Erins Adventures

Well I do not know where I left off last so here is the last week in review: Went to the Baylor Clinic for Pediatric AIDS, brought items to donate to the "morning playgroup" interacted a bit with the kids then spent a few hours making their area more organized, clean and not filled with boxes (considering their space is basically a cubby under a stairwell). Spent the rest of the day going through government medical clinic, taking 18 year old Mati' that struggles with bone cancer, to get chemo. Went to take Bokang to his Speech Dr but she canceled so we still went to the city to pick up medicine for his caregiver, after waits and 2 clinics we only got half the medicine. Bokang hooted and hollared at every big truck he saw ... read more

The people in Botswana really love Botswana. They love their President they are proud simple people. Some have much and some have nothing. Those that have nothing seem to enjoy life more. Life is more simple. They find such joy in waving to everyone they pass, everytime we drive, everyone we pass waves to us. Sure being anglo we are somewhat a minority, but there are plenty here, so it is notthat they are excited/surprised to see us, they are just overly joyed by friendliness. They all say hello to everyone. We went for a drive around some local villages, I visited a local pottery and we explored the roads. Everyone as usual waved. (side thought... FREE HUGS would do quite well here) :) We found this road that was not yet paved,m but has been ... read more

Yesterday I brought the children at Heidi's their Peanut Butter and banana sandwiches. I started the afternoon playing with the kids, mostly soccer of sorts (amazing how powerful their kicks are and they do not break their ankles when they do not wear any shoes) with a child names Bakung. Bakung is the happiest of the any child I have met here. Bakung has muscles problems in his mouth and jaw, his fine motor skills overall are limited but he can sure kick a soccer ball. He constantly drools and his food runs all over his clothes, those of which he wears repeatedly, because he is just learning to sip and swallow and blow. You can not make a word out but he continues to try. He is basically an orphan as there is no record ... read more

0 degrees centigrade is a bit less than I bargained for in my light packing, however thankfully Gloria has given me a heap of blankets (5 to be exact) and a couple extra fleece type pullovers. At night I sleep like a fetus in the middle of the bed with pants, a hooded sweatshirt (pulled tight), gloves and fuzzy socks then I bury myself under 5 blankets and put a pillow on each side as a barracade. Did I mention it is cold? The day time feels rather warm, but 17 c is actually probably not too warm and I think that has been the max. The flights getting here were many and the waits were long but stepping off the plane in to the chilled air was refreshing. Gloria greeting me with her lovely accent, ... read more

Just wanted to send a quick goodbye to everyone. It is possible that I will not have email for the next month but if internet becomes available I will do my best to update. I will arrive in Botswana in 2 days. Please keep me in your thoughts. I have 2 duffle bags packed with art/school supplies and some kids clothes and I am ready to have fun with the kids! On a 2nd note - not to sound like a sales pitch, but this is an awesome opportunity for you and I... Anyone considering opening a UNITED MILES VISA (which is how I have flown to Europe and now to Africa for free!!!)? If you are please please please do this: Simply call 1-877-858-5188 (offer code CHL9) to apply, and give operator my name and ... read more

The final stages of my summer trip are in the works. 4 more days and I will be boarding my first flight headed to Botswana. I can not even truly express my gratitude for this experience. None of this would have been possible without Rebecca making it so and I am so thankful to her whole family that this is going to happen. Africa has always been a dream to me, not the first place on my list to travel around alone but a very big dream to get there. There are soooo many places in Africa that I would like to visit and hopefully in the future that will all come to fruition, however Botswana is such a great start. From what I have been learning it is a very stable country in terms of ... read more

Montana is coming to an end. We have all had such a lovely time up here in the boondocks and it seems longer than a week as time moves by very slowly in the woods and the sun finally sets near 10pm. The drive out here was long, but we did not want to drive much at night to stay safe and we switched, Ken and I, so that nobody would be too tired. Saturday evening we arrived to my dads house in Utah to stay the night, it was a nice but short visit as we left Sunday about 11am for Montana. Red rocked dry dessert mountains turn into rolling green carpeted hillsides as we drove further North. Certainly a gorgeous view the entire time and you can see variations as you pass state lines. ... read more

Life is peculiar. We arrived in NYC a few days ago, packing our jackets and sweaters, scarves and mittens, arriving in the fairly warm Big Apple was a bit of a surprise. The winds have blown here and there and grey clouds have moved about, tonight there was some actual rainfall. I actually wish I would have stayed outside to dance in it, to cleanse me from the grief I was feeling today, to allow me to smile and to soak in the glories of life and nature and love and to look up at another angel over head... I am glad and grateful to be back in this unique city, along with wonderful friends. Getting to see old friends and somewhat new friends... How appropriate of a place for me to be when I was ... read more