Village Care International

Village Care Third Annual International Conference 1.27.12

2012-01-29T16:16:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

We just completed our third annual Village Care International Conference in Kisumu Kenya. Attending were the national leaders for VCI of our nine member countries, including Sierra Leone, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, and the Congo.

Nothing is sacred at Village Care, so to speak, except our faith in God, so we spend a lot of time on the topics; What is Village Care?, what works?, and what is our purpose? What can we do better? Each year I have seen amazing strides in our leadership and organization as we get our feet under us and mature into our calling. Now entering our 7^th year, Village Care is a very out of the box organization, and that means that we constantly challenge the status quo. This year our theme was “Shatter Conformity, Spark Transformation; therein lies the key to achieving our full potential”. It is from Romans chapter 12, verse 1. Village Care is a faith based community development organization that works among the poorest communities in Africa. Our focus is to care for people in crisis, mainly widows and orphans. Our main aim for orphans is to place them in loving homes where they will be safe, well cared for, loved, and protected.

We are different because we expect the poor to solve their own problems, and we hold them accountable for lifting themselves out of poverty. We don’t give a handout, and we don’t give a hand up, we don’t even teach them how to fish, actually. As I said, we are pretty out of the box in our thinking. From our first official VC Village in Kenya in 2005 we now have nearly 800 member villages across the belt of Africa from east to west. Each month we are expanding into about 30 communities. In Kenya nearly 27000 orphans are involved in some phase of Village Care initiatives. Last year almost 7000 new volunteers joined nearly 100,000 Africans already involved in VCI, working without any compensation. About 300 new business were started through our Outcomes for Business program. We also added about 600 “small group projects”, all of which exist to support their own local orphan populations, and all of them started without any outside donations or loans. That’s something virtually everyone believes to be impossible.

I started Village Care for a few simple reasons, mainly that nothing else works in Africa, and I could see nothing to lose by trying something radically different. In spite of what you may think, after trillions in donations, Africa is getting poorer and increasingly more radicalized every day. Nothing feeds terrorist movements quite as effectively as poverty. I often hear Americans express how happy they think the poor are. When they visit Africa they see happy little children playing in the streets just like children everywhere. But to be honest, the poor don’t like being poor, and in the world at large there is massive unrest. When those kids grow up they become prime targets for radical sects. Our original plan this year was to meet in Jos Nigeria but that area has been struggling through quite a bit of strife with insurgency by a radical Islamic sect known as Boca Haran. There have been bombings targeting churches, many deaths, and a deepening sense of national crisis. The group in Nigeria has targeted Christians and the eradication of Western teaching as one of its primary goals. Such radicalism is spreading across all of Africa.

We have come a long way in a few short years. Across our nine member countries we have invitations to train over 200 new communities and requests from 248 existing villages for Outcomes for Business Training. There are about 400 Villages that just need followup, but our resources are stretched pretty thin. Everyone seems to agree that our understanding of how to really empower the poor to take care of themselves is a solid, it really works, but most people would still prefer to give $25 to feed an orphan for $25 per month that they feel connected to rather than give $25.00 to feed a hundred of them, about what it costs us to support our network. We struggle to make that compelling personal and emotional connection. We aren’t very good at marketing frankly, and haven’t figured out how to help people connect at a heart level to our work.

God is in charge though, and in spite of all logic, we keep growing, and I figure that as long as we keep our focus on His work, then our work will thrive. We sincerely do appreciate your help, and I can guarantee you that a dollar to Village Care is an investment in a brighter future, not a perpetual welfare program.

This year we gained a lot of clarity and I was deeply impressed by the maturity and ownership our African Leaders have expressed in our time together. We clarified our role as agents of change, and we spent a lot of time reflecting and working on how we express ourselves to the world. Here are some key points.

Village Care International 3^RD Conference Summary

Vision: We promote healthy and empowered communities around the world.

Mission: We equip leaders to mobilize their communities to empower their widows and orphans to raise their standard of living using the resources they have on hand.

Purpose: James 1:27; “Pure worship in the site of God is this; to visit widows and orphans in their distress, and keep oneself unstained by the world”. To put it simply we serve God and each other by assisting vulnerable populations to thrive.

Method: Our method is to present a program called OPOS; Outcomes Practices and Open Space, and a followup program called Outcomes for Business, and other community and family programs that promote self-reliance within the local community and eliminates dependence on donor-funded initiatives. Our main care program is called Outcomes for Children, and our main support program is called Basic Home Practices.

The Roadmap for Village Care

1. The road must lead to independence for each country VC Initiative to be self sustained.

2. The roadmap for Empowerment is to spark transformation using OPOS within the community, then fuel transformation with activities that encourage the continuation of the process in the life of the person, family, and community. Benchmarks are:

a. OPOS to OFB (Outcomes for Business)

b. SLOPE within and without (the members of the community and the encouragers who come live to Serve, Learn, Observe, Pray, and Encourage.

c. An actualized Phase I community has:

i. The support of the majority of the community

ii. Groups meeting regularly

iii. Active projects continuing across the five practices

iv. Projects focused on the vulnerable population (via registration or scoring)

d. An actualized Phase II Community

i. Is adding new members continuously

ii. Meeting personal, family and community goals

iii. Has a measurable focus on a vulnerable population, which is registered and scored by the Community Leaders.

iv. Has officially become a VCI Member Community approved by the National Team

e. An Actualized Phase III Community

i. Has profitable income producing groups/businesses that support the vulnerable community.

ii. Has volunteers involved in community development

1. A Care Community that may Include

a. Child Care Centers

b. Adult Literacy programs

iii. Is regularly conducting OPOS programs within their community.

iv. Is actively supporting VCI Initiatives inside and outside their community.

f. A Phase IV Community

i. Is always growing and expanding programs and ideas.

ii. Has a Volunteer Group Training adjacent communities

iii. The newly trained communities are accurately replicating the principles of VCI.

iv. Has an official VCI representative at the regional level

v. Actively supports VCI nationally financially

If all four phases are not within the seed of VCI at day one, they will not materialize. Grafting in added essential concepts later is much more difficult.

The VCI Dictionary:

· OPOS, a skeleton that communities can use to grow a body of work. OPOS is a program of Outcomes for Children (our Target Group), Basic Home Practices (the tools necessary to accomplish the Outcomes and raise a healthy community), and a self-initiating event called OPEN SPACE.

· Outcomes for Children: A program that identifies practical ways to insure that every child in the community starting with the most vulnerable is safe, healthy, living in a loving home, and has a good reputation in the community.

· Practices: Basic Home Practices are the essential features of a healthy community that has good Sanitation, Nutrition, Health Awareness, enforced Educational Policies, and Economic Security reflected by growing businesses and creating jobs.

· OPEN SPACE: After exploring the skeletal framework of Outcomes and Practices the members take charge of the program and meet in self selected groups to answer five questions:

o What will I do for myself

o What will I do for my family

o What will I do for my community

o Who will I do it with

o When Will I do it

· Conformity: The barrier to change, conformity can include tradition, or any habit that maintains the status quo.

· Transformation: Transformation is a new life, not a repair of an old life. To transform means to be made new.

· Empowered: A person is empowered when they are able to make their own choices. The more choices one can make for themselves, the more empowered the person is.

· Community or Village: a community is any group that has a common interest and works together to solve problems.

· Healthy Community: A healthy community reflects a collaboration of projects that keeps the community and members clean, healthy, learning, and working together to care for themselves and their most vulnerable population.

· Self-Actualization: Achieving our full potential personally and as a community

Village Care Succeeds because:

· It is a movement that inspires cooperation

· It is adaptable to the community it serves

· We prepare in faith, live in hope and are inspired by Devine grace

· VCI immediately points to an internal solution, owned by the community, not an external solution dependent on someone else.

· Of the use of Open Space around a Skeletal Framework of Goals and Tools to inspire the community to solve their own problems.

· Of SLOPE, leaders and members Serve, Learn, Observe, and Pray and Encourage each other all the time.

January 29, 2012

David Glenwinkel, Founder

3240 Professional Drive

Auburn, Ca. 95602

www.villagecare.com

What will you do today to make a difference?

Community Profile: Bar Ndingo Village and Mraera Group

2012-01-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

Group: Mraera Group

Location: Bar Ndingo Village, North West Kisumu, Kenya

Description: This small but inspiring group of individuals is the product of a Village Care OPOS Training program lead by our Kenya National Director Jack Mila. After receiving the training and coming together as a group to discuss the greatest needs in their community, Mraera Group decided to focus their goals on providing education for orphans in their village. The main goal of all of their project efforts would be to provide funds for school fees and supplies, provide uniforms, and supply any other resources the child would need to attend and be successful at school. Currently the group is supporting two young boys ages 8 years and 10 years old. They are both in grade three are doing doing extremely well in school.

To accomplish this amazing goal the group has taken on several income generating projects. These include the building, stocking, and maintaining of three fish ponds, the making and selling of bricks, and raising and selling poultry to the local market. The fish ponds have been a great success for this group in particular. Since their construction less than a year ago Mraera Group has been able to harvest the fish 3 times totaling $300, which $200 would be profit after paying expenses of the ponds. This is a significant amount of money and has allowed the group to support the two orphans that live in their village.

For what this group lacks in size it makes up for in resolve and the passion to see its own orphans and children have the chance at a better life. They have taken what they have on hand, without the help of any outside group or agency, and have impacted the lives of not only the two boys they support, but everyone who lives in their village. Mraera Group is a shining example of what can be done when a community comes together with a common goal in the spirit of cooperation and hard work and makes the decision to improve their lives on their own. Let them be an example to all of us about what the human will and spirit can accomplish when given the chance to succeed.

Specific Activities: Fish ponds, brick making, poultry keeping

Community Profile: Nyahera Village and the Amazing Group

2012-01-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

Over the next few weeks we are going to be highlighting some pretty awe-inspiring examples of how the Village Care method and vision are changing the lives of people all over Africa. These next few profiles will focus mainly on the area in and around Kisumu Kenya and will showcase a variety of projects and groups impacting the lives of children and others in profound and incredible ways. We hope that through sharing in these successes that you might be able to see how through empowerment, education, and understanding those who live in poverty can overcome it and enrich not only their own lives, but the lives of all those around them. Please enjoy these stories and as always please remember, Village Care depends on the support of people like you to keep this work going. Please visit our website at http://www.villagecare.com/ to support these and many other people throughout the world making an impact in their communities.

Group: Amazing Support Group

Location: Nyahera Village, Kisumu, Kenya

Description: This group truly lives up to its namesake. A while back we wrote about a woman named Judith who is a member of the Amazing Group and a prime example of what these men and women are all about. This group is comprised of HIV positive men and woman who have taken a stand and refused to be pushed to the fringes of their community. During the original Village Care OPOS training in their village this group of people stood in front of a room full of their peers and declared that yes, they are HIV positive but they will not hide from it. On the contrary they choose to stand and fight and educate those in their community on this horrible disease. One of their biggest goals as a group is to break down barriers between HIV positive people and their neighbors and destroy the stigma that surrounds this disease. Since that first day when they decided to stand the Amazing Group has accomplished so much. They now have a fully functioning support and home care program for those individuals too sick with HIV to care for themselves. They are also engaged in goat and poultry keeping as well as jewlelry making to generate a susbstantial income for their group. These profits are pooled together and given out to the group equally and used to support those in need. If there was one group who embodied all that Village Care strives to be and bring to the communities we work in, it would be the Amazing Group.

Specific Activities: Community Education, Local and Alpine Goat Keeping, Home Based Care, Small Community Banking, Jewelry Making

Village Care Directors Conduct First Ever OPOS Training in the DRC

2011-12-13T20:19:00.000-08:00

Village Care Directors Mitchell Lutaaya (Uganda) and Jean-Baptiste Sibomana (

Burundi

) are currently in the Democratic Republic of Congo conducting OPOS trainings there. They are currently in Goma meeting with community leaders and officials during their training sessions. The DRC is one of our newest countries and the progress so far is promising. Below are updates from both Mitchell and Jean-Baptiste on the very beginnings of the trainings. Join with us in supporting these two men and the amazing work that is going on right now.

December 12^th, 2011

Dear Friends, Pr. Jean-Baptiste and I arrived safely in Goma yesterday. Goma is safe and quiet. We have a city-wide leaders' meeting today at the Bungwe Hotel starting 8am local time. Among the dignitaries expected are the local government officials including the city mayor. Tomorrow we'll speak to church leaders from the entire city and then we'll speak to the citizenry on Thursday. In effect, that means 3 OPOS trainings in 3 days. Please pray for strength, clarity, focus and safety.

God bless you.

-Mitchell

December 13^th, 2011

Hi everyone,

This is Jean Baptiste in Goma (DRC).Thank you all for praying for us. Mitchell and I have just finished our first day of training. It has been very wonderful, well organized, and full of heavy protocol where the day and the training was opened by the mayor of Goma. We feel so fulfilled and have enjoyed our day and saw that the combined OPOS in one day was a success. This is a place we will have to come back.

God bless you all

-JB

VCI Board Members Visit Village Care Burundi

2011-12-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

During a recent visit to Africa, VCI founder David Glenwinkel and Village Care board member Dave Steiner (the Davids) made a visit to Burundi to observe the amazing work of one our newest country initiatives is doing. Below is a report written by Jean-Baptise Sibomana, the Director of Village Care Initiatives - Burundi.

They arrived on 9^th November 2011 and went straight to the hotel “Le Bouquet”.

The 10^th of November 2011, we went to Kinama Commune ( Bujumbura Province, Buhinyuzacolline) in a farm where a number of widows were cultivating potatoes and other crops to support their children and some other orphans.

After that, we went to Gatumba village to see the orphanage where there are boys and girls living in that home supported by those women we saw farming. We gave them soccer balls. I will give them blankets on the 6^th December 2011.

Then we went to the border of Burundi and DRC and stepped on the soil of DRCongo a bit.

We continued our visit to a group of women who do the grounding for cassava flour (the staple food here) to support their orphans.

We also went to visit a group of men and young men who are keeping goats and have been helping some orphans and people living with HIV AIDS. They are trying to use a place of hand washing. We want to see if we can introduce that to all villages for people to have a place for handwashing.

After lunch, we had a small meeting with the executive committee (the VCI Burundi Board), then started our long journey to Gitega province where the Davids saw their hotel rooms and visited JB’s home for dinner and the day was over.

The 11^th of November 2011 was a busy day when we took an early breakfast and started a journey to Gikomero refugee camp (camp for displaced people) in Kayanza Province, Commune of Rango. After talking to them and looking at their farm, we headed to Buramyacolline.

Yes, we went to Buramyacolline (Rango Commune, Kayanza Province) where we visited men and women at work in a farm working, then got their story, then looked at their cattle, saw the crafts of other women of baskets and traditional plates, gave them balls and blankets for pictures. After that we walked to an indigenous group (group of Twas) where pots of clay, mats and baskets are being made to support orphans and widows.

After that we drove a very long distance going to Rutana province to meet the governor of Rutana but passing by JB’s home for lunch. We saw the governor who liked the work of VCI Burundi.

On our way back to Gitega we visited 3 groups of people working together to support their orphans: in Munyweroand Nyakiruri. It was dark by then and we had to rush going to Gitega to rest for that night.

The 12^th November 2011, from 8 am to 10:30 am there is always community work where people clean where they live here in Burundi, that is the command of the government. After that, we visited one great group of widows who came up together to support their orphans, right in the center of Gitega town, in a place called Nyabugogo.

After that we drove to Bujumbura for the Davids to catch the airplane.

That is the summary of the short visit of the Davids. It was short but very important on our side so that the Davids can see what we are doing in Burundi as Village Care Initiatives-Burundi.

To God be all the glory for all the things that He has done and is doing in and through us!

On Behalf of Village Care Initiatives-Burundi

Pastor Jean-Baptiste Sibomana

VCI Burundi Director

US TEAM VISITS BURUNDI IN NOVEMBER

2011-11-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

Village Care International Founder David Glenwinkel and US Board member David Steiner have arrived in Burundi where they will visit and view the work started there in late 2010.

"The David's", as they are known, will travel to various communities to observe the outcomes of the OPOS training done in November of 2010. Among many stops they will visit the community of Buhunyuza to observe a farming project, and the Gasenyi area, where they will see the indigenous pygmee tribe Twas. Another stop will take them to Gatumba village, where they will visit a flour making project started by 2 teams of women, and one goat project started by some young men, all to help the orphans in their community.
This is just a sampling of their visit to Burundi where they will be on the road almost non-stop for three days before heading to Uganda.

Please keep our US and Burundi teams in your prayers as they traverse the less-than-perfect road conditions there, and as they visit in places that have recently seen tribal violence. Pray for protection from all harm and for their safe flight to Uganda on Saturday.

Thank you all for your never-ending support!
Sally

US Board Member Dave Steiner (Colorado) and Village Care Burundi Director Jean-Baptiste Sibomana share a meal after The David's arrival

Progress Update Village Care Nigeria

2011-10-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

Village Care Nigeria Director Phillips Elisha sends along a report outlining the work that is taking place throughout Nigeria and the amazing impact it is having. The hard work, dedication, and innovation of VCI Nigeria is a constant source of inspiration and pride for all of Village Care. As the work continues to grow and expand please continue to support this work as you already do and help us bring this life-changing training to many more countries throughout the world. Thank you and God Bless.

“Hello,

Calvary Greetings!

I want to use this time to thank God for you and for what God has used to achieve through the years. Our ministry has tremendously been blessed with many fruits as a result of your partnership. Please read the following items so that you can be encouraged in our partnership and also see what is at stake at the present.

1. We have over 50 active communities that are involved in community transformation helping children to be safe, at home, healthy, in school and behaving well - over 60,000 are involved in this community transformation through the practices of sanitation, nutrition, healthcare, education and economic security.

2. Our family recovery program has been outstanding. We have helped to restore over 200 homes that are completely broken and we are working with over 400 others in various communities. Using our recovery materials, “Life Hurts God Heals”, “Life, the Struggle Within”, “Purpose Driven Life” “Steps to Freedom in Christ”, “Celebrate Recovery”, “Life, the Enemy Within” and many other recovery materials, Schools (through parents teachers associations), churches, men and women fellowships and communities continue to find our approach very resourceful and life transforming.

3. Over 1000 young adults have are involved in our addiction recovery program (drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography etc.). Well over 200 of these are fully recovered and the rest are in various stages of recovery. 12 of them have graduated from the university, 10 of them are currently in university, and over 20 of them are preparing to go.

4. We have registered over 700 orphans and over 200 widows. All these Orphans were never in school before but are now doing, by far, better than they have ever been or ever hoped to be.

5. Our business trainings have positively impacted over 34,000 people in all the communities we are working with. Scores of these people are from families that cannot meet their basic needs but now can pay their bills to meet their day today domestic needs.

6. Our discipleship groups have now 4 branches, stemming from one branch. Over 500 people have committed their lives to Christ and are being discipled.

This is huge for us but we are honestly humbled. We are humbled especially that only 7 of us are full time staff. In some spectacular way you have been a part of this and we want you to know so that you can be encouraged that your prayers and contribution have not been in vain. Many families will forever be changed as a result of this labor of love from you.

But the major challenge is not having these records and numbers. Many times we can be lost and deceived by statistics. Our major challenge is sustaining this effort. We can continue to expand each day and have overwhelming statistics but that for us is not the point. As we work hard in a holistic way for an entire transformation (temporal and eternal) we want to build each part of our work for a genuine impact.

It is because of this that we are planning to hold a volunteer training, with the intent of creating a strong volunteer workforce that will help us do this work and especially help us in discipleship and in sustaining our activities. This is where we want you to come in right now. We already have a team of volunteers - over 50 of them - but we have not been able to achieve a comprehensive training for them and with the momentum we have gathered there is no better time to have such training as now. We therefore need your prayers for this and sponsorship.
It will cost us N270, 000 (roughly $1700 USD) to host this training and this will include transport, accommodation, meals and materials. We pray that God will lay it on your heart to be part of this. Let me know if this is what you will consider doing. We hope that the training will hold on the 19^th on November.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers, we are so blessed to have you to be a part of us.

Thanks,

Phillips Elisha D
Director, Village Care Nigeria”

OCTOBER 2011 KENYA TEAM FINAL REPORT, OCTOBER 14, 2011

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

We are sad to say goodbye to Kenya, but here we are at the airport waiting for our gate to be assigned.

Upon arrival in Nairobi, our afternoon Thursday was spent at the Karen Blixen Museum in the town of Karen (yes, named after her). This house is not only famous for its previous inhabitant, but for being the set for the movie about her life – Out of Africa. It was fun to learn so much about this woman and her life, and see so many original items in her home. Although we couldn’t find a copy of the book at the gift shop, we enjoyed looking around and seeing the beautiful grounds there.

We left there and went to Kazuri Beads, just around the corner from the museum. Kazuri is world famous for their beautiful pottery and glazed beads made into necklaces, bracelets and earrings, among other things. They employ a large number of widows working to care for their children, and in addition to offering them a decent salary, also provide medical care on sight, meals during work hours and transportation to and from work for the women. They also employ a few men! J We got to tour the factory, watching as the women made the beads for orders that come in from all over the world.

The men make the pottery and the women decorate it all by hand. All of it is glazed and then kiln-fired to perfection.

It was a great way to spend our afternoon back in Nairobi and everyone enjoyed their time there, despite the rain storm that blew in on top of us.

We headed back to our guest house (the same one we stayed in upon arrival) and spent Thursday night lounging in front of a crackling fire, enjoying some “down time” as we wound down our trip.

We awoke this morning and after a yummy breakfast that included omelets, toast and of course, great Kenyan coffee, we set out for the Hilton Arcade where Karen, Yvonne and Randee were introduced to Babu’s gift shop. Babu is a great friend to Village Care and VC team members and he sells some beautiful items in his tiny shop next to the Hilton. A dollar can go a long way there and after doing “secondary” shopping at his brother’s shop across the aisle, we walked away with many bags of goodies!

Sally was picking up items for the VC shop located in their office so she had the most, but everyone enjoyed indulging a bit in the great deals to be had.

When Phillip picked us up and we had our treasures loaded in the van, we set out for the town of Karen (again) and the Giraffe Center. Each of the first-time visitors to Kenya took their turn letting the giraffe take a food pellet out of their mouth (disgusting!) and we got some great pictures of those wonderful giraffe kisses, slobber and all. Yvonne was especially funny when she got her kiss – a great picture of her looking as if she might smell a skunk somewhere! Karen and Randee enjoyed their kisses so much, they went back again and again.

We left there and went to the Nappet Tours office where we packed all our goodies in our bags and then headed to the airport to drop Yvonne off for her return to Kisumu. We were sad to say goodbye to her but also a little jealous that she got to return! We wish her the best for her extended stay in Kenya!

The rest of us spent the rest of our afternoon doing what else? Shopping! We somehow managed to pack more into our bags and loaded everything up for our own ride to the airport. Sally felt blessed when the nice woman at Swiss Air check-in let her slide on “big red”, her huge red suitcase that has made almost as many trips to Africa as Sally has, when it weighed in about 8 kilograms too heavy. After a little discussion and some pleading from Sally, the woman said, well, your other bags are light so I will let it go. Thank you!!! We got all our bags checked and proceeded upstairs to where we sit now.

We are all anxious to get home and see all of you! Please be praying for uneventful flights that will go by quickly. If you want, you can pray for some decent airline food, too. J

Please note: if you are picking up your team member from your local airport, you don’t need to consider customs at all. We will go through customs in Washington DC so please be waiting at the airport for us at our arrival time!

Thank you all, once again, for all your love, support and prayers. We can’t wait to see you and tell you all about our trip and everything we’ve learned. Despite what you might read on the internet or hear on TV, Kenya (and Africa in general) is a wonderful place, with loving, kind, generous and joyful people who have blessed us beyond measure. Please keep them all in your prayers – they will be thankful and blessed, too!

See you all soon!
Love and blessings to all –

Karen, Randee, Yvonne and Sally

OCTOBER 2011 KENYA TEAM REPORT, OCT 10-12, 2011

2011-10-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Family!

We have had three fantastic days here in Kenya, and now, as we prepare to go home, we are already sad to say goodbye to this beautiful country. This note is long, but we hope you will enjoy traveling with us as we tell you about our travels and adventures in and out of Kisumu, Nairobi and Masai Mara.
Monday morning we drove out to the Salem Farm to see their women’s project where widows are working to clear acreage to start farms to help feed their families. Currently there is approximately 15 acres that are planted and from which food is harvested to feel the children of Salem Orphanage and the Salem schools (primary and secondary). There is so much food on the farm, in fact, that it can’t be harvested fast enough and the smell of rotting vegetables permeates the air in some spots. There just aren’t enough hands to pick the food off the vines and Phoebe Onyango, the Farm and Orphanage/School owner and director, is hoping to create a program where school children can learn about farming and harvesting with field trips to pick food off the plants.
There is another project connected to this one where local widows hope to clear their own fields and plant and harvest food. The biggest problem with this is that so much of the land is overrun by huge brush and bushes, and the widows can’t clear it fast enough to get anything planted.

We watched as one widow, using her panga (machete) to clear just one bush, worked furiously to knock down the scrub as she wrestled with the vines and did her best to avoid the many thorns. After about 15 minutes of swinging the long knife into the thick branches, she had made little headway….and she still has acres and acres of this brush left to cut down. Phoebe has a tractor available to help with clearing and plowing of the many, many acres these women hold, but lacks the funds to pay for a driver and fuel to get the job done. She is working on fundraising for this now and hopes to have enough to get the project started before the rainy season begins in April.
We also got to see the new water pump that was donated by Village Care’s June team.

The pump forces water from Lake Victoria up the hills and into the fields and reservoirs so that all 15 acres can be irrigated. When the June team visited the farm and saw their meager little pump trying furiously to do the job, they inquired about the cost to replace it with a better pump. They came home and started fundraising and in less than three months, have managed to raise all $5000 to purchase the pump that now blesses the fields daily with adequate water to grown the crops. The fields were dust when the June team visited, but today, they are alive and full of maize (corn), cabbage and tomatoes, among other things.

We left the Farm and took the long drive back to town. Napping along the way, we were happy to arrive at Orongo Children’s Home to visit Florence Ogundo and her wonderful staff and children. We shared some roselle (hibiscus) tea – yum - and then visited the shop that is run to raise funds for the orphanage. We began shopping only to be invaded by a swarm of bees! With one person on the team allergic to bee stings, it was a little unnerving, but it didn’t stop the shopping….everyone just moved outside and continued to make their purchases
As they were finishing up, a young girl arrived whom the May team had helped with some medical care. Her name is Lydia and when the May team met her, she had two growths on the side of her neck that were causing her severe neck pain and migraines. Florence had told Sally about Lydia and without even meeting her, the team arranged for her to visit a local private hospital. Tests were run and after weeks of waiting, surgery for one side of her neck was finally scheduled and completed in mid-September.
Lydia arrived to greet our team but when Sally asked her if she was doing okay, she replied “no, I am not okay”. Her neck was swollen on the side she’d had surgery but it was the other side that was giving her so much pain this day. Randee looked at it and after Lydia told her that the latest trouble started only that morning, told Jack that Lydia needed to see a doctor immediately. Jack called the doctor who’d seen her in May and thankfully, he was in the office and told Jack to bring her over right away. We all loaded into the van, including Lydia, Florence and Ann (a teacher at Orongo) and sped over to the hospital. We dropped Jack and the Orongo ladies there to see the doctor and Philemon took the team to the small Masai Market about 10 minutes away.
As we started to peruse the stalls of crafts and gifts, Philemon let Sally know he was on his way back to pick up Jack – the doctor had been waiting for Lydia to arrive and had seen her immediately. She had a fever and infection, so she received anti-biotic injections right away. He also gave her more anti-biotics to take home as well as some pain relievers to make her more comfortable. (Note: we heard from Pastor Jack on Wednesday night that Lydia is feeling better and her pain has subsided, and we are grateful we could play a part in her recovery. )
The shopping at the market continued and after striking several bargains with shop owners, Karen, Yvonne and Randee walked away with items and deals in hand. Sally held out and declined the many generous offers of the shop owners to “come and see, you will like my shop!” since she has almost all the things they were selling already. In triplicate.

Our evening ended with a fantastic and authentic Kenyan dinner that Evelyn had prepared while we were out. Along with the ugali and sakuma wiki that we’d tasted at the Migosi orphanage when we were painting, we also had mince meat and the real crowd-pleaser, chipati. Chipati is similar to thick tortillas, but they are fried lightly in oil and served alongside the meat dish. To eat properly, Evelyn said, you take a small amount of ugali in your right and roll it into a ball, then a piece of chipati in your left hand and you go to work soaking up the juices from the mince meat and scooping the meat and sakuma wiki with the bread. Almost everyone tried and loved it – the food was delicious! We topped it off with more fresh avocado and pineapple and walked away from the table more full than we really wanted to be.
We returned to our house reluctantly to pack and prepare for our journey the next morning.
As with EVERY night, Karen stopped to consider just how good a banana split would be right then…..

Tuesday morning we were up and at the breakfast table early, after which everyone piled into the van and we headed for the airport. Saying goodbye to Jack, Evelyn, Junior and of course, Philemon, was more difficult than you can imagine. These wonderful people have taken such good care of the team for the last eight days – we will miss them so much and ask you to keep them in your prayers each day.

Our plane left a few minutes early and when we landed in Nairobi a short 40 minutes later, Phillip, our driver, was waiting outside the terminal for us. Phillip is one of the two men who picked us up from the airport when we arrived in Nairobi, and Tuesday he was there to greet us again. He marveled at how little luggage we had this time saying “Americans always have so many bags, but you have so little!”
He was happy to load us in the van and at our request, head for an optical store to buy contact lens solution for Karen. She wouldn’t have needed it if she hadn’t dropped a bottle in the airplane’s bathroom trash bin by accident on the way into Nairobi, but that’s another story……
As we left downtown Nairobi and headed out for the Masai Mara, Yvonne, Karen and Randee had no idea what to expect in terms of the sights they’d see. Not only were they getting their first daylight view of this huge metropolis, they were about to embark on the sightseeing trip of a lifetime. The drive from Nairobi to the Mara Simba Lodge is about six hours, but thanks to Phillip’s determination and skill, we arrived in just under 5 hours. Along the drive in (about the last hour), the team had seen some zebra grazing, some Thompson’s gazelle nearby, and a herd of giraffe (about 12 of them) from a distance. None were close enough to get a good picture, but it whet the appetite to see more, so although we’d been sitting all day in either a plane or a van, the team chose to clean up and head out again in half an hour. We showered (ahhh…hot water feels so good!), changed clothes, and got back in the van to venture out into the Mara. This decision will never be regretted!
While on the two hour game drive, we saw not only the “usual” animals (such as zebra, gazelle, topi, and antelope, to name a few), we were also treated to the special gift of seeing a leopard lounging in a tree! This is a rare sighting and after about a 10 minute wait for the five vans in line in front of us to make their way over to the tree the leopard slept in, we slowly took our turn and crawled our van to a vantage point at the base of the tree. Looking up we saw this most beautiful cat stretched out across a large limb, lazing soundly as van after van of onlookers passed him by.

He was difficult to see in the mix of branches since his spotted colors matched that of the tree, but clearly this cat was there and taking his afternoon siesta. We stayed just a minute, as was mandated, and we left knowing we had a glimpse of something special. As we drove down the hill in search of more wildlife, crossing paths with van after van after van, we looked back to see a queue of about 15 vehicles waiting for their chance to see the big cat. We were so thankful we came upon him when we did!
We continued on our afternoon journey and saw more giraffe, impala, monkeys, mongoose, Eland, Grant gazelle, elephants , black back jackal, warthogs, and so much more.
We closed out our travel day with a scrumptious dinner in the lodge dining room. It was buffet style and we feasted until we were full of fresh salads, soup, assorted meats and cooked vegetables, and ended with sampling several of the desserts the lodge laid out to tempt us. We returned to our adjoining rooms with full bellies and ready to sleep.
As each of us drifted off, we suddenly heard splashing in the river below our rooms. Sally and Karen jumped up and ran onto their terrace just in time to see two hippos sloshing down the Talek River just below us. As they gazed out across the moonlit terrain, suddenly Sally felt something touch her shoulder. She jumped about a mile high and turned to see Randee tip-toeing up behind her to see what all the splashing was all about. While we tried in vain not to go into hysterics, Randee looked out to see another huge hippo sauntering down the path on the opposite side of the small river. The awe drowned out our laughter and we ended our night with gratitude and joy. All in all, another wonderful day in Kenya.

Wednesday brought the excitement of spending a day out on the Mara. After a yummy breakfast we headed out for our all-day game drive, boxed lunches and cameras in hand. The day did not disappoint us in any way! We were so blessed to come across prides of lounging lions, a hyena taking a mud bath, two beautiful cheetah (brothers, we were told)

sleeping under an acacia tree, herds of elephant and hippos, and even several crocodile. We stopped along the Mara River where our guide, James, took us to view the many hippos and crocodiles in the river. We asked if we could lure the crocs over if we threw Karen in the river as bait. He stared at us a minute (we thought perhaps he didn’t understand our English) and then turned to Karen and said “Can you swim?” Needless to say, James got a nice tip for his expertise and his sense of humor.

When we stopped for lunch, we enjoyed our box of goodies that the lodge had packed and as we did, the monkeys came….suddenly, it got scary! These monkeys are thieves, according to Phillip, and as he cautioned us to watch our food, he chased the monkeys away -all but one who bravely decided he was going to get something from us or die trying. He was on the ground behind Randee when suddenly, he leapt about 5 feet high and 8 feet across in an attempt to grab some goodies. He sailed just over the top of Randee’s head as she ducked , slammed into Sally and almost screamed. As he flew over us, he hit Yvonne’s shoulder on his way down. He hit the ground running!
Phillip chased him away and as we finished our lunches, we watched as a large group of tourists lay out their picnic a short distance from where we stood. Sure enough, the wily monkey dove in and through the crowd in an instant, grabbing a banana on the way. He ran up the tree, with Phillip chasing him and throwing sticks in an attempt to stop him. The thief made his way up the tall tree and sat down to peel and eat his treasure. We laughed hard at all of this – it’s pretty funny when it’s someone else getting their lunch stolen by a roving monkey-thief. The tour group was laughing, too, and we drove off with yet another story to share about our eventful game drive. Little did we know, the best was yet to come.

As we continued along our drive, Sally stood up and her hat blew off and out of the van. Since we are not supposed to get out of the van at all while in the Mara, she asked Phillip to stop and back up so we could maybe lean out get the hat (one of only a few Village Care hats left in the world). After putting the van in reverse for about twenty feet, and since we were in a wide-open area of the park with full visibility on approaching animals, Phillip jumped out of the van and retrieved it, much to Sally’s delight. This situation was “easy” in comparison to the one we found ourselves in just a few minutes later.

We pulled up to a large lion pride laying around in some bushes after a good meal (no doubt), and as Phillip pulled slowly forward, the van suddenly lurched. Since we were all standing up in the pop-top van preparing to take our pictures, each of us lost our footing for a moment. Yvonne surged forward and thankfully, caught herself before slamming into the van roof, but her eyeglasses didn’t stop moving! Over the top of the van they went and onto the ground - in front of us. And…right in front of the lion pride……we were in trouble. We were only a few feet away from the lions already. As we pondered how to get her glasses without getting out of the van or getting eaten, we all got a little nervous as one lioness shifted her position and got into one that allowed her to leap easily if needed. Sally had seen this position before – her dog does it all the time – and as she was ready to declare the glasses gone forever rather than risk anyone’s life by retrieving them, Phillip slowly moved the van backwards, then forward and slightly to the left . This put us in between the glasses and the cats, and moved us even closer to the lions. As he pulled up beside the eyeglasses, he opened his door and leaned out to retrieve them - our hero! We were relieved for Yvonne and so thankful the lions hadn’t objected too much, although the one lioness clearly didn’t like all this commotion right in front of her family. She stuck her head out and glared, and as she did Phillip stepped on the gas and got us out of there. It’s probably the only time in VCI history that a team has ever wanted to get away from a lion pride!

As we made our way back to the lodge, we were blessed to see something just about as amazing as it gets (and not get a picture). A herd of wildebeest were on their way to the Mara River to make their crossing back to Tanzania, as this is the end of the annual migration. We watched in awe as one by one, all in a single file line, they climbed down the hill into the now-shallow riverbed and crossed, leaping up the hill on the other side. Yvonne said she felt that this was such a primal scene it was almost as if we’d been transported back in time, as this scene probably has been going on since the beginning of time. A short drive later we saw another group of wildebeest, led by several zebra, heading for the river. This group was at least 400-strong. A few more zebra brought up the rear and as the long line made their way to the river, we were in awe once again of God’s creation surrounding us and the majesty of the great Masai Mara.

The only animal we didn’t see that we’d hoped to get a glimpse of is the ever-elusive rhino. These are endangered and it’s not often teams get to see them. Although there was a sighting and we tried and tried to find him, this rhino kept his distance and stayed in stealth mode as we returned to the lodge, tired and thankful for everything we’d seen.

We left Masai Mara early this morning (Thursday), stopping along the way at a Masai village to see how this amazing tribe lives and works. We learned a lot and bought a few beautiful souvenirs, and we are now on the road, on our way back to Nairobi.

We will try to get one final email out before we leave for home, but if we don’t, hakuna matata (no worries)!! We have had a fantastic trip and we will treasure every moment. Thank you for being with us in our hearts and spirits as we worked alongside the beautiful people of Kenya as they strive for a better life for their families. God bless you all and thank you, once again, for your prayers, support and encouragement.

God bless you all -
Yvonne, Randee, Karen and Sally

October 2011 Kenya Team October 9

2011-10-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

We are having a great trip and missing all of you very much. We can't wait to show you pictures of all we have seen and experienced.

Sunday was a day of wonderful fellowship and relaxation. After a breakfast of French toast and a cup of Africafe coffee, dressed in our Sunday best, we headed off to Salem Church for morning services. We arrived just as a young dance troupe was finishing up a lively number and “rocking the house". These kids, about 12 and under, were led by the tiniest girl with so much energy and amazing rhythm! She looked, in size, to be about five years old but was probably about 9. She danced at the front of the stage, with her back to the audience, and led the moves while the rest of the kids watched her and tried their best to keep up. As they finished up, congregation members came to the front and left monetary gifts for the group. It was very inspiring to see the evident pride the congregation had in their kids.

Next came the teenagers.....along with the same little girl. Again she was up front but this time it was just so she didn't get lost behind the bigger kids s she became part of the lineup. She joined them in a great number that culminated with a "spotlight" on one young man and woman as they danced from the back of the staged to the front, making moves that had everyone cheering for more. This group was also rewarded for their efforts with donations from the congregation - something we all thought made the dancing even more special.

As the youth left the stage, Pastor Phoebe Onyango began to speak, first from the sidelines, then coming up on stage. As she spoke she would slip into singing from time to time and her sweet voice would float through the air like clouds on a sunny day. She introduced a local woman who came and, along with the praise team, sang a beautiful song to God. Everyone really enjoyed it, singing along and worshipping together. The team tried to sing along, too, but we had no idea if our words were really words or not since the song was in Kiswahili.

When she was done, Phoebe started to talk-sing again and this time brought a young man from the praise team down to the front. He began to sing - almost a chant - a prayer, a song, words that were so beautiful.....although we have no idea what they meant, as he sang in Swahili. As he repeated his phrase again and again, congregation members began to clap in short bursts in between, each round getting the slightest bit faster and louder than the last. People came to the front of the church, gathering in front of us, and the clapping got faster and louder with each repetition of the prayer song. It was simply one of the most beautiful and powerful things we'd ever witnessed, leaving us saturated in the love of God and wanting to just hear it go on forever....a little glimpse of heaven, perhaps.

As we were brought back down to Earth, Phoebe introduced Pastor Jack as the guest preacher. We all smiled knowing that Jack hadn't planned on preaching - he only found out he was when we'd arrived at church. He began by bringing Sally up to the stage so she could bring the team up to introduce themselves. Randee started things off, followed by Karen, then Yvonne. Each did a beautiful job and although there had been talk of nervousness about it, everyone seemed as if they spoke in front of a couple hundred people every day. Sally finished the team talk off and then it was time for Jack.

After reading from 1Kings, Jack shared part of his life story, telling how as a child he had to collect leftovers in a bucket from a local restaurant in order to have food for his family each day, and how he did this for three years while his dad was unemployed. He shared many more situations of his childhood that left all of us in awe of him, but also helped us understand why he is such a giving man. As he said “when I have had nothing and God took care of me, how can I not give to those that need it?”
His preaching was in top form. One story from college he shared telling us how students were supposed to describe God. Now, this is not an easy task for most, as you can imagine (try it!) and as we all mulled this over in our heads, Jack proceeded to tell us about one young Masai man who answered the question with one succinct statement: “God is God”. It was just one of many very powerful moments in the service.

The morning left us feeling inspired, humble and knowing “God is God”. As Karen put it, the service was passionately spiritual and we were blessed to be part of it.

After a brief break time with Phoebe and some soda, we left the church for a local historic point known as Kit Makai. There, boulders the size of small buildings are stacked one on top of the other to heights that left us pondering God all the more. It was breathtakingly beautiful to see these “mountains” and after climbing up and through many boulders, the view of the valley below was stunning. Karen, Randee, Evelyn, Philemon, some of the kids from Jack’s place that accompanied us, and the guide went into the boulder formations and climbed up to the lookout point. Randee felt overwhelmed by it all, saying “it puts you in your place to see massive pieces of earth stacked so perfectly”. Everyone was amazed by the sight and came down from the rocks in awe of God once again.

Upon descent they were joined by Sally and Yvonne, who had decided not to do the climb, as well as a group of widows from the area who greeted everyone with song and dance. The team enjoyed singing and dancing with the women - what a treat as these widows danced in circles, chanted and sang, displaying the energy of twenty year olds (and clearly, none were twenty).

We finished up our visit to Kit Makai and headed back to Kisumu. Since Evelyn had come with us, dinner was now “behind schedule” so we stopped at the local market place to buy the vegetables for the evening meal. Yvonne, Karen and Randee got to see what the market was like as Evelyn picked out some beautiful tomatoes to make pasta sauce with.

A few minutes after we got home, a beautiful pregnant woman came walking up to the house. Sally immediately recognized her as Linda, Philemon’s very pregnant wife. Their baby is due Christmas Eve and Linda and Philemon are beyond excited at the prospect of a new, healthy baby. Philemon wants a boy, Linda a girl, but they both quickly declared that as long as it is healthy, they will be so happy (they lost a baby about a year ago at the end of a difficult pregnancy). Linda looked beautiful with her hair recently braided into the most amazing style – wow! Philemon is a lucky man! Everyone greeted Linda and we talked a bit, then she and Philemon were on their way home where Linda said she couldn’t wait for a cold bath to renew her energy after all the walking she’d done that day.

We were called for dinner shortly after and everyone ate heartily. Pasta shells, sauce, and more of the world’s most delicious pineapple – it never gets old! We said our goodnights and the team went home to review the day, crashing early and have a great night’s sleep.

Today – we’re off to….somewhere! It’s our last day in Kisumu and although we’re excited to go on safari and see Nairobi on Friday, it’s going to be hard to pack everything up tonight, knowing we have to say goodbye tomorrow morning when we catch our flight to Nairobi.

Thank you, as always, for your prayers and your love. Everyone is so grateful for their experiences here and we know we couldn’t have had such a fantastic and enriching opportunity without your encouragement and support.

God bless you all.

Randee, Karen, Yvonne and Sally

October 2011 Kenya Team October 8

2011-10-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Jambo!

What we thought would be a great day turned out to be one of the best days of the trip so far. It started out with scrambled eggs, juice and bread for breakfast, along with the mandatory cup of coffee. Africafe is the only way to go.

We departed the house at about 8am with paint, brushes, aprons, and decorations in hand. After a short drive, we arrived to a ready and waiting crowd at Migosi Orphanage. The kids had already cleaned out their rooms of everything but bed frames, and those, they moved away from the walls so we could paint. These concrete walls are far from perfect, with numerous cracks, small and large holes (some filled, some not), and without typical framing work around windows and doors. We found that some of the larger holes were simply too deep – down to the mud and sticks the building was made from – and some of the wall area was worn through to the dirt, as well.

Randee started cleaning the walls with a brush to get off the excess and loose dirt as Yvonne, the paint magician, began the process of mixing and moving the paint. It sounds so simple to say we popped open the cans and began painting….and that would be if we could have done it, but in a place where even a stirring stick is hard to find, getting the lid off a paint can could be a monumental task. Have YOU ever opened a can of paint with a machete? Probably not….
Once the lids were off and the paint stirred, the four of us grabbed our brushes and went to task. Concrete walls that have never had any kind of finish on them are not easy to cover in paint (or in this case, primer, aka undercoat) but after about an hour and a half, we had the first room primed and drying. Halfway through the first room (the boys) we decided we only had enough paint for one room, so we asked Pastor Jack to go get paint and primer for the second one. With help from Henry, the orphanage director, on the highest spots, we finished the room in about an hour and a half, eager for Jack to return so we could push on.
As we waited for Jack to return, we were offered sodas as we rested, which we all felt was a very generous gesture, considering this orphanage was so poor. We re-hydrated and upon Jack’s emergence with our supplies (and another brush for Irene who had since arrived), we started applying primer to the girls room as the boys room dried. A short one hour later, the room was done! We were getting pretty good at this….and we had Irene to bring our count to five brushes moving at the same time. We also had the help of a wonderful young man named Duncan who watched us like a hawk and with every drop that fell on the floor, he ran over and wiped it up immediately. He seemed to spend a lot of time around Sally and Karen, for some reason….well, okay, he hovered over them just waiting for the next drop to fall. Smart kid.

As we finished up the last of the primer in the girls room, Yvonne was back to mixing her magic and creating a beautiful cream colored concoction with the paint that we’d bought. It started out looking very much like a peach color, but by the time Yvonne was finished mixing in remnants of white primer from the paint cans and brushes, along with water to thin it, the paint was a perfect shade of cream and ready for application. We all went to work and slapped that paint on the walls in a record 50 minutes. Yes, we are amazing.

As we were preparing the paint for the last room, Henry called us over and told us his wife Judith wanted to tell us something. We thought we were going to get a very sincere “thank you”, but instead, we walked into their living room and to a feast of cubed meat and carrots, and sikuma wiki – a traditional Kenya dish made with kale with onions. There was also boiled potatoes with carrots, rice and the most traditional Kenyan food of all, ugali (made from corn meal). We were stunned to see this feast on the table and very humbled by the sincere gratitude by which it was bestowed. We ate happily and thankfully, and when we were all so full we could barely move, we got up and got started on the last room. Henry helped us with all the high spots we’d missed at the top while Duncan continued to do clean up around Sally and Karen.

37 minutes later, we were done. Forget amazing, we were awesome! J

We cleaned up our mess, which actually took longer than it took to paint the last room, and then took a good look at ourselves and our work. The rooms looked fantastic!
We, on the other hand, were a mess. Yvonne won the prize for the most paint on something other than walls – it was all over her hands, arms, legs, apron and in her hair. Randee was next in line with almost the same amount of paint on her apron and body (how she managed to avoid getting it in her hair we still haven’t figured out), and Sally was third, having gotten a little paint on her skirt and hands. Karen somehow managed to walk away with almost no paint at all on her apron, and very little on her hands. When we started equating the amount of paint on oneself to how hard they worked, Karen walked over to the leftover paint and scooped some up on her fingers, and proceeded to smear it all over the front of her apron – and on her nose. That girl does not like to come in last.

For our final touch, we hung a “Cars” banner and a big, shiny blue star in the boys room, followed quickly by a colorful smiley faces banner and another blue star in the girls room. Finished at last!

We were exhausted but so very happy we were able to help this small home out. When asked to sum up her day, Karen said “My heart was happy today” and Randee agreed and added that she felt good knowing she’d really helped someone out. Yvonne was still scrubbing up so we don’t know what she was feeling, other than tired and happy to have been part of giving such a wonderful gift to the Migosi orphans. Sally was just happy knowing the Migosi kids will wake up tomorrow in a brighter place than they’ve woken up in for quite some time.

Thank you for your prayers. We miss you all and hope you have a great Sunday.
God bless!

Randee, Yvonne, Karen and Sally

October 2011 Kenya Team October 7

2011-10-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family!

Sorry for the lack of a report yesterday. We have been busy all over this area and enjoying every minute, but the exhaustion caught up and we crashed instead of putting together a note for all of you.

Yesterday started with a yummy breakfast of French toast and coffee. After our typical morning pit stop at Nakumatt, we had the pleasure of visiting the Migosi Orphanage in a very poor part of Kisumu. Village Care has been working with them since 2006 and Migosi was chosen at that time from many of the area orphanages as the number one place to work with, primarily because of their great, great need. They have 36 children living there, and more come to Migosi for school, as well.

The team arrived to find class in session. This was a small, hot, wood and mud classroom with wooden desks and about 40 very excited children from tiny to about 7 or 8. Yvonne brought a book to read to them so as she and Karen held the big book up and turned the pages, Randee read it out loud and did lots of interesting hand motions to go along with it. Pretty soon, there were 40 loud voices shouting “Five little monkeys sitting on the bed…..”. It was fantastic! The kids loved the story, loved Randee’s animation and loved hearing Yvonne and Karen asking questions to reinforce what the kids had learned. It was great having these two teachers leading the session!

When the book was done, the kids did some counting and ABC’s, and then the songs started. They had an adorable version of Old MacDonald where they’d inserted the Kenyan word for farmer (which no one can remember now!) where the name was. They did all their animal sounds and laughed and giggled and had a lot of fun. Finishing up with lollypops, the kids all went outside to find Pastor Jack and Sally ready and waiting with kick balls and jumping ropes.

Pastor Henry, who runs Migosi, then took us on a tour of the small facility. When we saw the two rooms used for a boys and a girls bedroom, we noticed white dots about the size of a baseball on the walls. We asked what that was and Henry told us they were wanting to pain the rooms white, which detracts mosquitos, but that they couldn’t afford any paint to do it with. All they had was a little bit to sample it, so they dotted the walls…for inspiration, I suppose. Each room had about five sets of bunk beds in it (doing the math you will notice quickly that there are far more children than beds), and they were cool and comfortable even on a day as hot as yesterday was.

We went back out to play with the kids, getting ourselves dirty from the play area and sticky from lollypops, but we had a great time. The kids were particularly enjoying walking up behind Sally and pulling on her long braid….it was one of those dares they were all scared to take, but all did and laughed hysterically when Sally swung around and tried to grab them. Karen took her hat off and put it on one child, and before you knew it, pretty much every kid there had worn it! No, it did NOT go back on Karen’s head. Yvonne was being loved on by two adorable little girls who would not let go of her and Randee was playing fiercely with every kid she could corral. They played kick ball and anything else that came to mind until the time came for us to go.

Before we left, we met and talked with Peter, a young man who is wheelchair bound by a crippling disease he’s always had. He is around 19 or so, but he lives at Migosi because Henry took him in to insure he would not be discriminated against in his home village. Peter is an incredible man, telling us how he didn’t see himself as disabled, that he knew God had a plan for him and he was going to achieve it, no matter what. He wants to go back to school and then he wants to be a musician. He sang a song that brought tears to our eyes – what a confident and inspiring young man we were blessed to meet!

We said our goodbye’s and we were off to a cooler part of the region, where the big green hills were matched only by the huge boulders that nestled amongst them. We arrived at Lydia and Peter’s house to a warm greeting by about 10 women and Peter, and we sat in the living room to listen to the story of The Amazing Support Group that Lydia and Peter had started. And believe us – they are Amazing! This group of all HIV-positive men and women has been working together since 2008, but after going through the VCI training, started their own banking system to support those in their community that are also HIV-positive. We heard many amazing stories (no pun intended) and a few that made us a sad, but overall, we could see that the positive influence of the VCI training has made this group blossom. They showed us their insert-making process whereby they make clay inserts that go into the stoves almost everyone around here uses. They have a great business making these and they are getting some good profits, but they told us they have to haul these inserts weighing a few pounds apiece, up to the nearby kiln to be fired. There, they pay to rent the kiln and then come back for the inserts when they’re done “cooking”. Sally asked if it was possible they could get their own kiln built and if they did, how long it would take to pay for itself. A kiln is about $300 USD and could reap a very quick payback since the group could rent it out for between 300 and 700 shillings per fire-up (about $3-7). We are hoping a local donor will see this great cause and pitch in, but until then, the group will continue to save their money and haul their orders of up to 1000 pieces at a time up to the kiln and pay for the rental.

We also met Kim, the groups He-goat, who is 8 months old and so cute! He was a gift and as soon as he’s mature, they will get to work mating him to some of their project groups female goats in order to produce bigger, healthier goats for sale purposes. Again, a great way to turn a profit they can continue to use to help their neighbors.

The low point of the trip (probably of the whole trip so far) was when Philemon, our driver, accidently smashed Irene’s finger in the door of the van. Everyone was stunned into silence as we waited to see if she was okay. It took her a while to gain her composure but she did, allowing Randee (who is a nurse) to look at it. Thankfully, it was not broken and after some Motrin and elevation, Irene felt better and we were on our way again.

The team decided at some point during the day that they would like to change a few plans and instead of making project visits on Saturday, go back to Migosi and help paint the kids rooms white, as Henry has dreamed of doing. We stopped at – yes, Nakumatt!! – for primer, paint, and brushes grabbed a few colorful posters and decorations and headed home for the night. A delicious dinner of chicken stir-fry (thanks to the teaching of Tanner Colton, VCI’s Seattle Area Coordinator), rice, and pineapple, and we were off to bed, exhausted and excited for Friday!

Today, after sausage and toast for breakfast, we took the long drive out to the home of our President’s grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama. She lives in Kogelo village in a small home surrounded by lots of security (of course!). To see Mama Sarah you must first get permission from the District Commissioner…but hey, we’re Village Care! We just drove up to the gate and Philemon the Negotiator stepped out of the car and onto the stage! A new set of security folks were there…trouble - they didn’t know who we were….but after some discussion and a phone call or two, they agreed to let us in. Another group of folks had shown up just as our discussion ended, so we followed them onto the compound and signed in. Waiting patiently for Mama Sarah to come out, the large group started talking and we found out these nice people were from a village near the border of Uganda and Kenya, and they were priests and nuns. They work in support of orphans all over Kenya so they were happy to meet Jack and take his card. They asked if he could please come to their village and do a training - another connection made!

Mama Sarah came out and sat with us as each person introduced themselves and told where they were from. She opened up to questions and graciously answered each one with kindness and dignity. What a charming and wonderful woman she is! She (and her interpreter and nephew, Nelson) told us about the Mama Sarah Obama Foundation for Children. The really exciting part came when she told the other group that Village Care was a partner to the Foundation! WOW! Jack and I just about jumped out of our chairs! We appreciated the comment so much and both of decided to ask if we could partner officially. By the time we left her home, Nelson had committed to drawing up an agreement between VCI and the Foundation for a partnership to help and support orphans in Kenya. God is so, so GOOD! Please pray with us that this comes to fruition and that we can help each other to help these beautiful children. The two organizations complement each other well and a partnership will be so beneficial to both of them, and more importantly, the kids of Kenya.

On the way back to town after leaving Kigelo, we stopped at the big equator sculpture and took pictures of Randee and Karen in front of it. They were excited to be there and so grateful for the opportunity.

Just before reaching Kisumu, we pulled into the driveway of a beautiful place – the Cherry Briarly Children’s Home. This place is gorgeous and it had lots of kids playing on its soccer field, as well as in the smaller courtyard area. The team went inside and sat down in what they were told was the director’s office. Philemon got some sodas and sat down, glanced over at Sally with a sneaky smile, and said, “Welcome to my office!”. After a moment of slight confusion, Karen shouted “I KNEW you were more than a driver!” The truth is, Philemon Oguna is Director of Cherry Briarly, where he has served for more than 8 years. The home has 38 children right now, and they have room for another 10. It’s a beautiful place, with flush toilets, running water, electricity and brightly colored rooms for the children. It is what most other orphanages hope to be. Led by this wonderful man, the home is a loving and fun environment for those lucky enough to be chosen to take a bed there. Proof of this came when some former residents came by to visit after school. Philemon shared with us that many of the kids who’ve grown up and moved on return to visit with him and the staff, and quite often. This says so much about their positive stay there and so much about Philemon. He temporarily drives for VCI when a team is in town, to help Pastor Jack out while he is searching for a very qualified and experienced driver. The fact that Philemon can help out like this is a testament to his strong and dependable staff members, and the team left Cherry Briarly appreciating them and Philemon all the more!

We stopped at Nakumatt on the way home but because it was Friday and pretty much everyone in Kenya was in the store (which is typical on Fridays), Jack ended up leaving a cartful of things behind after waiting about 20 minutes and not getting to much nearer to the front of the line. Somehow the girls managed to get in lines that moved and they emerged with aprons in hand to wear tomorrow at Migosi when we paint.

We’re excited at the opportunity to help the Migosi staff as they upgrade the children’s rooms, and we can hardly wait for tomorrow to come. It’s going to be very hot and humid, but the smiles on the kids faces will be well worth it in the end.

Thank you again for all your prayers and support. We feel each prayer and are blessed to be here working with Village Care!

Have a great weekend, everyone!
Blessings and love,

Karen, Randee, Yvonne and Sally

October 2011 Kenya Team October 5

2011-10-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family,

We started a great day today with French toast, Kenyan style. J After gathering up all our supplies, we headed to St. Mark’s Primary School where we met with the director, Dominic, and discussed the situation his school is in relative to education in Kenya. Dominic has about 1300 students (530 are third grade and below) and not enough desks, food, teachers or supplies to do the best job educating the kids. The three teachers we met had 82, 88, and 102 kids in their classes – and we complain about 35! Children are packed in like sardines, 4 sitting at a small (and uncomfortable) wooden bench/desk where there should be three. In one class we visited, two little girls sat on the concrete and dirt floor because there was no desk space left for them. The school is short about 60 desks to accommodate their current students and no funding is available to them to get them. They are praying for God to make a way for them and we’re joining them in this prayer – hope you will, too.

Children at St. Marks go to school from 6am to either 3:30pm or 6:30pm (upper grades). The school hours were extended for the older kids so they wouldn’t get into “a mess” on their way home, particularly the girls. Many have been propositioned, molested and even raped on their way from school. The boys were also getting into things like drugs and alcohol – too much time on their hands was leading them down the wrong path. By adjusting the end of school to 6:30, no one ambles – everyone rushed to get home for supper - and to get their homework started.

The team assessed 89 of the lower grade children and was prepared to do all 520, but when lunch time came, we had to stop because the children go home for lunch and don’t come back. It’s not supposed to be that way, but the reality is, they just don’t return. We were happy to find, however, that of those we assessed, only 12 had some minor skin irritation or ringworm issues to resolve. There were no crisis children at St. Marks, so we were very happy about that.

After leaving and making a pit stop at Nakumatt, we continued on to Mambaleo village where we were blessed to view several different projects that groups there had been working on. One of the groups, 10 women who have huge hearts, started their project by having each member donate one chicken. They sold all the chickens and with the money they got, bought three goats. One of the goats became pregnant, so now they have four! They will be breeding the goats and giving each project member one. In doing this each home represented by these women will have goat milk every day for their children and family. This group also assists the elderly in their community by visiting with them, washing their clothes, cleaning their homes and bringing them meals. All during their presentation, each time I would say “thank you” while marveling at their huge hearts and immense compassion, their spokeswoman would say “well, we try”. Wow. I wish everyone “tried” as hard as these 10 wonderful women do!

Another group we met with had started bee hives to make honey to sell. They will harvest the honey four times each year, providing them with periodic, but relatively sure income. Another group is raising cane – literally – about 4 acres of sugarcane, to be exact. Because it takes so long from planting to harvest (18 months), they wisely planted maize (corn) in smaller plots tucked in between the sugarcane plots so they’d have a virtually continual product for sale. They can turn a plot of maize around every three months – there is no “season” to it.

Before we could finish seeing all the groups we wanted to, the rains, thunder and lightning – along with a little hail – came crashing in on us. As soon as the first drop was felt, our Kenyan colleagues were yelling “Run! Hurry! The rain is coming!” At first we thought, wow, they get excited about rain, don’t they? Then we remembered how far down the already rutted dirt road we’d come and we understood. The rain here comes in HUGE drops and bucket loads of those drops. It doesn’t take long before everything is flooded and roads become impassible.

Our hosts were right, of course, and although we managed to drive away from the storm for a short distance, by the time we hit paved highway, the torrents were unleashed and there were huge, muddy puddles everywhere. We will never saunter again when we hear “Rain – hurry!”.

We returned to the guest house just in time for Randee to help Evelyn with dinner. Tonight we were treated to burritos – Kenyan style, of course! A June team member had shown Evelyn how to take the traditional chapatti (flatbread fried in oil) and roll it thinner, and cooked without oil, making the first (probably) Kenyan tortilla. With those we were treated to mincemeat (ground beef) with bell peppers and onions, beans with carrots (the best in the world), some avocado, tomato and chopped onion and get this – cheese! You need to understand that Kenyans don’t eat cheese at all, so to have it sitting on the table just proves what great care is taken to make the team feel at home, here in our home away from home.

We finished off the dinner with some fresh cut pineapple – the best in the world, of course – and all retired to our rooms with stuffed bellies, heads swimming with ideas of how to help St. Mark’s reach its goal of getting 60 new desks, and knowing there are wonderful, loving people in the world who will always “just try”.

We miss you and we are thinking of you all – thanks for your prayers and positive thoughts as we continue this great work in Kisumu.

Love,

Yvonne, Karen, Randee and Sally

October 2011 Kenya Team October 3 and 4 Update

2011-10-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone –

We have had a busy first two days in Kenya. Monday morning we awoke bright and early and left for the airport at 5:30am. We boarded our flight and it took off for Kisumu – on time! When we arrived we were treated to our first view of the newly opened Kisumu International Airport new terminal. It was an amazing improvement over the old airport that had two desks, one tiny waiting area and no baggage carousels. It used to be fun to have your bags dropped on the tarmac at the end of your flight, but getting to enter a pristine airport terminal with a wrap around carousel was a real treat! Soon it will be a “real” international airport and teams will be able to fly directly here instead of routing through Nairobi.

Outside the airport we were greeted by our host, Pastor Jack Mila, and one of the VCI administrative support personnel, Philemon, who was driving the VCI van. We managed to fit all our luggage inside and after finding our places, we set off for our first stop of the day, the Village Care Limited Motorcycle Parts shop. This shop was started by Jack to help VCI Kenya become financially independent of the US office. Even though only a small stipend is sent each month to help support the work, Jack feels he must “practice what you preach” and do what the VCI motto says: use the resources you have on hand to make a difference”, rather than waiting for outside help. The motorcycle shop, opened in June, is growing ever day and Jack hopes to achieve his goal of 50% independence by the end of this year. He has plans for several other income generating shops to help him find full independence.

Our next stop was the VCI Kisumu Guest House where we unloaded the van, freshened up, ate a snack on the departed for Letty Jam Preschool. There, we did child assessments on about 160 children. We were pleased to find only 1 child in crisis (a fungal infection in his ear) and about 28 that needed some minor help with things like ringworm, skin infections and scabies treatments. Overall, it was a great time working with the staff as we trained them on how to do the assessments every three months in order to stay on top of these mostly-minor health issues. This school had some of the healthiest children we’ve seen in all of our assessments and we were pleased to give them congratulations on this. The staff at the school interfaces with parents and guardians all the time and we believe this interaction and monitoring is one reason they have such a healthy group of kids.

The assessments took a lot out of the team, however, as it was very hot and humid, and working in a small room with a large number of people, with only a short drink and snack breaks. None of us realized how “wiped out” it was making us until we got in the van to leave. Most of us fell asleep on the long ride to the village of Osiri. It’s a beautiful area near Lake Victoria, covered in lush, green vegetation and cleansed by the most wonderful breeze! We visited a fish farming project near the shore of the lake where project members have been tending their pond in preparation of loading it with fingerling tilapia. They have to wait until the water clears so they will be able to see the small fish and can separate them from the tadpoles. There were several hungry egrets nearby waiting for lunch, but we were told someone will be hired to watch the pond and insure the birds didn’t get their meals when the baby fish were planted there.

We next traveled a short distance to visit a project group working with sea grass and metal to make beautiful lamp shades, baskets, trays and even a beautiful high backed lounge chair. The groups toil over these objects as they weave the grass into one of the metal frames to create the heavy-duty piece that will sell at a local market. It takes hours but with the major material free (it’s a weed!) and only the frame to pay for, it’s a highly profitable model for income generation. Everyone took turns sitting in the big chair and admiring the excellent work being demonstrated by the group. Although we came to encourage the project group, they ended up encouraging us by their innovative thinking and hard work in making this a very successful project that will help their families stay healthy and moving in a positive direction.

On the ride back to the guest house, again, everyone slept an exhausted sleep borne by jet lag and hot sun. We recovered only long enough to make up our beds and get prepared for the evening. Although Sally had assured Karen there weren’t any bugs to speak of around the guest house, sure enough….she found a cockroach scurrying across her bedroom floor as we waited for dinner to be ready. She came out of the room with her squished bug on the bottom of her shoe and a lot of hysterical (in more ways than one) comments on how she, of all people, would have the bug encounter that day.

If that wasn’t enough, about a half hour later we all heard a loud scream followed by Karen doing her own scurrying as she quickly fled her room, shutting the door on the way out. Randee asked if she found a spider…but Karen said she had seen a tiny mouse! Sally was shocked, having stayed at the guest house many, many times and never having seen so much as an ant. Randee suggested that perhaps Karen might have brought her little friends with her…well, probably not, but one has to wonder! Karen chose to “permanently” move to the main room of the house where Randee and Sally were preparing their own beds.

After a lot of laughter and endless teasing (Karen is a great sport!), we had our first wonderful meal of rice, beef stew, pineapple and avocado. Yummy!!!

Dinner was closely followed by quick showers and lots of sleep – we were all too exhausted to do anything else.

We rose Tuesday morning feeling refreshed and ready to go. Yvonne awoke…..startled! After a small scream of “Oh my!” she told us a little mouse had just ran down her mosquito net (he on the outside, she on the inside of the net, thankfully). When Karen came out of the shower Randee told her to ask Yvonne what happened, and yes, we heard yet another shriek! We laughed pretty hard and again, teased Karen endlessly about bringing her little friends along on the trip. We told Jack and Evelyn about our visitors and shocked, they agreed to get some rat poison into the house while we were out for the day.

At about 10am (Jack had told us we’d have a late start because we needed rest J) we set out for Lady Bird Preschool in a nearby area of Nyalenda village, where the guest house is located. This is a tiny one-room school where three classes are simultaneously held each day. The children were from about age 3-6, with a “baby class”, a middle class and a pre-school class equivalent to our kindergarten. We visited with the children and met the staff and quickly began our assessments.
Here we also found that the children were in good health. With about 63 children assessed, none were in critical need and just 12 had minor issues like skin irritations or ringworm. The team noticed the differences between this school and Letty Jam and although it bothered Karen a bit, manifesting itself as a low for her day. Yvonne and Sally felt the teachers at Lady Bird were dealing well with their limited resources and current situation (their owner and director recently passed away and one of the teachers from a nearby school agreed to take over and run it). Karen felt the teachers at Letty Jam were better educated, enthusiastic and seemed more caring towards the children. They appeared eager to learn how to do the assessments. To Karen the children seemed happy and well behaved. On the contrary, teachers at Lady Bird seemed less educated and less in control of the children, and seemed to care less about the kids health (based on their lack of interest in the assessments). Yvonne and Sally didn’t see the same thing, but instead, saw caring and sincere teachers, good educational materials being presented/posted and understood that although there were some shortcomings overall, they thought the teachers were doing their best under the circumstances. The team agreed that all of the children in this very poor neighborhood were lucky to have any kind of school and teachers at all, but that as always, funding may be the driver behind whether a school presents itself well or not.

Randee’s day was made when one of the teachers proclaimed their friendship and request her number so they could keep in touch – always a blessing!

After leaving the preschool, we stopped at Nakumatt (the local Target-type store that caters to westerners) and picked up ice cold water and some snacks for lunch. A few minutes later we were at Orongo High School for a private discussion with the female students aged about 13-17. We asked the girls to write down questions about anything they needed an answer for and told them we’d answer as honestly and accurately as possible. This discussion session was the high for the day for Karen. Watching the girls faces while they got their answers was rewarding to her as she saw their interest and curiosity in response to their great questions about learning about their changing bodies. Yvonne was impressed with the administrators at Orongo, and knew she’d met some amazing people today. She said this made her feel hopeful that kids were in good hands.

Randee’s high came when it rained and she got to play games with the kids. For her it was nice to see that all around the world, kids just want to play tag and football, and want to be swung around and want to tell you what they want to be. She had a great time doing all of this while we waited for a fantastic spaghetti dinner that Evelyn and Karen prepared.

The biggest hig for the day for everyone was Jack’s story about who he is, his passion for helping orphans, and his compassion for children and people in general. He is an amazing man who works so hard to change the lives of the more than 10,000 orphans in the VCI Kisumu network, and so many more we have yet to take into it.

Tomorrow we head to St. Mark’s school, very nearby to the guest house, and then up to a little village a ways away to check on project work there.

Thank you for your prayers, everyone. We appreciate them all!
Blessings to you as you go about your day. Thank you for thinking of us.

Randee, Yvonne, Karen and Sally

October 2011 Kenya Team Hits the Ground Running, Sort Of...

2011-10-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

We departed from Seattle (Randee) and Sacramento (Yvonne, Karen and Sally) Saturday morning and we couldn’t have been more excited. We were anxious to arrive in Washington DC that afternoon so we could finally be together “as one”, but little did we know we were in for our first adventure of the day.

As we taxi’d away from the gate and made our way down the tarmac to the runway, we had no idea that the pilot’s were getting a message telling them there was “no oil in the engine”. We made the last turn to prepare for take off….and we stopped. We sat a bit before a flight attendant came by and leaned over Sally, who was in the exit row, and over the right wing, and took a long, long look out the window. When she walked away, the guy next to Sally said “that’s never a good sign” and Sally agreed when she told him “not good at all – she’s headed straight for the cockpit!”. We waited a bit longer and finally the captain came on and told us there was a problem that mechanics were working on…simple little light that told them there was no oil in the engine. We were not to worry because it had been serviced last night, so it was most likely an error in the messaging functions on the plane. Great.

We waited a little longer before the pilot came back on and told us that we had to go back to the gate so the mechanics could come and check the oil.

We headed back, the oil was checked, the light went out at some point relieving us of the burden, and since we were at the gate, late already AND had no tail wind whatsoever, the pilot decided to get more fuel so he could fly faster. J

With all that done, we finally got up in the air about an hour late, but none the worse for wear. We arrived in DC and only had to walk 3 gates to our departure gate where we met Randee. Our flight boarded about 45 minutes later and we were happy to be getting back on our way.

Well, we thought we were…..

We sat at the gate. And sat, and sat.

Once again, the pilot decided he needed more fuel because again, we were late and the weather along the way was not being cooperative for good mileage…I guess. So, we topped off the tank, and finally got the okay to depart – again an hour (and a few minutes) late.

From DC, we flew through Zurich and guess what? Our plane was delayed! This after our rushing to the gate because the DC flight had been so late and left us with just about 10 minutes before boarding. Again, we sat and sat but this time we never did get an explanation as to why we departed so late. We arrived in Nairobi an hour late but made it through immigration and customs with no problems whatsoever. Four women with 8 HUGE suitcases, 4 carry-ons and 4 backpacks. Totally unsuspicious….completely normal.

We were met by Thomas Agutu, our friend and tour captain, and his driver Philip, along with Pastor Paul Mwai, the Assistant Director of Village Care Tanzania. He was in Nairobi for just one night and met us at the airport just to greet everyone (and pick up his laptop from Sally). J

Thomas took the team to the Classic Guest House where, after a yummy dinner of tomato soup, chicken, fish, rice, potatoes and mixed vegetables, we are bedded down for the night in our beautiful and spacious rooms.

We’ll stay overnight and then depart early in the morning on a flight to Kisumu, (in Western Kenya) for 8 days of hard work and lots of love and encouragement for the people. We will be working in schools and orphanages in and around Kisumu, doing child assessments, visiting projects and holding community discussions, primarily. We’ll spend our “off” time at the Village Care Kisumu Guest House where we will be well taken care of by Pastor Jack Mila and his lovely wife, Evelyn (Pastor Jack is VCI’s Kenya Director).

When our time in the field is done, we’ll return to Nairobi and head out on safari for two nights in the great Masai Mara Reserve before returning to Nairobi for our final day in Kenya. We’ll spend time in an orphanage in the Makuru Slum in Nairobi on our last day, then head out to the airport for our flights home….except for Yvonne, who will head back to Kisumu for a few extra days of loving the kids!

Randee is from Tacoma,Washington, Karen is from Ukiah, California, and Yvonne and I are Auburn, California residents. Randee’s quest to see Africa started when she was a child, and she contacted VCI last November to ask about being on a team. Karen has also wanted to see Africa for a long time and we’ve been working on her trip since February.

Yvonne wins the prize, however – she has been trying to get to Africa with Village Care for about six years now, since daughter-in-law Susan came with her son, Jake, to visit our pilot village in the VCI program. You can imagine Yvonne’s excitement as it’s all finally happening!

Our schedule is busy (as usual) and we will become weary, but we know we are sustained by your prayers and positive thoughts as we travel.

Thank you for the emotional and prayerful support throughout our time in this beautiful country.

God bless!

Karen, Yvonne, Randee and Sally

Setting the Foundation for Village Care Congo

2011-09-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

These are very exciting times for Village Care International and especially for the communities we are working in all over Africa. Our National Director from Uganda, Mitchell Lutaaya Mukasa just returned from a visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he is laying the foundation for Village Care Initiatives DRC! We wanted to share his words and story with you so that you might not only be part of the amazing work that is going on, but also that you might keep this brand new VCI country in your prayers. As you can see from Mitchell’s letter they are going to be faced with some challenges in growing this new partner country and need all the support they can get. As always, Village Care depends on the donations of people just like you to make these amazing stories happen. Currently it costs roughly $5000 to “start” a new country on the Village Care path. We pray that you will be touched by this story and the thousands of others like it and find it in your hearts to continue to support VCI with your donations.

If you would like to donate please visit www.villagecare.com and click on the Donate tab in the upper right corner, then click on General Fund. Thank you all so much for you continued support and prayers.

Dear Sally,

Thank you for your prayers and support, I'm back from Goma (DRC). It was a very exciting visit. The travel took a detour to Kigali (Rwanda) where I had to link up with my contact person. After spending a night in Kigali, the two of us then traveled to Congo. My journey back a very serious one (pun intended) as I missed my bus from Gisenyi (Rwanda) which prompted a chase on motorbike and later on another bus finally catching it in Kisoro (Uganda) almost 4 hours and $25 later.

I had a good visit with the communities both within Goma town and the outskirts. I visited as far as Mugunga, which is one of the largest refugee camps in eastern Congo.

The camp hosts both displaced Congolese and Rwandan refugees. Most of the Goma population is also in one form of transition or another. They are either here as refugees from another part of Congo (or Rwanda) or they are part of a large UN work force or they are natives wary of the ever looming danger of the active Virunga Volcanic Mountains. Goma is the UN base in Eastern Congo and I think you already know that MONUC (the UN operation in Congo) is the largest single UN peace-keeping mission in the world. The volcanoes are a beauty to watch (I wish David was there with me for a hike!) but a constant threat. The last eruption (in 2002) wiped out half of the city. We therefore have a picturesque city struggling with most basics. There is hardly a road anywhere, no power in most of the city and water supply is intermittent at most.

The people are very lovely, friendly and welcoming. There are many widows and orphans due to various recent armed insurrections. The city has such a large naturally endowed hinterland. Very rich volcanic soils, mineral deposits and gas in Lake Kivu are just some of the numerous resources available. Yet, like all other parts of Africa, poverty is evident: kids do not go to school, poor infrastructure; sanitation is an eyesore, unparalleled levels of unemployment.

The culture of dependence is deep-seated. There are so many multi-national NGO's operating in the area. Most (even Christian ones) are accused of being more interested in the mineral wealth of the country than the welfare of its people.

The leaders I spoke with think we are behind schedule in introducing our philosophy. They, with open hands, welcome VCI to Congo. Actually, in one of my meetings (on day 2), I had my first VCI staff volunteer; Mzee Daniel MUKUBI. You cannot believe how converted this former civil servant and serving Baptist church minister is. He is willing to give up his role in the church and traverse the forests and mountains teaching his people.

Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa's second largest country. Kinshasa, the capital (on the Atlantic Ocean), has eleven (11) million inhabitants. There are 11 provinces including Kinshasa. Congo has one of the worst transport networks probably in the world. Water and plane accidents are almost daily occurrences and there's no road link between East and West. Congo is also thought to be the world's wealthiest nation in terms of natural resources. Goma is the capital city of North Kivu province in the east bordering Uganda and Rwanda. It is famed not only for mineral wealth but also game. It home to Virunga National Park (with Mountain Gorillas). Only Uganda and Rwanda are the other countries that have Mountain Gorillas. The city of Goma lies between the volcanic mountains and Lake Kivu (one of the deepest lakes in Africa with gas deposits).

I hope we are as ready and eager to get there, as the Congolese are to receive us.

Heightened Violence in Burundi Hits Village Care Families Hard

2011-09-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Often times as we go through our daily lives here at home we begin to forget that there are those whose lives are in a constant state of turmoil. We hear of violence throughout the world, see the headlines in the news and online, but I think never fully connect those words to the lives and hearts of the people who are living it, in real life. Sometimes it takes tragedy to remind us that the violence that stems from poverty, corruption, disease, and famine is real, that it is alive, and that what we are doing to fight it has to continue.

On Sunday, September 18^th armed gunmen burst into a bar in the small village of Gatumba in the Central African nation of Burundi and indiscriminately murdered 36 people. This violence is a continuation and recent up tick in the post-election unrest in the region involving Tutsi and Hutu groups in Burundi and their neighbors in the DRC. Though no group has claimed responsibility, the continued violence in this region has begun to rise and spread closer and closer to Bujumbura, the capital city.

This most recent spike in violence has hit the Village Care family in Burundi very hard. Our National Director in Burundi, Jean-Baptise Sibomana has informed us that two men who are part of the Village Care group in that region of the country lost their lives at the hands of those bent on harboring violence, fear, and continued unrest. These two men left behind wives, children, and a mourning community already at war with the hardships of abject poverty. Though this is a tragedy of the highest degree, Jean-Baptise and his wonderful brothers and sisters in VCI Burundi have assured us they are caring for the affected families as best they can. We join the members of VCI Burundi along with the leaders and volunteers in all of our member countries in praying for those affected and for the end to the senseless violence.

I can tell you from firsthand experience that though times like these are dark indeed, that they are not the norm. Every day thousands of people make the decision to do what they can with what they have to care for their communities all over Africa. Success after success come pouring in with news of increased health, greater educational opportunities for children, and strengthened family and community relationships in far greater number than the stories of tragedy and loss. As we pray and remember our brothers and their families in this time of need, let us also give thanks for the many thousands of orphans and widows who Village Care communities have saved. The only real way to combat evil, in the end, is with love and compassion and the continued perseverance of those courageous people fighting the silent fight against indescribable odds.

As though this news wasn’t enough, I would ask you also to keep in your thoughts and prayers Jean-Baptise’s wife also. At this time she is ill and they are not able to determine exactly what is causing the problem. She is also pregnant and we just ask you to keep her and their family in your hearts and minds as she recovers from her illness.

As a note I want to stress to those who are reading this that Village Care takes the safety of our volunteers extremely seriously. It is our policy to never send teams of volunteers into regions or areas where there is a threat of violence. Burundi is one of the countries that we do not send teams into, along with any other volatile region or country throughout Africa. Places that American teams travel to are very safe and we have never had a single incident of violence or harm come upon a team. Our African staff are diligent in providing us up to the minute information on safety concerns which we rely on to keep our teams safe. To ensure the well-being of our teams, it is Village Care’s practice to re-route teams away from potential danger even before they arrives in country, if that threat ever exists.

The dedicated, hard-working, and highly capable Burundian staff run their programs and transform communities every day without the help or influence of American volunteers. Our goal as Village Care International is to allow each country initiative to be self-sustaining and self-contained apart from our influence.

Our National Director in Sierra Leone, Shed Jah, sent along a beautiful note with words of encouragement and wisdom from someone who has been through so much of the same in the past. Let us follow his example and join together in thought and prayer for our friends in Burundi.

“May the Lord our God take control of what is happening in Burundi.

I am joining you and all in spirit and prayer for the VCI family and pray that God will touch the political leaders to see reason and accept peace for the people and the country they govern.

May God help our brother and colleague together with his family. The Lord, Christ will surely hear our prayers ad will save them from the wicked. He has done it for my country and I believe he will do it for Burundi as well.

Blessings,

Shed”

THIRD ANNUAL VCI LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IS SET FOR NIGERIA

2011-09-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

The Third Annual Village Care International Leadership Conference is set for January 2012 in Jos, Nigeria.
Leaders from all over Africa and the US will attend the five day conference to discuss (among other things) accomplishments and challenges faced in 2011, as well as to prepare for the coming year and it's potential challenges.
Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Togo, Ghana and Benin will be represented by the country Initiative Directors. Several key volunteers from Nigeria will also be present.
The US will send six delegates including two board members, one staff member and three key volunteers.

IMAGES FROM THE 2ND ANNUAL VCI LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE HELD IN ARUSHA, TANZANIA JANUARY 23-26, 2011

VCI Board Member Dave Steiner (Denver, CO) leads a discussiion on VCI's mission and vision during the 2011 Conference held in Arusha, Tanzania.

Leaders from across Africa and the US held in-depth discussions at the 2nd Annual Conference. Left to right are Mitchell Lutaaya Mukasa, Uganda; Tanner Colton, Seattle, WA; Phillips Elisha, Nigeria; Lucky Simon, Nigeria; VCI supporter Catherine Wangari, Kenya; and with backs to the camera, Shed Jah, Sierra Leone (left) and Village Coordinator Wyson Mmbaya, Kenya.

Paul Asiimwe (Uganda) and Lucky Simon (Nigeria) pose in front of the VC Initiatives Tanzania Headquarters in Arusha.

Pastor Phillips Elisha, Nigeria Initiatives Director doing his Samuel L. Jackson impersonation (when I mentioned this Phillips told me he doesn't know who that is)

With Mt. Kilimanjaro as the backdrop, the January 2011 conference in Tanzania was a great way for VCI leadership from across Africa and the US to come together in fellowship to consider all the needs for their project groups and their Initiatives.

Paul Asiimwe, Uganda, thoughtfully considers comments at the conference, while Simon Kutingala, VC Initiatives Tanzania Director, works out a plan for the future.

VCI US Managing Director Sally Lunetta poses with the two newest VCI leaders in Africa. Pastor Jean Baptiste Sibomana, left, from Burundi and Shed Jah, from Sierra Leone.

Kenya Director Pastor Jack Mila shares some fun with students receiving T-shirts donated by Kucuhead, Inc., a clothing manufacturer in California.

JULY 2011 NIGERIA TEAM FINAL REPORT AND UPDATE

2011-08-10T14:57:00.000-07:00

We sadly left Jos on Thursday morning, passing more beautiful scenery and arriving in the capital of Abuja by late afternoon.

We stayed at the ECWA Guest House, as we had on our arrival, and enjoyed a great dinner a couple of blocks away at a large restaraunt.

Our waiter was incredulous when Chelsea ordered rice...just rice...white rice...plain rice....this did not compute to the waiter. He looked at Phillips and asked "Rice and chicken?" Phillips simply said no, just a plate with rice on it. That's all! The waiter just shook his head and walked away.He brought back Chelsea's very full plate of rice, which she proceeded to devour as we ate our chicken and rice dinners. It was all great food and we enjoyed every bite!

We rose early the next morning for our final day in Nigeria. We tried to have a meal at a nearby "upscale" hotel but at $18 per person, we just found it too pricey. Leaving there, seeing the girls walking arm in arm, Phillips asked me again "Sally, are you sure these girls just met? They act like they know each other forever."

I assured him they met just two weeks ago in Frankfurt and that it is the power of God that brings just the right people onto the right team. He agreed, still shaking his head in wonder and awe.

We decided that after breakfast we would visit the local marketplace to do some last minute shopping. This was courageous...the market is a high-pressure location where the hawkers negotiate everything, starting with a price that is quadrupled for us Americans, and someone follows you constantly with a wheel-barrow in case you need help carrying your purchases back to your car. Serrena found the scarves she was looking for and Chelsea found her fabric, so that was it - we were out of there! We left for the airport a little early but figured since Chelsea's plane left at 1:30, it wouldn't hurt for her to sit around a little longer if it saved some trouble on the trek into the airport.

Driving along, we were stunned to see the traffic on the other side of the road, the traffice LEAVING the airport. It was backed up for miles and miles and miles. Phillips told us it would likely take at least two hours to get back to the guest house, where we could sit for an hour or two before we would have to come back to the airport and be dropped early (due to other traffic issues). I made the executive decision to just have him drop all three of us then...if we were going to sit in the car for two hours just to get to the guest house and sit for another two before getting in the car to sit for still another two just to get back to the airport and...SIT....we may as well save him all the driving and just stay there. Phillips inquired about the possibility of Serrena and I staying in the lounge while we waited for our flight that left at 10:30pm and we found out that was indeed a possibility. Yeah!

Before seperating, Serrena, Chelsea and I posed for our last picture together in Nigeria.

We hoped to meet up in the lounge after Chelsea checked in for her flight to Kenya, but unfortunately, it never came to fruition. Serrena and I were escorted to the lounge where we spent the next 10 hours sitting, sleeping, watching TV and eating peanuts and snacks while sipping water and soda...it was a long day indeed, but we were happy to be headed home.

Thank you, everyone, for all your prayers for safety, good health, safe roads and wonderful experiences. We were blessed beyond imagination by so many people, places and things. Nigeria tends to get a bad reputation in the media for lots of reasons, some valid, some not, but if you ask anyone on this team, you will hear the truth - it's a beautiful place filled with beautiful people working hard to improve their lives and care for their children. God has blessed the work over and over and He smiles when He looks down on Nigeria, I am sure.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Sally

JULY 2011 NIGERIA TEAM REPORT JULY 20

2011-08-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday night and the sound of the rain is soothing as we finish our packing and prepare for our return to Abuja tomorrow.

The last two days have been filled with fun, new places, new projects and my favorite (NOT), shopping.

Our final afternoon in Kafanchan proved to be equally as powerful as our first, albeit less emotional (thank goodness). The youth and couples groups completed this first stage of their program with many positive and powerful comments about it. One married woman told us that the Family Conekt program has shown her what her husband truly thinks about her, in both her strengths and her weaknesses. She felt it gave her a new and fresh perspective on their relationship and their marriage.
Another man told us that he felt relieved to find out that he wasn't the only one going through problems with young-adult children and that he now feels a renewed strength to face the challenges this can bring.
Overall we ended the night feeling great about the work that VCI Nigeria has started there and we know this was just the beginning for this community.

We left Kafanchan Tuesday morning after a breakfast of french toast for Chelsea and top ramen for Serrena.We drove about an hour through some beautiful countryside

and arrived in the capital of Plateau State, the "town" of Jos. We quickly learned Nigerian towns are actually the same as American cities - big, bustling and crowded with cars and people. And a lot more smog and fumes than our cities, too. We immediately checked into our guest house and quickly realized Phillips hadn't been kidding when he said he saved the best for last. Now, mind you, by American standards this place isn't all that much to write home about (no pun intended) but after the mud hut with no electricity and no running water, not to mention it was MUD, this place is pretty luxurious.
I (Sally) have a large room with a bed big enough for my entire family (grandchildren included) along with a sink in my "kitchen", another in the bathroom and still another in the....bathroom waiting area, I guess you'd say. Chelsea and Serrena have a HUGE room with a double and a single bed, a little bar area overlooking their much bigger kitchen and a two-room bathroom as well. We have showers with shower heads that actually emit hot water! Jackpot! Oh, and did I mention the air conditioning? Well, when there is power, anyway.

We dropped our stuff off and leaving our new favorite place, gleefully went "on safari"!

Well.....let's just say it was a scaled down version of a safari. We walked.

And the few under nourished animals there were in small cages that made all of us rather sad until we saw a group of school children touring the place.

Watching their faces as the elephant came out to greet them made us all realize that if they didn't have these few animals in the cages, these kids would never have an opportunity to see a lion or hyena or elephant, or any of the other animals. Its all in how you look at things, I guess!

After returning to the guest house and having a few hours to relax, we piled into the van and headed for VCI Nigeria headquarters.

The land is covered with huge boulders and on many of them there is something very special painted. The girls posed with each of the rocks - great fun and beautiful pictures.
There, we met all the staff and volunteers who make it all happen. As always, Chelsea entertained them with her fluent Hausa greetings and Serrena enthralled them with stories from our time in Nigeria. The favorite story, of course, was the mosquito story which both Serrena and Chelsea told, including the screams, pleading and plenty of laughter.
In the midst of our conversations, the storm blew in, the temperature dropping at least 10 degrees, the thunder pounding overhead, and torrential rain that included hail the size of a quarter. It was spell binding and absolutely beautiful to watch!

As a celebration of our being there, Lucky barbecued large quantities of chicken and beef liver, which everyone enjoyed. Not seeing any other food coming, the girls ate with good appetites, happy there were no yams anywhere to be found. Once fully stuffed with meat, Phillips announced it was time to go - after all, dinner was waiting at the guest house!
What??? We thought at first he was joking but soon realized he was quite serious. In fact, they had held dinner for an extra hour because we were taking so long at the bbq.
So we reluctantly said goodbye to our new friends, the wonderful people that give so much of themselves, and headed back. When we arrived, we begrudgingly headed for the dining room where dinner was waiting. Much to our surprise, we were greeted by a huge bowl of spaghetti, home made meat sauce that was way more meat than sauce, and freshly baked rolls. Somehow the fullness from just a few minutes earlier had vanished and we all indulged. The sauce was fantastic, especially with the bread, and each of us ate more than we ever should have! We left for our rooms feeling satisfied and happy,

The evening held more lightning, thunder and rain, for hours! We all commented in the morning how amazing it was for thunder and lighting to go on and on for hours. Often with little or no rain to cushion it. None of us had experienced anything like it before.
The morning brought started rough since there were a few stomachs still protesting all the food they'd been forced to process the night before, but that didn't stop us from enjoying freshly baked biscuits with sausage patties for breakfast. Still no yams anywhere....

!

We left for some morning shopping in the market place where we wound in and out of streets lined with hundreds of stalls selling everything from tomatoes to caftans to tires. Traffic was crazy and crossin the street was taking your life in your hands, but it all added to the fantastic experience of market shopping in Jos. The girls each found lots of special things for special people and, after a great noon lunch at a nearby restaurant, we loaded up the van one more time and headed about 30 minutes out to a new VCI community called Zabolo.

There we met with the newly formed committee heads, project groups and registered orphans, hearing more stories of change. This community was trained only in April so it hasn't had much time to develop, but they have a great foundation and excited participants.

After giving donated t-shirts to the children, we were treated to a surprise by their nutrition committee - a fully balanced meal including meat, rice, soup, beans, watermelon and papaya, and a huge green salad made with cabbage, carrots, cucumber and topped with hard boiled egg. It was a generous and loving way for them to show off what they'd learned about good nutrition. So...we ate again. It was getting late (it was about 4:30 when we finished) so the team brought us back to the guest house where...yes, you guessed it - dinner was waiting at six. We ate - chicken, english potatoes, green beans, salad and freshly baked bread. We devoured the green beans and tasted the rest, but it was all delicious.
At 7 we were picked and taken to Phillips house where we got to meet his four children and a few friends. We had a lot of fun but sadly had to say goodbye to all for the final time before any of us wanted to.

We will do some more shopping this morning then head back to Abuja this afternoon for our final night in Nigeria. Tomorrow, Chelsea leaves us in the early afternoon headed for Kenya to visit friends and Serrena and I wait until 11 pm for our flights home.

Have a great day, everyone!
We love you!

Blessings,
Sally, Serrena and Chelsea

JULY 2011 NIGERIA TEAM UPDATE JULY 18

2011-08-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

Today is a new day, the ground refreshed by the torrents unleashed by heaven yesterday evening. There was plenty of lightning and thunder so loud it shook the building foundations, but despite this, or maybe because of it, our small but mighty team made some powerful and lasting affects on the families and youth of Kafanchan, Nigeria.

We started our day with the drive from Bwonpe to Kafanchan, having to stop at many police checks along the way. Thankfully we have our secret weapons - cute American girls! Sorry if this offends anyone but we know we must "use the resources we have on hand to make a difference" and believe me, the girls make a difference! What self respecting police man could resist those beautiful brown eyes Serrena bats when she smiles and says hello? Or Chelsea smiling ear to ear, shouting out "Sannu!".....those guys melt like ice cream on a hot Nigerian afternoon. Say a prayer of thanks to God (he gave the girls these gifts, after all) - we have not had to pull over for an extended check yet! Even the vehicle inspector who wanted to cite Phillips for the van's tinted windows fell prey to the guiles of our beautiful young team members. Chelsea had one officer ask if she would marry him and thinking he said "do you remember me" she said Yes! Serrena and I jumped in and saved her, although we might have left her if it got us out of a ticket...(kidding)...

Upon arrival in Kafanchan we went immediately into church where we heard a sermon on supporting the pastors. A womens group sang (such beautiful harmonies) as tithes were collected and soon, we were on our way to the associate pastors place (his father owns it) for lunch.

What a difference between that house and the mud huts we'd come from! Huge "sitting area", chandelier hanging from the tray ceiling, flat screen tv with speakers that made Serrena drool....wow.....made me question the need for the offering taken for the pastors, honestly. I know that might not be kind, especially since this home belongs to his father, but we all sat in wonder while soaking in the air conditioning.
We were served a fantastic lunch of rice, chicken and a coleslaw like salad along with COLD water (such a luxury at this point) from the refrigerator.

After checking into our rooms at the New World Motel, the safest place to be in Kafanchan, according to Phillips (there are armed soldiers all over the place, this motel being used as a police headquarters), we left for our meetings with the families and youth from around the area.

Now, "youth" in Africa means anyone who is not married, so although Serrena and Chelsea were the youngest people in their group, the impact of their words, their stories, motivated locals in their desire to change their lives. Hearing from the girls made some realize how little they had done to make things better in the lives of their families or their own lives. One man, after hearing Serrena's story of having to care for her younger siblings from a very tender age, becoming the adult in the family long before she reached adulthood, stood and said "because of the words of this young woman, I feel very foolish. At age 18, I just went around and showed off my mothers car and I didn't do anything to help, and now I feel very ashamed." Another young woman confessed that at the age of six she was raped by an uncle, and again at age eight. This was the first time she had ever told anyone her story (proof of the power in Chelsea and Serrena's words, I think) and after carrying and being tortured by this for 18 years, she felt she could now tell her mother and begin healing. Wow.

Chelsea and Serrena model the dresses one of the youth made for them in Kafanchan.

I (Sally) was blessed to be part of the family program where husbands and wives from several different communities came together to learn about each others "learning style" to promote better communication and understanding in their marriages and families. The group was on the quiet side but a few people said the material really touched them, and several asked how to get the program into their community, so I think they liked it!

We start ths new day now with french fries and eggs for breakfast and a renewed zest for the work of Village Care Nigeria. Our day today will be one of rest, until we resume our meetings with youth and couples this afternoon.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please continue and know you are all loved and missed very much.

Have a great day and may God bless each of you today in a very special and meaningful way.

Serrena, Chelsea and Sally

Extended Kenya Team July 21st-25th Update

2011-07-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

July 21

It was now our second morning trying to have sausage for breakfast, but when Evelyn's order came, the man did not deliver anything close to sausage. Instead, he brought a 'vanilla block', which really amounted to a pound cake. The girls happily excepted it as our 'sausage' as it was different from bread. We enjoyed our breakfast and then split apart for our day.

Lush green and vibrant colors surround Papa Philly's orphanage. Both Heidi and Sharayah step into the orphanage with a look of wonder constantly struck by how the country differs from the city. Tall hills dotted in greens and large boulders arise on one side and fields of corn, kale, and other vegetables surround the other sides. Birds of striking blues and reds come to rest on the porch, and swallows swoop down to their nests near by as Heidi and Sharayah do dishes. Our day was fun as we sorted through Omanna, a small dried fish, did the lunch time dishes, and swept the floors. We enjoyed sitting outside with the kids as they made impromptu drums out of paint cans and danced with silly faces. Children gathered around both Heidi and Sharayah, sweeping Sharayah's hair up in assorted styles and chatting with Heidi asking her all about the English language and about people of the Bible.

Justine and Anna found themselves on the streets of Kenya convincing people to walk into a small tent and check their HIV status. Though this is true this was made possible by Ringroad mobile HIV clinic. To their surprise Ringroad pitched small tents by the side of the road with a counselor in each tent (and when we say tent it is was a small 3 person tent). Justine and Anna's job was to talk to people on the road and get them to get tested. However, there small verbal skills in the mother tongue language, luaau, and Swahili it seemed an impossible task. Anna sent a quick "flare" prayer to God asking for help, and not to their surprise were blessed with a gentlemen named Morris who quickly became the voice of there operation. There goal was to get 17-25 people to be tested, Morris and his team, "the sisters" brought in 41 people, the experience was fascinating, the girls were told several years ago 100% of people tested were positive now the average was just over 10%, a remarkable step in the right direction! Motto of the day: "Know your status"! In the end with the hard working Mzungu sisters they were able to go home early!

With Heidi and Sharayah's day ending early today, they went home greeted by the cheering of all the neighborhood kids. They were off from school today and were waiting to go to the soccer field as Sharayah had promised them weeks ago. As the kids were assembled Anna, Sharayah, and Dennis were led by a swarm of children to the nearby field. Hand in hand they walked through the neighborhood until they reached the school's field. It warmed Anna's heart and made her realize why football is the leading sport in the world. All you need is four rocks and a ball to play. You don’t need to speak the same language or wear a type of clothing. Just throw the ball and watch the beautiful talented kids faces light up, and them playing in unison as goals were scored and knees were scraped. Kids laughed and leaped over slide tackles and gawked at fancy moves being done. The average age of 8 year old kids playing a sport in union and a having a grand time just warms the heart. As the kids walked home sweaty and bloody we all cleaned up and sat down to another wonderful meal prepared by the sweet beautiful talented chefs Justine, Sharayah and Eveline! Tonight our prayers are with the people that took part in the HIV testing today, the staff and those who were tested. Until tomorrow...

July 22

Today we woke up to something completely new to our time here in Kisumu, we woke up to RAIN! Us girls were so excited for the perfect cooling in the air and the slight drizzle that touched us as we walked outside. It was refreshing for us, although the Kenyan's were not too happy with it. For them, it was too cold and it made the roads a little too muddy for easy transportation.

Anna and Justine were at Migosi Clinic today, which is not just a clinic but has an inpatient unit, a labor and delivery area and an urgent care. It was a whole new African experience. They worked hand in hand with nurses that were very knowledgeable about healthcare. The girls had to admire the fact that it is not the type of healthcare they were use to in America but it was a very well run facility with nurses willing to allow the girls to help, offer suggestions and acknowledge the girls prior experiences. The contrast between all the healthcare settings in Africa have been an eye-opening experience. It is hard to put into words the differences but just know today was the most fulfilling experience in healthcare the girls have been apart of in Kenya. Oh and Justine got bit... again! Thankfully you don't need rabies shots with children... or do you...

Along the way from Migosi Clinic to Cherry Brierly, Papa Philly decided to make a few stops which allowed Heidi and Sharayah to sight see a little. He took us to the largest hospital in the province, which was also the home of Obama's Children’s Hospital that was opened shortly after President Obama was elected for office. From there he stopped for the morning newspaper and then bought some delicious treats for us, samosas. Samosas are almost like pot stickers, with minced meat on the inside and the warm crispy shell on the outside. After a few stops and a major traffic jam caused by the muddy roads, we made it to Cherry Brierly and were eager to work. We washed the sinks, mopped the floors, washed the windows, served lunch, and did the dishes. When all of the daily chores were done, Sharayah and Heidi went into the library and began organizing books. Papa Philly came in and asked Heidi to do one of her favorite things, file! She was truly excited to do some office work considering that it's been over a month since she's touched anything in an office. When the filing was finished, the library was organized, and our social time with Philemon had come to an end, it was time to pick up Justine and Anna.

When we arrived home, Justine and Sharayah immediately went to work in the kitchen, making one of our favorite meals yet. Tonight they served us burritos, and each and every one of us could not get enough of it. We are now all relaxing around the television and talking about who will get the best sleep tonight. We're looking forward to our big day tomorrow, which we will share with you once we are home. Tonight our prayers are with those at the Migosi Clinic. Until tomorrow...

July 23

Today was a special day for the girls. We all got to sleep in, and as we lazily crawled out of bed we started our day with a late breakfast and filled the rest of the morning with reading and laundry. We broke bread again around noon and waited for the kids to come home from school. Justine had a treat for girls and the Mila Family.

With Justine's generous heart, she treated Papa Philly (Philemon), his wife Linda, their son Rooney, Dennis, Evelyn, Pauline, Crystalbell, Elizabeth, Timothy , Margaret, Isaac, Junior, Porta (sadly Justice couldn’t make it due to testing at school), Sharayah, Heidi, Anna and herself to a day of swimming in the local Kisumu Resort called Kiboko Bay.

What a fun filled day full of laughter, splashing, giggles and yells. Timothy Jumped right in along with the Pauline, Christabel, and Elizabeth while Margaret enjoyed sitting on the top set of the stairs to get into the water. When she was pulled in by her family and mama, she yelled a death scream and scowled at the water like a wet little cat. We all couldn't help but laugh. Justine, being the hero of the day, saved a man from drowning; as the little ones (Junior and Porta) climbed on the table looking at the family like we were all crazy. The sun started to set and the little ones began to shiver so we dried off and headed home.

Chilled and hungry Evelyn made hot tea and cooked the family a favorite dish called polie. With yet, another treat from Justine she served all of us ice cream. Sharayah went around painting the girls nails, as we all gathered around the TV to watch a movie that we bought for the girls. What a blessed and loved day. Tonight our prayers are with the Mila family and maybe we could all pray to have a soft generous loving heart like Justine. Until tomorrow...

July 24

We ate Papa Philly's favorite breakfast today, oatmeal. It was prepared by Heidi and Anna, and it was delicious! The two girls had to take on the kitchen today, and for them just beginning to learn, they were experts by the time they stepped out of the kitchen a second time tonight. After breakfast we dressed in our 'Sunday Best', at least as best as our wardrobe here can offer, and then stepped onto the dirt road to walk to Kisumu Pentecostal Church.

We stepped into the gates to the church and it's towering shadow reached to greet us. We step in just as seats are filling up around us, and get to enjoy the welcoming faces that surround us. Curtains hang down from the 30 foot ceiling, a deep crimson and gold creating an elegant atmosphere, and two pillars on either side of the stage each boast an over hanging bouquet of assorted flowers. We watch as the choir on the stage starts to sway to the praise music starting, and soon the congregation joins in chorus with the singers onstage. Music fills the room all the way to the rafters and drifts outdoors. Looking around one would see a peace in each person's face as they gave their heart in worship. No matter where people are in the world, they will always be able to find God, it's as simple as closing your eyes and seeking Him. There was a guest speaker who spoke on money and how God provides for those who are responsible with it. He spoke about how it is good to invest and plan, a message that should be spoken everywhere in the world. We walk out after service to greet Wyson and Juliette, we had just learned that morning that their house had been broken into earlier on in the week. With all their valuables stolen, they still had genuine smiles and it was clear God is their most valuable treasure. They insisted that we still come to their house to visit and enjoy part of the afternoon together. After cramming ten into a tuk-tuk (and we thought six was an accomplishment), Julie immediately set to snacks in the kitchen preparing sandwiches and setting out muffins and vanilla wafers. She began making our favorite tea and showed us all the grace of a true hostess. We laughed together and spoke easily with each other, enjoying our time there until we had to leave to start preparations for dinner.

Heidi and Anna set out to making a dinner of dengu and chipati, and when the steaming dishes were set onto the table, they proved themselves great chefs. Heidi was the comedian tonight as she took her seat, the legs bent wrong and broke, creating quite a funny scene. Laughter broke out but Dennis was quite chivalrous as he rushed to her aid and tried to help her up as she herself was laughing too hard to get up. Dinner was enjoyed by all, and we now end another night here in Kisumu. We pray all is well back home and we ask for all to pray for Wyson and Julie as they continue to rely on God even through hard times. Until tomorrow!

July 25

Rain poured down and the wind beat against it waking us in one of the most pleasant of ways. Thunder rolled in the distance and soon puddles made a maze on our way to breakfast. We had egg-in-the-middle-of-toast for breakfast with French toast prepared for Heidi, Sharayah isn't really sure what that type of toast is really called. The down pour ended right in time for us to step outside to go to our destinations. Plants were revived and ducklings got to enjoy splashing in non stagnant water. It was nice to have the winds blowing away the heat and as we welcomed it, the locals were all bundled up wishing the cold would go away. Unfortunately for us their wishes came true too soon, and the sun melted away the clouds bringing us another hot day.

Today Justine and Anna worked in the HIV clinic. They were given stacks and stacks of papers of HIV positive clients. Sifting through these papers was heart breaking seeing ages ranging from 1 year to 81 years, getting a quick glimpse at these peoples lives did not prepare the girls for what they witnessed. HIV, a word often said in America but rarely seen in a day and age of modern and aggressive healthcare, abundant information on prevention, yet there it was staring them in the face. A 23 year old women looked middle aged and haggard seeking help, "Make the pain go away?" It was hard to sit there and hear these people’s stories what they battle each and every morning. A day to never forget what you are thankful for. The nursing staff and counselor are amazing, they not only treat the clients and there sickness but are a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold or if need be a joke to tell. We ask you to keep the people of Africa in your prayers. We also ask for you to keep the nursing staff and counselors of Migosi in your prayers as well.

Heidi and Sharayah were treated to mandazi's by Papa Philly, with the tea served here they are absolutely delicious. Right after finishing their mandazi's and tea time with Philly they head back to the kitchen where they are gifted with more mandazi's! We all laughed, and enjoyed what was offered to us... again. After our break we headed to go sweep and mop the rooms, after we were finished we headed to go help in the kitchen chopping tomatoes and sautéing them into what became maize and red beans. With the treat of a banana served on the side, we served lunch and then cleaned up. We finally got to play with the faces we served, Heidi playing Chinese jump rope with some girls and Sharayah heading to go play football with some kids. As "Vamanos!" was called out by Papa Philly, we said our good byes and jumped into the van to pick up Anna and Justine.

The girls had some time to rest while Justine prepared a delicious pesto pasta dinner served with garlic bread. Anna and Sharayah played in the front playing football with all the local village boys, and Heidi stood with some children cheering us on. The sun started to set and dinner was called, the voices fading in the back ground as all the kids went home. After dinner we all gathered around for our favorite Spanish soap, "Soy tu Duena", but just as we were about to find out how Ivana was going to pull together her schemes, the power went out. We'll find out tomorrow. :) The stars were bright and crowding the night sky tonight, with the trees shadowed and lightning glowing from behind occasionally, it was truly a breath taking sight. As we look above to the stars we know that tomorrow you will see some of the very same stars we got to enjoy seeing tonight. We send all our love and are counting down the days until we see all of you again. We keep all of you in our prayers, please pray for the ones we have come to love here. Until tomorrow!

July 2011 Nigeria Team Update July 20th

2011-07-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday night and the sound of the rain is soothing as we finish our packing and prepare for our return to Abuja tomorrow.

The last two days have been filled with fun, new places, new projects and my favorite (NOT), shopping.

Our final afternoon in Kafanchan proved to be equally as powerful as our first, albeit less emotional (thank goodness). The youth and couples groups completed this first stage of their program with many positive and powerful comments about it. One married woman told us that the Family Conekt program has shown her what her husband truly thinks about her, in both her strengths and her weaknesses. She felt it gave her a new and fresh perspective on their relationship and their marriage.

Another man told us that he felt relieved to find out that he wasn't the only one going through problems with young-adult children and that he now feels a renewed strength to face the challenges this can bring.

Overall we ended the night feeling great about the work that VCI Nigeria has started there and we know this was just the beginning for this community.

We left Kafanchan Tuesday morning after a breakfast of french toast for Chelsea and top ramen for Serrena.

We drove about an hour and arrived in the capital of Plateau State, the "town" of Jos. We quickly learned Nigerian towns are actually the same as American cities - big, bustling and crowded with cars and people. And a lot more smog and fumes than our cities, too!

We immediately checked into our guest house and quickly realized Phillips hadn't been kidding when he said he saved the best for last. Now, mind you, by American standards this place isn't all that much to write home about (no pun intended) but after the mud hut with no electricity and no running water, not to mention it was MUD, this place is pretty luxurious.

I have a large room with a bed big enough for my entire family (grandchildren included) along with a sink in my "kitchen", another in the bathroom and still another in the....bathroom waiting area, I guess you'd say. Chelsea and Serrena have a HUGE room with a double and a single bed, a little bar area overlooking their much bigger kitchen and a two-room bathroom as well. We have showers with shower heads that actually emit hot water! Jackpot! Oh, and did I mention the air conditioning? Well, when there is power, anyway. :)

We dropped our stuff off and leaving our new favorite place, gleefully went "on safari"! Well.....let's just say it was a scaled down version of a safari. We walked. And the few under nourished animals there were in small cages that made all of us rather sad until we saw a group of school children touring the place. Watching their faces as the elephant came out to greet them made us all realize that if they didn't have these few animals in the cages, these kids would never have an opportunity to see a lion or hyena or elephant, or any of the other animals. Its all in how you look at things, I guess!

After returning to the guest house and having a few hours to relax, we piled into the van and headed for VCI Nigeria headquarters. There, we met all the staff and volunteers who make it all happen. As always, Chelsea entertained them with her fluent Hausa greetings and Serrena enthralled them with stories from our time in Nigeria. The favorite story, of course, was the mosquito story which both Serrena and Chelsea told, including the screams, pleading and plenty of laughter.

In the midst of our conversations, the storm blew in, the temperature dropping at least 10 degrees, the thunder pounding overhead, and torrential rain that included hail the size of a quarter. It was spell binding and absolutely beautiful to watch!

What??? We thought at first he was joking but soon realized he was quite serious. In fact, they had held dinner for an extra hour because we were taking so long at the bbq.

So we reluctantly said goodbye to our new friends, the wonderful people that give so much of themselves, and headed back. When we arrived, we begrudgingly headed for the dining room where dinner was waiting. Much to our surprise, we were greeted by a huge bowl of spaghetti, home made meat sauce that was way more meat than sauce, and freshly baked rolls. Somehow the fullness from just a few minutes earlier had vanished and we all indulged. The sauce was fantastic, especially with the bread, and each of us ate more than we ever should have! We left for our rooms feeling satisfied and happy,

The evening held more lightning, thunder and rain, for hours! We all commented in the morning how amazing it was for thunder and lighting to go on and on for hours. Often with little or no rain to cushion it. None of us had experienced anything like it before.

The morning brought started rough since there were a few stomachs still protesting all the food they'd been forced to process the night before, but that didn't stop us from enjoying freshly baked biscuits with sausage patties for breakfast. Still no yams anywhere....

We left for some morning shopping in the market place where we wound in and out of streets lined with hundreds of stalls selling everything from tomatoes to caftans to tires. The girls each found lots of special things for special people and, after a great noon lunch at a nearby restaurant, we loaded up the van one more time and headed about 30 minutes out to a new VCI community called Zabolo.

There we met with the newly formed committee heads, project groups and registered orphans, hearing more stories of change. This community was trained only in April so it hasn't had much time to develop, but they have a great foundation and excited participants.

At 7 we were picked and taken to Phillips house where we got to meet his four children and a few friends. We had a lot of fun but sadly had to say goodbye to all for the final time.

We will do some more shopping this morning then head back to Abuja this afternoon for our final night in Nigeria. Tomorrow, Chelsea leaves us in the early afternoon headed for Kenya to visit friends and Serrena and I wait until 11 pm for our flights home.

Have a great day, everyone!

We love you!

Extended Kenya Team July 20th Update

2011-07-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

July 20

We started our day today with a beautiful sunrise and some delicious French toast. Philemon (Papa Philly) decided to come 40 minutes early this morning, rather than 45 minutes late like yesterday. We all quickly scattered, got ready and jumped in the van to begin our day. Justine and Anna were dropped off at Ringroad Health Clinic today, while Heidi and Sharayah got to go somewhere new for their work.

Papa Philly took Heidi and Sharayah to Cherry Brierly Children's Home, this is the home that is ran by Papa Philly himself. When we arrived at the home, Philemon introduced us to his staff who quickly put us to work. We did a few dishes and then were taken to the beautiful dormitories for sweeping and mopping. There were eight rooms that needed to be clean, and within the first two rooms we found 5 very large cockroaches. After Heidi found the first one, and clearly panicked and ran for help from the staff members, the rest of the morning Steven, one of the men, followed Heidi around to be sure that she wouldn't be frightened by another. The children came home from school at 12:30 to enjoy lunch time, and the older ones went quickly back to school. The younger children were done for the day, and Heidi and Sharayah got to play with them for a while. We played Chinese jump rope with the girls, and the boys quickly came to get us to play futbol with them. The game was intense with the children and us two girls, while Papa Philly and his staff sat on the sidelines cheering us on. This home is much different than the other ones we have been to. There is a peace and love in the air that is rarely experienced at orphanages, and it was a blessing to be a part of it. The staff are very loving and the children are very respectful, something that Papa Philly has taught well.

Justine and Anna's day consisted of checking malaria again, and again, and again with some typhoid mixed in the batch. However, with great delight today was free immunization time for the inhabitants in Nyallenda slums. The mamas would sit in the waiting room undressing their cute little peanuts from layers of clothing, this being their winter time of course. We would weight the baby, check the records, mix the vaccinations and shot the little tykes in the thigh. Most of the babies would come in so happy smiling and giggling, it was a glorious day to see the smiles and giggles of a 6 month old. Then the injection would happen and it was good to hear that all the babies’ lungs were strong and their wails heard.

Our day is coming to a close with a delicious meal of pesto with garlic bread and pineapple from Justine to Heidi. We are all a little spoiled around here! Some are getting ready for the soap operas while others are thinking about taking their weekly shower. Tonight our prayers are with the patients of Ringroad Health Clinic and all of those are Cherry Brierly. Until tomorrow...

Extended Kenya Team July 19th Update

2011-07-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

July 19

This morning started much earlier than our usual day, and each and every one of us are exhausted! We were invited by Pastor Jack to see and experience a Village Care training in action. On our way to Lela Community Bible Church, we picked up some of our close Kenyan friends that we only see when going into villages. Needless to say, we were all thrilled when we saw their beautiful faces at Tusky's.

As soon as we arrived at Lela we all began working to organize and set up for the training. When we started, most of the benches were empty besides a few people of the village and the VCI crew. After about 30 minutes, the church began to fill and it didn't stop until 5 hours later. We learned every step of Village Care and how they train the villages in sustaining themselves with the resources they have, along with keeping their community safe and clean. Each person in the room was fully engaged while Pastor Jack and Wyson taught them the things that we would consider a simplicity, but for them it is life changing. Towards the end of the training everyone split off into groups to brainstorm and plan for their project that they are going to do to support themselves. After that time, the members come together while Pastor Jack acknowledges each project idea and assigns VCI staff to assist with each group. The most beautiful part of the day was watching as each member of the community was awarded a certificate of completion from VCI. Their smiles and excitement were shown through the whole church, and the four of us girls were blessed to be a part of such an experience.

As our night closes we find ourselves around the TV watching Spanish soap operas, and probably getting a little too involved with the stories! Tonight we have reached a big milestone in our trip here... Junior, Pastor Jack's 3 year old son who doesn't communicate with anyone other than his dad, is playing with us and giving us kisses! Tonight our prayers are with the people of the Lela Community as they set out for their new adventure. Until tomorrow...

Extended Kenya Team July 18th Update

2011-07-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

July 18

"We tried your porridge," the girls protested as Philemon picked up a spoon and toyed with his oatmeal. "Yes, but our porridge does not behave like... this," Philemon replied with a grimace as the oatmeal gooed down from the spoon and plopped back into the bowl. We all erupted in laughter at both his comment and face, as he tried this favorite American breakfast. Justine had made marvelously creamy oatmeal and we all had enjoyed it immensely until Philemon had raised his nose at it. By then we all just laughed at his antics. Philemon has been our constant companion and guide as we have been in Kenya, and keeps us all in good humor with his goofy and smart retorts.

Justine and Anna head to the Ringroad Health Clinic as Heidi and Sharayah head to Vision and Passion. Heidi and Sharayah arrive to a pile of dishes awaiting them. With the water still waiting to be pumped, both of the girls head over to the pump with buckets in hand. The day was especially hot and as the girls pumped the water, they appreciated the slight shade offered by a tree overhead. They also enjoyed the workout the pumping did for their arms and sides. :) The expression of surprise worn by our hostess was clear as both the girls easily reached to fill more buckets. It is obvious what the locals here think of American's strength and work ethic as shown more and more throughout the day. While we are here we strive to change their pre-conceived perceptions. The day wore on quickly and as the girls worked they were constantly asked if they needed a break, the answer always being no. As Sharayah finished chopping tomatoes, a man who worked at the school came up to her and asked how she "liked cutting a tomato," thinking she had never cut one before. The girls worked and took a break only for lunch returning early to get more work done. Sweeping and mopping the kitchen was asked to be done. The kitchen looked quite close to new when they were both done. Hopefully, they will turn their views of us to a more positive light after we leave.

Justine and Anna had a tough day at the clinic. As they were eager to work with patients, regardless of the power being out, the clinic employees felt differently, they sat around all morning drinking tea till the power went back on (it was some GOOD tea!!!!!). When the power was on, the girls tested many, many, many, many patients for malaria then an occasional typhoid. It was another hard day at the clinic while the girls continue to thank God for the healthcare available in America.

We all joined back together at the end of our day to debrief and enjoy some delicious BLT's made by our wonderful chefs. It is only Monday, but we are all exhausted and on our way to bed. Tonight our prayers are with the people of Ringroad Health Clinic and Vision and Passion. Until tomorrow...

July 2011 Nigeria Team Update July 17th

2011-07-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

We have left the fantastic village of Bwonpe and left a piece of our hearts there, as well.

Over the course of the last few days we saw so much amazing work that the Bwonpe team has accomplished. From school buildings to farms, bread making to fish ponds, this community is another great example of what Village Care is all about.

Chelsea continually impressed locals with her mastery of language - both Hausa and the local dialect- as well as with her never-ending enthusiasm for life! Serrena had no problem keeping up, other than the languages which continue to elude us both.

Our first night ended in hysterics both terror and laughter, when Chelsea took a shower by flashlight. Just when she got conditioner on her head, a swarm of bugs went for the flashlight....which she happened to hang between her and the door. I was laying in bed contemplating the day when the scream broke out - "MOSQUITOES!!! They're attacking me!"

Serrena attempted a rescue, throwing in a towel for Chelsea but the bugs had her cornered. As the screams grew louder and the laughter more hysterical, Serrena calmly talked Chelsea through with such love and support...it was beautiful, really. I hadn't gotten up because there was enough laughter coming that I thought it was all just "fun" outside my window (where the shower was). Ruth, Phillips beautiful wife, was also now involved in the rescue attempt.

Finally, Serrena managed to get her hands on the light (which was not something she actually wanted to touch) and free Chelsea from her bug bondage. It was only then I realized that there was some real fear mixed into all the screams of "Help me! Oh my God, they have me trapped!".

I wasn't much help to Chelsea at that point but when I got up to make sure she was okay and find out what on earth had happened, I was told that as always, the bugs went for the light...and in this case it happened to be a swarm of termites, not mosquitos after all.

Needless to say, we have all had more than a few excellent laughs since then, with each of us, including Chelsea, doing our version of the ultimate war cry - "MOSQUITOS!!!!!!"

We are on the road again this morning, headed for church and Kafanchan where the girls will speak to the local youth on life in the US, how it is not all peaches and cream (!) and how bad decisions can lead to trouble for our youth. I will speak to the local women’s group, encouraging them and offering some open discussion time to share our mutual challenges.

Thank you for all your prayers - we have been bathed in them from day one and we know its the reason we have had so little trouble with the many, many police checks we have to stop at, among so many other things. We appreciate every prayer and ask that you continue to pray not only for us and the people we may meet along the way, but for our team of women working in Kenya, as well as our staff supporting them there, as they continue to do so much for the people of Kisumu. They will return to the US on August 6.

We hope to have internet access on Tuesday and we'll try to send updates before then, as well.

Have a great week, everyone!

Blessings -

Chelsea, Serrena and Sally

Extended Kenya Team July 17th Update

2011-07-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

July 17

We were blessed with another amazing Sunday in Kisumu, Kenya today. This morning after our breakfast was finished and we were all dressed in our Sunday best, Evelyn walked us to a nearby church. We attended, what we would imagine, one of the biggest churches in Kisumu and possibly even Kenya. The sanctuary was two stories and had a large stage placed at the front of the room. As the worship began, we all immediately recognized the songs as ones that you might be singing this morning in our home churches. We felt right at home and joined in with the singing and dancing. It was an wonderful service that each one of us truly enjoyed.

Following church, we walked to Nakumatt to pick up what we would be having for dinner. When we arrived home, Evelyn gave us a little bit of time to relax before making our meal. Justine and Sharayah made their way to the kitchen to learn how to make one of our favorite African dinners, chapati and dangu; while Anna and Heidi found themselves sitting on the uncomfortable concrete floor, fellowshipping for hours. The chefs did an amazing job at making our delicious dinner, that we all enjoyed with some of our close Kenyan friends. Tonight our prayers are with our family and friends at home who are beginning their day of worship. Until tomorrow...

Extended Kenya Team July 16th Update

2011-07-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

July 16

Today was a special day for the four of us girls! Philemon, our amazing driver, invited us to meet his family and enjoy lunch at his breath taking home. In the Kenyan culture couples do not show any public affection, not even holding hands. As for Philemon and his beautiful wife, Linda, they do things a little differently and we all noticed in an instant. As soon as Linda met our group, she went straight to her husband and held his hand. Philemon gladly showed us pictures and a DVD of their wedding, and with his eyes beaming, he could not look away from the screen even for a moment. Linda and Evelyn made us a special lunch of chicken, rice, noodles and potatoes. The reason for it being special was because the chicken had a little more than just the usual of what we eat, it had the head and the feet included. I guess you could say we were all caught a little off guard, and no, we did not eat those unnecessary parts of the meal.

Following lunch, Philemon drove all 6 of us women to a salon where we were pampered beyond belief. We all feel like we have been given new bodies to refresh us for the second half of our trip! We hope that you have enjoyed the first 3 weeks as much as we have, and we can't wait to share with you all what our future holds for us here. We have a glimpse of what's in store, but we will not be sharing until those days happen. Until tomorrow...

Extended Kenya Team July 15th Update

2011-07-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

July 15th

Today was the first day that our new little team separated from each other. Pastor Jack sent Justine and Anna to the Orongo Health Clinic, and Heidi and Sharayah were taken to the Vision and Passion School and Orphanage.

Anna and Justine were sent to Orongo Health Clinic where they were quickly put to work in different areas of the clinic. It was a different world from the sterile feeling of the hospitals back in the USA. There where paper signs listing the prices in shillings of the different services provided. The client was registered then sat and waited for the bell to ring by the nurse or Physician Assistant, then after they decided a diagnosis, blood work and/or prescription (all written on craft paper), a small entry was noted in a big book and that was it, all the charting in a few words. Though the day was filled with several clients and many blood draws, 90% of them for Malaria and Typhoid, it was a whole different type of nursing. The girls left a little shocked, a lot more knowledgeable about malaria and typhoid and ever so thankful.

Heidi and Sharayah were put to work as soon as they arrived at the orphanage. They washed dishes, served porridge, washed dishes, served beans and corn, and washed more dishes. Each child smiled with true thankfulness as we would serve them their dish of food. Sharayah and Heidi were amazed at their response, because most American children would not enjoy such food... and neither would Heidi. The staff at the orphanage truly appreciated their help and could not stop thanking them. Everyone was blessed by each other's presence.

After a day of work, the four of us met up again and went to Salem High School to meet with Gloria and Kylie. Gloria had raised money to get a well put in at the school, and today was the day of celebration. We were treated like royalty, yet again. They served us muffins, biscuits, GIANT sodas, and just all around took care of us. It was a true celebration for the high school, and we felt beyond honored to be a part of it. Tonight our prayers are with Salem High School, the people of Vision and Passion, and for every person that steps into Orongo Health Clinic. Until tomorrow...

Extended Kenya Team July 13th Update

2011-07-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

July 13th

From our side of the house you can hear crinkling of sheets, shuffling of sandals, and water being drawn as everyone wakes up. Anna heads over to visit with the puppies and Justine with our family next door, Heidi clicks away on the computer, and Sharayah awakes to do laundry. With everyone busy in the morning, the sun rises to it's center in the sky heating the land around us. We finish breakfast and step into the heated day as Philemon waits to take us to Migosi.

Rainbows caught in spheres swirl around clapping hands and laughing faces as we each pull out our supply of bubbles. A herd of boys comes crashing through the delicate number of girls gathered around the bubbles and start their attack on the floating spheres. Some of the bubble suds pop into some of the little boys eyes, attacking the boys in their own way. The little boys rub at their eyes and then go to run after a soccer ball being kicked around. Dirt is kicked up into the wind as a jump rope is swung around challenging the next person to come and jump. A teacher laughs as she is caught by the rope, but a second time around and she is jumping in and out of it easily. Some of us watch the skilled and unskilled jumpers dance in and out of the rope while kids cling on to us pulling our attention to them. With so many kids piled arounds us, some of us resort to sitting, one of the only ways all of them can have our attention at once. Some try to pass one of the balls around to all the kids, but there is always one kid that runs away with it. Gloria calls for craft time and all the kids are herded into the school room to color. Supplied with crayons and a color sheet colored pages start to fill the room as kids reach to swap crayons with one another. Some of the girls on our team join in the coloring themselves, stowing them away for their mother's fridges. Gloria goes around snapping pictures as Anna proudly holds up her and Justine's finished artwork, Heidi goes outside to sit with Jack and a little girl, and Sharayah stows away a picture drawn by one of her favorite little boys, Benedict. Sweets are given out ending our time at Migosi and we say our farewells, pulling away with waving hands and smiling faces trailing behind.

We are surprised as we pull up to a near by clinic, our day isn't quite finished. Henry from Migosi greets us, and gives us a tour of the humble clinic. Some of us lag behind as we stare at the prices of assorted treatments, all of us surprised that none of the treatments reached even $20. The halls fit about two across so we travel in single file down the unlit halls, led firstly to one of the offices. We meet Nancy, one of the head of staff, and then head back down to a lab. Sparsely furnished with scattered viles and coarse wooden shelves, a worker tells us that here is where they prepare tests. Our eyes can't help but get wide as we look around the room, I think we all had time to thank God that we have the treatment that we do in America. We are then led to an assortment of wards, all with a couple beds, but not much else. We saw only four patients lying down, other than that, the clinic ran empty. We were then guided to the kitchen, a large room with a collection of pots and two sinks only claiming the space. A smiling woman named Susan came out and greeted us, unaware of how her kitchen may be compared to the ones we are used to seeing. We have so much to be thankful for, and I think we each took the time to think of how grateful we are for so many things.

We arrived back home and all settled in to read, but the heat took the best of us and drifted us to sleep, all but Justine who fought the heat and continued to read. We now end our day, and after a Thai candle lit dinner (we refused to turn the lights on after we found the electricity had come back on), we each took turns blowing out candles. Anna and Sharayah laughed as they tried to blow one candle out, and Justine and Heidi grabbed at the few remaining candles, laughter erupting from everyone. We wish the best to all our family and friends back home. We love you all, until tomorrow!

July 2011 Nigeria Team Update July 12th

2011-07-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

July 12th

Quick update - we are in a tiny village, far from pretty much everything. Very irregular cell service so we may or not get messages out and in.
We arrived in Ukya'u yesterday and are staying in a wonderful home here. Serrena and Chelsea have their own "house" and I have mine. The family is in houses surrounding us.
Last night, a welcoming ceremony greeted us, followed by what we thought would be the usual speeches. But this place is different....when they told us how blessed they felt simply because we were here, it felt so real and sincere it brought tears to everyone's eyes. I tried to explain that we felt equally as blessed to have the honor of being here, but I doubt my words were able to convey how much truth was in this.

We spent a lot of time singing and dancing, and finally, the children accepted us! Once they did, they didn't let go until it was bedtime for them. We then sat and talked till midnight with the ladies and went to bed exhausted but so happy.

This morning we have already visited a brick making site, and the school that was started after the VCI training. There, we left t-shirts and soccer balls (one was already popped before we left), and a totally disrupted school day. More on this later!

We will be sitting in on the Outcomes for Business training for the community this afternoon and finish up in the morning before departing for the next village we'll visit.

If you don't hear from us, don't worry! Its just the fact that the cell service is so infrequent out in the remote areas. We will write as soon as we have a way to get the message out.

Thank you again for all the love, support and prayers. They are all greatly appreciated.

Extended Kenya Team July 12th Update

2011-07-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

July 12th

Our team's strength for each day is definitely given by the grace of God. Each day we awake to new challenges, new blessings, and new experiences. As the sun reaches our corner of the world, Justine goes to help with breakfast, Heidi goes to clean herself up, Anna awakes to read, and Sharayah takes the time to sneak in a few more minutes of sleep. The day ahead requires renewed strength and faith in what God is going to do around us.

After a traditional Kenyan breakfast of toast and jelly, we heard Anna's devotion. She spoke God's words to us as she said to be strong and listen to God. We heard her/God's words and took them to heart through out our day.

We first traveled to Orongo, where kids awaited our arrival. With arms stretched high and smiles stretched wide children swarmed to our van. We each got out throwing out soccer balls and blowing up balloons for the kids to play with. Squeals of delight were heard as bubbles were blown, and kids danced around with various balloons. We had just created a small carnival, and each of us were a part of it. A rough game of futball was started and the little boys were hesitant to pass to a mzungu, cautious of our 'lack of skill', but most were surprised as they saw Anna easily juggle the ball and even a few juggles by Sharayah were seen with wide eyes. Justine and Heidi led crafts in one of the class rooms and kids came running out with beautifully colored crosses dangling from their wrists. A mzungu was often come to if one of the cross bracelets needed retying. Gloria had two duffel bags of shirts and shoes and as we lugged them from the van, kids rushed around us to see what next joy was in store. Children were lined up and as each kid came up to us, we each were given shirts to fit them, smiles spread in waves as the kids got new and beautiful shirts. The gift giving was not done though, as we reached into the second duffel and pulled out sandals to fit each child. Some kids came back for more while others pranced around in their new treasures. Gloria also gifted the small school with porridge and sugar. To say the least, everyone was sad to see the 'carnival' pack up and leave.

Our van pulled onto the dirt road as we headed to the group "Amazing", and each of us were greeted and then told to go into a room where the group awaited our arrival. We were welcomed and urged to look at one of the group's sources of income, beaded jewelry. As we picked up pieces, some of us bought the assorted paper made beads. Heidi instead picked up a baby she had grown attached to since the last visit, she wanted to bring him home until she realized the mom was watching her every move. Gloria and Justine led the bible study and we got to hear some of our teams past and some of the members of the group pasts. Heart felt stories were told and a feeling of closeness surrounded the group, creating a wholeness. By the end, we said our good byes as asante sana (thank you) and mungu akubariki (God bless you) were exchanged from person to person. As we arrived home, the familiar faces greeted us, and some of the kids rushed to our van racing us back to the house.

A full day lay behind us, and as we stretch our sore and tired bodies, we remember the happy memories of the day and the ones behind us. We grow in laughter and in turn as a team as these three weeks lie ahead, and we look forward to all that God has in store for us. Until tomorrow!

Extended Kenya Team July 11th Update

2011-07-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

July 11th

Today was the most different of our time here in Kisumu. After enjoying delicious grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast (made by our personal chef Justine), we began our journey. Gloria, from Kenya Kids, let us tag along with her and see what her projects are with orphans. Our first stop was Rabuor Village Care Community Center where there are 60 orphans that range from the ages of 3-6 years old. We were greeted with beautiful songs of welcoming from the children and their teachers. Each of us took a group of kids to sit and do arts and crafts with. As soon as we completed the crafts, we took the children outside to play soccer/football, jump rope, blow bubbles and play with balloons. At the end of our playtime, Gloria pulled out two big duffel bags full of t-shirts. We passed them out to each child and they would immediately have us help put them on and stare at us in smiles. Needless to say, we all left Rabuor feeling blessed and full of joy.

Our next stop was Vision and Passion Orphanage and Primary School where we could barely step foot out of our van due to children surrounding us from all directions. We took them out to a large field across the street where a game of football began. Justine and Anna led the game until Justine fell... a few times... and it was time for her to call it quits, with a little less skin noted. Sharayah was in a big circle with the majority of the kids who weren't playing football, and was singing songs and dancing. Heidi was sitting under a tree with a group of children that could not stop rubbing her skin, wondering how her white skin wasn't rubbing off on their hands.

We are now in our home and getting ready for bed. We've enjoyed yet another amazing meal from Evelyn, have taken warm showers (yes, Pastor Jack purchased a new shower head that produces warm water), and are now debriefing on where we have seen God today. All of us saw Him through every child's eyes today as well as in each other. Tonight our prayers are with the orphans and their teachers. Until tomorrow...

Extended Kenya Team July 10th Update

2011-07-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

July 10-

Greetings family and friends in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, California and teammates around the States!! I hope this finds you all blessed and tender hearted as we are in this cozy warm grassland. Today we started this blessed Sunday with what seems like Mrs. Evelyn's favorite dish of steaming French toast, with melted butter and sweet gooey syrup. It was quite a treat! Then we packed up in our fancy Sunday best dresses and even gave Africa a treat with putting on make up, the Sanchez girls still didn't shave, but there not worried God loves them no matter what! Hoot hoot!! I'm not sure if your aware but were here with friends of Pastor Jack. The Friends are three beautiful ladies from Colorado, named Gloria, Kylie and Julie. There extraordinarily beautiful woman of God and today Mrs. Gloria taught on the power of prayer and faith. This was followed by Pastor Jack on moving mountains by faith alone. This Sunday we sang, we danced; we prayed and worshiped the one true mighty God, just as I'm sure you are doing today! After the service we had the honor of driving to Jacks mothers’ house and meeting his family. It was very humbling. His story made us laugh and brought tears to our eyes, his connection with God is one that we should all strive to have.

After a long drive back from the village of Jacks mother, everyone was anxious to jump out of the van. Justine went inside to help Mrs. Evelyn cook a new Kenyan dish called "green grams" (that’s the English version obviously... I can hardly say the Swahili word of the soup, let alone spell it), with Heidi at her heels, being fired two seconds into the cooking expedition by Evelyn, "You set the table." Anna and Sharayah tried to buff up there football skills with the local boys in the yard. Needless to stay they still need practice, we figure by the end of the trip they will be superstars. After cleaning up and breaking bread we all tuckered out for the night, remembering always that our God can move mountains. Our prayers go out to you all and we know your love and prayers are reaching us now. God bless and until tomorrow xoxo

July 2011 Nigeria Team Update July 10th

2011-07-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family!

Well, Serrena and I met up with Chelsea in Frankfurt and we all made it safely into Abuja and the welcoming arms of our Nigerian Director, Phillips Elisha and his beautiful wife, Ruth.

After a somewhat elongated drive to the guest house (weird traffic stuff), we checked into our rooms and then went for dinner. The choices (never mind the very extensive and delicious sounding list of foods on the menu) were rice, fried rice and chicken. Hmmmm....the girls each chose the fried rice with chicken and I chose to abstain. A huge plate of food was brought for each and although it was good, there was plenty left on the plates.

Next we had to choose what we want for breakfast tomorrow! The girls chose fried plantains and chips (french fries). I chose coffee, no cream. We will let you know what we get tomorrow...I remember this guest house from my last visit 5 years ago and the "restaurant" didn't have the best service then, either. Kind of funny, kind of not.

And as luck would have it when I got back to my room to send this update, I found I do not have internet access on my laptop. This means our reports may be short until we can resolve this - "typing" on a Blackberry is NOT fun and not something we can do for long.

For now, know we are safe and tucked in for the night. Keep us in your prayers - we have a 7-8 hour drive tomorrow to reach a tiny village called Ukya'u. No electricity or water but plenty of people anxiously awaiting our arrival!

Thank you for all your support and prayers.

Blessings to all -
Sally

Extended Kenya Team July 9th Update

2011-07-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

Here is a short update from the team members from the June Team who are staying longer. Thank you all for your support of this team, it was truly an amazing team. We currently have a team on their way to Nigeria as we speak so look forward to updates about their work soon.

July 9th - After a day of relaxation we are all lying down and getting ready for bed. We enjoyed a nice walk down to the markets this afternoon and got to finally stretch our legs and see the sights of Kisumu up close. We first stopped by Nakumatt, the local super center, and then ventured down to a local meat shop. The day was warm, so after walking down the streets for a couple hours, we grew tired and we all hopped into a 'cab'. It was more of a motorcycle with a roof. It had three tires and went about 30 miles per hour, but it got us back safely and was more of an adventure than our usual van transportation. We all took the opportunity to read and lie down when we got back, and it was nice to just enjoy a day lounging about. As the sun grew dimmer, some of us headed to the kitchen to cook dinner and the rest went to play with the awaiting children. Cries of "GOAL!" could be heard down the streets as a soccer ball was kicked around the yard and teasing jeers were called out. The kids have taken the opportunity to teach us some Swahili while we sit on the porch, and sometimes they pick up a book and read to us. We all shared a meal cooked by Justine and Evelyn of hamburgers and French fries, all fresh from our days shopping. We laughed as a local show was on, a version of Punked, and shared about our day. Now we write to tell everyone we're doing well and that we hope the same for everyone back at home. Until tomorrow!

June 2011 Kenya Team Final Update

2011-07-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

Jambo family and friends,

We are staying in the most beautiful guest house in Kenya - The Classic Guest House. Our final night here is a night of luxury, hot water, showers, nice rooms, and all the comforts of home.

Our journey back to Nairobi was a lot smoother than the trip to the Masa Mara; and by smooth, I mean the roads were less bumpy. Praise God for that! We had a wonderful time on our game rides but I will let Jeff's final message tell the story.

We visited the giraffe center today and laughed as Devin got the nerve to let one kiss her; great pictures to follow. Everyone laughed as we took turns to take pictures and pet the beautiful creatures. Chris's favorite was the wart hog but he was a bit shy today and made only a few appearances.

Tomorrow we will see the CITY of Nairobi, purchase a few trinkets, and begin our journey home, back to all of you! Your continued prayers are appreciated for those returning to Kisumu, for Mary heading to Tanzania and for those of us making the long journey home. Our time has been unforgettable, life changing, and an opportunity we won't forget. Thanks for journeying with us, now please enjoy our final report attached! In HIS grip, Chris for the team

July 5 & 6 - We left Kisumu early on the morning of the 5th. Pastor Jack and Everlyn were up to send us off. Before we left, the pastor spoke of his vision for Kenya. He sees a place where his country can take care of itself and people like us visit as friends and not benefactors. There is just something about this man. His steadfast resolve, his vision, his faith leave us all a little awestruck. We often get the feeling that we are in presence of greatness. Our journey to Masa Mara was a long one, but six bumpy hours and a quick lunch later we were in the Riff Valley on a game drive watching a lion take down wildebeest. The Riff valley is vast, and upon its grasslands the wildlife is incredibly rich. The wildebeest are in the midst of their migration and there are literally a million of these animals spread across this land. Along with them are lions, cheetahs, giraffes, elephants, leopards, zebras, jackals, and many many others of God's creatures. We know, because we saw them. It was all a little overwhelming. Anna was especially taken with the enormity of the experience. It was almost too much, but honestly her reaction was by far the most appropriate.

We are living in tents. But before you feel too sorry for us, these are tents with indoor plumbing - including hot water. At night, we can hear the hyenas. But do not fear, we are protected by Masai tribesman, who step from the shadows from time to time to help us find the way back to our tents when we get turned around - which we seem to make a habit of doing. By the way, Dr. Jeff has become a Masai or at least he will be if he can ever get past that whole going-into-the-bush-and-killing-a-lion-thing. But besides that, he has the dress, the height, and the dance routine down. On July 6, we went on an all day game drive. We saw lion cubs feeding on the previous day's kill. We saw hippos. We saw crocodiles. We saw an ostrich. We saw God's creation laid before us in a way that makes His existence undeniable. We also saw Larry catch a bush-plane at the airstrip. He looked almost dashing kissing Chris and then hopping into the plane - almost dashing. His departure signals the winding down of our trip. Tomorrow, we head back to Nairobi and not long after back to you. We will have stories to tell and people to introduce. But first, on to Nairobi. Today our prayers are with Philip, Antonio, and Larry as we know yours are with us. Until tomorrow...

Amazed by the “Amazing Group”

2011-07-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

South of Kisumu Kenya in the tiny village of Nyahera, there are miracles of the human spirit and acts of true love going on. The first thing you have to know is that the Amazing Group is a collection of HIV positive men and women who live in the community who, through the Village Care OPOS program, have decided to come together to try and fight the stigma of HIV and the prejudice that comes with this crippling disease. They have formed their group and are currently running projects involving economic security and education around HIV for the surrounding community. Their projects include goat raising, farming corn and kale, and chicken raising, as well as micro-banking to help support the members with their HIV drugs and orphans in their community who are afflicted with this disease. They even put together a dramatic skit to help educate people on HIV/AIDS and what it is and is not.

One of their main projects is the support of the members of their community who are struggling through HIV treatment by supplying them nutritious food, transportation to and from clinic visits, and by caring for these patients in their homes. This group does this all on their own, with no outside help and with no financial or material reward from anyone. Their reward is seeing people loving people, taking care of each other, and allowing individuals to live a more fulfilling and productive life.

There is one particular member who we have gotten to know well. Her name is Judith and she is the embodiment of everything that is good and right in the world.

Her spirit emanates from her tiny, frail body like beams from a sunrise. Her smile grabs your heart and holds it close as she takes your hand in hers, and in broken English, tells you how grateful she is you have come. On one particular visit we went to visit her at Chulaimbo MedicalCenter, which is a large health clinic near her village. In addition to HIV/AIDS treatment, the clinic has a lab, a circumcision center, a sickle cell wing, and other general health care facilities for the community. When we arrived Judith was still in the room receiving her treatments, so we waited. We toured around the facility, seeing what work was being done, and anticipated seeing our friend again. Soon after that, Judith emerged with the help of Lydia, one of the members of the Amazing Group who is caring for Judith.

Lydia’s story is also one filled with God’s love, true caring, and sacrifice that most people will never understand. She does so much with so little, attempting to give Judith what she needs to survive while barley surviving herself. She uses what meager money she can gather along with the other members to pay for Judith’s treatments as well as the medicine and food she needs to survive. She is doing so much, but needs to be able to do more. If I could have one wish it would be to have more Lydia’s in the world, because if we did, our children and our children’s children would know a world far different than the one we do, a world ruled by love and operated on the basis of simple compassion.

We greeted Judith with hugs and high fives, exchanging small words in what little Swahili we can speak, trying to convey to her our excitement in seeing her again.

Even now, I am stunned by the difference in her from just a week ago. When we first met her she could not even stand, barley holding her body weight and barley able to speak. Now she was walking and interacting, her face full of life and her eyes bright like gemstones. As we boarded the van, preparing for the bumpy ride back to the village, Judith turned to us and said, “I am blessed to see you again.” This simple statement speaks volumes about her spirit, her courage, and a strength that I will never comprehend. Here is a woman who is clinging to life, suffering excruciating pain daily, but she is blessed by our presence. No Judith, we are blessed beyond measure by you.

Once we arrive at her home we are invited in to sit and talk. We ask her how her treatments are going. Good. Is she feeling better? Much better. We ask her if she is hungry. Her head lifts and she speaks a resounding and slightly playful “Yes!” We all laugh, but inside there is desperation in her voice. We offer her what food we have, a carton of banana yogurt.As if given manna from heaven she drinks the yogurt, smiling all the while, and begins to feel better.

While we sit and talk, in my mind I can’t help but realize that what we are witnessing here is something that is not unique in communities we visit. These people have decided, because it is what should be done, to care for their own and to take responsibility for each other. Lydia and the rest of the Amazing Group do this work when no one is watching. Even when the Mzungus from America are at home in their houses, Judith and Lydia are fighting the good fight, battling day by day to survive and to bring love into the world. I have seen a lot of things, been a lot of places, but right there in Nyahera I know in my heart I met God face to face in Judith’s eyes, in her touch, and in the palpable spirit in that tiny mud hut.

After some time we decided to depart and let Judith rest. Before we left we all sat and took some great pictures with her. She held us close and whispered unknown words in our ears, but it didn't matter. Love is universal, gratitude knows no boundaries, and courage obeys no human laws. As we stood to leave Judith, in all her awe-inspiring strength insisted on seeing us out. She led us out the door and into the African sun, leaning heavily on her cane. In the next moments I truly can say I saw something that moved me like few things have. With child-like joy seldom witnessed by us, Judith threw down her cane and treated us to a show. She strutted back and forth in front of her house, and even attempted to jog! As if to say, “No death, you can’t have me now” she defied what we all thought she could do (See the video at the bottom, thanks to Jessica Dehlin for the footage). She hugged and kissed us and prayed we would come back soon. We boarded the van with tears in our eyes, love in our hearts, and the prayer that it would not be long before we would be in her presence again. There are few places where the spirit of something greater is actually tangible, something you can see, touch, smell, and be near. I can say, without bias or pre-determined notions that I have been there, in the presence of God, and her name is Judith.

June 2011 Kenya Team July 6th Update

2011-07-06T19:20:00.001-07:00

Hey All,

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up that the June team is currently on Safari in the Massai Mara Game Reserve and has little to no internet connection at the moment. We are hoping for a "final" report from the main team tomorrow some time and will get it posted as soon as we can. In the mean time, enjoy these animal pictures from the Massai Mara, just for fun.

Kit-Mikayi Kenya from May 2011 Team

2011-07-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

This video was taken at Kit-Mikayi in Kenya by the May 2011 team. As we came down from seeing the awesome views on top of the rocks, these women broke into dance and song. It was an amazing experience and a sight to see. They made beautiful music and even allowed some of us to participate in the fun!

These are some photos of Kit-Mikayi. It is a very interesting place and even has a spiritual side. There are places within the rock formation where locals go to offer prayers and burn candles. Being there and seeing it and being part of it was a serene, peaceful experience that was an amazing way to start off our trip.

June 2011 Kenya Team July 4th Update

2011-07-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

The house is a flurry of activity as we attempt to wrap up the activities of our time here in Kisumu. Last minute visits from friends, difficult good-byes, and packing up to move to the Masa Mara have the team both anxious and excited. Please enjoy our post on this day of independence for our country.

July 4 - We sang the national anthem this morning. We just stood at the breakfast table and sang. We don't know if we can say that it was beautiful, but it was heartfelt, which is almost always the same thing. This morning, we also had a party. It was Jeff's birthday and along with peppermint patties and almonds from home, he got a watermelon and a coffee mug. These are some of Jeff's favorite things. Once again we split into two teams. One team traveled to Ring Road Orphanage where there is both a clinic and a school. It was a very impressive place - taking care of 340 orphans and seeing 100 patients a day. We ran into some folks from Christian Relief Fund who help fund Ring Road. It was good to speak English to strangers. After Ring Road, this same group visited Noble Home for the Destitute which sees to the care of older widows. They also grow corn and bananas as well as raise Tilapia, goats, chickens, and soon cows. There is a lot going on at Noble House. It is a good place. The other team visited a group who has banded together to help one another live with HIV as well with a group called Truth and Fair Nyahera Youth Group who raised chickens for eggs and cattle in an effort to support their village. Both teams met together at Salem High School where the team visited with students and answered questions ranging from the transmission of HIV to the love of Jesus Christ.

We will leave Pastor Jack's home early tomorrow morning and journey to the place where we will experience a safari. For most of us it will be our first safari. It is exciting, but honestly for those of us not coming back to spend a few more weeks, it will be hard to go. That may sound funny given the fact that for the past week fourteen people have been living in hot cramped quarters while sharing one bathroom where a shower consists of pouring a pitcher of cold water on your head. But that seems a small price to pay given the things that we have seen and the people we have met. Each one of us will leave a piece of our hearts in this place, but at the same time we will leave with hearts overflowing. Today our prayers are with Paul, Samson, Evans, Margarite and Thomas as we know your prayers are with us. Happy Independence Day! Until tomorrow...

June 2011 Kenya Team July 3rd Update

2011-07-04T02:53:00.000-07:00

July 3 - Sunday feels different. The children wake a little later, and there aren't as many people walking up the road in the early morning. After a big breakfast of hardboiled eggs, fruit, and muffins, we are off to church. Once again the team splits in two. As hard as it is for us to imgaine our presence is a blessing to the churches, so it makes sense to spread this blessing as far as it will go. One group traveled to Salem Church where Larry was invited to preach. He spoke to the pasasge 1 Peter 4:12. At Holo Church, Jeff shared a message from 1 Corinthians 13. Church in Kenya lasts just a bit longer than in the States. We danced. We sang. We prayed. We shared. And then for good measure, we did all these things again, and then again. It was wonderful. It was powerful. It was humbling. The Holy Spirit was moving and though some of us were at Salem and some of us were at Holo, we sat beside one another in the Spirit - just as you sat beside us when you awoke hours later on this same day. After church, we were fed and treated as honored guests. The hospitality of this place is overwhelming. They give us everything that they have. When we think on this morning, it is hard to get away from the word "humbled", because that is how this morning left us. We were honored. We were celebrated. We were loved. And it left us humbled.

When we returned, the children were waiting. Sharayah played tirelessly in the courtyard with the little ones. She brought big smiles to small faces. Kerry and Rachael read storybooks, which is very popular with this group of incredibly bright children. Their clothes may be tattered, but not their minds. There was some shopping, some napping, some reading, and even just a little bit of golf or something that at least approximated golf. It was a day of worship and rest. It was a Sunday. This day our prayers are for Milliset, the pastor of Holo Church, the congregations of Salem and Holo Churches, and the children who play everyday outside of our door. We feel your prayers for us and as always we are grateful. Until tomorrow...

June 2011 Kenya Team July 1st Update

2011-07-02T01:54:00.000-07:00

July 1 - We traveled into the northern hemisphere today. It made us feel a little closer to you. We were on our way to Kongelo Village when we crossed the equator. There is a sign at the side of the road so that you can tell which side of the world is which, otherwise we aren't really sure how you would tell. It was a different kind of day for us. We took a road trip. The land was beautiful filled with boulders and outcroppings of trees, bordered at times by small mountains. It looked a little primeval. Devin was pretty sure a Tyrannosaurus Rex was just around the next corner. We were on our way for a visit with a lady of some renown in this area. But first, we needed to stop by the District office of the President to receive written permission to do so. As fate would have it, he was in the southern hemisphere back in Kisumu. Perhaps we had passed him on the road. Nonetheless, we decided to forge ahead without our written permission and see if we could make our visit anyway. There were guards at the gate and the area was surrounded by a high fence. We noticed a sign with visitor hours posted. We were no where near being within them. Our driver Philemon talked briefly with the head guard, and we waited word from the house. When it came, the answer was yes, and we filed past the guards and toward the home of Sarah Obama.

Within the small plot of land, there were chairs in a small circle under a mango tree, and we were invited to sit down. While we waited to meet the president's grandmother, Mary became visibly excited and Larry had a hard time sitting still, but that could've been because Larry always has a hard time sitting still. When Ms. Obama came to sit with us, it was obvious that there was a deep peace to this woman. She sees to the care of over 100 orphans, and we presented her some blankets and hats donated by Auburn Grace Church. She was intently grateful. We talked a while asking questions which were being translated into English by another woman, who we came to find out was Marsat Obama, our president's aunt. So there we sat, under a mango tree, visiting with the president's grandmother and aunt, like we were old friends. These ladies didn't much like the guards and the gates, though they understood them. When asked if she was excited about her grandson's visit in September, Sarah said no more than our visit today as we were all her grandchildren. And like all grandmothers, she would not let us leave without feeding us first. So mangos were brought out and we ate them, laughing and talking with our president's family. It is fair to say, it was just a little surreal. Before we left, pictures were shown and we saw the image of a young Barack standing in the place where we stood then.

On the way back, we stopped by the equator - all of us can now say that we have stood in the northern and southern hemispheres at the same time. And, we have pictures to prove it. By the time we returned to Kisumu, it was the dinner hour. So we ate. We talked. And then we went to bed. It was a good day - a day to take a breath. This day our prayers are for you as we know yours are for us. Until tomorrow...

June 2011 Kenya Team June 30th Update

2011-07-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

Good morning world! "This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us REJOICE and be glad in it". Below is our report from yesterday, a day not to be forgotten.

We lost our water last night and went to bed hot and sweaty but woke up to the water source restored and plenty of it to wash us clean for a new day. A few team members are feeling a bit under the weather today but there are no complaints and Dr. Jeff is here to take good care of us. The long hours of travel, the humidity, new food tastes, fatigue, etc. all wreak havoc on bodies not used to the African way of life. But, we press on to finish the race and finish it well. Without further delay, please read the attachment penned by our team journalist, Jeff McCord (the team thinks we have the start of a new book and if you haven't read his first one, you can find it on Amazon.com - Awkward Grace by Jeff McCord).

June 30 - We had French toast this morning. And while we covered it with butter and jam, we were given the honor of naming two puppies that were new to Jack and Evelyn's home. We settled on "WaWa" and "Abby". "WaWa" is the best gas-station-sandwich-shop-milkshake-parlor-coffee-shop-restaurant in the Pennsylvania and Washington area. We have a lot of passion on our team for WaWa, and it somehow seemed an appropriate name for a Kenyan puppy. Abby is not the name of anyone you will see written on our team roster, but it is someone we know is with us and who we all carry around. We felt that it was also the finest of names.

We started the day at Salem School and Medical Clinic where we visited with orphans and sorted medical supplies. The motto at Salem is "Knowledge is Light" and the children are beautiful and incredibly bright. They are much more fluent in U.S. state capitals than anyone on our team. In the late morning, we split into two teams and traveled to the Obunga slum. Obunga is the largest slum in Kisumu. The word "slum" conjures a lot of images and they are all present at Obunga. It was something, that for us, Hollywood movies had not captured and our minds had not imagined. It is a desperate place were raw sewage runs like small creeks along the dirt roads. Homes of mud brick and tin lean toward one another and half-naked children play in front of small storefronts. We walked into this place with suitcases filled with medical supplies to visit the homes of some of the sick and to do what we could do. Sharayah flowed easily into the community helping with the cooking at one home. Grace held the children being treated, sometimes very tightly, and handed Justine medical supplies using a color-coded-non-medical-terminology method that somehow seemed to work. Rachael fashioned an orthopedic out of a corn husk and Dr. Jeff waded through the crowds to the homes of the sick treating people along the way. It was hard. It was hot. It was overwhelming. So much need. So many people. So few resources. It is fair to say that we all became emotional in Obunga. And it is also fair to say that later that evening, when we prayed and talked we became even more emotional. But by the grace of God and the strength of this team that emotion found a safe outlet. In between those times, we visited the Salem Orphanage and found happy children ready to play. We needed to play. So we played.

It is hard to know what to do with a day like this day. At its end though, under the protection of the Holy Spirit, we walked in love into the day to do what we could do. For now that is enough. Our prayers this day include Mary (the Director of Salem Clinic), Monique (a lady on the streets of Obunga who asked for our prayers), John (the director of Salem Orphanage), Bernard (an orphan at Salem Orphanage whose smile lights the day) and Rebbecca (an orphan at Salem who has captured our hearts). And so again we ask your prayers for us as well. Until tomorrow...

June 2011 Kenya Team June 29th Update (2)

2011-06-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

June 29th

It's cool in Kisumu in the mornings. This is a surprise to most of us, but the winds from Lake Victoria keep a slight chill in the air. Children are off by 6:15 am walking to school in their uniforms. Birds of some unknown origin call loudly back and forth while roosters try in earnest to wake the day. Chickens appear in the yard, mosquito's retreat the coming sun, and we are off to live another day. Devin got to see her dad at work today. During health inspections, Dr. Jeff was the center of attention at Orongo Orphanage. Anna worked the other line of children with skill and love that amazed the rest of the team. The children stood patiently in line while they waited for their check-ups. At Migosi Orphanage Justine organized the effort, surprising no one, with Rachael at her side. Mary taught school and Jill engaged the children in games that cast wide smiles across their faces. We found that HIV had taken many of these children's parents and that many had the disease themselves. We learned that in Kenya the phrase "Living Positive" was not a new Nike slogan or some new age affirmation, but what it is called when a child lives infected with this dreaded disease. We heard children's songs like "rain rain go away" but also ones like "Aids is a very bad disease" showing that this plague had gone so far as to infect a child's nursery rhyme. But we also heard the children sing a song that said, "Things are already getting better", and that sort of hope is part what makes this place so special and this day so good.

After our visits to the orphanages, we visited both boys and girls classrooms at Orongo High school answering questions ranging from the existence of dinosaurs to how HIV is contracted by newborns. We tried to explain snow and how movies are made along with a multitude of other questions that left us wishing we were smarter. After class Heidi was the first to receive what quickly became a flurry of marriage proposals. On the ride home, Dr. Jeff and Justine made a roadside "house call" before we sat down to dinner and called it a day. Along the way we met people like Florence, the director of Orongo Orphanage, whose faith left us humbled and George whose crafts we are sure some of you will enjoy. Our prayers are with them as we hope yours are with us. This place is really too big for words. Words were not meant to stretch that far. But from them, we hope you can feel at least a little bit of what is in our hearts. Until next time...

June 2011 Kenya Team June 27th and 28th Update

2011-06-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

Jambo everyone,

It's really us - the June team in Kisumu. Wow, where do I begin. This has been a trip of wonders to date with more to come. We are blessed beyond measure to experience the hand of God on a daily basis. Beginning with problem free travel, meeting the team and making all of our connections, to getting through customs without even a glance in our direction. From there it has been continued team bonding, lots of laughter, thunder & lightening to the heat of the African sun. We've had it all and count ourselves blessed.

We apologize for the delay in team reports - such is life in Africa ...some days we have power, others we are de-briefing by the light of our headlamps.

Everyone on the team is healthy, no problems at all. We are all sleeping well and are comfortable and cared for. The African meals we have been served are a delight. The people we meet, the things we do all add to the joy of our

service.

One of my biggest blessings as team leader is to have a newspaper columnist on the team. Below you will find our first report with many more to follow, Lord willing the Internet is up.

Blessing to all of you. I am grateful to serve with my husband Larry as team leaders for this Team Terrific! In HIS grip, Larry and Chris

June 27 - We woke to an early breakfast and a long bus ride. The journey from Nairobi to Kisumu is about six hours on a good day, this was not a good day. A small traffic jam and a couple of detours stretched the ride to a couple of hours past that. But as we were riding along in our lime-green bus, it didn't seem to matter much. Something began to happen along the way. We talked a little too loud and laughed with an ease that sometime takes years to grow. We told our stories and gave each other a good natured hard-time. We started, in almost a miraculous way, to become a family. And why not? For most of us, we are traveling to an unknown place. To all of us we are taking a journey of faith. Before we met, we were already a family. Larry was pretty sure he would see a giraffe along the side of the highway. Chris told him, he most definitely would not. When the zebras appeared, Larry thought that was close enough and counted it as vindication. Other than that, we talked and laughed, went to the bathroom when we could, and tried to sleep just a little. It was a long trip, but a good one. At its end, we ate a wonderful meal full of new tastes and textures. Then we made our way to Pastor Jack's where we will live close together for the next little while. It was night but dozens of children came to greet us. And even through the darkness, we began to make new friends. We settled, slept, and counted it a blessed day.

June 28 - We enjoyed the graciousness of Evelyn's (Pastor Jack's wife) hospitality at breakfast, then splitting into two teams, we went to serve, learn, observe, pray, and encourage. We saw a Talipia farm where people from a nearby village were bringing both hope and prosperity to their community. We visited a farm where the pride in working the land grew as tall as avocado trees. We witnessed the beauty of work and the power of putting faith into action. We were amazed. Our groups met back together in a house where a women's group presented their work in helping orphans and then sang a prayer of praise. We were overwhelmed. We prayed that there would be no more hail. We prayed for the protection of a fish pond. And, we prayed for names like Benson, Richard, and Benta. We were served incredible African tea and enormous avocados. Though this is a place of little means, there is large hospitality. Among other things, we also learned that Kerry was named after a county in Ireland, and we grew even closer as a team. We visited Briarly Children's home, which is sponsored by a church in England, where 48 orphans are cared for and educated. The children's faces were full of curiosity and love, and so were ours. All in all, it was a day that is difficult to put into words. Grace is often like that.

It is not yet 9:00 pm, but most of the team is fast asleep. We are all filled with a good kind of tired. Tomorrow, we will continue our work, so as we do, please continue to pray for us.