Let me just share some really exciting news!!!!! After only 11 days, we, as in you out there, managed to raise over $5,000 for our airline tickets to the USA!!! I have BOOKED our trip and bought the tickets for Makena, Starlette, and me to travel October 8th!
It has been ELEVEN long years of being in Kenya without leaving. We moved to Kenya 13 years ago, and the only time we visited the USA was in 2007 in order to raise money to start our orphan care project... And well, we did that, now didn't we?
We have been and still are mom and dad to 9 adopted girls and 6 biological kiddos... They are growing up. Our dynamic is changing and that brings me to this question...
Have you ever wondered why we haven't left Kenya to visit our families in over 11 years? Many of you may have filled in the blanks as to why, but let me start by saying... we stayed put in Kenya without traveling because having 15 children altogether was impossible to even think about making a family trip... Not only would our Kenyan daughters not be allowed to get visas to go to the USA, it would cost a fortune to travel, and it would be hectic...
Even more reason we stayed in Kenya is because nine of our daughters experienced major trauma in their lives. They came to our home, most as preteens, with a lot of pain. Their stories and histories are hard to even repeat let alone live through. Some saw their mothers killed by men. Others watched them fade away due to AIDS related problems. Many were abandoned by their mothers who were still living! The trauma from being abandoned, being orphaned, being passed from person to person, and ultimately 'dumped' on us because no one else would care for them was too real and too deep for us to even consider leaving them even for a few weeks. We WANTED them. We loved them, and we had to prove it to them. We needed them to feel safe and cared for. We wanted our love to heal all of the broken places, and we started the foundation for this by making sure they had consistency in their lives; so it was our decision to not leave the country.
We felt that they might not understand if 'mommy and daddy and the bio kids' decided to go out of the country for a while. The fears of 'what if they don't come back?' or 'what if they abandon us?' were far too real in our adopted daughters' minds to even consider a visit to the USA. It just didn't seem right. So for eleven years, we didn't even think of going anywhere, no matter how home sick or how many holidays we missed... No matter how curious our bio-kids were about their cousins or family, we stayed put. Ultimately, my bio kids stopped remembering life as it was.... New traditions were made, new bio babies were born, new orphans added to our family, a new norm was made, and my kids became 'Kenyans.'
Many times, I felt as if I sacrificed my own family in order to be mom to children who had no caring family of their own. Time with my biological children was divided by the needs of 15. Grandparents, cousins, friends from the States were never a physical part of my children's lives apart from video calls and care packages, and those were only when we had internet and could pay the fees at the post office. It has been a rewarding and yet difficult eleven years...
But now, all but one of our adopted children are over 18 and considered grown up. Edith is 15, and she has been most grafted into our family. As the three of us make this trip this October, she will stay home with Eowyn, Emma, and Butterfly, and her dad Johnny. She will be fine if I am away, but will I? I will miss them all so terribly!
This trip is needed now because, like our last trip 11 years ago, we are starting something new. We are changing and growing, expanding into a therapy center for disabled children, children with learning struggles, and children with emotional issues. I look forward to hugging my family, meeting my niece and showing Makena England and the USA... I also look forward to sharing in person the reasons for our more recent focus.
We need to fund raise, and I hope to be unconventional about it. I think we should make this as FUN as possible because, I don't like asking you for money. If you have ideas, please share them with me. My goals are high as we need to do a lot to make our program more accessible to the children in need. So if you want to host a dinner party or luncheon, let me know! I will provide some items for raffling as well as information cards. I can speak, or not... Whatever works!
We will be in SE Texas from October 13-23rd, then hopefully off to California after that... and then the details I am still sorting out!
We have met our fundraising goal to get to Texas!! If you would like to help us travel across the USA, feel free to continue donating to our Gofundme page! Thank you!
Recent Comments