Kirsten's Updates about the H.C.C. in Kenya

I have had the tremendous pleasure of receiving the cards for the HCC orphans as they have been coming in....and WOW, what an amazing array of love, talent and creativity!! It moves me to tears and when I receive a new batch in the mail or as they are dropped by my office, I am just floored with the way people have dug deep within themselves to share their hearts with children half way around the world. Some cards(see photos) are the work of professional artists who have made each child's card an art piece that should be hung in a gallery called "Art for Orphans". The whimsy of Joyce's pieces (lower left) makes me smile and her messages are especially lyrical and meaningful. The colored portion of each of her cards comes out on a little fob and turns into a book mark or a bracelet! The detail level of the pen and ink lions of Kelly's cards (upper left) and her watercolor/collages are just astonishing! My only wish is that I could buy some of her pieces and hang them in my home! Each child has their own "logo", too, that Kelly has made for them! The beauty of Bede's flowers (upper right) and how she has carefully incorporated the names of each orphan in her design is so very lovely. Her paper backgrounds are exquisite, too.

But there are other cards, not from professional artists, that are equally wonderful, whimsical and so very dear. I particularly love the ones that children have drawn. And their grandmother talked to me about the conversations they have had as they have drawn and how that this project has been educational and instructive besides being fun. Their dialogues as they have made the cards have been richly rewarding and I am hearing that people seem genuinely moved by the process they have gone through in making their cards for their list of names.

The great gift to me is that I get to SEE all the cards and I also get to SEE all of the HCC orphans' faces as they receive the card made just for them. In the end over 35 people from 5 States have been involved with this project. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! YOU ROCK!!!

Tomorrow is our big fundraiser/rummage sale/bake sale/art for kids day and we are excited although we know it will be HOT! Coley has so generously opened her heart, her lawn and garden and her closet and cupboards to us. Coley has led this event from the start and she has been super enthusiastic and organized. I am really grateful to her for taking it on, despite the heat. So we are starting at 8 AM and we are armed with our squirt bottles and our sense of humor. I know it will be fun, and it may be hot, but that's part of being in Africa, too...