Photos for you

Last weekend I hopped over to Kenya to visit my wonderful boyfriend. That's us at the park. :) We had a great time, though still lamenting over the fact that the Steelers and the Seahwawks lost. We didn't get to watch the games on television, but we did get to watch the scores tick by on the internet - almost just as much fun.

So when I got to Kenya, Phil gave me a gift that I think we are all going to love ... a new camera! It is absolutely fantastic. So you can thank Phil for the following photo spread....enjoy....

One of our community water sources - so sad - this is why we have a water filtration project here.

These are the biosand water filters that we help the community members construct. When used and maintained properly, they filter out 99% of the germs and bacteria from contaminated water sources like the one you see above.

This is my awesome team from Kagaramira! From left to right they are - Herbert, Apolo, Stephen, Basil, and in front Boaz. They work with the community, teaching them how to construct, use, and properly maintain their water filters.

And this is one of my Village Health Team members from Oru Tabo. He is a volunteer who has been taught about good health and hygiene. He now teaches his neighbors what he learned and encourages them to make simple changes to their lifestyles (like washing their hands, fencing their animals, and using a latrine) that will improve their family's health.

This is a precious little boy from Kagaramira that stole my heart. Now you can enjoy him and pray for him with me. He has downsyndrome and will struggle to receive proper care.

These are my comedians from Bwizi - community members who are constructing filters for their families.

This is a beautiful mother who built a filter for her family. She glows.

These are my guys from the teamhouse where I live. From left to right - William my protector aka. security guard, Julius my musically-gifted driver, and Mark my super-organized Worksite Supervisor. They all do an awesome job. I'm so blessed to have them on our team.

This is a cute little math message I received on my sidewalk yesterday. Funny sidenote: no one can really say my name over here. They actually think I'm "Meran" and the "ie" part is just to sound cute. Like Tom and Tommy. So "Marneh" up there was their nice attempt to spell Melanie.

Kids in front of a local church hanging out.

My backyard and wonderful "Gen" - Generous. Gen is our cook. She's in the back there, working on the little charcoal stove. She makes some delicious guacamole and chipati. And she's an amazing woman of God.

This is a local butcher. Want to come over for dinner? Gen really is a great cook.

And last but not least a few more members of our team - left to right - Julius my fun driver again, Rachael our Public Health Educator, and August one of our filter specialists - he didn't want me to take his picture.

So here's a bigger glimpse than usual into our project and into life in the village. Thank you for all of your prayers and support as we live this out together. I appreciate you so much.