It takes a village...

... for us to visit villages in the Kwale district that is.

We are home from our best trip yet and we are thinking back over everything that happened and how none of it would be possible by ourselves.

Long before this trip even started, it was a group effort. Lindsay's advisor, Dr. Orsega-Smith, has been so supportive of our interest in health issues in Kenya. Dr. Orsega-Smith knew about this travel/research grant opportunity through the Institute for Global Research at the University of Delaware and encouraged Lindsay to apply for it. All through the duration of Lindsay's experience at school, in fact, studying Health Promotion at the University has given Lindsay the practical tools and skills that we needed to enhance our development work in a strategic, methodical way. Because we do everything as a team, this means that our goals here have benefited from her education and the resources that have come along with it.

Lindsay was then awarded this grant that covered all of her travel expenses, and every expense on the ground (rental car, housing, food, etc...) but it didn't cover airfare for Senya and me. Our little family has been going through some difficult financial times recently so we weren't sure what we were going to do. We mentioned this once around a few loving friends and family members and they immediately put that worry aside. They decided to help us raise the money. In a span of 2 weeks some of our very generous friends and family members had done a whirlwind of baking, cooking, pitching our cause at church, and staging fund raisers that raised enough money to cover every cent that wasn't included in the grant. Some people went way above and beyond with their generosity in time, AND money (you know who you are). All of our expenses for this whole trip were covered. Astounding.

Lindsay's parents took it upon themselves to send Senya to Africa in style and comfort. They bought her a suitcase full of cute, comfortable warm weather clothes, and an incredible supply of diapers, wipes, food, first aid stuff, sun-screen, and just about anything you can imagine a baby needing on a month long trip. We used and appreciated every single thing they sent and can't imagine what this trip would have been like without that. They also thought of lots thoughtful, practical details like a handful of small bills to tip people to help us with luggage (we had a lot... traveling for a month, carrying research supplies, delivering goods from people at home to friends and charities there... this wasn't a classic Collin and Lindsay trip with 2 backpacks).

Our friends in Kenya took fantastic care of us while we were there. Terry and Paul made us delicious vegetarian food to welcome us back. The Nicolles, who introduced us to Terry in the first place, made sure to write to us to make us feel welcome and even gave us some tips about places to get out into nature while visiting the coast. Our entire month and all of our work there wouldn't have even been possible without the constant help from people there on the ground, primarily Terry and Paul.

While we were in Kenya, our dear friends and family kept in touch with us in a number of ways. It is difficult to describe how much this means when you are living in such a different setting, but wow. It was so nice to get pictures of people we love back here enjoying the snow, phone calls just to touch base, emails to fill us in on the daily happenings, facebook messages to encourage us when things were tough, and blog comments/emails from people communicating with us about our work. Keeping in touch like this wouldn't have even been possible in the recent past (I didn't hear one thing from one person at home the first time I visited Africa) but it really works wonders to enhance your time away from home. It just ties it back in to other parts of life that mean so much to us and reminds us how interconnected the important things in life really are.

Also while we were in Kenya so many people offered to take care of stuff back here for us. Nathan came to check on the house for us and take care of Lindsay's plant. Ian stopped by to check on things for us and his help. My property managers, Chris and Lil kept things with the rentals ship-shape. Shane took care of some essential business dealings while we were gone. I actually gave him power of attorney over real estate, financial, and business transactions. It's pretty special to have a baby brother who can be trusted with things on this level. My parents did a great number of things for us. Perhaps most significantly, they adopted our beloved Zuri while we were gone and took wonderful care of her. We really wouldn't ever leave if we weren't 100% confident that she was safe and happy. They would send us frequent updates about her well being and enjoyment of things like fresh snowfall and warm fires.

When we got back to the airport in New York, my parents were waiting for us with a balloon for Senya, a cart for our luggage, and food for us. They drove us home to a house that had been fully prepped and made to feel like a home again. Nathan had cleared the driveway. Ian and Laura had cooked a huge batch of some of our favorite food. My parents had stocked the fridge with foods that we love. They had built a fire, and turned on the heat to make sure that we wouldn't freeze on our first night back from the tropics. Our dear friend Jessica had left a delicious batch of home-made cookies on the porch for us.

All of these things mean the world to us and really, that is just the beginning of it. Our friends and families love us and support us in such an incredible way. I can't imagine doing what we do without having such an amazing team of people making things possible for us at every turn.

Thank you all for everything. We love you so much. Thank you for helping to make our dreams come true.