Sunday, June 22, 2008
On Friday, we had to clear out one of the rooms in the school. Workers then came and knocked out a wall to expand the school. I washed windows, did some painting, and sewed on at least 35 buttons that had come off the children's clothing. Jill has been very useful in the clinic -- on Friday she saw 59 adults and 20 children. There are 13 new orphans at the school and we had to go to the market to get trunks for them. We are getting tired of the food and the smog.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Hi. I have a few minutes to update you on what Jill and I have been doing... On Thursday, we both went to a market and bought sweaters for the children at school with some of the money from St. Pauls' donations. Thank you all! It was quite the experience! First of all, the traffic is so bad here. There are painted crosswalks for pedestrians, but apparently they are only a suggestion... I have to share my computer time with 13 others, and I am told that I have to get off. Sorry.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Tuesday was a great day at the school. I continued to hand out clothing to children and check their shoes and
uniforms. Their shoes are so ragged. It is sad. Jill and I have been praying about what to do with the money that we received from donations for Bright Star School. We ate at an awesome Italian restaurant, and it was wonderful. It was the best meal that we have had here so far. It was in downtown Nairobi, and it overlooked the city, yet it was surprisingly quiet. I had lasagna. Yummy! I am enjoying the people here.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sunday was an awesome day. After experiencing much culture shock on Saturday and living on about 4 hours of sleep for 3 days, we got a good night's sleep in a bed. We went to church on Sunday. It was a three hour service. We were there for about 75% of it. It was so much fun to experience this culture's way of praising God. Pastor John gave a great sermon on what to do when feeling discouraged. Some of us needed it badly. Although Africa is very depressing and dirty, the people are joyful and some of the nicest, warmest people I have ever met. They want to help us in any way. They smile a lot, and frankly, I don't know what they have to smile about. They are happy to be alive, and the ones at the church service were happy to have Jesus in their lives. That is all they need.
After the service, we hung out with the 65 boarders and had great conversations. We loved getting to know them. It was wonderful to observe a Sunday Sabboth with no work. We spent the afternoon hanging out and handing out sponsor bags for the children. They are so thankful for us. They were happy to eat the one cookie that each one received after their ugali.
On Monday we worked at the school all day. Jill and I started in the clothing room separating and getting ready for the children to come in. After we were organized we called classes in starting with the pre-class and working our way up to the level 3. My job was to check each child's uniform ( sweater, shirt and shorts, or dress, and shoes.) If they needed sewing, I would send them to Shirley Hoy, our seamstress. If they were really shabby, I would write their names down on a list to hopefully get new items. Jill helped out by handing out a shirt, a pair of underwear, and socks to each child. They were so excited. It was like they were getting a new car or something.
After lunch, Jill worked in the clinic with two nurses. Word got around that the wazungus (white people) were here again and people came from all over to receive medical care. I was needed to sew buttons, because the shirts and dresses were in pretty good shape, but lost a lot of buttons.
It was a very busy Monday. The clinic needs to see many more people this week, and we only got through 3 classes of students today.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
We arrived safely in Nairobi, Kenya at 5:30am local time. Spent the day working at the school, then found an Internet cafe for a quick note home and back to the hotel to crash. Will write more later, after some rest!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
After months of planning, preparing, and praying, the day has finally come! Everything went well at Mitchell Airport and away we go. Our flight takes us to Detroit where we have a 3-hour layover and meet up with the rest of the group. Then it's an overnight (8 hours) flight to Paris. We are in Paris for just over 10 hours then it's another overnight (8 1/2 hours) flight to Nairobi.