Well everyone, I'm back from Africa! I've actually been back for about a week...

Anyways, it was an AWESOME trip! I did a few things I never in my life thought I would do! Not only did we work in hospitals in Lubango and Kalukembe, we flew out to the caldera of an ancient volcano to visit a remote tribe that lives within. We had an outdoor clinic for them and gave them medical assistance.

There was even one day where we climbed a waterfall and off roaded out to this 4000ft deep canyon. The next day, we took the bush plane and flew right down into the canyon. It was amazing!

We actually even had a camera crew following us filming a documentary on our work in Angola. So sometime this summer I may be appearing in a 3 part series.

Other than that, we found out pretty much the day before leaving for Angola that a little girl we'd examined in 2007 had been accepted for heart surgery at Sick Children's Hospital. She was 6 months old when we first examined her and is now about 2 years old. We began the daunting task of getting travel visas to Canada for her and her mother when we arrived. Many people were skeptical about it getting done in two weeks, since it usually takes 3 months to get a visa in Angola. I feel like I've seen a miracle unfold before my eyes, because there were times when it seemed pretty much hopeless, but we managed to get the visa for her and she travelled to Canada with us at the end of March. Her name is Royana and her surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, April 8th. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I will give you a more detailed account of her story at another time.

I've started posting my photos from the trip on flickr. Unfortunately, the majority of my pictures are stuck on someone else's computer and I'll have to wait at least until next week to get them back. So, I've posted what I can for now.

On another note, I thought I'd let everyone know that I've gotten a table in the Crafter's Corner at Anime North. So I WILL be there to sell kanzashi!

I will also be running the Kimono Display in the Art Room at the convention. I have big plans for that display - that is I would like to have one kimono of every formality level as well as a few special pieces. The majority of the show will consist of pieces from my personal collection, but there will be a few pieces from others as well.

This is the tentative list of kimono I'll be displaying:

Yukata:


Komon: Myloko's Komon (no pictures yet)

Tsukesage: TBA

Houmongi: TBA (one of the following)


Furisode: TBA (one of the following)


Irotomesode: TBA

Kurotomesode: Myloko's Kurotomesode (no pictures yet)

Kakeshita:


Uchikake:


Men's Kimono:


Child's Kimno:


Geiko Hikizuri:


Kabuki Hikizuri: Myloko's Fuji Musume costume (no pictures yet)