Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all well!

THANK YOU! Thank you to all of you that gave Jason and I extra money for his coming to visit me! I know I said thank you in my previous blog, but the extra money we had we used towards a beautiful safari. Here are some pictures!

VICDA and Terry’s: There have been many politics regarding the partnership of the local volunteer organization (VICDA) and Terry’s Orphanage. I’ve been doing my best to stay out of the personal agendas that seem to have caused some hardship and severed this relationship. I wish I could tell you that GVN will continue to send volunteers to Terry’s, but unfortunately the severing the relationship means that GVN will no longer send volunteers. GVN has been great about continuing to support me (and Deborah) until we leave, but after we leave, GVN volunteers will no longer be sent to the orphanage.

Extra fun things for the kids: One thing I forgot to mention in my last email is that some of YOUR donation money was spent on supplies for the kids that Jason brought with me when he visited. He brought a lot of medical supplies and some fun little treats and toys for everyone. The kids are very happy with all of the nice things that you have given them.

Mombasa: Deborah and I took a little mini vacation this past weekend to a beautiful place along the eastern Kenyan coast. Mombasa is a beautiful place. The weather is tropical and the ocean is warm and clear. We had a chance to go snorkeling, ride a camel along the beach and relax in the sun (playing chess, reading and giggling!). We went to watch the 2007 Cross Country Race. Kenyan’s took first in almost every event (the 6K, 8K, 10K &12K). Although we didn’t go to the event although it would have been easy to get tickets. We decided that sitting on the beach with the locals, watching it in the shade with beer in our hands was a better option than being out in the sun, in the crowds and possibly stranded downtown because they closed many of the roads (although there was a huge misconception from many thinking that “I” was actually running in this event. I’m not even close to an athlete in comparison! I know some of you were worried that I was traveling to a big event when the US Embassy gave many warnings for travelers to not go. Don’t worry, we were very safe! The day after the event, Deb and I decided to check out one of the nearby hotels because we had heard that some of the runners were staying there. Guess what… I got to meet part of the US Cross Country team (see pics). I was SO excited. Although they didn’t win any of the events, they said they all did very well considering the extreme weather. They were all very proud (and very nice to talk with). And on our way back to Machakos, Deborah decided to get her nose pierced. It looks great on her and matches her newly found friend’s quite well!

To my yoga and meditation friends: I’ve been thinking about my practice a ton over the past few weeks. My life has been nothing but non-routine for almost a month. I’ve literally been living out of my backpack and sleeping in a different bed almost every few of nights. I’ve been traveling from Machakos to Nairobi, to Massai Mara, to Nairobi to Machakos, to Nairobi to Mombasa and back to Nairobi and then Machakos again. Finding space and time for meditation, yoga and even exercise has been really difficult over the past few weeks. This has definitely been a time for me to practice letting go and just being with situations that I know are temporary. I’ve used spare moments to take time to myself and to just surrender to knowing that my month of March was chaotic. I’m hoping April will bring me a bit more solitude. I’ve become very sensitive to space in the past few weeks because I haven’t had much of my own (in terms of physical space or even time). I’ve learned that Deborah is a HUGE space person. This has been nice for me because she’s taken the initiative to make our living conditions a little more home-like (something I’m not very good at doing). I’m appreciative for having this kind of energy in my life right now since I’m missing home and friends so much.

Dormitory breaking ground! I’ve saved the best news for last. Within the first few hours from coming back from our mini-vacation (admittedly I was still on the bus and hadn’t even reached town) I was calling and setting up meetings to get the dormitory project started. We arrived back in Machakos on Tuesday evening and within the first few minutes of our arrival, I was talking with the administrator and the contractor about getting started. We have a new plan (see pic) that includes a little better lay out. We started measuring the grounds (pics of the men measuring). We are having our first delivery of materials brought in as I send this blog to you now! I can’t tell you how excited I am. AND, the best news, I have the very best partner to help with all this. Seriously, Deb took off running into this. She kicked butt and took names with getting everything established. She bought note pads, folders and receipt ledgers to document and save everything. She conquered by asking questions and establishing the grounds with how we would be involved with building this dorm. There was no question that we are in charge of this and that we will handle all the specifics. Already we are seeing “hidden costs” that weren’t put in the original plans or estimates for how things would cost (not surprising!). I really think this is going to be an interesting, hard but fun project to do. I’m so glad Deborah is here with me to help!

Thanks for reading my blog. I miss you all so much! I told the contractor I want this job done in 6 weeks (he was confident in that estimate). My hope is to be done by mid to end of May so that I can travel to Amsterdam and back to the US a bit early.

Blessings!