“And once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life, and you can’t go back to being normal; you can’t go back to meaningless scenes stitched together by the forgettable thread of wasted time.”-Donald Miller

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My biggest hope and prayer for 2013 was to live a good story, to ward off the onset of any complacency that I could use to fool myself back into comfortable ignorance, to avoid stagnancy like the plague. I had no idea where that prayer would take me, and I still couldn’t tell you, but I know that if God has gotten me this far, with this much of an exposition, that I owe it to Him, if not the next chapter in the story, to keep going.

The last little bit of the Kenya pics are posted below–a miscellaneous bunch of shots from the shamba, Jikaze, lettuce prep, and views from the road. Posts from Lima to come!

Crazy to think that this was just over a week ago. Game drives through Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya–one of my longest standing childhood dreams come true. The animal obsessed young’n in me was totally geeking out at the incredible wildlife (a leopard, rhinos, giraffes, baboons, water buffalo and zebra galore), and the adventurer-artist was thrilled by the all around breath taking landscape, as seen below.

I’ve just arrived in Lima a couple days ago, a totally different landscape–very urban, bustling, and developed. Not at all the peaceful forested suburbia I’m used to, or even the wide open vistas of the Kenyan Great Rift Valley and rolling hills of the Limuru highlands. It’ll definitely take some getting used to, but I couldn’t be more thrilled and grateful to be living here, and with the family that I’m staying with, the Goodfellows, working with such an amazing organization as Krochet Kids.

More Limaventures to come soon.

After four days, I think I’ve finally managed to recover from the jet lag  (just in time for me to get right back on a plane and head south to Lima, Peru for the rest of the summer!). Tomorrow night, I will have officially hit 4 continents (Africa, Europe, North America, South America) in less than a week. What? Crazy.

I guess this is what I get for asking for a life of adventure.

…Not that I’m complaining.

Before I embark, more about Kenya:

I spent the first couple weeks of summer in Limuru, Kenya, just outside of Nairobi, working with an organization that I’ve been interning with, Uhuru Child. I was joined by my best friend and co-intern Julia, as well as (soon to be) world renowned photographer and all around adventure head Haley George (please check out her stuff here.) Uhuru seeks to break people from the cycle of poverty, and to do this, they have built social businesses that employ the adults of Jikaze, an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp, including lettuce and chicken farming. They also recently opened a school, Uhuru Academy, an all girl’s high school, and are doing so much for the community, with a huge heart for the Lord and an impressive entrepreneurial spirit.

Such a solid opportunity to learn about the field of social entrepreneurship, and the potential it yields to effectively change the lives of the poor, something, if you don’t know me, that I’m passionate about.

The majority of the trip was spent at the school, at the farms, or in Jikaze, the IDP camp Uhuru works with, engaging in lots of manual labor, spending time with our host families, playing with kids, and getting to know the high school girls (which felt very a la Young Life for me–shout out to my girls in Winston!) At the end of the trip, we went on safari–a dream that I’ve had since I was a tot (Stay tuned to the next post for pictures from that)

I couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity, and humbled by how God would let little ol’ ordinary me to experience and be a part of something so extraordinary, a sentiment surely to be repeated over and over in the next few months.

Jikaze:

via Haley George:

Angel’s Home for Abandoned Children:

More to come.

It’s no secret that it’s one of my life dreams to live out of an old van and road trip, surf, explore and photograph the journey. (Do I know how to surf? Not well, no. But this is one step in the right direction, right? ) Though the water was a solid 55 degrees and I just got the feeling back in my fingers and toes, I thoroughly loved every minuteof this trip. The ocean–even during less than ideal conditions–is just plain good for my soul. We returned yesterday wind burned, sandy haired and perfectly content in our exhaustion. A large part of me wishes I could have spent the holiday with my family, but the wave therapy and chance to paddle with a pod of wild dolphins isn’t something to complain about either.