Touchdown!

Wednesday June 29

Tuesday kinda merged into Wednesday what with the all-night flight, it kinda snuck up on us. I think some folks got a few hours of shut-eye, but no one seemed too terribly refreshed this morning when we finally arrived in Addis Ababa.

That airport was rather entertaining. Such an organized operation. Not! Lines going this way and that, some folks were told to go back out of the secure area for unknown reasons, and then there was the line to board the buses taking us out to the next plane on the tarmac. At that point in our mixed-up day/night exhausted/awake out-of-body experience, all we could do was laugh. Would've been good on video. I think Elizabeth got a bit of it documented for posterity.

Then the last flight, which made a pit stop in Nairobi, and then finally we were flying into Burundi! Immigrations, luggage, customs, and then we got to meet our welcome wagon, Jean Bosco and Bernard's cousin, who chauffeured us back to our motel, the Kings Conference Centre. We got to see a bit of the Bujumbura cityscape on the way in (will try to attach photos). I think we're maybe meeting up for dinner late on, but after that we'll certainly be crashing, hard, so while still conscious I'll wrap this up for today.

Tomorrow – Bujumbura!

Wing and a Prayer

Tuesday June 28

Big travel day for us. I went for a six mile run this morning from the motel, and then met everyone downstairs for breakfast and the shuttle to the airport. Everyone seemed excited. Including our fearless leader Michael Madison (in his own calm, unflappable way). By 11:30 we'd worked our way through check-in, security, and boarding,and took off around 12:30 Eastern.

The plane is huge, getting everyone aboard was a length affair, but nothing compared to the 13-hour flight time. Right now we're winging our way towards Addis Ababa somewhere over the Mediterranean, and it's either really late Tuesday or really early Wednesday, depending on your point of view. We're sprinkled all over the plane, surrounded by a folks from all over the world. The ticketing gal was able to switch me to a coveted exit row aisle seat, so my legs are happy.

On my right are two tall fellows (one of them maybe 6'8”) going home to Sudan for a visit if I understood them. Friendly, but talkative. Really talkative. Oh my gosh do you ever sleep talkative :-) Interesting to hear about their country's conflict first-hand, though. On my left is a lady and her two rather, umm, undisciplined kids. But after awhile they fall asleep and then their just cute. Giggly chair-thumping teenage girls next row back. Fun stuff. Not gonna be sleeping tonight. Oh well, a test of my patience, something I need to work on anyway, and a small inconvenience compared to the work ahead of us.

Time to get up and stretch again, maybe find some munchies. They're supposed to serve breakfast before we land in another 3-4 hours, then we'll hop planes and start working our way towards Ruwanda and then Burundi. And then the fun begins!

Onward to Burundi!

Monday June 27

I write this from the comfort of the Hampton Inn Dulles near D.C., wondering what the next two weeks have in store for us. We're going to Burundi. That's in Africa :) I know it's going to be exciting, interesting, eye-opening, shocking, and (I'm told) life-changing. But it's one thing to imagine what it'll be like, to have read about it and even to have talked to those who've been there or who grew up there. I'm sure it'll be another thing entirely to actually go there, to travel about this African nation, to meet the varied people and experience their culture, their food and customs, and to see how they live and the difficulties and conditons they face every day. We're all very excited and hopeful that we'll be able to make a difference while we're there, and to spread awareness of the country and it's people, and the work the Gazelle Foundation is doing there.

You see, I'm a runner, six years and counting now. In 2007 I joined a local Austin training group and met two men I'm proud to call my friends, Gilbert Tuhabonye, and his cousin Bernard , both natives of Burundi. Gilbert's story is amazing and inspiring, he wrote a book about it. He's also one of the most humble, compassionate, patient, and welcoming people I've ever met.

If you're like many of the folks (outside of Gilbert's Gazelles) that I've talked to recently, you're thinking, where's Burundi? Who lives there? Burundi is an equatorial African nation about the size of Maryland, bordered by Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Congo. It's hilly and mountainous with a moderate climate. It's also the third poorest nation in the world, with 80% of it's 10 million people living at the poverty level or below. Unemployment is widespread. Most people (89%) live in rural areas and only half the children can attend school. Civil wars and unrest have racked the nation over the last several decades, but recent stability and peace between the factions have helped the situation.

In 2006 a group of Austin runners formed the Gazelle Foundation, a non-profit that funds and builds clean water projects in Burundi. Since that time they've completed several water projects and provided clean drinking water to thousands of people who previously had none or had to walk significant distances to get clean water. It is on behalf of the Gazelle Foundation that our Work for the Water group of approx. 15 is traveling to Burundi this summer. You can read all about it at http://workforthewater.com/ and http://www.gazellefoundation.com/

Today our band of merry travelers is independently making their way here to Washington D.C., and tomorrow we all set out together on Ethiopian Airlines towards Burundi via Addis Ababa and Rwanda. God willing we'll all get to Bujumbura (the capital of Burundi) safe and sound (and perhaps a little stiff and sleepy) Wednesday afternoon. And then the real adventure will begin!

Dan