Jackson - our Driver

The Mara West Camp arranged for a driver to pick us up in Nairobi and take us to the camp.  JACKSON picked us up at the Stanley Hotel at about 8:00am and our adventure began.  He was an amazing driver on crazy bad roads.  We made it to the Mara West Camp in about 6 hours, with about 4 hours of the drive on bumpy dirt roads .

 

 

 

 Jackson stayed at the West Mara Camp for the next five days, taking us on the game drives at the Mara Reserve, driving us to the African Mission Services Health Clinic and Oloosinon School, and to visit a local Maasai Village.  He was an expert driver on the Game Drives, taking us all the way to the Tanzania border, and making sure we spotted the "Big 5" plus many more animals and birds.

 

Marker at the Kenya Tanzania Border

 

The PEOPLE in the Maasai Village seemed content and happy with their way of life on the Mara plains.  They welcomed us by singing and showing us around the village.  These beautiful women take care of the children, build and maintain the homes, make jewelry and other goods to sell, cook and clean; the men protect the camp at night, the children go to school and herd the animals. The village moves to a different site every 7 years.

Living room in a Maasai home

 

 

THE PEOPLE

Since our African Adventure over a month ago, I've been back to the routine of life with work, summer activities, and home projects.  But my mind keeps going back to the wonderful memories of our trip of a lifetime.  What do I think about most? What was the best part of our trip? What would bring me back to Kenya? THE PEOPLE!
As I share about our trip in the coming weeks on the blog I want to introduce you to the PEOPLE we met along the way...

Let me introduce you to the first person in Africa who left an impression on me -- the "Kenyan Customs Agent".
We arrived in Nairobi at about 8:30pm after a very long flight, we had get our Kenya visas and then  clear customs with 5 people and 15 suitcases.  Our customs agent asked me what we were bringing into the country and I told her -our personal items, and gifts for a school & family we were visiting.  She wanted some details so I explained about the uniforms, school supplies, etc.   She started to tell me that we needed to do something prior to arrival, I just stared at her with the "deer in the head lights look" and said" I didn't know", her response - "just GO through, all of you!".Definitely a "GOD thing, we could have been there for hours going suitcases and doing the required paperwork.

We could see Betty, Jebechii and family waiting for us on the other side of customs.  It was a joyful reunion,  they greeted us with open arms, flowers, African dress, and songs.  What a welcome to Kenya! They transferred us to the hotel, got us settled and gave us a cell phone so we could communicate.  We spent a restful night at the Stanley Hotel.  The staff at the hotel made us feel taken care of and safe in the big city of Nairobi. 

Africa Trip

We are back from Africa - that an amazing adventure!  All 10 suitcases survived and arrived in Africa, and were delived to their destinations - praise the Lord!  Thank you for all your prayers, we could really feel God's presence with us, keeping us safe, and blessing our time at the Mara West Camp and with Betty & Jebichii and their families.
I will try to blog the next few weeks about our trip and the special time our family had in Kenya.  My new blog picture is of my sweet little "Kathi" and some of her classmates.  The follow pictures are just a glimpse of what we experianced -

  

Precious GEMS

This year my 5th grade GEMS at Sonlight Church completed a badge on "Volunteerism".  We read a book on volunteering written by "Sondra Clark". She wrote a book at about their age after traveling around the U.S. as  "Childcare Worldwide's" spokesperson for a year with her parents (she also traveled to Kenya to visit sponsored children & schools).  She talks about how volunteering starts at home, then you can go into the community to volunteer, and even the WORLD.

My GEMS girls took their volunteering into the world by helping students in Kenya, Africa!  They helped organize a school supply drive at Sonlight church.  Our family is going to take the supplies to Betty's school -- "St. Claire Academy" in Kenya. 

They helped organize and pack the items on Monday. I am so proud of them, and thankful for the generous donations from our church.  It will be so exciting to give this wonderful gift to the school.  God is so good !

   

Special Gifts

I celebrated my birthday last week and received some VERY thoughtful gifts including this necklace from my dear friends Marla and Janice -- LOVE IT !!

Other special gifts  -

Chris Tomlin tickets  (guess which sweet friend gave me these!)
Justin Bieber singing tooth brush  from my BOSS -- so many laughs at "the office"
My hubby gave me shoes from my favorite store in Lynden -Sole Obsession (so sad they are closing)

Plus so many fun times and sweet B-day wishes, I love my dear family, friends and co-workers - I'm so blessed !!

Best Shopping Day Ever

A few weeks ago Cousin Annie and I went shopping for the Africa trip.  We met at the mall and went in search of a list of things we wanted to get for Betty's family and her school "St. Claire Academy".

-Our first stop was "Old Navy" for school sports uniforms (boys- t-shirts & shorts and girls- skorts & polos) for the students. The salessgirl that helped us was extremely helpful and we left with large bags of clothes at surprisingly good prices- a good start.

-Next we went to Zumies for backpacks (Betty requested them for her kids because our bags are made much better).  I was looking for the "guarenteed for life" backpacks, they are normally about $45, but the salesgirl found some on sale for $29.99, and then, knowing the bags were headed to Africa she gave us a extra special deal --every 2nd bag 1/2 off  !

-Our next stop was Children's Place for skorts for the girls sports uniform - the salesgirl found out they were going to a school in Africa and gave us an extra 25% off - WOW - that never happens! (I've gone back a few more times to get more skorts -- the salesgirls now call me "the Kenya lady").

-We headed to Macy's to find jackets for Betty and her teaching staff.  Annie found some beautiful jackets on the sales rack - reg. price $78, we got them for $16.40 each- I love a bargain!!  We were at the check out talking about the great deal and what we were doing with SIX jackets and the lady in line behind us handed Annie some money and asked if we would get something for the students at the school.  AMAZING! 

I just felt God's presence with us the whole day, the good deals just fell in our laps, it was so FUN!!
BEST SHOPPING DAY EVER !!

Lexxy tried on the girls sports uniform for me to check the sizes - doesn't she look cute !

Family Blessings

  
 Along with Betty, our family sponsored a young girl named "Jebichii" for over 20 years, about a year ago she graduated from the Childcare Worldwide program. When I was in Africa, at Betty's village I asked to sponsor  another child who needed help.  They pointed out little Jebichii and we were matched.  This is a picture of us together at the village in 1990, she was about 3 or 4 years old at the time.

    Jeff and I thought it would be great to meet Jebichii when we visit Kenya so we contacted Childcare Worldwide and they were able to find her. She wrote a letter and gave us a current picture of herself and an email to communicate. She was going to a Beauty Therapy school in Nakuru and really wanted spend time with us during our visit. As we planned our time in her area I was getting worried about having enough time to spend with Betty's family and Jebichii.  Jeff suggested I write Betty and ask her if she knew Jebichii or her family since they were from the same village.

This is what Betty wrote back -

Thank you for good time God gave us during Easter time for both our families.Mum,I am so excited about the second news of Jebichii Lidia. It was my surprise for both of us being sponsored by one sponsor without knowing for more than 20 years.Jebichii is my first cousin.our fathers are brothers my father being the first born. It was last week when we shared about your visit to realize that they the same sponsors taking care of us.I shed the tears of joy, what good thing God us done to our family .I remember you holding that girl when you visited me, she was very young but i did not know what was ahead.We are so happy.We were even in the same teachers college before she change to beauty therapy.We are ready to receive you both of us.you will meet us at the school ceremony.

This is the first  picture we received of Jebichii through Chidlcare sponsorship and  the current picture she sent.  What a blessing to be able to spend time with Betty and Jebichii together - God is so GOOD! 

Memories of a Soft Blanket

I've been thinking about my first trip to Africa in 1990, and when I met Betty. She was living in her village at the time and was about 14 years old. We walked up to her home which was made of sticks and cow dung. Inside was two stick beds, for Betty and her mother, on the ceiling was a string of cards I had sent to her, THAT WAS IT-nothing more. I gave her some gifts from home, including a blanket. A few months ago I wrote Betty and asked her if there were anything we could bring from the U.S. for her family - her request was "a soft blanket", like the one I gave her many years ago. It obviously meant a lot to her, and when I think back on the "bed of sticks" it must of felt VERY SOFT. We found some soft blankets to take with us for the family, one for Betty & Zachary, their children- Linet, Sharon, Emmanuel, Kathi, Baby Peace and Felix, the orphan boy they are taking care of. Betty also asked for t-shirts -- I had gave her a pink t-shirt that said "Someone in Washington Loves You". She still has the t-shirt 20 years later!

The Safari

About a year ago Jeff and I went to the Lynden Christian Auction Fundraiser, the theme for the year was "Sunset Safari". I am reading through the program and come across a "Five day safari at West Mara", donated by Jim Clay and Andy Leebron-Clay. I say to Jeff - "The Mara is pretty close to were Betty and Zachary live in Kenya." We discuss it a bit and decide to bid to a "specific" amount. I say a prayer - "God's will be done"...
The bidding starts, it is going higher and higher, my heart is beating faster and faster, and we get the bid for just under the amount we decided!!

We found out later that the accommodations are at the West Mara Camp which was started by a couple from the U.S. who worked with Africa Mission Services in the 90's during the severe drought in Kenya. In 1999 they decided to continue their work in Kenya by offering short term volunteer Community Development Projects while providing accommodations at the West Mara Camp. In 2007 they build a few "Luxury Cottages" for tourists to book for their safari to the Masai Mara Game Reserve, the proceeds would contribute to the on-going efforts to bless the people of the Masai Mara region.
See info on West Mara Camp at -

www.marawest.com/history.php

God is Good...
-we were able to contribute to Wyatt's school when purchasing our safari
-It is at a camp that does volunteer community projects for the people of Masai Mara, so the proceeds of what we spend on our tours will go to help the Kenyan people.
-we will be able to see the work they are doing at the camp and maybe help out for a day
-it is a wonderful opportunity to see God's creation in Kenya,located by the Masai Mara National Reserve full of Elephant, Giraffe, Lion, zebra, wildebeest, and many more animals and birds.
-it is located only about 2 hours from where Betty and Zachary live

The Beginning of Our Incredible Journey...

It all started over 20 years ago when I met a young girl in Kenya, Africa...

It's been awhile since I've written on my blog, the months have flown by, our lives have been full and exciting, I just took a break from blogging. Now, there is something on my heart and I want to share. In couple months the Suitcase Survivor Girl, and Family are going on the ultimate suitcase survivor test - 8-10 suitcases to Kenya, Africa. More then anything, we need your prayers that the suitcases survive to their destination-Betty's school in Africa. After years of talking about going to Kenya we finally confirmed the trip and are busy preparing for our June trip. A lot of you know the background of the trip - if you do not know the story check out my book at(copy and paste following):

http://www.mypublisher.com/?e=OHm3Q8zJl3S-oeSm3edM_1jFvQE6iJqX&_mp=RaBOQuWeLEKer1yGLBuIpaeWJvQO4y80%0A">

It is the story of our sponsored child Selinah (later changed her name to "Betty") and our over 20 year relationship.
Jeff, Derek, Wyatt, our cousin Annie, and myself are taking the adventure of a lifetime-- going to seeing our family, and Betty's school in Kenya. There have been so many "WOW - God is good!" moments already in the preparations I just needed to share. So I am back, at least for awhile, and hopefully you will stay tuned to hear about God's goodness in our lives...