Day 3 - Istanbul: Across the Bosphorus to Asia via ferry

Day 2 - Istanbul: the Blue Mosque, Chora Byzantine Church, the Grand Bazaar and Hagia Sophia

Istanbul, Turkey Day 1 - the Bosphorus, Istanbul Marathon, Turkish Delight, Juice Bar

Project Mercy - Yetebon, Ethiopia

The road from Addis Ababa to Yetebon, Ethiopia

The Stone Churches at Lalibella, Ethiopia

Touring Utexrwa - largest textile factory in Rwanda

BUSTED!! Look who I found coming out of Tom's kitchen with banana on his beak...Frazier!!

Maddy receives a gift from a new friend. Joy Ndungutse employs over 4,000 women to create jewelry and baskets for the U. S. market

Bridge 2 Rwanda Scholars Program - met with these intelligent and beautiful girls for Q And A about Biblical Womanhood

Musanze, Rwanda - a two hour drive north of Kigali

Sorwathe Tea Company, one hour north of Kigali, Rwanda - tea growing and processing

Kigali, Rwanda - Rwanda Trading Co. - coffee processing and distribution

Graduation Service at Restore International near Gulu, Uganda

A New Heroine...Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe

Sister Rosemary is well-known throughout Uganda for her school that trains girls who are war victims. "Most of the girls arrive with little or no confidence," she told us. But after they go through one of her training programs, which include tailoring and hospitality, she sees a dramatic change in their confidence. No one fails a class or a program. They keep taking the class until they pass. They can remain at the school until they feel ready to be incorporated into society and are able to use their new skills to generate income. 

On the side, Sister Rosemary is a blossoming entrepreneur. On a visit to Hawaii, she purchased a purse that was constructed of pop can tops. She brought it home and reverse engineered the purse, teaching herself and then "her" girls how to create them. The sister sported one of her purses on a recent trip to New York and sold it off her body to someone who asked her where she got it.

War victims learning tailoring skills

Modeling Sister Rosemary's purses that are made from pop tops and are sold in U.S. markets

"Sewing Hope:" A documentary featuring Sister Rosemary is in post-production, featuring Forrest Whittaker as the narrator

Maddy's new "Sister..."

A student explaining pattern-making

Murchinson Falls National Park, Uganda

New Hope, Uganda

We are learning that in Uganda, a one-and-a-half hour drive can equal three hours when one is headed to a rural area. We traveled north from the capital city of Kampala to visit an organization that was founded in the late 1980's called, "New Hope." En route, we traveled along deeply rutted dirt roads to reach our destination. New Hope encompasses an orphanage, a school, a medical clinic and an enterprise farm. We were hosted by "Aunt Constance," who shared her extra bedrooms with us. A highlight was having dinner with Jonas, one of the organization's founders and visionaries. He told us about his dream for a teacher training school, among other ideas.

Kampala, Uganda - Serendipitous meeting with a U.S. friend at Endira Coffee

A full day in Dubai...

Departing for Dubai, UAE - Maddy, Michelle, Craig, James