Unterwegs...
The nomadic life of Mara & Raf
Cape Town
- Mara & Raf
- January 1, 2023
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
The last time we were in Cape Town in December was eight years ago, so it feels special to be able to celebrate Christmas with Raf’s family this year. The focus of the trip has been to connect with family and friends, and as it’s summertime in South Africa at the moment, we’ve been able to spend plenty of time outdoors with people, as you can see in the pictures below. Another highlight has…
Hemel Hempstead
- Mara & Raf
- December 20, 2022
- #FamilyFriends
Snow in England means slippery and muddy footpaths, unpredictable traffic, disrupted public transport and generally cold weather. But, of course, it’s also beautiful when everything is covered in white and it’s a fun time to take pictures outside. Here are some of the photos we took, as well as…
Lagos, Nigeria
- Mara
- December 6, 2022
- #Humanitarian, #Training
Inspired by the peace building efforts in Kenya (see here) the Salvation Army in Nigeria also started peace building activities for the months leading to the elections in February 2023. The programme started with a workshop for 30 delegates from across the country. We explored the root causes of…
Hemel Hempstead
- Mara & Raf
- November 19, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #Home
The autumn season in England can be rather wet and gloomy, and the prospect of a long cold winter ahead is not the most exciting for us. So, the nice moments with family and family brighten up our lives even more. It’s been great to have many people staying…
Jo'burg, South Africa
- Mara
- November 5, 2022
- #Humanitarian, #Training
Every year the development offices and development and emergency practitioners of The Salvation Army come together for a Programme Resources Consultancy Group (PRCG) conference to exchange ideas and best practices and to learn from each other. Sometimes these conferences are virtual but occasionally it’s an in-person gathering. It was…
Hemel Hempstead
- Mara & Raf
- September 12, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #Home
Someone once commented on this blog, saying our pictures mostly seem to be of us having meals in various constellations. And yes, to some extent that is true, of course. Maybe it’s because we do eat regularly. In fact, we do so every day. And eating together with friends…
Harare, Zimbabwe
- Mara
- September 2, 2022
- #Humanitarian, #Training
This has not been the first disaster preparedness training I’ve been involved with; far from it. But thanks to Covid-19 it’s been a while since I have had the chance to facilitate one of these training events abroad. The last one was in 2019 in Indonesia, and it was…
Wembley Stadium, London, UK
- Mara
- August 12, 2022
- #Arts, #FamilyFriends
Together with my brother David and housemate Ieva, I went to a Coldplay concert at Wembley Stadium. What a spectacular show! Lights, balloons, confetti and fireworks. We all contributed to the show with the wristbands we had received at the entrance. These were coordinated and lit up in different…
Lavaux, Belgium
- Mara & Raf
- August 9, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
Preparations for the celebration of Mara’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary were in full swing in early 2020, but as with so many things, Covid put a hold to those plans. But now, more than two years later, we’ve finally been able to mark the (more than) fifty years of…
Luxembourg
- Mara & Raf
- August 5, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
This was a little outing to Luxembourg with some of the family while we were staying near the border in Belgium. Supposedly, the visit had nothing at all to do with the fact that this place was still missing on Mara’s list of ‘country points’ ;-) But let’s just…
Sheffield, UK
- Mara & Raf
- July 31, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #Sports
Raf follows football at various levels, but Mara only pays attention when there’s a colourful international tournament going on. With the women’s Euro taking place in England this year, it was a good opportunity to watch some games in the stadium and spend some time with friends and family…
Gosforth, Lake District, UK
- Mara & Raf
- July 22, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
The second part of our trip to the Lake District involved staying in a yurt on a farm, surrounded by lots and lots of bleating sheep. We love hot summer weather, but having just experienced the hottest day in England’s recorded history, the cooler weather and the sea breeze…
Keswick, Lake District, UK
- Mara & Raf
- July 20, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
The Lake District in the north west of England with its lakes and fells (hills) is the perfect location for walking. Spending some time there had been on our to-do list for a while, and the visit of our wonderful friend Anett from Germany created the perfect opportunity for…
Nakuru, Kenya
- Mara
- June 24, 2022
- #Humanitarian, #Training
Elections in Kenya haven’t always been peaceful (see some previous blog entries from 2013 and 2017). The Salvation Army is keen to break this cycle of violence and promote peace in the weeks leading up to the elections. Similar to previous election years, this started with a workshop but…
Milton Keynes, UK
- Mara
- June 18, 2022
- #Arts, #FamilyFriends
Fantastic concert by Imagine Dragons together with my sister Noemi. Not even the rain stopped us from having a blast……
Hannover, Germany
- Mara & Raf
- June 12, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
Lizzy, our close friend, who we have known for more than 20 years, got married to Stefan and they invited us to their party in Hannover. Raf had a few days off before the party and travelled to Berlin to visit his brother Sammy and family. Unfortunately, he then…
Hemel Hempstead
- Mara & Raf
- June 3, 2022
- #FamilyFriends
This is another post to document some of the good times we have with visitors and things we have managed to do with friends and family……
Copenhagen, Denmark
- Mara
- May 25, 2022
- #Humanitarian, #Training
I spent a few days in Copenhagen to discuss strategies and policies of The Salvation Army’s development and humanitarian teams. The best part was definitely the little outings in the evening. ;-)…
Stuttgart Germany
- Mara
- May 19, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
I decided that it might make sense to stay on the continent between the training in the Netherlands and a conference in Denmark, which also meant I was able to spend some days at my parents’ place and work from there. My sister Priska and her family also live…
Ede-Wageningen, Netherlands
- Mara
- May 10, 2022
- #Humanitarian, #Training
Training has always been part of my responsibilities, and after two years of travel restrictions it was great to be in a classroom full of enthusiastic students again. With delegates from the Netherlands, Czechia, Belgium, Poland, Finland, Germany and the UK, as well as my co-trainer Chris, I spent…
Benifallet, Spain
- Mara & Raf
- April 17, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
Easter had a Spanish-Polish-Ukrainian-French-British-German-South African flavour for us this year. We were in Spain and spent the Easter weekend with a group of twelve people, seven cats, one dog and two birds. Our good friends Anna and Remi, whom we have visited a few times before, also had some…