24 letters

Linguistics fact of the day: Swahili was traditionally written in a modified Arabic script. So, now in its traditional Roman form finalized only in the 1930s, it only has 24 letters-- no 'q' and no 'x.' You learn something SO cool everyday...

And now for the big show, two very important words/phrases in my opinion:

• Thank you - Asante (a-SAN-tay)

• Where are the toilets? - Vyoo viko wapi? (vyoh VEE-ko WA-pee)

Have a wonderful evening and finish to the week...6 days. : )

tnick

Ni saa ngapi? (nee sa n-GA-pee)

It's clockwork, baby. Literally.

A cool detail I would like to point out to the team and to our readers: all entries to the blog, current and in the future, will be posted in "Kenya time." It is always far too difficult to do time zone math in my opinion, and it will hopefully provide everyone States-side with one more link to our daily lives at Mountain Park Academy beginning next week!

I've also decided to add a new feature to the 7-day countdown blog EXTRAVAGANZA: a Swahili word/phrase of the day! In addition to being a book nerd, I'm an etymology and linguistics nerd. I realize that there are probably eight million dialects and the locals' pronunciation will be our ultimate guide, but for the sake of the blog we're going with the wisdom set forth in the Lonely Planet Swahili Phrasebook, pocket size. : )

First, a basic: in Swahili, words are almost always stressed on the second-last syllable. Second, we're learning language today in the spirit of the Beatles (thanks, Dad):

• Hello - Habari (ha-BA-ree); Jambo (JAM-bo)
  

• Goodbye - Tutaonana (too-ta-oh-NA-na)

Good luck! Basically, this is nothing like Spanish. And the phrase titling our post today?

{ What time is it? }

a la Mary Poppins

Wow.

Readers, I wish that you had been at our September 14th packing meeting to see this! Words cannot describe the outpouring of support we received to meet the needs (and wishes) of our education and gift teams through generous, GENEROUS donations: hundred upon hundreds of crayon boxes, piles upon piles of glue sticks, thousands of pencils, plentiful pipe cleaners, markers, stickers, scissors, pencil sharpeners, notepads, scotch tape, colored pencils, googly eyes and craft supplies, and colorful erasers. The list continues: over five hundred ladies scarves, brand-spanking-new handbags, dozens of unique gently-used pieces of jewelry, baseball caps, toiletries, totes, and tools.


And the absolute best part about all of this...

...after three hours of work (maybe five or six for some of us), all 15 trunks were packed to their fullest and by some miracle so little was left on the cafeteria tables. There is only one analogy that comes to mind, an indulgent childhood memory. Our individual trunks each became Mary Poppins' multi-purpose and stylish black bag, infinite black holes to fill with stuff! To add to my current theme of reminiscing, the vast mass of school supplies was a little like heaven for me-- I think I collected new packages of markers fancy pens up until last year (yeah, I was 21).

And here is the fruit of our labor:

Every child in Mountain Park Academy, with or without a sponsor, will receive their own backpack filled with a new toothbrush, a personal tube of toothpaste, a pencil, and an eraser because of your generosity-- something to call their own.

Every teacher in Mountain Park Academy will be blessed with new supplies with which to enrich the learning and nurturing taking place in their classrooms daily. We will further share our thanks with every teacher through a special gift: Andy Andrew's book The Traveler's Gift, a tote, toiletries, a piece of jewelry or baseball cap, a scarf or tie, a cosmetic case, and new pens and pencils.

The children's home will receive a laptop and a digital camera with which to communicate with their sponsors, monogrammed linens on which to rest their heads, new books, and a few toys to fill the shelves in their new, warm, loving home.

I will not drag on about packing and I am sure that I have missed mentioning a few (or many MANY) items that covered the tables, benches, and floors of Woodward Primary School Gymnasium. As excited as I am about the supplies and the endless joy that we will be bringing through them to our students and hosts in Kenya, packing is simply not an exhilarating topic. However, and most importantly, I do want to extend my deepest and sincere thanks to many...

Thank you TEAM, CATHY, and MOM for your persistent hard work on Sunday and in the weeks leading up to our big collection day. You're indispensable.

Thank you DODD FAMILY & SUNTRUST, LAND ROVER, and NGEMC for facilitating our children's gift project, centered around the concept of each child having a bag on which to proudly mark their name-- something personal. Needless to say, it would not have been much of a project without the backpacks.

Thank you SPONSORS, DONORS, WOODWARD ACADEMY, CHICK-FIL-A and BRIGHT HORIZONS for the incredible expression of support through the massive influx of school supplies and toiletries. I do not think I have seen that many boxes and varieties of Crayons in one location, not even at Wal-Mart.

Thank you DEE ANN for the delectable pizza that quenched our hunger pains, and to CATHY for the decadent chocolate-iced pound cake that pushed us over that fine line of satisfied to overtly full. : )

Enjoy the pictures (this first round was an experiment- bear with me!), have a wonderful week, and in 10 days we'll be sharing our blessings and gifts on another continent, heck, in another hemisphere!

Love hard and be loved.

tnick

learning to blog and beginning the countdown

Welcome-- team, family, friends, donors, sponsors, and travel enthusiasts to the first ever Kenya Project mission blog! The big day is imminent; can you grasp that it is already September?

Let me begin by establishing a disclaimer: I am new to this 'blogging' trend. No, I do not even have Facebook or MySpace! <insert gasp here> As the book nerd you will learn that I am, I irk at the fact that I will commit the grammatical party foul of using 'blog' as a verb numerous times before this trip comes to a close. Nonetheless, I am eager to return wholeheartedly to my love of writing and to further enrich my passion for photography in my role as a member of the photojournalism team, capturing every detail of the Project's 10th anniversary. I am elated to be sharing as much of our 12-day trip as Kenyan-speed Internet will allow with such a warm, supportive audience.

I thought I would open the blog in the spirit of our team message-- serving "shoulder to shoulder" (Zephaniah 3:9). While we ultimately will become more than the whole of our parts in merely a few weeks, I believe it is imperative to always meditate and deeply meditate our individual gifts. We are a strong group of distinctive individuals with inspired passions, all capable of standing sturdily on our own two feet. However, we become enlightened and empowered when we recognize and embrace that we also have two arms with which to do good work and to lighten the burdens of our fellow men-- even if only for one person, even if only for one minute. Peter, it's your turn in the spotlight (1 Peter 4:8-10):

Above all, love each other deeply, for love covers over a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. Like good stewards of the manifold grace, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.

How perfect is that?!? How simple is this idea?!? In this often bleak world, let us remember daily that we cannot be complacent standing on our own two feet. Open your arms and share your gifts!

Beautiful.

Without further ado, I would like to present the rest of the team-- a powerful group of professionals that are undoubtedly carrying this spirit of service that is wound ornately in my heart: Lynn Chastain, Dee Ann Turner, Gideon Robi, Susan and Jonathan Dotson, Gwen Wendt, Missy Duncan, Trahlyta Miller, Paige Brown, Joan Palazzolo, Annamarie Paulsen, Ashley Chapman, Catherine Powell, and Roz-- with room to grow for one I believe.

And, of course, please check us out at www.thekenyaproject.org to learn more about our organization and how you can join us in helping to feed, shelter, educate, and love hundreds of children-- really, an entire community. Also, as a shout out to my employer and the good things the company is doing in the community, please check out SunTrust's MyCause program-- a way to donate $100 to the Kenya Project without sacrificing so much as one penny of your own money (https://promotion.suntrust.com/mycause/).

I am researching how to attach a link to our itinerary so that all our loyal readers can follow us every step of the way-- stay tuned!

Thank you for reading, love hard, and be loved. Until next time...

tnick