ODO Update

Hi, here's an update.  It's long overdue, but thanks Brooke for lighting a fire under me :)  

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I was reading Brooke Sipek's blog and was touched by what she wrote about how a chance reading of our blog, linked through Elisa (my sister)'s DIY blog, led her to have an interest in the plight of orphans and helped spark her and her husband into their journey of adopting an orphan.

I was also touched myself, by people who were involved in work around the world to better impoverished children's conditions.  As you are reading this, right now, there are people who are sweating, working, raising funds, laughing, hugging, and crying for orphans needs, all over the world.  It's really amazing, but it gets dark fast, because there are so many needs, everywhere.

When my wife and I started ODO, we were Christians and ODO was a Christian mission.  Our funding was almost 90% from Christians and churches.  The motivation to go and help those children was dictated by the Christian god, through the words of the Bible.  It was a wonderful time, and we brought two teams with over eight, nine people for two summers and helped to bring in over $10,000 worth of projects (new water tanks, gutters, buildings, fences, beds, and clothes).  We helped to bring in 7 orphans who were abandoned in villages, without voice, without language, without intelligence.  I'm glad to say that when we visited last summer, those seven orphans really grew and they knew their names, their ages, who they were, and who their friends were.

So - why isn't the ODO website up?  Is ODO dead?  What's going to happen to ODO?

In case you have not yet heard or learned of this, I no longer am a believer in the Christian religion, in fact, I'm an atheist.  I made a video of that journey, you can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-yiaztfjvQ.

So - because ODO was married into the Christian religion and in the Deaf Missions organization, this meant that ODO couldn't continue within that context.  What I did was to send out letters to our donors explaining this and encouraging them to keep on donating to the orphans' needs towards Lance's Deaf Orphans and their organization.  Their website can be found here:  http://www.lancesdeaforphans.com.  The website's front page is not updated, but the links to donate and the newsletters are usually updated.  If you donate to LDO, you will get a nice newsletter every month that will update how the orphans are doing.

We sent the rest of the money in ODO's account to LDO immediately, and for the express purpose of keeping LDO financially stable for a year, so that there would not be an immediate drop-off from ODO's donations.  ODO had donated between $150 to $200 a month to LDO to help with the staff's needs for several months then.

Because of the change in religious beliefs, I had to restructure, rebuild my life, and it's been a journey, and many have been asking about ODO and whether this beautiful work would continue.  I'm very happy to see that there are people out there that believe in this mission regardless of religious affiliation, and I'm happy to say that it is my desire to get back on the ODO horse and do some work.

Exactly what, when, where, how - those are questions are important, and when those questions can be answered, we will be sharing them on this blog.

For now, if you still want to help, to donate, to make a difference, you can do so through supporting Brooke Sipek's journey to adopt a child.  You can also donate towards LDO and their needs.  The world is such a big place, and there is such a huge discrepancy in living conditions.  If each of us took the time and the money necessary to make a difference, the world would be a beautiful place for everyone.

- Alex n Alexa

The Last Few Days...

Here are some pictures from our last few days at LDO. We left the orphanage a few days earlier to spend some time in Nairobi where we visited Winston (director of LDO)'s church and his family. We left Jason, Mistie and Javier behind as they wrapped things up and spent the remaining days left playing soccer with the kids and served spaghetti. 

We are all now back in the States. We are definitely missing the kids and the staff. It is truly and eeply rooted in our hearts. There is so much we need to do for LDO now. It is different this year for us as we are more motivated and we are more passionate to help enhance the condition of the orphanage and the lives of the orphans. A lot has happened (both good and bad) during our stay at LDO and we wish to share the stories with you in our next blog post. Thank you to all who have supported us since day one!

Enjoy the pictures below.

This is Mary's baby (one of the leading staff). Every time she cries, this is how she does it and it is just so cute. Hands on ears and beads of tear dropping like a fresh and cold drink pulled out of a cooler.

Another stormy day (one of the worst wince we've been there).

After the storm.

Tabitha, our cook making chapatti. 

Alex making popcorn for the kids as they watch Matrix 3.

During the last week, chicks were born and they were busy scurrying around the land and it was so much fun to watch them. It was also scary because we did not want to step on them.

Alex and Javier built this thing in an hour. It's a neat game that the kids loved playing - hockey disc.

Carl and Nina Moore from Tulsa came to visit during their stay at another orphanage. It was a treat having them around.

Jason bought the trash burning can so we can burn trash instead of leaving them lying on the ground.

Japheth and his usual shy self.

Jason working away on the chicken coop.

Mike.

Love the bold gesture.

Only a camera can capture this.

A big part of his personality. 

The chicken coop all done!!!

We had a bunch of toys and fun stuff left over and decided to give them away as prizes at the end of camp week.

His signature gesture of "what do you have there?"

Frederick enjoying himself.

My, what pretty and big eyes you have!

Loads of Fun!

It is now our fifth week in Africa and we are seeing so much needs and our vision and goals are becoming more real and clear. We are much more excited and motivated to return to the States to begin fundraising to support the 21 orphans (and more who are out there). We look forward to returning to the States and to begin establishing a plan to improve the orphanage and the lives of the deaf orphans. We cannot wait to share it with you all. We still need your help with donations. Please donate what you can. The money will really make a difference in the orphans' lives and the staff who take care of them.

Thank you to all who have already donated and supported us since day one! We would not be able to do this without your support. We love you and thank God for you all everyday.

Pauline and Kristina. They have that special bond.

Alex playing soccer with the kids and he is saying, "pass me the ball!" and he has a funny way of saying that.

After a day of shooting for a movie, and editing - we were able to show it to the kids that night and they all had a blast watching it. We plan to post the movie on here when we return to the States.

Laughing away at their acting skills.

Mistie and Leah. Some of the kids can be affectionate and some are not but we try to give them as much love as we can through our hugs.

Moises taking lead in playing basketball during camp.

Javier shootin' some serious "hoops"..

Alphonce and Kevin. Even the kids give love to each other.

Playing 4 Square. See how creative we had to be with setting up this course? It's awesome!

Javier putting on new shoes for each orphan.

Shiny and colorful.

Pauline playing 'hot potato'.

Kristina did an experiment with an egg by putting it in a cup of vinegar overnight and this is the result. The kids were fascinated with this procedure.

Kristina chilling with the kids.

Javier and Frederick.

Larwance chilling in the sun.

Getting ready to play 'balloon tag'.

Kristina got popped.

Mistie is still alive!

Javier is not letting the kids win as he won this round.

Moises and Lucy.

Frederick reading a bible story book. The kids really enjoy reading books as they do not have many. It is one of our goal to help establish a library for them.

Sheila having fun with a balloon. My, what gorgeous eyes she has!

Javier is being a doctor to Mike as he hurt his foot. The kids get hurt a lot here even if it is just by falling on the ground and it is because there are rocks everywhere.

Alex taking charge of the water balloon toss.

We wanted to be sure whether the kids may need glasses or had any vision problems so we gave them a test. They all passed with flying colors.

Mike looking cool with a new hat and Javier's glasses.

Javier caught the water balloon. Too bad he did not get wet.

Kevin.

We decided to save some of the big water balloons for the staff and for this particular activity - "water balloon volleyball". It was a lot of fun to watch as several of the staff got wet.

Alex sawing away with Kristina. They are building a chicken coop.

The younger kids carrying water like they do every day, only this time they got soaking wet from the rain.

The town of Kisii. This is a big part of what Africa looks like in every village, town or city.

Anybody know what this is? A dung beetle? It was about the size of your palm.

Japheth is excited to eat his lunch which is Ugali and Kale.

Moises taking the baby cow for a walk?

Alex and Alexa chilling in black and white.

Moises with our wonderful and funny cook.

En route to a church event. We took 5 orphans with us and treated them to a soda and maize on our way back.

Moises and Alex joking around as usual.

Blind volleyball. ODO staff versus the LDO staff.

Alex taking charge of the film he was going to shoot that day by assigning roles and such.

Alexa playing 4 Square. She is very talented.  (By the way, Alexa is the one who is typing all the captions.)

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evans.

Moises serving at a game of volleyball with using just a rope and a bouncy ball. We play this almost everyday.