April in the Rockies

New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, then comes Iowa, Nebraska and finally Colorado where I land at the home of Liz and Jerry Emmer in Evergreen. An elk greeted me in the driveway along with an inviting hug from Liz. Vail pass was closed and my visit was extended from these people who were strangers until we sat down together. I remember a hotel sign in Pokara, Nepal which read: “Come as a traveler leave as a family member”. It’s kind of how it felt here.

Then from Evergreen to Boulder to meet Karambu Ringera, founder of International Peace Initiative. She is doing great things in Kenya. Check it out: www.ipeacei.org it was so good to see her again and touch the spirit of the African woman.

Onto Vail and the welcoming home of Sheila, Denny and John Linn where I stayed for one week walking, talking, and sharing as we caught up on our respective journeys into the unknown. I continue to relish and value our growing trust, friendship and intimacy.

Too bad I shipped my snowshoes back to Santa Fe. Spring storms brought in ten inches of new snow.

I write to you now from Paonia and Carrie Tarran’s wondrous home on top of Garvin Mesa. She’s an earth mama and her house is filled with projects complete with two alpacas grazing out back.

Paonia is the fruit basket for the western slope of the Rockies. Apricots, apples, peaches, cherries and pear trees are budding and blooming all along the Gunnison River. It looks like it will be a good harvest.

These photos are mostly classic shots of Colorado. Though I report about travels, events, people and share photos along the way, the internal workings are percolating and these have not been shared. Trust is morphing into faith; and, contraction into relaxation. Expansion is having its way with me. I haven’t found the words to speak into these transformations but they are pretty close to surfacing. Stay tuned.

Thank You Carrie Tarran

In the beginning

Dominguez Creek

Union Pacific Railroad

Dominguez Canyon: Classic Colorado

Natural Beauty

Gaia's Balance of Masculine and Feminine

The Reservoir

Sage Fields and Mountains

Sinclair Gas Station

Old Business and Old Tractor

Colorado and The Crawford Reservoir

12,000 + Ft. Top of Vail Mt.

Into Thin Air

Up, Up, Up

Vail from Gondola

Linn's House on Right

Sheila, John and Denny Linn: Thank You for Sharing

Nserester Rules

The Embrace

Sign at the Zoo

Recording Studio

Place of Healing

At the Beach

Hello!

Me and the Kids

The Nile River

Sunday's Revival Under the Tent

The Equator Runs Through Me

At the cafeteria: clean and healthy water

Presents the water filters

The Gifting Circle at Lake Victoria

The Water Filters

And with this entry about the water filters, I come full circle. These filters served as my carrier to go to Uganda in the first place. The World Foundation for Original Human Development purchased two Nikken water filters and they needed to be delivered to Nserester. Along with the filters I was to be their representative at the graduation ceremony.

Here are photos of the water filters being presented to the children and staff of Nserester. On this day Isaac rented a BIG truck, the children piled on the back and we all went to the beach at Lake Victoria. In a large circle the filters were presented along with books for the school and gifts for the sponsored children.

Laughter, running and jumping were all part of this rapturous day at the beach. Children all over the world like to play. Children all over the world like to feel a sense of belonging. Each orphan came to Nserester with their own story of disconnect from their original mother and father. Isaac became their father figure and the elder children learn parent the smaller ones. Bonds run deep here and gratitude is abundant. They know they have been saved, not only from a life on the streets, but saved by the lord. Their faith is ever present. And though they have a story line of being abandoned, they also know they have a chance to thrive with the support and attention given here.

Below is an email I just received from Siyalo Kawuna, one of the boys I befriended, perhaps in his words this email says it all:

Hello mum,

Thank you very much for the message. Really my life wasn't easy to pass through but it was God's blessing. I thank the lord who blessed Dr. Isaac as the one who has groomed me since my parents died.

From my primary school up to now, if it were not for not Dr. Isaac I would not been studying.

Even I had lost hope of studying and went to live on to the street. And I can't forget to thank you for the support you give us in order to help the African child like us. May God reach you and bless you so much.

Graduation Welcoming Committee at the Gates Nserester Complex

The Master of the Ceremony

Singing OUT

Graduation Entertainment: The Choir

Chief of Police and Isaac

Uganda's Commissioner of Business, Technology and Vocational Taining

Henry Francis Okinyal