Our trip to Kenya was simply life-changing. It was the best thing I have ever done with and for my children. If you've ever thought of taking your children to Africa, if you've agonized over how entitled and insulated your children have become, talk to me! It was a fabulous trip! Our lives are richer, our perspectives broader, and our compassion greater than ever before. (Plus, we were always safe, clean, comfortable, and very well-fed!)

First of all, a huge thank-you for your generous outpouring for Jackie and Steve's college fund. It was with enormous pleasure that I told ALL the kids about the future that has opened up for these two young people. Jackie's eyes brimmed with tears, and quiet Stephen was overcome with gratitude. All the kids were motivated to work hard in their studies and shoot for college.

Jackie is a beautiful young lady with a sweet, modest demeanor. She and her younger sister were orphaned in 2004 when her mother died of AIDS. She likes math and hopes to become an accountant. Stephen wrote me a moving thank-you note which has haunted me. His family suffered complete loss from tribal warfare, their village was burned down, and Stephen was separated from his family and ended up a street kid from a very young age.

I was expecting an orphanage; I was blown away by the happy home Eunice has created, bursting with love, health, energy, and joy. Tumaini is a huge family, of 54 kids, aunties, cooks, drivers, guards, and Eunice, who is really the most remarkable woman I've ever met.

You wouldn't believe how beautiful these children are, how much they love one another--the older ones truly like siblings to the younger, and Eunice a mom. This model works! Tumaini, the home, was cheerful, organized, clean (they clean all the time--my house suffers in comparison), and stuffed to the gills with 28 adorable 2-5 year-olds who filled the home with energy.

The 3 sweet babies and 23 older children added to the feeling of a normal but enormous family. Every time I wandered past the kitchen, the tantalizing aromas of the next meal (fresh stews and soups and curries, perfectly cooked greens) drew me in to chat with the cook, retired from cooking at the University of Nairobi. The children are not just healthy; they are THRIVING.

The surrounding poverty was stunning--grinding and hard. Most roads are deeply rutted, virtually impassable red dirt roads that cover everything with dust in the summer. Many Kenyans who are fortunate enough to work eke out a living--hawking goods from decrepit shacks, walking everywhere. To see what the kids' lives would be like without Eunice made me even more amazed.

I learned what Eunice has done for the surrounding community. Eunice has literally changed the village--given them fresh water (as opposed to drinking unfiltered river water, sometimes walking 4 miles one way to get water), feeding the hungry, giving her staff a new hope, educating their children.

What she's done with the two-year old farm is unbelievable! Abundant crops of potatoes, corn, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, etc feed the kids, feed the hungry, and are sold to local businesses. Cows, goats, and pigs are generating income. She's an instinctive businesswoman who bought cows at 9000 schillings, sold them for 22,000, and now that prices are plummeting she will buy 4 more.

My teenagers spent time working with the older children, helping paint the orphanage, tend the farm, and building friendships. We played with the young children and babies, and fell in love with each kid of every age.

On behalf of these wonderful kids, thanks again for all your support. Drop them a letter; they will treasure it! And consider going yourself. We will definitely be returning again and again. Helping these kids is the most rewarding thing I've ever done.

~ a friend and recent visitor of Tumaini