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.

DTR..not what you're thinking

Today was spent at Discover to Recover. Within 5 minutes of being there, Francis, Patricia’s husband, told us we would be taking the kids to shave. We kind of looked at each other wondering what that meant so we asked. This meant we would walk the kids down the road to get their heads shaved. So we took like 20 kids to the salon where they got their heads shaved. It was so crazy and unusual but of course awesome. I met a girl Fiona who sat by me the whole time and pretty much just counted to ten in both English and Swahili. She was way cute. Back at the center, I helped Ebby and Grace make lunch. I got a lesson in peeling potatoes with a ridiculously sharp knife. My mom has always taught me to cut away from myself but that did not apply today. They kept laughing at how slow I was at cutting and peeling the potatoes. Oh I’m sorry the huge machete could have taken my hand off in one swift motion! Grace also thought my cabbage cutting skills were a little off. Apparently I wasn’t cutting thin enough but the finished product was delicious. Sweet Fiona stood by me the whole meal preparing time. When I was done, she washed my hands for me J. At first she was trying to rub the dirt off but then went and got water to scrub them for me. It was the sweetest things ever. Stella, the matron here, got a geography lesson from Megan, Allison helped Josiah in the office with budgeting stuff, and Chris played with the kids who all love him. I think Friday’s are going to be great if this keeps up!

This is About Monday

Yesterday morning was spent at Oasis and our afternoon was at Freda’s. We went to Oasis in the morning where Allison and I figured out the kids’ marks from last term to this term and compared stuff to pick some of the best students so they can go on a little trip with Geoffrey and Lydia. It looks like we will be taking the kids to an animal park we heard about where the animals are all crazy. Crazy meaning they have extra limbs and eyeballs. In the afternoon we headed to Sister Freda’s where we helped a kid walk!!! It was one of the coolest things ever. His name is Boas and he has cerebral palsy I’m pretty sure. He was fine when he was younger but then had meningitis that affected his brain. He has been at Freda’s for the last year or so where he stays in crib because he is so squirmish. He always has a HUGE smile and laughs so hard sometimes to where he does the silent laugh. It’s really cool to be around him. Graciella, a nurse from back home, has been helping stretch out his arms and legs and hands and helping him learn to walk. Allison and I got to hold him up while he kicked a ball down the hallway and back. It was unreal!!! We also got to meet/hangout with a lady Evelyn who gave birth to Michal earlier in the day. She had great English, which made it really fun to get to talk to her. The day was just great!!!

Here is a miniature explanation on each place

Oasis of Hope: a drop in center for street kids who are taught subjects like Math, Swahili, English, and Christian Religious Education. Here they can begin their education and also receive 2 meals a day. The only rules at Oasis of Hope are “No fighting” and “No glue bottles.” At the end of the day, the children go back to the streets until school the next morning. Some children live in group homes with a house parent. These students attend a school within the city as they continue to learn what life is like not living on the streets.
Sister Freda’s Medical Center: a hospital and HIV testing center for the city. There is also a feeding program that is run by Freda’s awesome husband Richard..ohh Richard
Purpose Driven Academy: the school part of Deliverance Church, where we attend on Sunday, where about 450 students, including over 150 who board there, receive a wonderful education. Already we have gotten to meet with the school as a whole and have gotten to spend time in individual classes.
Gilgal Secondary School: a high school run by a great couple, Ben and Christine, where many of the students have been greatly affected by the post election violence that happened starting in January.
Discovery to Recover: a center for kids infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS
Tumaini: an orphanage whose name means, “hope”.

Don’t Hate Me

I know I haven’t blogged in a really really long time. I am hoping you are reading the other people’s blogs because they have been posting stuff almost everyday. As you can tell, I did not come home on the 19th like I was going to. I decided to stay until at least the 11th of September because I have had such a great time. So for now, my flight is scheduled for the 11th but that could easily change. I will keep you updated.
Saturday we went to a birthday party for all the children at Oasis of Hope. For the most part they are all street children so they don’t know when their birthdays are so while Lydia is here we celebrated for everyone. Allison and Megan and I spent the beginning cutting out letters and ironing them onto t-shirts so each kids could have a shirt with his or her name. The first shirt I ironed was for a kid DANIEL. His shirt has a backwards “E”…oops. The party was very fun, getting to spend more time with all of the kids, playing soccer with them, etc. Sadly, my dad left us that day but Peter, one of our taxi driver friends, delivered some tasty cookies and bread that my dad had sent back with him. I made frosting, and we enjoyed every bite.
Here is a breakdown of what we will do during our week
Monday through Thursday, our mornings will be spent at Oasis of Hope
Monday afternoon: Sister Freda’s
Tuesday afternoon: Purpose Driven Academy
Wednesday afternoon: Gilgal School
Thursday afternoon: open for going to any of these places/laundry/grocery store
All Day Friday: Discover to Recover
Saturday: we will rotate between Tumaini, Bosnia (that IDP camp), and some other things
Sunday: church at Deliverance (it takes 53 minutes to walk there or 50 shillings [less than a dollar] to take a motor boda [a taxi via a motorcycle]. People invite us over a lot so some afternoons will be spent there but that’s also our day for laundry