How this all came to be - Leah

As you all know, Elizabeth and I are spending our summer in Africa.  I have told people that we will be blogging about our experiences and that we would share them.  I have decided that rather than 2 blogs, we would do just one and we would put the name of whichever one of us was writing it on the title of the post.  I think that this will be easier for both of us.  I keep getting asked about how this came to be. I truly believe that God had a hand in it and wanted to share why.  

In November 2012 I was volunteering at Orchard Ridge's Fair Trade Sale.  I was hanging out in the Vendor Room just to make sure that vendors had snacks and keeping things clean. I was supposed to be done but there was a spot that no one was covering so I decided to do it.   Karen Klemp from Hope 2 Others in Sun Prairie came in during that hour.  She was talking to someone else about her work in Tanzania and I mentioned that I had always been interested in Mission Medical work but no one ever wanted lab support.  She looked at me and told me that she needed a lab person right then.  We talked a little more. They were planning a clinic and needed someone from the lab side that could help with the design.  Then she needed someone to go over and teach people to work in the lab and to open the lab and get it started.

As we talked I was really interested, but  I told her that I could never leave Elizabeth alone that long, she assured me that she could come with me and go to school. I said I would never be free during the school year, she assured me that the groups usually went during summer months. I was very excited about the prospect but also very nervous. This was way outside my comfort zone. I told her I would consider it and let her know. I went home and talked to Gary about it.  It was a really cool opportunity, but came at a price.   I pretty much had decided that this was just too much and that it would be a huge undertaking and probably wouldn't be possible. 

A few days later I was online with a friend of mine who was talking me through downloading podcasts to listen to in the car.  She worked me through it and the first group I came to was Ted Talks.  I love Ted Talks! I immediately clicked on in and the first one to pop up was about Africa.  I told her this and she said "knock, knock".  We many times had talked about how often God knocks but we are too busy to really listen.  

That next Sunday I was in church and Winton was giving his sermon.  During it he asked how can we really grow while in our comfort zone?  He talked about what it takes to step out of our comfort zones and that everyone should.  Knock, knock...

At that time I decided that Elizabeth and I would be going to Africa!

                                            

Over the next year and a half I slowly got life ready to take off for the summer to Africa.  There was a lot of planning that had to take place and a lot of work to get done.  I had to try to figure out what would be logistically possible to teach.  What type of lab equipment I could take with me or I could get there.  How do you teach when people don't have books, there are no projectors, and the electricity sometimes works?  Here we are 2 weeks away and I am still asking myself these very questions.  

Elizabeth and I will be leaving on May 21, 2014 and coming home on August 4, 2014 (yes, a little over 10 weeks - talk about immersion travel).  The first 7 weeks or so we are going to  be in Arusha and staying with a member of The New Life Band and his family.  They have a 7 year old daughter Irene and a 2 year old son Ian.  

                                               
Arusha is very near Mt. Kilimanjaro.  During our time there we are going to be able to go on a safari, and attend a traditional African Wedding.  We are also hoping to do a one day climb of Mt Kilimanjaro.  I hear that there is a really nice one day walk that ends at some amazing waterfalls.  While in Arusha I will be teaching in a school and will be covering basic topics like Anatomy and Physiology, Basic Lab Skills, Specimen Collection, Hematology, Microbiology, Parasitology, Urinalysis.  The clinic that was suppose to be opening there this summer has not been started yet so we are hoping to train people that can get jobs in local pay for service clinics until this one opens.

The final 3 weeks we will be in Dar Es Salaam on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Hope 2 Others was given a clinic there that is already built.  I will spend the first week setting it up and getting it ready and the next 2 weeks working in it with the people I have trained and working out kinks in the workflow. While there I have promised Elizabeth that we will dip our toes into the Indian ocean (hopefully do some snorkeling).  We also are going to be spending one weekend on Zanzibar Island.  

It is going to be a crazy ride.  I have told many people that I feel that I am being called to do this.  I don't know why, and I am not sure when I come back I will know why either.  I don't know if it is for me, or for Elizabeth.  I may not know for 10 years why this has all unfolded around me but here we go!