Beginning to beginning

Howdy. Sorry I've been slow to write. Our days are super long. We don't get back our hotel rooms until about 10 pm. I've been so jet lagged that I could barely talk comprehensively at dinner last night, much less make a post after downloading images and archiving them.

Our Ugandan hosts love to talk about politics. It's embarrassing when from lack of sleep I'm talking about (and like) Bush - and I'm nodding... but not because I agree with everything being said.

I took a sleeping pill last night and finally slept well. I was a back to 100 percent today and full of energy.

We've been visiting some programs where Compassion International gives health classes, food, and medicine to the poorest of the poor mothers who are expecting or have children under three. Compassion starts connecting children with sponsors for schooling when the kids reach the age of 3 or 4.

In Uganda, 1 in 6 children die before the age of 5. In Uganda, 1 in 6 children die before the age of 5. Yes, that's the double take that happened in my mind. Did I hear that right? Holy cow. That's a statistic that you don't here on CNN.

The goals and success of these projects are to supply heath to the child before it is born by classes on vital nutrition education, mosquito nets, food, home nurse visits, medical attention, and encouragement. The prenatal care evolves into post partum care thru the age of 3.

When we visit the projects, beautiful singing and dancing greet us. There are always formal introductions... something very important to the Ugandan culture. We then break up into teams of about 6 and visit the different classes. Finally, the mothers tell us their stories. If you want to cry, come to Africa and listen to these stories. Unless you've experienced this in some capacity... you would not believe what I'm hearing. Snap. Poverty sucks. Where's the hope? Keep reading.

Compassion supports kids all the way through the university level. The other night we had dinner with about 10 graduates that had made it through. They were the most amazing beautiful young men and women! They were so eloquent. So full of joy and gratefulness for all the help they had received. Again, they told their stories... and I had to take pictures. How am I supposed to work when I can barely see because my eyes are full of tears? Again, I say SNAP! From the poorest of the poor, bare foot and naked in the slums- to the top of their class and looking "smart" in nice suits. They are the future of Uganda and Africa; and they are equiped to start a new life after university as educated and empowered individuals. Beginning to beginning.

Masai

This is the Masai church that we visited. Church here is very different than in America. After over two hours in church, with different aged choirs singing and dancing, and after about 10 different people getting up to speak, we left to go to the homes and visit the families of some of the sponsored children. I was exhausted and ready to go. That's when I learned that the church service was just starting! It's an all day affair. People walk for miles and miles to come from all over the area. Nobody came in cars but us.

Since all the many choirs of the church shared their music with the group, the group was asked to get up and share a song with them. I don't think anyone was expecting that! It was hard to get out two verses of "Amazing Grace." Here, music is a way of communication. It's social and educational. It's valued as a gift you can give. You should hear the beautiful harmonies. I'll try to find a way to post a recording.


This is my roommate Ken. He is looking down at his sponsored child. Though he has three boys of his own, his family supports several children around the world through Compassion.

This is typical of what Compassion calls a "home visit." Donors will travel across the world to meet the families of the children they support. This family visited their boy who lives in a tiny mud homestead called a manyatta with his grandmother. Because she is a widow, she has no social status and little value in their society. As a small example, the orphan boys were introduced to us first, because they are of higher social "value" than the grandmother.

Compassion's children are the poorest of the poor of the world. They are often orphans, like this boy. They are often the lowest in their social structure. I didn't realize this before this trip... the fact that someone cares enough support them financially helps them survive through the basic needs of shelter, food, and water - but it also gives them something else... the feeling of value. They are transformed from being neglected, isolated, and discarded to a person that is worth investing in. It's a concept that I take for granted.

I won't pretend to be an anthropologist, but I'll share a few interesting things I learned about the masai:
-I often saw masai with their two front teeth missing. I was told that when they get very malnurished and dehydrated, their jaws won't open. They knock out the front teeth to poor porriage in to save them. Often, the poorer masai have missing front teeth
-The masai culture revolves around cows. They believe that all the cows in the world were created for them. The number of cows a family owns determines social status
-FGM (female genital mutilation) is common. It is performed two days before marriage. FGM causes many infections and deaths.
-If a masai man wants to marry a masai girl, even as young as 9 years old, he plants a spear outside the family's door and it's done. Men can have several wives.


This is one of the race cars in the rally through the desert. We would se a cloud coming behind us and we would have to pull off the road. The road conditions were horible. We saw one car recently rolled and smashed in the rocks.


This is a Masai warrior. In the background are a few buildings in a compound being built by a Compassion sponsor. It will be a school for girls.

At age 13, a group of boys will be sent to live in the bush for 3 years. Mentor warriors will visit them and teach them how to hunt and survive. The boys create a very tight friendship and brotherhood. They will even share wives. The first to kill a lion becomes the leader of the pack.

Now we're rolling!

I’m writing on two hours of restless sleep after a long day, it's midnight, so this ain't nothin' deep.

Today we went to a remote part of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, a geological fault zone where the Masai live.

On the way to our destination, we were right in the middle of a mad cross-desert motor cross rally!

I don’t have much steam to recall all I learned today, but I’ll tell you that the culture is very colorful, interesting, and full of symbolism and tradition.

Even though western ideas and religion have entered the culture of the Masai, they hold on tight too much of their old school ways.

Our objectives today were:
-To visit a church with many Compassion children who are Masai
-To see the progress of a boarding school for girls that is being funded by compassion donor
-to visit some of the homes of Masai children who were sponsored by people on the trip

I think I did a good job documenting all of the above. I did not get a lot of free time to photograph Masai individuals with good lighting. I photo graphed two mothers and printed pictures for them as I was dashing to the car to go to the “home visits”

I feel honored to be here and to witness such a unique culture. The colors are so vibrant.

We were just leaving the Great Rift Valley as the sun set.

If I can get to it, I’ll post some pictures.

Made it!

Good news. I'm here. It's 4am and I just got settled in my hotel room. We didn't get in until 2:30am. I'm here, I'm safe... that's what really matters. Up at 6:30am.

"Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it."
My mom used to say that.
Words to live by.

My Airport Saga

I arrived in Amsterdam around 7:30 this morning. I slept most of the 9 hour flight thanks to a sleeping pill.

I went straight to the gate and got my boarding pass… I wasn’t going to chance missing this flight. However, the saga of delays continued throughout the day.

After sitting for a few hours at the gate, I joined the long line of 400 passengers to go through another set of x-ray machines and metal detectors. I got through and was feeling great about life. I sat for another hour, ready to board. At around 9:30, there was an announcement that there may be some delays… then an announcement that the flight was delayed until noon. Everyone had to exit the holding area. I went an got a grilled chicken salad at Micky-D’s.
I returned to the gate and waited another hour before joining the endless line again. Once through security, an announcement came that there was a mechanical issue with the engine. The pilot announced that there may be a needed part they could get from another plane that was going to land soon, or something like that. Oh, the drama. He said there may be a chance that they couldn’t fix the problem.

I can’t even compare myself to a refugee, but I think I may have touched the slightest tip of the iceburg. You could see the hunger in people’s eyes. The disappointment. There were no pay phones… no way to contact home or my people at Compassion. Because I didn’t know how long we would be there, I didn’t want to spend another $ on internet. I had already spent about $30 on communication attempts from Chicago. Besides, it was about 3 or 4am in Denver. What would I say? The lack of information was really frustrating. Rumors were spreading that the flight was canceled. Hope was dimming that I would get there.

I would have loved to have had the opportunity to talk to SOMEONE from home. My opportunity would soon come!

After another hour, vouchers were given for food and some sort of phone card. I left the holding area again with the exodus. I finally found a phone, but I couldn’t get the card to work for an international call.

I knew there was another flight out that day, so I went for a KLM counter on the other side of the terminal. After getting in front of an agent, I was informed there wasn’t the slightest chance getting on the next overbooked flight. I was feeling low again. The screen said the flight was delayed until 2:40pm.

I went for another phone. That’s when I heard a familiar voice call my name! There a few moments I’ve had when the world seemed incredibly small. This was one of them. One of my best friends ever, school mate, and former room mate, Mr. Brent Larson and his lovely wife, Lisa, were at the same counter!

(By the way, the day before I left, Christie, Olivia and I had a sonogram that told us that our New Year’s baby will most likely be a boy! Our first name choice is Brent, influenced by the gentle and compassionate Brent Larson that we love so much).

After hugs of disbelief, we took some pictures together and went for another McDonalds run. Seeing Brent and Lisa was just what I needed. A small touch of home and even a much needed hug. Wait ‘till Christie hears about this. Just writing this is choking me up.

To make a long story short, we didn’t get up on the runway until 4pm! There was another delay when certain passengers didn’t return to the plane and there baggage had to be found and removed for security reasons.

Anyhow, it’s almost 9pm in Kenya as I write this… We might land around midnight.

Oct. 19 My Airport Life

OK, I'm gladly moving on from yesterday's fiasco. I woke up this morning much refreshed and feeling chipper. I was the first in line for a boarding pass. Now I'm now at the gate adjusting to what some call "Africa-Time." Hurry up and wait.

I'm so happy to have my ipod. Good music can make any environment enjoyable. My favorites of the morning were Sufjian Stevens, Best Boy Electric, and Coldplay. Music makes for an interesting soundtrack for life.

I'm looking out the window at the luggage carts winding around the tarmac like little slow motion trains. They look fun to drive. I wonder what variables in my life would have placed me out there as the guy I'm watching. "Fun" as it looks, I'm glad to be on this side of the glass about to fulfill a lifetime dream.

I grew up, like so many photographers, pouring over the pages of images from Africa in National Geographic Magazine. Among my favorites were pictures of the Masai. I'm sure most photographers can relate to the envious thoughts... "I'd love to photograph someone so colorful and beautiful as that!" Though short, one leg of this trip is to visit a village of the Masai. I'm so excited!

I'll fill more details about my trip as I go... I don't know much about my assignment. But that's the way most of my magazine work is. I rarely get to read the story before I go to a location to try to get an image or images that support the spread. Part of me likes the challenge.

My "boss" from this trip, Laura has been traveling internationally and we have yet to really talk about what I'm to shoot. I first met Laura in Guatemala when I was shooting for Healing Waters, a rock star water purification non-profit that I fully endorse.

http://www.healingwatersintl.org/flash.html

Laura's husband was an art director that hired my friend and mentor, Stewart Cohen, for several American Airlines ads when I was his first assistant over 10 years ago. Small world. She said they have one of his prints from India on their wall.

From what I do know, I'm shooting marketing images for Compassion International, a Christian nonprofit that supports children all over the world. In fact, I grew up with pictures of kids my parents supported on my refrigerator. I specifically remember a picture of a guy in Romania. In the picture, he's wearing one of my old sweaters that we sent him for Christmas. My mom told me last week that our family has been supporting Compassion children for 25 years.

Anyhow, like the guy out there on the tarmac driving his little train, I've got a destination to get to. I'll tell you what I see when I get there.

Oct. 18, A "Not so Fresh" Start

OK folks, I hope this will be my only negative post.

The bad news is that I missed my flight from Chicago to Amsterdam. It's a long story, but know that I did my best.

I'm not one to look for the Devil in the details, but it sure seems that he doesn't want me to get there. I've faced obsticals at every turn:
- hours in bumper to bumber traffic on the way to the airport
-extra long lines at the counters and security
-a medical emergency on my flight that caused us to return to the gate to let a sick flight attendant off the plane
-a three hour delay at the gate
-a plane mechanical problem...
-we even had to refuel on the tarmac because it had taken so long to get going.

I finally arrived in Chigago at 3:50 for a 4:20 flight to Amsterdam. I ran - no, I SPRINTED accross the airport with a hundred pounds of camera gear on my shoulders... probably faster than anyone has ever made the trip... I got to the international terminal and KLM ticket counter by 4:10, but they had already closed the doors and wouldn't let me on. So close, but no go. I would have had to go through another winding, snaking line to get through security before getting to my gate.

Do you ever get those moments when you feel like you've just ran straight into a brick wall?

I spent the next 5 hours trying to get on other flights, with no luck. I went back and forth between 3 terminals more times than I can count.

The worst part is I made another mistake. Ieft my cell phone at home. At $4 a minute for calls to and from Africa, I decided I would rely on email to keep in touch. I also didn't want to loose my new iphone. Who knows, if I had my phone, could I have called and talked to a competant customer service person who could have helped me get on a flight? Lesson learned.

Instead, I stood in line for hours until I finally got to the counter to talk to people who acted like it was their first day trying to figure out how to problem solve. Of course, when you are the victim of a missed flight, it always seems like the world is working against you.

Lesson learned... never leave your phone behind.

I'll trying to stay positive from here on out. The good news is United put me up for the night and I am arriving in Nairobi only a day late.

Heres are the details of my revised itinerary:

Friday, Oct. 19 KLM Flight 612 From Chicago O Hare to Amsterdam - Departing 4:20pm and Arriving in Amsterdam 7:15am

Sat., Oct. 20 KLM Flight 200 from Amsterdam to Nairobi - Departing 10:15am and Arriving in Nairobi at 7:10pm.

I'll promise to be upbeat from now on.
Pray my packed bag- tripod, chargers, clothes, stand, etc. make it.