I am a doctor. I think I forgot that when I got here but I was quickly reminded. I have dealt with more blood then.... I can't think of an analogy but it has been a lot of blood. These kids bleed more and more often then the average kids. I will give you a story of one day:
Opondo comes up to me and he has these 2 black circles on his feet. It is obvious that they are hurting him. I call my translator Clinton over to ask him a few questions. I find out that they are parasites he got from the water. The blessed water here. So the only way to get rid of this little problem on his foot is it cut it off. Awesome. Here I am. I have to break out the pocket knifes and our one kitchen knife. All I have to sooth the pain is candy. I candy Opondo up and let Clinton do the cutting. We get the job done after a very painful long time. You are most likely thinking... "Why don't they go to the nurse?" Well, the boys trust me more.
Later that night, I am in the dorms helping the boys go to bed and there is no power. I hear one of the boys crying but he is always crying so I didn't think anything about it. One of the boys grabbed my hand and told me to come out. I see Brian there with his 2 toes gushing blood. I pick that child up and run him to my dorm. By the light of flashlights we have to clean this up. I am in the middle of wiping up all the blood and cleaning when Obama comes to us and he is bleeding from his mouth and nose. Allynne hates blood but I told her to take care of it. Her motherly instincts kicked in really quick. She was taking care of that while I was taking care of Brian. We thought that the blood was done until Kev Kevo came and he was also gushing blood from the mouth and nose. Lucky me. Allynne was not around anymore. I just took him to the sink and had him clean it up. It stopped pretty quickly. After Kevo left, I finished taking care of Brian. That night was nuts.
Allynne got malaria. She basically lived through hades but as soon as she got to the doctor and got on the med he gave her she felt 1 million times better.
Right as Allynne got better from malaria, I got a parasite. We went back to the doctor. He loves us. I was seriously best friends with the squater for almost 2 weeks. It was the worst.
One day only 2 of 5 teachers showed to work. Guess who got stuck teaching a class. This is how it went. "Here is the chalk. Here are the books. Teach them whatever you want." Ummmm... I was so lost. It was only 75% a disaster. I think I was trying to teach them math that was way over their heads. By the end they almost were caught on.
I went to class with some of the boys that are at a vocational school up the road. Allynne and I thought that it was just going to be a lecture type of thing. I dressed in a skirt and a white shirt. Of course we show up and for class we are building a house. Yes! The second we start working all the boys also working on the house stop and just watch us. Here are 2 white girls turning cement and building stone walls while 20 strapping African boys are just watching. It was great.
We taught the boys how to play red rover for class. Ainea got clothes lined so bad. It was seriously the funniest thing ever.
Stephen got the mumps and they had to remove one of his front teeth. He was so depressed. It only costs about $22 dollars to get him a new one. I told him if he got good marks in school I would get him one. You better believe he is trying harder then ever.
Allynne and I learned how to dance like proper Kenyans. It is epic. I hope I pack my dances moves when I leave.
Clinton ran away. I cried for hours. There is a HUGE story behind this. If you want to know it. You have to ask me in person. He came back on Monday. I was so relieved when he did. This story is one of the most life changing moments that have happened here in Africa.
For Valentines day we died the ugi pink. The kids loved it. We also heart attacked there dorm. It was so cute. None of the kids know what Valentines day is but it is the thought that counts. Clinton also came home this day. It was the best Valentines present ever.
We taught the kids how to play heads up 7 up. Yeah, they are in love.
The kids love to ex-foliate their skin. I can never get away just being the only one to do it.
Allynne had her birthday. We made the kids spaghetti and got a cake. It was so fun. In the morning we also died the kids ugi blue and added sugar. In Kenya it is a tradition to soak the birthday person in water. Allynne was so wet by the end of the day.
One of the special needs kids got lost in the backyard. We went on a plethora of search parties and never found him. All I got was an epic sunburn from it and a work out of a lifetime. He also just showed up on Monday. Come to find out, he met some people who helped him cross the river and showed him how to get to a local church. In the church he started to pray for people. One of the families he was praying for took him home. They gave him food, clothes and shelter. He even had 3 seizers when he was with them. They are such good people.
Clinton and Stephen got sponsored to go to school. They left here and I had quite the breakdown later that night. I got to take them to school. I made their beds for them and went over a list of what they needed with one of the teachers. I know that going to school is the best thing for them but I just wanted them to stay around and play with me forever. They are my sons. If you ask them who their mom is, they will say my name. Clinton told me that "You are the closest thing I will ever have to a mom. You are my mom." I love these boys.
The kids gave me a baby turtle. They also brought me a hedgehog. It was hurt and they wanted me to put a band-aid on it. They are so cute.
I went to the equator. It was epic. We also went on a 2 hour camel ride. I think that I bruised and chaffed on that camel. It was so uncomfortable. All we saw on the ride was zebras. I guess I can check camel rides off my bucket list.
I love Kenya. I am so sad that my time is coming to an end.
