Uncle Travelling Rock profile picture

Uncle Travelling Rock

My Dearest Gobo...

About Me


My name is Justin ‘TopRock’ Mckenzie and I am an artist (illustrator) and a musician blah blah blah…that is not the reason for this page, however if you want to explore my artistic side you can check my TopRockArts page.
This page is altogether something different…
For the last few years I have been seriously contemplating doing regular charity work abroad with disadvantage people, in some respect transferring some of what I do over here, however, my work schedules, money, time (every excuse) never allowed me the opportunity. I have no children (yet) and no ties, so I made a decision, that I'll not allow any excuses to prevent me from volunteering abroad. In fact I've decided to make it a part of my work/vocation.
At first I decided that over the next two years (God willing), I would partake in at least 10 charitable projects around the world. However, I have now decided that I will not put a time limit on how many years I will continue to do this work – I’m hoping to do this for the rest of my life! The intended project destinations for 2007 (subject to addition and change) are as follows...
Brazil: FEB 07' (teaching Art/English and working with impoverished kids, etc...) - COMPLETED
Kenya: JUNE 07' (school building project for girl orphans in Rift Valley Province ) - COMPLETED
Chicago: OCT 07' - CANCELLED DUE TO INJURY
Cuba: NOV 07' - POSTPONED UNTIL 2008
Rwanda: DEC 07' (community work - more info to follow)
In addition to the philanthropic – most important - aspect of what I’m doing, this will also be an exercise in photojournalism. This myspace page will be used as my journal (whilst my website in under construction), where I’ll be posting up pics, vids, blogs, etc. outlining my everyday experiences, travel wisdom (and foolishness), local & cultural issues, creative writing, inspirations, etc…
This page is a work in progress, so keep checking it regularly if you can!

My Interests



NEW ORDERING DETAILS WILL BE POSTED UP SHORTLY...

My General Interests

Art (creating and viewing)
Music (playing, making and listening - especially live!)
Music culture
Sport (doing & watching)
Martial arts
Keeping fit
Philosophy
Theology
Travel
Poetry
Writing
Deejaying
Promotion
Photography
Exploration
Adventure
Laughing
Smiling
Loving
Joking
Chatting
Thinking
Praying
Socialising
Chilling
Tough challenges
Having new experiences
Making a difference

I'd like to meet:

SUPERFRESH, SUPERFUN, PASSIONATE, LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE... WHO WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

Music:



My Musical Interests

Jazz
Afro Cuban
Afro Brazilian
Afrobeat
World sounds
Gospel
Soul
Rare groove
Funk
Hip Hop
Broken Beat
Electro
Rock
Reggae & Dub
Soca/Calypso
Classical
Baroque

...basically anything that touches me!

My Blog

Finally, full details of Rwanda project...

Hey, I am pleased to finally have the information to tell you about my next project taking place this December (16th -30th December)  yep, no Christmas with my family :-( &in fact, this will be...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Tue, 02 Oct 2007 05:12:00 PST

A tribute to Jane Tomlinson

I know this may seem a bit late, but I've been meaning to put this up for a while& I have long had a deep admiration for Jane Tomlinson - this 'super' woman - and her unbelievable achievements. She h...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:41:00 PST

FINALLY uploaded 100’s of pics from BRAZIL & KENYA Projects

As the title suggests, I have FINALLY uploaded 21 albums with hundreds of pics from the Brazil and Kenya projects. It took me absolutely ages to upload these images (and I'm talking hours and hours a...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:54:00 PST

Fundraising  Mohican style!

  Hey hey& As always, every project begins with my favourite (&I mean least favourite) activity  fundraising. Asking people for money, as you know, is one thing I really hate to do generally, h...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:16:00 PST

So, where next?

As you probably know by now, my next project is to be undertaken in Rwanda over the Christmas period (December 16th  30th). It is a community training programme, which involves working local communi...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Mon, 24 Sep 2007 08:31:00 PST

Back from the moon!

Sometimes life gets in the way of actually living. The summer (the worst I can remember) is now over. I had high hopes, big ambitions for the summer, which just didn't quite work out. Yes, I did go ...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Mon, 24 Sep 2007 08:29:00 PST

Africa - What’s it to me?

Hi, This blog is in two parts. Firstly, I consider my connection with, expectations of and first experience in Africa. I then digress into a comment on the plight faced by the people of Africa and th...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:07:00 PST

Some bad news&

In an interruption to my Kenya blogs, I have some bad news to report& On the weekend (Sunday 5th August), I played in a football match (which we won 7-3 by the way) and early into the second half I t...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:49:00 PST

The Build...

Well, now we get on to the nitty gritty&the build&the principal reason for this project. I'm not gonna bore you with all the technical details of the build (as I'm still not sure of them myself!) an...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:21:00 PST

The School, the Girls and the Teachers

Hi people, As I begin to share my experiences, I would firstly like to give you a little background on the school. Much of the following material about the school and it's function has been reference...
Posted by Uncle Travelling Rock on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:55:00 PST