Last update from Kenya!

Our last day! We are in the airport, ready to leave at midnight, in 1.5
hours. Like all the others, it was a blessed day.

7:30 Breakfast. Fried eggs, toast, sausage. Passion fruit, pineapple
and orange juice in glass bottles.

8:30 We board a bus which fits all of us, headed to the Nairobi Safari
Walk.  We will meet up with those children who have sponsors on this
trip.   They slow down our arrival briefly, as some of the children are
not quite ready, and it is important to Compassion that we all line up
with the sponsored kids opposite us, allowing them to try to pick us
out. We got there about 10 minutes before the kids' bus pulled in. What a
moment that was, trying to pick out our children and having them pick
us out. We had 2 kids there today  (well, one is 20 and the other will
be 25 in November) and it was not super easy to pick them out. The 25
year-old, I started sponsoring 3 years before I was married, 15 years
ago. He was CJ's age, 9. I find that so hard to believe. I did finally
figure out who he was, among all the Compassion helpers, but he did not
pick Delos or me out. I did not recognize Omari, who is so much smaller
than I had imagined, with such darker skin. It was amazing the difference
between them. Omari was so shy, with his social worker pushing him to
interact. Bismark needed no encouragement. He was very charismatic, is
applying for a civil engineering internship and wants to be in
Parliament one day and run for President after that. In university he was
president of Sports, Gender and Entertainment! Wow! Omari wants to be a
car mechanic. This is what I love about this trip most; seeing how my
Compassion dollars are SO well spent in person, changing people lives
and their community, one child at a time.  Omari and Bismarck are both
proof of the pudding; from such humble, impoverished beginnings, literally
living in clay huts with little to no food and water, to a
life they can carve out for themselves due to the Compassion program. It
was SO neat seeing all the other children with their sponsors. Ana's
wore the very same dress Ana gave her the year before! Marshan's 2 were so
cute and the little boy did not want to let go of his hand. Cristin's
was just adorable in a safari ranger suit, playing futbol with Cristin,
using the new ball she brought him. Danielle saw her mom's child for
the 3rd time and her own for the first. Jon's is a beautiful 13 year old
young lady. Cindy not only got to spend time with her sponsored child,
but also met up with a 13 year old deaf Compassion child at the Java
House later in the day. He enjoyed a game of cards with a few of us and
is a lovely individual. The walk around the Nairobi Safari Walk was
sparse on animals (compared to a drive around a good game reserve), but
offered a  great opportunity to  acquaint ourselves with our children. I
never knew leopards could climb sooo high into the trees and hang out
there.  Apparently we missed the baboon parade some of our group
enjoyed. Jenny, Jon, Jenn, Kenny, Mo and Billiam (possibly more) were able to
go into the cheetah den and pet one! Good thing I did that in South
Africa, or I would have been WAY bummed that I missed out on that
opportunity. ;o)

From there, we were pleasantly surprised to be escorted to Mamba
Village. Mamba means crocodile in Swahili, so you can imagine what our venue
was like.  It was a lovely afternoon on a sprawling lawn beside a
man-made lake in the shape of Africa.  The food was great. Then we embarked
upon our informational and fun tour of the crocs. From there we headed
to the other side of the river to meet the ostriches, gaze at African
art work, and just have some fellowship time with our kids.     When we
departed the croc farm, we split ways with our kids. It was a
wonderful and touching moment.

Back at the hostel, a few of us head out for a quick game of cards
(where we met and played with Cindy's new deaf friend), and wait for dinner.

After our last Kenyan meal, we were asked to meet in the lounge
downstairs. When the meeting ensued it quickly became the most touching
farewell possible. Jeff, the Kenyan, whose culture does not do "crying," about
lost it with all that was shared, so we all did too. So sad to leave him,
so blessed to have known him.  Thank you's go out to this dear friend on our
behalf.   He cannot stop holding and crying on Bill. What a moment. What
a week. Behind the group I saw, but did not share the news of the airplane
explosion in Madrid.  I didn't think anyone needed that on their minds as
we emarked upon such a long journey.

The Benedryl's kicking in....losing it.

Again, we say to you, thank you!!!

Ready to take off...love to all! See you soon!

The Kenya team!