Our trip was absolutely amazing and we’re so thankful for each and every one of the people who had a part in it. It is an experience that has changed our lives. We have learned and done so much in the last few months, it’s hard to believe that it is over.

There are still projects that we’re working on and I’m sure more will come, but here’s a few of the things that are still to be completed:

• website for Felkners
• brochure for Cheppema Children’s Home
• organizing 7500 (!) photos
• preparing a dvd containing a slideshow of the entire trip
• designing case for above-mentioned dvd
• Summary write-up for Worldvision
• Re-working of this site: add more photos, finish archive pages, change structure to reflect a completed trip rather than one in-progress, etc.

Besides those projects, in a couple weeks we head over to Vancouver Island where we’ll be living and working at Camp Qwanoes until early next year. From there we’re still planning, but most likely we’ll be heading back to the Rockford (IL) area.

In the mean time, you can keep up with us on our personal website - www.ourlife.ca. (The domain may take a few to days to show up - it’s brand new)

France has been so cool. The photo above is of Carcasonne, a medieval town that we visited the other day. Coming to France from Kenya has been quite interesting and a good easing back into our own culture.

It’s hard to believe that in one week we’ll be back in North America. We’ve been working on sorting through our past several months. Somehow we have to figure out the best way to communicate with our friends and family back home (and abroad) our experiences while in Kenya. Much of that sharing will be through photos, both in slideshows and here on our website. We’re also working on a few other ideas and concepts.

Tomorrow we head out to the Brittany coast (far northwest corner of France) and then to Paris where we return the rental car Monday morning and stay with friends in Paris until Saturday morning. We’re working on getting more photos uploaded to the photos section now that we have high speed access periodically. I’ll let you know when more are up. Keep praying that our bags will be located. They have found one of our four so far, we’ll catch up to that one in Vancouver.

Aside from that, we have had a great time so far. Danielle is doing great with her French (making up for my lack of). Today we’re heading toward the Atlantic coast of France where we’re told it’s cheaper to eat and sleep, since there aren’t so many tourists there this time of year.

We’re hoping to be able to post more often, but thus far there hasn’t been much opportunity for using the internet here. It may seem strange, but internet access was more readily available in Kenya than it has been in France. While we’re in Paris next week, however, we expect that to change.

Here’s a photo we took yesterday evening when we first arrived in Chamonix. As a side note, we highly, highly recommend the Hotel de L’Arve. We do not recommend the bed and breakfast called Beauregard, where we had originally planned on staying.

Leaving Kenya isn’t easy, though. We’ve been told that we’ll go through the second phase of culture shock after we return home - we’ll be missing Kenya as much as we missed home. Indeed, Kenya has become our home these last several months. We’ve become accustomed to potholes and trash everywhere. Burning garbage no longer stinks…well almost. It’s no longer strange to see thousands of people walking everywhere or street kids sniffing glue (though it does still break our hearts). Using bottled water to brush our teeth is normal, and we’ve learned to not drink water while in the shower. Sleeping under a mosquito net is no longer romantic. We’ve been dewormed and are almost finished with the medicine that kills any amoeba in our systems. We’re almost packed, yet we’re not quite ready to finish packing. We’ll wait until 4:30, 15 minutes before we leave for the airport, once we’ve finished bidding Kenya farewell, hopefully. Kenya we’ll miss you.

To everyone we’ve visited while here, thank you. We pray that we were as much of a blessing to you as you were to us. We have learned and seen so much. We will be sharing the incredible work that you’re involved in with friends and family back home. Keep up the good work. We’ll be praying for you.

To our faithful readers and supporters, many of whom we don’t even know, thank you. You’re from the U.S., Canada, Kenya, Russia, China, Belarus, Belgium, France, UK, Trinidad and Tobago, and Romania. You’ve followed us on this journey, you’ve supported us financially, and you’ve prayed for us. Thank you. We can’t wait to share more of our stories and photos with you in the days and even years to come. This trip has been an amazing experience and we pray that we’ll never forget what we have seen. (The 6300 photos may help with that.)

Continue praying for us, as we need to get on the flight tonight (as standby passengers) and get to France tomorrow morning (Saturday) safely. Once there, besides looking forward to seeing a developed country and Danielle speaking French, we are looking forward to spending lots of time thinking back on the trip, reading what we’ve written, assimilating all that we’ve seen and done and preparing to return home. It hasn’t been easy living in a third-world country for two months, traveling from one side to the other. Many things have broken our hearts, but many other things have encouraged us. It has been such an interesting trip. You can look forward to more stories and photos that we’ll continue to post here during the next few weeks.

Once again, to all, thank you. To Kenya and the people of Kenya, thank you for welcoming us with warm hearts and open homes. Goodbye for now.

Here’s another photo that is sized for use as a desktop image. This time, however, there is a story to go along with it.

Worldvision focuses on four main areas of development: Food, Water, Health and Education. While visiting the Worldvision Doldol ADP (Area Development Program), we were exposed to each of these sectors. On our first day, we visited a farm of a man who had had water for irrigation for several years. He showed us his crops and shared with us how much Worldvision has helped him. Sweet peas, which he is holding in the photo above, are grown strictly for export. They are referred to as a “cash crop” because they bring income. This may sound strange, but most farmers here don’t grow crops to sell, they eat everything they grow. Maybe a little bit of leftovers will be taken to the market, but otherwise, there isn’t water available, seeds are expensive and there is often drought which makes it hard to even grow enough for them to eat.

Our first thought when hearing about a village getting running water for the first time was about sinks, bathrooms, etc. Very few places have “flush” toilets - try a hole in the ground. The saying, “water is life”, however isn’t referring to flush toilets and sinks. Water enables farmers to grow crops, earn money and provide for their families.

Worldvision has partnered with local communities to bring water to farmers. These farmers are then able to grow things such as sweet peas, which require a lot of water, and export them. One farmer we met had just finished his first harvest since having water. It was the first income he had earned in his life - a total of 40,000 Kenyan Shillings, equivalent to about $500 USD. There are three growing seasons in the year, so if his other two are as successful this year, he will have an income of $1500 this year. This enables him to provide for his family, start saving some money and invest more in his farm - currently everything is planted and harvested by hand.

The farmer whose hands you see, is the first one I mentioned. He has had water for several years now. His farm has grown and he has hired a few neighbors to help him harvest the sweet peas for export. So, he has now provided for his family and is helping to provide for other families by hiring them to work for him. Indeed, water is life in this dry community.

Below are the desktop sizes that I have made available. If you need a size not listed here, leave a message in the comments and I’ll do what I can.

• 800×600
• 1024×768
• 1152×864
• 1280×1024
• 1600×1024
• 1600×1200

P.S. Happy Birthday, Eric!

I found the seminar both easy and difficult. Easy because some tips were completely new to them - who would’ve thought they had never heard of “Say Cheese!” ? I wouldn’t have been surprised if they didn’t know about the rule of thirds, but say cheese? So, the morning went really well. Luckily I had a nice library of 6000 photos from our time in Kenya to choose from for examples. Before our lunch break, I gave them an assignment: take pictures. I gave them some homemade reflectors to play with and learn how reflectors could help them get better photos, especially when they have to shoot during high-noon. I stopped back by a while later and they were all back, sitting around the tables talking and playing with the cameras. I asked them how it was going. Turns out nobody had yet taught them how to use their digital cameras. Some have had them for months. You have to realize that they are using fully manual 35mm cameras for the fieldwork and for taking photos of the sponsored children. They hadn’t figured out the digital cameras yet.

So, change of plans. We’ll cover exposure tomorrow. We spent the remainder of the day learning what all the little icons mean on a digital camera, what all the buttons do, what a megapixel is and the relationship between quality and resolution. The most difficult part was that many of the people don’t use computers regularly. Ah well, it was fun. Now, say cheese!

As I was going through photos for the seminar tomorrow, I came upon a few that I had planned on making available as desktop pics for anyone who wanted them. Here’s the first: a shot of the gorgeous Kenya blue sky above a golden savannah. It’s one of my favorite photos that I’ve taken. Enjoy. If you need it in a size that isn’t listed below, or if you’d like it at higher-resolution for printing, let me know.

Eventually I’ll create an album of desktop photos in the photos section, however that will have to wait until I’m back in North America with our beloved high-speed internet access and time on my hands. Two things I haven’t had lately :-)

Here’s the sizes I have made: (if you don’t know which, try 1024×768)

• 800×600
• 1024×768
• 1152×864
• 1280×1024
• 1600×1024
• 1600×1200

Today we spent half the day driving around Nairobi trying to track down the adapter that I need to connect my laptop to a projector. I had resorted to doing the seminar without it, but we were able to locate the adapter, so we’re good to go. I wasn’t looking forward to doing a photography seminar without any visuals.

As you may have noticed from Danielle’s post, we are planning on heading out of Kenya this Friday. We really struggled with that decision (whether or not to leave a week early), however we have come to realize that we need time to process all that we have seen and done in the last few months. We accomplished all that we came to do (and much more) and if we don’t have time to work through our experience and debrief, we likely won’t have a chance to for several months. We hit the ground running once we get home. So, it’s off to France a week early. We’re really looking forward to our time there and our time together. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support these last few months while we have been in Kenya. We have appreciated them greatly and look forward to sharing our many stories and photos with you in the next few months. During this week, keep praying for us, that the seminar would go well and that our final days in Kenya would go as smoothly as the rest of our trip has. Pray also that we are able to get on the flight (going standby) Friday.

We just returned from a wonderful weekend with the Felkners in Nakuru. Of our entire trip so far, of which today marks seven weeks, I would have to say that this weekend has been the highlight.

We had the opportunity to meet William and Miriam Kotut, the couple who started Cheppema Children’s Home. There are orphanages spread all throughout Kenya, we’ve been to several different ones. Cheppema was quite different, however.

William and Miriam have dedicated their lives and everything they have to helping children in need. They started in 1982 by taking in 4 boys. Now, 22 years later, they have 45 children and an amazing ministry. Unlike many other orphanages we visited, Cheppema is run entirely by Kenyans. While they rely on support from friends and Churches in North America, their ministry is not controlled nor dictated by their supporters. An example of this is a clinic that they are currently completing the construction of. William shared that a group from Pennsylvania came and helped build the clinic, however it was William himself that sketched out the plans for the building. He was asking Marcia (who is an RN) how he did with the design and layout of the clinic. He instead could have relied on the group coming from the U.S. to come up with the plan for it, or spent money hiring somebody else to design it. They realize, however, that when they struggle to buy enough corn every month to feed 58 (the number of children and staff who live on-site) and they desperately need a clinic, anything will be better than nothing. It met Marcia’s seal of approval, by the way.

William had his post-secondary education paid for by the former President of Kenya, Moi, who was a personal friend. Many people who start out with such blessings as a paid-for education take it for granted and begin to rely on the aid of others for everything. We have witnessed this in many of the orphanages and other ministries that we have visited. Cheppema is different, however. William and Miriam have given up everything for these children. Even though they receive so much financial support, the money goes straight to caring for the children. There isn’t even a stove on the property - they cook outside over an open pit - here’s a photo of Miriam preparing our lunch.

One of the neatest things was to see the excitement of Marcia and Dennis Felkner, who we’ve been staying with in Nairobi. They absolutely loved Cheppema and are already planning their next trip up there. It was awesome to realize that we were able to facilitate (more like God was able to) the connection between these two families serving in very different capacities within the same country. We were blessed to have visited Cheppema. Look forward to more photos and stories from the weekend.

We leave in a couple hours to head up north with WorldVision. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but we’ll be working at the Doldol Area Development Program doing photography and writing a few articles on the work that is going on there. We’re excited, but a little nervous, as we have no idea what to expect. We were told that we’d be staying in a hotel, but in Kenya that doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot. I’m sure that everything will be fine and the the experience will be amazing, however. Keep us in your prayers. Most likely we won’t be able to update anything until next weekend - see you then!

The best way to sum it up is “support and report”. Here I’ll explain the “support” part, later I’ll explain “report”. All of the time that we’ve been in Kenya so far (except for the travel study portion) has been spent with missionaries here. We weren’t sure what to expect when we decided to visit missionaries, but we have been greatly enlightened in the last 2 months.

The first family that we stayed with was the Milligans - Bob, Stephanie, Brad, Jon, Julissa, Paul, Kira and Joey. They are serving at Rift Valley Academy, where they’ve been for three years now. They are dorm parents for grade 11 guys (19 of them), since RVA is a boarding school. Bob Milligan also teaches chemistry at RVA. There are approximately 500 students attending RVA from Kindergarten through 12th grade. The curriculum is North American and the school fills a huge need for families desiring to serve in East Africa but still desiring a quality education for their children.

Is it a really a quality education? Well, Brad Milligan just graduated from RVA last month and is currently heading to the States with a scholarship to attend Princeton in the fall. I’d say that’s pretty good quality. Without people like the Milligans to serve as dorm parents, a school like RVA wouldn’t be possible.

While staying with the various missionaries, we have had three specific goals:
1. Help them practically, in whatever way possible.
2. Encourage them in their continuing ministry.
3. Enable them to communicate more effectively with friends and family back in N. America.

While at RVA, we were able to stay with the Milligan’s six kids and act as dorm parents for a weekend while Bob and Stephanie “got away” for a relaxing weekend to themselves. That was the first time in their seven years overseas that they’ve been able to do that. We also took lots (over 1000) photos during our time there. They will be able to share those photos with friends and family when they go back Stateside, helping them to effectively share with others what exactly goes on at RVA. They also mentioned that all their kids except Joey had spent time in the U.S. while they were young so they had formal photos taken while they were growing up. Joey, since he had spent almost his entire life in Africa, hadn’t had any taken. We learned of this after one afternoon in which Joey got to be a model and I took quite a few photos of him.

The other thing I was able to do for Bob, was to create a website for his chemistry classes that will enable the students to access a calendar, notes, announcements and other items that will help them in their classes.

From RVA, we moved on to Nairobi where we’ve been staying with Dennis and Marcia Felkner. They’ve been family friends for a long time and it seems like they’ve blessed us far more than what we’ve been able to do for them. They assure us, however, that we have been an encouragement to them, especially during this time when all three of their kids (ages 17, 18, 19) are in the States. Indeed, they’ve felt like parents (a few times we’ve referred to them as our “African Parents”), so I can understand when they call us their kids.

We’ve been able to take lots of photos of the area where they work. As well, I’ve been working on a website for them that they will use much like we’ve been using our website to communicate with you. They will be able to post updates on it, as well as share photos with their friends, family and supporters. Below is a little teaser of the site. Because of the extent of the site, it won’t be finished before we get back home, but here’s a little view of the design of it. It’s called Felkner Footprints, which is what they’ve called their newsletter for the last 19 or so years since they’ve been on the missions field.

Dennis and Marcia work for Wycliffe Bible Translators, where Dennis works in computer support and publishing. Marcia is one of the branch administrators and also the medical liaison for the group that is here.

This weekend we’re taking Dennis and Marcia away for the weekend as a thank-you and also to allow us to meet a Kenyan family who run an orphanage (Cheppema Children’s Home) near Nakuru. Then we leave on Sunday with Worldvision to head north near Mt. Kenya for a week where we’ll be doing some writing and photojournalism projects for them.

This has been a long entry, but hopefully it helps to clarify what we’ve been doing this summer. So, what have you been doing? I know that there are nearly 100 of you who check this site on a regular basis, so let us know what you’ve been doing - we’d love to hear from you! Either leave a message for us in the comments, or send us an email and let us know!

Sight
People walking (many people)
Very bad roads
Dukas - little shops/stands lining the roads
Amazing Flora
Wild Animals
Beatiful blue sky and the fluffiest white clouds
Lots of poverty
Flies on kids faces and eyes
Gorgeous sunrises and sunsets

Smell
Flowers
Clean Air
Polluted Air
Dust
Dung
Fruit
Smoke
Sunscreen

Taste
Roasted maize (corn)
Cooked cabbage
Bananas (so fresh!)
Dust
Lots of Buffets
Potatoes
Rice
Chapati (mmm!)
Chai (tea)
Fresh Juice

Sound
Silence at night in a city of 4 million
Waterfalls
Wild Animals
Cheetah growling (at me!)
Wind on the savannah
Way too much 80’s and 90’s soft rock
Children laughing and playing
Tribal dances

Touch/Feel
Kids caressing our skin and hair
Rough, black giraffe tongue
Wind
Foam mattresses
Lumpy pillows
Mosquito Bites

Now half of the group is heading back home and everyone else parts ways to do internships and travel. We’re going to be staying with the Felkners for the next week before we join up with WorldVision for two weeks. While with WorldVision, the first week we’re going to an area near Mt. Kenya to work on a photojournalism project. The second week we’ll be at the WorldVision headquarters. More details later, we’ve gotta go.