Ever Nearer...

Spent hours last week on-line, making reservations in Kenya and Rwanda for Mae and me. And now, it seems, all is well. We have places to stay for the entire time in both countries, places which are both reasonably priced and safe. And i'm getting more and more eager for July 3rd to arrive. Yes, that's the departure date...July 3rd, with arrival in Nairobi just after 8pm. on July 4th.

Julius awaits us in Nairobi- driver, interpreter, and friend. I can't wait to see him again and to meet his wife and four children. Don't know how we'd manage in Nairobi without him.

And in Kigali, Rwanda, we are so fortunate to be with our translator and friend, Simon (left) and our driver, Boscoe. Again, we'd be lost without these wonderful men to get us where we need to go. Then add the many grandmothers in Kibera, Mount Kenya, and Kigali, and my cup runneth over! Oh, and we can't forget the grandchildren.

As i make all of the preparations, there is a very real sense of "going home" for me...of heading back to a place where part of my heart has been dwelling since last summer- or perhaps since my first African trip in 2000 to Ghana. Africa is in my blood now- and for those of you who don't understand how this could be so, i cannot explain. Just take my word for it...it is so. Perhaps you'll come with me- via this blog- as i journey this summer, as i share experiences and photos, as i try in some small way to convey the contrasts and conundrums and dichotomies that are Africa today. You're invited! Karibu! Welcome!



Preparing for the Journey...

Step by step, it is happening...the plans for my return to Africa are becoming real. Plane tickets now purchased...travel insurance, too.
And with each tangible step, my excitement increases, made all the more wonderful by the fact that one of my traveling companions will be my long-time best friend, Mae. She, too, has long dreamed of traveling to the land of all of our beginnings... feeling the same kind of connection i have long felt without knowing why...only knowing she is being drawn, as i have been, to re-connect with some ancient voice calling from the depths of the unknown past. Unexplainable...how does one put words to intuition, to mystery, to what is only a deep, internal certainty?
I can only say for both of us that Africa is calling...with a siren-song neither of us can resist.

Everyone is the age of their heart. -Guatemalan Proverb

Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is? -Frank Scully 

To find your real capabilities you must push yourself through your comfort zone. -Patrick Lindsay



preparing for the journey...
Empowerment must come from within myself...
as i wrestle with anxiety & fear...
as i deal with my physical body...
as i open myself to all of the possibilities
which lie within me.
The only limitations are the ones i imagine,
the ones i choose to give power...
so...

Joy & Wonder are the companions i choose,
accompanied by Compassion & Curiosity.
Half a world away lie a different horizon,
unknown vistas, mysteries at present foreign
to my eyes & ear...
half a world away live people whose visage
and language will open my eager, searching
mind and heart in ways now only dreamed.

O Creative & Creating God,
grant me the courage to leave expectations
and agendas behind...the wisdom to
understand that only by walking willingly
into the unknown will i continue to become
fully myself...the strength to be flexible,
to bend without breaking, to welcome the
awaiting gifts of the unknown.
Africa awaits...!