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Our daughter is on a two week to Kenya in Africa with an organization trying to help with the AIDS epidemic (and a host of other problems) there. The following is an email telling of her experience so far.

> Dear All - Jambo!!!
> When I say it is our first chance to breathe - it means so many things...
> We left Taveta Village yesterday noon after being with the villagers for 4
> days. My host family shared with me that "history had been made in the
> village" - never before had white people stayed in the village - never
> before had white people entered thier homes and never before had they been
> told about 'why they are dying'. So many of the villagers thanked us - we
> taught on Malaria, Typhoid, TB, Hepatitis and of course HIV/AIDS. The
> village of Taveta sits on the border of Kenya and Tanzania - it took us
> over 10 long dusty hours to reach last week - we were covered in dirt and
> dust most of our time in the village - but while we were maybe a bit
> stretched and out of our comfort zone on the outside...we were stretched
> more on the inside. One beautiful young woman - who had her baby girl in a
> sling spent the entire weekend at our seminars - we learned that when she
> found out she was HIV positive - her husband rejected her - and shortly
> after - her house burned down, now she and baby Violet are living on the
> street...she begged one of our team members to take her baby home with us.
> A moment that hurts the heart more than you can imagine. We literally took
> the clothes off our backs to leave with her. The villagers asked us to
> preach in their churches...again - between, dust, tears and stage fright -
> breathing became something we had to tell ourselves to do!! Hundreds of
> people attended the seminar and between meeting with the village pastors,
> a group of widows and washing over 300 hands...I think Taveta may never be
> the same - I know none of us will. We are at a stopping point between
> Taveta and Nairobi - we will head back to Nairobi tomorrow after resting -
> showering for the first time in four days ( a few of us had dreadlocks
> going we were so dirty!!!) Right now - the fog is lifting and a herd of
> Zebras is at the watering hole maybe 100 feet away - I can see gazelles,
> impalas, the most amazing birds I have ever seen and hear the sound of
> bats, birds and beauty. Yes, I took my first deep breath this morning and
> thanked God for all of you, your support, and your love. Your funds bought
> medicine for women with AIDS, bought food literally for a village - we fed
> the hundreds who attended the seminars - it is buying the land to build a
> WEEP center where widows can sew bed nets to sell so that they may
> survive. This week we will visit a rescue center - the same on you all
> bought matresses for last year, we will help repair and paint an area at a
> local school, we will visit a man who has started an orphange in his home
> and spend time with orphans and widows throughout rural Kenya. This team
> of people I have with me are maybe the most extraordinary group I could
> have ever asked for - as they slept on benches - ate food they couldn't
> pronounce and held babies they knew were dying - never once was there a
> complaint or even a sigh - just love pouring out until I think as we
> pulled out of the village - they left the last drop they had. Please pray
> for a renewed energy as we continue our work. We have another week - and I
> promise - we may be on the otherside of the world - but we are right
> here - and we can feel your love and support. Have a day filled with
> wonder - Love, jen
>


This is her second trip there.
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