I guess sleepless nights call for updating the blog.  We have been so so busy I have not even had a minute to sit down and write a few things down about our amazing trip to Africa.  I really don’t even know where to begin…but here it goes.

After a total of 56 hours traveling (21 of those were spent in the Johannesburg airport,) we arrived in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka where we spent the majority of our time over the month.  The first couple days there we drove down to Livingstone where we hung out at Victoria Falls, some of the largest waterfalls in the world.

This picture just doesn’t do it  justice…it was difficult to photograph the worlds largest waterfall!

My sis Sydney and I decided to top off our Livingstone experience by doing the 2nd largest bungee jump in the world!

Ya we pretty much have bragging rights for the rest of our lives:)

We then headed back up to Lusaka where we spent the next couple of weeks.  For those of you who don’t know, the group we went with was Mothers Without Borders. It is a nonprofit that was started by a woman named Kathy Hedlee from Provo.  Every year they bring volunteers to Zambia to help contribute what they can to the growing problems there. They own 80 acres of land where they have built an orphanage/Children’s Resource Center, housing facilities for workers, dug a well for water, have a ton of farmland and chickens for food, and are working on a school and medical facility. It is such a huge undertaking and we were so excited to be a part of it.

This is a small portion of the land. The two structures in the picture are the oasis (bathroom) and a house for some of the workers who live on the land.

While we were there all of the volunteers stayed in a guest house of one of the members there and everyday we had the opportunity to go out and work on the land or take day trips out to sister orphanages, street kids facilities, villages, hospitals, the ghettos, and do medical screenings.

In the Mukuni Village

These are the sweet children at the Children’s Resource Center. There are currently 25 children in the care of Mother’s Without Borders, they hope to bring in up to 200 children when they have the space and resources.  Each of these children have unbelievable stories and will have a special place in our hearts forever.

This is the beautiful Carol Zulu.  We had the opportunity of meeting Carol the first day we arrived in Lusaka and were able to have her join us on our adventure to Livingstone.  Carol’s story is one that makes my heart ache and brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Carol is honestly one of our heavenly father’s angels here on earth.  She has the most incredible faith I have ever witnessed and has a spirit that fills the room.  Carol was the victim of molestation and contracted aides as a result. Over the space of three years Carol’s health gradually grew worse and she became increasingly frail.  When we met Carol she was not in the best of health and we were told that Carol may not live for very much longer.  For those of you who dont know, people do not actually die from HIV/AIDS.  It is an immune disease that weakens your immune system to the point that your body cannot fight off disease.  A few weeks ago Carol contracted Bacterial Meningitis and passed away on September 15th.  We were so blessed to have known Carol for just a short time and know that she has returned to live with her family and our father in heaven.

Everyone has asked me if we had a “fun” time…”fun” is such a relative term.  Of coarse we had an amazing time, but it was such an eye opening experience and was so much harder than I ever imagined.  I dont think that I was quite prepared for some of the things that we came across. It was such an emotional roller coaster, one minute you would be playing futbol with the kids from a village and the next you would be sitting in the home of a family who is starving and dieing from aids. About 40% of the Adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS. As a result of this there are orphaned children everywhere, More than 36 million children under the age of 15 are orphaned in Sub-Saharan Africa today. The problem is just so huge it is overwhelming.  Most of the time I was there I just felt like everything we were seeing couldn’t possibly be real. I have heard about the AIDS problem in Africa my whole life but it wasn’t until it was put in my face like that, that I was forced to try to understand it. Scott and I have talked about our experience and at times I feel discouraged…Even though I was there for a month doing everything I could to help I know that I may have helped out someone for a moment or for a day but they will be faced with the problems of tomorrow and everyday to come and there is nothing I can do about it. I had to rely upon my heavenly father for strength to try to understand why these amazing people have to endure so much. I learned a great deal about god’s plan for each of us and his individual love for each of his children.

So many people have been encouraging me to write a post about Africa, I dont know if this is what you expected but thank you for letting me put some of my feelings and experiences in words. I learned so much while I was there and know that I will be a changed person forever.