An act of Grace.......

On Wednesday we traveled by van to a city called Nakuru. I had thought of Africa as a dry, flat plain, and was amazed to see the beauty of this vast landscape.....of the Great Rift Valley and the land of the Massai people. After being in the craziness of Nairobi, with the masses of people, traffic, construction and challenging road work, I found the drive and the landscape hauntingly beautiful.

The city of Nakuru is vibrant and colorful. People and shops crowding the walkways and streets.
I loved this bright orange building! and all the venders hawking their wares.
























































We drove to Peter and Grace's home to meet with them and a group of women whom Grace holds under her wings.
With Peter's support, and the strength of her vision, this group of women call themselves
Zion's Daughters.










Afflicted with HIV/Aids and experiencing the challenges of poverty, the small group came together with the guidance of Grace and Peter to make jewelry and weave and knit products to sell so that they can buy medicines, food and clothing for themselves and their children. The spinning wheel is made from a bicycle spoke. How clever is that!


















Again, as we came through their gate, I heard song and clapping and experienced their joy and gratitude that we had come to visit. I have never felt so welcomed and honored than I was experiencing from people I had never met, in this country so far away from my home.
I offered my gifts of sarongs and to our complete surprise, they in turn gave us gifts! Their generosity was so unexpected and moving. With so little, they give with such open hearts.

Again, we were fed a large and wonderful meal....cooked outside of the house on a tiny coal burner, with vegetables from their garden and a chicken from their coop. Grace's vision is to one day buy acreage on which they can build shelter for women in need, along with a life sustaining garden and the ability to raise chickens for food and to sell eggs to earn money.
It is a worthy vision and a big challenge.




Here are pictures of Peter and Grace and their lovely daughters.
A digital camera was a wonderful connection, when words failed.
Everyone wanted their picture taken and then to see the image immediately. I think it was more welcomed and sought after than any candy could have been. More on Peter and Grace and their vision tomorrow....and we meet an woman who is 104 years old!

Is Africa calling to you? Will you say "Yes!" ?

Our Working Hands.....

After visiting the DeepSea Village in the slums of Nairobi, we stopped by the DeepSea Women's Self Help Group, working out of a small garage near by.

After being inspired by her trips to Africa, Rebecca set up a program called "Our Working Hands"
with the goal being to create an opportunity for women to provide for their families...to feed their children. One of those programs is called Rehoboth....the DeepSea Women's Self Help Group. The women create the most beautiful baskets from sisal, and Rebecca and Valerie bring those pieces back to the United States to sell for the women.
All proceeds go back to the women who created them.














I brought each woman a sarong and sea shell necklace from Hawaii and they were so excited to receive these small gifts. I found that the same trees, flowers, and shrubs ....even the same red soil....is in Africa as it is in Hawaii. I felt very much at home.














Here are some photos of the baskets. They also make wine bottle holders and the cutest little woven dolls....which I brought home for my granddaughters.




















































Here are pictures of Pastor John and his wife Breatice, who over see this program, and their two beautiful daughters, Ruth and Milka.

As always, we were greated with joy and gratitude and meals were prepared for us.






























































I wanted to share the faces of the women of Rehoboth so you will know them and might send them a wish and a prayer for a good life for each one of them, and their children. They are the sole support of their families. Follow this link if you wish more information.

And I always end my post with a link to Purposeful Tours...in case you wish to say "YES!" to Africa.

Deepsea Village Slum, Nairobi, Kenya

On Tuesday morning we left in our van to visit Pastor John's feeding program in the Deepsea Village.
More than half of Nairobi’s population – more than two million people – live in slums and informal settlements. Crammed into makeshift shacks on just one per cent of the city’s usable land, people live without adequate access to water, hospitals, schools and other essential public services.

Around 10,000 people live in the Deepsea Village and up to several million people live in Kiberia, Nairobi’s largest slum, crowded onto just 550 acres of sodden land that straddles the main railway line. Most earn barely enough to rent a mud-floored, tin-roofed wooden shack with no toilet or running water. It's hard to get your mind around it.

We drove in and parked along the side of the road and began our walk, carefully stepping over debris, sewage and mud. Pastor John and his wife, Beatrice have committed to providing a feeding program in this slum, for the children, 4 days a week. ( with hopes, of course, to be able to offer it every day )
They serve 1/2 a cup of a thin porridge and a banana to each child....or half a banana if there are many children.
Because the word got out that our small group was coming to visit, the number of children gathered in the corregated makeshift metal building expanded to many hundred smiling faces.


















The children welcomed us in song, and among the poverty and need, sweet voices were raised in welcome, joy and gratitude.







































This journey to a third world country was....yes....one that was about those in need, but more, I was discovering, about the expression of gratitude for simply a new day.






















After the children were fed, we met with a family that shared their moving story. A couple of weeks before our group left on this journey, the leaders of our group had heard from Pastor John about the terrible burns suffered by little Sharon.
It seems that her mother had heated some water for washing clothes and one of the little girls, in thinking that she would be helping her mother to wash her baby sister, poured the boiling hot water over little Sharon. They managed to get Sharon to the hospital, but having no money, were turned away. The father happened to meet up with Pastor John and shared his story. Pastor John emailed Rebecca and Valerie, and they in turn sent out an email to each of us who were planning on visiting Kenya, to see if we might be interested giving a small donation to help raise the money for Sharon to be able to be treated for her burns. The money was raised and Sharon was able to return to the hospital for treatment, however, in her treatment they forgot to pull her little ears away from her skull and so they healed from the burns but were stuck to the side of her head, and would need another operation. Today she goes into the hospital for that second operation. If you can send your thoughts, prayers, wishes and intentions to her and her family, I know it will make a difference in the success of her treatment.

But here's the point that I want to make in sharing this story. Look at the faces of the family. Do you see their smiles? Can you feel their gratitude for the miracle of healing and support. The mother and dad wanted to meet with us to thank us for our donation and to tell us that they feel so blessed and grateful. There is no complaining, no whining, no despair......we were again, only met with deep gratitude and a smile for the blessings they had received.

I was just beginning to become aware of the power and depth of Purposeful Tours and was, myself, so grateful that I was able to over come my fears and to say "Yes!" to Africa.

Jambo from Africa!

I have just returned from a 2 week trip to Africa. Over the next week or so I will use my blog to share my thoughts and photos.

I had been told, by all that had traveled to Africa, that I would be changed by the experience.
I'm not sure how that will show up in my life, but I definitely feel expanded.
Expanded by the sights and sounds of Africa, but more deeply by the heart of the African people.
Never have I met people so loving, generous and so full of gratitude for the simple dawning of a new day.
I thought the sign "Smile! You're in Kenya" was merely a tourist ad, but I soon learned that a big smile was the gift of the African people, and was so freely given, asking nothing in return. Amongst the extreme poverty, masses of people, and lack of jobs, we heard the statement "I am so very very happy!" spoken with gratitude every day.

What brought me to consider taking this trip was a wonderful mask making class given by an artist here in Sebastopol, California by the name of Rebecca Love. Her masks of the women of Africa are fantastic. She had traveled to Africa several years ago and fell in love with the culture and people there. She now puts most of her energy into creating, training and helping to sustain several African women's groups in supporting their families. She returns to Kenya several times each year.















One of her friends, Valerie, traveled with Rebecca last year and was inspired to put together a company that would take small groups to experience the same wonderful connection that they experienced upon their travel to Africa. This small company is called Purposeful Tours.














One of the beautiful sights throughout Nairobi, and our road trips into the country side, were the glorious blooming Jacaranda trees.














For the first few nights we stayed at a compound in Nairobi built and occupied by the British in the early 1900's. It was like an oasis within the crazy city of Nairobi.












One of our first outings was to see Karen Blixen's estate where she lived her "Out of Africa" experience.
It was very moving to walk through her house and property and imagine Meryl Streep and Robert Redford sipping tea and dancing on the porch to the sound of the gramophone. The little cuckoo clock is there, where the Kikuyu children would sit and wait for the chiming of each hour.
It was like being transported back in time. A very haunting and romantic experience that I will never forget.













After visiting Karen Blixen's farm, we stopped by a shop and factory called Kazuri Beads.


















This business is a place where the women who live in the slums of Nairobi can help to support themselves and their children by creating these beautiful beads. It was started by an English woman to help the women of the slums.....a wonderful idea and undertaking.... but it was frustrating to me as the women who are fortunate enough to have this job, in reality, barely make enough to sustain their life and feed their children, and there doesn't seem to be anyway out to more than just this means of survival. It was my first reality check and shook me deeply.

This was just the first day of our experience of Africa.
The next day we would visit the Deepsea Slums and be welcomed by 300 children, with songs and the brightest smiles I have ever seen, contrasted by the most extreme poverty and living conditions that I have experienced. Tomorrow I will post their beautiful faces as our experience of Africa strikes deeper within my heart.

New class in creating a "Pumpkin Dreamer!"

There's a new online class just up on That Creative Place! I created a fun class in sculpting and painting a little babe asleep in a pumpkin.

One of my granddaughters was born right before Halloween and we have a photo of her placed inside a big pumpkin....so this one's for you, Kobain!

Come join online me at the Forum at That Creative Place.