It's official I'm making my way back to Africa!! While in Africa I enjoyed my placement of the hospital and clinic but as most of you know fell in love with a community of children and families including Matumaini orphanage.

Matumaini means "hope" in Swahili and is an orphanage/foster home/family rehabilitation center. It opened in October of 2006 by a few community members who recognized the large need for some support. The orphanage is a three roomed house with very limited resources but is full of smiling children with very large hearts. There are 18 children that live there, some of which may have one parent who is unable to care for them and some have no parents.

I will be returning December 13th for about a 6 month stay. I will be living in the community and attempting to be self-sufficient. My plans are to still volunteer as a nurse during the day while the kids are at school but then all my spare time will be spent at the orphanage. One of my goals is to learn the art of grant writing and try and get some funding for our projects.

I want to thank everyone who supported my first trip, everything I was able to do for those children was a product of your generosity and support. You helped better the lives of 34 children and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.