So I made it home! The last few days in Botswana, time nearly stood still. I did not get as much time with the children at Heidi's, but I did see them and I also spent another day at the Baylor clinic. This time at Baylor it was only me with about an average of 6 children at a time. The children and I did some art, I showed them some play doh and I read a few stories. One little girl was with me in there for about 3 hours awaiting her appointment, she was very educated, spoke wonderful English [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Unexpected blessings It is hard to believe that the two weeks in New York has already come to an end. It is sad really to say good bye to the East Coast, Lisa and I were really getting used to our life in the big city. People always think of Los Angeles as a chaotic big city, but we have come to believe that LA is a calm and comfortable place in comparison. Neither of us would choose to live in NYC, however we have adjusted to it and learned to love what we have experienced. We are both bummed that [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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