Videoen er endelig her, og jeg har lengtet etter å vise dere hva vi har jobbet med. Som jeg nevnte i sist innlegg har jeg vært på film innspilling med Max og Endre Igland som har spilt inn min presentasjonsfilm. Jeg har hatt med meg ett fantastisk team som har gjort drømmen min til realitet. Jeg er stolt av alle som har vært med å skape denne filmen sammen med meg.

Hele helgen var veldig bra, og det var spennende å se hvordan en idé utviklet seg til ett ferdig produkt. Det har vært så gøy å kunne jobbe med dyktige fotografer som har hjulpet meg til denne flotte videoen. Vi var ute i mange timer for å spille inn, og til tross for storm var humøret på topp hele helgen. Vi brukte været i Bergen for alt det var verdt, og jeg synes det er utrolig å se hvilken effekt det fikk i videoen. Til tross for ujevnt og glatt underlag fikk vi spilt inn alt vi trengte. Jeg setter stor pris på all tålmodighet og kreativitet disse menneskene har tatt med seg inn filmen.
De fantastiske kjolene er fra Inistyle. Da jeg kom inn for å finne kjoler fikk jeg kjempe god ekspertise som visste akkurat hvilken kjole som fremhevet min kropps fasong, samt hvilken farge som kledde mine trekk. Jeg følte meg helt nydelig i kjolene, og videoen hadde aldri vært det samme uten. Så tusen millioner takk til Inistyle for håndplukkede nydelige kjoler.

Når det kommer til musikk har jeg samarbeidet med Mads Jamne (zerval) som produserer helt unik musikk. Musikken er så bra, og passer personligheten min utmerket. Jeg hører på den hver dag så det var ingenting som var mer naturlig for meg enn å bruke det i filmen.

Så var det over til min fantastiske frisør, Sita. Ikke bare måtte hun stå opp før fuglene for å sette opp håret mitt, men det var så vakkert utført. Jeg tror helt alvorlig aldri jeg har vært så fin på håret før. God service og utrolig fint ferdig produkt.

God Morning!

The impressions are many here in Kisumu. It is a lot to take in and it is quite bittersweet. The past days have been super busy. On Sunday we did all the shopping of food for the street kids that we will feed later on today. I went with a girl called Shila to the local market to get everything we needed. It was very intresting to walk with her and see how she did shopping. But it was quite hard in 34 degrees. We drove a tuk-tuk back and forth which was an experince in itself. By shopping at the local market we could pay a fraction of what we do in Norway! It took us almost the whole day to shop. In the afternoon we preapred 200 blessing bags for the street kids, which consisted of a soap, toothbrush and toothpaste and a t-shirt. I cant wait for Sunday to come so we can help the street kids. At night Emily flew in to join me on the trip. Im so happy that she is here!

Yesterday we had an activity day for the girls at Familia. We spent the Whole day with them. First we had a coloring session. Where They helped us create a poster to the blessing bag event. And then we gave them all swimming suits and took them swimming in a pool at the hotel in the city. They were so happy!! I was in the water for hours with them and teached them swimming. We were singing and playing for hours. We also took them for lunch in the local market and eat pila. So much happiness. It mean so much for me to see them so happy. They appriciated those little things so much.

In the evening we went to a birthday party! Which was very nice.

Nytt intervju - denne gangen med NRK Trøndelag. Jeg hadde en veldig hyggelig samtale på telefonen tidligere - og nå kan du lese hele saken her! 

Nå ligger også intervjuet ute på forsiden av NRK.no, noe som er veldig gøy!

Da ble det en tur vekk fra Oslo til Namsos denne uken hvor jeg fikk besøke familie og brukt litt tid på å komme meg vekk fra jobblivet og alt annet som skjer i verden. Det er så viktig å få ladet batteriene om man trenger det og i mitt tilfelle så var det også bare den generelle savnen av å se familien min. Dette er et sted som jeg har besøkt i alle år og det er så fint og fredelig. 
Jeg fikk sett igjen bestemoren min, gått tur, være aktiv og ta det med ro. Det ble også presseoppslag underveis som var veldig koselig for jeg vil kunne representere Namsos så godt som mulig i konkurransen. Nå er jeg tilbake i Oslo og forbereder meg for Kenya turen min og catwalk kurset med treneren vår Klara. Det er så mye å se fram til nå!

Nytt sted - da blir det automatisk en god del å gjøre. Jeg må inrømme at det meste går veldig automatisk etter å ha flyttet ganske ofte, men det er egentlig bare bra. Jeg tilpasser meg heldigvis veldig fort. 

Som jeg har nevnt er mental helse veldig viktig for meg, og angående selektiv mutisme har jeg nå brukt mye tid på å støtte og være en del av nyoppstartede nettsider og andre steder på sosiale medier der det er flere som prøver å gi resten av verden mer kunnskap. Fra å bare få mail fra andre deler av verden har jeg nå fått flere muligheter til å hjelpe mer til her i Norge. Jeg kommer selvfølgelig til å dele det med dere når alt er klart!

Ellers fikk jeg også en kjempefin mail fra en far i Nederland. Det er slike ting som betyr noe. 

Her er noen få setninger fra en mye større tekst som jeg har skrevet til noen andre som gjerne ville dele litt av min historie på deres side:

Hver eneste lille seier hjelper, hver eneste lille utfordring. Små skritt betyr alt når det kommer til denne lidelsen. Små skritt og utfordringer i trygge rammer. 

Det var aldri nok kunnskap og informasjon om selektiv mutisme, ikke i skolen og ikke hos de profesjonelle i mental helse. Så vi klarte det på egenhånd. Det er ikke slik det skal være, man skal ikke bli tvunget til å kjempe seg gjennom noe slikt helt alene.

Det største og viktigste steget man kan ta er å gå ut av din komfortsone, og det gjelder ikke bare for denne lidelsen - det gjelder for alt her i livet. Ingenting vil forandre seg hvis ikke du forandrer noe. Du klarer ikke å endre på noe hvis du vil være komfortabel resten av livet ditt. 

Det er en tøff reise, men det er verdt det. Du får et helt liv som premie. Et liv du aldri trodde du kunne ha. Kanskje du bare drømte om det, slik som jeg også gjorde. 

Alle sammen burde få muligheten og hjelpen til å kunne bruke stemmen sin. 

Jeg heier på dere!

I do not even know where to start. It is a lot of impressions to take in. I have only been her for a day but yet so many stories to tell.
I landed in Narobi wednesday night and I was picked up by a chaffeur and taken to our Airbnb. I met Julie and Dawm and Lottie which I am going to spend the next weeks with. I couldnt see much since it was so dark outside, but when we woke up the next morning and went outside the apt, it was slum next door. Next to high fences and security guards it was people walking without shoes and was living in hand made homes. It was wierd. When we drove to the AirPort it was people walking all over the roads, a whole family on a motor bike, some where doing laundry on the streets, others where eating and preparing for a new day. Such a different life than ours.

We boarded the flight and landed in Kisumu couple of hours after. We drove directy to a coffee place to have a small meeting. At the coffee place we met John. John is one of the caretakers at Familia, the home for abused and "homeless" girls where I will spend a lot of time. Familia is the girl project Julie started to give girls here an opportunity to create a life for themselves. All this girls are coming from very sad and difficult backgrounds. John was telling us about his background and it was very touching.

"When my parents died when I was little, me and my sisters were left to ourselves more or less. I had 3 older sisters, the oldest one got married away by my family to a 78 years old man who already had 3 other wifes and that was HIV positive. She hated the life but she was forced into it. She manages to escape but had to live on the street as a prostitute to feed herself the following years. She died eventually. The same happened to my second oldest sister too. My third sister also turned out HIV positive, but she were able to give birth to a healthy baby. This girl is now living at Familia. My sister couldn't take care of her, and even tho she is still alive HIV have attacked here brain. That's why it's is so important for me to be here and help the girls and my niece. I want to make sure we create a life for them they deserve"

It wasn't only Johns story's I heard. But several of the girls stories, that we are supposed to meet later on this day. I was so shocked by the stories I have heard. None of these girls choose their life, they are forced and born into it. And I am sitting here thinking how lucky I am just because I am born in Norway. In another life we might have each other lives. I am just sitting there thinking I want to do whatever I can do help these people, these girls, as many as we can.

We also had to plan for the blessing bag event that we are doing Sunday. We are having an event for street kids, so they can come have a hot meal and get a blessing bag. The blessing bags consist of: tooth brushes, soap, a clean t-shirt etc. Nessacities that we take for granted. A hotel donated many of their employees to cook the food we needed that day. We are hoping to feed 200-250 street kids. So there is a lot of logistics and buying to plan for the 2 following days. We met up with the hotel and the chef and the manager er confirmed everything for Sunday. After the meeting we headed to lunch.

We had lunch in the middle of the local market where all locals eat. We had ugaly, which is a typical Kenyan food, it reminds me of mashed potatoes with less taste. Then some fish and kale salad. We eat with our hands, like the kenyan people do.

In the afternoon we did some food shopping at the market, and the impressions driving around were huge. There is poverty and slum next to nicer houses. You kinda just have to see it to understand it.

We were supposed to meet the girls on their house after they came from school so we drove up there. They live like a 20 min drive from town. There is no proper road so it was quite a bumby ride to Get there.We were supposed to live in Patricia's house. The girls neighbors. She live in a nicer house in the area. Its quite strange to see people living next to each other on such different levels. Some Barly have clothes to wear and some has a lot. We had to be very careful and could not walk around alone.

It was amazing to meet the girls. They all came dressed up in their uniforms. I havent seen bigger smiles then They got in a long time. It is a special feeling to know their background story and at the same time see them so happy to meet us. It is a lot to take in.

Patricia invited all of us for dinner - and we brought some extra guests too. So She basically invited 25 extra people for dinner additional to her own family which consisted of kids, grand-childrens and some friends. This is nothing like Norway where "we only have space for 8". We had a very lovely Kenyan meal.

At 8pm I was dead. But somehow my body was a little restless. The impressions throughout the day is a lot to take in. At the same time I am so thankful for this oppertunity. It really gives me a perspective on life in Norway and life in general. I can't to spend more time here and start out our projects.