5Crawfords

"The Heist" Wednesday morning started out normally enough. I woke up early to shave before breakfast. Afterwards, I typed out my blog journal for the previous day. Since I wanted to finish what I was writing, I was late for breakfast at 7:37am. I left my computer on my bed since I didn’t want to wait for it to shut down. I also left my backpack next to it without thinking – usually I load my computer in the backpack and carry it with me everywhere on a project trip. It’s annoying to lug around a heavy laptop everywhere, but I’m always paranoid about it being stolen. I remember pausing as I closed and locked the door, looking at my computer on my bed and wondering if I should wait for it to shutdown, and then deciding that I wouldn’t be obsessive compulsive this once. The Jumuia Guesthouse in Nakuru. A very nice and comfortable place...but security could apparently be better! Our room was on the back side of this building on the second floor. This picture was taken from out fr...

My most recent project trip was to Nakuru, Kenya to help design a new orphanage project for a ministry called Miracle House. Miracle House was started by Deanna Bjork and her husband Dan (from Breckinridge, Colorado) in response to the huge need for orphan care found in the slums in Kenya. About 5 years ago, God spoke to Deanna's heart the message, "How about an orphanage here?" Though she had been on many missions trips before with other organizations, she had never entertained the idea of starting her own orphanage. A message she heard early on in the process remains at the heart of their ministry. She was told by someone to “not be motivated by the needs of the people, but be motivated by the heart of God.” That really resonated with me, as I realized that that statement is the reason eMi exists as well, and it’s an important distinction to make and remain cognizant of. Miracle House (MH) began with a day-only care house in Limiru (just outside of Nairobi) where childr...

A giraffe in Masai Mara. Giraffes are one of the most fun to watch since they are so tall and graceful. This was my favorite picture I took on safari. I'm a terrible photographer, but out of a couple hundered I'm bound to get one right...though the experts would probably scoff at this! We've enjoyed the last days of summer in a big way. Alisha's parents took us on an amazing vacation to Kenya the last week of July and first week in August! It was such a treat to get away and enjoy some of the magnificient creation in this part of the world. When we first joined EMI the CEO recommended that we get out of Uganda every 6 months to help us keep our sanity. Well, that may not always be possible, but after returning from this incredible trip we can definitely see how it was good for our mental well-being and a great chance to be refreshed for the coming semester. First, we got to see all kinds of animals in the Masai Mara on a safari for a few days. The Masai Mara is the...

Yesterday, Alisha's dad and I drove two hours north of Kampala to revisit the site of my Fall 2008 project trip for SOS Ministries. After designing a bible training center, primary school and secondary school for SOS, they are now ready to move forward with building. Before they arrived last week, Alisha's dad had said he would love to be involved on some kind of eMi project while he was here. So, I kept that in the back of my mind, and when Shannon with SOS Ministries called me a couple of weeks ago I thought it could be fun. And it turns out, I was right! The survey crew - which included these 5 local guys who followed us around and chopped down whatever was in our line of sight. They all work for SOS. We both very much enjoyed their presence throughout the day and were very appreciative of their help. Just setting out to search for the existing control points, armed with a machette, a metal detector and a map. We left our house at 6am, arriving on site around 8am. Over the ...

Alisha's parents arrived for a month-long visit this past Friday morning! So far so good on jet lag for them so that's been great. We are really enjoying having them here, though it reminds us of how much we miss our family and friends back home. On Sunday, we went to visit their sponsor child Hassan, whose family lives about 5 miles from our house. They sponsor him through Africa Renewal Ministries (eMi has designed multiple projects for them - the bible college, the primary school). We had visited him last summer when they were here, so they wanted to be sure to visit him again. This is a photo collage of the morning we spent driving to nearby Ggaba village to meet with Hassan. It was a special treat for them to spend time with Hassan - what percentage of people ever get to meet their sponsor child?! The Berry's with their sponsor child Hassan (middle, blue shirt), Hassan's older brother Moses (far right) and his younger sister Shifa. The boys with Hassan's sibli...