Psalm 19:9,10

"9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the LORD are firm,
and all of them are righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb."

 

Fun Phone Pic!

Ecclesiastes 3:1,2

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted..."

 

Phone pic!

Mark 10:8

"and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one."

 

Another fun Phone pic!

2 Corinth 5:17

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come"

 

Psalm 136:12,13

Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good

12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.

13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures forever.

 

Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

 

Night Light

Me and my shadow
Strolling down the avenue
Me and my shadow
Not a soul to tell our troubles too

And when it's twelve o'clock
We climb the stair
We never knock
For nobody's there
Just me and my shadow

 

*Phone pic!

Fall in Chapel Hill

*Phone pic!

Cal + Wes

Amazing couple! God's got wonderful plans of music and campus ministry for these two :D SO excited for the next year of happiness.

His Poets

Here's a spoken word group my friends started, updates to come about their next show

http://hefirstloved.com/his-poets-2/

Shoutout to my beautiful roomie Hannah

Reflection

At this time a year ago I was packing for my trip to Kenya! Last summer I was blessed with the opportunity to work with the Amani Children’s Foundation, an American based non-profit, that partners with the Kenyan based New Life Homes to care for homeless and HIV-positive babies in six orphanages across Kenya. I am a double major studying Film Production and Religious Studies and was accepted to the Amani Internship as photographer and videographer. My goal was to document the success of the organizations, the joy of the kids, and the need for support. However Kenya was the first part of a continual journey to raise awareness of the 2.2 million orphans in Kenya.

Kenya is a beautiful place with beautiful people! The orphanage care takers were welcoming and the kids are full of life as we sang Swahili songs together, played games outside, and laughed the whole day as we fell in love with their smiles. The team of interns traveled to all the homes, everywhere from the stunning mountains of Nyeri to the busy capital of Nairobi. We even were fortunate enough to go on a safari in the indescribable Mara where we encountered lions, zebras, elephants, giraffes, and many more exotic animals!

With Kenya and the kids forever imprinted on my heart, I returned home to put together the video illustrating the exceptional care provided at the orphanages and the wonderful children who live there all supported by Amani and New Life. The video was later featured at the Atlantic Monthly conference where President Obama heard about Amani and the New Life Homes! Amani, and everyone who been touched by the cause, continues to raise support for the New Life homes. Reflecting on my trip it’s amazing to see how so many different people, no matter nationality, socio economic status, or race unite for a common purpose. I learned so many valuable life lessons during my time in Kenya and am so grateful for the opportunity to always be connected with such caring, loving, and world changing people.

sorting

i have divided and subdivided every moment of footage i took on the trip. i divided everything based on where it was. then into whether it was for B roll, interviews, who the interview was with, kids singing, kids laughing, shots of the homes, on the road footage, and basically any other category.

the way im going to go about this first rough draft is to first start cutting down interview footage. and once the interviews form the backbone of the doc answering questions and giving info, ill then add the extra fun stuff.

but going through the interviews is going to be quite time consuming, each professional interview lasted about 30 minutes each. so im going to have to pick the parts i think are crucial and who is most qualified to give certain pieces of information.

so, that work will start tomorrow!
i just got back from coaching my last lax tournament so now one job is done i can begin fresh tomorrow; but first i think ill hit up a neighborhood yard sale for house stuff for the school year! i love my housemates :D

done with shooting!

7/8 So I went to film and interview Dr. Jane Stephens today. It went really well. I filmed at the Amani offices and got great B footage of necklaces and bags and scarves. I asked her how Amani got started, how New Life Homes and Amani are connected, how someone can get involved with Amani/NLH, and to explain how the shop and bead shows play a roll in all of this.

I then got lunch with Paige!!! She took me to a wonderful gluten free pizza restaurant http://sticksandstonesclayoven.com/home.htm which was very yummy.



I think im about done with footage!


7/9
We had our first bead show! At the Imperial Embasy hotel in Durham, there was a huge Nigerian Health conference, and we got to set up a table. We laid out tons of scarves and necklaces, I even brought a few pictures of the kids to display as well. We sold a few things. Paige and I managed the booth. I got an interview of her describing how bead shows are a nice way to raise support for NLHs and to get the word out.

I gotta start throwing this footage together soon!

^ Kazuri

this is mataha. its mashed potatos and corn pured with spinach... another tastey and glutten free kenyan dish.

food

this is ugali, its made from corn, and kinda tastes like grits. but what you do is you pick it up with your fingers and mash it down and then use it to grab the stew... its yummy and gluten-free!

 

 

 

 

 

above are some of the gifts, i wont say who they're for, but it shows the amazing work the women at Amani Ya Juu do.

 

I got my mom a table runner, which actually matched just perfectly with seat covers and the green walls :)gifts are the best

home!

I'm home!
Mama made a gluten-free pizza with pesto, cheese, and spinach (my favorite) for a wonderful welcome home dinner. I heard all about her and Paulina's trip to Puerto Rico and Paulina's week as a work crew volunteer for the Great Escape (a church middle school retreat).

Its so nice to be home, though it took a bit to realize I could have ice, drink the tap water, eat raw veggies, could wear shorts, and that it's 95 degrees as opposed to 70.

Our last day in Nairobi was great! Paige, Ashley, Hannah, Kaitlyn, and I hit up 2 Amani stores. One called Amani Ya Juu and the other Kazuri. Amani Ya Juu: "This product has been sewn by African women in need. These women have learned to work together because of their faith in God who provides a higher peace" http://www.amaniafrica.org/ so I went crazy at this store because the cause is wonderful, everything is handmade by women in need, and their stuff is great! So many gifts for so many people!

This is actually our second time at Kazuri. This is where the beads, pottery, and jewelry are made by Kenyan women in need. This is where we get 2nds, or the beads that have chips or scratches, for free. Using the 2nds, Amani makes jewelry and sells it. Proceeds then go back to supporting New Life. Here I got some nice painted mugs for friends.

Traveling was pretty easy. Nairobi airport was crazy! But after that all was pretty smooth. We even paid tribute to our safari by going to a restaurant called Giraffe in the London airport. (we even got cute Giraffe drink stirrers). I'm pretty on schedule with the time of day, the red eye flight helped.

Today I'm still doing Amani work. I uploaded a ton of pictures to children's files and uploaded videos. I have a interview with Jane (head of Amani) and will film on Thursday at the Amani store:

Amani Market-Open Tues-Sat!! 
Where to buy Amani jewelry? The Amani Market at 3288 Robinhood Rd, Winston-Salem, NC.
We have brilliant Amani totes, Kenyan scarves and accent items from the open-air Nairobi market. 
Open 12-6 Tues, Wed, Thur, Fri and 12-2 on Sat. with new items everyday. So much to chose from to give, to wear, and to delight in. And it all goes to the babies in Kenya!

In Indianapolis, visit IndyAmani, open Thursdays 10-2 at Plaza de Timbres, 9135 N. Meridian, Suite B.

In Harrisburg, contact:harrisburgbeaders@amanichildren.org
In Cleveland, contact: Cleveland@amanichildren.org
In Asheville, visit Old North State Clothing

Pasted from

This will certainly be a lot of footage to go through… but I'm so pumped to go relive everything!

Nyeri for 2 days, now in Nairobi again

So Nyeri was incredible!!! Beautiful mountains and beautiful N.L. Home with so many shining faces. We played with the kids all day Thursday, plus a birthday! I got great pics of the kids! I think the birthday boy will be excited later in life to see 'snaps' from his 2nd b-day. The kids were all pumped to get cake and sing. We went out to a fantastic lunch place with great traditional food. Ugali is this grit-like blob that you grab with your fingers and use to grab other stew-like food with. It's pretty flavorless, but super Kenyan. I really like Mahata, which is this green blob of mash potatoes, corn, and puréed with spinach. Excellent with Nile Perch fish fillet. All the food is so cheap! Then we usually finish it off with Masala tea, which kinda tastes like Chiai tea but its brewed in milk with added spices. So basically Kenyan food rocks.




Today we went to check out Mount Kenya. It was so beautiful. The day began cloudy but as we rose higher into the Adirondacks the clouds began to burn away into a perfect day. We drove out into this prairie and got to see tons of Rhions, Zebras, Warthogs, Giraffs, and Baboons. It was only $12 to get into the park so it was super worth the great views of the mountain and so sweet to see more animals. I've gotten so spoiled basically living in National Geographic!

After a long drive home, Ashley, Paige, Hannah, and Kaitlyn went out to eat and watched the Ghana game at our favorite hang out spot. So neat to hang with other Kenyas rooting for Africa!

Pictures to come! I havn't uploaded any from yesterday...

I interviewed Morgan, the ground leader of the Amani Internship, and she was perfect. She has explained Amani and our connection with beads and new life so much that her speech was flawless and will go great in the informational video.

So tired, long day tomorrow. We're traveling tomorrow! Ahhhh home is so soon!

Masi Mara, Kisumu, Nakuru

So, our internet over the past few days has been very limited to non-existent. But they have been an incredible past few days.

The safari was beyond amazing, to be up close and personal with lions, giraffes, elephants, zebras, antelopes, and cheetahs. There was one point where we were parked next to a lion and his lioness no more than 10 feet away. Then, another male lion came on the other side of our van and started roaring at the other lion. So we were waiting for a lion brawl when the lion with his GF started walking towards our jeep because he saw Ashley’s red flannel, which is similar to the Masi colors (and they kill lions sometimes so the lion was pissed). It was beyond epic and of course billion times cooler than Nat Geo.

We agreed we came away different, which you don’t really expect from a sweet safari. But I appreciate wildlife and its habitat so much more now. Of course I’ve always been an animal and nature lover, so it was pretty amazing to be in this giant park, virtually untouched by man where the wild creatures still roam. We were torn at the beginning as to how we felt about riding around in a jeep to awe at the animals and whip out our cameras every time we saw something move. But having experienced it and observing other tourists flock around the lion pair was kind of an honor. I felt blessed to be sharing such rare moments that usually can only be seen on TV, and that I could try and capture each animal’s beauty to share with others. I also got some really fun footage of the Mara (the huge park we safaried in) and the animals we saw, including the Great Wildebeest migration (which is supposedly one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World) there were Wildebeest for MILES and they all walk in one line and jump across rivers to get to Mara fields full of grass. So we sat and ate lunch and watched them run.

After safari we headed to the Kisumu home. It’s a huge home and include a special needs unit, unique from all the other homes. We played with the kids all day and started our Personality Reports on the kids. Paige and I were charged to take pictures the whole time, which we gladly did. There are 4 people staying in Kisumu for the next 2 weeks each attempting to write 3 reports for every 2 days, and scanning archives and files. I got some great footage of the kids and the home. They LOVE it when I turn around the camera screen and let them see themselves on film.

After 2 days, Paige, Hannah, Ashley, Kaitlyn, and I ventured to the Nakuru home. This is a beautiful home with so much space for the kids to run since they’re older. We hung out with them at school, which is on the same property, and played with them outside. I got some fantastic footage of the kids playing and singing! They love singing. 4 little boys were on a swing singing their little hearts out, everything from “I’m in the Lords army, yes Sir!” to “mary had a little lamb”. They were precious! One boy particularly loved the camera and gave a beautiful singing performance of “Jesus loves the little children”. This is absolutely going in the video.

The video. So I have soo much footage and it will be interesting to see how it all comes together. My hope is that the information and facts will be clear; such as how Amani and New Life are connected, the goals of each, interviews with the founders, and intern’s experiences. So I’ll certainly have my work cut out for me when I come home!

I can’t upload pictures at the moment because my computer died, so I’m on Ashley’s but hopefully by Friday.

It’s been an amazing past few days and I can’t believe its almost over.

I can’t wait to come home too ☺