The day arrives

April 5, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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Posting may be intermittent over the next couple of weeks.

I’m the only one up in my house at the moment but very soon we’ll all be sharing our last breakfast together for ten days.

I have to be at the airport at around 9:45 to fly out at 10:45. Between now and then I need to put all the clothes my Pauline has so wonderfully prepared for me into my case and then double check that I have everything I need. (I just know I’ll forget something.)

Over the next couple of days I’ll fly from Perth to Sydney then to Los Angeles then Miami and finally on to Haiti. I’ll be in Haiti for around a week before I repeat the entire process in reverse.

I feel totally unprepared but I’m sure that’s what long flights are all about. The flights will give me time to finally stop and soak in the information that I haven’t had time to process so far. I’ll read about Haiti and find out a little bit more of what to expect, I’ll read the instructions to my audio recorder to make sure that I know what I’m doing when I start interviewing people from Compassion and those they serve.

I probably won’t get many opportunities to write much over the coming days but I’m still hopeful that I’ll keep you up to date.

Your comments will be very much appreciated but I may not get to reply to them immediately. If I get internet access I’ll be checking my email so feel free to drop me a line. You’ll find my email address by going to my Contact Page.

Until then, catch you somewhere around the world.



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Come fly with me

April 4, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
12 Comments

I’m getting ready for some very long flights over the next day or so.

As I mentioned before I’m heading to Haiti with Compassion Australia to see their work amongst people living in desperate poverty.

I love flying but sometimes being in the air for fourteen or so hours at a time can be a little tiring. It all begins tomorrow morning with a flight to Sydney, then on Sunday it’s a fourteen hour flight followed by a five hour flight.

Of course I’ll make the correct preparations tonight. I’ll choose a couple of good books and make sure that my iPod’s fully charged.

Do you enjoy flying? What do you do to keep yourself entertained on a plane? Are you able to sleep well on planes?

I’m hoping that I’ll have internet access at some of the places I visit so that I can keep you up to date with my travels.



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Haiti's getting closer

March 12, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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compassion.gifIt’s now less than a month until I join representatives from other Australian radio stations to observe the work of Compassion Australia in Haiti. I’ll be leaving Perth on Saturday the 5th of April.

I had a jab to protect me against Typhoid last week. The immunisations I had for India in 2003 and 2005 cover pretty much everything else though I’ll need to start taking anti-malarial tablets in the next couple of weeks.

Haiti is a small Caribbean nation of almost 9 million people where an estimated 80% of the population is living below the poverty line with 54% in abject poverty. Around 6% of adults in Haiti are living with AIDS.

Compassion is an international Christian child development ministry, committed to child advocacy and working in partnership with local churches around the world. Compassion fosters the spiritual, economic, social, physical and emotional development of children living in extreme poverty in over 25 developing countries.

Our tour group will be able to see first hand the great need that Compassion Australia is working to fill.

98.5 Sonshine FM’s annual Compassion Day is on Thursday the 15th of May. I’ll get the opportunity to share details of the journey throughout the day and encourage listeners to get involved with Compassion Australia through child sponsorship.



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Heading to Haiti

January 10, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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ha-map.gifI’ve hinted a couple of times that I’ll be taking a long trip in 2008.

In April this year I’ll be joining a small group of others to fly to Haiti to observe the aid work of Compassion.

Compassion works with the poorest of the poor children in over 25 developing countries around the world in Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

Compassion works in partnership with local churches in developing countries; providing resources, training and expertise to assist in the operation of holistic child development programmes.

Each year in May, 98.5 Sonshine FM runs Compassion Day, a day where we highlight the great need to sponsor children in developing countries to provide a better life for them and their families. My trip will help me to communicate the vast need and the effectiveness of Compassion’s work.

The CIA’s World Factbook tells me that Haiti is a country in desperate poverty.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country’s widespread deforestation.

I’ll spend one day in Miami before about a week and a half in Haiti. Planning is in the early stages at the moment so I’ll tell you more as the journey gets closer.



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