Africa with Clark's and Allen's June 2018

 

Candace was going to go to Africa with her boys on a humanitarian project but decided not to when her due date for Maren was a week just after they would get home.  Dennis and I went instead to chaperone.  Eric thought it sounded like a good trip so he and Isaac went also. We flew to the Heathrow Airport in London and then to Nairobi . They slept with mosquito netting around their bed.
The trip was from June 1 to June 12, 2018.

 A bunch of happy boys.  We traveled in safari jeeps.  Issac, Josh Totten, (the son of Heidi Totten the director and founder and director of 100 Humanitarians) Jordan and Michael.












We went to an animal farm to start off the day.  Michael was feeding the giraffe some pellets of food.  Yuck!

Jordan was delighted to be up close to elephants as they were being fed.

Hamburgers at an outdoor cafe for lunch.

At the bead shop run by women.  Underprivileged women made beads and jewelry.  I bought a red necklace and bracelet.  Other hand made goods were for sale also.

Back at our first lodging  Mt. Zion Hotel after our first day in Nairobi, Africa.

  Our hotel in Bomet.  Party time.

                         Some in the group painted this building others helped plant trees with school children.  The whole village came out to see us and be where we were.

Our activity was helping to plant trees in Bomet with the school children

After planting trees the women of the village in the picture with Jordan thanked us by fixing us lunch.  I went back behind the little house we were eating in to watch the woman who was making chapati for our lunch.  It is an African flat bread much like a tortilla.

As we drove back to our hotel I took a few pictures of houses we saw as we passed by.  This one has clothes drying on the line, a woman working in the front yard and a satellite dish on the roof. 

There was a lot of dry dirt all around.  I wondered if this man was grinding corn.  The cactus in the back are indicative of an arid area. 

This is typical of the dwellings and businesses.  Dry land with paths going to and from houses.

.  This was a typical street that we drove down as we went to our work projects.  Small villages along the way with people selling what they had to earn a profit.  

This picture is of the group after a day of service projects.   

At one village the elders had us sit and they gave us a new African name.   I don't remember what mine was but it mean active and always busy.

  

Eric was the instigator of this race when we visited a school he wanted to see if the Kenyans really could run as fast as everyone says they can.  He was fast but they were faster.  Some didn't wear shoes.  Isaac was right behind Eric.


 Jordan and a new friend.  Isaac and a whole school of friends.

  

These roads were wet and so slippery in the mud that we kept sliding and tipping.  The possibility that we could tip over was so real that I had to get out and walk until we got to a dryer road. I think Eric got out also.  I was literally scare for my life.  The next day one of the jeeps did get stuck in the mud to the point that they couldn't get it out and we had to have a different jeep.  

The school we visited.  A tall, poised professional teacher.   

A stop along the way.  This was the Great Rift Valley where Africa is splitting in two parts because of the movement of tectonic plates.  

                            The House of hope girls who were rescued from abusive situations.

The House of Hope bunk beds.  This operation is run by a pastor and his wife and family.  

 Planting gardens in bags.  First dig up some dirt, mix it with manure, fill the bag and put in the vegetables.  The families sell them at the market.

Putting up a chain link fence around an area where  they are going to build a cultural center. The Safari Resort

We watched the hippos in the water.

It was amazing to ride in a Safari Jeep and see the animals in their natural habitat, the Masai Mara Game Reserve.  

Michael was on the correct side of the jeep to get this photo.  The lion was about 6 feet away .

On Sunday we asked the Safari Resort if we could use a room, a computer and chairs.  We watched the world wide devotional that our Prophet Russel M. Nelson was giving to the youth of the world.  It was amazing and unforgettable.  I'm so glad they could accommodate us.  

After the safari we drove all day, many hours, to Nairobi where we stayed at one of the Mully Children's Family School.  Charles Mully takes in very needy children and educates them in one of his several schools.  We had watched the Charles Mully movie before we went.  This was a highlight of the trip for me.  When we arrived it was later in the evening but the children came out and greeted us and gave us flowers and sang to us some beautiful gospel songs.  They were such a contrast to the children we had been seeing who were ragged and dirty. These children were neat, well mannered, well groomed, and sang like a professional choir.  It made us all cry.  

Michael and Jordan gave Esther Mully a copy of the Book of Mormon.  

             We took a tour of the school and their living and eating quarters.  The children are grateful that "Father Mully" has rescued them and they study from 5 in the morning until 10 at night with just breakfast, lunch and dinner breaks plus a little time for recreation and grooming.

                                 
     This is Jacobs Well as we saw in the movie.

Esther and Charles Mully bought this property and the house behind me for their retirement property.  Instead they are using it as part of the school and all of the thousands of children they are helping. 

We went to a separate school  about 30 minutes away where young mothers with babies and children have been rescued and were they to learn practical shills like sewing, beautician work and technology work so they can go out into the community and support their children and family.  

We planted trees at the school where the young mothers who were actually children themselves lived.  Dennis and I decided to support the girl in the middle and her young boy who was about 2 years old at the time.  It is only $50 a month and she will take two years of vocational training before she is able to leave the facility. Her name is Winnie Jelagat.  

 

Winnie with her son.

Sibling dinner, Grand Canyon and new fire pit

May 20, 2018  All my siblings except Doug were at my home for a dinner.

On May 28, 2018 Chad, Seth, Spencer and I hiked the Grand Canyon.  We started at the North Rim and went to the South Rim this time.  Last time I did it with Chad we started on the South Side.  Amy and her husband and two oldest children were hiking also but they started on the South and were headed north.  Chad and Amy exchanged car keys midway where we encountered each other and then they drove home in their appropriate cars.  Dennis was very nice to drive the three hour trip around the canyon to the other side to pick me up.  I hope to do that 24 mile hike again sometime.  It is stunningly beautiful with the Colorado River at the bottom of steep slopes

As we were nearing the end of the canyon I was getting pretty tired and felt like I couldn't stop to rest with Chad and his sons at the last rest stop.  I didn't want to have to get up again after sitting so I told them I was just going to keep going.  Dennis, who was waiting for us at the south visitors center took this picture just as I got to the end.  

Dennis built a new fire pit at the cabin.  Now we just need to get rid of those old benches I build.