Adventurous Mary

 Mary definitely has some of my adventurous spirit!  For months she has been carefully mapping out a route from Harper's Ferry, West Virginia to Boise by way of Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Lonoke, and Fort Worth, Texas where her sister-in-law lives, and then on to Boise.  That about 3500 miles alone with a 5 year old! She had done lots of research and had several 'kid friendly stops' planned for each day.  I am so happy that it worked out perfectly for her to meet us in Monticello.  

Jackson is shy at first but he warmed up to my cousin Scott and his wife pretty quickly.  He even wanted to pose with them for a photo.

Scott and Cassie are experienced grandparents and have the best toys!

I love my Boyle cousins - Bill and Scott!

Cassie had prepared a great dinner for all of the Monticello Boyle family.  Why we didn't get a photo of the whole group, I'll never know.

I wish we could have spent more time there.

Forrest Gump Hill

 Remember this scene from Forrest Gump?

It's in Monument Valley, Utah.

We drove right through there as we made our way to Monticello to visit with my Boyle cousins.

There are all kinds of signs warning people NOT TO STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.

But of course I ignored that. Honestly there wasn't much traffic on this cold day in late October so I was safe.  George was only a little nervous but he is used to me ignoring warning signs in order to get the perfect photo.

Photography hint- if you want a great photo, go in the morning so the hills are the right color.  Darn back lighting! 

From Kenya to Zion

 Just 2 weeks after we returned from Kenya, George and I headed down to Utah.  First we spent a night in Orem with George's former BYU roommate, Eric and his wife Joanne.  I didn't get a single photo of that fun night.  I suppose we were having so much fun that we just forgot to take a picture.  They treated us to a 48th Anniversary dinner at Outback Steak house.  That was really our only celebration!

Next day we stopped in St. George for a fun lunch with Gary and Sharlene Bronson.  He had been our Bishop in Eagle. I served as RS President and YW President when he was bishop.  They moved from Eagle to Memphis and got a taste of the southern life!  When they drove from Memphis to Little Rock for a soccer tournament, Gary even thought to take a photo of the Lonoke exit!  It was wonderful to spend time with them.

Next a tour of the very beautiful St. George Temple after extensive restoration work.    This is the oldest of the Utah temples, first dedicated in 1877.  The furniture, carpets and woodwork reflected the pioneer styles.  

As we were going down one of the staircases, we happened to pass George's siblings John & Katherine and Karen going up the stairs so we turned around and went through the temple again.

Then it was on to Zion National Park to stay at the beautiful lodge for a couple of nights.  

George's siblings meet annually to discuss their family foundation and decide on donations for the next year.

John and Katherine reported on their medical mission to Mexico, which the foundation has supported. We gave an overview of our trip to Kenya and once again they decided to be extremely generous to Kenya Keys.

After the meeting there was plenty of time for hiking.

Matt and Cady decided several months ago to join us.

We all love Cady!  

When Scott found out that we were going to go to Zion again, he quickly made a reservation and added to the fun!

I feel so happy that our adult kids like to hang out with us!

We hiked to Upper Emerald Pool.

Beautiful spot with great views of Zion Canyon all the way up the trail.

On our hike down I struck up a conversation with a young man from Africa.  When I asked him which country and he said, "Rwanda", I surprised him by telling him that we had been there the year before.  His comment, "NO WAY!"

He came to study at Ensign College in Salt Lake City and was now at BYU.  I asked if he were LDS and he isn't.  He just likes the atmosphere and way of life.  I love that answer!

Zion is a spectacular place.

Easy to see why it is a Lewis Family favorite.

This quote by President Gordon B Hinckley seems appropriate when I think of Zion Canyon.

"All of the beauty in the Earth bears the fingerprint of the Master Creator."

 

Technology Hill

 Things are changing in Kenya, most for the better but unfortunately some not so positive changes directly affects the health of Kenyans.  With modern improvements, Kenyans are walking less and eating differently, more processed foods.  The results of this - more high blood pressure and more diabetes.  So to hopefully combat some of this, the local community has started a walking group.  Several Kenya Keys Alumni were instrumental in making this happen.  Future leaders of Kenya right there!

Since we were in town we decided to join almost 100 walkers bright and early in the morning.  Truthfully I thought it would be a leisurely stroll.  My experience with Kenyas is that they walk slowly.  Boy was I wrong!  Power walkers for sure!

That's 'Technology Hill' with the cell phone towers that you can see in the distance on the left.  It's about 3 miles to the top.

George and I were the two oldest walkers.  

Truthfully, the Kenyans think that 60 is OLD!

I know they worried about two 70 year old attempting it.

But we made it! We weren't fast but steady!

And made some new friends along the way.  These two women are on the board of an organization that finds special needs children and attempts to match them with sponsors who will pay for their education.  In such a poverty stricken area, with limited educational resources, handicapped children are often totally overlooked.  It is such a tragedy.  Bless them for their efforts.

Our Kenya Keys team was well represented.

Marilyn, Mwanaisha, Clemence, Heather and Betty

Another treasured Kenya memory! 

Friends in Kenya

 One of the best things about having gone to Kenya lots of times is that I have friends there.  I love seeing people that I have known for years.....as well as making new friends.  

At Mgalani Boarding school, sweet Luvuno is the accountant.  Rinda met her when she was about 6 years old, a little girl leading her class in a rousing song.  Her skills, even at that age, marked her as a leader and no one was surprised when she did qualify for a Kenya Keys sponsorship. She completed college and got a certificate in accounting. Her bright smile lights up the room.  You'd never know that she is a single mom of a child with special needs and also the sole support of her mother and sister.  Luvuno is a woman of steel and I love and admire her!

Jospeh Mbotte has been our driver on each of my 7 Kenya trips.  He has one of those Kenyan megawatt smiles.  Last year I met his sweet wife Mary.  This year it was so fun to meet his daughter, Joy.  I've heard about her since she was a 5 years old and now she is a Form 4 or what we would call a 12th grader.  Joy says that she has heard about me all of her life and was excited to meet me!

Joy is the perfect name for this young woman! She's mature and personable and just a total 'joy' to be around.

I have been praying that she did well on her all-important exam and can study either nursing or IT in college.

I've been friends with Abdallah Ruwa for many years.  Last year I met his entire family.  On this trip I was visiting a 3rd grade listening to a rousing rendition of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" as a part of a lesson on domestic animals.  The teacher who just radiated happiness was Abdallah's wife.  Lucky students to have such a joyful teacher.

When I was in Kenya in 2019, our whole team noticed a young girl at Egu Primary School.  She was a talented dancer and gave several animated dramatic performances.

She's the dancer closest to Kenya Keys staff member Clemence.  

When she danced and performed at the Girl's Conference, in front of several hundred people, she had a problem with her skirt.  The button had fallen off and she had to hold it up with her hand, not an easy task while dancing.  Two of our team members managed to find her a safety pin and saved the day.

Her expressions were priceless as she recited a story to us.

Unfortunately I couldn't remember her name but I did have a photo of her from that 2019 trip so I asked Clemence, who grew up in the same community, about her.  Turns out she is attending secondary school at Mackinnon Road, which is a school we planned to visit.

Clemence got her out of class so that I could chat with her.

She is not a Kenya Keys sponsored student.  Her illiterate father is managing to pay her school fees.  He's a man who values his bright, talented daughter.  That's not always true in Kenya!  The school principal told me that she is excelling in her studies and is the star of the drama department.  No surprises there!

Did you know there is an International Friendship Day? 

I didn't until I googled and found these perfect quotes.

 If you want to celebrate next year, it's July 30th!

Friendship is the passport to a borderless world.

In the tapestry of life, friends are the most colorful threads.

Global hearts, united by friendship's art.

Friendship knows no distance, only connection.

A true friend is a gift that transcends oceans and skies.

 

I Am A Girl From Africa

Kenya Keys founder, Rinda Hayes, sometimes refers to Kenyan young women as 'girls of steel'.  During the years that I have been associated with Kenya Keys, I have found this title to be completely applicable.  Like steel, these young women can be bent and stretched to the maximum before breaking. They face obstacles that we can hardly imagine.  Their challenges are real, like hunger, (one meal a day is the norm), lack of sanitary supplies, the possibility of being forced by parents into an early marriage, the dangers of sex trafficking,  an illness with no medical care available, and always the fear of not having resources to achieve their educational dreams, yet their tenacity and determination, what my grandmother might have called 'sheer grit', are a wonder to behold.  

I was delighted on this trip to sit down with a group of these incredible girls to discuss the book, I Am A Girl From Africa by Elizabeth Nyamayaro. Like the girls in our discussion group, Elizabeth was born into poverty but she had a dream of becoming a UN worker.  This dream was an anchor on Elizabeth's incredible journey from a mud hut in Zimbabwe to the halls of the United Nations in New York.  Her story would be inspiring to anyone but most especially to a group of young Kenyan secondary school girls who also have big dreams.

In the book, Elizabeth's grandmother talked to her of 'shinga' - an inner strength that God gave to Africans because he 'knew that life wasn't going to be easy....shinga is inner strength but so much more - shinga means courage and to 'be strong' and it also means to 'persevere' and to be 'resilient'.   Sounds like girls of steel huh? 

When I asked these girls to share their dreams, they answered immediately.  Some wanted to be doctors or lawyers or nurses or teachers. One girl dreamed of being a human right lawyer, another a cardiac surgeon; another a social worker, one even dreamed of being an air hostess. All dreamed of education past high school.  And every single one of them longed to give back to their families and communities.

We talked about the African concept of ubuntu, which means "I am because we are, and because we are, you are'.  Ubuntu means that we share the weight of work and sorrow, and the lightness of joy and abundance.  We pray for  the sick, we bless one another each time we meet; we pray for rain and celebrate together when it arrives'.  It means that your dream doesn't just belong to you, it is a dream for all of us." This group of teenaged girls live this concept each day.  Remember the longing of each girl to give back to their families and communities?  That isn't fake.   We are seeing this over and over again as formerly Kenya Keys sponsored students who have achieved their educational dreams, now support the education of others.

The discussion of ubuntu led us to think about the heroes of the book.  Obviously, Elizabeth is a heroine of her own story but when I asked the girls who else were heroes their answers came quickly.  They named Elizabeth's grandmother who sold her cows and goats to buy her granddaughter a ticket to London.  Uncle Sam and Aunt Jane who encouraged Elizabeth in her studies.  The UN doctor who took a chance on an untrained young woman with big dreams and gave Elizabeth her first UN volunteer job.  The African proverb is "It takes a village to raise a child".  I might amend that to say, "It takes a village to make dreams come true."   Sometimes the heroes leave the village to achieve their dreams and sometimes the heroes stay at home and rejoice in the fulfilled dreams of others.

Another concept we discussed was that dreams are an anchor or a foundation.  Elizabeth says, "My dream anchors me - even when I'm tired and hungry, and even when the days are long and unpleasant".  After the discussion I had prepared an activity for each girl.  

They had the chance to design their own book cover with encouraging words or things they wanted to remember about the book. Hopefully this visual aid will be another anchor to their dreams.

What could possibly be better than discussing I Am A Girl From Africa with these 'girls of steel' who dream big dream! And who understand the African proverb, "your dream is a dream for your community".

And thanks to Kenya Keys for helping so many to have their dreams come true!

Marilyn's Fun

When we were at BYU George studied Electrical Engineering and I studied Early Childhood Education.  The areas of focus we each choose in Taru definitely reflect those majors!

I spent a couple of delightful afternoons at the Taru Community Library interacting with groups of kids.

Reading Going on a Bear Hunt and then Going on a Lion Hunt to some preschoolers

I read a cute story called Dog's Colorful Day.  It tells the story of a dog with one spot who gets more and more 'spots' throughout the day from drips and stains!  Then we used watercolor to add spots to our own dog pictures.

Schools here have few, if any, art supplies so using watercolors was a real treat for them. I suspect that Mwanaisha, our librarian, will get lots of requests to paint!  I did leave her all the supplies.

Another day, I interacted with a group of 8th graders from one of the private schools.  After playing some language games, I read them Malala's Magic Pencil.  This story is based on Malala, the Afghan girl who defied the Taliban to get an education.  In this picture book, Malala talks about what she would do if she had a magic pencil and could draw the world the way she would like it to be.  Naturally, she would draw free schools for all children - boys and girls. I gave the students a paper and asked them what they would draw if they had a magic pencil.  I have done this activity before in Kenya and the things they would draw are ALWAYS things that would benefit others.  This group was no exception.

Some of their magic pencil wishes are coming true with the construction of the Community Education Center - a big library, an e-learning center and even a football pitch!

Their selfless concern for the community is one of the many things I admire and love about my Kenyan friends.

Back in September I led an activity with the 8 - 11 year old girls at our church and talked to them about what life in Kenya would be like for girls their age.

Then they made bookmarks for me to take to the library.

In Taru, I handed out the bookmarks and then had the Kenyan kids make bookmarks for me to take back to the girls in Idaho.  It didn't work out exactly as I had planned because there were lots of very young kids at the library that day, instead of the older girls I had envisioned.  I couldn't turn little kids away and the book marks were darling....and the cute faces adorable!

These kids rarely, if ever, get the chance to use colored paper, glue sticks, stickers, markers, or scissors.

I was impressed with their creativity.

Look at those intent faces!

Because the library is in the commercial center of Taru, children whose mothers work in the market stalls, frequently hang out at the library.  This little angel stole my heart.  She was too little to make a bookmark but she was thrilled when I gave her a pink ribbon.

These children really are the light of tomorrow.

The Community Library is helping that light to shine.