Sunday, October 30, 2011

We're Back From Kenya!

 Okay, we've been back for more than a month. Jet lag's a bear, ain't it? I've been very busy, but truthfully I've also been intimidated to write about Kenya and the orphanage. 








The trip was amazing and inspiring and also quite hard in many ways: seeing kids hauling water from ditches miles to their homes, the lack of electricity or garbage pickup. There's so much that needs to be done. The Star of Hope orphanage was definitely the high point of the trip. Leonard, the staff and all those beautiful kids were just inspiring and uplifting. The orphanage is a perfect example of what can be accomplished if you have an extraordinary individual leading extraordinary people in a venture that requires so much tenacity, love and heart. (Learn more about the Star of Hope and how you can help at http://starofhopecentre.org/) But Kenya itself is a hard, hard country. To keep this short, I'll just let you know that the traveling party included our friends and fellow Star of Hopesters Selah and Marsha; our son Kyle; Vicki and me. Leonard, the Star of Hope director, traveled with us for our whole two-week Kenyan trip. We spent a few days in Nairobi and Nakuru, where Vicki and I met our two foster kids, Pip and Dinah, then 5 days at the orphanage and another 5 days on Safari in the Masai Mara Game Reserve. Marsha then flew home and the rest of us went to the beach in Zanzibar. Below are a few photos and sketches. A photo album is at http://gallery.me.com/danajsullivan#100089

The kids in their classroom


The kids are so proud of their new sweaters they wear them even when it's hot.
The Star of Hope kids in front of the school room.
A sketch from the balcony of the Green Garden restaurant
in Zanzibar's Stone Town. I traded the owner lunch for it.

Masai in Masai Mara Game Reserve
Kyle trades with the Masai
Kyle shows off his Masai sword and spear at the St. Louis Warrior Dash

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for all you do, Dana! So fun to run into you this week. Come see us on Whidbey! (It's even closer than Kenya)

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  2. I was beginning to wonder if you guys decided to stay in Kenya. Thanks for the photo safari, very cool.

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  3. Anonymous was me, this thing is being weird about my email address – Jennifer Anderson-Medau

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  4. Wow, thanks for sharing a bit of your experience.

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  5. Wonderful experience and pics, Dana! I have no doubt you'll write/sketch something perfect and wonderful about your experiences!

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