Later that first day of Alessandra’s arrival, the family ventured out to the market to look for supplies and hand out reading material...

Cathy and Alessandra continued to speak about the resilience and patience of the Congolese people and their strength to endure hardship...

The tropical dawn awoke Alessandra with a beauty all its own. A loud screeching sound caught her attention, and she looked out the window...

Alessandra clicked off her flashlight, but she found the heat oppressive, making it difficult to fall asleep. After an hour, however, she...

Alessandra walked out to her depot room to prepare for climbing into bed. She was nervous about her first time of tucking in a mosquito...

Cathy continued to give Alessandra instructions on how to use buckets to flush toilets and take baths, all new concepts for the visitor...

After supper, Cathy walked with Alessandra out to the depot where her room was located and instructed her how to tuck in her mosquito net...

The discussion around the supper table that first night included a run-down of Alessandra’s basic schedule during her stay in Congo:...

Alessandra’s first supper in the interior of the Congo was both eye-opening and refreshing. Eye-opening for Alessandra who was getting...

The Carmichaels had three children, Jimmy, Jackie, and Jenny. Once the Land Cruiser reached the walled-in and gated home, the group broke...

The flight to Ilebo was uneventful, though Alessandra was nervous about landing there on a dirt landing strip. But Dan Carson seemed...

The morning came for their trip to the interior city of Ilebo. Alessandra was excited. Roosters, thousands of them, trumpeted the...

Because Dan felt responsible for Alessandra’s extra day, he and his wife, Sheryl, invited her to come to supper at the Embassy Club the...

Dan drove Alessandra to MPH, the Methodist-Presbyterian Hostel built to house expats in transition in the Congo. He promised to pick her...

Alessandra made it into the terminal and even there she was just beginning to panic when she ran into Wesley, a young businessman that...

Alessandra was nervous, really nervous! The plane was landing in Kinshasa, and the reality of what she was getting ready to face in the...

Alessandra settled into her seat on the upper deck of the jetliner, having finished every crumb of the yummy meal. Several families with...

The day had arrived! Weeks of planning, packing, visas, and travel vaccines, and the day had arrived for Alessandra to head to the...

One morning, a week later after Alessandra had confirmed plans with the Carmichael family in the Congo about her trip to see them, she...

Alessandra shared with her brother and the rest of her family about her offer to go on a short-term mission trip to the Democratic...