“A Sense of Community”

The initial estimate for the trip was $2700 a piece. Dave Bell worked hard to find reasonable flights to Kenya to stick within that budget. Unfortunately, airfare came in close to an additional thousand dollars per person. The total for both Val and I came to $7520, which Life Promotions needed by June 29, 2006, a month before we left.

I feel so blessed that I know so many kind and caring people who were able to make contributions of any size. All of the physicians I work with gave generous donations. Most surprising of all was that my employer, Ministry Health Care, matched donations from other Ministry employees up to $1000. It all added up.

In addition to the wonderful monetary gifts, individuals and businesses in Tomahawk came forward with much needed supplies for us to deliver to the needy in Kenya. I hate to list names here, because there are so many and I hate to forget anyone, but the contributions ranged from children’s vitamins, band-aids, other medical supplies to school supplies and seeds. The seeds, which of course you are not supposed to carry into the country, are a story all their own which I will cover when I get to that part of the trip.

As the donations and supplies continued to come in, the pressure started building. Not that we wouldn’t have the money we needed when the time came, but that I would let all these people down. And more importantly, that I would let down the people in Kenya.