Flavia & Samuel

Nakajja Flavia, 12 years old and Samuel, 11 years old have been at Byana Mary Hill Primary School and Orphanage since 2004. They were brought to the orphanage by their mother. Their father passed away in 2000, they are two of seven children, now all orphans. These two are the youngest and are blessed to still keep in touch with their siblings (where many kids in Africa are not able to).
Flavia wants to be a nurse and Samuel wants to be a doctor. After classes and studies they enjoy playing netball and football.

Two Peas in a Pod

Natmania Claudia, 9 years old and her sister Pendro, 8 years old both attnend Byana Mary Hill. They were brought by their mother in 2008 by their mother. Their father passed away from HIV aids and their mother also has HIV aids, she was a teacher, but has gone mad and is mentally disturbed. They are both orphans.
Claudia wants to be a doctor and Pendro wants to be a nurse. They like to play netball and football after their school studies.

Lucky to be 3

Aria (10 years old), Maria (14 years old), and Fathomas (6 years old) have been attending Byana Mary Hill since 2005. Aria wants to be a lawyer, Maria wants to be a pilot, and Fathomas wants to be a driver. They were brought to the orphanage by village members. Their parents passed away when they were still very young and they stayed in the house alone until the villagers found them and brought them to Byana. They like to play netball, football, and volleyball when they have free time.

Joan & Marvin

Nalwadda Joan (pronounced JoAnn), 10 years old, has been going to Byana Mary since 2007. Brought by mother before her mother died, her mother was sick by the HIV virus. She has one brother, Nalwadda Marvin who is 8 years old and was also brought to the orphanage by their mother before her death. Joan enjoys playing netball and wants to be a teacher. Marvin wants to be a doctor and enjoys playing teatherball after his studies.

This are two of the sweetest kids who have so much love. They are blessed to have one another and they know it. They never complain about their situation and always have a smile.

Akoth Christine

Talking with Christine broke my heart. We didn't get to far in our discussion about her parents before she burst out in tears; her father's death was five years ago but the details and memories she keeps are obviously still very near to her heart.

Christine is 16 years old. She has 8 brothers and 2 sisters. She is the middle child. Her father passed away in 2004, he was digging in the garden when he got sick and was not feeling well. He got medicine but despite his search for help and the medication he died within a couple days. Her mom is also very sick right now. Christine fears the same fate will come to her mother.

When she grows up she wants to be a midwife to help support her younger brothers. Christine enjoys playing basketball.

***I am thankful that we have trained doctors and nurses and medical care that is so accessible in the United States. Many villages in Africa do not have such a luxery and must travel a far distance with little money to see someone who often doesn't have the education or the equipment needed to help them.***

Okello Lawrence

This is Okello Lawrence, he is 16 years old. He can't attend a regular school because of fee problems (no money). He has 4 brothers and 3 sisters. When he was younger his mother was speared by his drunk father. His father left.

Lawrence wants to be an engineer when he grows up and he enjoys playing volleyball.

I am in LOVE

I can't describe the love I have for Africa and I can't really explain why I have it. All I know is that is was something that I was born with. I remember being no older than 12 years old and talking to couples who couldn't have kids, telling them to adopt some from Africa because that's what I wanted to do. As I grew older my love grew stronger. I went on an LDS mission to Washington DC where I taught African's from nearly every country: Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Mali, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Zambia, Ghana, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Mozambique, Liberia, Senegal, Batswana.... I found the African people to be some of the most spiritually in-tune people I have ever met. My love grew.

After returning home from my mission I was studying English at Utah State University. During classes I would doodle and make lists of dreams I had or things I wanted to do. Traveling came up alot. Africa came up alot. After making the same list countless times I thought to myself, "You are writing the same list over and over! Do you want to keep doing this and dreaming or do you want to make it happen?" I realized that I couldn't keep waiting for the perfect moment to come for my dreams to come true but that I needed to start taking action and help them come true! I started researching organizations dealing with orphanages in Africa and soon found one at my very school, Engineers Without Borders (EWB). I was pretty quick to make contact after I had rsearched their group and was hoping to go over Christmas of 2007. It didn't work out as perfectly as I had hoped for that trip but the next trip Summer of 2008 was the perfect time for me to go; it all worked out! I have been twice now to Africa and if I can save up money again I will go as many times as the opportunity arises.

The feelings of being in a third world country volunteering alongside the natives (especially the children) is indescribable. For those of you who have read my previous posts on Africa hopefully understand the deep humility and great sense of thanksgiving that we should feel just for being born on American soil. We have so many more opportunities and privileges just being born in America than they will receive saving their whole lives.

I have been wanting to post pictures of orphans or people in Africa with their stories for a while now, to let you meet some of the people that I fell in love with. This being the season of Thanksgiving and soon to be followed by the season of Giving, I will try to publish one story & picture each day for you but also for me as I reflect upon my love of Africa and also upon my love of our Savior. I know that He is aware of these people and His spirit is in their hearts.

Included are some pictures I found on the Mothers Without Borders Website. I saw a documentary about the trip after the April 2009 LDS General Conference and have been so interested in the pictures and the stories. They are from renowned Christian artist, Liz Lemon Swindle. I hope you love them as much as I do!

Halloween Miniature Golfing

There is a cute little miniature golfing place in Logan called, "The Willows." Every Halloween they spook up their course and make it a perfect little Halloween activity. My family loves to get together and go so Annika came up and brought Alisha & Brian with her to do a little miniature golfing for Halloween & Austin's Birthday. Here are some pictures especially for everyone's enjoyment but mainly for Allison and Alisha to see.

Pumpkin Walk

If you missed the Cache Valley Pumpkin Walk, this is what you missed out on! For those who have never been, the Pumpkin Walk is an amazing display of people's artistic talent. I feel like the displays get better and better each year. Plus it's something you can't really appreciate through pictures but being there live. This year they had an M&M pumpkin hidden in every scene. It was fun to see who could find it first. Although I feel like Cache Valley October's get colder and colder every year, this is definitely something worth bundling up for!