Hello all, this is Cali.  I am, along with the rest of the team, sitting in Heathrow airport on our layover, and if my       calculations are right (no guarantees – I’ve been awake for too long), we will be landing in Chicago …ok I can’t calculate it but I heard it’s around 2 PM Central time. 

I thought I would add just a few additional stories to everyone else’s wonderful thoughts. One of the things I have most appreciated about this trip (in addition to what everyone else has already highlighted) is the incredible group of people with whom I have been traveling.  This was particularly evident during our debrief time on Monday, while taking time to encourage one another.   I’ve also never heard so much laughter after so many hours on a bus, just as fervent our last day in Kenya as our first.

Another thing I have been struck by is the standard of hospitality, everywhere we go.  I don’t know about you, but cooking every meal plus tea time for our combined team of 30 ish is not something I could do.  Especially when you consider that the vast majority of that cooking is over a fire.  Truly, the entire community welcomed us everywhere we went.  Incredibly humbling and I have eaten SO MUCH FOOD.  Even my husband Tyler, whose appetite is never-ending – was filled by these meals.  I’m sure we do not even know half of the preparations that went into these camps, from food prep to patient recruitment to staff and supplies… and all we did was show up. Wow.

-Cali