I’m back in DC. My sister picked me up from the airport this morning and we’ve spent a lovely day together. We got to see the paintings of the Obamas at the National Portrait museum. What an unexpected treat. Tomorrow she’ll drive us back to New York State where we’ll spend the night with my husband Michael and the following day go to Newville, the little village where we grew up.

It was a good trip even with its frustrations and twists and turns. I’m learning that it’s best not to have expectations but as the MoonCatcher mantra reminds us, we must “go with the flow”. It’s not always easy for me since I’m used to making things happen in an organized, timely fashion. I’m beginning to understand that this doesn’t always happen, and sometimes better things take the place of my well thought out plans.

We’ve left lots of schoolgirls with pads. We’ve trained twenty rural women to make our kit. We’ve worked with our old sewing guild and helped to improve their skills and the space where they are working. We taught 180 girls about their bodies and how to keep themselves safe and clean. We found a most amazing young woman, Mary, to help us continue our work in Malawi and we sourced supplies that will make it possible to do this work.

Thank God for Kelly and Lori. They were helpful, patient, kind and able to laugh just when that was the only thing to do. I am so grateful for their support and hope they will consider going again to beautiful Malawi.