we're still here...

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas, and wish you a Happy New Year. We can't believe 2011 is less than a week away. This year has been hectic for us. Besides traveling to Canada, Mexico, Thailand and Kenya, Phil quit his job at DC earlier this year and we moved in with his family in Seattle, which has actually been wonderful. I graduated college with an associates degree in May (which only took 5 years), and we've both taken turns with health crisis. We learned a lot about women's rights, and the injustices that oppress women throughout the world. We've shared about domestic minor sex trafficking, and our journey of learning how to help trafficked and prostituted children here in the United States. Until Then, our non profit organization, is expanding and developing in more ways than we ever dreamed it could.

The hardest thing about working with street kids is having to understand the different realities they face, from homelessness to abuse and prostitution and and and... but to still have hope that life can change and that rehabilitation and reintegration into society is attainable.

In 2011 we want to learn more about hope. We're ending this year exhausted, emotionally overwhelmed and drained of just about everything. The world is dark and evil and takes everything it can from us. We sometimes see light, and I have my faith, but to be honest we're just mopey.

Below are three videos Phil did while we were in Kenya, and watching them is a reminder of the good that sometimes breaks through the bad. The first two are videos for Mattaw Children's Village. The last is a music video for our friend Sammy, you might reckognize him from Phil's documentary Glue Boys.

If you have some cash you need to get rid of in the next 4 days, Until Then will gladly take it off your hands and invest it for good. 100% of all donations are tax deductible and go directly to helping children around the world. 

Thank you for reading, we appreciate your support. 

Hurting for the oppressed, 

Dalene

New blog on Until Then

I just posted a new blog on Until Then about our trip...

Until Then Blog


Phil

For Hendri

 This past month in Kenya has been wonderfully exhausting. We have less than a week remaining before we board our flight for the long journey "home", and we've decided not to think that far ahead. Water: that's what is on our minds and consuming the majority* of our thoughts.

We've both been sick and sickness has hit our team pretty hard. Most of the sickness is from contaminated food and water, which motivates us even more to find water. We've got to find clean water and provide for the community here in Dago.

One thing I've learned about myself while being here is something that I had to painfully re-learn, and that is that writing is therapeutic for me, specifically this blog. So bear with me as I share yet another heartache with you.

My family has suffered a tragic loss, a loss that effects the world and runs deep in an ironic way with our quest to provide clean drinking water. My beloved cousin, the great whitewater explorer Hendri Coetzee, got in a fight with a crocodile and the blasted croc won. He was leading an expedition for Eddie Bauer where they were documenting the unexplored whitewater of Central and East Africa, focusing on the need for clean water. CNN has a report on it linked with the Eddie Bauer team blog if you'd like to read more. MSNBC also has a beautiful write up. He created a blog a couple months ago, and is a truly gifted and entertaining writer. I wish there was more to read, but please follow this link to read of his adventures.

The shock is still fresh and I find myself sitting with deep heartache and overwhelmed with emotion. The Lord is trying to teach me something, but I don't know if its getting through yet. I loved my cousin so much, and admired him even more. He always encouraged me to explore my curiosities and challenged me to get uncomfortable with the world in hopes of learning more. We last shared a hug in 2006, though our lives continued to cross paths just the same. Though South African, he lived mostly in Uganda on the Nile, where he worked as a river guide and on Mondays would take street kids out rafting. He was a passionate man, and completely devote to whatever adventure was unfolding before him. Next year we were supposed to meet up and change the world together, and he had wild ideas for Phil to film in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a dream for both of them. Hendri was in the DRC when he met the crocodile that took his life. I hope to go there one day and provide clean drinking water for the people he fell in love with.

Only a month ago I was completely ignorant to the crisis of water. I still know little about water, but I have experienced the devastation a lack of it can cause. If you come to Dago you will see power lines and a cell phone tower, but will have to drive several kilometers for clean drinking water, and even then you'll still probably get sick from consuming it. More people have cell phones here than clean water. This is Africa. We're about 80 feet down and have yet to find water, but we know it's there. We have until Tuesday. Pray for water.

We're going to finish this well for Hendri.

 

ever determined, 

Dalene

Some Pictures from this week

A few pictures from this week- sorry we haven't updated sooner- been busy looking for water.  We will do an update blog asap- lots happening.

 

Russ Qualls- working the drill

The scene around the drill

 

Mr Tim Loza

Scout Master Russ Qualls- doing his best impression of McGyver

 

Isaiah "Chapter 1" (as Sammy calls him) getting the contact info for some local cuties (this one is for his mom, Lisa)

 

FreeWaters cofounder Eli Marmar- getting dirty

The Joys of Poop.

I originally planned to title this post "Well Shit". I was exhausted and annoyed by the buzzing of mosquitoes hovering around my hospital bed and it seemed like a fitting title for the post I had written in my head; 48 hours of consistent diarrhea would make anyone shrug in a "well, shit" kind of way. Phil was in the hospital bed next to me, exhausted and also suffering food poisoning and being treated for malaria (just in case). The diarrhea continues but I'm out of the hospital, probably should have stayed longer but I wanted a toilet that I don't have to pour water into to flush and don't have to carry my own toilet paper and hope the sink has running water to scrub my hands. My mom always says to just wash wash wash your hands. Sometimes that's easier said than done, especially in this part of the world.

I'm suffering from moderate typhoid, which is a water borne disease, along with food poisoning and a bacterial infection. The antibiotics are strong but all I really want to do is eat. I envisioned the Santa Ynez Valley was in my hospital room, with all the comforts of delicious cuisine teasing my taste buds and the beautiful countryside sending a sweet breeze my way. I'm certain I asked Phil to bring me a 'barking bulldog' from the Bulldog Cafe in Solvang, and sitting here in bed now I'm craving anything from Mattie's Tavern in home sweet home of Los Olivos. Comfort is something that has been stretched for me this week. I've been sick away from home before so thankfully I'm okay where we are staying, but I don't think I've ever experienced such discomfort in my life. My body is hating me right now, and it's just not comfortable.

If you've been following our blog then you know we are also here in Kenya working on a water project. The team all arrived today, and they're on their way to Kisumu. We'll leave Kitale and meet them there in a couple of hours. Phil and I aren't familiar with Kisumu, and are even less familiar with water, but let me tell you, we are more motivated than ever to find water there. Typhoid, one of the diseases infecting my intestines today and causing so much poop, is from contaminated water. We've been drinking bottled water, washing our fruits and veggies with 'veggie clean' and filtered water, and yet I still got typhoid. When I went to the clinic to get tested, there were about 30 other people who were also sick. If you remember the post about Peter, we helped him get medicine for typhoid and malaria. Basically what I have is very common here. More common than the cold in the States, or allergies. If there was clean water, then this wouldn't be a problem!

Our hope is to drill as many wells as possible using a simplistic technology, where each well will cost roughly $1200... that's it. We're partnering with a drilling company that has been doing the $50,000+ wells and they're not sure what to think of our 'cave man' system. The problem is that the people who need water the most are the people who don't have thousands of dollars to get water. They walk to the nearest water source, which is usually where livestock also go for water, and 99% of the time get infectious diseases from it, such as typhoid. This is where Freewaters come in. They are a shoe company based out of California, and I am so in love with them right now. For ever shoe purchased, they are going to provide clean water for one person for one year. They are footing the bill. What you can do is buy their shoes. Unfortunately you can't do that until February when the company officially launches, but you're going to want these shoes. They specialize in sandals, and I've been a "rainbow" girl, but I'm leaving those behind and will be rocking my Freewaters for the rest of my life. I have a sample pair and they've held up beautifully here in Kenya.

If you can't wait until February to be a part of this water project and want to donate a well, you can contribute through the 'donate' button on the top right of this blog, or go to www.UntilThen.org and contribute on the homepage.

By providing clean drinking water in villages, we are helping to prevent children going to the streets.

Feeling empowered,

Dalene