cold

Every time my family goes to New Zealand we always stop by this waterfall for a day and hang out.
I have no idea what it is called.
I think my great aunt or someone jumped off the top of it.
I really have no clue.

Anyways.
We go.

It is like a long walk straight down the side of this mountain on these rinky stairs to get to the bottom.
When we get there; we jump into the water and play around, go under the waterfall and what not.

This last time I was in New Zealand (7th grade.. mind you) my cousins and I jumped into the water.
Worst choice ever but we were on a mission to get to the other side.

This is how it went:
The water was so cold that you had to either choose to swim or breathe.
You would swim a few strokes... maybe to get you a foot or two and then breathe for a minute.
The whole body was tense.
It is hard to breathe.
But I was stupid and just wanted to play.
We all did.

Fast forward to now.
I am in Kenya.
I am way dirty.
Not your average American dirty/greasy grease.
I am talking... my hair is so greasy I am putting bacon out of business.

What do I have to do?
Shower!

I turn on the shower hoping for any sign of water. (it doesn't always work)
It starts as a single drip for thirty seconds and then becomes a double drip for another thirty until it is Victoria Falls after waiting a while.
I stick in one appendage to weigh out how bad it is going to be.
My hair grows so fast from the one touch, I become a hairy bush woman.
There is no turning back.
I just have to suffer as ice drips down my body as I rise, lather and heck no to repeat.

You would think the ice would be great in Kenya.
It is hot here.
I am hot.
But... it is never a fun experience.
And I have a testimony of that.

thank you

Today was a day of cleaning. 

Hallelujah!

We got permission and then snagged up Opondo, Hussien and Jack to help us. 

They were more than happy to. 

Here is Opondo and Hussien. Opondo was the sweep man and Hussien maned the water distribution. 

Jack came in at the end to help with the dusters. It is a Kenyan thing...

When they were all done we gave them watermelon, candies and pencil sharpeners. Kaleigh I could not be more grateful that we were not the ones who hand to do the cleaning. We said thank you and sent them on their way. 

About 3 minutes later there is knocking on the door. 

I open it up.

There are the 3 boys again. 

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" 

They said in unison. 

It was so precious. 

They helped us.

 It was the least we could give them in return and they were so grateful. 

These kids have so much to teach me. 

fungi

After filing through some nasty ish pictures on google images, I have discovered that the little blessing that has decided to start growing on my arm is ringworm. 

It is self diagnosed. 

It says to give it 4 weeks before you go into a doctor. 

I am at 2.5 weeks of pure ringworm bliss. 1.5 weeks left. 

Everyday I wake up and say, "Wow! It is looking better."

Everyday Kaleigh wakes up and says, "Wow! It is getting bigger."

You be the judge. 

When I first got it I thought it was just a zit. I thought, "That is a strange place for a zit." Then it kept growing day by day until it is keeping a steady size it is right now. 

Be warned... what you might think is a zit could become ringworm.

teeth

I did not see this but Kaleigh told me.
She was walking by Kev Kevo and Opondo.
Kev had his shirt off and Opondo had it in his hand.
Kaleigh told them to continue.
Next thing she knew, Opondo wrapped the shirt around one of Kev's teeth and pulled it right out!
My homeboy Opodo is a stud.
Kev leaned over and blood just poured out of his mouth as Kaleigh stood there amazed.
Opondo threw the tooth on the roof and walked away from the situation.
His job was over.

Can we just have a moment of silence while you try to fathom all that?
Props to Opondo.

Side note: The boys always throw their teeth on the roof. I have no idea why.

super glue

Kaleigh and I were playing a classic game of keep away with Inno and Opondo and their shoes. It was so funny and so fun. While playing we (meaning me... I think) broke Inno's shoe. It was nothing to detrimental. Just a little tear. I felt bad because it was my fault. 

Luckily we had some super glue on hand. We whipped it out and went to town. 

A bunch of other kids that were also having shoe problems wanted their shoes fixed too. We did a little mending here and there. I would hold it until it was dry enough to put on the child's foot. 

I wasn't very good at my job. 

Next thing I knew Francis was giving me this look as if he just pooped his pants or something. 

His poor foot was super glued to his shoe. 

I tried to pull his foot off from his shoe but I could see they were stuck together and I could not stop laughing. 

You know one of the other boys with no sympathy grabbed that shoe and just ripped it off his foot.

Kaleigh and I were uncontrollable at this point. 

It was so funny. 

average

This is my everyday. 

Having seven boys help me with my laundry. 

Teaching class. Mostly teaching the boys girls camp songs. 

Epic walks on dirt roads. 

Playing with boys and trusting them into the air. 

Reading books before bedtime. 

This little beaut cooks all the delish things Kaleigh and I have been making lately. 

lesson plan

Teaching class goes the following way...

We make lesson plans. 

We write the plans on the board. 

We prepare and make sure everything will go swimmingly.

Then we fail. 

Every time. 

Without hesitation. 

As we were preparing our lesson today I was expecting the same.

We made lesson plans. 

We wrote it on the board. 

And we prepared to make sure everything will go swimmingly.

We even made sure we had coloring books and crayons on hand for when the epic fail rolled around.

We start class and it is a Christmas miracle. 

Everything goes SO well. 

We didn't even finish everything on the lesson plan because the boys were enjoying the first few activities we were doing. 

The time flew.

The boys were so good and attentive. 

Bless their souls. 

I have to blog about it because this is rare and I need to remember to not give up when the class goes down the crapper like it normally does. (pardon my french) 

worth it

Today Kaleigh and I went on a grand adventure.
Well, the last few days have been adventure after adventure.

We went to visit some of the other boys and ended up walking on what you would think a typical African road would look like.
We passed a plethora of maize, hunts made out of poop, naked children bathing in a water bank and the works.
For real. It was epic.
Not to mention we crossed a bridge over water that is filled with hippos. Top that.
Then we got to the town the older boys live in and there are no cement roads.
It is straight up dirt all around.

Today we went to Nivasha to take Micheal to school.
But... mostly to see the other 20 boys that go to school with him.
We spent 8 hours in a matutu.
It took like 5 hours to get there between 3 matatus and one taxi.
Was it worth it?
Oh heck yes.
We spent like 30 minutes with the boys
And then we had to leave so it would not get dark while we are traveling.
You know... safety first. Especially in Africa.
The ride home was a lot quicker.

On the drive Kaleigh got to see her first real African wildlife.
That is kind of a lie because she has seen a monkey in town and a crazy lizard.
This time we saw a plethora of zebra just chilling on the side of the road.
I love zebras. I have seen millions. I swear.
I just cannot get enough of them.
I hope to see millions more.

you have ball...

Sometimes I feel like a mama chicken bringing her chicks under her wings. 

Two days ago I turned around in a fabric store in Thika and behind me was little Collins! 

One of my older boys. 

I was SO excited. 

I got him to come back to the center with me. 

It was my first link back to the other older boys who have left.

Yesterday another one of the older boys named John was visiting and told me that Alex wants me to come see him. 

Alex is one of my most favorite boys. Hands down. 

Within like 2 minutes my bag was packed and we were waiting on the side of the road for a matatu. 

We jumped on the matatu. 

It only went so far. It dropped us off in the middle of freaking no where. 

While in the middle of no where we met some interesting people. 

This one boy in the highest pitched voice ever said, "Hello! How are you?"

When I responded in my normal voice that isn't high pitched, he was stunned. 

Or maybe he was at a loss of words. I have no idea. 

The next choice child I met was another boy who when seeing us asked,

"Mzungo, you have ball?"

"Ummmm.... nope." 

What in the world makes him think that all white people carry around balls?

A matatu saves us from these crazies we met in the middle of no where and takes us to Kopling. 

We get there and walk towards where I think he will be and BOOM...

There Alex is... swag and all. 

I love this kid so much. 

He gives me a hug and then shows me around the campus. 

After the tour he took us to his one room apartment. 

He lives all alone. He says he is fine but he must get lonely. 

All the neighborhood people looked at us like they had never seen a mzungo before.

It is likely. 

Then we started walking to the stage to grab a matatu to go home. 

It was getting dark. 

We convinced him to come back with us. 

We walk in the gate and the boys were screaming his name. 

"Shanagla!" "Shanagla!" "Alex!"

He ate like a king. 

He is such a prince. 

fungus and tan.

Life has been great.
No complaints except my fungus is growing.
I get to hit up the nurse tomorrow.
Lucky me.

I got a compliment on my tan today.
Thank you very much.

Nothing really else to say.
I am so thankful that I did not go to the hospital this week.
You know... count your blessings.

wedding ring.

As I sit here I have clothes in the sink that need to be washed. (by hand)
I have some sort of fungus growing on my arm.
My feet are as brown as the boys.
I can hear matatus honking outside and the bats that live in our roof.
The boys are sleeping.
Tomo the PE teacher from Japan is home.

Micheal is home.
I am so happy.
Thanks for your prayers.

Life is great.

I also have this new trick after me.
He is a matatu driver.
He got my number...
You know that number went in my phone and was instantly blocked.
No thank you.

I need to find myself a wedding ring.

Men In Kenya

I forgot to mention the part where Micheal's doctor wants me.
This is legit.

He comes up and talks to me whenever possible.
He asks the most random questions.
Tells me his work schedule and asks me what times I will be around.

Men in Kenya are forward.
I am just saying.

Then to end it all off he knows where I live in Kenya and told me how he likes to travel.
He then proceeded to ask if he could come visit me sometime.
HAHAHA! NO!

Joke is on you, homeboy.

Normal

Today was great. 

I wish I had pictures. 

We got to the hospital and Micheal was drawing! 

This is a great sign. 

We played countless rounds of Old Maid and other matching games. 

We colored a lot. 

He is basically back to normal. 

I was there when the doctor was doing rounds and he said that he can come home tomorrow or the next day. 

HALLELUJAH!

My heart leaped over 50 times.  

Kaleigh and then made a run into town for food and a soccer ball.

Micheal wanted chips. (french fires) We got those too. 

We got back to the hospital and normally at this point in the day he digresses. 

He did not!

He was watching TV and laughing his heart out. 

He was dancing. 

He was coloring. 

He was Micheal! 

He was the boy I loved so much not the other helpless one. 

And so, my day was great. 

Thanks for asking.

Five times.

Kaleigh and I ventured back to the hospital today.
In the morning Micheal was doing great.
We played Old Maid and he loved it.
Sometime during this period his IV thing fell out.
He got sleepy and went to sleep for a little while.

This is when Kaleigh and I made a break away for a bit and went to town.
We visited our white friends in Thika.
They are seriously so great.
I am so thankful for them.

After their house we went to lunch and then back to the hospital.
This time he wasn't doing as great.
I got there just in time for them to be putting his IV back in.
Mama told me to go into the room to comfort him.
I went in and grabbed his hand.
They had the needle in at this point and they were digging around for a vain.
They didn't find it.

They pulled out the needle.
The doctors went to get a new needle.
This is when Micheal showed me that this was the 4th hole they had made.
Four. Count them. Four.
And they were not done because the needle was not in.

I was getting all sorts of mama bear protective.
If they did not get it right this next time I was going to go all kung foo or something.
They went in for the kill.
I felt like the needle was ten feet long because they just kept pushing it in.
The more they pushed the more I couldn't hold back the tears.
Thank heavens it got to a vain.

Micheal was just sitting there totally helpless.
Blood was gushing out of the IV needle because they did not have the cap on it.
He was bleeding all over the place.
The doctor was more worried about the blood getting on her then the fact he was gushing blood.
Ummmm.... HELLO. My child is Old Faithful right now.
And I am Niagara.
But eventually, it all got cleaned up.

I can't handle watching Micheal in pain.
I can't handle these Kenyan doctors.
I really miss western medicine. (Sorry I dogged on you so much, Kaiser.)
I can't handle this.
But I will because I have to be strong.

You ask: Why did you block your blog?

It is official. My blog is blocked. 

I never ever thought I would do that. 

Here is the deal. (Don't judge)

Some of the staff are the most horrible people I have ever met. 

They are so rude to me.

No Joke. 

This is basically how it goes. 

I don't want the staff at the center reading my blog. 

We don't see eye to eye on a lot of things. 

An example: they beat the kids. 

I am not talking your average spanking. 

We are talking like slave era beating. 

They break out the switch and beat the kids until they bleed or reach an uncontrollable cry. 

How human is that? Not at all. 

The staff doesn't like me much. 

It is okay. It is a two way street. 

But they like me enough to stalk the crap out of me. 

They read my blog. They know every movement of my life. 

I blocked my blog so I can write what I want to write without them knocking down my door. 

I hope you can understand this. 

The manager of this place is nick named by Allynne and I as King Julius. 

He pounces around this place like he owns it and knows everything about it including the kids. 

He can only name about 10 of the kids. There are 100+. 

Some of the kids have been here since they are 6 and now are 18 and he knows about 2 of them. 

What a charming man. 

He makes me feel like I worth less then elephant dung. 

Because you can make paper out of elephant dung and you can't make paper out of me. 

I know I am worth more. Don't you worry. 

I haven't had the pleasure of seeing him yet but he comes home this weekend. 

Sweet. 

Thika Level 5 Hospital

Meet my boy Micheal. He makes my heart leap. 

I love him more than I can fathom. 

 He is super sick. He uses the bathroom about 5 times an hour or more. 

Today I visited him in the hospital. In the morning he was doing SUPER good. 

So good it made me misty eyed. 

We colored together and he drew a little. 

I also visited some of the other friends I made at that hospital.

These are too beautiful girls I met. The one on the left just cannot get enough of me. 

 This is another boy I met in the hospital. He is amazing. 

I gave him a blanket and a little care package thing that my aunt made. 

He was so happy about it. He was squealing and kicking his legs. 

It made my heart melt. 

You can not really see it in the picture very well but he has these huge sores all over his body. 

 Kaleigh and I went back to visit him later in the day. 

He wasn't doing very good anymore. 

I made me all sorts of misty eyed. 

He slept the whole time we were there except when he needed to make a bathroom trip. 

I feel so bad for him. Like so incredibly bad.

He is crammed into a room with about 15 other patients. 

(most of them are babies)

It isn't very clean. 

It is miserable.

Keep him in your prayers. He needs as much help as he can get. 

Infected.

The disease of whatever is spreading. 

for real. 

Yesterday I sat with the boys in the nurse's office.

One by one 23 boys filed through. 

Coughing, hacking, vomiting, diarrhea, and the works.

Poor boys. 

Today I went to 2 hospitals.

I felt like I was in one of those Africa documentarys. 

These hospitals were legit Kenyan Hospitals. 

The first hospital took some tests on Micheal and told him that his problem was too big. 

He had blood in the extremely runny stools. 

We went to the second hospital. 

They checked him into the pediatrics. 

I was standing there as they put in his IV drip thing and took a blood test. 

I didn't eat in the morning. 

It was 3:00 pm. 

I usually do fine with needles and stuff. 

I was struggling. 

The mix between it being one of my favorite boys and the lack of food. 

I was about to faint. 

My head was spinning. 

My feet felt like 1 ton each. 

I stepped outside the room like a drunkard and sat. 

That is when the most precious little girl hit the glass.

"MUZUNGO!"

I went and visited her. 

Then I proceeded to visit every child in the pediatrics. 

They were so precious. 

I know what I am going to do with the blankets my aunt gave me. 

The kids in the hospital.

Perfection. 

To end the night.

1st: Kaleigh vomited everything she has eaten that last few days into the trusty squatter.

2nd: I ready the boys their bedtime stories. 

I love reading to them. 

I am so glad I brought a plethora of books.

Oh and if Kaleigh isn't better in the morning... we are going to the white washed hospital. 

Don't you worry mom. I am taking care of her too. I cleaned up her vomit.

Against the World

I love these boys more than even I know it.

A bunch of them are really sick right now. 

One is terribly sick. 

Today I watched him vomit up everything we tried to feed him way too many times. 

Then as I was trying to help him sit up he made a mess in his pants without even knowing he needed to go to the bathroom. 

After he was all washed up I asked him if he wanted to read a book and he said,

"My hand doesn't want to."

He was far too weak. 

He is one of three brothers that live here. 

This is when his older brother stepped in who is only 13. 

He picked up the book and read it to him in English and then translated it into Swahili. 

He sat by his side all day and night long.  

It was so precious. 

His little brother was right by his side too. 

All I could do was sit there too and rub his back.

I wish these boys had parents.

I wish they had mothers to take care of them. 

Especially when they are sick. 

It is so hard to watch the boys lay in their beds sick and know that no one is going to come and give them the puke bowl, take their temperature, tickle their backs or hold their hand.

It is them against the world and they just have to power through it.

Today I hung out with all the sick boys. 

I gave them medicine.

I read books with them.

I let them eat crackers. (just like mama did for me.)

I rubbed their backs. 

I held their hands as they repeatedly puked. 

Then, I cleaned it up. 

Just one day I want them to know that it is not them against the world. 

It is me plus them against the world.

Hand in hand.

Worth of a Soul

I love this picture by Liz Lemon Swindle. 

For real.

My mom got it for me for Christmas. It was the perfect reminder of why I come to Kenya. On the back of the picture there is the story of how the picture came to be. 

Here is the story: 

"When Mothers Without Borders approached me about going to Africa, I told them I was not interested. For me Africa was a world away, “and besides,” I thought, “I am too busy.” Imagine my surprise when I found myself on a plane to Zambia in June 2007.

One of the first children I met was Kennedy, the little boy you see in the painting. At three years old he has lost both of his parents to AIDS and was found living alone with his six year old brother and ten year old sister. When I thought of those three children struggling to survive and the millions of others across Africa in similar circumstances, I felt an overwhelming hopelessness and said to myself, “No amount of money can fix this.” 

Later that day while we were filming, Kennedy climbed into the arms of the man portraying the Savior. As I stood watching them, Kennedy turned towards me and our eyes met. At that moment I knew it wasn’t hopeless. I realized that the Savior could fix not only the problems of Africa, but of the whole world…and we can be His hands to do it.

For the first time in my life I felt what Isaiah meant when he said, “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces.” To Kennedy and all who struggle to understand why, I promise that God has not forgotten you. 

Looking back I realize that my reasons for not wanting to go to Africa are likely the same as yours. We are busy and feel like we cannot make a difference, but I know now that neither is true. We are never too busy to lift another and every good work is known to Him who said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of…these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”"

There is also this awesome article about this picture.