good-bye :(

I can't believe six months is over! It was a good last weekend in Kenya. I got to hang out with some friends and even had one last adventure. On Sunday another volunteer from the house, Flo, and I went to Lake Naivasha which is a little over an hour west of Nairobi. We did pretty well navigating around with no plans, I must say. We took a boat ride on the lake as it is known for having many hippos. Well not only did we see toons of hippos but we also got to see flamingos, pelicans, and on the shore- zebras, giraffes, impalas, baboons, and waterbucks. It was pretty fantastic!

Monday was my last day at Happy Life, sadly. It was a mixed emotions day even without me leaving. Baby Wisdom who was in the hospital passed away over the weekend. Chris was being discharged from the hospital as they never confirmed TB and he is improving. Jesse, Tina, and Lemmy all have malaria and the later two were being taken to the hospital. On a happy note though- Mark and Nancy both got adopted today and went home with their new families! Nancy is too little know whats going on but Mark is between 3 and 4 and I think he was just very confused. He had a lack of emotions but the whole thing takes some adjustment so I am sure he will be just fine!

I bought some cake and soda for the moms and had a nice goodbye with them as well as some cookies for the older kids and supplies for the orphanage. It was sad to say bye to the kids of course so I made sure to distract the older kids with toys so it wouldn't be a big send off with them. The teacher did have them all say good bye to me and asked a few of them if they wanted to say something. Now remember these kids are 3-5 years old with limited English and it was kinda comical and oh so cute!

As I was walking from work this past week I did have two more mental pictures to share with you. I saw another child who constructed a car out of a juice box and bottle caps and was pulling it along on a string. Also there is a mound of dirt (right across from the town trash pile) that was probably 6 or 7 feet from top to bottom sloop and twice now I have seen kids 'sledding' on it. They take a piece of cardboard and slide down the hill on the their butts. Who needs snow to enjoy sledding?!

I guess now it is time to say good-bye. I made it home safely and had no problems with my flights. I am working on uploading all my pictures to a web-album or something so anyone that is interested can check them out. Once I get that completed I will post it on here so check back in a week or two for those. Thank you so much to everyone who helped to sponsor my trip and to everyone that continued to pray for me while I was gone. This whole thing would not have been possible without ya'll!! I am so glad that I had this experience as I got to meet amazing people and amazing children, experience all new things, and learn so much about myself. If anyone ever wants to visit Kenya and work with an awesome children's home or make a donation to them- let me know and I'll give you the contacts!

humbling experinces and sad times

This last week has been crazy, busy, and sad. Two of the guys that work with the church that is partnered with Happy Life and come by the home often so therefore I have made good friends with wanted to show me their areas of town and where they live before I headed back. I had been to the general area of both their town as they are very close to HL but it was very cool to be really in it with people that know it well. Both of these guys are amazing people and these two afternoons were very humbling experiences for me. Both of the guys have lost more than one immediate family member and are living on their own now and making the most of what their life has given them. On Tuesday John took me to Githeri 45 which is his town. He showed me the church that works with HL and also where his grandmother lives who he grew up with. She lives in a compound where there are 5 or 6 one room homes. The place she lives in literally the size of my bedroom and it is her kitchen, bedroom, living room, etc. The water and toilet facilities are outside and all living in the compound share. When John was growing up him and her shared this room. She was a wonderful women and bless her heart spoke no English so he had to translate for us. On Thursday George took me to Kasarani to where he resides. He also lives in a one room home but it is the modern form as it is in an apartment complex above some shops and he has his own bathroom in there as well. Him and I had a great conversation about life and comparing Kenya to America. It was so refreshing to meet someone that loves his country and has no desire to move to America. He really appreciates what he has and doesn't desire a different life. Visiting both of these places reassured me at how wasteful and excessive we as Americans are. People always want bigger and 'better' when what they have is already more than they need. We need to appreciate the blessings we have in our life and be happy with what we have. The past two days at my house we have been without power because the city shut it off (still not sure why) but hey we're still living! Think about back home when the power goes off and immediately people call the company and keep pestering them until it goes back on which usually takes what, an hour? Sorry- I'll step off my soap box, again!

On Wednesday morning the little girl I live with, Glory who is 5, graduated from pre-unit in her school which is the last of the three pre-primary classes and therefore she will start primary school in January. They incorporated a graduation program for these students as well as the end of the year program with all students for parents and friends to come and see. Myself and another volunteer, Flo, went to this along with her mother and sister. The kids sang songs, recited bible verses, did skits, etc. It was really nice and I am glad we got to be a part of it. They even fed everyone lunch after and it was a lot of Kenyan food I love and really good! Flo and I being two of the only three mzungu there did our picture taken by people (including the main school photographer) who thought they were sly and we wouldn't notice- but we did!

As for Happy Life we have had a few rough days. Emma has now tested positive for malaria. A few others are running high fevers and will probably get checked out. When I got to HL Wednesday afternoon I received some very sad news. Rhema passed away early in the morning and Chris is now in the hospital with TB. The staff was all very upset this day and emotions were running high with everything. You can really tell these women treat these children as their own when you see how hurt they all were by these pieces of news. Please continue to keep these kiddies in your prayers as I do no feel the sickness are gone from them all yet.

Yesterday Nancy turned one year old so the other volunteers and I took all the older babies out and 'had a birthday party for her.' This really consisted of just play time out of the crib but hey it was fun to honor her birthday! This morning I helped to take 12 of the little babies to the clinic for their shots. Imagine this- 5 people and a driver taking 12 babies in the van to the clinic. It was a bit crazy and so would not be considered safe in America! To end on a happy note- Mark who is 4 or 5 is getting adopted! This makes me very happy because he is one that takes a little while to warm up to people and therefore has been over-looked by families in the past. I met his soon to be mother and aunt today and they seem lovely! Yay for another Kenyan family adopting!

kids update

I cannot believe I am in my last week! Ah! It seems so crazy that I am leaving here in only a few days. I def have mixed emotions but am so thankful for all I have experienced here. But I am not writing to say good-bye yet- I'll post as least once more before I leave.

The past week has been good. I have actually been given the job of making the babies bottles in the mornings at the end of last week and over the weekend which I feel is a big privilege because normally its just the moms that do that. I think I did a pretty good job and didnt mess up anyones amounts which is good! A lot of the children have been getting mouth rashes though so we have switched from bottles to small cups which can be a bit challenging but they are getting the hang of it! With all the babies we have it can sometimes take 2 hours to do the feeding, bathing, and changing especially when there are no other volunteers.

The older babies that were all here in the summer are doing so well. They are at the stage where they are developing personalities and smiling and laughing and ah its so fun! Chris is sick again though and it breaks my heart! He tested positive for malaria yesterday but I am afraid that is not all that is wrong with him. Just when I thought he was turning around for the better he is back to sick again. Please keep him in your prayers. Lemmy also tested positive for malaria yesterday. Linus has improved well from his sickness last week but baby Wisdom is in the hospital and has been for a week now. One day I hear he is doing better and the next day I hear he is doing worse. I pray he makes a full recovery- he is so little! Rhema is also sick and went to see a specialist today because they arent sure what is wrong with her. Neema is fully over her chicken pox and has moved into the room with all the other older babies so that is exciting!

The older kids are doing well and the new boys are still adjusting. Some have picked up on the routine here better than others but the other older kids help them along. The little boy Andrew who also says 'how are you?' can never seem to find his shoes and no matter if I ask him in English or Swahili to find them he just looks at me blankly. Today he found different left shoes and just wore those- I guess thats better than nothing!

Some mornings when there is only a little time in between breakfast and lunch feedings and I cannot get all the babies out by myself I have been spending time with the two toddlers, Johnathan and Patience. Johnathan and I are still working diligently on walking and he is doing so well! He can do pretty well when I hold just one hand but today he did two steps without anyone holding on!! He is pulling himself up a lot and walking while holding onto things which is a huge improvement from a few months ago. Patience has this obsession with shoes in their room (a lot of random shoes are in the closet in there) and puts on ones clearly too big for her and tries to walk around. She will also carry as many as she can from one side to the other and then line them up. Its adorable!

We did get two new volunteers at the hostel this past weekend and they are working at Happy Life. I am so glad to have more people to come and love on my babies!! I wasn't really looking forward to new people in my last week but it has actually been nice. I took them around Nairboi yesterday afternoon and it made me appreciate the city and get to enjoy it once more before leaving and its kinda fun to show people around the place you've called home for the past few months.

The rest of the week will be busy with seeing friends, doing final things here in Nairobi, and giving the kiddies many more hugs. I am looking forward to these final memories to be made!

oh so much!

So much to catch up on! Sorry I have been slacking. I was actually sick this past week with a stomach infection so it put me out of commission for a few days! Almost all better now though. I did end up going to a clinic to see what was going on and ended up getting antibiotics which have helped a lot. The whole experience was interesting though because first it cost 50 shillings (about 75 cents) to see the doc and that was pretty much just a conversation- no blood pressure or temperature taken or anything you'd expect when you go in to get evaluated. I had a blood test done which was about 100 shillings (about a dollar and some change) and the lab tech pricked my fingers and put the blood right onto the little glass thing they put under the microscope. Anyways, so as much as I hate being sick it was still kinda cool to see how they do things in health care over here- not that I wanna experience it again!

As for Happy Life there is so much going on! It has been so good to be with the older kids. Its a bit different without the other girls around because most of the time I am the only one playing with them and therefore they all want me to see what they are doing at all times! They are all doing fantastically. There manners have improved so much too. Samwell and Emmanuel are now going to a new school (they were in preschool on site) and loving it.

Tuesday of last week was an eventful day to say the least. Elijah and Cyrus who were adopted when I was here over the summer came back to visit. It was so cute to see the kids reactions when they were all reuniting. Elijah was a bit quieter and seemed more out of his element then when he was here but that has to be expected. They still seem to remember everyone and the other kids looved seeing them! The US director and his wife, who were in town, planned a big lunch for everyone that worked there which was so nice. It included so many good Kenyan foods too- an no ugali! haha. We received 7 new kids that afternoon from a government home. It was only suppose to be 5 but they went to the courts behind HL back and made it 7! The littlest one is Max who was only 10 days old at the time! There were 5 boys all about 3 years old and speak no English so Andrew use to say "how are you?" about 17 times a day when he saw me, but that has stopped now thank goodness! Lastly, a little girl about 7 months old who has chicken pox! I cannot believe they brought her when she was still contagious. Her name was Niha (nee-ha) but it was thought to be a Muslim name and they wanted to change it to a Swahili name. I suggested Neema (nay-ma) which is a name I heard in Tanzania a lot and really liked and that is what they kept! Kinda an honor to name a child I think! Finally, to top off this crazy day we got a visit from Stuart and Gordon who are two Scottish men in their 40s here for work that the girls and I met randomly back in August and invited to visit the home. Turns out they have been back a few times and always bring some donations for the kids. They have talked up HL to friends interested in donations back home. And they have worked on a partnership with their company and HL and brought by a check for 500 pounds with plans to bring another next month! Who would have thought a random meeting would have turned into a great relationship for HL!

A few other exciting things happened last week after Tuesday as well. Nathaniel, who was adopted right after I had left, came back to visit. Everyone was so surprised at how big he has gotten- very chubby now!! Two of the new babies, Linus and Wisdom have been very sick with malaria. Each day myself and the social work took them down the road to the clinic to get checked up and given shots. Ow they did not like the shots! At the end of the week when I left Wisdom was doing so much better and Linus was still fighting but as I got back today it turns out they had to admit Wisdom to the hospital yesterday because he took a bad turn. These kids are sooo little and under three months old, breaks my heart! Please keep them in your prayers!

On Thursday afternoon I had taken the older girl, Loise, for an afternoon out instead of the afternoon nap. We went into town and had ice cream- which of course melted and made a mess but that is half the fun of eating ice cream when your 5 years old! We then walked to Uhuru Park for a boat road. They have peddle boats and even though Loise's legs were a bit too short she made it work! We had a wonderful day and in the middle of the time on the lake she looked at me and simply said 'today is good!' :) I did get a few interesting looks from people in town though and even asked if she was my son (her head is shaved like most kids here and I have to admit she looks like a boy sometimes)!! It really was a good day.

I will leave you with something for those of you back in Columbus- this past week I saw a Columbus Zoo shirt one someone and another guy wearing a Dublin Coffman shirt. Made me think of home :)

back in Kenya, back at Happy Life

Ah it feels so good to be back in Kenya. I think this place is my second home (wait thats NC so I guess third home! haha). The bus ride was not as enjoyable as the first time but I made it with no problems. I am back at the same house and it was a very happy reunion with the family. I am sleeping in a different room which after all the moving around this summer makes it that I have lived in 5 out of the 6 rooms at some point! I got to hang out with a few Kenyan friends over the weekend and spent some time back in Nairboi town. I still remember my ways around everywhere!

The taxi driver I use to use called me on Saturday remembering I said I would be back sometime in November and just wanted to check in with me. I was going to get on a matatu yesterday and heard my name called as one of the drivers on our route came to say hi. Then this morning the boda-boda driver I use to use honked his horn and waved to me as he drove by. It is so nice to be remembered by people that you thought would easily forget you as you only saw them a handful of times.

I was so happy to be back to make it to the fundraising walk at Happy Life on Saturday. It was wonderful to see all the women that work there and a few of the community volunteers I know as well. It warmed my heart so much to have the bigger kids yell my name when they saw me! I def missed these kids a ton! The walk went well- even though it was 12 km! haha. There was a good turnout and the US director and his wife are in town so it was nice to talk with them for most of the way.

The construction they were doing on the building is almost done and they are certainly growing. They have added 14 new babies in the recent weeks! Most of them gave straight from the hospital at only a few days or weeks old. Some of them do have tragic stories as well though; such as Joy whose mother was insane and actually bit the child on the face multiple times that she now has many scars! Ah I cant imagine! Unfortunately there has been a bad string of malaria going through and a lot of them have been sick. Some of the babies are sooo tiny that it breaks my heart when I hold them. I am hoping they will get their nourishment up quickly and they all stay away from being sick! With all the new babies they have changed around cribs and even rooms kids are in but I think I got most of the new placements down today.

A few updates on kids...
Jennifer was returned to her mother. Turns out the father had taken the baby to the police station stating it was an abandoned baby and bribed them to give anyone looking for her the run-around. The mother spent 6 weeks trying to find her and ended up getting arrested after telling off the cops for giving her so many mis-leads. When she got out a few days later they told her where she really was and the mother came for her daughter, who is actually called Anita. Apparently it was an amazing reunion and Jennifer was instantly changed when she saw her mother again which is so good to hear because she was having such a rough time!

Naomi has been returned to family as well. The mother came to HL and asked about her baby. The mother's story is very strange and I will spare the whole story but tell you it involves stealing money, drugs, someone dieing, jail, prostitution, etc. Turns out Naomi has two other siblings that were sent to another orphanage when she came here after the mother got sent to prison. The staff at HL say that they will not realise the baby back into the mothers hands as she clearly is an unfit mother. The lady then sends the grandmother who neey wont let Naomi go home with her because thats not a decent income etc etc... The grandmother catches wind of all this and comes for the baby instead as she did not want her with the mother either. The grandmother is keeping the name Naomi so I have no idea what her real name was.

Nathaniel was the only baby to be adopted while I was gone. Chris is doing so much better and is not as sick anymore, eating without throwing up now! Johnathon now eats without fussing. Daniel can sit up. Matthew and Job have gotten so big. Ah they just all grew so much over the last two months! This afternoon I will get to spend more time with the older kids and am very happy about that. I know Samwell and Emmanuel are now going off site to another school but dont have much more of an update on any of them just yet.

Crazy to think I have only three short weeks left and will be headed back stateside at the end of the month!! I will def enjoy my time here though!

good-bye Arusha

The past six weeks have gone by so quickly; I cannot belive my time in Arusha is over!! This has been a wonderful last week. I read with a lot of kids, created this alphabet game and played it wil children at that stage, worked with the baby class, tutored a few intermediate class kids, and created more teaching aids. It was def a good last week working with these kids. It just stunk to have two days of good-byes!

Wednesday was my last day at Kisongo. I was so touched by some of the teachers and how sad they were that I was leaving and one that I bonded with really well actually refused to say bye to me! The kids were all very cute in sayin bye. I even received a few letters from some of the boys which were just wonderful. Kids' writing is funny as it is but when they are writing in their second language they are even more fun to read.

Today was my last day with the kids at the Center. I was definitely closer to these children simply for spending more tie with them and the atmosphere being more of where they live and not just where they go to school. Trisha was very sweet and had all the kids draw me pictures/write notes so they kept delivering them to me all afternoon. The also all gathered and sang good-bye songs to me. Ah- it was so hard to leave these kids. I wish I could express better in words what things were like. It is just nice to know that as much as these kids have touched me and impacted me I have left something with them as well. One of the girls that barely talked to me when I started is one that said bye to me three or four times and ran after me at the gate to say bye again! Helena was being a litte pistol this morning not wanting to look at me and being pouty but then this afternoon she was attached to my hip like normal. I did not want to put her down and leave her! I decided to be her sponsor so even though in a few years she will forget about me because she is so young, she will always have a spot in my heart and I hope to come bck and she her as she grows up.

I will be leaving for Kenya in the morning and spending my last three weeks there. Happy Life is having a fundraising walk on Saturday so I am very excited to make it back for that and cannot wait to see all of those children again even though I know some of them have been returned to family members or adopted. I will update ya'll on them next week.

It is only appropriate that end my last Arusha post with telling you about food! Wednesday we went out with our only other Western friend, Diane, who works with Living Water. We had sodas at this lodge that you can sit and look out to a watering hole with zebras, elands, ostriches, peacocks, herons, etc. I have never seen an eland before nor much about them but one come up close to us so I got to pet it which was cool! We then went out to dinner to a real Tanzanian place and had chicken! It was real, good, tasety chicken! This mean also involved fries and salad and no utensils. It does not even phase me anymore to eat without utensils! It was also a power cut night so we spent most of the evening by the light of the month which I think helped becuase then I didnt realize how messy my fingers were getting!!

more reading, Rwanda, recommendations, chip stealing

Our reading program is going fantastically!! There were a few kids that we had trouble getting interested in the beginning and they were the kids that needed it the most. This week, however, they are the ones coming up to us first asking if they can read with us. Joseph, Eunice, and Winafrida are all about 7 r 8 and had no reading skills so we started with the flashcards. Each day Joseph gets more than the previous and gets so excited about it! Eunice sounds out every letter in the word which doesnt always work with the English language so its sometimes a challenge but she never gets discouraged. Winafrida has been my favorite with this process. She never wanted to work one-on-one and now is not only doing the flashcards but bringing up books to just sit and listen to me read to everyone. I think she is falling in love with reading! It is such a reward to work with her because you can see her mouth move into the word and know that her brain is just clicking away figuring out the word and then she has an 'ah-ha' moment and gets it. The one thing I have to remember when working with any of these kids is that they are learning to read in their second language so sometimes they pronounce words differently but its not because they dont know the word its because of their accent or whatever.

I do have to share with ya'll about my favorite little girl here. Here name is Helena and she is about 5 years old. I dont obviously remember what I was like at that age but I think I must have been a lot like her and thats why I love her so much! She is always happy and laughing and loving. Even if she does something she isnt suppose to and you say her name ready to correct her she gets this little smile on her face and starts to laugh because shes knows excatly what she did. She is also one that asks me to read to her everyday and even know she cant read yet she takes in so much from the book. When I read something she will point out on the page where it is or ask questions pertaining to the story. I wish ya'll could meet this girl and have one of her hugs!!

We also worked with the baby class one-on-one this week with their flashcards. We also had a meeting with all the teachers at Ngulelo which I think seemed useful but should have been facilitated weeks ago! At Kisongo this week I sat in on a few civic classes and assisted with the review of their monthly test. I also was asked by a teacher if I could 'teach English' to a child that just wasn't getting it. Well 'English' is a big topic and it took a while in conversation before I could get her to be specific on something to teach him because I cant just 'teach English' to a child in one class period! We also did some read alouds and coloring as well as one-on-one reading with the younger classes.

On Wednesday morning this week we went to see the United Nations International Crime Tribunal for Rwanda. Arusha is the capital of East Africa and therefore where the UN has set up the courts to prosecute the offenders of the Rwandan genocide that occured back in 1993. Yes, they are still prosecuting over 15 years later! It is crazy to think and also frustrating. A few of the offenders are still at large and actually one of the big names was found within the last month in Uganda. Those that have been in custody are staying in a compound which isnt excatly like prision and getting their trials drawn out over many years before they do end up getting convicted and sent to prision (all in different prisions across the world actually) and then spend the rest of their lives there because the UN doesnt do the death penalty. Anyways- the trial we got to watch a little bit of was for a guy that was the secretary general of the party that was in power back in 1993. The witness that was testifying that morning had a protection order on him so he was behind a curtain and we could not see him but we could see the defendant which was a bit strange, I must say, knowing what he did and having the court so easily stating the deaths and rapes of many people. Ah. Anyways- it was an interseting thing to experience.

This leads me to some recommendations I want to make to ya'll. While here I have read a few good books and seen a few good movies I think you should check out. There are two movies about the Rwandan genocide that are worth seeing- Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April. I also read a great book that took place in Kenya around the time of their independance from Britian called Blood Sisters and is about three friends growing up in that time. Lastly, I am about to finish a book called What is the What. It is about one of the Lost Boys of the Sudan from when their second civil war started back in the 80s.

I leave you this week with a comical story about a walk home this week. On Friday there was ugali for lunch at Kisongo which I have now stopped trying to eat because it just makes me sick and I find it awful... but anyways. One our way home we stopped to get some chips (french fries) at a little restaurant/bar on the road leading from the main road to our house. We got very excited about these and put up with a guy proposing to me while we waited for them! We were disappointed to find they were actually cold and tasted pretty bad but oh well we were hungry! When we made the final turn up to our house these two high school chicks came toward us with their hand stretched our saying hi. When one got close to Trish she ripped the chips out of her hand! Trish throw the remaining bit in the girls face and we continued to walk appauled at what just happened. The girl walked back toward us asking (in Kisawhili) for my juice! I neglected to give it to her though. Turns out there is a crazy girl around here that has mugged a volunteer before and threw rocks at her! At least we only lost the last bit of our cold chips.

reading, chicken, children

This week we put together and started a reading program with children at the center and also the standard one kids at Kisongo. What we did was get together a bunch of books and seperate them into different reading levels. We have been getting different kids at the center to read with us books and then tracking which levels they are at. Once we get through seeing someone and know which level they fit into and where they should be we can spend more time with the ones that are struggling. I also made flashcards with one set bein simple words to start the reading process before books for some kids along with a set of sounds that appear a lot in words. It is so interesting because you may have two kids in the same class and one is a good reader and always one to pick up a book and then you have the other who has no reading ability at all. Its sad because the teachers never spend one-on-one time with them and children easily fall through the cracks here. For the pre-school aged kids at the center I made different sets of flascards for numbers, letters, shapes, etc. and two days a week during their morning class we are going to work with them one-on-one in about 8 different categories, hopefully finding the areas each needs more help.

The rest of the week consisted of teaching a few standard level 5 and 6 classes working on reading comprehension and descriptions as well as teaching the PE classes. Of course there was plenty of playtime (by the way I'm not so bad at soccer while in a skirt and thick flip-flops haha) and coloring. We also had a lot of good conversations this week with one of the ladies that works for LW who is from Canada. She has been here for over a year now and its nice to talk to Westerner who is also dealing with a lot of the difficulties we find when working with people in a non-Western mind set. This is a society that is 50 years behind the Western world so you can never assume people know things or that things are done a certain way.

Of course interesting things always happen here in Tanz so I do have a few stories to share with you this week...

-I have given up trying to have a good intake of meat here. This week for dinner we were served chicken which I got excited about until I found how hard it was to eat. The skin was very hard to get off and then the meat itself was so tough and while trying to bite the chicken leg it flung out of my mouth/hands across the table. I gave up. Then this weekend we went out for our once a week meal outside the house and I ordered a chicken burger at this cafe. Well the piece of meat that came on the bun was dark brown which was my first indicator that something was wrong. I bit into it and found it was not chicken but not sure what it was. The waitress told me it was a mix of chicken and burger. Pretty sure there were some veggies in there too so it was a flashback to my meal a few weeks ago. Oh yea, also at this cafe I ordered the blended fruit juice and the most distinctive taste I got was carrot- yea not a fruit!

- We were riding on a dalla into town from Kisongo Friday afternoon and there were a lot of young (5 or 6 years old maybe) school children on it. A lot of schools dont have proper school buses so children just take the public transportation even at that age by themselves. The conductor was very kind to walk each of the kids across the street when it came to their stop. It was soon found that one child was in the back of the bus and missed calling out her stop and got confused. The driver and conductor moved her upfront said they'd stop and get her some food in town and then drop her off on their way back to Kisongo later. Can you imagine? Back home parents would flip out if their child didnt come home on time but here there is no worries and they know they will make it home eventually. I know Africa must be where people got the saying 'it takes a village to raise a child' because everyone looks out for the kids and there is no harm brought to them.

- One day when we were walking home a group of little kids said hi to us which they normally do only this time it became more. The run up and two of them grabbed our hands. They walked with us and when we went to make the turn onto our short road we tried to let go and say good-bye. Well they were not having it! They continued to walk with us and follows us to our house. We went next door to the house where the older sons of the family we live with live since they were outside. Once we got inside the gate the children stayed outside and again wouldnt leave. One of the guys had to go out and chase them away! haha. I have a feeling they will follow us home every time they see us now.

- Every culture has their own wedding traditions. I have come to love one of the Tanzanian ones. When people get married they put ribbon from the hood of the car up to the roof and then bows around it as well. This car then drives down the road with the newlywed couple. In front of this car though is the best part. There is a pick-up truck with a band all dressed in matching outfits playing music. Normally drums, trumpets, trombones, etc. are the intrustments in use. I always love hearing them come down the road!

eye doctor, airport, info about kids

This week was pretty uneventful compared to last. I made some posters/teaching aids for teachers at Kisongo and felt like I was back in school again doing math and drawing things I didn’t know I could draw (example- a cross section view of the eye). At Ngulelo this week we did lot of coloring and reading. Both of which seem to be a favorites for the children. Coloring is always an event because once one child shows you their picture everyone wants to show you. Also they know we won’t give them a new page to color unless they finish the first so if they get ‘tired of it’ they will just scribble over all of it which drives me crazy! On the other hand, reading is one of my favorite things to do with them. They all seem to be so in love with it to. There are times when I will be reading to the younger kids and older kids to come by to listen to stories that are past their level but they don’t care. I have been trying to work with children individually to have them read to me since they do not get a lot of one-on-one time in the classroom. They always pick at least three books if not more!

I have gotten to take children off site a few times one of which being last week which I forgot to mention. Athuman (15 I think) has been having some trouble with his eyes so Trisha and I took him to the Mt. Meru Hospital to get them checked out. This was interesting because the hospital is a compound of a bunch of one story structures all connected by outside sidewalks. We went up to check in to see the eye doctor and it cost 3,000 Tsh which is about $2.30. They do the eye exam outside where everyone is waiting and therefore everyone is watching. Their eye chart is the capital letter E in all different directions and then you point to which direction it is facing. When you do go into see the doctor it is one large room and different doctors in different corners. I saw one doctor doing the test where they flip different lenses and say ‘better at one or two’ yet it was very old school and they had to manually switch the lenses into a pair of glasses that the child was wearing. This is one time I wish it was appropriate to take pictures as I know my grandfather would have appreciated seeing it.

Another outing I went on was on Friday when I sponsored the Standard VI students to go to the airport for a field trip. They learned about how the airport functions and how an airplane itself functions as well as talking with a meteorologist and learning about all the different weather machines and how it plays into the functioning of the airport. There were eleven children and two teachers that went and none of them had ever been on an airplane before. The teachers (both twenty-five years old) seemed just like students themselves asking questions and paying full attention, etc. etc. I was very impressed at how well behaved the children were (which happens a lot here- these kids behave better than kids in American on most occasions) as they were not talking or messing around with each other while someone was talking with us, they all paid perfect attention. I guess I have taken for granted the fact that I have been on numerous airplanes in my life and this is the first time any of them even sat on one. I did, however, learn a few new things myself that day.

Now that I have been here three weeks (I can’t believe it’s the middle of my stay here already!) I have a better understanding of why these kids are here and about some of their stories so I hope to better portray that to you. There are about 40 or so children that Living Water Children Center (i.e. the Kimaro family) has guardianship over. Living at the center in Ngulelo there are 25 children. These children either go to school at the center (baby class up to Standard II) or are sponsored to go to St. Jude’s School and all range in age from 2-17. The rest of the LW children go to school and board in Kisongo at Yakini Primary School. There are about 90 kids at school here and those that aren’t LW children pay for tuition and boarding. This school has all grades from baby class up to Standard VII. The children then go off site for secondary school (the first group of five will do so in January).

Unlike the children I worked with in Kenya most of these children are not orphans. It’s easiest to think of this situation as a group home like we have in the states. These children are better off here than at home for numerous reasons. Some families cannot afford to raise the children or do not have their life together enough to do so. Two of the oldest girls were arranged to be married at age 12 to men much older than and were brought to the center to escape that. Each child has a story and before I leave I will probably not know even half of the stories. I have met three different sets of family members to children at the home when they have come to visit them. One time was the mother and brother of one of the Josephs. The mother has a lot of issues and slept around a lot etc. and Joseph has been asked if he wants to return home after being here for some time and he refuses and prefers to live at the center. It was a very awkward visit because he clearly did not care to see his mother and did not even know his brother. Few words were exchanged which seemed to be the norm with the other two visits as well. Another girl, Unisis’s, older and younger sister came to visit and brought some snacks that she sat with them and ate and then went about her playing. The third visit was from Christopher’s father who apparently is an alcoholic and that’s one of the reasons he is at the center. The father was chopping firewood for the center which I saw as his way of trying to give something back to them. Christopher told me his father was there and clearly knew who he was. So sometimes it is a little hard to understand what is going on and why a child is there if they have parents etc. but I just bask in the fact that they are happy and seem to be better off here and at least I can love them for a few weeks!

Okay for my random Tanzanian things of the week…
-child getting onto a dalla-dalla holding what I thought was a doll then realized when it was very close to me that it was a live chicken!!
-a man having about 25 chicken all tied together by their feet in two bundles and having them placed under the back seat in a dalla (lots of clucking, again I was a bit surprised!) and then deciding not to take the dalla so they were returned to the side of the street
- a man in a bar/restaurant carrying around a basket with nail polish and such things and painting women’s feet for a fee while they ate or drank (I passed when me came by us before leaving)
- cops chasing a car down the street, kicking in the window, punching the guy, pulling him out of the car, punching him again, throwing him in the backside, another cop hijacking the car and then all driving off in it
- attending an outdoor market where they sold everything from goats to vegetables to kitchen dish sets to clothes and shoes
- I got my dress/skirt back from the fundi and even though there was a large language barrier when ordering them they turned out surprisingly amazing and fit so perfectly! Yay! Pretty sure she used no pattern either which amazes me.
-ordering chips (French fries) and being given a rolled up newspaper (which soaked up a lot of grease!) with chips and a little bit of cabbage on them too
- had many interesting dalla rides: being incredibly close to complete strangers, being asked to kiss one of the conductors (Trisha and I both declined), stood up for an extended period of time in the doorway, and at one point reached about 26 people in one van
- the power keeps going out most nights from about 6:00 PM until 11:00 PM which is prime time to use power so most of those nights I am asleep by 8:30 PM – wow!

lots of randomness

I feel like there is a lot going on here in Arusha but I never know what to write about. Its like crazy stuff happens here but I am so use to it and expect it here that it doesnt phase me anymore. There are some funny stores that I will try to put into words for ya'll to understand and hopefully get some enjoyment out of but first I'll update you on my work here.

I taught a few PE classes this week and started off with basic motor skills. None of the kids new what a skip was and it wasnt that easy to teach them but we are working on it! I find that basic things we assume kids know, they dont here. Left vs right is a challenge, opposites is a word they dont know, etc. On Friday I was left in charge of a standard II class (equvilant to US grade 3). The teacher left something that she said would take over an hour but only took about 10 min so I had to think quick as to what else to do. I decided to work on their creative skills as they are never taught how to use them here and therefore never learn to use their imagination (again something I assumed all kids did). I read to them Where the Wild Things Are (remember finding it in the storage closet we cleared out the day before) and then gave them paper and crayons and asked them to draw their own wild thing. Out of 12 kids, one child did this. They weren't sure what to do and wanted to trace from the pictures in the book or trace something else entirely. When I gave them pages from coloring books to color one of the girls had a 'connect the dots' page and I realized she didnt know what to do (again something I never thought about teaching someone) and when I tried to teach her she could not grasp the idea. I asked the kids if they wanted to do their homework in the small time we had remaining before tea break and they said 'oh no homework is for home, classwork is for class. we cannot do homework now.' Its so often I find that things are done in such a strict way that they cant straw away from it even when you tell them its okay.

As for the kids... I often spend the afternoons when we are at Kisongo waiting for everyone to be ready to board the bus to go home playing soccer or something of that nature with the kids. It is a lot of fun and always interesting when I am in a dress or skirt. Teacher Trisha and I are always receiving notes or pictures from the kids at both the center and school and have started a collection on the wall in our room. There is one baby at the center named Zawadi (Kiswahili for 'gift') who is 2 years old and is so spunky and just loves life. She comes running at me when she sees me which of course makes me smile. The kids here are all so great and I wish I could tell you stories about all of them. Helena, Hawa, Lazaro, Witness, Joseph, Queenie, Namnyaki, ah... okay one of these days I will share a few of their stories as to why they are here but no time for that today.

Aside from teaching and playing I spent some more time mending uniforms this week, cleaning out a storage closet, made some poster/drawings for classrooms, found a load of puzzle pieces and spent a night trying to see if any went together and actually made a puzzle (no luck so far). Trish and myself keep finding random tasks to do in the evening to keep ourselves busy and hopefully be productive.

On Friday it did take us over 2 hours to get from the center in Ngulelo to the school in Kisongo which should be about a 20 min drive. We were traveling by dalla which meant we took one, walked through town, took another. The second one we took stopped in Kisongo and our school is about 3km past it and the bus was suppose to be going to Monduli which is way far past it. The driver said he didnt have enough passengers to drive past Kisongo (there were 5 people on the bus) and kicked us off. This is the second time that has happened so I did some good natured yelling at the driver because he was suppose to go further but it didnt get us anymore. We ended up having to walk- in the hot heat and dusk- eh... story of my life in Africa. haha

Chicken on the Bonnet- This week one of the family members we live with, David, who is 25 and kinda the one in charge of volunteers took us out to this restaurant for dinner. It gets its name because 'bonnet' is what they call the hood of a car and during the day the place is a used car parts shop or something of that sort and at night they grill out on the street and turn the sidewalks into a restaurant. I was a bit skeptical but turned out to be great food and so much of it so I hope to go back before I leave here.

Usa- There is a town here called 'Usa' which when I saw it writen on dalla-dallas thought it was USA and said 'well heck they are gonna drive me back home!' Turns out there is a town called 'Usa' pronounced Oosa. Still makes me smile when I see it though.

I swear someone could write a book about experiences on dalla-dallas (or matatus) or have a picture book photos of all the misspelled words on signs here. As for dallas- I have been on them with chickens and goats. They are to seat about 15 people but usually around 25 people on them. Because of this I have gotten incredible close to complete stangers but it doesnt seem to phase me anymore. A guy hopped out the window one time because he was tired of waiting in the traffic. Oh I cant even think of all the crazy things that happen on them! As for spelling errors... There are def a lot more here than in Kenya and its understandable because English is not fluent here but they still use it and as for the westerners- it gives us something to chuckle at as we walk down the streets.

Beef Burger- Today we went out for lunch and since we never eat meat during the week we ordered beef burgers and what they brought us was not beef, pretty sure it was a veggie burger. We asked the lady and she said 'no, no this is beef we just put veggies with the beef, we dont sell veggie burgers.' Interesting concept but yea it was not beef! We couldnt stand to eat them and when she came back to take our plates she yelled at us for not finishing!! haha.

The Kiswahili vs. English is still something that makes everyday interesting. Whether it is people trying to talk to us on the street, the difficulty it took for us to get cold sodas the other day, the conversation to order a dress from a fundi (tailor) in town today (I am interested to see what it actualy comes out to be), or having the same conversation with someone three times. I am picking more of it up and find myself saying Kiswahili words in English conversations.

Well this may very well be the longest post so far so I will try to update more often so that doesnt happen again. Please let me know if there is something you want to hear more about or anything you want me to write as I dont know what is interesting to all of you. Much love to all and cannot wait to see most of you in December!

teaching, sewing, church

Things have been going well here at my new placement. I am so much happier now! Its nice living in the middle of everything going on because it makes it so much easier to see the kids a lot. I have a roommate from England named Trisha and honestly dont know what I would do without her! This is her third time in Tanz and second time at Living Water so its nice to have her answer most questions I have. We get along very well too and are always laughing (usually at ourselves).

I have gotten into a bit of teaching here and learned that the education system is not so great here and has lots of flaws. A few times now I have been in classes where a task that should take 10 mintues tasks over a half hour. The kids have workbooks and then copy all things down from the blackboard as they do not have worksheets here. It seems so tedious. They dont have a lot of supplies so there is no creative learning and everything is done pretty much in one way and it doesnt help students that do not learn well from that one way. Also, they teach in English but English is not a first language for any of the teachers so often vocabulary is misused and grammar is not correct which drives me insane!! haha.

I did get to teach a little bit at both sites at the end of last week; math and english. I really enjoyed it. Spending time in the classrooms I did notice some things different about the children here. They are all eager to learn and want to be in school. They look out for each other and no one laughs or makes fun of another, always making sure no one gets behind the rest and don't care if they have to wait in order for that to happen. You also see this a lot at the center; the children take care of one another really well. The final thing about teaching I'll say is that when we were walking out of class one of the girls said to me "thank you for teaching us." It was so pleasant!

Trish and I spent most of the weekend sewing. We started off with just the tast of replacing buttons to some of the kids school uniforms and it turned into sewing up a lot of holes and rips on uniforms and everyday clothes. It would have been a fairly easy task if we had a sewing machine but no such luck; it was all done by hand. Mom would be so proud! :) We only did the children's stuff from Kisongo (the school off site from where we live) so this week we will do the clothes from the children at the center which just means more sewing fun!

Today we went with the children from the center to church. Just like in Kenya, church doesnt last less than 3 hours. Today reached about 5 hours but half hour of it was lunch that they provided for the children because its was children's Sunday or something of that nature. With it being children's Sunday the kids song songs, did a play, etc. I am glad to got to see them do that but I do not think we will be venturing back there anytime soon. Not only was there the kids part but there also two different sermons, singing, a baptism, and prayer for two different groups of people for something. Most of it was in Kiswahili of course so its just hard because we never know what is going on. There were two other mzungu there though so some things they did translate for us, just not everything which was odd.

Oh yes I must share with you two major pluses of my living situation now. One- not only do I have a shower, but its a hot shower!! yay! Two- I found out yesterday that there is a washing machine here!! Today I did a load of laundry and I could only do about half as much of a load you'd do at home and it took about 2.5 hours and stil have to wait for it to hang dry but hey, its still a washing machine!

Change of Plans

I decided that I could not handle the orphanage in Moshi anymore. I was not happy and there were too many factors playing into that. They do not teach love there and therefore the kids do not understand that its not okay to hit me, spit on me, throw food at me, etc. It was hard being the only volunteer and being ignored by most people that worked there including the head Sister. A friend made a good point to me by saying "why volunteer for people who don't appreciate it?" So at the beginning of the week I made a change and come to Arusha which was my next placement. I am scheduled to be here 6 weeks and havent decided what I will do with the last 3 weeks of my trip (stay here or go back to Kenya) but that is a decision that doesn't need to be made now.

I am working with Living Water Children's Center. I live at the house of the family/directors with another volunteer from England. They have two projects. There is Living Water Children's center which is a 5 minute walk from the house and 25 kids live there. There is also part of a primary school there (baby, intermediate, and standard 1 and 2). The LWCC kids go to school there as well as some other children from the area that then go home at the end of the day. The second project just opened this past year and it is a full school in Kisongu which is right outside Arusha and about a 30 min trip away from the center. They have all levels of classes there (baby-standard 7) (standard 7 is equal to the end of middle school for the US) and do both day and boarding school (lots of boarding here in Africa. The LWCC children that are standard 3 and up board there along with kids from outside families. I hope this is all making sense!

I am not sure of my schedule here yet because some days are in the center and some are in Kisongu. I will be doing some teaching and assisting with that and evenings and weekends are just hanging out with the kids. All teaching is done in English so the kids are pretty fluent which is a big change and a big help. A few of them are helping me to work on my Kiswahili which is fun. These kids are also older (3-17) so its a change from Kenya.

I am happier here in Arusha and actually feel like I am being productive and making a difference which is what I was looking for! I cant believe it is October 1 and in exactly two months I will be home again. I am so thankful for this experience and cannot wait to share more with many of you when I get back stateside.

I am not giving up!

Ah! Last week I had a long post written and then the internet crashed!! Its very frustrating because I dont get on that often and then the last three times I have either the internet goes out or the power. I'll try to remember all I wrote...

I decided I am not giving up on the orphanage. Even though half of me cant put up with the abuse and unloving nature of it the other half of me is pulling for the kids. Of course the side with the kids won. The kids put up with the abuse for way too long so I owe it to them to be a bright spot in their day for a least a few weeks. It it just frustrating to me because instead of asking a child to stand up they smack them on the head and pull them up, makes me think of Peter Cotton Tail. I had to stop myself from yelling at one of the ladies the other day because she pinched this child until he cried for to me looked like no reason at all!! I am trying to find when it is my place to say something and when I can try to jump into the situation before the women and etc. etc.

I am starting to get down the children's names but its hard with the accent when they say them and then not being able to ask anyone. It took the older kindergarten boys a few days to come around but they like me just fine now. One of the older boys named God Blessed, who is nicknamed Goddy, has become my buddy. We sat outside one day and sang songs, counted, went over body parts, all in both English and Kiswahili so it was neat to teach each other that way. I taught them a song in Kiswahili (Moto Yesu which is Baby Jesus) and they sing it to me all the time now. Goddy has also helped me learn a few names but he was a lisp so its another difficult factor in there!

I stay with the same group of about 16 kids (age 2-5) and during play time there are about 30 kids I am with along with 2 or 3 of the ladies. The schedule goes like this... morning play time, milk at 10, playtime again, lunch around 11, nap time little kids, kindergarten lunch time when they come back from school at 12ish, nap time for them, milk at 2, play time, bath time at 4, then dinner. All playtime is outside and there are swings (a favorite), slides (not a favorite at all), a big climbing thing (older kids territory), and a merry-go-round thing (also a fav). It is nice to be outside but they dont bring any toys out for the children so it is always playing with sticks and dirt. I am constantly on the look out for children eating dirt and licking things. Ah a few of them always eat dirt and suck on sticks!!

My group of 16 is mostly boys with a few young girls. There were two girls that I use to always be with but this week they are in the group with all the other girls so I dont see them as much which is sad. Usta was my one that always had a runny nose so we had a sign I would give her when it got bad then she would use her shirt and wipe it. The other was Rachel was scared of me at first but then came around and always wanted to hold my hand.

I dont think I will have many pictures from Upendo Childrens Home as opposed to Happy Life. I asked the head sister last week if it was alright for me to take pictures as I am the only volunteer I wanted to check protocall first. She said if I asked permission. In the most sincere and nonsarcastic voice I could use I said "you want me to ask the children to take their picture?" She replied by asking why I wanted pictures which I simply said "ya know to show friends at home who Musa is, etc." She said "oh well then thats okay just make sure their noses are clean." (All the children have runny noses and they never get wiped!!) Ahh this lady drives me crazy!! haha.

A few Tanz things...
-There doesnt seem to be a starvation problem in this part of Tanz as some of these are fat babies!! haha. Also some larger people around town. I am just not use to seeing that after everyone in Kenya was thin.
-I have gotten to see Mt. Kilimanjaro once when the clouds subsided and it was beautiful.
-There is a large Muslim population here and a mosque right behind our house so when Ramadan was going on (just ended Sunday) there was prayer chanting multiple times a day and lasted a while at night. I got use to it and kinda miss it now! haha.
-They have glass bottle Pepsi here!! Havent gotten to have it yet but have seen ads for it. Their sodas are also 350ml instead of 300ml- yay!

Moshi, Tanzania

I have made it Moshi just fine! The internet here is not as easy to get to so may only be able to access it once or twice a week. The bus ride from Nairboi was amazing and interesting. The roads, if you wanna call them that, were mostly dirt and incredibly bumpy!! I made sure I booked a window seat and stayed awake the whole time. I saw a few zebra and gazelle off in the distance as well as many Masaai. They were the most interesting part of the trip but I had trouble getting picutres of them because they always seemed to be on the other side of the road! We would be driving along and there was nothing for miles and the all of a sudden a few Masaai would being walking from nowhere to nowhere. Also after areas of nothing you would see a small village of their huts, ah it was just fascinating.

Moshi is a very different place than Nairboi and Tanzania is very different than Kenya. There is a lot of vegitation and everything is green and there is not a ton of dust and dirt. This is mainly because of Mt. Kilimanjaro as Moshi is at the base of it. Due to this there are also a lot more mazungu here. You will also see Masaai walking around town in their traditional dress whcih is always neat. The town is not a big city like Nairboi. It has that "small town" feel to it and is very quant and cute! There are tons of tailors on the sidewalks with their peddle Singers and chatting away. People here speak Kiswahili with very few knowing fluent English but some speak bits of it. There are not tribal issues here as there are in Kenya. It is a lot safer and I feel prefectly comfortable walking by myself as I did not feel that much in Nairboi. Instead of matatus they have "dala-dalas." They aren't "pimped out" as much as matatus and rarely have music and would never dream of TVs. They don't have rules about how many people can be in them and yesterday I was in one that seated 15 comfortably and had 25 instead. I have had to stand once already haha.

The house we live in is very nice. I have a shower!! It is cold but hey its a step up. It does take about a half hour to walk from the main road to the house though. There are still power shortages and they dont happen on a schedule so last night it went off at 7:30pm and was still off when I went to bed around 11. It is odd to have it go off at night because during the day I dont seem to notice it as there is plenty of sunlight but at night its reading by a kerosine lamp! There is always power though when the president is around. His Moshi house is on the same street as us (it stops being paved right after his land haha). The second day I was here I actually saw him drive by in his convoy of cars. It was quite interesting as no one waved or cheered or did anything as they would in America. The host dad is orginially from Kenya and he as well did not understand the reservations of people around us so he waved and the president waved back at us.

I found myself a bit taken back at the orphanage and these babies are blump and very well feed! Hunger does not seem to be as big of an issue here as Kenya. The orphanage I am at is interesting. No one speaks fluent English so I go the whole day without talking to anyone (can you imagine that?!) which gets very lonely. I try to do what I can to help out but no one seems to give me much direction or want to include me. I'm not sure what to think yet and am going to give it another week. They have a school that the older kids go to and I am hoping to try that out next week and see if that is any better. Their ideas on raising children are a bit different and hard for me to get use to as well. The head sister (it is run by Catholic nuns) told me not to hold the children as it was not good for them and they would then long to be held all the time and get jealous of each other. As I understand her view I also think that children need to feel loved and I they should all be held for periods of time to feel that. It is just very different from the last place I was at as they were all about giving the children as much love as possible and here it is more of just teaching the children to survive on their own. The other thing I have trouble with is the way their potty train. They take the small children out of diapers and directly into only using small toilets they put on the floor but often when it is not potty time they just wet themselves. They have no transition period and expect them to go straight from one to the other. Ah I am sorry I am babbling now but its hard when I have so much to say and no one to listen!! haha. I pray things will get better and that I will find some clamness in all of this.

Jennifer enda

In Kiswahili “enda” means “go” so the term “Jennifer enda” is what was said with the kids today as I said bye to them. On Friday one of the moms told the children that I was leaving and I definitely shed some tears even though I didn’t know exactly what was being said. Today I went back to the orphanage to hang out with the kids one last time and say good-bye. Fred (age 4) asked me where I was going and I told him Tanzania. He asked where it was and I told him right below Kenya but one of the other volunteers would show him a map and point it out in class tomorrow. Later he asked me again where I was going and I told him Tanzania. This time he said he wanted to go to Tanzania.

It is certainly hard to say good-bye to Kenya after living here for three months. I have seen changes in the children. Mark (age 4) would never warm up to anyone, would never listen to the volunteers, etc. and now he is wanting to be held by us and giving us kisses. I often go into the children’s bedrooms and give them kisses before naptime. Anne (age 4) is a little slow and has some learning disabilities; she used to not understand the concept of kissing my cheek and would just touch cheeks. This week she gave me a real kiss and made a “muah” noise! It was so exciting.

I have grown incredibly attached to these children and will constantly be Emailing people at the home for updates on them and praying that they all find loving homes. Baby Jennifer has even grown so attached to me in the six weeks she has been there it’s so hard to let her go and everyone is interested to see how she will start to act without me around. As it is with me there she will cry if she sees me, and I am not with her. She will fuss if someone else tries to feed her while I am feeding another baby. Other people will try to hold her and she continues her cries. When I pick her up she immediately stops wailing and puts her head on my shoulder. I wish I could explain to you what it feels like but I think only those of you with children may be able to understand.

I have grown attached to this country and certainly feel as if I was living here and not just visiting for a short period. I have seen changes with people aside from the orphanage too. We took a new volunteer to the market yesterday, and I spent about an hour just standing with some guys that we have seen every time we go and chatted it up with them like we were old friends. On my way to work each day I always passed this group of seven or eight children playing and they used to simply yell “mazungu, mazungu” at me. Our interactions have developed and now they run up to me to exchange greetings and shake my hand before going about our seperate ways.

So needless to say this weekend was full of goodbyes. I use my taxi driver, Jimmy, one last time. I took one last ride with my favorite boda-boda driver, Joseph. There was a night out with the girls with a Kenyan volunteer from the home, Kaiza and her friends (where we were at a concert and I was interviewed by the news haha). We took a family picture as my host family has called me their “oldest daughter.” There have been many hugs, many kisses, and many times saying “nakupenda” (I love you) with people that will forever remain in my heart.

I want to leave you and my writing about Kenya with a few things I have learned from the past three months:
- one tube of toothpaste lasts exactly twelve weeks
- clean is a relative term
- a child laughing is one of the best sounds in the world
- having seven four-year-olds run at you yelling your name and knocking you
over with hugs is one of the best feelings in the world
- if you go into any situation with no expectations you will be pleasantly surprised
- things are much easier with a little common sense, a sense of humor, and a smile
- carrying toilet paper and hand sanitizer is a good idea no matter where you are
- the only way to drink Coke is in a cold glass bottle
- people in the U.S. (including myself) are incredibly wasteful
- growing up in the U.S. made me very sheltered from world news and knowing
things about other countries

So it is "kwaheri" Kenya for now. Tomorrow morning I will be boarding a bus very early to travel to Tanzania. I am excited to see more of the countries that way. I feel as though I am starting all over again but also that these next three months are going to fly by. I know I am going to have more wonderful experiences, meet more awesome people, and fall in love with many more children.

Have you been counted??

That was the question all over the news this past week. The 5th national Keyan census was going on. It started on Monday night and ran all week. The way they do it here is that they have people called enumerators that come to everyone's homes and asks them the questions. They say it takes about 30 min to be interviewed. Bars and social spots were asked to close Monday night as the exercise began and they hoped to reached 90% of the population that first nigh. They also made Tuesday a public holiday for the same reason. I was really hoping to be home when they came to our house and get to be a part of it and see how it really worked. Well, as of Friday morning they hadn't made it to our house- yea they didn't make 90% by Tuesday at all!! haha. So anyways, I missed it while I was at work on Friday so kinda bummed about that but so interesting to see how they do things differently here.

Last week for dinner we had chicken right off the bones which is a rare occasion at the house. While in the middle of eating I turned to my house mom and asked if it was one of the chickens from the backyard. She said "yes, we killed it this afternoon." I know my family will be proud to hear my response was simply "thought so" and just kept eating without missing a beat! haha. I only share this because we once killed our own chickens when I was little, and I refused to eat them so mom had to use the meat in a soup and not tell me until days later.

On Saturday myself and the two other volunteers took the 12 older children on a field trip to see the Bomas of Kenya which is where they do different tribal dances. We spent friday night making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (no one else had ever had them but me the American! haha) and putting together sack lunches for everyone. Saturday morning We loaded the kids up in the van and set up for a long, fulfilling day! We had our picnic then went to play on the two jungle gyms that they have on site. It was so interesting because all the kids were very timid and did not just run right up to it like we had expected. Turns out they had never been on a large jungle gym like that before. We showed them the ways around and crawled through it all ourselves and that got them going. Some of them were still a little too scared of the slides though! After a lot of play time we went into the auditorium for the show. The kids loved the show and some even did a little dancing in their seat and one feel asleep because we missed afternoon nap! At the end they got one of the kids on stage to dance and then dragged me up there! It was quite comical. All in all it was a wonderful day and so much fun with the kids. I am so glad we were able to put this together for them.

With the babies we have been doing 'baby massages' and they seem to really enjoy it. Some of them get so tense from not moving around that much or getting that much play time that I think its really good for them. Chris is still very sick, and I continue to pray he will get better!! We are expecting 6 new babies this week so I can't wait to see them. For the older kids- we did a lot of painting with them last week. This was fun painting such as one day we lined the play pen with colored paper, put paint all over their feet and let them run across it. Oh what fun that was!! We have also been doing a lot of dancing and I have some really cute videos of that! The rewards chart is working out so well and all of them have improved. One of the ones that has had such good behavior lately, Sammy, is actually being adopted this week! He met his new parents yesterday morning and in the afternoon he kept saying "Sammy mommy and daddy!" Today they started their bonding and he just radiates smiles- its so good!!

Sunday evening Liuba had the three of us over for dinner. It was so sweet of her and her husband and we really enjoyed it. They live in a town not too far from work and in what would be equivalent to out apartment complexes. The homes are so different though because it literally is two rooms and then they share a bathroom with the compound. It was a very good evening and I know Liuba has really enjoyed having us a Happy Life.

It is such a hard week so far knowing that I am leaving the kids on Friday. I hopefully won't shed too many tears but I know I will miss all the babies smiles, hugging and kissing the kids, being literally knocked over by the big kids as they yell my name and run to my when they see me. Ah! Well I am going to enjoy this last week, hang out with some friends over the weekend then be off to Tanzania early Monday morning.

sorry I'm slacking!!

Ah! Its been about 10 days since my last post! So sorry! I feel like I really am living here now and not just on a trip so either a lot of stuff has become normal and I don't think to share it or things have become just routine with the work now. Soon I will be heading to a new place with all new adventures so I will pick back up again I am sure!

The kids have been wonderful! The rewards chart is working so well and their manners are improving so much. They have all earned face painting so we had an afternoon of tigers, spidermen, and butterflies! Since this month they do not have school we have been able to bring them around the small kids in the morning some days. A few of the older kids will sit against the wall holding one of the bigger babies while other kids will bounce babies in their little bouncy chairs. They are so good with them and its good to have them all together. One afternoon this week we made musical shakers with the older kids they loooved it! We often do obstacle courses or play dance freeze. Ah I have some of the best videos of them dancing!! We are planning an outing for next weekend to take all 12 of the older kids so I am very excited about that and pray that it all works out!

I have found that there are some things here that I can only take mental pictures of. Twice last week I on my walk to work I saw a little boy pulling a makeshift car on a string. It was an old liter juice box with part of the top cut out. He then took two sticks and stuck them through as axels and then he fixed bottle caps on the ends for wheels. I dunno why I am sharing this but it was just one of those things that stuck out in my mind.

I have found myself reading the paper occasionally here which I never do at home. Sometimes its while I am waiting for a friend at the internet cafe and other times I pick it up at the house. I also watch the news fairly often. When we watch it in Kiswahili I have no idea I can only sometimes figure out what is going on but there are also a few English news shows on. Actually the news plays a lot on the TV here. Anyways... A lot of stories have been on the water shortage and how it is effecting the country. They were showing cattle on the TV last night and they were so thin you could see their ribs. Its like that when I see them around too- def not plump cows like we have in America. The story that really got to me though was in the paper last week and it was saying how some families, especially in some of the slums, are buying animal feed to feed their families because it is cheaper then corn and wheat. I just can't even imagine....

As for the babies... Chris is really sick and it just breaks my heart to look at him. He is just under 6 months old but looks like a premature baby just born. He has an umbilical hernia which is what has been causing a lot of the problems. Please pray for him to get better!! Naomi has been working on standing herself up. I now know what parents feel when their child takes their first step because when I was able to let go and she stood by herself (even if it was just for a min) I become so wicked excited!! I am determined to get her walking by herself before I leave here! Things have just been really good with them all. They still looove bubbles and it calms all of them down if they are having a cry fest. We've been doing baby massages too to help with digestion and relaxation too.

The house is now calm with only 4 volunteers in it aside from the family. I do miss a lot of the people that have been there but an so thankful for everyone I have met here. My nights are often just relaxing and watching a movie. I was sick for the first time here this past week. I had a fever and just felt crappy. I was fine after a day of rest so I think in three months having one sick day is okay with me. I am so thankful to have stayed in such good health here. I can't believe I only have two weeks left here before going to my next project in Tanzania. As much as Nairobi drives me crazy some days... I will miss the city. I started to make a list of things to remember about Kenya and then a list of things I miss from America. I am happy to say that my Kenya list is much longer! I promise two more Kenya posts before I leave here.

power rationing and rewards chart

Since I have been in Kenya there has been water rationing going on. This is where they turn the water in certain areas on at certain times so everyone has water tanks to hold water for the days it is not on. Well now they have started power rationing. This is the first time they have done it and will continue to happen until the rains more and they have more water to run the power plants (or something like that). Normally they turn the power off from 6am-6pm three days a week and then on Saturday morning. However, yesterday it was off all day and all night and still off when I left for work this morning! Ah!! I don't so much mind it while at home because I just read by flashlight and eat dinner by candlelight, but I hate it when I can't get on the internet which makes me feel awful and so addicted to communication with people back home! Ahh!!

As for the kiddies I have deemed myself a new job at cutting their nails once a week! Ah they grow so fast!! With the older kid the other volunteers I work with started a rewards chart this week and it is working very well. We are working on positive reinforcement and teaching them manners. They are learning very quickly what actions earn them a sticker on their chart so behaviors are looking up!! The good thing is that the "moms" are getting into it too! I hope it can continue. Its so good to hear them say 'thank you' and apologize when they do something wrong to another kid, etc. The first reward is face painting so hopefully that gets to happen tomorrow.

We are still waiting on paperwork and things to go through on some of the kids being adopted but Elijah and Cyrus went home on Monday and it was a sad day for us volunteers because Elijah was def one of everyone's favorites. Gloria came back for a check-in visit and it was good to see her happy and doing well. Patience is now the only one between 1 1/2 and 2 years old so we're trying to give her some extra loving!! We tried to do finger painting with her but she was a little too unsure with the paint. She does, however, looove bubbles! She always goes "WHOOOA" when we start to blow them. The babies all love it too and if they all start crying to just blow bubbles and everyone calms down- some days it is the only thing that will make Jennifer stop crying! Johnathon is getting better with walking and even can pull himself to stand up which is so exciting!! He loves to put his head on the babies and give them love but sometimes he can get too rough so we gotta watch that. Okay I think that's all the baby updates for now! :)

big update!

We got two new volunteers at the house this weekend; both actually from Canada . The woman is one of my new roommates and she is doing this project as a present to herself for her 50^th birthday!

Sunday morning I visited my 4^th church here in Nairobi . Three of us went to one of the girls orphanages to attend church with them. There were probably a thousand people at the service. This was the first one that had lots of praise and worship and that was fantastic! They actually had six dancers on stage with the band to put movement into the worship. That was a first but it was very good! There were only two mazungu in the band as well- yay! One of them was preaching that day and when he started to talk I turned to my friend and said “southern accent!!” Turns out he was from Louisiana so of course all of service was in English- yay! All in all it was a good experience. This orphanage, Kings Kids Village , is set up closer to the group homes we have in the states where a group of about 10 kids live in a cottage with “parents.” Their kids range in age but since they are not babies they rarely have anyone get adopted.

That afternoon I took two of the girls from the house to my orphanage. (Of course I jumped on the occasion to show off my kiddies!) The kids are all so much better no more sicknesses at the moment which is a wonderful thing. Its been chilly all week so we have unfortunately not been able to take the babies outside for play time. We did get another volunteer at the orphanage, Emma, who is getting her masters in something to do with child therapy (I cant remember exactly) so she has had some awesome ideas of stuff to do with the kids. I think she is going to be really useful to the moms and everyone here with all her knowledge and the kids love new activities. We brought out bubbles with the toddlers and they went crazy for them! The oldest kids have not had school this week due to break so Ive gotten to see them more and fall in love with them even more!

The police did their investigation on baby Jennifer and found her mother (no idea how!). She is now in custody for abandonment and set to be in jail for 3 months. Jennifer is having such a rough time adjusting and def one of the worse cases psychologically they have seen with one of their kids. She doesn't eat, always cries, etc. Liuba (our social worker) is going to work with the children's officer and the police and assess the situation to see what is going to be best for Jennifer (reuniting her with the mom or keeping her here).

On Monday Melody and Gloria went home with their new parents. I hope everything works out with them. They have check ups with our social worker at their home and then they also have to make visits back. Today was a BIG adoption day too. We have 5 more kids getting adopted! Austin, Rosemary, and Nathaniel all under 1 year old. Then Elijah (2) and Cyrus (4) are getting adopted by the same parents! They will all go home next week sometime so I know that will be rough. The other volunteers and I were sad today just thinking about them leaving but also happy they now have parents. Ah!

Today on top of all the adoption news it was also very sad when Liuba told us a bunch of the babies stories on how they came to the home. Some people in this world are just crazy and so cruel to children; I cant believe some of the stuff they do! The stories are too awful to post here. I am so glad these children are now in safe hands! I also learned that 4 of our kids cannot be adopted because of paperwork issues such as the parents signed documents with the courts 4 years ago saying their child could not be adopted and then they disappeared so there is nothing that can be done until the parents are found. Ah!!

With all of this going on today we also had to take the littlest ones to get their next round of shots. Ive done this with them before, no problem, today however the driver decided to leave and not tell anymore. None of the women at the home could drive the van so we were pretty much stuck. We ended up walking with the babies about 10 min to the roundabout where we could get a taxi. It was 3 volunteers (all white girls) and three moms from the home all of us carrying a baby. They have no car seats here so you just hold the baby in your lap. On the way home the car that drove us didnt even have seats in it so we were sitting on the floor of the car holding the babies! We def got some death stares both on our little walk and at the clinic. It was quite the experience.

So the word of today is- AH! Oh yea one last thing to share... I got hair extensions! It took about 7 hours and they are tiny braids and then the hair going down to the middle of my back. The ladies at my friends orphanage did it and it took about 8 of them! haha. My heart hurt of course and still does at times but hey now I dont have to worry about my hair for a month which is sooo good!

Okay so another last thing... Yesterday while we were in town running a few errands I met a gentleman from Greensboro!! Yay! It was a small taste of NC but so nice. A month or so ago my friends saw a purple High Point shirt on someone in the slum where they were working- how crazy is that!!

mixed emotions

There are two things that happen that give me the opposite emotions at the same time- getting new babies and babies being adopted. It is exciting to get a new kid but so sad that their parents deserted them. When kids go home to adoptive parents I am so happy for them to have a loving home but its still sad to not see them anymore. Both happened/are happening this week.

Tuesday night they had a baby who we think is about 10 months old brought in by a police officer because they were left outside of the police station. As soon as I walked in the door on Wednesday morning little gold earnings on a baby's ears caught my eye and I knew we had a newbie. When our social worker came in I asked her the story and she said they are investigating but have no information. She said if they cannot find out the babies name then they are naming her Jennifer!! How awesome is that? It's an honor to have someone named after me. :) So just like Naomi she is still unsure of where she is or what is going on but she has adapted fairly well. She gets a bit clingy and calls for "mama" which is heart breaking.

Melody and Gloria are two of the toddlers as well and they are in the process of maybe being adopted. Melody's prospective mother is coming tmrw and through the weekend to do her bonding and then will take her home at the beginning of the week. Gloria's prospective mother was on site to do bonding last week but it did not go as well as hoped so she is back to try again. The way adoption works here is that the prospective parents are brought in by an adoption agency and shown kids in the gender and age they are looking for. If they like one they will come on site to do 4 days of bonding. If our social worker and staff think that they bonding went well then they take the child home on day 5. The child stays with the family for 3 months of foster care with so many visits back during that time. If those three months go well then the adoption paperwork starts and it is then in the courts hands.

The only other thing to share today is that I have started to get over being a perfectionist... or at least a little bit! One of the toddlers scratched me with her finger nails yesterday so today I asked if I could clip her nails. Well when you do something to one child you have to do it 18 more times. So I clipped almost all of their fingernails and toenails today. This is where the perfectionist in me had to die. Little kids do not sit still and do not like their nails cut so you just have to get the most of it and move on! haha. I got pretty good by the end I must say.

good day

Ah today my heart was so happy with the kids!

Johnathon (the toddler with some issues) actually ate all of his bread and butter at morning snack which has never happened. He fuses allll the time when it comes to eating- half the time he doesnt want the eat, the other half he cries when its all gone. Anyways, I have been trying to get him to eat the bread which for some reason he has always hated even though its soft and he only does soft foods. Well today he ate the whole time with minimal crying!

Naomi (the newest baby that has had a hard time adjusting to the home) was doing sooo well on Friday and played on her own, did not cry when she was put down, actually shed a few smiles, and even crawled from room to room. Yesterday if she was not held or sitting directly in someone lap she waiiiiiled- and she has a big cry! Well today she was happy again, did not cry, even had little smirks on her face at times. I think she is finally coming around. They said out of all the children they have had she has had the wost time adjusting. Its been about 3 or 4 weeks now.

All the big kids have still been sick. Mostly colds because its their winter so its common. Today the oldest kids stayed home from school so all 13 of them could get injections. I have seen these kids take cold medicine and now these injections and they are all so good! They line up and take theirs at their turn with no fuss; its amazing. The injections hurt a few of them of course so Hannah and I played "good cop, bad cop." She held them while the nurse gave their shot then they'd come to me for hugs and kisses. I def got the good end of that deal! We gave the shots in the morning and by the time lunch came around everyone was so full of energy, laughing, playing, it was a total turn around from what they've been like for the past week- amazing!

As for me, two of the girls I have been hanging out with leave this week so that is a bummer. Can't wait to see them in NC in December! This past weekend I went to a Maasai Market. Think of a flea market. All the vendors bring their stuff and set it up on blankets or whatever and you just walk through. Everyone wants to sell you their stuff. Everyone wants to be your friend and then say "I give you good price" or "look for free, touch for free." The bargaining aspect of it is crazy! This is the second one I have been to, watched a lot at the first one and this time tried it out for myself. It is so fun! From everyone at the house buying different stuff we have learned what good prices are but you have to play the game and start low while they start high and try to met somewhere in the middle. There is always the power of walking away too- that will always help the price go down. haha.

Jennifer look!

They say the sweetest sound to anyone's ears is their own name. When the older kids started saying my name I thought it was the cutest thing, especially with their accent since it doesn't quite come out the same. I have to remind myself of this cuteness when I hear three of them saying at the same time "Jennifer look!" as they show me their latest trick. haha. One thing I have to be careful of is who is getting what attention. If I pick up one of the kids and swing them around or give them a piggy-back ride they alllll want one! It becomes either "and me, and me" or "again, again." It is def a good work out though! Spending time with the older kids has been wonderful! My days are now complete with babies in the morning and kids in the afternoons.

After the kids eat lunch they change out of their school uniform. They go into this room where all the cloths are on different shelves and they just grab anything and put it on. I love it! No one cares if they are a boy wearing pink pants, if their top doesnt match their bottoms, or if someone else was wearing the same thing two days earlier. Only once did one of the kids shake his head five times until he got the sweater he wanted! haha.

It has been getting cold here since we are in their winter. It is actually a bit chilly but for them its very chilly. The kids were all in snow suits the other day. I got a huge kick out of this of course because they were all bundled up but still wearing their crocs for shoes! With the cold has come colds too. There are sooo many runny noses! Three of the older kids got malaria. I swear its like the flu here. No one freaks out about it. They get it and then take meds for 3 or 4 days and are fine. Apparently some people get it a dozen times in their life. I just pray that everyone gets better because today I dodged baby throw up twice during feedings, wiped many noses, and am hating the sad look on their faces that is accompaning their lack of energy.

Two of the girls that have been coming to the orphanage with me leave at the beginning of next week so I am sad about that. The number of people at the house has gone from 26 to less than 10! Its a crazy change but I really feel like your mind knows how long you personally are gone for and prepares you for that. I am still going strong and loving it!

This week I went to the Maasai Market for the first time. It is crazy!! People haggle you and try to get you to come to their stand. Everyone wants you to buy their stuff which is all beautiful! I am not use to bargaining and talking down prices. It is truly an art that I have not perfected but am learning from some of the other volunteers. We'll see if I can get some good deals. When you convert things back to dollars everything is a good deal but my mind has adjusted to shillings very well.

older kids and Kibera

Friday afternoon I got to know the mothers better. I stayed around while the kids were napping and actually shared in their joy as volunteers bought them a new stove. The time of conversation and taking the volunteers pictures with them and the stove, etc. made it so they accepted me a little more in their world (as strange as that may seem). I was on a level with them, not just with the kids. My reason for staying was to meet the five kids to go to primary school off site but I am glad at what else it became. It was also nice to have play time with all 13 of the older kids (8 I already knew from doing school on site) instead of just being with babies all day. Today I can and went to church with those kids. They went off to Sunday school and I stayed in church with one of the mothers. It was all in English this time!!! And I wasnt called out as a new person. I liked it because I didnt feel like everyone was watching me and I could just remain in worship with them; even though it was a bit of a different way of preaching than I am use to.

Yesterday my host parents took myself and two other women to see Kibera. Kibera is the largest slum in Africa and second in the world (first being in India). There are over 1 million people that live there. We only drove around the outside of it and then walked up to a hill overlooking all of it. There is a lot of theft, rape, etc. etc. with crime that goes on inside of it. It was def good to see and eye opening. Even though it is a slum and very poor it is still a functioning community. People that live there pay rent, there are churches and schools within Kibera, there are even antenas on the top of their houses (some mud houses, others shacks) to get television! One thing I have learned from the people and the lifestyle here- they are happy. Everyone knows what they have, what is in reach, etc. and makes the best of their life. So often in America I feel like people are wanting and wanting and never happy with what they have. Some people may live in Kibera but they are still living, still praising God, still loving life. There is more faith and more religious ways of life here in Kenya that I have seen then most places I have been to in America. I love it. People love people for who they are, not what they have. Okay, okay I'll get off my soapbox for now....

sick babies

Yesterday was a bit of a sick baby day. We thought Job (5 weeks) might be blind but the doc says he isn't- yay!!! Nancy (7 months) and Melody (10 months) both projectile vomited (not a pretty site) and Austin (7 months) has been throwing up a bunch too. Doc says the girls are okay but Austin on the other hand has malaria. He is a big, otherwise healthy boy so I think he will bounce back quick. Chris (3 months) is malnourished with malaria and suffering a bit of rejection so its been a worry with him. He has been doing better but threw up a bunch today so who knows now. Ah!! Please keep all these babies in your prayers!!!

We thought Gloria was going to be adopted but the family said no (we never get to find out why). 5 families are coming in the next few days to see some babies so my fingers are crossed on all of them!!!

new baby and another rural visit

We got a new baby at the orphanage which is exciting and heart breaking at the same time. Her name is Naomi and we think she is 8-10 months old but not too sure. There is this refugee camp called IDP (internally displaced people, I think) for people that went crazy during all the political stuff a few years back. The girl is from there so the other either died or just left her or who knows what. She is sooo beautiful. She shows very few emotions and clings to people very easily, does not like to be left alone. I hope she can start to warm up a bit and become as playful as the others her age. Also, I think one of our toddler girls, Gloria, is going to be adopted!! The couple came this past weekend and if all the paperwork goes through they will start 3 months of foster care and if that works then they will start the adoption process. Yay!

Yesterday (Sunday) I went with our housekeeper, Ester, to visit one of our old housegirls, Grace. It was in a very rural area and we walked up this road about 4 kilometers or more. The little kids just kept looking at me. One of them (the son of a friend of Esters') just stared and stared and the lady said he had never seen a white person before! This little girl even starte to cry when she saw me saying she didnt want an injection because they only white people she had seen were medical professionals when she got shots. So other then people staring and oh yea having major picture time with Grace's family, it was really a good day. We stopped in for church. This is my second church service here and at each church they called all vistors to the front and you had to introduce yourself- ah! I spoke in English (duh) and everyone laughed because very few could understand so Grace's brother had to translate. Oh yea this service was all in Kikuu (a tribe here in Kenya that most people I know are a part of) so I understood nothing of the 2 hours I was there. Churches here last as long as they want by the way, both times have been at least 2 hours! At Graces home she walked me around the property to see where everyone lived (extended family all lives on the same plot) and met so many people. My house family's mother lives out there too so I met her. Everyone was so kind and just wonderful to be around. I love the people here. Of course I got asked the question everyone asks here- when are you going to get married! Haha! So it was a great weekend but I missed the babies so much so I am glad to be back with them this week!!

Oh yea I have to tell ya'll my new favorite thing here (maybe I have said this already- sorry if I did)- motor bike taxis!!! We have three mile walk to and from work each day so sometimes we take a motorbike taxi and it is so much fun! Except when I get covered in dirt (no one else seems to get dirty!).


Thanks to everyone that has been reading my blogs. I have so enjoyed hearing from you. I know I couldnt possibly write about everything that happens here so I try to pull out the good stuff! Love you all!!