bram

This boy is both sweet and sour. He will have his cute moments when he will come and cuddle up to you and just want to be loved. Then, 5 seconds later he is screaming at so child bossing them around and keeping them inline. After he is finished with that or even mid-yell he will turn around and smile at you. He wants to keep his sweet personification ingrained in your memory. I would say he is 80% sweet and 20% sour. 

Bram is one of the boys that is wicked good at flips. Just watching him makes it look like it is effortless for him. He is also really good at football. Normally if a boy is good at flips he is good at football too. 

Bram likes to be helpful. He is always willing to lend a hand. There are so many boys here that sometimes he is a boy that gets lost amongst the other boys. You forget about him for a while and then you see him again and realize you love him and want to play with him. 

He is a good kid. And I enjoy being around him. 

mwangi hussien

This child looks way different then the other kids. Kaleigh and suspect that he might be part Ethiopian or something like that. Or he is just a strange breed of Kenyan. Hussien also is part Japanese. When Tomo was here he would teach them Japanese songs. Hussien would sing that Japanese like he has been fluent his whole life. 

This boy is super smart. He is the oldest class and he is number one in his class. You would never guess this talking to him because he doesn't really like to speak in English and all the tests are in English. 

Lately Hussien has been rocking this "drunkard" outfit. He wears pants that are too big for him with a old nasty blazer and walks around doing his thing. It cracks Kaleigh and I up. He is a gangly boy with a unquie voice. I really like to tease him and hear the way he says, "No. no. no. It was ewwww-you"  

Hussien isn't around very much. He really just goes and does his own thing all day. When he does come around he wants to play games on Kaleigh's phone. Hussien is funny and super random. I would definitely describe him as awkward too. 

michael shaban

This little homeslice is making Kaleigh run for her money on largest mouth I have ever encountered. When he laughs his little tongue slaps around like a snake. And does this child laugh? He is so freaking loud all the time. He is always screaming or yelling about something and then of course he always cracks himself up... there goes the yapper flapping open once again. Not to mention that Shaban just doesn't really like to wear clothes on his top half. He always has his shirt unbutton and his tummy just hanging out. Let's be honest... his six pac. 

I swear Shaban is always complaining about something. When he complains to me he does it in this made up Shaban-English. It is so funny to listen to. He really didn't want to make these glove horn like things in class one day and repeatedly told me, "I don't want to make those foo-kering things in class!" With his accent and then breaking out into laughter after he said that... it made it always so funny. 

Shaban is Shaban. He always is being creative and doing something new. He plays football like a champion. He likes to be the center of attention. 

I think Shaban is so funny. I love it when he is around. Sometimes it is hard to calm him down but that is what makes him... Shaban.

reading in bed

Toto is sick. I have no idea where because he told me in Swahili and it is a part of the body that I have not learned yet.

Today it has been really rainy. All the boys were playing in the dorms. I went to join them all. He was laying in his bed. I went and asked him what was going on. Blah. Blah. Blah. I found out that he was sick. He was laying there in tears. You know he just wanted to feel well and play with the other boys.

Light bulb.

"Hey Toto! You want me to read you a book?"
"Yes!"

I walked to my house and grabbed the only chapter book we have. I came back to the dorm. I asked him to scoot over. There it was. Toto and I laid in his bed and I read him 5 chapters of this book. I would get to the end of a chapter and ask him to continue or stop. He would always say continue. My voice was getting raspy and so I let him play games on my phone instead after the 5th chapter.

I love moments like these.
I love one on one time with these boys.

I told him we would continue tomorrow. He seems really excited about that. 

benson wangwae

This boy is determined. He will practice and practice and practice flips over and over and over again until he nails them. He is not done practicing until they are 100% perfect and he is dang good. He might be the best flip master we have at the center.

He is also really good at football and drawing. I think that when he was born he was just born with talent oozing out of him. He is that type of person. But when he fails at something you will know because his favorite thing to say in English is the "s" word. It is honestly... so funny to hear. 

Benson is a lot of the staff member's favorite child. It is obvious why. Whenever I look at Benson I think of Tomo. Tomo loves Benson. Tomo is the Japanese PE teacher that lived here for 2 years. 

Benson is an incredible child. And he has really good teeth hygiene. 

kelvin

This is another Kelvin we have here at the center. This one always reminds me of an evil dictator. He has this laugh and just his look is so evil dictator like. 

He is in the middle.

Everyone says that he is super responsible and you can trust him with anything in your house but there is just something about him that always puts me on the edge. He is definitely not the first boy I would invite into my house. 

I was talking to his teacher and she told me about how Kelvin takes nothing seriously. She will be yelling at him because he did this wrong or disobeyed and he will just sit there and laugh at her... which makes her even more mad. 

Kelvin is an animal lover. He is always with the cow. I swear. He milks the cow and moves it around. He also knows when the chicken's eggs hatch. He will grab my hand and take me over to see the new baby chicks. 

Kelvin is the brother who first got me to start my cartwheeling love. He had a lot of patience and would laugh at all my failures. 

He is a unique little character. 

simon

This boy is a man. He is beyond ripped and is just pure man meat. Just meet him one day and you will know what I am talking about. He is also #1 in his class. He is so smart. 

Getting pictures of him is really hard. He normally runs away. 

I don't think that Simon has any free time. The staff are always making him work. They make him do all their little dirty deeds that they are too lazy to do themselves. When he does have free time it is obvious that he loves to play soccer. He is really into soccer. If someone makes a score from the other team he will go up to his goalie and smack them across the head. He really likes to win. 

I don't really know how this has happened but he is in charge of all the gardens of the center. You will always catch him out plowing the fields and tending to the little tomato plants. 

Simon tries to avoid any sort of loving but Kaleigh and I love to engulf him into hugs and what not. It is playful loving. We know he loves it. 

there is good

I want you all to know that there is good here too.

Yesterday, Kaleigh and I were helping Opondo clean his duty. He is currently in charge of the floors in the little boy's dorm. He left us for a short while. I was wondering where he went. We found him in the hallway near the bathroom. The boys had dumped a ton of water on the ground and made it into their own personal slip and slide. The were stripping down to what they needed and sliding all over the place. It was so much fun to watch.

There was so much pure joy in a little space.
I loved it.

Today I broke out my camera and starting filming things. I want to not loose my love for Kenya. I want to make sure that when I go back to America I will continue to get homesick for this place. I want to film the boys. I sat down 5 of them and interviewed them. As I sat there and asked them questions it was just a firm reminder of how much I freaking love them. They don't speak very good English and my Swahili is not very good either but we understand each other. And so I just sat there and asked them questions. They knew exactly what I was saying and I bet the videos won't make much sense to a lot of people but I also know exactly what they are saying. And I love that.

We have learned how to communicate in a weird Kenyan Butler lingo.

momma hen

There are times when I get all mama hen on the kids. Tonight is a fabulous example of that.

There is this nasty man who works at this center. He is totally unfit to be around the kids. He is drunk 100% of the time and smoking the other 100% of the time. Tonight was no exception.

This homeboy rolls up in the dorms during my time I read to them. I can smell the beer on him. The boys also know what is going on. It is about 7:50 at night and super dark. He starts talking to them. He tells two of the boys that they need to go milk the cows and the rest of them need to go out and get ready for school and do their morning duties.

The kids listen to him because he is drunk and will beat them if they don't do what he says. And so all the boys leave the dorm and start running around like crazies because a crazy is making them do so. He came back into the dorm where I was with about 15 of the boys and starts yelling at them. That is when I told him that it was night time and some other choice things. He left and the boys clapped for me.

In a short amount of time it was all taken care of and the nasty was put to bed. It definately made me nervous for a second. Last time he came into the dorms drunk like that and I was there he beat the crap out of a bunch of kids.

I just do not understand why they keep him around. They always tell me something a long the lines of "He is an old man and you cannot fire old men." Oh... I am so sorry but you can and you should. 

biggie harrison

This is the weirdest child I have ever met. Most of the time no one knows where he is at because he is never where he is supposed to be. Biggie is in his own world. It is so fun to just sit back and watch him do his thing. You never know what his is going to do next. 

I can't explain the way he speaks English but I just love it. It is always like 10% English and 90% made up Biggie language. He is also super awkward in the way that he presents himself because he is just lost in this world in his head. I swear. 

Just look at the shoes he is wearing... homeboy does not need to be wearing those shoes. That was his choice. 

He has a really hard time in class because he just can't sit and pay attention for that long. He wants to wander. He is so creative. He loves to mimic animals and follow them around. 

Biggie might be the weirdest kid I have ever met but he is super funny. He is always laughing about something. Most of the time he is also willing to share the funny moment with me but the language barrier is just so thick. 

Also last year Biggie used to do this thing where he would take his head and snuggle it into your stomach like he is cat or something. Strange child.

Biggie is one of the those people that you just let them do their thing and leave them alone.
Sit back and laugh.
But don't ask him what he is doing or else he will start giggling and run away. 

austin

As we keep handing out awards... Austin wins the award for the cutest boy at the center. He is just so precious. Last year he didn't have his front two teeth and we thought that made him cute but they grew in just fine and he is still freaking cute. 

He is not part of the original crew of boys I met the 1st year I came but now I cannot picture Kenya without him. He is just wonderful. 

Austin is ripped. This child has some super firm pectorals and arm muscles. He is all muscle but he never uses it against another. Austin will not hurt a fly. He is so kind all the time. He is so so so nice. 

He is in pre-unit which is like kindergarten. He is one of the top boys in his class. He knows what is going on. He is never in trouble. He loves to help. I love to have him around. I cannot get enough of him but most of the time he is doing his own thing. 

He is super ticklish and has the cutest laugh. The boy is a total joy. 

Like I have said before... he is just freaking cute.

kev kevo

This kid gets the award for the most annoying voice of all the boys at the center. It drives me crazy. He has this very high pitched pre-pubescent voice that just does not tickle my fancy and is he loud. I don't think he knows how to be quiet. 

This boy also loves attention and sometimes I just don't want to give it. There are good things about Kevo. He is not afraid to talk to adults. Most of the boys are but if there is a problem he will march right up to whoever and tell them. He is also really good at curbing his anger.

He is a boy that I only can deal with in short waves. I bet you could already tell. 

I  honestly don't mean this to be offensive to anyone but... If in a few years he comes out of the closet. I would not be surprised. 

And that is Kev Kevo. 

brian

This little boy gets the award for being the nastiest child. That is a fact. You will catch him with boogers all over his face. You will catch him killing insects and small animals. You definitely will catch him playing with poop. He is a nasty little child. 

The first two years I came he had a huge problem sucking his fingers. He would suck on two of them all day long. They would always be white and wrinkly. It was nasty. He would play with poop and then start sucking again. Nasty. Nasty child. He doesn't suck on his fingers anymore. That will bless his life. 

Other then that he is really a sweet boy. He is another that has grown up over the last three years and grown on me. He is super funny and always extremely willing to help. (First ask him to wash his hands.) 

He is in class 2. He does well with his school work. Bryo really is a good kid just with a bad choice of a hobby. 

baula

This is our little pastor of Kenya. Once he put on a blazer and told Kaleigh that he was a pastor. So accordingly Kaleigh asked him to pray for her. He put his hands on her head and said, "hummma hummma hummma Amen." Now we ask him to pray for us all the time. It is so funny. 

Kaleigh and I both swear that his huge head is way too big for his little body. He is a bean pole. 

He is in class 3. He is always so freaking happy and has this infectious laugh. He loves to teach Kaleigh and I by taking us into the classes and having us read the posters in on the walls. He tries to speak English but honestly does not know that much but it is so cute when he tries. 

Kaleigh says that he is, "freaking hilarious " He loves to be in pictures and loves to be tortured because he always comes back for more. 

Baula was definitely a street kid because the first year I was here we always caught him in our house stealing things like bread. He doesn't do that anymore. He also was super annoying the first year but over time we have learned to love each other so much. 

We love it when Baula wants to play with us. He always makes us laugh. He is super gentle and I just love him. How can you not?

flip master

Kaleigh tried to surprise me with Oscar coming to the center. I told her I would believe it when I see it due to the fact this was the 3rd time he said he would come. 

The brother kept to his word and was in Thika town the next morning for us to pick him up. We got him, biscuits, yogurt and juice and headed home. 

The boys love and adore Oscar. I tell them everyday that Oscar is a mbaya rafaki (bad friend) but they are just not catching onto the idea. The always get mad and tell me that he is poa rafaki. (good friend) One day they will believe me or just agree with me to give me a confidence boost. 

Oscar just walked in the gate of our compound and the boys were so excited. They surrounded him and started asking him all sorts of questions. They wanted him to start doing flips for them right away. They wanted to know when he was going to come back again. They just wanted to be around him. They love him.

We went into my house and ate yogurt. Kaleigh and Oscar put the new light bulbs up in our house and I went and played with the boys. Earlier that day I dyed the ugi (porridge) to green. I made sure we were there to watch them drink it. I asked Peter what was going on with the ugi. He said, "It looks like sewage!" These boys are so funny. 

After ugi we went to the dorms and put up lights there too. Kaleigh and I bought them. The boys literally only had 3 lights for a dorm that requires 12 or more. The boys cheered and were so excited for every light that went up and worked. I loved it. 

While the lights were being put up by Babu... Oscar and I snuck outside and he finally did his first flip. It left the boys speechless for a half second before they broke out in cries for more and more and more. The boys would do a few flips and then Oscar would do one. The highlight for the boys was when Oscar did 3 back flips right in a row. The boys are still trying to figure out how to do that. 

After mastering the tire and showing all the flips you can do there and Oscar teaching a few new tricks we moved to the stones. Oscar had never done flips off a stone. The boys got to teach him. He was super impressed by their skills and was too scared to do some of the tricks the boys did. 

We got interrupted to help carry in wood into the kitchen. I got the duty of carrying the heaviest logs. Oscar got the duty of chucking the wood into the old fridge and Kaleigh got the duty of loading people up. It took forever but I was happy to help. 

We served lunch. The boys ate. We went to Naivas to get food for lunch. Hamburgers it was. Kaleigh cooked while I played. Toto called me a useless pumpkin after I did a cartwheel. We ate. 

Now it was time for a soccer game. Of course I talked to the boys ahead of time and stacked my team with all the best players because Kaleigh said she got Oscar. My team won even though half of us left early to help serve dinner. 

And that was basically the day. We took Oscar back into Thika and sent the brother on his way home. It was so much fun. The boys need good role models and they just take to Oscar like a bee to honey. 

Everyone loves it when Oscar comes around. The boys continually ask us when he is coming back and are still practicing their triple back flips... which end up to become a triple cartwheel. 

change of pace

Kenya just recently elected their new president. Uhuru won. Because of the elections we were advised to flee the country due to the chance there might be an out break of violence. Obviously there was little to barely any but we still took it as an opportunity to visit Ethiopia. 

I have been told multiple times that Ethiopia is an incredible country that I need to go to. I was all about it. I have been ready to go there for years and just needed the excuse. Kaleigh really wanted to go south to Tanzania but she didn't fight or talk loud enough and we got our tickets to Ethiopia. 

The plane left at 5 in the morning. We got to the airport at 3. I am so thankful for the Abilla family being willing to let us stay at their house even with all these crazy times. 

Luckily we have a distant relative that lives in Ethiopia that was SO gracious to let us stay at their not so humble abode for the week. 

We get to the Ethiopia airport with no Birr or Dollars. All we have is Shillings. In Ethiopia they don't exchange Shillings. Luckily Kaleigh was in the right place at the right time and someone heard her plea. A random lady gave Kaleigh enough dollars to buy a visa for the two of us. That was a tender mercy.

My Aunt Tammy's niece's husband picked us up at the airport. We get to Ethiopia just in time for the end of sacrament meeting. Church is all in English and Amharic. Church is held in a house. We went to primary with Nadine. After church we came home and fell asleep. Nadine made pizza. It was so delicious. They had a get together of all the white Mormons in Addis and that was our Sunday. Lots of sugary treats. It was great. 

The next day we woke up early. Took a hot shower and Jeru was there to take us on our first adventure. I made a list of all the things you can do in Addis Ababa. Jeru was our personal tour guide and translator for the week. She is a YSA from the ward that Nadine and Warren hooked us up with. We hit the street. I don't remember the order of everything we did but we went to a bunch of museums, the American embassy and the lion park. We saw Lucy... the oldest person ever. That was sweet. We also learned a lot about the history of the Rastafarian king that ruled Ethiopia that people believe is the rasta god because he brought rain to Jamaica. Sweet? Yes. We saw a lot of lions too. Their roars are so cool. Also... how can you go to Ethiopia and not eat injera. I had it for lunch. 

That night we met up at the church with a bunch of the YSA and the elders for an FHE. Someone shared the spiritual thought and all the sudden I was in charge of the game. We played two rounds of telestraions. Let's just talk about the awkward elder next to me that thought "ven diagram" was a good idea of something to draw. I doubt "ven diagram" even translates into Amharic. It was so much fun. The highlight of the day. At the end of this day we had already done almost everything on the list that I made of things to do in Addis.

Tuesday we woke up. Jeru met up with us at the mansion again. We went to Entoto. This is a huge hill where a church is at the top. I guess it used to be the capitol of Ethiopia. There is also an old palace. At the bottom of the hill there is a lot of touristy shops. We went to the top first and then made our way down. At the church there was a museum. We had a tour guide. He was speaking English but I could not understand a word he said. 

Trying to bargain for things was so hard. Ethiopians are not aggressive like Kenyans and Jeru felt so awkward asking for a lower price. We had to have a translator do it for us because no one speaks English. Kaleigh and I refuse to pay the "white price." We could tell Jeru hated bargaining. And of course we had more injera for lunch. 

We went home and it was a day. 

The next day we woke up and went to church. We went to the Saint Trinity Church. 

It was incredibly beautiful. Because we are white the unlocked the doors and let us inside. This cute old priest took us on a tour of the inside. This is where the rasta king's tomb is located. 

That is all we did that day in town because we needed to head back early to make Kenyan food for 16 people. It was a success but it took forever to crank out that many chapatis. 

On Thursday we woke up and went to work with Nadine. She works at an international preschool. It was really fun and it was weird to be surrounded by so many tiny kids who spoke English. We went back to the house. Jeru met us up there. We went to a couple of bazaars and called it a day. 

On Friday Jeru came to the house. We went to the Mercato. It is a huge open air market in Ethiopia. We got two things and walked a lot of it. I loved it. Ethiopia is a lot more expensive compared to Kenya. It was just hard to spend money there except when it came to getting things for other people. After that we called it day. Kaleigh and I came home and washed all our clothes and started packing. Warren took us to the airport and we got to Kenya at 1:30 in the morning. 

When we got the the airport we were asked for our yellow fever cards. Of course we do not have them. The person I had to talk to about it behind the counter would talk to me in between falling asleep. She threatened to keep us in the airport until 8 and have to get the shot in the airport clinic but then fell asleep again and said we could just pass through but bring it with us next time. I was so nervous. 

We took a taxi to the Abilla's house and got there around 2:30 am. We were home and safe.

We stayed with Nadine and Warren. Warren works for the embassy. The government house they live in was a mansion. It was 5 stories, 7 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. It was so different then the view we saw out of the window. Nadine and Warren were so nice and I am so grateful for their generousness to let us stay with them. 

Ethiopia was so different from Kenya. The people are lighter skinned. Their hair is different. There are beggars everywhere. No one speaks English. The food is different. I love Kenya so much. I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had to travel to Ethiopia and the experiences I had there. 

francis

Francis annoyed the crap out of me the first two years I was here but I think with time we have grown quite fond of each other. Kaleigh says that he get annoying sometimes but I haven't seen that side of him yet this year. 

He is in the middle. 

In the mornings they always get ready for the day in full uniform which includes a sweater. By lunch time it is hot and the sweater is unless. Francis, everyday, takes his sweater and wraps it on his head like a turban until school is finished. I love it. He is the only one that does that. 

Francis has huge burn scars down the right side of his whole body. Because he is growing up so fast... he is growing out of his scars and making them stretch and bleed which creates new scars on his old scars. His burn came from his former life. Most likely someone set him on fire and threw him in the trash to die but someone came along and saved him. As sad as it is, these are normal stories of the boys. 

Last year we super glued his foot to his shoe by accident. He handled that like a champion. He was in my 'family' the first year I was here. I just feel an attachment to him because of that. 

In class he always knows what is going on even though we speak mostly English. Like Gachia when his English fails he will speak to me in the Swahili he knows I understand. If he doesn't know what to say he will say, "Nene? Nene? Nene?" a bunch. That means "What? What? What?" It is his way of thinking out loud. 

And that is Francis. 

toto

And the award for the most sexy voice at the center goes to: 

TOTO! 

For reals. I tell him daily but I just don't think he understands. 

It is so deep and raspy. It is going to win himself a woman one day. 

The first time Allynne and I met Toto, three years ago, he was wearing these nasty old pink sweat pants that had a huge stain on the buttox. We called him the poopy pants boy until we knew his name. I have fond memories of Toto. 

Toto in Swahili means child.

Toto is a super independent soul and has a hot voice... like I said. I love talking to him. He always has an avocado in his pocket to eat during class when the teacher is not around. He is SO smart. I think he is the smartest in his class. He is in class 3. 

He can climb a tree like no one's business and will swing in it by one arm. This boy is fearless. It makes Megan really nervous seeing him so high hanging on by one limb but I let the brother do his thang. 

I love being around this child. I bet you think I am going to say that about every boy... but just wait. The nastier children will come in due time. 

I am pretty sure that Toto makes fun of the other kids a lot because you can find him pointing and laughing. Just imagine his raspy little laugh. I love it when he laughs. 

And that is Toto. He is quite the character. He currently has new pink sweats that he wears all the time. Sadly, there is no poop stain.

ainea

Let's just start by saying... This boy is our friend Gabby's doppelganger. I swear he is what Gabby looked like as a child. 

Ainea is a skinny child with wicked dance moves. He has more personality then his body can hold. He is a boy that I wish came around more often. He is super funny and you will always be laughing around him. You might catch him mimicking Kaleigh or I if we are doing something funny. 

He keeps to himself most of the time and doesn't really seek attention. He is very smart. He is in class 3. His age? This is also unknown. He is never in trouble. 

I love this child. I don't really know what to say other then that. He is so fabulous. 

If you have the chance to meet him one day I know you would feel the same way. 

Ainea is incredible. 

kelvin gachia

I really want to do a post about each of the boys at the center. I know you are wanting to hear about Ethiopia but we are currently having camera problems. That post will come later. 

Gachia is such a cute boy. There are boys that get annoying and boys that you wish came around more often. He is a boy that you wish came around more often. 

He is in class one. His age? No one knows. He is incredible at doing tire flips, stone flips, back flips and basically any flips. Because of his mad flip skills the older boys have totally accepted and include him in anything. 

He has the cutest laugh and tries his hardest to speak to me in all the English he knows. When his English skills fail he switches to Swahili that he knows I understand. I love that. 

He has a lot of scars on his face from his former life. 

I have an extremely better picture but with our camera issues... I can't use it right now. 

He is honestly such a joy. 

Today he taught me how to walk on a old cement planter cylinder and he always encourages me to keep up my cartwheeling. He is a part of my cheering section.

 Everyone loves Gachia... including me.