... where to begin - what an amazing trip........
As we were driving to the airport on Thursday, February 14th it suddenly became real - oh my gosh, I am going to Africa today!! With the many things that were going on in the days, weeks, and month leading up to this trip I really hadn't had a chance to let it sink in that I was actually going to Africa for 12 days. It also began to don on me that I really did not know a single other person that was going on this trip with me... little did I know I would come back with MANY new, wonderful, amazing friendships.
Jimmy and the kids came to the airport with me and helped me to check my luggage etc. and since there was no other options, we settled for a lovely family farewell lunch at McDonalds. Ashton & Rhyse were thrilled of course - pretty sure this was my first Valentines spent eating a McNuggett meal, but it was nothing short of perfect. As I stared at the kids and began to tear up, I prayed to God that He would keep them safe and bring me back home to them in twelve days a better person. As we said goodbye, Ashton was the most emotional. He held me tight as I did the same and was crying while telling me he didn't want me to go.
... IT WAS SO HARD TO SAY GOODBYE
Two plane rides, and 16+ hours later, we arrived in Nairobi. It was evening there, and all 95 of us eventually boarded a few buses that took us to our home for the next week - the Grace House. I can honestly say that I was terrified at the thought of where we were going to be staying for the next 12 days, however I couldn't have asked for anything better. The Grace House staff were there to greet us with song and dance when we arrived, and we felt instantly welcomed to Kenya.
Saturday - MORNING COFFEE.... I can not express how much I LOVED sitting outside in the courtyard every morning before we left, with a few cups of Kenyan coffee which was by far the best coffee I have had in my life thus far!! (and I have had a lot) The coffee was amazing, but I think what made it even more amazing was not only enjoying it outside but also being able to sit and reflect on what I had seen and experienced. It was also a time where many of the new friendships that I gained began to form. Today, was the beginning of this daily ritual that I so loved. We all boarded the bus, and drove to what would be our other new home for the week - Missions of Hope International.
The students of Missions of Hope greeted us with joy, excitement, song and dance when we arrived and our hearts were instantly warmed by these sweet children. They put on a production that consisted of more singing and dancing. There weren't that many dry eyes in the house. It was on this day that we took our first tour of the Mathare Valley which is one of the worst slums in Nairobi. The "shanty's" that people live in are no larger than my bathroom, and often house 5 or more people. It truly is indescribable. Throughout the week we learned many things about life in the Mathare Valley: the life expectancy of many of the people of the valley is to the age 40... although many of the children have been blessed to be able to go to one of the Missions of Hope schools where they are educated and also fed, there are so many others who do not go to school at all.... a LARGE percentage of the girls who live in the valley are raped by the age of 12 (by large I mean over 80%).... although I do not remember the percentage, AIDS is prevalent in Africa, but even more so in the valley... in so many, poverty is inevitable, and next to impossible get out of... despite all of these overwhelmingly depressing facts, there were smiles on the faces of almost all of the people. I can honestly say that you would have a better chance in seeing more happy faces on the people of the Mathare Valley than in the faces of people walking around downtown Chicago. These people are happy. They are not asking for expensive cars and fancy houses to continue to be happy - all they want are food, clean water, and education for their children. This was a huge eye opener for many of us. It is nearly impossible for our greedy society to understand how these people can be happy with the situation that they live in, but their smiles say it all.
During the middle of our tour of the Mathare Valley we were invited into a womans house. This house was definitely no larger than my bathroom and housed 6 people. The womans name was Nancy, and she had five children. Through the interpreter, she told us that they all slept in the same bed, and that she hoped her children would have a better life through the education that they were receiving at MOHI. At one point while sitting in her house I began to cry. The emotions I was feeling were overwhelming. I did not understand why people would have to live like this. It isn't fair. I couldn't in a million years imagine being worried about a simple thing such as clean water for Ashton and Rhyse. Before we left, we prayed with Nancy for her and her children. I hugged her and told her that I would continue to keep her in my prayers. I could tell that she was a good mom who loved her children just as I love my children... the difference was that my children are blessed with endless opportunity and fortune, whereas her children are merely blessed with a tin roof over their head. 
These were the walls in Nancy's house, and how she kept track of her kids school, doctors appts. etc.
The front of Nancy's house
We returned back to the Grace House later that evening, and I was in bed by 830 pm which for the duration of the trip was my bedtime each and every night. I was so exhausted - physically and emotionally every evening from the days events that nothing felt better than to get into bed, pray, secure my bug net around the bed, and fall asleep.
SUNDAY - we drove out to Joska which was where MOHI has their boarding schools. They have separate ones for girls and boys. We went to the boys school first, and then to the girls school. Although I enjoyed our visit to the boys school, I loved our visit to the girls school. It was through these visits that we saw how MOHI has changed the lives of so many from the Mathare valley. These kids were all so brilliant and had so many hopes and dreams for their future. I sat in the field with a group of giggly girls ranging in age from 12-14, and as they asked me questions about my life and me about theirs, it crossed my mind that these girls are "safe" here. A majority of the girls told me that they loved it at the Joska boarding school, and I am certain a large reason for that is the feeling of being safe. Just another thing that we take for granted daily. All of these girls had a great love for God, and weren't afraid to proclaim it - how wonderfully refreshing these young girls were. ** sidenote that should have been mentioned earlier --- when we arrived at the girls school, the girls of course greeted us with singing and dancing ... one young girl with the most beautiful smile grabbed my hand when I got off the bus and led me in to the area where everyone was dancing. When the dancing was finished she guided me to a seat and said "My name is Gladys, please don't ever forget my face".... tears formed in my eyes as she hugged me and walked away. After the program, she came and found me and wanted to introduce me to her sister whose name was also Gladys. She then began to tell me how she has lived at the boarding school for three years now, and she absolutely loved it there. She told me how it was the best thing that had ever happened in her life, and that now she had hopes and dreams for her future. At one point she was explaining what her life was like in the Mathare Valley, and her smile disappeared from her face and with a dark, distant look in her eyes she said "it is a very bad place"... I can not even begin to imagine what went on in her life in the Mathare Valley, but one thing I know for sure is that I will never forget her beautiful face.
Myself and Benjamin, a Kenyan Nurse whom I worked with. He was educated his whole life through North American families that sponsored him as his own family was beyond poor. Without sponsorship, he said he would have never had a chance to get educated.
Me and Maryann... this was the room that we saw patients in.
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On Saturday, most of the group went on a Safari while a small group of us were to take a flight North to see our sponsor children in Turkana. Before we went to the airport, we stopped at a Giraffe park and a baby elephant rescue park.
I am not a fan of airplanes, much less small airplanes and on Saturday afternoon we flew to Turkana to join in the dedication of the new school and to meet our sponsor children. Our group of 22 pretty much filled up the whole plane which tells you just how small the plane was. The flight was a bit bumpier than my liking at times, but the main thing is that we made it!! We arrived in Turkana where the temperature tends to be MUCH, MUCH hotter in the late afternoon and were very surprised at the airport terminal... or lack thereof! It quickly donned on us that we were very much in a far more rural area than Nairobi. I was very concerned with what type of accommodations we were going to have as I had heard that there were a lot more bugs, including scorpions, in the area and I knew that there was a good possibility that our lodgings might be a tad sketchy. I must say I was PLEASANTLY SURPRISED when we pulled up to our new home for the next two days!
Sunday - this was one of my favorite days of the entire trip... it also happened to be one of the longest and most exhausting days of the entire trip!!! We were up early, had breakfast, and were all picked up to drive out to "the bush" for Church. Let me mention something first about the concept of time in Kenya -- there isn't much of one. This can be a good thing, or a bad thing, but either way for us North American's (I still have a hard time classifying myself as an American), it is very hard to get used to. We all got into our respective vehicles for what was one of the scariest drives of my lfe.
these should give you a pretty good idea how far away we were from what we consider "normal civilization"
Church was not in a building, but rather under a tree, however rather than begin the service we toured the area for about an hour first. Some of the people from Christian Missions Foundation showed us the farm work they are assisting the people with (yes, farming in a desert). They get the people set up with seeds and a plot of land in a solar irrigated farm area, and the people are then responsible to farm the land. With the help of a translator, I spoke to some of the people who were working on their plot of land, and they told me how this farm land has changed their life. The translator explained to me that people starving to death is a reality in Turkana... although I know this is a reality, the concept of actually starving to death is so hard to grasp.
When we arrived back at the tree for Church, there were many people ready to greet us. I had heard from someone else that they had already been singing, dancing and worshipping for the past hour. Kenyan's love to sing and dance, and these people were no different. It was also very apparent that they had a strong love for God. No other way to describe this Church service other than it was Amazing, and God was definitely present.
The music was awesome - no bells and whistles - this was the drum - an old metal gas can!!!
After Church, we walked in the area where we were taken to a homestead - there are two things that I still cannot wrap my head around - firstly that these people actually live in straw huts, and second that the men are able to have several wives... it felt like I was in a National Geographic magazine... this really happens??!! Afterwards, we headed back to our rooms for a MUCH needed shower. We were COVERED in dust... unfortunately, the water sytems (toilet flushing, showers, warm water etc) are not overly reliable in Africa and when I turned the shower on, we had no water! We did not have much time before we left, so my roommate and I decided to bathe ourselves with baby wipes... the amount of dirt that came off of my body was unbelievable!!! Next comes one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.....
MANASE NAKUA EPUNGURE
A slight bit cleaner, we headed to the school where we were to meet our sponsor children. We have sponsored a seven year old boy, Manase for about a year. We sponsor him to go to school where he receives an education which he would not get otherwise, and he also gets fed... which he may not get otherwise. When I saw the group of children, I knew immediately which boy he was. I hugged him tightly, told him I loved him and was so happy to meet him. He looked at me with a strange look, and it was then that I realized he doesn't speak any English at all! Up until this point, all of the children that we met in Nairobi spoke pretty much immaculate English that they had learned at a Missions of Hope school... however this school just opened a month prior, and considering where they live, it makes sense that he wouldn't speak English. A translator helped us, and it took a few minutes, but we were able to have a conversation full of smiles and laughter. I gave him a bunch of presents which he was so thankful for. I asked him what he would like me to send him in the mail, and I know that if it was my children, they would start rattling off a list that took them ten minutes to finish and then return to tell you the things they forgot ten minutes later. Manase simply said that he would be very grateful for any gift that I would want to send him. Tears came to my eyes, and I felt love - it was at this moment that I felt that Manase truly was a part of our family. 
Once it was time for Manase to return to his classroom, we were asked to be involved in a dedication of the new school which involved splitting into groups and praying in each of the classrooms for the future of the school, the future of the children, and the future of the community. It was a very moving experience. We then all gathered together and joined hands in prayer outside the school. We all took a few moments to pray on our own, and for some reason Irene came to my mind. Irene is a woman who babysat me from a very young age. She was always very special to me. She is the person who taught me a lot about Jesus and being a Christian. She was an amazing God loving woman. Irene was like a second mom to me, and passed away four years ago. When I went through my RCIA classes and was baptized, I chose Irene as my Saint, and I truly believe she is an angel watching over me in heaven. As I was praying, Irene came to my mind and I began to think and pray about her watching over the children also. It is a feeling I can not explain as I just felt that she was there, and present with me in that moment. When we were done in prayer there was a group of children waving and shouting hello as I walked past. I said hello back and smiled at one little girl. As I walked away, I felt something inside me pulling me back to her... I walked back to her and she hugged me. I asked her what her name was... she responded - Irene.
There are so many special moments that I experienced while on this trip, and I could write a novel about all of the ways that God was present, all of the things I learned about myself and about others, and how it changed me. It truly was life changing. Would I do it again? Absolutely.
