And now for something completely different...

My two years of TIMO are finished.
Two years of learning.
Two years of enjoying many new things.
Two years that will be building blocks for the rest of my life.
When I started I thought two years was too long, but I am now feeling that it is too short!
In a few days I will be on my way home to Canada... which will be a bit different from what my life has been in Northern Kenya. I think the first thing I will do when I get to the airport is find the nearest Tim Hortons!!!
This is the end of this blog for now. Thank you for sharing this experience with me through the lense of a well used camera.
Our 'family' in Kalacha will always be dear to me...
Our team are now my lifelong friends...
But now that we are through with TIMO we will be going our separate ways, on paths that God has prepared for us.

Tanzania

I caught a ride to Tanzania to meet the rest of the team (minus Barbara who had to go home a bit early because her dad is sick) for our debrief. We stayed just out side of Arusha and it, like every other place I have seen, was beautiful. Before starting our meetings, we had a fun day to go and see some animals, something that I don't think I will ever tire of!


Baby giraffes...
And baby zebra!

Kieran, Enock, Ezra, Kaedon and Kyle.


Picnic in the park, I love watching giraffe and water buck from the picnic table!


Before we went back, we stopped by the snake park!


Kev! I could bring one home for you! One kind actually vibrates when you touch them.


Meal times with the team and the TIMO staff.

We went for tea at this neat lodge that had their own private game park where the animals were very tame.
Not so cute and not so cuddly.


They had this eland that loved to be scratched.
I am convinced these things would be fun to ride.

The Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho

During TIMO we all get the opportunity to do a month at another ministry location, it is a time to observe and learn from different people. I got to go to Lesotho and meet several of the wonderful missionaries in that beautiful little country. I had such an amazing time... I think everyone should go to visit Lesotho!

I had a very brief stop in Nairobi where Kevin and I got to meet up with Hanna and Chantel!!!
After a few flights and some driving I ended up at the Basson's beautiful house. Their ministry has to do with conservation agriculture.
I was helping them train their cute little Basotho ponies to pull a planter. Clever little ponies and tough to!
Anne (Basson's daughter) and I tried our best to go riding everyday!
Soil erosion is a huge problem in Lesotho, and that is the reason for the agricultural training center near Basson's place, they are working at training the local people how to farm in such a way as to keep the topsoil on the mountain sides. Easier said than done.

I then got to drive across the country (which doesn't take very long because they have nice roads and it's a small country!) to Mohotlong.
On the way we drove over the higher mountain ranges where no one lives, except the herd boys who are there to graze the animals. Beautiful country!

I then spent one week with a local lady in a small village that I forget the name of. This is my little herd boy friend who was taking care of her horse, so I got to spend some time with him. He didn't know any English and I didn't know any Sesotho, so we smiled and did charades a lot.
Here he is showing me how to play his musical instrument.
Mematankiso, the very wonderful lady that I stayed with, is helping the neighbor kids sing a song for me. She has one grown son, but you would think she was the mother of a dozen because of the number of kids that stay, visit, hang around, eat and sleep at her house!
My herd boy friend and my hosts' nephew, Paballo. Paballo is in school so he knows english, and he was a very helpful translator as well as friend for me!
In the mornings the three of us would take the horses up the mountain for grazing on the top... beautiful!
Mematankiso had a young horse that hadn't been ridden yet, so in the week I was there I did a little work to get her ready to be a gentle means of transport for Mematankiso. What a clever and sweet little horse!
While training the little horse I got to ride around the mountains and have some fun!

Peeling, or eating, peaches. I have never eaten peaches off the tree before! I got to have as many as I liked every day!

On our way to visit the Barrys (other AIM missionaries), who live only half hour down the mountain.


To start with, the herd boys were afraid of the young horse, but by the end of the week they were riding her! She looks much bigger with him on!
Enjoying the afternoon.


Fiona, who came to help the Barrys with homeschooling their boys, and I enjoyed our last ride before we had to fly out.
Mematankiso- a wonderful, godly, generous lady.
She runs the schools for the herd boys so that they can learn to read and write and do simple math. She also does many other things for many other people, she really is an amazing lady.
Women don't normally ride, but her father taught her when she was young and now she uses horses to get to all of the different schools that she has helped to set up.
These are some of the herd boys from her village. They are at variou stages as they work through the literacy books.
They either meet on weekends when the school kids can care for the animals, or in the evenings.

MOM, shiney rocks everywhere! Every walk or ride that I did, I came home with rocks in my pockets!
Some of my neighbors, weaving a hat while they watch the sheep.
Bean harvest time.

After the donkeys brought the beans up from the field I got to help take the donkeys back to their home. Riding donkeys is a very different experience, I think I want one when I get home!
Cow dung being dried so it can be saved to mud the walls of the huts.
One month went by like a flash, and now I am in Tanzania.