Dasveydania Kitale

Megan and I are heading home in about 24 hours (happy face/sad face). We will be leaving Kitale around 5:30, leaving Nairobi at 9:50 and will be back home at 4:28 P.M. on Friday! It was sad saying goodbye to people today, especially little Sellenah, Jennifer, and Irene from Oasis but I am so excited to see everyone back home and meet my new niece. We get to spend our last day at Sister Freda’s which will be a great ending to a great trip.
I am really sad thinking how I won’t get to hear Allison sing in church anymore (though I did record her singing last week and will for sure replay that often), or hear Daina snort when she laughs, or get to play ping pong and wire ball with Chris, or be the co-director of baking with Megan. I have loved living with these peeps for the last few weeks and can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. Even our daily walks on the train tracks to Oasis, playing “You know me from…” will be missed. This trip has seriously been so great, and I have so many memories. Thinking about the cool people I have spent so much time with and all of the memories we have from the places we have been is making me a little emotional right now so I might stop.
Allison, Daina, and Chris: You guys staying here for 6 months is so cool. I know that is a pretty non-descript/bland word considering you are doing unbelievable things but I really do think it’s cool. Please don’t forget me and don’t worry, I wont forget your talking alarm clock (Allison), your love for curry (Daina, I mean DEENA), your tree climbing abilities (Chris), or your bright colored outfits (Megan [but we get to be friends at home now!]). I’m very excited to hear all of your new stories in the next few months. Please make sure to keep track of “add me rice” kind of situations.

Last Thursday

Megan, Chris and I had the pleasure of helping with the building of a urinal at Gilgal School. Ben and Christine, who by the way are so cool, asked us to help because school was starting the next week. We helped move bricks which are handmade bricks that were stacked up in a pile with spiders, worms, moss growing on them. It was cool to see how everything is done by hand but made me thankful I am not in the building business. Anyway, Megan and I carried a ridiculously heavy bag of cement while Chris was helping the guys dig the border that had to be a foot deep (I didn’t think that sounded deep at first either, but it is). We all helped dig and remove the excess soil. Oh yeah, and it was crazy hot that day. It was totally fun, but I know Megan and I were tired. We got to help carry water from the well over to the pile of cement that was created on the ground not in a giant cement truck. Big rocks were also carried over to place in the ditch before the cement was poured. The process is so different from anything I have seen!
We had a crowd the whole time, including a drunk old man who came over to grace us with his stench and presence. Chris and I both took a picture with him which he then wanted us to pay him for. When we told him we weren’t going to, we said we could delete the pictures. Unfortunately, he did not quite understand digital technology so he didn’t realize that by clicking delete that meant the pictures were gone. He wanted to make sure we deleted both pictures that were taken and we did. What he didn’t know and still doesn’t know is that we actually took more than 2 pictures, so don’t worry, you can still “meet” him.

Last Tuesday

We were over at Purpose Driven Academy, sitting in on a lesson for the 5th and 6th graders about environmental issues, HIV/AIDS, etc. when I decided I couldn’t hold my pee and longer and headed to the bathroom. As I’m leaving, I recognize this little girls face but can’t figure out how I know her. She was wearing a hood like a little girl, Jandross, so I said, “Jandross?” and she said no. So I said “Gina laku nani?” meaning “what is your name?” and she said “Debra” where I then said “Kipsongo?” and she said “yes.” I couldn’t believe it and here is why. Like 6 weeks ago we went to Kipsongo for less than an hour where this little girl, who I actually thought was a boy, held on around my neck the whole time. She/he was missing a few teeth, which was so cute. Ok so fast forward a month and we are back at Kipsongo. I was looking for this little “boy” by searching the smiles of the kids (there were about 200 packed into a church). I didn’t spot him/her but kept going on with the day. A few hours later we took a tour through the slum where I noticed a jack-o-lantern smiling at me. I was so happy to see him/her again and hung out with her (at this point I found out her name was Debra) the rest of the day. So now we are back to last Tuesday as I am leaving the bathroom and little Debra from Kipsongo is standing there. I picked her up and went to ask one of the teachers just to make sure it was her. I found out she is an orphan, and she is from Kipsongo, however, it makes me so happy to know she is boarding at Purpose Driven Academy. I got to spend more time with her today. Megan and I washed the dishes last week and today, and she and Jandross stood by us the entire time. BTW, Jandross is also from Kipsongo, and is also an orphan. So yeah, Purpose Driven has been great.