Yoga is all about mindfulness and self-improvement.
But to a group of area residents – many connected to the yoga-based studio in Mattapoisett – they will take that mindfulness and balance and look to bring it to Botswana, Kenya, according to Mattapoisett resident Kerin McKinnon, who will lead a group of 18 people and travel March 1-11 to help with an orphanage in Botswana, Kenya.
Some of the participants will travel from as far as Georgia and Texas, but many attending will be from the south coast. They will work on construction projects, childcare, afterschool programs and orphanage care, according to McKinnon.
The orphanage houses 42 children, ages infancy to Grade 3.
“All with disabilities, mostly who have been abandoned by their families,” says McKinnon, who adds that some have HIV, physical and mental disabilities. “It’s a collective group that is going on the trip. I met them through the yoga community. It’s exciting.”
McKinnon said her aunt and uncle were missionaries who traveled to Tanzania. In 2012, McKinnon was inspired and began volunteering in Haiti.
“It is so dangerous that short-term missions are not going there. I decided I wanted to organize a trip – Haiti wasn’t an option,” she said. “We just want to do whatever they require us to do, working with the children, but we want to serve where there is a need. Most of us are active volunteers in our hometown and home state, but it is more critical in a place like Africa and not here.”
Along with McKinnon, other volunteers will include: Patty Maccini, a Mattapoisett resident; Michael Coffey, a former New Bedford firefighter and Mattapoisett resident; and Marcia Hathaway, the studio yoga teacher and Dartmouth resident.
Other local participants include Janet Rose, Barbara Lamy, Tabitha Tripp, a Marion resident with a practice in Mattapoisett and Julie Boren.
McKinnon said the group will also have some fun; the area is home to 80,000 elephants and the group will likely do sight-seeing.
The group is also collecting used laptop computers.
For more information or to donate, visit lovebotswana.org.
By Jeffrey D. Wagner