Category Archives: Travel

Day 1: Nobel Institute


We woke up this morning at 5 am having slept for 7 hours and feeling rested and excited to begin our explorations. Promptly at 8am, Turid came to escort us to our days activities. Turid is a kind, gentle, generous soul who gave us her full attention and never showed signs of tiring of our many questions.


We walked the short distance to the subway called the T. We took the T into the center of the city and enjoyed a brisk walk to the Nobel Institute.


Anne Kjelling, the Head Librarian of the Nobel Institute was our guide. She has worked for the Nobel Institure for 40 years and is the keeper of all the stories, all the history of the institute. Her generosity in spending time with us during one of the busiest weeks of the year for the Nobel Institute was quite remarkable. To begin, Anne took us to a room that she explained most people do not get to see. It is the room where the Norwegian Nobel Committee makes its decisions. A beautiful table was surrounded by 6 chairs, one for each of the 5 committee members and 1 for the secretary. The walls of this room hold the secrets of the meetings as no minutes are taken except for the minutes of their final decisions. Two of the 4 walls of the room are covered with photographs of the Nobel Peace Prize winners. As we browsed the photos, she answered our questions about each of the 12 women who have received the award since it was first awarded in 1901. She explained that there are some years that more than 1 person actually share the award. She shared that in 1973 a Vietnamese man, named Le Duc Tho, who was to receive the award with Henry Kissenger for jointly negotiating the Vietnam cease fire actually refused the award because Peace had not been achieved. We learned that Henry Kissenger eventually tried to return the award, but that the award cannot be returned once it is awarded. And we discovered that the institute does not give the award to angels, but to human beings. Some of the winners were actually at one time Terrorists, who when given the opportunity, changed their lives to impact the world towards peace. Anne explained that the Nobel Committee gives the Peace award not only to those who have already accomplished significant stides towards peace but that it also gives encouragement awards towards those who are creating a new vision, or inspiring in others a movement towards peace.


Next we visited the hall where the Nobel Committee makes the announcement each November of who they have chosen for that year’s Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Niko practiced coming out of the famous doors into the hall while givng a dignified wave to the crowds while Sam stood at the podium to practice his acceptance speech.

We moved from the hall into the room where copies of the original artwork for each Laureate are displayed. A different artist is chosen each year to do a painting for that year’s laureate. They are not, however, told who the laureate will be.

It was an absolute honor to spend our morning at the Nobel Institute with Anne. Standing in the Nobel Committee’s meeting room surrounded by the photographs of these Great Peacemakers, I was humbled, inspired, moved and very grateful. I prayed that this history lesson would move deeply into our bones and that we would move into our world with increased courage and commitment towards living our piece for peace in the world.

Breakfast by Sam

Today at breakfast we had bread. We could put on our bread Norwegian Cheese, white cheese, jam, Chocolate, banana honey or butter. There was also a ginger snap cookie with chocolate on the bottom. There was milk, orange juice, coffee and tea. At breakfast we met a man from Italy. He is staying in the room next to ours. I can’t wit for breakfast tomorrow. The Italian man’s name is Paolo.

We’ve Arrived

We arrived safely in this winter wonderland. It is 17 degrees outside and snow covers everything. It is a crisp, dry cold and feels very much like my Minnesota homeland.

We arrived at Oslo Airpot and got bus 28 which took us to the bus stop near our bed and breafast. It was a 45 minute ride and for the last 15 minutes, I was so hot that I had to take off my coat, scarf and sweater and still sweat beaded my face. I felt as if I was going to be very, very sick. Upon our arrival at our bus stop, We then had to lug 2 backpacks, my oversized purse, 3 carry on suitcases and 2 large suitcases up a hill that went for 3 blocks, up,up,up. Did I mention the snow on the roads…lots and lots of snow? I was as white as a ghost, still feeling sick and weak in spite of the fresh air. Niko, in true hero style, carried 2 suitcases and his backpack up the hill about a hundred feet and then come back for my 2 suitcases. He repeated this process over and over until we arrived at the B&B. In spite of this, when I ask Niko if there he is anything he wants to say on the blog, he responds, tell them we all did really, really well travelling together. What a guy!!!

Our accomodations are simple and clean and consist of a double bed, a single bed, one small closet, a place to hang our coats, 1 bedside table, a small bookcase, and a small cupboard and 2 small chairs. Our beds are futons and very comfortable. We’ve managed to unpack and find nooks and craneys to store all our stuff.

Marta is the proprieter and she is full of helpful information and ready to help us with anything we need. Her most helpful bit of information so far is that we should not say hello as we pass people on the street. They will think we are crazy. Unfortuantely, we had already been sharing our greetings with people as we tried to lug ourselves and all of our stuff up the hill. As Niko said, they looked at us as if we had 3 eyes!

It is now 3am, Oslo time and we are cuddled in our very comfortable beds reading and writing, feeling very relaxed and rested and grateful for this journey we are on together.

Our Itinerary

Dear Friends and Family,
Happy Holidays to each of you.
In just a few days we leave for Norway. I cannot believe it is here. We have been preparing for this trip since we found out in April that I had been chosen as the Greater Tacoma Peace Laureate. Part of the award is that they send us to Norway to be in Oslo during the Nobel Peace Prize events. At this time, it is confirmed that we will be able to attend the CNN Press Conference and the Nobel Concert, with Denzel Washington as the host. We are still waiting to find out if we will be able to attend the actual ceremony.
So we are off to 9 amazing days in Oslo, Norway followed by a day and a half in Liverpool, England for the Beatles Tour for Sam’s Christmas gift and then on to Ireland to visit the land of my Maternal Grandmother’s ancestry.
If you would like to follow our adventures, we will be posting to this blog on a regular basis.
I pray that this season is full of gentle, joyful surprises for each of you.
Many Blessings,
Kim
Our Itinerary
December 5th – We arrive in Oslo .

December 6th – 9:00 a.m. – Turid Johannessen, our guide will pick us up at our B & B and take us to the
Nobel Institute, followed by a visit to
Nordmanns-Forbundet (Norse Federation) for lunch/coffee/cake,
www.norseman.no
And then a visit to the Nobel Peace Center
City Hall Plaza (Rådshusplass) www.nobelpeacecenter.org

December 7th – 11:00 a.m. – the Holocaust Museum (HL senteret) www.hlsenteret.no
lunch/meeting/tour with Georg Broch

December 8th – 11:00 a.m. – Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights
Gange Rolvsgate 5, Oslo www.oslocenter.no
Tynlee will escort the Eberts to their appointment with John Bjornebye, Senior Advisor / Ambassador

Dec. 9th – Train Trip to Lilllehammer to meet with Steinar Bryn, Senior Advisor, Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue
December 10th – 1:00 p.m. – Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony (tentative), followed by CNN Interview
Oslo City Hall

December 11th – 8:00 p.m. – Nobel Concert at Oslo Spekrum

December 12th – 12 noon – Brunch at the home of Kari Nøst-Bergem and family
7:30 p.m. – Christmas Concert – Oslo Domkirke

December 13th – Santa Lucia Day, On our own to explore.
10:00 p.m. – We depart from Oslo to Liverpool

Dec. 14th – Fab 4 Tour in Liverpool
Dec. 15 – Arrive in Ireland and begin to wander

Thank You

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been three weeks since I returned home from South Africa. There is still so much to process, yet life has a way of pulling me back into the flow of daily living. Since I returned, Niko and I have had a five day flu, Sam caught a cold which became walking pneumonia, he fractured his wrist, got his first cast and lost his first tooth. It has been a busy time.

Each of you have been on my mind daily, both while on the trip and since returning. I am so grateful for your generosity and support. Some of you sent money, some of you sent prayers, some of you read the online journal and stayed a breast of what was happening each day, some of you did all three. I cannot thank you enough. Your support allowed me to follow a dream and to have my heart cracked open by the people of South Africa. I am forever grateful.

While I was in South Africa, we visited 4 orphanages, 2 hospices, 3 home based care programs, 2 hospitals, a rural clinic which serves 55,000 people, an elementary school and a feeding program. We also spent 2 days at a game park marveling at the beauty of the land and its animals, a day at the apartheid museum and a day at the Freedom Day Celebration, which celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the end of apartheid. The people were so beautiful and welcoming. Consistently, I felt them draw us right into the center of their celebrations and their lives.

Your generosity not only provided for all my fixed expenses of this trip, but because of the outpouring of your support I was also able to donate funds in honor of you to the following organizations and individuals:
Mother Theresa’s Aids Hospice $550.00
Cotlins Orphanage $200.00
Soweto Hospice $500.00
Orthowandi Orphanage $365.00
Franciscan Missionaries $500.00
Cora’s program in the townships $435.00
School Fees for children in Lawley Township $235.00
School fees for children in KwaZulu Natal $365.00
Backpacks for home health care workers in Kwazulu Natal $200.00

I also distributed the following item you donated and I took with me in my suitcase:
350 Beanie Babies to the children
590 polaroid pictures to children and adults – many whom were moved to
giggles or tears at seeing their picture develop.
80 boxes of crayons to the elementary school in KwaZulu Natal
30 bed protectors to individuals and hospice programs
75 sheets to individuals and hospice programs
10 finger puppets to Cora’s program
Beautiful Scarves and Jewelry to over 50 of the heroic women we met

I made sure that these individuals and organizations knew that these donations came not from me, but from all of you. They were very moved by your kindness and generosity.

Again, I thank you. You are a people of hope, a people of compassion, a people of light. I am so grateful for your bright and beautiful presence in my life.

May God Bless You,

A week after returning

I am tired – bone tired.
So tired I’d like to stay in bed for days
Easing in and out of sleep.
My eyes are heavy.
My stomach twists in knots.
My diaphragm constricts.
My breath is short and shallow,
Preventing me from going deeper
Into my sadness and shame.

What am I ashamed of?
Having so much,
Still yearning towards more,
The constant hunger for more.

I am so impatient
And I have so much.
I should be giggling with glee at my great fortune.
Instead I lament in not enoughness.

Breathe in deeper.
Deeper still.
Breathe into that place where scarcity
Cannot mask your grief.
Sit quietly as you did with Empho
And feel the gift of grief.

Grieve for the children,
Gift and Rose.
Grieve for the mothers
dying in their beds
as their children work from dawn to dusk to feed them.
Grieve for the 1 out of 3 babies
who will not see their first birthdays.
Grieve for the 80% of adults who are unemployed
and awake each day “without a purpose”.
Grieve for the children sharing sexual favors for food.
Grieve for the women who don’t dare ask their husbands to use a condom.
He will only banish her from her home
and have sex with wife number 2.
Grieve for the women who work 8 hours a day,
each day, as volunteers
caring for those who are dying.
Grieve for Cora who goes into the townships day after day
as her grief and anger challenge her sanity.
Grieve for the little girls who are raped,
the children with no parents,
the little boys who will never know a father.

And then, Celebrate the Abundance
of light in Sam’s eyes,
of steady work for Niko and I,
for a husband I trust, love and respect,
and who trusts, loves, and respects me,
for our beautiful home and strong community,
for a refrigerator that is full,
for gas heat,
electricity,
running water,
a toilet,
for too much stuff and the luxury of purging,
for health and the inconvenience of a 5 day flu,
for the burst of color in our garden,
for the opportunities to learn and grow and be me.

So much,
So much,
So many gifts given me.
God, help me to be
a good steward.




10 Years of Freedom

Today was amazing! We went to Pretoria for the 10 year anniversary of freedom! We got off the bus and began following the crowd down Church street toward the Union hall. People began to chant and clap and march/dance down the street. Tears streamed down my face as I marched with them. I was so moved by the pride and joy of the South African people. As we got closer to the area where the speeched and concert would be held men climbed up in trees while the women set up camp underneath. As far as I could see in all directions there was a sea of black faces. Throughout the whole day, I saw less than 50 white people including the 12 in my group.

We stood as a group near two trees and watched the people go by. People would smile, some would look at us curiously and others would clap or shake our hands. Once they saw our cameras they would crowd together in the hopes of getting their pictures taken. The African people, we have met have loved having their photos taken.

As it got closer to noon we followed the others into the crowd to get a view of the stage. So many people. We found a spot where we could see the big screens of what was happening. A beautiful young South African women kept sneaking glimpses my way. When I said hello, her face broke into a huge smile. We began to visit. Her name is Charmane and she has another name which means it is full or complete. She is 13 years old and she had traveled 3 hours by bus with her father to be at this celebration. As we took in the sights together, she wrapped her arms around Pennye and I. Her face was filled with wonder. As we left, I slipped a turquoise ring on her finger. She grabbed me and hugged me tightly, then she looked into my eyes and said, “I love you.”

Pennye, Lynn and I got our faces painted. Pennye had the S. African flag painted on her right cheek. Lynn and I had the flag on one cheek, “10” on our foreheads and “years” on our left cheek. People seemed surprised and amused by us and would reach out and clasp our hands or stop to visit with us.

As we left the celebration we stopped to watch a group of ZULU women dancing and were encouraged to join them. I felt too shy and just danced form the sideline.

Earlier, Lynn and I had wondered over to a watch a circle of people singing and dancing. As we got close to them a man grabbed Lynn’s hand and another grabbed mine. They then danced us into the center of the circle to dance with the people. All around us were people singing a freedom chant. It was incredibly powerful.

On our way back to the bus, a reporter stopped our group and asked if they could interview us for SA NBC Radio. Pennye and I were interviewed about our experience of the celebration and our impressions of the city of Pretoria.

As we headed back down Church Street to our bus, people were still marching up and down the street, carrying the S. African flag and chanting freedom chants. I stood 100 feet in front of the crowd as they marched toward me to get a picture. Before I knew it they had grabbed our hands in joy and friendship and brought us into the center of their celebration, clapping our hands, dancing with us to their songs of freedom.

I am overwhelmed by the beauty of these people. They have been so open and welcoming to us. Their pride in being S. African is inspiring, their joy is contagious and their sense of welcome brings me to tears.

Morning Game Drive

Today was my husband, Niko’s birthday. I started the day at 5:30am. I got up and went to the Bakubug Office to go out on my final morning game drive. Oliver, our guide picked us up in a land rover and took us into the 7th largest game park in South Africa. We watched the sun come up and paint the sky in various hues of pink, red and orange as a giraffe nibbled her breakfast from a nearby tree. It was awesome. We were out on our drive for 2 hours. The morning rides are so quiet and peaceful. The views of the mountains, the mists, the savannah, the animals are breathtaking. On our 4 game drives we saw giraffes, lions, elephant, impala, white rhinos, zebra, jackal, water buck, baboon, warthog, blue gnu,rock rabbit, wildebeest, brown hyena,owl, sacred ibis, and dotter bird.

I returned to the lodge and by 9:00am I was on a bus with the rest of the crew.on our way back to Johannesburg feeling incredibly grateful and at peace. Two hours later we arrived in Soweto at the Othowandi Orphange and my sorrow was once again ignited. It rests just below my diaphragm, pushing in like a fist.

Othowandi is a wonderful orphanage. The children are very well cared for and most of the children were easily engaged. There are 31 children and 91 other children. There are on sight cottages for the older children. As we went through the baby ward my heart was so sad. Some of the children were very sick, others looked very healthy. Some were asleep and others reached out to play.

I spent most of my time with a little boy whose name means “one who brings happiness”. He was about 6 to 8 months old, and very round and chubby. He sat in his bed watching me. Then he began to turn his head from side to side, I did the same and a game was born. He would laugh and we would hold hands shaking our heads together. He was a beautiful child.

The cottages are for older children. 4 children to each small bedroom. I was surprised at how some teen behaviors are universal. Each of the rooms was decorated with posters and magazine photos of teen idols like emmenem. The surprising thing I found on the walls of each of the rooms was Reiki certificated. Many of the teens have been trained in Reiki healing. One of the staff told me that there is also a group of Reiki practitioners who come in and do reiki on the babies. I was totally tickled!

From the orphanage we went on to the Soweto Hospice. Again, I was inspired by the women who run this program and those women who volunteer to do home visits. Last year, the 5 paid nurses did over 5,000 home visits and the 45 volunteers did over 25,000.

There are 10 beds at the facility, filled with people who either have no family or whose family have refused to care for them. There is such a stigma around AIDS that some people are even afraid to touch a family member who has AIDS.

I visited a young women who was in so much pain. We looked deeply into each others eyes and with tears in mine, I told her I was so sorry. She told me she was tired and in so much pain. Then she showed me her bedsores. The fist below my diaphragm pushed in deeper.

The Welcome

Today we received a welcome like no other. We spent the morning at Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto. This hospital services over 2 million people in one of the most densely populated areas in South Africa. The hospital is an old military base. They turned it into a hospital in 1947 and have been threatening to demolish many of the derelict buildings since 1969. Yet, they still stand and hold 2700 beds on a very grim compound.

The nurses who greeted us in the palliative care department were vibrant and gave a whole new meaning to hospitality. As we entered the office they each greeted us with laughter, a loud hello and outstretched arms. Each of us received a hug and a welcome. As the last women embraced me tears streamed down my face. Never have I felt so welcomed.

The nurses, who are called sister, took us into the conference room where Doctor Rusty met with us. She had 100 patients to see this day, yet she took time out of her schedule to talk with us for an hour.

Then Sister Zohdwa told us about the Palliative Care Project. There are 3 nurses who are funded by Ireland AID and 2 are funded by the hospital. Each of these nurses go out into the field and see 8 patients each day. They are on call 24/7 and once someone is their patient they are their patient until death. The spirit of these women is remarkable. Their laughter is contagious.

The sisters then took us to 3 homes. We split up into 3 groups and each group was allowed to go into one home with the sister.

I went to the home of Pamela who is 26 years old and living with AIDS. Pamela is being cared for by her granny. Granny had 6 children and 4 have already died. I looked at her and wondered how one lives with the grief of watching their children die. Pamela’s mother was granny’s daughter. She passed away last year. Pamela’s father died in 1994.

Granny pays about $85.00 a month for retro virals for Pamela. These drugs have helped her so much. Pamela is very lucky to have a support system of granny and her aunties to care and advocate for her.

While the other groups visited their homes, we stood outside our van and talked with the neighbors. People would begin to peek out from around the fence wondering what we were doing there. We saw a darling little girl watching us intensely. Karly and I brought her a beanie baby. At first she was quite unsure what to do. As she took it in her arms and I took her picture another child appeared, then another and another. Pretty soon grannies were walking over with their little ones hoping to receive a treasure, proud to have their pictures taken.

The grannies are so beautiful. Their faces are deeply etched by their life’s story. I felt proud to stand next to these strong, generous and committed women. In our country, we often here people complain about boomerang children. Ready once their children reach a certain age to be done with the parenting thing. And here are these grannies, who not only raised their children but now support their children and their families on their small $100.00 stipend each month.

Today was a day of being humbled by the generous, joyful spirit of the African women…by the sisters, by the grannies, by Dr. Rusty. My heart is full of gratitude.