Sonja P

Ath. hér er blog á bæði ensku og svo á íslensku!!

Finally we have arrived in Nairobi, Kenya after 32 hours of traveling.

We started out by flying out of Iceland to London. There was a little delay on our flight and since Johanna (Gisli´s mom) flew earlier that morning with Iceland Express she had to wait for us at Paddington station for a while.

We got to London around lunch time and went to Paddington station to pick up Johanna and have a very late lunch at Fridays!

After lunch we went walking on Oxford Street and Regent street to try and find a store that would sell mosquito nets to sleep under. After an hour walk we finally found one and bought the nets.

Since time was flying we decided to head back for the airport to check in for the flight to Doha (Qatar, Arabic peninsula). We got there 2 hours before the flight was to leave and it was strange to see only Saudi people checking in. As we boarded we found out we were not the only white people there ;O)

Qatar airway is a 5 star airline that really really impressed us. Not only did they have the cheapest flights but the airplane was brand new along with extremely good service. Touch screen TV’s for everyone and a menu to chose from for dinner. This was a 6 hour flight and we were served dinner, breakfast and free alcohol and soft drinks ;O)

The flight was smooth and we got to Doha as the sun was beginning to rise so this was a great time to arrive and the view over the „desert“was great.

We got in to the terminal and decided to find a restaurant in this brand new airport and ordered some breakfast.

Now the funny thing was to see our mothers (my mom and Gisli´s mom) shocked the Arabian people. Alcohol is not legal so Johann ordered a non alcoholic beer and drank it from the bottle… this caused people to stare at the not so ladylike woman ;O)

In the meantime my mom decided to have a cigarette and went to the „smoking room“were she stood with men only staring at her bad not so lady like habit…hehehhe….

Well these ladies were not done shocking the people as Johanna decided to touch up her makeup and started putting some lipstick on and so on as the ladies around us stared ;O)

Well we got out of there 2 ½ hours later and were off to fly from Doha heading for Nairobi, Kenya.

This was also about 6 hours of flying with Qatar. The airplane was a bit older there but the service was good and nothing to complain about.  We did some sleeping during all this travel but needless to say … we were exhausted after all this traveling.

One of the suitcases was lost when we arrived. It should get here today… this was the suitcase with all the kids clothes. So they just have to be dirty for a day ;O)

Now we have settled in to Gullas apartment in West-lands (since she is in Iceland) that we borrowed. Kids have played in the pool and we have done our grocery shopping. Moms are sitting on the balcony enjoying

Blog way overdue!

Hello all who read this ;O)

So it has been a long time since I have written here. Time flies when having fun… or very busy!

I have been working on my final thesis and am now getting closer to the end of it. My final thesis is about „pre- designing” a water distribution system for a school in rural Southeast Africa.

In order to do that, I took a trip to Africa a few weeks ago. I went to both Kenya and Malawi. Gisli came along for Kenya since he was himself going on meetings there, but after Kenya he went to Ethiopia while I was in Malawi. In Kenya I visited ABC where Thorunn who runs the orphanage there welcomed us to her home along with her husband Sammy. We had a fabulous time there. This was our second time now visiting the ABC home there since we went there in April as well. She and Sammy took us around everywhere and we got to see the new land that hopefully they will build a new home for the orphans soon.

We also went into Mathare (one of the biggest slums in Africa) where almost 700 thousand people live in shacks or on the streets. There we visited Brenda (that we sponsor for school) and also visited a school there to see how their surroundings are and I looked at the borehole of course along with the pipes ;O)

We also got to visit Joshua again. He is just sooo lovely and a joyful young man.  He jumped at Gisli when he saw him and I was next! I just love how open and happy he is when he sees us. He lives at the orphanage since he had a hard time where he lived. His mother had little or no food for him or his brothers and sisters so he wound up on the streets begging and steeling in order to eat. After meeting Joshua we also got to meet Eric. We just started sponsoring him and he was very shy when he met us.

Unfortunately with all the problems here in Iceland’s economy they are also having a very hard time now. Our currency here in Iceland is worthless compared to what it was before and food prices have also gone way up in Kenya. We pray and hope that they will pull through all this.

After visiting ABC I was off to Malawi where I was meeting ICEIDA. I had invited Thorunn with me from Kenya so I was not going alone. There I had a wonderful welcome from Stella (an Icelandic girl working there). She drove us down to Monkey Bay (about 3 hours drive) and there we spent 5 days in heaven!! Away from the internet and all stress ;O)

Stella, along with Ásdís (another Icelandic girl working there that Gisli knows) took us all over the place, showed us schools that ICEIDA has built along with hospitals and so much more. We also got to go to a site meeting where they were going over progress of a school that is being built now.

Me and Thorunn were then invited for a Malawian dinner at Stellas house and we had a great time talking and relaxing. Then on the Saturday before leaving we went to Otters Point by Cape MC.Clair (probably not spelled right) and went swimming in Lake Malawi. It was just all wonderful I must say. Thank you soooo much Stella!!

Yesterday we got bad news as I opened the Icelandic newspaper and read that the ABC home in Kenya had been robbed. Armed robbery to be exact. The women that were working at the office next to the orphanage, both Icelandic and African were bound and gagged while over 4000 dollars and other things were taken. This really shocked us and I am just so mad that the only money they had for the month is now gone. I am so thankful that the women are “OK”. But I can’t help but feel frustrated over all the things that are happening to them.

As most of you know we will soon be going back to Kenya, since the whole family is going to visit with ABC during xmas and newyear.

Well this is maby getting to be a bit long of a blog. I am putting in pics in a minute.

You all take care

Love
Sonja

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q4AQm4p82g

So I´m sure you have all heard about the cyclone that hit Burma at the beginning of May. Since then Gisli has been in Thailand assisting various agencies.

We are all so proud of him here at home. He has done a great job!!! This is my Gísli ;O)

I will either meet up with him in Thailand May 31^st , but there are chances that he will come home now on Friday and then fly back to Thailand with me and my classmates May 31^st. Either way we are soon going on vacation in Thailand ;O)

Anyways, I have again turned to read on Africa and the problems that I am going to solve with my final project in school. Then I´ll start working after Thailand.

You all take care.

Love
Sonja

Diary from Kenya.

Day 1.
We arrived Saturday evening in Nairobi after a 8 hour wonderful flight from London. We had a driver from our hotel waiting for us, so we had no trouble getting there. Our hotel was nice and we decided to go and eat Indian food downstairs which by the way is the best I have ever had ;O) That evening we went early to sleep since we had a full day on Sunday.

Day 2.
We got up early and had breakfast and then waited for George (works for ABC) to pick us up. He arrive at around 10 and we were off to visit the children that live at the children’s home (orphans). Joshua lives there along with 200 other children.
This was just a wonderful day, when we got there they were having mass since it was Sunday. Joshua jumped when he saw us. He met Gisli back in November so he was very glad to see him again and was such a nice and polite young man. The children sang, danced and then showed us how they live. Ohh how wonderful it was. Later in the day we were off to visit Brenda. She lives with her mother in the „slums“. It is a very poor place in Nairobi.  And sad to see how people have to live in shelters that don’t have running water or toilets. We had a good visit with her mother and siblings. They all live in one bedroom, Brenda, her mother and two 3 siblings and a niece.

After visiting Brenda we were off to visit the school that is in the slums. This is where ABC is starting a afterschool program for the children in the surrounding area. This gives the children a chance to study after school instead of going home to nothing where there might not even be electricity or a place to study. We also met Gulla and her son there. Gulla and her husband along with her children are there on a one year visit. They help with the ABC program among other things. That evening when we arrived back at the hotel we had dinner with Gulla and her wonderful children Jakob and Vera.

Day 3.
We got up extremely early (5 am) and were off to the local airport. We were going to visit Eldoret (north of Nairobi). This was a 45 min flight from Nairobi. I must say that I was a bit nervous when we got to the airport… not only were we the odd ones out… but when they drove our luggage to the airplane with a tractor and took out jumper-cables from the tractor to start the airplane… I was not impressed and not looking forward to our flight. But I went anyways ;O)

When we arrived in Eldoret we were met by Robert (IOM=International organization for migration) who took us to our hotel. When we were about to leave the hotel to visit the IDP camps (Internally displaced people) there was a shooting outside the hotel… a few shots went off and then we heard people coming running and screaming like riots.. This made us and Robert very uncomfortable and he called the office in Nairobi and wanted us to fly back. As it turned out there was a riot starting in Nairobi as well, so we got to stay in Eldoret. Everything was calm again a few hours later and we were off to visit the camps.

Wow this was an incredible sight. These camps are full of Kenyans that lost their homes in the elections in January. Its sad to hear the stories of how their neighbors of many years turned against each other because of what tribe they belonged to. They murdered and raped women and children and burned homes and churches. So just in Eldoret there are about 200 thousand people in these camps. Robert took us around the whole day and in the evening we were off to eat with him and his colleagues. This was all just great and they all did a wonderful job taking care of us.

Day 4.
We again got up early and were off to visit yet another camp. It was great to see the difference in these camps. One was completely unorganized and one was planned by Robert and his team. I got to see a lot of things that will be useful for me in my final project in engineering. Later in the day we flew back to Nairobi and went back to the hotel.
when we got to the hotel we noticed a red carpet by the entrance… so we wondered what was going on.. there was a lot of security and military there. We then found out that both the president of Uganda was there and also Kofi Annan (former secretary-general of the United Nations).

Day 5.
We visited with the IOM office and had a few meetings there. They were very useful and interesting for both me and Gisli. Also that day we visited with a place that IOM takes in refugees from other countries in Africa and get them ready as they are leaving for America, Australia and Canada among other countries. There you could see hope and happiness and a lot of smiles!
That evening we had dinner with Gisli´s friend who works for World food program and his wife. We had a wonderful time and had a lot of good laughs. Great people I must say!

Day 6.
We took this day “off”. And took up the offer Gisli´s friend made us. We borrowed his driver and car and were off for a day in a national park. Hells Gate national park is the name of it and we also visited Lake Navasha.  This was a wonderful relaxing day as we drove around in Kenya and saw wild animals and beautiful scenery. Also just seeing more of Kenya was great. We had lunch by the lake and went for a hike to Hell with a local guide who is a Masaia man. On our hike we saw wild monkeys sitting in trees and so much more.

Day 7.
We decided to spend this Friday with the ABC children again. We had promised Joshua that we would visit again before we left. This was a great day and will never be forgotten. All the joy and all the smiles will stay with me forever and then the sadness as we had to go. I still have to hold back the tears as I realized that the world will never be the same again for me.

Day 8.
We met up with Gulla and her husband Raggi on our last day in Africa. They made this day a wonderful day as we walked around a market and visited children in one of the slums. There was a man there that comes to the slums every Saturday to paint with the children for 4 hours at a time. They really enjoy this and showed us their wonderful art. We then went out for dinner with Gulla, Raggi and their children and talked and laughed. It is funny how close you can get to someone you really don’t know only because of the circumstances!! It was like we had known each other for years ;O)

After our dinner we were then off to the airport to fly back to Iceland.  

We have decided that we will go back in August/September!!!

Dear friends and family,

Yet another year has gone by and like previous years, then this has been an eventful years in our family. The kids keep on growing and it is quite obvious that some of them are becoming teenagers.

The year started slowly because Gisli was still recovering from his blocked pulmonary that he had just before Christmas last year. But he kept going to physiotherapy and recovered quickly.

In February the “old couple” had their first weekend without kids. They went to Akureyri which is in the northern part of Iceland for a Microsoft Iceland ski-trip. One of the highlights of the trip was going to the top of a nearby mountain in a snowmobile. Once we were at the top we were supposed to either ski down or use small scooters. Sonja was a little to competitive on the way down and ended up tumbling and landing on her face at high speed (see picture to the right). Those who came to her rescue were shocked because her face was all bloody. But it became obvious quickly that she wasn’t seriously hurt because she couldn’t stop laughing. Although it looked bad in the end she recovered quickly with only a few minor cuts on her nose.

In march Gisli went to a UN meeting of Search and Rescue team leaders in India. He managed to see a little bit of India, including the famous Taj Mahal and Dehli. This was his first trip to Asia, but shortly after it the family made the decision to go on summer vacation to China this year. But more about that trip later.

We spent Easter in our favorite cottage in Gufuskalar on the west coast of Iceland. We made sure to relax plenty and also get some friends and family over for while. The rest of the spring passed on quietly with the kids doing good at school and Sonja being busy in her studies. At the end of May when the exams were over for Sonja she started working a summer job at a small engineering firm here in Hafnarfjördur. There she had the chance to practice many of the things she had been studying. A week after she started the engineering firm invited the whole family on their annual summer trip. There we visited the small town of Stykkisholmur and a small island called Flatey. It was a great trip which the family enjoyed very much.

During the summer we only managed to go camping twice, which is much less than previous years, since Gisli was busy attending Microsoft conferences this summer.

In June Gisli was invited to apply for a new position within Microsoft. This position is in the worldwide department of Microsoft and involves advising international organizations such as the UN, EU, NATO and the Red Cross in how to make better use of technology when responding to disasters. This is a dream job for Gisli since it connects his hobby with his work. Gisli had some interviews in July for the position and in August he was formally offered the position which he started in September.

At the beginning of August it was finally time for vacation. The kids had been very busy all summer attending various shorter courses in sailing, riding, football, sports and gymnastics. But now it was time for one of the longest trip the family has ever undertaken. We first flew to Copenhagen and then to Frankfurt and onwards to Beijing. When we finally arrived in Beijing we were greeted by our tour guide which took us to the hotel. We spent the next few days seeing every important tourist attraction in Beijing. We then boarded a train and started our large circle around China where we visited the cities of Zhengzhou, Xian, Chongqing, Yingchang and Shanghai. Among the places we visited were the Emperor’s Summer Palace, Great Wall of China, Forbidden City, Ming Toombs, Shaolin Kung-Fu Temple, Longmen Grottos, Terracotta Warriors, Yangtzee River, Three Gorges Damn and a whole lot of Buddhist temples

This was truly an amazing trip for the whole family where we managed to experience a completely different culture and see so many world heritage sites. China is definitely very different from all other countries we have visited in the past.

Like previous years we kept a travel diary and we put it online as our travel progressed. It can be read at http://gislio.spaces.live.com

After we got home the standard routine of school, work, sports and school started. Most of the kids got new teachers but were quick to adopt to them. Gisli started his new job around middle of September by going to Geneva, Switzerland for his first meeting with the United Nations. But on the first day of the job he quickly experienced that disasters are not a predictable business. Gisli has for the past two years been a member of a special team of experts that the UN can deploy on a short notice when disasters strike to coordinate the response of the international community. And as Gisli was sitting in a meeting in Geneva then he was asked to go to Ghana in West Africa where heavy floods had caused a major disaster. He was there for three weeks and came back in the beginning of October. Shortly after he came back his new job caught up with him and he has been travelling almost non-stop since then.

Around the middle of October the “old couple” went for a weekend trip to Prague with Sonja’s work. They had been nice enough to invite her and Gisli along for their annual company fest. There the first Christmas presents were bought and huge quantities of nice food was consumed along with gallons of Mojito.

For the past few years we have sponsored children in various developing countries through a charity called ABC Children’s Help. We currently sponsor fice children. At the start of November Gisli travelled to Kenya for his work and decided to pay a visit to the orphanage that ABC Children’s Help runs there, bbut we sponsor two children there. It was an amazing experience to witness the tremendous work being done there and to see how much can be achieved through the small funds we provide. We asked a few of our friends to join us in providing more substantial support to this work and we managed to make a big donation to ABC Children’s Help in Kenya that they will make use of to buy land and housing to expand their work. We were very proud of our friends which were more than happy to help us in making a difference. We have already started planning a trip in the new year to Kenya.

Now Christmas is around the corner and as schools head in the Christmas vacation. Gisli is back home from his travels and is home until January. Then another busy travel schedule starts. It is therefore our plan to relax as much as possible over Christmas and enjoy being together as a family.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Yars

Sonja, Gísli and the kids

Kæru vinir og vandamenn,

Enn eitt árið er liðið hjá og rétt eins og önnur ár  hefur þetta ár verið viðburðaríkt í fjölskyldunni okkar. Það tegist úr krakkalökkunum og það er greinilegt að sum þeirra eru að komast á unglingsárin.

Árið byrjaði rólega, enda Gísli að jafna sig eftir að hafa fengið kransæðastíflu rétt fyrir jólin í fyrra. Hann var duglegur að fara í sjúkraþjálfun og jafnaði sig fljótt.

 Í febrúar var svo barnlaus helgi, þegar gömlu hjónin fóru til Akureyrar á árshátíð hjá Microsoft. Einn af hápunktum ferðarinnar var ferð á snjótroðara upp á topp á fjallinu Kaldbak. Þegar komið var upp á topp renndi fólk sér síðan niður á snjóþotum eða skíðum. Sonja var einum of kappsöm á leiðinni niður og velti snjóþotunni á miklum hraða. Þegar aðrir komu aðsvífandi var andlitið á henni alblóðugt og byrjað að bólgna. En fljótlega varð öllum ljóst að þrátt fyrir allt blóðið var Sonja ekki stórslösuð því hún gat ekki hætt að skellihlæja. Sem betur fer hruflaði hún bara á sér nefið og var fljót að ná sér eftir þetta.

Í mars fór Gísli á fund alþjóðabjörgunarsveita á Indlandi. Þar tókst honum að sjá aðeins af Indlandi, meðal annars hið fræga Taj Mahal og Dehlí. Þetta var fyrsta ferðin hans til Asíu, en upp úr henni var tekin ákvörðun um að sumarleyfisferð fjölskyldunnar yrði til Kína þetta árið. En meira um þá ferð seinna.

Við höfðum það huggulegt um páskana í „sumarbústaðnum“ okkar á Gufuskálum. Við nutum þess að slaka á og fá vini og ættingja í heimsókn til okkar.  Restin af vorinu leið sinn vanagang þar sem krakkarnir voru dugleg í skólanum og Sonja var á kafi í náminu. Þegar líða tók á maí og prófin kláruðust hjá Sonju byrjaði hún að vinna sumarvinnu hjá lítilli verkfræðistofu sem heitir Strendingur og er í Hafnarfirði. Þar fékk hún að takast á við fullt af þeim hlutum sem hún er búin að vera að læra í náminu. Viku eftir að hún byrjaði að vinna var farið í sumarferð Strendings í Stykkishólm og Flatey.  Þar skemmti fjölskyldan sér konunglega í góðum hóp og naut þess að kynnast þessum hluta Breiðarfjarðar betur.

Yfir sumarið tókst okkur að fara í tvær útilegur, frekar lítið miðað við fyrri ár, en Gísli var mikið á ráðstefnum sem einhvern veginn virtust allar taka upp amk. einn helgardag. Okkur tókst þó alla vegana að fara eina ferð í Þórsmörk, sem er jú okkar uppáhaldsstaður.

Í byrjun júní var Gísla boðið að sækja um nýja vinnu innan Microsoft. Þessi vinna er innan alþjóðadeildar Microsoft og felst í því að leiðbeina alþjóðastofnunum, svo sem SÞ, ESB, NATO og Rauða Krossinum í því hvernig nýta megi tækni til þess að auðvelda og bæta viðbrögð við náttúruhamförum. Þetta er algjört draumastarf fyrir Gísla þar sem þetta tengir saman áhugamálið hans og vinnuna. Í júlí fór Gísli í nokkur viðtöl út af þessu starfi og svo í ágúst var honum formlega boðin staðan, sem hann síðan færði sig yfir í í september.

Í byrjun ágúst var loksins komið að því að fara saman í sumarfrí. Krakkarnir voru búin að vera ansi dugleg við að fara á ýmis námskeið. Þau skemmtu sér vel á siglinganámskeiði, reiðnámskeiði, fótboltanámskeiði, íþróttanámskeiði og fimleikanámskeiði. En nú var komið að því að fara í eitt lengsta ferðalag sem fjölskyldan hefur farið í. Fyrst flugum við til Köben með næturflugi, fengum okkur svo morgunmat í miðborg Köben og röltum um garðana þar áður en við flugum áfram til Frankfurt þaðan sem við tókum svo beint flug til Peking. Þar tók leiðsögukona á móti okkur og fór með okkur á hótel. Við eyddum síðan næstu dögum í að skoða allt það helsta í Peking. Við flökkuðum síðan stóran hring um Kína með lest og skoðuðum borgirnar Zhengzhou, Xian, Chongqing,Yingchang og Shanghai. Meðal þess sem á leið okkar lá var Sumarhöll keisarans, Kínamúrinn, Forboðna borgin, Grafhýsi Ming-ættarinnar, Shaolin Kung-Fu klaustrið, Longmen hellarnir, Terracotta stríðsmennirnir, Yangtzee fljótið, Þriggja Gljúfra stíflan og feiknin öll af búddaklaustrum J

Þetta var svo sannarlega mikil upplifun fyrir alla fjölskylduna að sjá alla þessa menningu og allar þessar heimsminjar.  Kína er svo sannarlega öðruvísi en önnur lönd sem við höfum heimsótt.  Eins og fyrri ár þá skrifuðum við ferðasögu jafnóðum á netið. Hana má finna á heimasíðunni http://gislio.spaces.live.com

Eftir að heim var komið hófst hin venjulega rútína, skóli, vinna, íþróttir, skóli. Krakkarnir fengu nær öll nýja kennara en voru fljót að aðlagast því. Gísli byrjaði í nýju vinnunni um miðjan september og fór á fyrsta fundinn með Sameinuðu Þjóðunum í Genfar. En strax á fyrsta vinnudegi sýndi það sig að náttúruhamfarir gera ekki boð á undan sér. Gísli hefur undanfarin tvö ár verið meðlimur í sérstökum viðbragðshópi Sameinuðu Þjóðana sem er kallaður út með stuttum fyrirvara til að taka þátt í skipulagningu á hjálparstarfi eftir náttúrhamfarir. Og þar sem hann sat á fundi í Genfar var hann beðinn um að fara til Ghana og taka þátt í að skipuleggja viðbrögð við miklum flóðum sem geysuðu þar. Hann var þar í þrjár vikur og kom til baka í byrjun Október. Fljótlega eftir heimkomuna byrjaði hann á fullu aftur í nýju vinnunni og hefur verið meira á ferðalagi heldur en heima.

Undanfarin ár höfum við verið dugleg við að styrkja börn í gegnum ABC Hjálparstarf og erum núna með fimm börn sem við styrkjum. Í byrjun nóvember fór Gísli til Kenya í vinnuferð og ákvað að heimsækja starfsemi ABC þar í landi en við styrkjum tvö börn þar. Það var ógleymanleg upplifun að sjá hið óeigingjarna starf sem þar er ynnt af hendi og hversu mikið er hægt að gera fyrir þennan litla pening sem við leggjum í að styðja börnin. Við fengum nokkra vini okkar með okkur í lið og gáfum saman stóra peningagjöf til ABC í Kenya sem verður nýtt til að kaupa land og byggja nýtt húsnæði undir starfsemina. Við vorum mjög stollt af vinum okkar sem voru til í að styðja þetta starf með okkur. Við erum þegar farin að skipuleggja ferð á nýju ári til að heimsækja Kenya.

Nú eru jólin á næsta leiti og þó að skólarnir séu að fara í frí þá er jólastressið að byrja. Sem betur fer fær Gísli frí frá ferðalögum fram yfir áramót, en svo byrjar ný törn hjá honum. Markmiðið okkar um jólin er því að slaka á saman sem fjölskylda yfir jólin og njóta þess að vera saman.

Gleðileg Jól

Sonja, Gísli og Krakkalakkarnir