had been keeping track of donations with the help of GiveSendGo, and I knew some of the costs, but hadn't actually put them together until today. Sooooo here's the math:
Costs (some are estimates, like food while over there):
Flights: $1475.65
Visa: $115.19
Shots/Medicines: ~972.00
Food/Housing/Transportation: ~$600.00
Safari Supplies for students: $76.92
Safari Retreat (all inclusive): $640.00
So my total estimated costs for this trip are $3879.76. Let's round that to an even $4,000 because that's an easier number to think about. That's more than I originally expected...but I also extended my trip for an entire week after I lost my job. When I no longer had to worry about vacation days, it only made sense to stay longer and help with the Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas Party and spend more time helping with the day to day functions of YRM.
So far, with the help of 19 families (a few of which were anonymous so I can't thank them directly!), I have raised $3170.00. PLUS, my ENTIRE Amazon wish list was bought out! Which is AMAZING!
However, especially since I extended my trip, I am still short of my goal. From the beginning I sought to raise $5000 to cover my expenses plus some extra donations for Yellow Rhino. The kids have had several setbacks lately, especially with flooding in the slums. At one point 10 of them were being housed in the Yellow Rhino headquarters because they had no where else to go! If I am able to raise the additional $1830 to meet my goal, that extra grand on top of my expenses will help Yellow Rhino in more ways than you can imagine. Every cent donated goes towards helping these kids and their families!
Of course, first and foremost what I need for this trip is PRAYER! Pray that I stay healthy, that my Visa application goes through, that my flights are safe and smooth, that luggage and precious supplies are not lost...that list goes on and on. But also that I am able to share God's light to kids who (sometimes literally) live in darkness.
><> Carrie <><
www.givesendgo.com/carrieyellowrhino
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