03.15.10

Monday, March 15

I got up at 7:30am and headed to breakfast at 8:00. It was a buffet; I had an omelet, sausage, corn flakes, and coffee. It was all decent but not great. We left for the Londiana Orphanage a little after 9:00.It was about an hour and a half drive there, and 45 minutes or so was on an AWFUL sirt/stone road. It was so bumpy! We took a tour of the orphanage and hung out with the kids for a while. They all LOVED having their picture taken and looking at it afterwards on the screen. I took SO many pictures of them! I'll post a few favorites at the bottom. Then they wanted to take pictures on their own. I let a few of them push the shutter button but I was too scared to let them hold my new Nikon so I finally just put it away. Even without the pictures, those kids are so fun to hang out with! We taught them how the play the hand slapping game (you know, the one where you put your hands on theirs and they try to slap the top of your hands before you move them out of the way) and a couple others. Then they had us all go into the dining hall. They sat us up in the front in cushioned chairs and gave us soda. This is just a glipse of the Kenyan hospitality we experienced. These people really want to make their guests feel welcome! They were incredibly nice. The kids sat on wooden benches facing us, and several of the children performed songs and poems for us. Then we went to a different room for lunch - beef stew, red beans, and rice. It was good! After lunch, we played with the kids some more until it was time to leave. These two girls latched onto me the last 20 minutes we were there and kept pulling me back and asking me to stay with them. It was so sad to leave them, and I only know them for a couple hours. I have my cheap walmart watch to one of the girls (Mercy). I really wish we would have had more time at that orphanage, because you could tell how much it meant to them. The kids just relished in the attention they were getting.

Once we left, we were told we were going to swing by the new feeding station to walk through real quick (it was on the same road, just a few km away). We didn't expect 200 kids and women waiting for us, but that's exactly what we got! They had us go into a main room where they sang us songs. It was so sweet! Then the kids gathered around us and bombarded us with a million questions. I had 4-5 kids hanging onto my hands at all times. It was overwhelming, but I loved it. One of the widows asked me to live with her. She asked what I liked to eat, and when I told her I like chicken she pointed to the farm next door and said, "Those are my chickens! I can feed you chicken! I'll take care of you, I'm a good mom!" I know she was messing around, but she sincerely wanted us to stay longer and visit more often. The ladies then gave us 3 gifts: a basket for Tim (our leader), and painted gourds for the youngest in the group (Stephanie) and the "oldest" (Mom; she isn't really the oldest, but Tim wanted her to have it since she's on the Orphans Board back in Midland.) We gave them gifts too: ballpoint pens! They LOVED them! They were warming us to get to them. It was quite a feat to make sure everyone got one, nobody got more than one, etc. It was so crazy the response those pens got! After that, we had to leave so we could get to the next hotel before dark.

But surprise, surprise.. our van broke again! There was apiece of metal underneath our van that broke part of the way off and it was dragging and banging on the stone road. We had to take it to a mechanic to fix it. It cost 50ksh to fix it. For those of you who don't know the conversion, 50ksh is equal to 65 CENTS. Yes, that's $0.65! WOW!

Once we got to the hotel (The Kericho Tea Hotel) we had dinner in their restaurant. I had a hamburger, and it literally came with ham on it! It was good though. And of course I had chai tea :) The Tea Hotel is much nicer than the Hotel Kunste in Nakuru (it's MUCH bigger) but not as nice as the Gracia Hotel in Nairobi. There's no shower curtain here! Steph and I ended up washing our hair with buckets over the tub (more on that later..)
I was shocked at how excited all the kids were to see us today. they've never met us, but they all want to hold your hand, and beg you to stay, or at least come back to visit. They're so greatful for the tiniest things - like cheap Bic ballpoint pens. they went crazy over them! Even the little ones who can't write wanted some! They have so little and are incredibly appreciative for anything we give them. Especially the kids we met at the feeding station - they don't even have a place to sleep! They're completely homeless, and so many of thsee kids were barely even walking! The kids in Kenya have to grow up so fast. A 9-year-old could very easily have to be responsible for a little baby. Like, COMPLETELY responsible. It was not uncommon for the "older" girls (who were actually still very young) to be carrying a baby less than one year old on her hip all day le it was nothing! When I was 9, I was playing with nano pets and learning my multiplication tables so I could go to the ice cream party. These kids are amazing! I want to help them so much.

This trip is already stirring compassion in me and making me want to do something big to help. It's definitely something I need to be in deep prayer about (and I'd appreciate your prayers too!) because I know it's easy to come back from a trip like this and want to change your lifestyle, your career goals, etc. because of the high you're on from the trip. We were warned not to make any drastic changes or decisions in the first couple months after being back, and I can totally see why. So while I know some of what I'm feeling is emotionally driven due to the trip, I believe some of it is God gently stirring these emotions. I'm not sure what He wants me to do exactly, but I know I'm supposed to be involved in this ministry, in some form or fashion. The thing to figure out now is what He has planned for me.