6.9.13…First Impressions

Today was our first full day in Sierra Leone.  When we arrived last night the kids were already in bed, but knowing that they had visitors arriving they were all peaking out their windows waiting to say hello.  The aunties sang for us as we walked up.

Today did not go all that great for me to start with.  I wasn’t feeling well on our flight from Brussels to Sierra Leone.  I was guessing it was a combination of exhaustion and dehydration and was hoping that a good night’s sleep would be all I’d need.  Sleep didn’t come all that easy as I woke up sick in the night.  Being sick at home is no fun.  Being sick thousands of miles from home is terrible.  I spent most of the day not feeling great, but thankfully by evening I was feeling better.

Since I wasn’t feeling well I don’t feel like I got to know the kids and interact with them as much as I would have liked.  Trent and I did connect with a little boy named Kevin.  He has Trent convinced that we sponsor him, but the little boy’s name that we sponsor does not look like “Kevin.”  We are waiting to unpack our checked bags where we have a gift for him and his name.  The other little girl I connected with is Kadija.  She is six years old and all kinds of cute and happy.

Trent and Kevin…

Kadija…

We started our day with a welcome ceremony.  Some of the older girls led everyone in songs as they sang for us.  Their ability to sing is amazing.

Right after the welcome ceremony we transitioned into worship.  Worship was a little different here.  It is community worship, but it is mostly kids from the center with a few others from the community.  It amazed me how the kids were able to sit through two and a half hours of worship.  Kevin sat with us through much of the worship.  I think that he secretly just wanted my camera.  The kids love to take your camera and take pictures.  It was funny because he would take my camera, but he would only look at the screen because he didn’t know how to take a picture.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out with the kids and relaxing.  June is the beginning of the raining season in Sierra Leone.  Today was the first time it has rained since we’ve been here.  A dark cloud popped up in the sky followed by a gust of wind and the next thing I knew, it was pouring.

These boys loved playing in the rain…

One thing I am learning quickly is that things in Sierra Leone are not always consistent or guaranteed.  Example, we have no running water.  No running water means no showers, but bucket baths.  I didn’t even know that this was a possibility.  It is incredibly difficult to wash longer hair in a bucket bath.  So tonight, when it was raining, I took full advantage of the rain and washed my hair under a downspout.  The rainwater was chilly, but refreshing.  If I’m lucky, it will probably be my main way of bathing while I am here!  Public power is also sketchy in Sierra Leone.  It is probably off more than it is on.  They have generators that run from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and we are lucky to get power from the generator during the day too, because where we are staying is connected to the office where they are working.  Tonight the generator went out when I was at devotion time in one of the girls apartments.  It was pitch black.  I immediately began to wish I have brought my flashlight with me to devotions (I make sure I am holding it when I fall asleep at night).  Thankfully, the power came back on pretty quickly.  

I was really happy today to finally be able to meet the kids.  I am very grateful to be feeling better and looking forward to our busy day tomorrow.

{The Launes}

6.8.13…Exhausted

It is amazing how much energy traveling can take.  Sleeping on the plane has not come easy.  Thankfully the movie selection was up to par.  I felt a little silly watching Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked, but it was definitely worth it.  :)  I have slept maybe 2 hours in the last 24+ hours.  I really can’t keep track of the time zones anymore…what time is it in Sierra Leone?  What time is it back home?  I am really hoping for a good night sleep tonight so I feel better tomorrow.

So far we have had the opportunity to meet some incredible people just on the plane.  The man Trent sat by from Brussels to Dakar was a native of Sierra Leone, but lives in the U.S. now and works for the same company as Trent’s Dad.  It is amazing how small and big the world is all at the same time.

Another man  I talked to was also a native of Sierra Leone, but living in Boston now.  He kept thanking us for coming and telling us about how it would be a life changing experience.

We are now on our final flight into Sierra Leone.  From what I understand, we still have a bit of a commute before we actually arrive at the orphanage.  Our first experience meeting the children  will most likely be at worship tomorrow since we are arriving a day late.

Now the fun will really begin!

Descending into Sierra Leone…

Welcome to Sierra Leone…

{The Launes}

Day 1…Hiccups

Yesterday was a roller coaster of a day.  I woke up knowing that I would be boarding three planes in the next 24 hours and at the end of it all, I would be in Africa.  Definitely a little scary.  Not only would I be traveling further than I’ve ever been before, but there was a lot of uncertainty as well.  I’m always anxious about flying…throw an ocean in there and I was pretty much a hot mess.  I literally cried at least three times before we ever got on the plane.

Ready to go…

Upon arriving at the airport we were notified that our flight out of Omaha was delayed by an hour.  Not a huge delay, but we only had a 53 minute layover in-between flights.  Panic quickly settled in as our group tried to figure out how to reschedule our flights or what we needed to do.  Our flight was the only one to Brussels for 24 hours.  There was a slight possibility that the flight would wait for us, otherwise United Airlines would put us up in a hotel in Newark for the night.  That is where the roller coaster began.  In the next few hours, our plans changed more times than I can count.  My blood pressure was probably off the charts (it is just remembering it).

We landed at Newark to find our plane was still there.  We rushed to our gate to find it had just pulled away.  As we talked to customer service we thought the plane was coming back in off the tarmac.  We’re going, we’re not going…up and down.  After all that, it was official.  We were stuck in Newark, New Jersey until Friday at 5:55 p.m.  So, what do you do with less than 24 hours in Newark?  You take advantage and go into the city!  First up we took the train into New York City to see Times Square at night.  It was a quick trip, but worth it. 

Friday morning we got up early to check out some more sights before we needed to be back at the airport.  It was a rainy day in the city as a result of Tropical Storm Andrea, so we skipped out on the Statue of Liberty and went to the 9/11 memorial, the New York Stock Exchange and had a slice of New York pizza.  New York was an incredible delay along the way.  The only thing that would have made the delay better was if I could have hit up the Today Show. :)

The new One World Trade Center Building…

9/11 Memorial…

The most bizarre part of this was that in all of New York City, we ended up on the same train last night and today with a man giving us some tourist pointers.  He helped us find a cheaper way into the city and told us how to get where we needed to go.  Ironically enough, his name was Angel.

Now, we are on our way again.  We are currently enroute to Brussels somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.  For the second time I can say that in less that 24 hours we will be settled in at the orphanage.

{The Launes}

Summer Reading List…

It is not so strangely easy for me to settle into summer break.  I think all of the excitement of the final days of school was a little more exhausting than I realized at the time.  I am working on catching up on some much needed sleep and some much needed cleaning at home.  I have also mentally been preparing my summer reading list.  I am not so good about reading for pleasure during the school year, but when summer comes I am ready to go!  Some of these books have been on my summer reading list before and I just didn’t quite get to them…hopefully this summer.

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge

Wild at Heart by John Eldredge

I am anticipating a little reading time this summer while we are on the plane ride to and from Africa.  Any other suggested page turners I could add to my list?

{The Launes}

All My Bags are Packed…

I’m ready to go.  I’m not really ready to go, but as I have been working on packing John Denver’s song has played through my head each time I look at my suitcases.  We do have some of our bags packed.  We met up with our team twice this week to fill our checked bags with supplies to take with us.  Currently in my living room I have four huge suitcases filled with hygiene packs, diapers, toilet paper, gifts for the children, books and other miscellaneous items.  We have nearly two hundred pounds of luggage and that is not even counting what we still need to gather and pack for ourselves!  Total, our team will be bringing 26 suitcases filled with supplies, with each suitcase weighing about 50 pounds.

The countdown is getting to the point where it might be more appropriate to use hours rather than days.  In less than 48 hours we will be arriving at the airport ready to officially begin this journey. That means I have less than 48 hours to pack for myself, do laundry, update my i-pod and finish up preparing to be out of town for awhile.

The past few days have brought a range of emotions from happy, to nervous, to excited, scared and everything in between.  I keep asking myself questions like will I be able to sleep on the airplane?  What will the food be like?  What if I get sick?  Lots of questions that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.  I really just need to continue to trust.  This is going to be good.

We got our itinerary for when we are in country which brought me to a whole new level of excitement.  I was looking through what we will be doing when we are there and I got to the end of the list and it read: Farewell Ceremony, hugging and goodbyes.  I haven’t even made it to Sierra Leone yet, but my heart already aches at the idea of telling the children and people goodbye that I will meet.

The encouragement from others in the last week has also been amazing.  Lots of prayers, support and questions from everyone around us.  I am so thankful to know that while we are halfway across the world people back home will be praying and thinking of us.  The number one piece of advice from people has been to take lots of pictures.  Because of this advice I have had a reoccurring dream lately about how it is time to head to the airport to go home at which point I realize that I forgot to take any pictures while we were in Africa.  In my dreams I have failed the people who told me to take lots of pictures.  I really don’t think that taking pictures will be a problem for me.  I was even able to convince Trent that it was necessary to purchase a new memory card for my camera.  I am 99.9% sure that I will have lots of pictures to share upon return!    

With all that said…I need to get busy!  The mix of the next 48 hours also includes Trent being out of town to help at a football camp in Missouri, a sister date and a birthday party.  And more packing.  Stay tuned…

{The Launes}

And So It Begins…

I am one day away from officially being on summer break.  It is always bittersweet.  It’s hard to let go, but at the same time I am so proud of my students and all of the progress they made throughout the year.  I teased them throughout the week about how I was never going to let them go and that someday they would be the biggest first graders ever.   Most of them really didn’t seem to mind that I was going to keep them in first grade. :)  But, I know that they are ready.  I’m excited for them.  I’m proud of them.  I will miss them!

The last couple of weeks have been very busy.  Kirsten graduated from high school…unbelievable!  This is the same little girl that once wiped me from head to toe with baby wipes on a car ride up to Morningside College for a football game.  It is the same little girl who use to watch Disney Channel with me when Trent and I were first dating.  Now, she is all. grown. up.

Jamie and I also ran the Lincoln Half Marathon again this year.  I was a little skeptical after last year and didn’t really know how it would go.  However, it ended up quite perfect.  Weather was great, playlist was great, company was great and I was able to beat my personal best by a couple of minutes. 1:54.25 was the final time.  And, the best part of all…it did not result in a trip to the ER.  Trent was very thankful for that!

As you may have noticed, these are in no particular order, but we also celebrated Mother’s Day.  We made a little trip to Saturday night church follow by a stop at Lake Wanahoo and Dos Margaritas for dinner in Wahoo.

Love them both…

Finally, I have to show off my flowers I planted.  I love spring and flowers even if I don’t have the best setup for a flower garden!

Until next time…

{The Launes}

14 Days…

In exactly 14 days, Trent and I will be on a plane to Sierra Leone.  I can honestly say it doesn’t seem real yet.  I don’t think it will really hit me until I stop off the plane in Africa.  I am strangely at peace.  I am thankful for this and excited for everything that is to come.  We have been busy preparing little things over the last couple of weeks. 

First up, we mailed our passport and visa application.  I came back in the mail stamped by the Republic of Sierra Leone.

We have also been working on raising money for our service project when we are there.  We are going to be building bunk beds for the children in the orphanage.  Currently, many of the children are sleeping on the floor.  As crazy as it seems, the cost to make each bed is $250.  Since there are three of us going from my school, we organized a little breakfast and lunch treat day.  Our principal said it would be okay to accept free will donations and AGES staff is amazing!  We were able to raise over $400 toward the purchasing of materials for the bunk beds.  Joint efforts between everyone going raised over $7,500.  With the money we will also be able to purchase mosquito nets and some other supplies that they are in need of.

We also had our final conference call to go over last minute details.  I have my packing list and am excited to start getting things together and  buy some of the things we will need.  I am also looking forward to perfecting the art of packing everything I will need into a carry-on suitcase and backpack.

Tonight I watched a documentary on channel 7 about the doctors and nurses from Omaha that went to Sudan earlier this year.  It made my heart ache, but at the same time it also reassured me that we are making the right decision to travel to Africa. These people need us and while I’,m hoping to help them, I think they are going to have a bigger impact on me. 

{The Launes}