Some raw footage of a typical small town

Honest Abe and a question

A bunch of rough, dirty, killers used to run around Curwensville, PA. And they were well respected by the president. Of course, they were soldiers, and it was back when Honest Abe was leading the country--bathing wasn't quite as easy back then as it is now. But these guys put the tails of White Tailed Deer in their caps. They were called Buck Tails, and they protected President Lincoln.

Three regiments existed, two were from Curwensville. Lincoln is said to have been good friends with them, as he was socioeconomically working-class himself...or something like that--basically he enjoyed them more than he did the bureaucrats. And so they got along splendidly, they saved his life, and he graced them with his presence. I bet he was pretty funny, too, if not honest. If not directly, then in that awkward sense that everyone observing the interaction laughs at when someone is too honest. You know, the guy who ends up telling your mother that she still has toilet paper hanging out of her summer dress...that's still tucked into the back of her stringed underwear. I think they had stringed underwear back then? I digress.

Anyway, they say the Buck Tails actually saved Lincoln's life four different times, one of which was the morning he was actually assassinated--from John Wilksbooth, nonetheless. Supposedly what happened was he let the company of Buck Tails off for the night, got dressed up to go to the theatre, Ford's Theatre, that is, and then, well, his brain ended up not working as well as most of the country might have liked for the rest of the evening. The company of people watching over him--the one's that replaced the Buck Tails for the evening--may have also lost their minds after that night. And ironically, Wilksbooth shot Lincoln during one of the funniest parts of the play while everyone was laughing...boy he got them good. He then proceeded to jump onto the stage, yell something and run off. The audience thought it was all part of the play. Silly them.

Anyway, Curwensville proved to be quite interesting. We were entertained by stories about the history of the town after we spoke about the ride at the Curwensville Christian and Missionary Alliance church's get-together. It was quite nice, not to mention the view from the house we were at had a beautiful view.

Other than that the adventure is starting to settle in. It's all about the relationships we make now. We'll probably forget a lot of what we see after we get used to it. The relationships tend to keep popping up. And so we ask, what sorts of ideas about life are more important to you than the relationships in your life?

Clearing things up

Just to be clear:

Nothing has changed regarding the way donations should be sent to Food for the Hungry. We're still riding under "Ride For Marale" as it was the first village we raised money for--it was the village that got everything started, if you will. Everything on the side of the Blog is still correct.
We've just branched out a little wider to attempt to help other villages that are very similar to Marale.

A few more pictures...

Andy taking a break on the way to Shamokin.

Morgan on the way to Nittany.

Steve and Laurel Shields, Matt and Andy's Uncle and Aunt.  We had a great time hanging out with them and their church. 

A Picture Journal of our first few days...

From a mountain top between Shamokin, PA and Nittany, PA. We climbed over three miles to get a view out this window.

 

From Mountain Top Dr. on the top of Mt. Nittany.

Another view from the top.

One more.

Leaving Happy Valley. On our way into the mountains on our way to Curwensville, PA.

More Happy Valley.

Mountain Top Dr. on the top of Mt. Nittany.

Matt (in white) and Andy (in Green) in Happy Valley.

Introducing Piswa

As of recent we have reached our fund raising goals for a water system in Marale, Uganda. Praise God!  In light of this we have asked Food for the Hungry to introduce us to another village that needs water. Now the name of our ride(The Ride for Marale) is more in commemoration of the first village God was able to help through us. 

Allow me to introduce you to Piswa. Piswa is a village located on the slopes of Mt. Elgon in Eastern Uganda. The community members were displaced from
the forest when their lands were declared a National Game Park by the Ugandan government. The landscape is bare
from deforestation, and erosion has contaminated water sources and hindered farming practices. The community has
been isolated for many years without access to roads, health care, education or Christian training. Children suffer social
and emotional abuse as a result of debilitating cultural and traditional practices such as female genital mutilation. HIV/
AIDS is also growing in the region, while education about the disease is lacking. In general, fatalistic mindsets pervade
the community, and there is little hope for positive change. The incarnational staff has begun changing beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and practices of the people by partnering
with the church, family and community leaders. They engage in many programs that seek to end the cycle of poverty in
the community and provide hope.

We have been given the opportunity to lend a hand to the people of Piswa by raising 90% of the funds for a water system in the center of the village. As with Marale, Food for the Hungry has been working with the villagers to form a 9 person water committee that will oversee water issues for now on. Part of there job has been to work with the members the community to raise 10% of the funds for the water system and organize all the unskilled manual labor involved. In this way the water system will not be a "hand out" but the people of Piswa will have personal ownership in their new water system. About $5000 will help to bring the people of Piswa the clean water they need to continue developing as a community. It only takes $5 to provide a person in Piswa with clean water for the rest of their lives! 

Happiness grows in valleys

Things aren't always easy for anyone, ever. But if they could be, they would probably be that way for someone in happy valley.

They were certainly that way to everyone riding to Happy Valley from Shamokin today. It was perfect, too, as yesterday was not exactly the easiest. Now don't misunderstand, Happy Valley is called a valley for a reason, and we climbed that reason and many other reasons like it on the way there, but as a whole the ride was pleasant. Most of it was through pristine forests in the Bald Eagle and other state parks. The parts of the ride not through the state parks were spent in a valley between two mountains. It was beautiful. It also rained a good amount, which was great. It really cooled us off.

And so we got to Happy Valley in good spirits. And as it turns out, Happy Valley got its name during the Great Depression: it was a sufficient and happy place for the people who lived in the area. This was primarily due to the agriculture in the area and Pennsylvania State University, which is about 20 minutes down the road--driving, that is. Turns out it has nothing to do with Penn. St. football. I guess it's also common for people to just stay around their whole lives. People might leave for a while--you know, go to college at Penn. St.--and then come back. And obviously there are plenty of people who leave, but Pastor Dave and his wife (the family we're staying with) said that a lot of people have grown up together and all know when new people come in. They're all very welcoming, though, which might be rare for a close-knit area. Who knows.

Anyway,Footage should be coming tomorrow.

Some other quick updates: We're getting in better shape. Feeling good about our legs and climbing hills. Our bikes are holding up well. Tonight life is good.

A story:

Walking out of Pizza Hut yesterday a man, age 30, walked up to me and wished me luck on my ride. Knowing he didn't know what I was riding for, or anything else about me, I thanked him. He proceeded to tell me about his bike--a Honda...crotch rocket, something or other. I guessed he was a bike enthusiast. I guessed right. He went on to tell me--without my asking, though I really enjoyed his story--about his recent life.

A few weeks ago he was clocked by a police officer going 210 MPH. on his bike. A few jokes regarding the incident were exchanged (e.g. Me: "wow, that kinda puts a damper on things, huh?" Him: Laughs "Ya, that's why it's still in the garage."), and he told me that the ticket cost him $2,800. He then told me that in order to pay the ticket he took a sledge hammer to his garage door and was in the process of collecting the insurance on it. He said he filmed it and was going to send it to the insurance company after he collected the money and switched companies...sucks to be State Farm. Hmmm. Ok. I was just kidding about the garage door part. But really, that's quite a ticket.

But wait, there's more: he's got some down time, as he can't drive as of now, so he's working on putting some nitrous oxide on the bike. Now for those of you who haven't seen The Fast And The Furious, basically what nitrous oxide is is a speed burst. He was making his bike faster...but not too much faster, he said, because otherwise he would wheelie backward and crack his "bean," I think was the word he used. He mentioned doing that when he was younger and it not ending up so well...I agreed with him on that one.

Probably one of the more interesting people I've ever met. And I probably haven't gotten more information from anyone else in such a short amount of time. The conversation didn't last more than a minute--Andy and Morgan had already started riding up the road. He seemed really cool...though I can't say I would ever get into any vehicle with him.


And I would have time for one more but I've been trying to get this camera to upload stuff for you and it doesn't quite seem to be working...sorry.

More to come tomorrow.