"Okahaha"...come here!

I’m sweating for the first time since we walked into the airport in Houston (even though it is probably 55 degrees outside). My back aches from bending over and my arms and hands are burning from scrubbing and from the mix of hot water and soap. For the first time in my privileged life I was learning how to wash my clothes by hand. I think Julie and I thought it would be fun, and we both felt bad letting Margaret (the Kenyan lady who cooks and cleans for Mike and us) do our laundry so we decided to “help” because she didn’t trust us Muzungus (white people) to do it on our own.  In case you were wondering it wasn’t “fun” but it was a rewarding experience. I know I will never let her do it on her own if I can help it. I think we earned some of Margaret’s trust, she even told us we did a good job.  Margaret has such a kind and gentle spirit and is so joyful in all the ways she takes care of us. She is constantly telling us it is too cold, we need to eat more food, and to go sit by the fire. Kenyans eat twice as much as we do at least. We have been trying so hard not to hurt her feelings and eat everything she cooks, but it really is physically impossible.  

As I’m writing we’ve been at Little Eden for 5 days now. It feels like we’ve always been here. Our first day was spent relaxing while the children were at school. We went to play with them after chores and before dinner. I was surprised how many of them remembered us. They were hesitant at first, but finally one of them decided to play with Julie’s hair and that broke the ice. They love to play with our hair because it feels so much different. After about 45 minutes I had some really awesome braids and twists. The children who weren’t braiding sang and danced for us. They love music and are always singing and dancing, making a joyful noise!

Our second day we went to the Nursery school at the Church.  4 of the Eden kids go to school there. I had no idea what to expect when Mike said we were going to spend the day there, and was honestly a little nervous when Big Joe dropped us off and drove away. Out of the door ran Naomi yelling “Hallelujah, Hallelujah!”  Apparently she was excited that we came to school with her. We stepped inside the small building. One room with a dirt floor. The walls were no more than plywood boards put together. You could see the sun shining through the gaps. Long benches lined the room, filled with 47, yes I said 47! 3 to 5 year olds, at the front of the room stood Phyllis, the teacher. With a giant smile and a big hug she said “Karibu! (welcome) I am so excited you have come, you will be our special visitors.” Kenyan’s are known for their hospitality. They truly are the warmest most sincere people. Two things amazed and shocked me during our time there. The first was that Phyllis teaches all the same things I do at home to children who are learning 3 languages (Kikuyu- their tribal language, Kiswahili, and English). Phyllis has not only more than twice as many students as I do, she has zero materials. She teaches using one chalkboard at the front of the room and one tiny piece of chalk. She has maybe 5 extra pencils for students which she sharpens using a razor blade and 5 bottle caps she uses as counters for math. Somehow she manages to teach all 47 children effectively, a feat I could never hope to accomplish given the same circumstances. She works hard to prepare these children to give them an opportunity to better their lives that they so desperately need. I was humbled to sit and observe her work and honored when she asked me to teach a small English lesson, and sing head, shoulders, knees and toes.

The second thing that shocks me still is the sight of little African children in tattered clothes and shoes, with runny noses running after a tire. What we consider trash, they consider a toy and a cherished belonging. Theirs is kept in the tiny closet in the classroom where supplies would go, if they had any. I am taken aback every time I see it. It forces me to contemplate the disparity between our wealth and their poverty.

On Friday we went to Thika with Mike and Paris to pick up Anne, and to look at a knitting machine. Anne is the matron, the head caregiver for the children. She is currently finishing up her degree in what we would call social work in the states. She goes to school all week and comes home and works with the children all weekend. She even took a 2.5 hour bus ride home on Tuesday just to greet us for 20 minutes and then had to be back on the bus at 4:30 a.m. to make her class Wed morning. There’s that Kenyan hospitality again! We spent the entire day looking at/ arranging to buy this knitting machine so that the kids sweaters and hats can be made at the orphanage instead of bought. One thing I’ve learned- what would only take a few hours at most in America takes the whole day in Africa. What made the trip worth it was the drive through the forest on the way to and back to Kinangop. There were hills and valleys covered with tea and women with giant baskets on their backs picking leaves. On our way home we saw an elephant in the forest and stopped to take a picture. People who were driving by were staring at us looking at the elephant. We jumped back in the land rover and got back on our way. All of a sudden Julie yells “OW!!” and slaps her leg. “ANTS!!!”  she yelled. Then I felt them too. Now it’s time for your mental picture of us yelling and slapping our legs over and over as we did the African boogie dance to get the ants out of our pants.

Saturday morning was spent doing laundry. When we had finally finished and sat in front of the fire long enough to dry off since we managed to get soaking wet in the process, we went downstairs to play with the kids. We found ourselves in the kitchen with Theresa who was making Chipati – an African version of a giant tortilla. She showed us how to roll the dough and put it on the fire to cook. As we fumbled through the steps we heard snickers and laughter from the older boys doing their chores in the kitchen. They think it is funny every time we do anything African. After that we sat in the grass with the girls for the rest of the afternoon and sang songs and danced some more. They taught us how to braid grass to make a rope and they made their own jump rope just from the grass where we were sitting.  Margaret came out to get us to bring us to the clinic that is next to the orphanage. She wanted to show us a baby that had just been born 3 hours prior. He was tiny and wrapped in 4 fleece blankets. We each got to hold Simon and told the mother congratulations!  Margaret apologized profusely for not getting us while the mother was in labor so we could witness the whole thing… “really it’s ok!” I said. Watching a live birth in a hospital in the U.S. would be bad enough. I’m not sure I could handle watching one in a rural clinic in Africa. As we were walking out the Land Rover pulled up with the Conroe team inside. 7 women plus Julie and I makes 9 women for Mike to handle for the next week J

Internet and power have been in and out so it is taking us a while to post. Thanks for being patient! We will catch up as soon as we can!

Things to pray for-

-Opportunities to share the Gospel with people who don’t know Christ.

- Our time with the kids- that they may feel intensely loved in the short time we have with them each day.

- Mike- pray for his health and for the vision God has given him that he might be able to carry it out with his time left here on earth.

- Pray for the Children of Little Eden. That they would all grow deeper in their walks with Christ and share him with others. That they would take advantage of the opportunities Mike has provided them in the ability to go to school. That they would be successful and grow up to be Godly people of influence in their country.

- Julie is feeling like she is starting to get sick. Pray for her immune system to be strengthened and for her CIPRO to do it's job!