Where I am this week…

Hey everyone!  Kimberlee here… If you haven’t noticed, M has been holding down the fort the past week. I left her just after I finished the Posebook video, so she’s been such a trooper in answering all of the emails and taking care of all of the little issues that have arisen with that. Thank you, M, for taking care of everything and giving me the freedom to leave for a few weeks! 🙂

So anyway, I just wanted to write a quick update to let you know: a) where I am, and b) why I’m here.

a) I’m in Burkina Faso, Africa!

b) I’m here with an organization called Compassion International; I’ve been commissioned as their photographer to document this country and to show what actually happens in the field.  Being here the past few days, I’ve already seen how much this organization has impacted the lives of many, many children & families in real & tangible ways.  Some of you may know that my degree is actually in this field (non-profits/international relations/etc), so this stuff just captures my heart!  I know that there are many different ways of doing development, and I know that there is no one perfect way of doing development. But this organization is doing a lot of great things, and I have been honored to participate in documenting part of their story. My life quote is: “The best use of life is to use it for something that outlasts it.” (William James)… this is something that I want to remember every day, and my desire is to use everything that God has given me in a way that gives back. M & I have never been afraid to openly express our thoughts about our faith. It is the most important thing in our lives, and I know that Marissa (and her hubby Weston) are also on the same page as I am, as far as giving back. They are so awesome, and they are constantly challenging me with how much they give to others. One example: they’ve been sponsoring kids through World Vision for years (their goal is to add one new kiddo for every year that they’ve been married, so I think they’re up to 7 kids now – how cool is that?!) I JUST decided to sponsor my first little girl here in Burkina Faso, after seeing the cool things Compassion is doing in the communities here. I got to meet her and talk to her about her family… I just can’t wait to come back and see her again!

Shooting for Compassion is just one small way that I am able to help out, and honestly I don’t even feel like I’m doing anything huge/great/humanitarian. It really is more of a privilege for ME to be able to do this. This has been my dream for a LONG time – to be able to mesh my 2 great passions together: photography and development. My hope is to bring these stories to life through my images, and to help this organization continue to impact the lives of these beautiful children. [See photos of day 1 in Africa over on my blog]

Being behind the lens this week, I don’t have many photos of myself… but today I just HAD to set my camera down for a few minutes to hold these precious little girls. So someone from the team discreetly snagged my camera and got these shots of me. Aren’t these kids just adorable?

PS – I wonder what M would do if I just don’t come back for about 6 months… hmmm. 🙂 J/K Marissa, I’ll be back soon – I know we have a lot of things to tackle in the coming months. But I know that I will be back in Africa again. The children and their stories have captured my heart.