Holler

Yesterday and today were spent in Bosnia.  By Bosnia, I mean an IDP (internally displaced people [maybe persons]) camp outside of Kitale.  In 1992, there were clashes in Mt. Elgon which left these people displaced.  A 5 acre plot of land was purchased and distributed, so these families have lived there ever since.  Anyway, the houses are tiny and have anywhere from 3 to 33 people living in them.  Although the "yards" are small, the area is really pretty and surrounded by maize and trees.  Sadly, a lot of the families can't afford the fees for the children to go to school.  So yesterday was our assessment day.  We met in their church where we got to hear from their pastor and share a little with them.  We went into their homes, and they shared their stories with us.  Today we brought supplies to each family, and they were able to see Sr. Freda because she had a clinic set up.  It was organized, but still quite chaotic.  There was a list of names we went through to distribute the supplies which consisted of a blanket, a wash basin, a cooking pot, a bowl, salt, green grams (lentils), and a jerry (sp?) can for water.  The ladies then came back through the line as their name was called and got rice, sugar, and laundry detergent.  They were all very thankful for the stuff they got, and sang for us as we left.  Allison sang a little too which is always a highlight of my day.

We ate lunch in town where my dad suggested I get the hamburger and he would get the chicken and we would share.  His meal came first; I received 2 bites of chicken.  When my hamburger came (I didn't have very high expectations), it of course had mayonnaise on it even though I asked for it without, and the patty was not beef.  I would say it was a mix of veggies and some sort of meat flavoring.  It was not a veggie patty though.  It was weird.  The fries were D LISH.  We took a moto boda, a motorcycle taxi, home because we are having a Bible Study for the older girls from Oasis of Hope about abstinence and were a little behind on time.  Allison and I hopped on with a guy who wore a helmet himself but didn't offer one to us.  I was in the middle and held on to the man's soft fleece jacket with all I had.  My cheek against the fleece was very nice.  Allison and I laughed pretty much the whole way home.

We walked over to the Bible Study which is at Lydia's compound down the road.  The girls are pretty shy at this point but it will be cool to get to know them as the study continues and as we visit them at their group homes.  It's fun walking home.  Oh we had the Bible study yesterday also and stopped at this lady Meredith's compound (she is from Canada and has lived here for like 4 years...she's very cool).  Her compound is awesome!!!  Allison immediately spotted the seesaw which we had fun teeter tottering on.  My favorite part was perhaps the tire swing however the guard dog kept biting my ankle which I did not like.  She also has a double layer tree house and baby cargo net!  We are going to a BBQ at her place on Friday so hopefully more play time will be allowed.

Oh, also on Friday we will be on 88.8 Radio Imani from 7:30-8:00 so please tune in..lol.

It's so fun here, and I have loved building friendships with all the people we see so often.  It's really cool to walk through town and see our Kitale friends.

Check out Allison's and Chris' blogs because they have the patience to put up pictures.

Today was great but I did miss home.  I like you all