Sawyer filters

Sawyer filters are designed to purify water. Im told that they use the same technology as a kidney dialysis machine. We put them to the test on a recent trip to the Rift Valley. The team of 25 college kids had planned to use bottled water purchased at the grocery store but we went through about half of it the first day. We filtered water from this catchment dam and made it through the next 4 days with no problems. The sawyer filters are amazing, light weight, portable and easy to demonstrate. This community now has 4 of these filters and they are seeing the benefits of clean drinking water.

Clean water

On a recent trip to the Rift Valley we learned of some real needs. The Masai people in that area have really suffered from last years drought. Many lost nearly all their cattle which they depend on for everything. One of our pastors asked us about building a greenhouse to try gardening. We returned with a team of young people from Camp Blue Sky to do the construction. In addition to the greenhouse we were able to demonstrate the Sawyer filters. The pastors stock pond provided us with a wonderful opportunity to show the effectiveness of these little filters. The pond was green with "life" and the filters transformed it into clear drinking water that our team used for the week we were there working. We left the filter system with the pastor to use with his community.

Mt. Longonot

We finally got around to climbing Mt. Longonot as a family. The last time we did this, the boys were 5 and 3 and we didnt go all the way around the rim of the volcano. This time we were determined to make it to the top and then hike the entire crater. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time with some close friends, Terry and Leanne Nutter and their three kids. Of course the kids were a mile ahead of us old folks but we had a great time building memories. Mt. Longonot is around 9000 feet above sea level, so it was a long day. The hike alone was nearly 6 hours. Another family adventure!

Spring break 2010

We traveled to the coast for some meetings over the kids spring break. We decided to add a couple days for some beach time. While we were there, our daughter Raelyn was baptized in the Indian Ocean. Bryan and the boys went out to the barrier reef to surf several days in a row. The reef is out about half mile and its a beautiful place to see marine life, they saw seals, eels, and lots of fish, including a small shark that swam by under them one day. Great surf, and most importantly, a great memory!

Masai Mara

We traveled to Masai Mara game reserve with our guests so they could see some of Africa's finest. Kenya has some beautiful game parks where you can see animals in their natural habitat. We saw all of the "big 5" and lots of smaller animals that some guest never see, including a Bat Eared Fox and a Cerval Cat. I think most people were impressed with the cats however.

Kim and I hosted a team from the US. A group of executives came to Kenya to look at some development projects and to visit some orphanages that we work with. What a great group of folks. They are from the business world so they had a lot of great suggestions and ideas that we hope to put into practice. In addition to the brainstorming, they have pledged to help us expand the work we are doing here in East Africa. One of the guests treated Kim and I to a hot air balloon ride over the plains of the Masai Mara Game reserve. What an incredible experience. We are thankful for Gods many blessings!