Out of Africa: Hope Community Center, Kenya

Hope Community Center is our second look at the work happening in Africa. If you missed our first, you can view it here. This orphanage is home to one hundred forty children but serves over three hundred. All of which have been orphaned through abandonment, abuse or parental death. Hope Community Center was founded in 1997 by Lucy Gacheru. She wants to take the love and care God shared with her throughout her life and give it to needy children in Kenya. The foundation of the Center is based upon Jeremiah 29.11.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The children are fed well, clothed and schooled. Lucy holds them each in her heart as her own. In her constant effort to improve their facilities, she is now building a high school and raising funds for a medical clinic. You can follow their progress and find ways to help at the Center's website and Facebook page.

Out of Africa and Back Again (CAMFED)

Africa is such an enigmatic country with much beauty and much pain. I would like to call out just a few places where you can learn about the good happening there. I will do one a week. Perhaps it might kindle an interest in you helping as well (assuming, of course, you are not doing so already). If you happen to be involved in outreach or conservation work there, please share you experience in the comment section. Thank you and God bless.

My first organization is CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education). If you are on Twitter, you can follow them @Camfed. On June 16, they posted this Tweet:

Help girls in rural Africa study by providing solar lamps just by following @thespudorg or clicking "Like" on Facebook! http://ow.ly/1Zlwn

Please feel free to do one or both and help support education in Africa.

Below is a quote pulled from their "About" page and a film short highlighting Cindy, one of the many girls supported by CAMFED.

Our Mission
Camfed fights poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa by educating girls and empowering women to become leaders of change. Our goal: To improve the lives of two million children by 2013.

Our Values
Since 1993, we’ve operated community-based programs that place the needs of individual girls at the heart of our work. Here are the values that guide us.

Inspiring Tree Images from John Larroquette

When the Elephant Parade Passes By...

Elephant Parade London 2010 in support of Elephant Family, which serves to protect endangered elephants and their natural habitat.

"I now walk into the wild"

If you noticed recent Twitter updates, you read my mention of the life of Chris McCandless. When you immerse yourself into his story, you are compelled to take the journey with him and to ask the same questions of yourself. It is, I believe, a journey worth taking. I encourage you to visit him yourself. Let it sit with you for a while before making some final decision. Your reaction, truthfully, is not as important as what it helps you to see of yourself. Going through the ordeal with Chris will benefit you by revealing a part of yourself to you and helping you to understand how you view the world.

Here are some primary sources for reading Chris's story: The book Into The Wild by John Krakauer, the movie Into The Wild directed by Sean Penn, the music Into The Wild soundtrack by Eddie Vedder. You can also read the original article from Outside Magazine, Death of an Innocent written by John Krakauer.

From a Twitter reply, I learned of a new book coming out co-produced by Heather Horton. She is working on the book with Chris's parents along with other artists and friends. I refer you to her blog entry about her own journey to Bus 142. At the end is an update on the book and its progress. I have asked Heather to keep us updated on the book's developments, and she has kindly promised to do so. Now, I turn it over to you.

Grace and Peace on your journey!

Namaste