The Adventure begins....

Most of you know or have at least heard that I ‘ve headed to Africa thanks to a wonderful opportunity through my employer, Eli Lilly.  Several folks have asked me to keep them informed of the details and highlights of the trip so rather than trying to send out updates via email I’ve been persuaded to set up this blog.  To that end, I’ll post my one disclaimer here –

Those of you who know me well, also know that I usually have plenty to say.  You’ll soon find out that I type much like I speak….which is often times a rambling stream of consciousness.  So enter/re-enter the remainder of this blog and any future posts at your own risk....I apologize up front for any confusion or frustration you might experience as you try to follow along!

Now for the travel adventure.....

I left home 26 hours ago and arrived in Nairobi about 2 hours ago.  We (me and 5 other colleagues from Lilly) flew from Indy to Washington, Dulles - then on to London, Heathrow and finally to Nairobi.  The flight from Dulles to Heathrow looked to be a bit exciting as the two seats next to me were occupied by 3 people...a mother and her two children.  The little boy was just under 2 years old and his sister was 6.  The little guy actually bit his mother in the leg and drew blood through her sweat pants before we even took off!  After take-off he went after his sister but she whacked him upside the head before he could really chomp down on her arm.  Before he made his way over to me, Mom got his food out of her bag and he gobbled it up.  Thankfully, after that he actually fell asleep and the rest of the flight was uneventful. 

Our connections in Heathrow went fine even though we had to get from T1 to T4.  The flight to Nairobi was smooth, all our luggage arrived and we all cleared customs and got our visas without a problem.  We even landed an hour early so I'm already settled into the hotel.  Which is good because we have to be back at it at 6:30 tomorrow morning in order to fly from Nairobi to Eldoret.

We will be in Eldoret to visit the IU-Kenya partnership with the AMPATH organization to see how Lilly might be able to further support some of them in their development.  If you're interested in learning more about the program which is focused on getting treatment for AIDS and other chronic diseases to the people in the region, you can check out this web site:
http://www.iukenya.org/

I'm sure our eyes will be opened and our hearts will be tugged on by the people we are about to meet in the days ahead.  Hopefully I'll have internet access and be able to give you some updates and maybe even some pictures.

We will be in Eldoret for 5 days and then our gracious hosts have arranged for a short safari side-trip to the Masai Mara game preserve....I can't even begin to imagine what's in store for us there but I will update you once we get back to civilization after that part of the trip.

Finally, the rest of the team will be heading home next Sunday.  However, I have a wonderful opportunity to visit NEGST, which is one of the global missions outreaches supported by our church.  I can't wait to see and meet some of the people that are part of this very successful Doctorate of Theology program in East Africa.  If you want to know more about NEGST, here is a web-site you can check out....
http://www.negst.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=151:negst-mission-purpose-and-goals&catid=55:negst&Itemid=189 

And just in case you want to get a better idea of where I’m at…here’s a link to an interactive map of Kenya  http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/kenya-map/

I’ll do what I can to get updates posted when I have a chance to connect to the internet.  In the meantime, for those prayer warriors out there, I know myself and the entire team would appreciate your prayers for a safe and successful journey!  So far, so good!