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!