Footnote to the Africa trip... sorry this is so long.

It’s 3:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep. I’ve been awake since 2… lying in bed, thinking about life, thinking about things. I wasn’t planning to blog about this, but somewhere around 2:30 I realize that the people who followed our trip to Kenya need to know about the latest adventure in my life and how, strangely, it’s all wrapped up in my time spent in Kenya.

On Friday, July 23rd, we returned from Kenya, tired and missing one piece of luggage – the duffel filled with dirty laundry. I say to Lauren, “well if we’re going to lose a bag, at least it’s clothes and not our new treasures from Kenya.” Lauren replies, “mom, my favorite clothes are in that bag.” We spend Saturday and Sunday nestled away in our remote home at the farm, napping, watching tv, trying to readjust to life in a first world country. The missing bag turns up; we heave a sigh of relief. On Monday, I return to work trying to figure out how to live with my body in one place and my heart and mind in another. I email my friends in Kenya, checking on them, letting them know we returned home safely. That’s a strange week. I come back to piles of work – nothing urgent but lots to do. I try to remember what it is that I do and work on focusing and getting things done. It’s hard, and by the end of the week, I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished enough. On Sunday we go to church and Bo preaches about idols in our lives. I sit in my seat and honestly try to identify my idols. Funny, I think to myself, I don’t think I have any idols. To which Bo says, “if you’re sitting there thinking you don’t have an idol, you’re wrong.” Hmmm… I think. What could it be? I ask myself the questions he is posing. If you had unlimited resources, what would you spend it on? How do you spend your free time? And it hits me. My idol is my home. I am a nester. I love to watch HGTV, make plans for remodeling and redecorating. I dream about stainless steel appliances and granite countertops – not to impress anyone, but because I love beautiful things, especially beautiful homes, especially my home. On Tuesday, my home burns to the ground in 30 minutes.

Day 1: August 3
It’s 3:30 in the afternoon, and the new president of our university has just left the Center where I work. We’re excited about having met her and excited about the possibilities of the future under her leadership. I walk into my office and my cell phone is ringing. It’s Lauren. “Mom,” she says, “I think the hot water heater just exploded.” I ask her why she thinks that and she says that the whole house shook… she thought someone had driven into the house. Going to the kitchen window, she hears a hissing from the garage, so she heads to her bedroom to grab a handful of precious things, calls me, and leaves the house. “Go into the garage,” I tell her, thinking that there is a water leak, “see if there’s any water or smoke.” I’m trying to tell her where the fire extinguisher is. The tiny little fire extinguisher we bought 15 years ago in case of a grease fire. “There are flames coming out of the storage room,” Lauren says. The house is on fire. “Get out,” I say, “and call 911. I’m on my way.” I scramble to get my car keys, take a minute to shut my computer down and calmly tell my co-workers that the house is on fire. Of course, I’m thinking that the fire department will put it out quickly. “What’s the worst that could happen,” I ask. We could lose the storage room in the garage, maybe the laundry room on the other side of the wall. A little smoke damage to the kitchen. In the parking lot, I remember the gas tank – the huge tank of propane that fuels our many gas appliances. It’s at the far edge of the yard; I call Lauren to tell her to stay far away from the gas tank. She assures me that she is away from it. I hear her scream, “It’s gone. It’s all gone.” And she loses cell phone reception. I drive 80 miles an hour home. I’ve wondered what I would do in the face of disaster or tragedy… what would my reaction be? Would I shut down? Panic? Save the day? Get angry? Now I know. I would cry out to Jesus. That’s what I did for the 30 mile drive home. I prayed - for strength, for protection, for Him to be in control, for Him to fix what I couldn’t, for Him to wrap His arms around Lauren, for peace. Funny, I realize later, I didn’t pray for Him to save my house. I keep calling Lauren. It goes straight to voice mail. As I round the bend and see the house for the first time, I am filled with shock and with horror but also with an incredible peace. The house has been consumed by flames. There are still a few flames in places. But there is no house. Just brick walls and gaping holes where the windows used to be. Through those holes, I can see flames and smoke, but strangely, nothing else – no furniture, no “stuff,” and that’s when I realize that it’s all gone. In 30 minutes, it’s all gone. I find Lauren at the bottom of the hill. She bolts from the car and throws herself in my arms. “It’s gone,” she wails. “Jesus is in control,” I tell her. “You’re okay, we’re all okay, we will be okay.” Deep in my heart, I know this to be true. I don’t understand it, but I know it to be true. There are a handful of firefighters on the hill, battling a 3000 square foot inferno. We live in a remote area, so there are no fire hydrants. Just trucks filled with water, and fire hoses snaking up our steep hill. It looks like they’re watering the lawn, I think to myself. It’s 100 degrees outside in this extended Southern summer. In my house, it’s 5000 degrees. Within 10 minutes David arrives home and then neighbors and family start to come. David stays up on the hill with the firefighters – a first row seat to watching his dreams and security burn to the ground. I stay at the bottom of the hill, talking with neighbors, friends, and family. My phone beeps. “Is everything okay?” a co-worker texts. “The house has burned to the ground,” I reply.

An angel arrives with bottled water and Gatorade. Another comes with toothbrushes and underwear. I am overwhelmed with all of the plans that need to be made, all of the things appearing on my “to do” list. A friend offers their family camphouse, a beautiful retreat, to us. “Stay as long as you need to,” she says. David and I stay at the burning house until 9 o’clock that night, until the responding fire departments have left, all but one lonely truck and the man who will come back and check for flare ups throughout the night. It’s dry here, and the fire doesn’t need to spread to the grass and then to the thousands of acres of pine forests surrounding our house. We drive back to Columbus in separate cars. Lauren is going to spend the night with a friend. David and I are headed to the camphouse. I call my mom and say, “Mom, I finally have news.”

We can’t sleep. We prowl around the house, try to eat something, but our appetites are gone along with everything else. David says to me, “all I have are the clothes on my back.” I am wishing that I hadn’t worn white pants to work that day. They’re filthy, my one pair of pants. We begin the game. Naming all of the lost things. It’s unbearable, but we can’t stop. “My great-great grandmother’s quilt,” I say. “My granddaddy’s shotgun,” says David. “My grandmother’s silver,” I counter. “The mug Lauren gave me with her picture on it,” says David. It’s a game no one can win, but we keep playing. All through the night, I wake up thinking of things lost in the fire. Around 3, I get up and lay on the couch, praying I’ll wake up and find it all a dream. At 5:30 I wake up, feel the leather beneath me, see the deer heads mounted on the wall, and know it’s not.

Day 2: August 4
In the shower, I fall apart for no apparent reason – I mean other than the obvious – but I hadn’t even been thinking sad thoughts. When the water started, though, so did the tears, and I couldn’t stop until the water turned off again. I get dressed in my day before clothes, and head to the office to make phone calls. It’s quick since I don’t have all of the usual things to go through. “A girl can live without anything but mascara,” my friend said the night before as she delivered mascara and a hairdryer. For the next two days, I keep repeating that to myself. During the night, I’d made several “to do” lists in my head. A list of phone calls, a list of things that had to be replaced immediately. I call the insurance company and then the utility companies to have everything disconnected. “Have a nice day” they tell me as we hang up. Funny, I think, that they still follow their script, even when they know what’s happened to us. I spend a ridiculous amount of time on the phone with the satellite company, explain that the house burned to the ground, refusing to transfer my service (to where? I ask), declining their offer to hold my account open for up to six months, and listening to directions about returning my receiver and remote. “Do you want me to ship you a shovel full of ash?” I ask. Then on to replacing things. I have two priorities. Order a laptop for Lauren. She starts college in a week and a half. And second, to re-order my Africa necklace. In May, I ordered beautiful handmade silver necklaces from a sweet and very talented soul in Colorado. One for me and one for Lauren. They are in the shape of the African continent with hand stamping on the front. Lauren’s had a cross stamped where Kenya is. Mine had the word “Hope” stamped across it again and again. A continent covered in Hope. Lauren was wearing hers the day of the fire. I was not. “Why not,” David asked. “You wear it every day.” “I dressed up to meet the president,” I said, “so I wore a fancier necklace.” I email Tracy, the talented jewelry artist and ask for an immediate replacement. Those were my priorities. A computer and a necklace. Then it’s on to shopping. Three changes of clothes for each of us. A few basics from Wal-Mart. The phone rings non-stop. “Next time your house is burning down,” I say to Lauren, “grab the makeup.” I get an apartment on campus. I order furniture. I try not to play the “what we lost” game.

Day 3: August 5
More phone calls, more errands. Having the utilities turned on at the new place. The day is a blur. David goes to the farm to dig through the rubble. He calls that afternoon, “Hurry home. I have a surprise for you.” He’s found my dad’s coin collection, discolored but still intact. He’s also found an 8 x 10 photo of his dad in his military uniform. Completely burned around the edges like we had done it on purpose. Before I leave the office that afternoon, I am presented with a small fortune in gift cards and a beautifully framed piece of art from Kenya for my new home. I cry for the second time.

Day 4: August 6
Lauren and I head to Jackson, armed with gift cards and a huge shopping list. We are going to replace all of her dorm things, treasures we’d been gradually collecting over the past year, all in a day. I also have to get bedding, towels, shower curtains, and kitchen basics. It will be a marathon of shopping. We can’t sleep, so we leave at 6 a.m. and arrive before most of the stores have opened. We fill the car until it won’t hold any more and crash at the hotel. In the morning, we head home, exhausted.

Day 5: August 7
This is moving day. The furniture arrives, and I make up the bed. We unload the packed car and begin opening boxes and unpacking bags. It looks like we have been to a wedding shower. Our few belongings are moved from the camphouse in grocery bags. David hangs the shower curtains. We decide to spend the night in our new house. Lauren invites a friend over to sleep on the floor with her. “Tell her to bring a sleeping bag,” I say.

Day 6: August 8
I’ve been asked to speak at church today about our trip to Kenya. I talk some about of the projects we work with there and then I share the two main lessons I’ve learned from my time in Kenya – the importance of relationships/community and what is enough. That second one has been a struggle for me since my first trip and something I continue to be challenged by with every trip. How can people with so little, I wonder, be so much happier and more at peace than those with so much? Through the years I begin to question, what if it’s not security and comfort that bring us joy? What if it’s uncertainty and struggle that really bring us true happiness? I know that my time in Kenya and my struggle with questions like these have prepared me for this week. For years, I had been redefining what was important, and I knew that “stuff” wasn’t high on the list. While this is never something I would have chosen for my family, I say, there is something strangely liberating about not having anything, about being freed from your idol.

Day 7: August 9
The girls from work come over to help me settle in. I am incapable of making any more decisions or reading directions. They organize my kitchen, decide where everything should go. They put together a metal shelf for my bathroom, set up the tv, drink coffee, and show me love in countless ways. One of the maintenance men comes to hang my Africa picture in the living room. I frame the picture of David’s dad that was pulled from the rubble and put it on the bookcase. Right next to it I put my African angel, a metal sculpture of a woman that I brought back from Kenya this summer. David found her as well. She’s rusted and bent but still beautiful. I can’t believe she survived. It starts to feel like home. When they leave I lay down and try to nap.

Days 8-11: August 10-13
Back to work. I spend my days in the office, now just a two minute walk from home. In the evenings, I cook dinner and we eat together around our little table – something we haven’t done regularly in years. We think about all of the insurance forms to be filled out, but we don’t do any of it. We just spend time together. We are overwhelmed with the generosity of others – it’s hard for us to accept. “We don’t need help,” we keep saying. “But you need to let us help,” they respond. We receive a huge box of clothing from our niece’s work family in North Carolina. People we don’t even know are helping us, praying for us, and showing us God’s love.

Day 12: August 14
Today is our “sifting through the ashes” party at the house. We invite friends and family to bring rakes and hoes and dig through the rubble to see if there are any treasures to be found. It’s still 100 degrees here, so the party starts at 7 a.m. At 6:15, Lauren and I stop at a fast food restaurant to pick up a friend for the party. He’s not there yet, so we sit in the parking lot. A disheveled man wanders around looking at us. “Creepy,” says Lauren. “Lock your door,” I tell her. We watch in shock and horror as he begins digging through the garbage cans and realize he’s looking for food. “We can give him a granola bar and a banana,” I say. “Just roll your window down and give it to him.” “No,” Lauren says, “I’m getting out and giving it to him.” And she does. My sixteen year old daughter who saved her three most precious belongings (her baby blanket, Bible, and Africa journal) from her burning house, steps out of the car to graciously greet and feed a homeless man. I am humbled and proud. A minute later the friend arrives and we drive around the building. The man is no where to be found. “Weird,” Lauren says. “Maybe it was Jesus,” I reply.

It’s my first time to be at the house since the day of the fire and the first time I’ve seen the devastation up close. We’re the first to arrive, and I’m tempted to call everyone and tell them to turn around and go home. There’s nothing left but a few twisted appliances and several feet of ash. “We’ll never find anything,” I grumble. The gang arrives and we’re all a little overwhelmed at first. Everyone picks a different room and starts to dig. “An archaeological dig is on my bucket list,” a friend says, “This is probably as close as I’ll get.” We begin to find a few artifacts – rusted metal, mostly, then a couple of unbelievable finds, a pair of ceramic vases from China – fully intact if a little discolored, the Black Hills gold ring my mom received as a teenager that had just been given to me months before, David’s dad’s military retirement document – burned completely around the edges but still recognizable in the middle. The books in our library are still smoldering, even after almost two week and two inches of rain the night before. We find what’s left of the satellite receiver. I can’t wait to send it back to the company. Where the linen closet used to be, my friend makes a huge discovery in the middle of the ashes. Several pieces of my great-great grandmother’s quilt are intact – burned around the edges but perfect in the middle. Pieces that are at least a square foot each. The only linens recovered from the house. Others search for my jewelry stash, hoping to find wedding rings and family heirlooms. We don’t find those, but among the 10 or so things we find are my diamond hoop earrings. Still in good enough shape to wear. I find it strange how meaningful these little treasures are and how random it seems to be. In each room, we find something. After two hours, we’ve completed the search. We load up our few things, thank our friends and family, and leave. There’s closure now. We know there’s no more reason to search. It’s all gone.

Day 13: August 15
Today we go to church, come home to eat lunch, and then move Lauren 3 blocks across campus into her dorm room. She’s thrilled to be independent. We miss her already. An hour after we leave, she calls me and wants me to come back to see her visitors. When I get there, I am surprised to find about 10 Governor’s School scholars and staff members crowded in her tiny dorm room. They’ve come to wish her well and to present me with a large check. I cry for the third time.

Day 14: August 16
Today my Africa necklace comes in the mail. Tracy says, “You don’t owe me anything. This one is on me.” Once again I am struck by the generosity of people and their capacity to care. I see people across campus. They ask how we’re doing. “Okay,” I respond, and I know that it’s true. I call my husband and invite him out to dinner. We go to a great restaurant and then to Lowe’s to buy a washer and dryer. The manager gives us 10% off. Another gift. We go home and sit on the couch together, with the tv off. We’ve gone from 250 tv channels to 3. I think it’s good for us. I’m reminded of the early days of our marriage, almost 20 years ago, when pretty much all we had was each other. That’s where we are again. And I’d rather it be that than a house full of stuff. We’re okay. We really are.

Final thoughts...

Living positively. That’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot in Kenya but am only now starting to really understand. To me, that phrase could be a catch phrase for living the good life or the latest advertising slogan promising happiness and fulfillment. In Kenya, however, this phrase has a very specific meaning. It refers to people who are HIV+ but who are still approaching life in a positive way and in addition to taking care of themselves, they are making an impact in their local communities. In Kibera, we met an older woman who is HIV + and who lost several family members to AIDS. Her daughters were both HIV+ (contracted through prostitution) and one had lost her husband and child to the disease. The old woman was making a life for herself and had adopted a little boy who had been abandoned (he is also HIV+). In Kenya, there is still such a significant stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. People don’t understand how it’s contracted and many believe it is a curse or punishment. Those who admit that they are HIV+ are often shunned in their communities – even their churches – and lose their jobs and often their families. We have met so many people who are “living positively” with AIDS here and who are maintaining their health while making a difference in their communities. Many are vocal about AIDS – how it is spread and how it can be avoided, even though that often means discussing topics that are still taboo here in Africa. My friend, Rachel, is passionate about the AIDS epidemic that is sweeping this continent. She participated in an award-winning AIDS documentary called “Window of Hope” (look for it on youtube). When she was an education professor, she trained future teachers in how to teach about AIDS awareness, prevention, and treatment, and now children in classrooms across Kenya are learning about HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves and their families. The other part of living positively is that these people still possess tremendous faith, in spite of their death sentence. It would be so easy to blame God and turn away from him in circumstances like these, but somehow, they draw even closer to Him and use their circumstances to spread the Gospel of Christ’s love and grace.

In the US, our lives are often unaffected by HIV/AIDS, but there are other tragedies that befall us, and when I think of the phrase “living positively,” I think of people I know personally who, when faced with tremendous challenge and desperate situations, choose to maintain a positive outlook and use their challenges to show Christ to the world. Jill and Ben gave birth to a micro-preemie. While the outlook was bleak, they chose to live positively, to put their faith in Christ, and to share their journey with the world around them. Today, their daughter Whitney is almost two years old and has beaten the odds placed against her. Her story, and her parents’ willingness to approach challenge in a positive way, have served to strengthen the faith of so many people and to inspire others to “live positively.” The same is true for Callie, a young woman diagnosed with brain cancer. Even in her darkest moments, she placed her faith in Christ and chose to share her journey in a positive way, inspiring and motivating others. These stories have impacted my life and so many others. The same is true for those living positively with HIV/AIDS in Kenya. They are changing the world through their faith – one person at a time.

In Kenya, we see so much that shocks and despairs us. It often feels like the problems are so huge, that nothing can be done. But I have also met people who believe that planting seeds – one life at a time – is the only answer to solving the challenges of this country and our world as a whole. That inspires and motivates me to live positively.

Getting ready to leave...

Here's John making his "I really love being hugged but have to pretend that I don't" face :) We saw a lot of that expression on this trip!

The trip is wrapping up, but we’ve had a great few days. On Monday, we went to Nairobi to meet a friend, Reagan, for lunch in the downtown area of the city – somewhere we’d never been. It was surprisingly similar to downtown areas of American cities. We enjoyed catching up with Reagan and had a great buffet lunch of Kenyan food – which was delicious. After that, we went to get pictures printed to leave with some of our friends here as well as the kids at the Centre and then spent the remainder of the day at the Centre playing with the kids. On Tuesday, we got up early and went to Karen, a suburb of Nairobi, (and named after Karen Blixsen who the film Out of Africa was based on – her home is in Karen) back to the Serare School to visit with my friend Rachel. We had breakfast together and then drove up to the Ngong Hills for a great little hike and spectacular views of Nairobi and the Rift Valley. It was a wonderful way to spend a morning. We returned to the school, and Lauren spent an hour visiting with about 20 of the girls who attend the private boarding school about college and life in America. She then went to lunch in the dining hall with the girls, and Rachel and I enjoyed lunch at her house where I met her son who is a biomedical researcher working with a tree that has the potential to help/cure more than 300 diseases. It was fascinating to hear about his work. Once again, we spent the afternoon/evening at the Centre with the kids and the moms. Rachel’s school is called “Serare School”. Serare means “imprint” and Rachel talked about what an imprint education leaves on the minds and lives of people. She makes me proud to be a teacher!

I had a wonderful time with John Monday night. When I arrived, he was crying with a headache, so after a spoonful of ibuprofen, he curled up in my lap and went to sleep. I held him for 2 ½ hours while he slept and then was able to tuck him into bed for the night. He puts on a really tough act and reminds me so much of Phillip at that age. Sometimes I would forget with Phillip that he still needed cuddling because he was always so tough. The same was true with John. As I held John, I couldn’t help but think that while these kids are so incredibly fortunate to have their basic needs met by the Centre (otherwise, they may be going hungry, stealing, or prostituting) there are other things that they really miss out on. One being the opportunity to be held when they are sad or don’t feel good. With 41 children and so many responsibilities, the moms at the Centre can’t possibly give much individual attention to each child.

The rest of the team returned from Safari yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) and leaves for home tonight. Lauren and I have one more day, but it will likely be spent relaxing because Lauren is sick. She came down with what I think was probably the flu Sunday night. On Tuesday, she still wasn’t better so I took her to the doctor at the clinic here at Brackenhurst. He put her on antibiotics thinking it may now be a bacterial infection. The total for the visit plus the antibiotics?? $440 shillings which is about $5.50!!! I could so get used to living in Kenya!! She’s been sleeping most of the day and plans to go to the Centre in a couple of hours to see the kids again. We’ll stop by on our way to the airport tomorrow for one last visit. We are pretty well packed. Have a few people to visit with and to share our leftover groceries with, but otherwise, we’re set to come home.

Hope to have time to do a final entry tomorrow before we leave for the airport. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel home Thursday and Friday. In Kenya, instead of “safe travels” they say “journey mercies”… I like that phrase. Sounds like something to live your life by…

P.S. I couldn’t post this this afternoon because the internet was down. We are home now from the Centre. The rest of the team is in Nairobi getting ready to fly home. Lauren got off the couch to spend 2 hours with the children and is now writing each one a letter to leave tomorrow. She is feeling a little better but still has no voice and a lot of congestion. We had a great time with the kids. We brought each one a chocolate bar, and they really enjoyed that rare treat. We’re planning to enjoy a fire (it’s really cold here today!) and an early night.

The last several days have been wonderful!

Louise painting the nails of a woman who survived leprosy.
My boy John.

John and Peter in one of their cool distorted pictures..

Our "Family Portrait" from dinner last night. Mama Joan is on the far left. Geoffrey is the tall man beside me.
Just the Kenyan Families. Mama Joan on the far left. Geoffrey on the far right.
Tearing up the dance floor at the Cheshire Retirement Center outside Nairobi. What a blessing these people were to us!

Lauren, John, and Peter at the cottage figuring out the computer.

What an amazing few days. I am just now finding the time to write because we have been so busy – early mornings, late nights, and full days in between. Here’s an overview of the past few days…

Friday we visited another Cheshire Home (apparently there are more than 200 of them in the world). This one was for the elderly. There were 38 living there full time – If I understood correctly, they do not have any living family members, so will live out their lives at Cheshire and Cheshire will handle burial arrangements. Many were in wheel chairs, and all appeared to be disabled in one way or another. When we arrived they were in the courtyard enjoying some sunshine. It was very awkward at first (as it usually is when visiting a new rest home in the US). We offered to paint fingernails for the ladies – and had a few takers. Once they saw the others’ nails, though , even more wanted to have their nails done. They kept asking us to do their hair – if we go again, it would be a real blessing to the ladies there to bring a stylist with us to do their hair. After a tour and a few more awkward minutes, we decided to sing for them. We did a bunch of children’s songs with motions that go along with them. They just looked at us like we were crazy – even the worker looked like she was pitying us. Then, we sang the one song we know in Swahili (God is so Good), and things really livened up then. They taught us a new verse in Kikuyu (a local tribal language) and then they began to sing songs to us. At some point, one of the staff members brought out an ipod on speaker and then the real fun started… DANCING! These disabled women (one completely blind, others using canes) began to dance in their tribal styles – it was beautiful! They danced for probably 30 minutes… some of our team members even learned a few moves J

Saturday we visited our friend Pat Dixson in the morning (she runs the feeding program we worked with on Wednesday) at her home. She has beautiful gardens that have been cultivated for years and years (she inherited her home from her parents). There are paths everywhere, and we went on a long walk with her dogs and cats (yes, even her cats go on walks with her!). At times it felt like we were in a rainforest in the middle of nowhere…. Hard to believe that there were other houses nearby. We also saw two different types of monkeys that live in her trees. Beautiful.

After that, we picked up Mama Joan and her 2 kids (our housekeeper from last year and dear friend) and headed to the LCC. The moms at the LCC had asked if we could bring Mama Joan there to teach them how to make zucchini bread (she made it for us last year and we shared it with them – they loved it!). Mama Joan was so sweet to help. We had a great time visiting with the moms while making 3 batches of bread. At the LCC, the oven is heated by wood and doesn’t have any kind of thermostat, so it’s impossible to control temperature. The bread turned out a little black on the top and bottom, but absolutely delicious in the middle. The moms are experts at working that oven, so next time they’ll know to get the oven a little cooler and to just cook it longer. After the bread baking, it was time to celebrate Grace’s 16^th birthday. We brought 2 huge cakes and punch to the Centre. It became a birthday party for everyone (the kids don’t really get to celebrate their birthdays), so after singing “Happy Birthday” to Grace, we sang “Happy Birthday to Me” and then ate and ate and ate the wonderful cake. Again, I couldn’t believe how much these kids could eat – especially something as rich as cake (something they never get to eat). And then it was time for birthday presents. Global Connections has a “godparent” program where people can sponsor one of the orphans and become the child’s godparent. The godparents and children exchange letters each month and get to know one another. The godparents also provide guidance and spiritual support such as prayer for the children. This year, godparents had the opportunity to send a small gift to their children and we packed them in trunks and brought them with us. At the birthday party, each child received his/her godparent gift. The kids loved it, and we got lots of pictures to share with the godparents.

Saturday ended with a great dinner party at the Global Connections Farm for Grace’s birthday. We had spaghetti and pizza (her two favorite foods) as well as chocolate cake. What a beautiful day!

Sunday… what a wonderful day. It began with church at Tigoni Fellowship with the kids from the Centre. Then Lauren and I were able to take John (our godchild) and Peter (Lauren’s special friend) with us for the day. We returned to Brackenhurst and took the boys to lunch at Mike’s – the restaurant here where they once again ate and ate and ate. Then, the plan was to hike, explore, play outside, etc… but once they saw the computer, it was all over. I have a new Mac for work and it has a built-in camera and some pretty cool photo programs where you can distort pictures and do all kinds of crazy things. I was so impressed with these 2 boys from rural Kenya figured out how to use things that I don’t even know how to use on this computer. We have tons of HILARIOUS pictures from the day. They also learned out how to create and play music using the Garage Band program. At one point, they did go with Lauren to run errands on the compound. I gave them each 200 shillings (about $2.50) to choose something from the gift shop. Lauren said it was a hilarious process, but they were able to each get a toy and a bar of chocolate and still have 5 shillings left. Last night (still Sunday), we had some of our Kenyan friends over for dinner. Mama Joan, her husband and two kids came as well as Geoffrey (our guard from last year), his wife, and his two kids. We had a full house (12 people) with Lauren, Peter, John, and me. We had a wonderful Kenyan meal (mukimo – green mashed potatoes with corn and green peas, chepati – Kenyan bread… like a thick tortilla, beef stew, ugali – something like hardened grits, kuku – chicken on a stick, zucchini, and fruit). It was all delicious. Mama Joan also taught me how to make Kenyan Chai which is how they drink their hot tea here – with lots of steamed milk, a little tea, and a little sugar. When it was time to go home, we were still visiting, so David (our driver) came in and ate as well. It was a wonderful night – one that I will continue to remember for a long time. The main reason I continue to return to Kenya is the people – we have made so many special friendships here, and I cannot imagine not seeing these people who are like family to me now.

The rest of the team left yesterday morning early for safari in the Masai Mara, so Lauren and I are keeping busy doing some things that we really want to do (like yesterday’s day with the boys and dinner with friends). Today, we’re headed to Nairobi to have lunch with Reagan (we met him in 2007 when he was one of our translators and have continued to see him each year). He’s taking us to a Kenyan buffet, so we’re looking forward to trying some new things. Then, we’re visiting Amani Aju – a place that employs refugee women to sew. I visited it last year, but Lauren has never been. After that, we’ll head to the mall for an hour to get some pictures printed to leave with some of our friends. This afternoon and evening we’ll spend at the Children’s Centre. It will be good to spend some time with the kids and with the moms.

As you can see, we’ve been busy! We have just a few days left before leaving Thursday to return to the US. The time has flown by, especially since we spent 6 weeks last year and were able to do so much more. It has been a great trip!

Kibera...

Crossing the sewage river (seriously - the bridge washed out during the heavy rain season, and we literally had to cross a river of raw sewage using stepping stones. luckily - no one fell in!)The larger building to the left in the picture is the school we visited. It's located on the edge of Kibera Slum near Nairobi.

The view from the 2nd floor of one of the buildings at the school (the blue building in the picture above). The first building you see here is also part of the school.
My friend, Rachel, outside one of the classrooms in Kibera. I believe that God brought Rachel and me together... we met briefly at a church service last year and she asked for my email address. We've been communicating by email all year, and I was so glad to get to spend time with her and especially to see the projects she's working with in Kibera.
This looks like something out of a horror film to me... unfortunately, it's for real. There was a similar door marked "Library."
Lauren with Winnie (left) and Elizabeth (center). Both girls are just 17 years old (almost Lauren's age). It's been hard this afternoon to wrap my mind around how fortunate Lauren (and all of the rest of us) were to be born in the US instead of into conditions like where these two girls live. What a tremendous responsibility we have to the rest of the world. And what an opportunity.

Where to begin… Kibera. Every time I visit this place, I think it hits me even harder as I see more and more and understand less and less. Today has been the most challenging, but yet my favorite, day of the trip. This morning, we met Rachel, a principal of a private school near Nairobi and visited the projects she is working with in Kibera. Rachel is such an inspiration. She had a long career as a teacher in public education and then went on to be a lecturer at a teacher’s college before ending up in administration at a private boarding school. Her school was wonderful – we enjoyed our tour and hearing about her school (which is for primarily middle and upper income students – not the poor). But, Rachel spends her days off in Kibera, about 30 minutes away and hopes for the day when she can quit working and volunteer full time in Kibera.

As I’ve mentioned before, Kibera is a huge slum. There is simply no way for me to describe it accurately for you. For the first time, I was able to take pictures, so I’m sharing those with you. But to be there in person and walk the narrow paths, cross the rivers of raw sewage, and see the impossible living conditions – is really indescribable. There is so much pain and misery but also great beauty in the pride of the people and in the hearts of those who choose to serve there.

Our first stop was a school that serves about 800 students. It is an “informal” school which means that it bypasses a lot of the restrictions of “formal” public schools in Kenya – class size, teacher qualifications, playgrounds, hygienic conditions, etc… It has 22 classrooms and 16 teachers (you figured right – some classes don’t have teachers) covering grades Kindergarten through 12^th grade. We had the opportunity to meet a few of the students and to hear their stories – heartbreaking. Elizabeth is a double orphan, having lost both her parents and has no on willing to care for her. She is currently in the 10^th grade and wants to be a journalist one day. She has a friend who is letting her sleep at her house but isn’t able to feed her. It’s very common in Kibera for girls and women to turn to prostitution to meet their basic needs of food and shelter. I believe this is part of Elizabeth’s story. Rachel is working with girls like Elizabeth on issues of sexuality, self-esteem, and empowerment – helping them to value themselves and set goals for their lives during the crucial teen years. The school has no feeding program for the high school students, so girls like Elizabeth and her friend, Winnie, don’t have access to food. Lauren gave them our packed lunch to share (wonder what they thought of white fudge covered oreos!!). We won’t soon forget them or their stories.

The neat thing about this school is the dedication and success of its students. The teachers arrive at 6:00 and school starts at 6:45 and ends at 6 at night! That’s Monday through Saturday! We were told that these kids earn strong scores on the national exam – some even outscoring privileged kids from private schools. What a miracle – and what a great way to break the cycle of poverty through education.

After the school, we visited a grandmother in her home in another part of Kibera. It was our first time to be in the home of someone in Kibera, so that was a special experience. We enjoyed visiting and learning her story. Rachel is hoping to find some kind of handiwork – beadwork, crocheting, sewing, etc… that this lady and others can do in their homes to create a sustainable income to support their families.

Rachel also works to supply sanitary pads and underwear for a large number of teen girls at the school we visited (I think about 300 girls). As in other third world countries, girls often have to stay home from school when they have their periods. Underwear are about 25 cents per pair. Some of our team members found directions for making washable/reusable sanitary pads, and brought patterns and samples for Rachel – she was thrilled!

If any of you feel led to make a contribution to Rachel’s work in Kibera or any other ministry I’ve described in this blog, please do so. Global Connections is very unique in that it doesn’t take a penny of your donation out for overhead costs… 100% of what you give goes directly to the ministry you designate, and small amounts of money go a long way here in Kenya. For more information on Global Connections or for their mailing address, visit: www.globalconnectionsonline.org

Tonight we are hosting David (the teacher at the K-Branch of the Children’s Centre) and his family for dinner. Tomorrow, we’re visiting the market in Nairobi and visiting a different Cheshire Home that serves elderly disabled people. I wasn't able to get all of my pictures from today into this one post, so please look at the next two posts (below) to see the rest of the pictures.

More Kibera

Children in one of the classrooms (where the only light was coming through a tiny piece of plastic in the tin roof - it was very dark!). The children were happy to see us and sang a song of welcome.
We called this the "catacombs" - my flash lit up the whole hall - in reality it was dark and tight with rough stick and mud/concrete walls. These halls connected one classroom to another and I guess offer some protection from the elements.
Another of the passageways...

Kibera...

Kibera... so hard to put into words. In four trips to Kenya, these are the first pictures I've been able to take of Kibera. These scenes go on and on. Shack upon shack. Open sewage running through the hard-packed dirt streets. Homes made of tin with dirt floors. Just heartbreaking.

I'm having to post only 3 pictures at a time so there will be several entries today...

A couple of pictures from today

Handing out pillowcases at Cheshire. This year at Governor's School, Lauren organized a time where scholars could decorate pillowcases for kids in Kenya. They made 46 wonderful pillowcases. Today, we handed out 28 of them to the girls at Cheshire. On Saturday, the rest will go to pre-school students at the Children's Centre. These girls were thrilled to receive them!
This photo is from Pat's Feeding Program. I could have included pictures of the plastic bags of rice, beans/corn, corn meal, etc... that they receive, but I was most moved by the pile of empty bottles and containers. These are all things we would normally throw away in the US, but to the desperately poor in Kenya, these become treasures. There were even old prescription bottles. Each person was able to choose one, and believe me - they chose carefully. In the end, there weren't even enough to go around and I immediately thought of things I'd been throwing away over the past 2 weeks and how someone would have used and valued those objects.

Finally... something to write about!

Lauren and John at the Centre... that is his favorite expression... he's saying "I really love these people and all the attention I get from them, but I can't quite let that show" :) Instead he just scrunches up his face and tries to act cool. Last year at Christmas, I sent Maureen (she works at the Centre) a little money to take John out to a restaurant for a meal or to let him pick out a toy. Instead, this little seven year old boy wanted "a suit" so she took him to the market and this is what he picked out. It actually looks really great with the spiderman shoes we brought him from Spain. That's what he wore to church :)
I love it! On Sundays, the girls get the day off to rest and play and the boys do all of the cooking and cleaning. Here, several of the teen boys were preparing secuma (like turnip greens) and cabbage for dinner.
More boys washing the dishes from lunch. How would you like to wash dishes for 50 people three times a day like this??

Another full day, and the rest of the team is not even back yet. We started the day at Pat’s Feeding Program. Pat is an elderly Kenyan woman who runs a feeding program that provides people who are unable to work (the elderly and those who are HIV+) with a small amount of food every two weeks. It amounts to about a Wal-Mart bagful and if they eat one meal a day, it will keep them alive for two weeks. It’s always a very moving experience – the people are so friendly and genuinely thankful. As I’ve written before, there is no welfare system in Kenya and no retirement system like Social Security, so people who cannot work are among the most vulnerable here. It costs roughly $5 per person every two weeks to fund Pat’s program.

After leaving Pat’s, we headed back to Brackenhurst where we met Sister Sandra for lunch. Sister Sandra is a nun from Malta who has lived in Kenya for almost 30 years. She runs a vocational program that teaches skills like tailoring, knitting, and sewing as well as an orphanage. She is a woman of great faith and someone I have a tremendous amount of respect for… we look forward to visiting her center next week.

We spent the afternoon at Cheshire where some of our team members shared ideas of different things they could make to sell through their sewing/knitting program. The girls seemed genuinely excited and eager to learn. We then did a craft activity with them and then had a time of fellowship with snacks (digestive cookies which are like graham crackers, Fanta soda, and Kenyan style Cheetos). It was our last visit to Cheshire – we have been so moved by the grace and commitment of these young ladies and have thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.

The rest of the team is at the store purchasing spoons, plates, mugs, etc… to restock the dining room at the K-Branch of the Children’s Centre. They are growing so quickly and have been having to reuse utensils in order to get all of the kids fed during a meal.

The needs here are so great, and sometimes it seems like there is no amount of money great enough to fill all of the gaps. I do know, however, that even small contributions make a difference here, and people are so thankful for whatever help they are given. Our team has made decisions about how to best spend our pot of team money, and individual team members have been led to give to specific causes. My time here continues to remind me of how fortunate – and how incredibly wasteful and spoiled – we are in the US and how our tendency toward self-reliance, independence, and being “self-made” really get in the way of being truly dependent on God. We seem to only look to Him for help when something major happens in our lives. Here, the majority of people I meet look to God to meet their everyday needs… food, shelter, school fees. As the girls at Cheshire told us today, “We feel like you are our moms, our brothers and sisters. When you leave here, please remember us. We will be remembering you in prayer and asking God to bless you.” Somehow, I know that to be true, and it’s a shameful reminder to me of how I need to seek a deeper prayer life and to continue to remember those here who have touched my life through their words, actions, and faith.

Tomorrow, we go back to Kibera Slum. If you have a minute, please Google “Kibera Slum” and just read a few minutes about it. Kibera is the second largest slum in the world (behind the slum in India where Slum Dog Millionaire was filmed). There are over a million desperately poor people crammed into a tiny area of less than one square mile. There is little electricity and no plumbing. Sewage runs in the ditches between shacks made of tin and old lumber. There is less than 1 pit latrine for every 1000 people in Kibera. It is truly heartbreaking as they are the poorest of the poor in Kenya, and many families are never able to escape the slum. Last year, I met a lady named Rachael when I attended the local Kikuyu church with my friend Anastasia. We exchanged email addresses and have communicated throughout the year. Rachel is a principal of a school in Nairobi and runs several programs located in Kibera. Tomorrow, we’re visiting a program she has for teen girls and a second program for elderly women. I don’t know much about either program and hope to learn a great deal tomorrow.

One prayer request… Geoffrey – who was our guard last year was taken to the doctor in Nairobi yesterday. It sounds like he struggles with high blood pressure and possibly heart problems. He lost his mother at a young age to heart disease. Lauren and I are hoping to have Geoffrey and Mama Joan and their families to our house for dinner Sunday night to catch up. We got very close to them last year and have missed seeing them. Please pray that the doctors will correctly diagnose and treat Geoffrey. And also pray for energy and health for the team… it’s been 2 weeks of hard work and long days, and everyone is beginning to tire.

Great You Tube Video of the Kids at the Children's Centre

Here's a link to a great slideshow that Bailey put together with pictures of the boarders at the Children's Centre...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lADusZ3cQpw

shortest, most boring post ever!

This is just a quick note so everyone knows we're still alive and well. I've spent the last two days on the couch feeling under the weather... so have nothing to report. The team spent the day yesterday at the K-Branch playing with the younger children and today doing Care for Aids home visits with their HIV+ clients. Lauren said it was a wonderful day. It's always a neat experience to be able to visit with the people in their homes here and to really be able to see their way of life.

I am feeling much better and am looking forward to working with Pat's Feeding Program tomorrow and another visit to Cheshire for a craft activity and visit with the young ladies there.

David made it safely home, although he apparently is on the "Do Not Fly" list and was flagged at customs. He's had more problems with the law over his apparently very common name...

Thanks so much to everyone who is thinking of and praying for us. We are having a great trip and are looking forward to our remaining week and a half.

Last Pictures...

Eating lunch in Nairobi - I loved the sign behind Lauren: "Drink Coffee - Do stupid things faster with more energy"
THIS is the gorge at Hell's Gate (aptly named!!). It was an unbelievable day and I am unbelievably sore today!
Some of the completed flip flop creations from Cheshire.

pictures

The front rooms of our cottage (living room, kitchen, and dining area)
One of our two bedrooms.
Our bathroom - everything is tile and it is so humid here that when you shower, water runs down the walls and the mirror never unfogs!

For some reason, I could only upload 3 pictures this time... these are pictures of our cottage, Simba. It's very basic but works fine for us.

Today was great - we enjoyed church at Tigoni Baptist and then went to the Children's Centre to play with the kids for awhile - it was good to see John. We also found out that on Sundays, the boys at the orphanage do all of the cooking and cleaning and the girls get a day of rest - thought that was pretty cool (and maybe something we need to do at my house :). Later in the afternoon, Lauren and I went to Anastasia's house to visit and eat mandazi (Kenyan fried donuts). It was great to see her and to be able to catch up some. Tonight, we're eating dinner at Mike's, spending a little time on the Internet, and then Lauren is watching the World Cup final game at 9:30. Tomorrow, we go to the K-Branch of the Children's Centre where they serve about 100 day students (I think they're all 3-5 years old). We're going to play, paint faces, cover the fence with sidewalk chalk, etc... Should be fun (and exhausting!). We have a full week planned, so I'll try to update as often as possible.

P.S. At Anastasia's house, I was able to see Solomon - the boy who lost his ear in a terrible school bus accident. The reattachment surgery appears to be a success. His ear looks great and is healing well. He is still quite traumatized by the accident and hasn't returned to school yet.

Long rambling update... with pictures!

The "Brown Family" - Lauren, John Kahera, and Kate at Hell's Gate National Park
Cheshire ladies making flip flops. What an amazing day!
Two of the Cheshire ladies that I worked with...
Anne and Margaret (Anne is my great friend who I met my first year and have managed to see every year - she's on the right in this picture)
Acacia tree thorns...

Wow. I don’t know where to start… it’s been a full day. We left early this morning to take about 50 orphans on a field trip to Hell’s Gate. That should have been my first warning that the day was not to be what I thought. I’d heard that Hell’s Gate was a national game reserve and that we would be able to drive through on our buses and look at wild animals. I’d also heard that we would have the opportunity to do about an hour “walk” to maybe see the animals up close and personal. Well all went well until we got to the walking part. The drive from here to the park took over an hour and we went through the beautiful Rift Valley, driving past the IDP camp where we built houses last year. It was wonderful to see neat rows of mud houses with tin roofs instead of weather-beaten tents. When we finally arrived at Hell’s Gate, we spent about 45 minutes getting checked in through the main gate and hearing a talk by one of the park rangers about wildlife conservation. My favorite quote from his talk… “if you get eaten by a lion today, it’s a bad thing for you. But it’s a good thing for us because we won’t have to feed the lion.” Sensitive Africans! I also got a look at the thorns of the Acacia tree up close. The Acacia trees are the typical tree associated with Africa – especially in the safari lands of the Serengeti Plains. They have huge thorns and it is said that the crown of thorns that Jesus wore was from the Acacia tree. I believe that after seeing the thorns today. Each thorn was as long or longer than an adult finger – they were like mini-spears. I know I’m rambling and some of you want to find out what put the “hell” in Hell’s Gate. Okay, so after 30 minutes of wonderful sightseeing by bus, we arrived at a stop called “The Gorge” – now that should have been my second clue, but I was still completely unaware of what was to come. We started down a dirt and rock path that very quickly turned into a death defying straight shot to the bottom of a 100 foot gorge. Now, the beautiful little Kenyan children hopped and ran their way happily down the path (I’m still having a hard time calling it a path) while this old and out-of-shape American tried to tough it up enough to slide down on my backside with much assistance from our gentlemen on the trip. Whew, I survived. That initial descent ended up being a piece of cake compared to the rest of the “hike” – it’s now been upgraded from a walk to a hike. We eventually made it to the bottom of a beautiful gorge where there were hot springs, little waterfalls, and tons of beautiful rocks (including obsidian that was so perfect, I cast away my first several pieces thinking it was just broken glass). Although I was filthy and hurting in places I didn’t know I had, I was pretty proud of myself for making it to the bottom. Now, if we could just find our buses and have our picnic lunch… 20 minutes later… I receive the shocking news that our bus cannot meet us at the bottom of a 100 foot gorge (as I’m reading this, I am realizing how completely ignorant I am sounding but this is seriously the way it happened – I was oblivious… would have stayed on the bus had I known the full extent of the boot camp challenge) (it’s now been upgrading it from a hike to a full out military challenge). Imagine my complete surprise and distress to learn that we are basically going to have to climb our way out of the 100 foot gorge. Yea h. So now it’s rock climbing minus the training, safety equipment, and in places – it’s minus the rocks! We climbed up paths the consistency of talcum powder grabbing roots and rocks when available. I did survive the expedition although I doubt I’ll be able to move tomorrow. I used muscles that never existed before today. And many more that haven’t been used in the 10 years I’ve been working a desk job.

Some of you have asked about our daily life here in Kenya. We are staying at a Christian Retreat Center called Brackenhurst. It is in Tigoni Village, a few miles from Limuru Town and about 25 miles from Nairobi. It is in the Kenyan Highlands (about 8,000 feet above sea level), and it’s actually winter here right now with temperatures in the mid-upper 60’s and lows in the 40’s and 50’s. Whenever we leave the highlands (for Nairobi or the Rift Valley, for example) it is considerably warmer (about 10 degrees). The Kenyan Highlands are known for their coffee and tea production. The area we visited today (beyond the Rift Valley in Lake Navasha is known for it’s flower production. Those are Kenya’s three largest exports (tea, coffee, and flowers) and flowers are dirt cheap here. I bought a dozen beautiful pink/orange roses here for 100 shillings (about $1.20) and have been enjoying them for several days now.

At Brackenhurst, we are renting a cottage (Simba cottage – means Lion). It is older concrete block construction and has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and a living/dining area plus small kitchen. There is no heat here other than the fireplace but we are fortunate to have reliable electricity this year and running water. We have been enjoying the popping of fires in the evenings. It seems to help take the chill out of the air. The floors are all tile and are VERY cold. Still, I’m not complaining – I would much rather be here than in Mississippi’s 100 degree summer months.

Brackenhurst has a restaurant/grill called Mike’s that serves a variety of sandwiches, salads, and entrees that are primarily western. Things like burgers, chicken nuggets, fajitas, soup, etc… Most things we’ve had have been quite good, but we’ve started doing a good bit of our own cooking. Last week, I made red beans and rice (that is a long project – the beans have to be soaked overnight and still need to cook for 6 hours of so to get soft). Last night, Lauren and I had leftovers of that plus fried okra. Tomorrow, we’re having gatheri (African stew with vegetables and beans) and chepati (Kenyan bread – similar to a thick flour tortilla and very yummy!), We have it all prepared – just have to cook it for about an hour when we get home tomorrow night. I just couldn’t resist cooking local vegetables. There are small dukas (shops) on every corner selling fruits and vegetables, and I’m always amazed at how cheap everything is. I bought a big bag full of vegetables (onions, carrots, bell peppers, potatoes, tomoatoes, and cabbage) for 115 shillings this week (about $1.35 US). We generally have a hot breakfast (scrambled eggs and toast), sandwiches for lunch (African peanut butter and bread are a little weird – but we’ve become accustomed to them), and then either eat dinner at Mike’s or at our cottage if we have time (and energy!) to prepare it and clean up after ourselves, Tomorrow is Sunday and we don’t leave for church until 10:30 so we will have the luxury of homemade pancakes. I always feel like I am eating much more healthy here since they sell very few processed food items – everything is very fresh (although it takes MUCH longer to cook only with raw ingredients. I spent 20 minutes tonight just scrubbing vegetables getting ready to chop them. The sugar is course ground and light brown in color (a little like the Sugar in the Raw we can buy in the US). The bread is full of fiber made with coarse ground wheat flour. Even things like rice and flour haven’t been processed to the extent we’re used to in the US.

Tomorrow we’re attending Tigoni Baptist Church with the kids from the orphanage. After lunch, we’ll hang out at the orphanage. Some of the ladies are going to teach the older girls to mend clothing and repair the rips and tears in their school uniforms. In the late afternoon, Lauren and I will head to my friend Anastasia’s house for mandazis (African fried doughnuts) and fellowship. She’s one of my favorite people in Kenya, and I always look forward to spending time with her. Tomorrow night is the big World Cup Final Game. We have to watch because back when Spain was just in the top 16, we bought t-shirts in Spain for $4 each that depict Spain winning the World Cup. We will be so excited if that happens for real and our cheap t-shirts end up being a good deal J

Lauren and I have given up beds for the 2 couches in the living room… they’re more comfortable and we like to sleep with the cracking and popping of the fire (and its warmth – which doesn’t travel down the halls to the bedrooms or bathroom!). I know that guys that come to clean every day think we’re crazy for not using the bedrooms. So far, they make great closets – we are able to separate our filthy, from our dirty, from our not-so-dirty, from our “worn twice but still smells okay” and so on. I never knew there were so many levels of laundry. When you have to pay about $3 to have one outfit washed, you start blurring the lines between what really needs to be washed and what can be worn again. Our clothes from today, however, are already at the laundry – we were covered from head to toe in fine dirt and also mud from wading in the water at times.

Will close for now with prayer requests… please lift up Gladys – she is one of the orphans who has developed a terrible rash/fungus on her feet making it painful to walk. And strength and health for the rest of us…

P.S. I can only post 5 pictures at a time, so I'm getting ready to post 5 more from the last couple of days...