Back home!

What a wonderful blessing to be home with my boys. They are every bit as snuggle-ish-eous as I remember them and I am so grateful for them! The ride home from the airport was great. Most slept after devouring all the American snacks Pastor Ron got for us on the ride home. That was a nice surprise.

Unfortunately, Pat lost her passport at the airport, after going through customs. The good news is, that it needed to be renewed within the year anyway, and at least it happened AFTER customs. I had mine stolen in Paris once and had to spend hours at customs in SFO to be let back in. Not fun.

On the plane ride from Heathrow to SFO, I felt myself getting sick, but wasnt' sure if it was just exhaustion. Nope. I have had a good 24 hour bug with flu, aching muscles, sore throat, etc. It was bound to happen. Now, since 2am, after sleeping and not moving from the couch since we arrived in the states (after dinner with the boys and grandmothers at B.J.'s) I am feeling awake and better. I hope that I can sleep, to prepare for school and get back into the swing of things. CJ has a performance "make-up" seminar tomorrow, Saturday, in Elk Grove. I hope that I can make it to that. Right back at it!

Well, I need time to review everything, soak it all in and see what is next on the agenda for us. We can't wait to go back...and bring the kids!

One final thank you to all who supported us in so many ways!

Ro and Delos!

Last update from Kenya!

Our last day! We are in the airport, ready to leave at midnight, in 1.5
hours. Like all the others, it was a blessed day.

7:30 Breakfast. Fried eggs, toast, sausage. Passion fruit, pineapple
and orange juice in glass bottles.

8:30 We board a bus which fits all of us, headed to the Nairobi Safari
Walk.  We will meet up with those children who have sponsors on this
trip.   They slow down our arrival briefly, as some of the children are
not quite ready, and it is important to Compassion that we all line up
with the sponsored kids opposite us, allowing them to try to pick us
out. We got there about 10 minutes before the kids' bus pulled in. What a
moment that was, trying to pick out our children and having them pick
us out. We had 2 kids there today  (well, one is 20 and the other will
be 25 in November) and it was not super easy to pick them out. The 25
year-old, I started sponsoring 3 years before I was married, 15 years
ago. He was CJ's age, 9. I find that so hard to believe. I did finally
figure out who he was, among all the Compassion helpers, but he did not
pick Delos or me out. I did not recognize Omari, who is so much smaller
than I had imagined, with such darker skin. It was amazing the difference
between them. Omari was so shy, with his social worker pushing him to
interact. Bismark needed no encouragement. He was very charismatic, is
applying for a civil engineering internship and wants to be in
Parliament one day and run for President after that. In university he was
president of Sports, Gender and Entertainment! Wow! Omari wants to be a
car mechanic. This is what I love about this trip most; seeing how my
Compassion dollars are SO well spent in person, changing people lives
and their community, one child at a time.  Omari and Bismarck are both
proof of the pudding; from such humble, impoverished beginnings, literally
living in clay huts with little to no food and water, to a
life they can carve out for themselves due to the Compassion program. It
was SO neat seeing all the other children with their sponsors. Ana's
wore the very same dress Ana gave her the year before! Marshan's 2 were so
cute and the little boy did not want to let go of his hand. Cristin's
was just adorable in a safari ranger suit, playing futbol with Cristin,
using the new ball she brought him. Danielle saw her mom's child for
the 3rd time and her own for the first. Jon's is a beautiful 13 year old
young lady. Cindy not only got to spend time with her sponsored child,
but also met up with a 13 year old deaf Compassion child at the Java
House later in the day. He enjoyed a game of cards with a few of us and
is a lovely individual. The walk around the Nairobi Safari Walk was
sparse on animals (compared to a drive around a good game reserve), but
offered a  great opportunity to  acquaint ourselves with our children. I
never knew leopards could climb sooo high into the trees and hang out
there.  Apparently we missed the baboon parade some of our group
enjoyed. Jenny, Jon, Jenn, Kenny, Mo and Billiam (possibly more) were able to
go into the cheetah den and pet one! Good thing I did that in South
Africa, or I would have been WAY bummed that I missed out on that
opportunity. ;o)

From there, we were pleasantly surprised to be escorted to Mamba
Village. Mamba means crocodile in Swahili, so you can imagine what our venue
was like.  It was a lovely afternoon on a sprawling lawn beside a
man-made lake in the shape of Africa.  The food was great. Then we embarked
upon our informational and fun tour of the crocs. From there we headed
to the other side of the river to meet the ostriches, gaze at African
art work, and just have some fellowship time with our kids.     When we
departed the croc farm, we split ways with our kids. It was a
wonderful and touching moment.

Back at the hostel, a few of us head out for a quick game of cards
(where we met and played with Cindy's new deaf friend), and wait for dinner.

After our last Kenyan meal, we were asked to meet in the lounge
downstairs. When the meeting ensued it quickly became the most touching
farewell possible. Jeff, the Kenyan, whose culture does not do "crying," about
lost it with all that was shared, so we all did too. So sad to leave him,
so blessed to have known him.  Thank you's go out to this dear friend on our
behalf.   He cannot stop holding and crying on Bill. What a moment. What
a week. Behind the group I saw, but did not share the news of the airplane
explosion in Madrid.  I didn't think anyone needed that on their minds as
we emarked upon such a long journey.

The Benedryl's kicking in....losing it.

Again, we say to you, thank you!!!

Ready to take off...love to all! See you soon!

The Kenya team!

Update #9

Going to keep it short. Very excited to meet 2 of our sponsored kids
tomorrow (we have 5 total, 2 in Lesotho and 1 -- my only little girl -- in India)
 and wanting to get some good rest.

The ride into Nairobi was sick, Sick, SICK. Literally. The toxic fumes
were nauseating and the traffic made L.A. look like smooth sailing at
5pm midweek. Our van ride in took 5 hours.  The good news is that lunch was ready
and palatable. Chicken with white meat on it, juicy pineapple, awesome
fries, kale and a lentil dish. We ate and headed out to shop. The
bartering was brutal, but we held strong and the experience was fun. Bye
bye cash for most of us, but lots of fun and unique items to take the
place of clothing, shoes and gifts left behind. I encouraged a group of us
to do a quick walk through the smelly meat market to see the large
Pelicans poised to swoop down and steal a fish or two. It was an open air
fish and butcher market with less than desireable items (for us) at
every turn, but something not to be missed nonetheless...hearts, livers,
kidneys, tripe and all.   It's a slice of life and culture that makes
international travel so exciting (to me).  

After the market, it was tea time. Hollow triangular donuts. Quite
yummy with a sprinkle of sugar in the middle. Delos was fed up with the
free tea and wanted a cup of java across the street. I joined him and
happened to look at the food menu: burgers (many kinds), fries, smoothies,
salads, sandwiches, sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches, fluffy pancakes
with maple syrup, ice cream sundaes. I ran across the street to grab
my laptop to utilize the free wi-fi hot spot (that was a no-go...so
still no blog) and notified a few in our group. 10 mins later 21 of us were
there! That was dinner. Actually it felt like so much more than that.
It felt a tad like a lifesaver for most, I think.   It was SO nice to
be outdoors in the cool air, not covered in dirt (and to have ice, a
COLD beverage, and a toilet when needed. Praise God! LOL!

A small group was playing cards and might still be downstairs. I am
hitting the hay. My husband is crashed out in his bunk aside from me with
his headlamp on and book on his chest. Apparently I did not
misunderstand. We WERE supposed to go on a safari tomorrow, but like everything in
Kenya, that changed. Will let you know what transpired later on.
Heading to airport at 8pm.

Everyone is healthy and healing for now (though Jon's legs are still quite
battered. They too will heal).

Blessings and our continued thanks!

The Compassion for Kenya Team

Update #8 cont.

 ....yelled from all parts of the van. Jambooo!  Helloooo! For the last
time. This afternoon it will be "Kwaheri". "Goodbye" for the last
time....this trip.


We see the dam. We see the area next to the dam which looks just as
thick with trees and shrubs as the dam did until August 11th. It is truly
amazing, the work our men, the project dads and the church men have
accomplished.  Monica, Jill, Jenn, Laurin and I head back to the van to
do the "cartooning"; painting animals on the walls. Hillary was not
slated to do this, but since she is now crisp from the sun despite the 70
spf, she is joining us. She says that she can't draw a stick figure,
but that doesn't mean much....she's going to draw the heck outta that
stick figure today!  Everyone laughs.  I ask her nationality. Scottish?
English? She answers, "Honkey. I'm translucent. I get burnt watching tv
in my livingroom". Another good chuckle.

We just passed a house (2 huts) with red flags. Joseph informs me that
that signifies a supposed clairvoyant or fortune teller living there.
We see a girl walking in jeans, a "smart" t-shirt and nice glasses.
What? No dress? Joseph says she is more than likely from Nairobi, a
university student visiting grandparents. 

We arrive, ready to draw, paint, and get those creative juices flowing
on animals and pets, as was mentioned as our subject matter earlier.
There's one little problem. The area they want us to paint is outside
ABOVE the doorway, near the roof.  Access to that area is being built as
we stand there. Oh...it's done. I hadn't realized. There are 2 tree
branches that we are to stand on about 7' up in the air. I look around and
suddenly  Jill and I are alone.  Some of the girls had skirts on, so
that sure wouldn't have worked. They head to work with the moms. I asked
Jill, "Are you going to bail?" "Yep." she answers decidedly with a
smile. Okie Dokie. This is funny. It wasn't so bad in the end...they got
the drift and called me into the back office. Change of plan. Joseph is a
project dad and a talented artist. He will pencil draw animals in the
back office. We will paint them. Soon, all the girls are in  about a 6'
x 8' office filled with storage items, 2 desks and 3 Kenyans trying to
help. Not a lot of room. Shortly we have several drab colors of paint,
a deep Sedona red and bright blue. Joseph has outlined a funky, angry
looking rabbit (which we learned much later wasn't a rabbit at all, but
a Kenyan Jungle Baby...hence the long, non-fluffy tail. Cristin said
she saw several on the side of the road one day...sort of rabbit, sort
of deer) on one wall, an angry looking elephant with a rider on top on
another, and a gazelle being killed by an arrow with a tree nearby for
the third.  The paint was runny, the fumes were strong, the children
were giggling, peering into the small window and Jill's sunglasses fell
into the bright bucket of blue oil paint! Laurin tackled the rabbit/jungle
baby and tried to soften it's eyes.
The ever-running paint made him look like he was crying. At least he
doesn't look evil any more!  Jill got creative mixing colors to
accomplish her pretty flower, the girl who professed to not be able to do a
stick figure did a fine job on the tree. Jenn's Gazelle pursued by the
swift arrow rocked and Mo and I were able to pull off the elephant with a
man on top. After a while, the fumes were really getting to us and the
paintings started looking really good! LOL!  Turpentine was poured all
over our hands to clean up, however, the milk they traditionally drink
after working with oil based paint was at this time not present.

Everyone returns from the dam. It is complete, Praise God!!! What a
task. What a gift to the people. In a powerful and moving goodbye speech
later in the day, appreciation for this effort was expressed in volumes.
It has spawned the thought of starting 14 more potential dam sites.

Lunch: Maybe 2:30ish? Can't remember. Same stuff.

Shortly after lunch, the goodbye ceremony begins. It is very much like
the welcome ceremony, only shorter, with gifts exchanged, and an
emotional investment no one had at the onset of this visit. Now we were
hearing from, speaking and singing to people we have come to love. They were
no longer a sea of unknown shining, beautiful faces staring at us, but
now we were gazing upon people with names; homes we had visited;
children we had taught, played, prayed, and laughed with; lives which are
now forever intertwined with ours.

The afternoon began with prayer, class 4 and 5 bible verses and songs,
and a song and dance from the project moms. It soon sequed into
speeches of appreciation for each person integral to the success of this week,
from the Compassion office staff to teachers to our drivers, cooks,
church staff  and the parents and children themselves. Appreciation was
given to those working until after dark and one mom who walked from a
far away town back and forth each day to help us. (They all walk
far...this woman must have walked hours each way, I believe 2). At one point
Chris was called up to speak on our behalf. He became quite emotional at one point,
which of course led to us all doing the same. Surprisingly, Eunice of
Compassion who was translating, also broke down crying, which culturally
is not expected here. Finally Moffat came to take over for her to gather
herself off-stage and Marshan asked us to do the same, impressing that
it is very important to end with a very positive last impression for
the Kenyans and crying is not a part of that scenario for them. Eunice
came back moments later, bouncing with a big smile, fully recovered and
ready to tackle things again. We moved onto the gift giving part of the
day.

Oh-My-Gosh. This was hilarious!  I cannot tell you how fun, touching,
special this was. I cannot wait for the video, though I doubt it can
catch the same energy as real life. First up: Bill. He is presented a
brightly colored cane "for his age". Everyone started howling! Bill accepted
it with grace and made everyone laugh with his acting skills, hobbling
off with his new cane.  Jon is next and is also offered a cane "for
all his running up and down". Same for John W. Next is Delos, who is
gifted with a handmade bow and 2 arrows. The real deal...sort of. 
You can't really use it. He feels like quite
the African warrior at this point as he pretends to shoot the arrow
into to air. Chris, Jared, Marshan and Kenny all receive the same. Next
Cindy is up, receiving a handmade basket to carry on her head and a
decorative gourd for the home. Jill, Ana and I receive the same, though
Ana's gourd is HUGE and has a removable lid to carry water. Cristin,
Nicole, Laurin and Hillary receive a gourd bowl, huge cooking spoon and a
large rope necklace to decorate themselves "for their boyfriends." I guess
Ibraham might have had the "glad eye" for Laurin with the way he
presented her gift to her. Some might have perceived it as a marriage
proposal! The sisters have been quite popular over here! ;o) Jenn, Jenny,
Danielle and Pat were presented an ornament, painted shell, porridge gourd
and cool, tall soup spinner. I am so sorry if I have forgotten someone.
There is so much going on here, and such long days that my brain goes
on sensory overload.
  


Quail as a whole was presented 4 gifts as well. They expressed that
they knew that back home was a church supporting us and it would not be
possible without them. They called  "Billiam" (Bill...funny)  and Ana forward to
accept 2 instruments (washboard tamborine type thing) and 2 small
sculptures, one of each for the Lighthouse and for the
Big House.

Jeff was hilarious when it was his turn to be gifted. He announced that
Jared will present me a gift and you will clap for me:  Bow and arrow
and a machete. The guy is SO sweet.

Next we offered gifts from us to the teachers: Daily treasuries of
Wisdom and 100 Days of Praise books, and a few other goodies tucked into
little bags. For the children, Jen, Jill and Ana presented one photo of
each child (they were so excited about this...they LOVE to see
themselves on our cameras...no mirrors or cameras in these homes, of course),
and the hand made cards and puppets from the children of Quail. (I
totally started crying when I saw CJ's the other day. So darned sweet. I miss
my boys).  There were bag loads of other gifts presented earlier in
the day...so many clothes, school supplies, medicine etc. Many of us
brought and wore mostly clothing we would eventually give away. I gave a
away so many shirts, I don't have enough for the rest of the trip. LOL!
And when we arrived home last night, I noticed Delos barefoot in the
dirt. I asked what happened to his shoes. He said he gave them to
Dunston the evangelist...he just couldn't help but do it. I think that about
sums up how most felt yesterday. There just wasn't enough that we
could do. Later, at dinner, Delos said to me "Honey, can I tell you, of all
the amazing moments we have had here,  what the MOST amazing one for
me was?". Of course I answered yes. During the gift exchanges, it was
Delos who was slated to give Preacher Patrick his gift. Following
Hillary's lead of lifting her girl off the ground with her hug, he lifted
Preacher Patrick (the wide-smiled jack rabbit) right up when they hugged.
Then Preacher Patrick did the same to Delos (he is maybe 60!?!?) When
they both had solid feet on the ground, Delos looked him in the eye and
said, "I Love You!" to which he replied, "I love YOU!". He says that
mans eyes, words, soul, just seared right into him and it is a moment he
will never forget...what the trip was/is about for him. I am inclined to
agree.    The quick goodbye ceremony concluded after a couple of hours
and we departed the Raiicine Compassion Project 212 for the last time.
For a long time, we had children, moms and dads dancing, running,
waving, smiling, yelling, grabbing our hands. I was conscious of taking a
mental photograph as to never forget that moment.


Dinner: What a special night. Our hosts have prepared an extraordinary
feast. It even included fried fish and sodas for dinner! We have Susan,
Jim and Jeff from Compassion and the hosts families here.  They made a
large banquet line outside our dining hall. Sella, one of the main
cooks gave a very heartfelt and informative speech. Apparently Mary, Sella
and Symphoronza have many more responsibilities than cooking and
cleaning at this hostel/conference center. They do much the same outreach as
we have been and are very anxious to invite us back to experience that
and work with them.
John is the general manager of the property, a former educator in his
60's who gave a wonderful speech about how he has impacted people's
lives, and how we have on this trip as well. The ladies explained the
symbolism of a wedding ring being unending love. The beautiful round cake
from them has the same meaning. Frosting! Sugar! We are all excited.
First, a long congo line is formed and we all sing, hop and dance happily in
a circle. Then the cutting of the cake. There was quite the bit of
pomp surrounding that. We never did get a plate or a fork. Certain people
were chosen to cut the cake and feed one another. Up first, Chris from
Servant Life and John from the property. They looked, from our traditions,
like they had just exchanged wedding vows. LOL! Next up, John and Jill
who cut cake and fed the hostel staff. Then it was Delos and I to feed
the Compassion Staff. The sisters were called up to feed "new friends"
(the staff children). Ibraham fed everyone 24 and under, Abraham fed
everyone 24 and older.    
Caleb from Compassion gave an impactful speech imploring us to "please
see the good seed that you have planted.  Plans for new dams. Not a
mustard seed...a big seed." among other things.

After another full, blessed and memorable day, we hit the hay around
10pm.

Today we are off to Nairobi. We will be able to stop somewhere along
the way to exchange money and in Nairobi go shopping. Or so they say, for
now. In Kenya, plans always change. :o).

God bless you all!

The Kenya Team 

Update #8

Sunday, August 17th

7am: It's chilly this morning.  And how different to see all the ladies
wearing skirts. We certainly don't see that much back home.  The last
time I wore this Costco special was several years ago, but it suits
this occasion perfectly, reaching  below the calf with black and beige
African design. Marshan is decked out in his beige African garb. The
ladies in the kitchen grab for Pat's skirt, feeling the soft texture and
saying that now "she looks like one of them".   All areas of the meeting
hall are filled with activity...Cristin, Danielle and Jill working on
their testimonies (Cindy will also be presenting hers), Delos working on
his devotion, Marshan and Chris working on their sermons, the Chair
skits polishing timing, Jared strumming his guitar, the trio singing a
capella. I can feel the Holy Spirit all around me....these people are
going to be so blessed today.

Breakfast: egg, green pepper and tomato fritattas, wonderfully ripe
papaya, taro root, buttered bread, tea, coffee and hot cocoa. Where is all
that delicious famous Kenyan coffee? There is a little jar of instant
freeze-dried on the table.

Marshan mentions that after church we have two whole hours to rest and
recoup. Ahhhh. Rest! 2 hours! Wow!

30 minutes later, Jared re-enters with the announcement that we need to
pack everything we need til nighttime...now. We will not be coming back at
all. Cindy and I look at each other, smile, toss our arms aside with a
"whatever" gesture. We are used to it now. No problem. We are in
Kenya...it's all good! We chuckle together. This is so awesome!

Yesterday, the sun came out brightly for a short period.  The days have
been so beautiful and mild that I have barely noticed the slightly
overcast skies, though the Dam crew sure has been grateful for that gift.
The one downpour we had took place overnight and served to pack the
powdery dust well. When the sun did make its full appearance yesterday
afternoon, it was searing! Everyone commented on its strength during the
serving of the children. It was about 97 degrees in the shade (it
really does not feel that way with the constant breezes)   but when the sun
peered out I felt like I was an egg in a frying pan. And just imagine,
this is winter here...the small children are bundled in sweaters and
fully hooded ski caps. How powerful that equatorial (is there such a
word?...of the equator?) sun must be during their summer solstice.

The walk to the van finds even cooler air and a light drizzle. Dang! A
fast sprint to the house in dress and flip flops to grab a warm hooded
sweat shirt means I must by default ride not in one of the two Joseph's
vans, but Pius'. This means certain plowing through deep ravines and
trenches in the road at near-to-full speed, rather than careful
navigation of them, resulting in a good case of thrashing about the van, bonked
heads and at times car-sickness. C'est la vie. Sometimes you have to
draw the short straw. Plus this gives my hubby another great opportunity to
have everyone watch me run and tease me for how dorky I am. Cool.  Glad to help. 

We head to the Raiciine (finally the correct spelling, pronounced
"reh-she-nah") project to off-load ourselves from the vans, regroup, get
back on and head out to the 4 different churches. In my group is Jenn,
Kenny, Chris, Jared, Delos, Laurin, Monica and Cristin and we head to St.
Stephen's Anglican Church. Physically the same 4 clay walls as all
buildings so far, so small that we cannot fit.   We meet Patrick, the
pastor and his vice "I can't remember's" in a suuuper small room for prayer
at 10am and then a processional up the hill to the schoolroom. Patrick
is about 5' 6" tall, skin blacker than black with a huge, wide,
infectious smile. His teeth, some missing, the rest yellowing, do nothing to
detract from the love of the Lord oozing from his every pore. He
literally jumps for joy, his spotless, crisp white robe with big flouncy
sleeves bouncing up and down  as he jumps at the excitement of having us
here. We walk up the hill, with no idea what to expect, and enter a very
large, close to empty schoolroom. There are 5 parishioners present at
best, a long table and small wooden alter, both covered in crisp white
linens.  How do they keep things so clean? Bryton and I can't stay that
clean in Stockton, let alone with swirls of red clay dust surrounding me
wherever I trod. Then again Bryton is 7, so I guess he is off the
hook...I am the one who is a mess!   What follows is prayer and praise and
welcomes galore,  most with joyous hops, skips and jumps from Preacher
Patrick and big smiles and claps from us. Over the course of 3 hours,
one by one, two by two, villagers trickle in until there is SRO and the
"sanctuary" is alive with the beat of the goat skin drum, singing,
clapping, swaying. A cool breeze came through the glassless windows, for
which we were ever-so-grateful post-skit. Delos was welcomed and
introduced so that he may in turn give thanks on behalf of our team, let us
introduce ourselves, do his devotion from James and then bring the team up
for 2 songs of praise: This Little Light of Mine and This is the Day that the
Lord has Made, pronounced: Dis is Da Day Dat
Da Lord Has Made. This is followed by Cristin's testimony which brought
her and a few others including myself to tears. The Kenyans never let
their eyes veer from her face. Next Chris was up.  He gave an
impassioned sermon on 1Samuel 9 and Romans 8 and the parable of David and
Mephibosheth , falling to his knees and bowing to illustrate his point.
Following this, our skit was well-met, Praise God. It's always such a blessing
when we see their faces lit, hear the cheers and clapping. For most of
it, they stand staring with such serious expressions that one wonders
what they are thinking, or are they getting it at all. Jared played his
guitar and sang solo so beautifully. At some point, Marshan and John
walked in and joined our service. Preacher Patrick directed his attention
to Delos and said something no one quite understood. So Delos got up,
grabbed his hand and said, "I am sorry. I do not understand. What do
you want from me?" Patrick kept saying yes, yes! YES!!! and jumping up
and down like a little jack rabbit, so Delos did the same thing, starting
to speak in Spanish. "Yes! Si! Si! Yes!". Everybody was howling with laughter.
Patrick said "Greet! Greet!" with his tremendous smile. I am not at all sure
how we got ourselves out of that one, but someone figured out that he
wanted Marshan and John at the back with his camera, introduced! And so
it was done and when everyone settled down, an offering was taken. The
plates filled with small change, eggs and a bill or two. The eggs were
then auctioned off and the money put into the offeratory plate. As I
understand it, other church services taking place at the very same time
had offerings of avocado, papaya, and even a live chicken that sat and
watched for the duration of the ceremony. Our time at St. Stephen's
Anglican church ended with communion done in a most interesting fashion.
Patrick poured about 4 or 6 ounces of screw-top something into a large
thick glass and set it near a small bowl of round thin wafers.  After
song and prayer, we were the first to partake. Chris whispered to not
really drink, but rather pretend, probably for health reasons. They came
by and washed all of our hands with the untreated, unhealthy water, and
then we were to stand, place our right hand over our left and then hold
it out for Patrick to place a wine-soaked wafer into. No drinking
required. for anyone.... Other than  Chris.  We bent our heads down to our
hands and with the tongue, lapped up and consumed the wafer. When all
had a wafer, Patrick drank 1/2 the wine in one swig and put the rest in
front of Chris to follow suit. Alrighty then.   More prayer and we lead
the processional outdoors. We all stood for photos and then loaded
into the van to tackle the rest of our day.  What a start that was to it!

Lunch: same stuff, plus a phenomenal new dish with garbanzo beans or
hominy or (so they said) corn in it. Everyone says I was hallucinating
and I am quite sure I was, as there has not been one pig or piglet among
all the animals blocking our way, but I could have sworn there were
bacon bits in it!  Wild turkeys scattered on the road for us today, but
truly no pigs.

Saddle up! We're off to the crusade!

There is talk, en route, of large animals (cats) and how they behave
around humans. If a lion is not wounded, or feeling threatened, one may
walk right past them. They do not attack humans 98% of the time. If one
does, however, it must be put down, as once it gets a taste of humans,
it wants more. We have seen no cats, no snakes.  I was however very
saddened to learn today that 2 sponsored Compassion children were killed
by crocodiles this year while getting water from the river. Can you
believe the blessing that Quail is providing in creating this dam alone?
Not only is it offering safety from crocodile attacks, but typically the
rainy season is for 2 months, 2 times a year. This dam will provide 2
more months twice yearly, doubling their capacity  to save and utilize
water. Thank you Quail friends and family! 

We have arrived at our destination. Wow! Stunned silence. Look of
overwhelmed amazement. There is no way to describe this afternoon's crusade.
This is very much what was tucked inside my pea brain prior to
experiencing the last open air crusade. Swarms of people gathering in the town
center. This time...a stage! Granted, it is about 5'x5', rickety
branches perilously tied together with a thin podium proudly covered in 70's
style beige/brown linoleum. The sound system arrives. Toss one speaker
on the tin roof, the other in the dirt. The keyboard and its young
maestros arrived. In moments the music starts, crowds press in and the
first pastor begins his call out to the masses. We stand at the foot of
the stage allowing the short pastor to tower over us and listen intently
to his message in 3 languages.   Shortly it's singing and
dancing...LOTS of dancing. This song is Around Jericho Seven Times" and is triple
the length of the already long other songs. Some of us stand and watch,
some sway and clap, I try to keep up with the Africans.  3 wipies full
of sweat and red clay dirt later I poop out too and gaze across the
crowd to my husband, quite the vision in white among a canvas of black
surrounding him. Jared and I got a great photo of that precious vision.
Up next with no warning...the skit!  I whip on my black veil, struggle
with the broken zipper to the black sweatshirt I must pull over my
sweaty arms , fumble getting the rubber knife into my pocket, and then stand
braced for my cue, thankful to whomever it is crowding me to my right,
steadying me in the heat. Delos and Jenn do such a fabulous job of
playing God and His creation, respectively. Then Jared enters, dark, sly
and tempting as Satan/sin, followed by Cristin's big smile flailing
money about to temp greed. Lauren stumbles in next, pilsner bottle in hand,
literally and figuratively dragging Jenn down with booze. Once
"drunk", Kenny enters for an uncomfortable (purposely) slow dance with Jenn to
draw giggles from the crowd, then slap her down to signify abuse
(quite prevalent here). Soon Monica slinks in, ominously swirling her syringe
in the air, "injecting" Jen's arm with a temporary "fix" for all her
problems.  Cue Satan/suicide, me, to hauntingly follow Delos' (God's)
motions by outlining Jenn's silhouette and motioning her heartbeat and
quickly transitioning to showing her how and encouraging her to commit
suicide via slashing of her wrists. At the climax of the Everything song,
after trembling and close to following through, Jenn tosses the rubber
knife aside, and tries battling her way through to Christ past the
battle line of sins. Finally Christ breaks through, takes on all her sins,
tosses them (us) to the dusty ground as Jenn falls, saved, to her
knees, praising Jesus for all he has done for her. The Lord lifts her from
the ground, dances gently with her for a few steps and then walks arm
in arm off the "stage". Whew. Our last performance. It has been a
blessing.    Next,  Kenny is called to the stage to share his testimony. He
towers above me on the stage, massive in his presence, even without the
stage, and proceeds to give a soulful and powerful testimony on his
walk with the Lord, how the Lord has worked to bring him closer to Him and
how he is working to be remembered for his relationship with Christ,
not "the really tall guy, with muscles".   It was wonderful. More tears
abound. Again, at the mention of abuse, the Africans laugh with discomfort. 
It's quite the issue here. Prayer and speeches from the preachers ensued,
during which the
muffled, yet very loud amplification system died. Of course it would.
John Welsh could tell it was coming. He was about to preach!  He took
the stand and projected to the farthest reaches of the crowd.
Miraculously, the sound system popped back on mid-way during his talk on what it
means to be truly rich. At his finale, he did an alter call, to which I
saw a young lady raise her hand, and her friend, (just as happened at
Bill's alter call earlier in the week) pull it down. One brave man,
however, raised his hand tall and walked to the front.  John asked one of
the preachers to come down and pray with him, but they looked on in
stunned silence, not knowing what to do. Jeff from Compassion jumped in,
wrapped his arms around the young man and prayed with him. I am certain
many many more were saved throughout these crusades of whom we are not
aware, due to the shyness of their culture. Additionally, Jeff has had to
battle rumors that Compassion is comprised of devil worshipers and
once in Compassion, they will no longer see their child. He provides
impassioned advocacy speeches at each of the crusades and speaks of the
parents responsibility to provide this opportunity for their children, who
will come back to HELP the community. More prayer, more dancing. I see
my little Elizabeth from the Compassion project and Mercy, the 16 yo
HIV girl we visited in the audience. I signal for them to come and we
dance together.  Mercy is smiling, dancing and laughing. This alone is a
huge blessing for the girl so filled with doom and no hope.  I can only
pray that our visit, the message and prayer shared and this time
together can have some small impact. It seems as if it has. I dig deep into
my backpack for a family photo and CA postcard to give each of them. It
was as if I had handed them a pouch of gold, they were so appreciative.
Off to the van. I am not certain why the big rush today. I thought we
might dance, do bubbles and bond with the crowd as we did last time,
but I followed along, with a string of children following behind.
Marshan had made a friend. The same friend whose breath was doused with booze
and getting a tad too close to a couple of we females. He stood at
Marshan's closed window for quite some time chattering away, supposedly
"exchanging" contact info, though to those of us looking on, it appeared
to be much more one-sided.  LOL.

Back at the homestead we freshen up (to the best of our ability) and
head to dinner. Much of the
same, but double the amount of pasta as we all plowed through that last
time. At lunch time, many did not bother to get plates. People are
getting a tad fed up with the monotony. I see trail mix, beef jerky,
cheeze-its breaking out all over the place. Jenn reaches over to Monica
offering a bite of a chocolate "Think Thin" bar. You should have seen her eyes
pop out of her head and her jaw drop as she launched for the thing.
Hilarious. Then Marshan made the mistake of breaking out his favorite in
public: gummy bears! We overpowered his only child syndrome and forced
him to share without giving in to his offer of 5 for a dollar.   About
5 or 6 or us dove in, followed by 3 little hands of children. He was
left with a good 20 by the time he was done, poor guy. Boy were they
fresh!

Tomorrow: all go to the dam site. 5 head back right away to do
"cartooning" on an office wall and a few will visit a mom's house who has
literally begged for a visit. Then they will have a going away ceremony for
us. We have put together, through the work of Jared and Marshan, a
"remix" of "This Little Light of Mine" from our culture and "So Deep Deep,
so Down Down" from this culture, blended together with Cindy's sign
language.

Monday, August 18th

The ride in is fun! We spot monkeys in the trees and are armed with
much candy to share with all those along the road. "Oka or kuja=come,
gawa=share, and sweets, sweets, sweets are
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Update #7

Saturday, August 16th:

Breakfast: veggie fritatta, taro root, sliced orange, potato with
carrot and Kale

I shouldn't have tried the tea at teatime yesterday. I stayed away til
then, having gotten completely off caffeine. I was going a tad loopy
after so many days with only warm water to drink (and a Fanta or ginger
beer in those tall, glass, old fashioned bottles from time to time) so I
broke down and had hot tea. They serve hot milk with which to make it,
(not water), and raw sugar. Oh was that ever good! So here I am having
another one. Caffeine headache...here I come.

At breakfast the room is all a-buzz with chatter about how in the world
to pull off the "health" classes. There are all sorts of ideas,
jingles and dances being worked out. Marshan, Monica and Laurin have worked
out a health and hygiene number which will be coming out on CD available
Fall of '08! It rocks!

Marshan comes up to me at Breakfast. "Ro...come here...you have to look
at the back of these movie video boxes." (There is a fuzzy TV in the
corner of our meeting room). He reads the synopsis on the back of a
couple of them. "This movie must leave a sad and deep impression on anybody
that watches it...WATCH OUT!  And on the next, "Good things never
last!". Hmm. Aren't you just hankering to watch these flicks?  There's
nothing like spreading a little hope and encouragement via cinematic wonder
in a land downtrodden by poverty.


The ride in was quite the thrill this morning. We were stopped on the
highway briefly by a herd of 50-70 camels!  Many were on the road and
still more, trapsing along in the woods. It was quite a sight! Shortly
afterward, there was a large "yellow baboon" (really gray in color) on
the side of the road. He moseyed into the woods before he could forever
be captured on film.

Kenny did a wonderful job with the devotion this morning, humbling
himself through sharing his thoughts on Satan's attacks upon him during his
preparation. He illustrated Ephesians 6:10 and the armor we must all
wear for the Lord to thwart Satan's efforts. Kenny followed praise,
testimonies and a memory verse by a few of the children.

Tea time! And 'water the garden' time, followed by our hairy scary
schedule. At least we got all the details worked out last night, so things
should run smoothly. (Snicker snicker)

Scheduled to begin at 11. The garden girls did not hear that we were
supposed to stay put until 11. So we sauntered slowly up the hill to the
classes shortly after 10. Hillary walks in to put down her stuff and is
met with a room full of anxious faces looking at her and a teacher
saying, "OK, are you ready to start?". Hillary gives that look only she
can give so well with those big eyes and says "I guess so!", and digs
right in.  Meanwhile, I was wandering outside and was whisked away by a
teacher looking very official in her bright red dress and brought to a
remote classroom filled with 7th and 8th graders studying nutrition. They
interrupted the lesson to introduce me and have me begin. And so I
did.  Hillary, Pat and I found out later that that pretty much messed up
the rest of the day. No problem! We're flexible! For the most part
everyone stayed calm, reorganized and continued with whatever whenever.
Completely organized chaos. I love it. This is so fun.....we can never
really mess up because we never know what is really supposed to be done. So
it's all gotta be good!  

During the course of the crazy, helter skelter morn, there was a moment
to rest under a tree while the children ate breakfast. We got
devastating news. Yesterday, while in Embu, Jeff and Marshan bought the team
each a bag of crisps. They originally arranged "potato chips" for each of
us, but when Jeff said that would take 20 minutes to make, it was
finally determined that potato chips are what we call french fries and what
we call potato chips are here referred to as crisps.  Typical to those
familiar with British culture, not so obvious to those who are not.
But that's not the bad news.  The bad news is that last night, in the
big hubbub to get everyone out and on the beat to a home visitation, the
bag of crisps slated for the team, anxious for a familiar, greasy
tidbit, was erroneously scooped up among the family gifts and given away.
Truly, the Lord had those crisps slated for someone other than us. I am
sure they were blessed by the 20 bags of potato chips! lol.

As we wait for lunch prior to all the stations a quick gander around
finds Jenn and Cristin practicing their face painting skills, Ana is
thrilling the kids  with little stickers on their faces. Marshan is reading
his bible and John is teaching the boys to use the little doctor
puppet Ana brought along and videotaping them.

Today we serve the kids! The line goes on forever....so many children
blessed by the food Compassion provides.  303! I just took 2 pictures on
my cell and sent them to you.  I hope they, and the one of Jared and
Marshan in the "sink" holes came through. Huge mounds of rice and beans
for each boy and girl. Choice of goat or chicken, broth for each,
cabbage salad, green bananas. Probably the only meal for the rest of the day
for them. Margaret from Compassion just called "Ro-zahnna!  Come
he-ah!". She showed me the LARGEST vat of rice I have ever seen! About 3'
wide and 4' deep!

It takes some time get through feeding 303 children one by one, but at
last each has been fed!  Hillary notices that the children arise to
wash their own bowls and spoons, and there are no bones left. They have
eaten even the bones. Bless these children.  

The seed hole boys worked about 5 hours today, are beaten to the bone.
Please pray for healing, energy and strength for everyone, but
especially that team. Chris tried walking up the steps to our room, but could
not lift his leg high enough. My husband's hands are raw and everything
aches. I am sure the same is true for Jon, Chris and Kenny, with that
sort of work.  They are glazed over, but have apparently done such a
wonderful job. 125 yards of fencing put up today. 70% complete. That means
clearing the barbed wire, digging post holes, bringing in the logs and
setting them in place.

I am not certain, but I think the painting crew might be done. The
church looks great, and if there is any more painting to be done, I imagine
it would be the inside and/or waiting on the window guy to finish his
installation.


After our lunch the much anticipated  activities for ALL the Compassion
children commenced. There were groups doing games, singing, face
painting, coloring paper plates and making prayer bead bracelets.  At one
point I peeked into the singing room and saw Nicole singing and Cindy
signing to Jared's guitar playing with such huge smiles...they were
glowing. The kids LOVED Cristin, Jenn, and Jill's face painting!  Most of the
boys had snakes or red noses and cat whiskers on their faces. The
girls donned flowers, hearts and smileys. In with Danielle and my class,
the children learned the lesson of salvation via colored beads they put
onto bands to turn into a bracelet. I read the story of each color out
loud as they watched and followed Danielle's actions in putting it
together.   Then we repeated a corresponding poem together, and did a memory
verse. Every child left today with a face painting, a sign language
book mark from Cindy, a prayer bracelet, and a day neither they, nor we,
will soon forget. They have never experienced anything like it. The
teachers said over and over how much they loved what we were doing for the
children and how much they are learning from us.  We are learning so
much from one another!

The time at the project concluded with prayer, goodbyes and
appreciation from the children who will not be here Monday, as they are not in
summer school. They asked that we would all remember them, have safe
travels back and try to come back again someday.

The ride home culminated in questions about snakes (Joseph, our driver,
saw one today), game reserves (we not going on a safari with our
sponsored children apparently, but rather walking around a zoo.)

The boiling water has just arrived for my sponge bath (Samuel carries
it with no rag, bare-handed, in a plastic jug, twice a day. Evening when
we arrive and 5:30 am daily. I burn myself carrying it to the bathroom
from the porch!) Off to my water basin and then dinner. I have a
feeling we have a very long night ahead, rehearsing for the church visits
tomorrow. Oh....I tried to take a photo of the 2 inch long cockroach who
likes to play peek-a-boo in the pee/poop hole at the project, but he
was being camera shy. 

Dinner was great! Scoomawiki (kale), Ungali (white corn cakes),
"spaghetti" (angel hair with carrots, kale and cabbage), chicken and awesome
sliced avocados.

We broke into groups divided by the churches we are visiting tomorrow.
We are taking over a portion of each service. You might not yet have
been able to imagine that our "Everything" skit takes up quite a bit of
space, unless you logged into my blog (onto which these emails are
intended to be posted) and clicked on the YouTube video to watch it.  There
are 8 of us in it and there is dancing, fighting, etc.  The church the
team has been painting at our project is itty bitty. Apparently it's
the largest of the 4. I am interested to see how we, with ladies dressed
in skirts, are going to negotiate this. The plan for our group (Ha! I
have to laugh whenever I hear that word 'plan' in Kenya) is that Delos
opens with a welcome/thank you, allows us to each introduce ourselves,
talks from the book of James which leads into 2 songs sung by the group
(This Little Light of Mine and This is the Day that the Lord has
Made...chosen as those are the types of praise adults love to do here as
well) then onto the skit, followed by prayer and Chris' sermon. We are
expecting in all about a 2-3 hour service in all the churches this morning.


Last night was a bit of a scare. I was using the "facilities" when I
thought I heard footsteps and then someone leaning against the wall RIGHT
next to me. It was one of those "freeze and listen to every sound with
your heart pounding out of your chest" moments. Finally I got the
courage to stand, and while I have often glanced at a window in the dark,
fearing a pair of eyes peering right back at me, it was always a false
alarm, until last night. It was only a second til the perpetrator ran
off, so I ran out to see John and Jill heading this way, having seen
nothing other than the security guard they were chatting with. Long story
short, after Delos and John did some investigation, John came to find
out that there is a less than savory character hanging out here who is on
drugs and may have even approached one or 2 team members for drugs. He
is here temporarily and not necessarily all that welcome, so while we
do not know that it was him, for certain, at least there is now an
awareness.

Please pray that our messages this morning are anointed and well met
and that the focus, energy and enthusiasm will be there for all despite
exhaustion and bad tummies. We also have another crusade this evening!

Off to breakfast. 

Update #6

We have just concluded devotions. Moffat shared his experience with the
tractor yesterday. It is not easily translated via email, but it is
truly by the grace of God that he and the tractor made it to the dam
site. Last night, on the way home, I overheard a nice little tidbit from
Chris regarding the dam. The dam crew is not only building a dam, but an
entire reservoir for the community as an outreach to it! Wow!  I mean
seriously...we thought we were going to be "fixing a fence". We are SO
blessed to be able to serve in so many ways!

I can't believe I forgot to share two huge things. There is SO much
going on here that it's hard to remember everything. By the time afternoon
arrives, we feel a week has transpired as the days are so fast and
full.  But really, these are kind of big events for me to forget. I am
fried....

At our first "welcome day" filled with performances for us, we were
expected to reciprocate. We were not quite aware of the expectations of
that day until we were announced.  We spent lots of time prepping for
tomorrow, Saturday, the day we have all day with the kids, and for Sunday
in the churches and to do some open air crusades. But not necessarily
for this.  So when we were called to the "stage", Marshan pulled off a
quick improv session. He turned to us, whispered with that anxious grin
of his and asked us to stand, smile, look like we knew what we were
doing and loving it! So we did. He started with Ana, Pat, Nicole, Cindy,
and Hillary doing an a capella song.  The Zulu one, I think. Then he
tossed Jared with his guitar to the audience. With grin nicely set, Jared
rose to the occasion and those who knew the songs sang and the rest of
us hummed. *Note we've all made for the next team: allow the Light
House team to learn "Big Church" songs and visa versa. Then we all did an a
capella repeat song: Hail, Hail, Lion of Judah. And finally Cindy
signed the "Pour out your Power and Love" song while we all sang and signed
along. She encouraged the children to do it as well. They did so well.
It was really sweet. So we did present something. We wished it could
have been so much more, I have a feeling that it was appreciated
nonetheless.

The other thing I forgot to mention (sheesh) was a milestone in my
life.
I can't believe it. I mentioned how our VBS theme was 'faith'. I went
to bed thinking about that theme and how I could help take VBS another
step deeper in their understanding. I woke up yesterday at 4:30am with
pretty much the same thing on my mind, and the lord put Romans 3:23 on
my mind for some reason. It's a verse I worked on with the boys 2 years
ago. So I waltzed over to the mess hall in the dark to find the cooks
working away, boiling water for our showers (sponge baths) and preparing
our breakfast. I sat in the large room with my headlamp reading and
thinking about Romans 3:1-30 (I think it was 30.)  After about an hour I
spent the next 2 hours constructing that darned email I erased so
easily later in the day. Aaargh. Slowly, people started arriving for
breakfast. When Jeff entered he said "Oh. By the way, your group will be doing
the devotion this morning. (We were about ready to pile into the bus
to leave shortly). Marshan stood in stunned silence, wheels churning,
trying to come up with a plan.  Someone suggested something, I can't
remember what.  Then I piped up, "I've been studying Romans 3:23 this
morning. It's what I would like to bring to the homes I visit. Do you
(notice the 'you' in there) want to do something with that?". Now, I should
know Marshan well enough to know not to pipe up about ANYTHING if I
don't want to be involuntarily volunteered! Fast forward about an hour to
Jeff introducing me to "take over" in the devotion. Our team was neatly
seated at our _-Shaped table on one side of the little church, and the
staff, pastors, some children and project moms were on the other side.
Lights, camera, action! (Cut me some slack....John WAS right opposite
me with camera pointed right at me. Yikes!   Right on cue, I could feel
my face and chest turning red, heat escaping my shirt, rising up past
my face. "Good morning!" I began. I got a response. Whew! That helped me
carry on.  I did a little intro on some thoughts I was about to share,
went to prayer before reading the word, read the aforementioned verses
with as much clarity and passion as I could muster without going
overboard, tied The Word to my experiences,  our differences, our
commonalities, etc. At one point I guess something really cool must have come
across because everyone said loudly, "Amen". While that was so neat, it
totally threw me for a loop. So my neat little analogy I was about to
share got lost into oblivion, I wrapped things up lickety split,
introduced Nicole to sing an Amazing Grace solo, to be joined by everyone the
second time around and end in prayer. I held up a sign I made with all
the words written on it. That worked well, as the voices around me
sounded beautiful, able to sing along. Whew! I can't believe I made it
through such a frightening, challenging thing. The Lord was with me preparing
me all the way. And the support I got from the team was such a
tremendous blessing. After that experience alone, I am again a changed person
in another way, due to this trip. There is no looking back. On a
lighter note, Marshan and I are two artsy, creative people who very much
respect one another's ability to communicate clearly, succinctly and
honestly. To the core. So moments after he asked me to take the devotion and
run with it, he gently approached me and asked, "Hey Ro. Are you okay?
You don't feel pressured by me, do you?". I stopped, looked at him like
he was from Mars and said "That is the most stupid question I have
ever heard. I mean DUMB! You ARE pressure. You EMBODY pressure. It's your
mission ...your calling. OF COURSE I felt pressured by you. When don't
I?". He threw up his arms, yelled "I LOVE you!" And we have been
laughing ever since. 

Friday, August 15th:

Breakfast: pancakes! Yum!  Watermelon, sweet potato, taro root, sweet
white cake (like a dry pound cake)


The boys are patching up their blisters with moleskin and tape
preparing for another day in the field.
The garden girls (Pat, Danielle, Laurin and I) watered our seedlings. 

Now some of the ladies are doing kitchen duty and others are doing
Tie-Dye outside. Yesterday th sisters had their hair braided. Today Ana and
I are sitting side by side in the stimulation room getting it done.
Please please pray for our health. There is a sick little boy coughing
all over us for 2 hours! When we are done we are doing a mad dash for
some airborne, emergen-"c", whatever we can pile into our bodies!  Only 3
are at the dam/reservoir today. Later...VBS, then more home visits!

We are all excited to get the email from Maina (the African Shirt guy
here in Kenya) sent to Eunice who passed it to Diane, who forwarded it
to Tracy who diligently passed it onto me, who ran it over to Ana, who
jumped for joy in her bunk at the news that we are ready to be fitted!
Woo Hoo!   

They promise "lunch on-time" today. "American-time". We all laughed! 

Sending off now. More to come.

Blessings from the (beaten-up and loving it!) Kenya team. 

     

Update #5

We are rockin' and rollin' in the van en route to home and right into
planning for tomorrow. It is funny that we plan every night. Things
change so quickly and so often. We were told to prepare for that, and
believe me, they weren't kidding. God bless Jill and her leadership with the
VBS this afternoon. How many kids, how many teachers, what we are
doing when and for how long must have changed a dozen times from last night
right up to the moment we opened our mouths to teach. Actually, even
while we were teaching. Monica and I were doing games after the bible
lesson as one of three groups rotating activities. It was hilarious. The
amount of time we had for each activity changed every 2 minutes! If it
weren't so funny, and we weren't having so much fun, and weren't doing
it for the Lord, or we weren't in Africa right now....we'd probably
cry. LOL. But let me back track and take you to the start of our day...

Wednesday, August 13th
7:30am Breakfast. Boiled white sweet potatoes, pineapple so sweet and
juicy I can taste it right now just thinking of it, buttered bread, and
a green pepper and tomato omelet. Um, um, UM...was that ever good!
Everyone raved about the omelet. It was cooked well on both sides and
reminded me of Egg Foo Young, and home.

8:30 off to work! We met in the chapel for morning devotion and praise.
Some older children joined in as well as the mothers who would be
working side by side with us. As soon as worship was over, it was snack
time. What?  We just had breakfast! Oh, but it's those triple decker jam
and butter sandwiches. Well, we do eat lunch very late, will be working
very hard, and do need our sustenance. I talked myself into one. :o)
Then Jeff took us group by group to our designated work stations. I was
gardening the first day along with Hillary, Pat, Danielle, Lauren and 7
or 8 project moms. We worked in a 25'x25' fenced in area filled with
debris, weeds and rocks.  Let me say this...Lauren is an animal with
African garden tools. None of us knew what we were doing and we all were
given lessons on how to hold and swing the tools (some of us more than
once), but Lauren was swinging that thing and didn't stop! We all worked
hard to do what they said and wanted., but there was quite a bit of
giggling going on from those on the sidelines and the cute little children
peering over the fence. The moms did it with such ease and even with
babies on their backs. Low and behold, we got it done! We cleared the
junk, loosened the soil, dug trenches and made seeding rows. I pulled a
mom over at one point and asked her a few questions about this whole
process. She shared that they start working in the gardens at 8 or 9 years
old. By 10 they are skilled at it, and it becomes their assigned duty.
What really blew me away though was how they water. When I asked how,
she answered nonchalantly, "We go to da reeva." "Well, how far is the
river?" I asked. "Maybe about one and a half kilometers", she answered.
"One way. There is one person who travels to the river to get water.
She goes 3 kilometers 5 times in the morning AND 5 times in the evening
so they can grow their crops." Wow. What do we have to be thankful for
at home? Hmm. Let me start counting.

When we completed the garden for the day, we wandered past the painting
crew. Monica looked like she was having a ball up there with an
African mom partner. Then onto watching Jared and Marshan being tortured, I
mean working, (just kidding) doing the deep seed holes. These are some
monster seed holes. 2'x2'x2', lined with rock which they had to crack
through to create the cube-shaped planting hole. Each will house 9
plants. They had chugged along all morning and after having about 50 of these
things dug were told they hadn't even started.  Not deep enough. Get
digging. All said with a big warm smile! LOL! No one said it would be
easy work. The next moment I looked up and Jared had his tool in 2
pieces! It broke. See how hard they are working!  Finally Jared and Marshan
moved down to the machete weed chopping area and I grabbed a tool and
joined in where they left off. Everyone (all the Africans) got a good
kick out of my efforts in there, but I just smiled, cracked a couple of
jokes they didn't understand and kept digging. Finally I got into a
groove where I partnered with a mom (with baby, of course) who flew through
those rocks with her pick and then I would shovel out the debris after
her. We were jammin' and then it was lunchtime. Darn! ;o) Meanwhile,
however, we bring our attention to the dam. From what I hear, the boys
and girls over there worked HARD swingin' that machete! Kenny, Jon and
Delos (by the way, that's what I call my husband, Donn) were up in the
trees pulling the branches down while their compatriots slashed away
until they fell the entire tree. At one point, an African grandmother came
up and shoved a big ole' root into Delos, indicating that he should eat
it. He looked at her quizzically but she persisted. So he took a bite.
She would not give up until he had eaten every single bite. Now you
must understand that this is a man who, as a child, had a completely
different meal cooked for him apart from the family's. We are talking PICKY
eater! I tasted a bite of another "casabo" Delos brought for us to
take home to the boys as part of our ancient African studies, and he
wasn't exaggerating. It's pretty awful.  Imagine the starchiest, most
bitter, dry, raw potato possible, and you are almost at how bad this root
actually tastes.  He ate at least 4 inches, with a 2 inch diameter. I
think he deserves some great kudos for  maintaining respect for their
culture.  
Lunch: goat stew, cabbage salad, mashed potatoes/greenbeans/peas,
chiapatti. 

After lunch some headed to their original posts (dam/seed holes) and
the rest headed to VBS. We had no idea what to expect, but at least we
had prepared our teams of teachers in 5 sets of two. We were given 3 very
long (for children....well, for American children) bible verses to
have them read aloud, 3 fill-in-the-blanks and one short memory verse.
 The theme was "faith". In all, it was about 15-20 mins of work if I were
teaching at home. They sent us on our way with that and said' "you've
got 45 minutes to teach." 45 mins for a 20 minute lesson? Okay. Time to
be flexible and creative. We arrived happily, ready to go into our 5
groups. Oops. They are in 3 groups. Okay everybody....regroup! Hillary
and Jill grab Pat. Danielle, Lauren and Jenny were a trio and so Cindy,
Monica and I buddied up. We let Bill off the hook (he was supposed to be
my partner) to prepare for his sermon at the open air crusade tonight.
 We walked into over 50 shining faces with bright eyes filled with
apprehension over what they were about to experience. Cindy leaned into me
and asked, "So how do you wanna do this?"  I offered to do the
introductions and get us started if she would lead off the bible verses read
out loud by the students. Monica kept the engine running smoothly to
make sure the students all had the right supplies and were given a candy
for volunteering (how they do it here). So I started doing what I do
best: geography! LOL!  Yep! I introduced the 3 of us, had them repeat our
names out loud after writing them on the board and proceeded to draw
the continent of Africa on the board too. I asked for a volunteer to tell
me which continent that was. "Africa!" One young boy called out.  A
response!!! Now we were getting somewhere. I continued geography by
adding Kenya, the Atlantic, America and then California. They were
gangbusters...until CA. Voila! A lesson learned.  Now they know where CA is too!
Yea! A win! A small one, but a win nonetheless.   That said, we moved
onto bible verse read alouds. Cindy initiated that and we did our best
to encourage the children to be comfortable and read loudly and
clearly. One little girl was so soft spoken that she probably read 15 verses
before Cindy (thank heavens)noticed that she was in the wrong chapter!
So she began again, and all was well. I walked among the children and
asked silently, "Lord, how can we take your words off the page, make them
personal and pour them into these students' hearts?" I don't know how
successful we were, but I do know that they soaked in what the Lord
wanted them to. It was really a somewhat scary time for me on some levels,
wanting to do the right things in the right ways, but also a special
time, in getting to know some of the children by name. I now feel a
special bond with one beautiful little girl, Elizabeth. So sweet. I can see
special relationships building all around me.  The children did a
wonderful job on their memory verse. They filled in the blanks nicely and
then did a little craft in which they drew a card which on the outside
said "I pray for_____", and     on the inside "I pray ____", indicating
where they pray with a drawing to reflect that place. From there, it
was onto the activities. Here is where we were just a weensy bit
stretched. Again. Within about 5 minutes we got several different directives on
how much time we had. 40 mins, 20 mins, no, make it 15. Nope back to
20. At some point in there Monica and I said, okie dokie...let's just
get on with it and stop when we're told to. Boy was I excited about this
activity! While teaching kids acting classes in the states, there is
always one game which every kid just eats up and never wants to
stop...Zip, Zap, Zop!  Its a game of speed, focus and concentration. News flash:
Zip Zap Zop was a Flip Flap Flop! You need eye contact to do this
game, and that just was NOT going to happen. So we tried an ABC hand game
which Lauren suggested as a plan 'B'. Negative. That one was a no-go
too. So what was plan 'C'?  What they wanted me to do in the first
place...Duck, Duck, Goose...with high schoolers. You couldn't have paid me to
believe that 50 high schoolers would enjoy duck duck goose. They didn't
enjoy it. They LOVED it. They smiled, laughed, ran and were so engaged
for a long time. We sat in wonderment. Then Monica and I thought we'd
try relay races. All was going super well...right to the last pair when
Monica (who partook in the race) completely biffed it on some rocks.
 She was not hurt, just feeling a tad goofy. It was one of those totally
slow motion trips, you know what I mean? She is still laughing about
it a day later. What a memory! Well it had been a long day, we were hot,
filthy and pooped. So now it's time to all pile into the vans
for....our first open air crusade! WooHoo! I have heard of OAC's but had never
actually participated in one, as this is my first mission trip. I had
all kinds of images, fears, excitement and insecurities about how this
evening might unfold. We were en route when the vans all stopped because
of a broken down cart attached to 3 Donkeys. I went out to join Cindy,
Cristin and Laurin to take a picture with the Donkeys.  After a while
I asked why we can't just go around the Donkeys? It looked to me like
we had enough room. "Why? Because we are here", someone informed me.
 Here?  Where?  There were about 6 empty clay structures around us, a few
people walking by and a big dirt road. That's it.   Well, wouldn't you
know it, little by little people started walking into "town", some with
benches on their heads, a table shows up with a keyboard on it, and
suddenly there are speakers...one in the road, the other in the tree.
Soon there are maybe 150 Kenyans standing, singing and praying. Voila! We
have an open air crusade all right! There were 2 dialects and English
spoken. We did our Lifehouse Everything Skit, praise God, they got it!
They oo'd and ah'd with embarrassment when Jen and Kenny portrayed
sexual abuse and laughed with Laurin's drunk. When Delos came in as God and
blocked all the sins from Jenn the clapped and cheered. When all the
sins were tossed aside to die by him, they roared. It was great. The
choir members sang beautifully, Pat shared a very courageous testimony and
Bill preached a salvation message. Finally, the church ladies did a
Congo line dance which we eventually joined into. You should have seen
Jared dancing down at the other end. Priceless.  Such a ball!  Then Jenn
and Ana broke   out the bubbles for the children to catch and a few of
us danced with the project moms. What a glorious way to cap off a day in
the field.

Dinner: chopped kale, mashed potatos, goat stew, orange slices,
chiapatti

Debrief: we shared about our feelings throughout the day. Most feeling
inadequacies and wanting to do more, without knowing how. Shared
perspectives and encouragement. What will we bring back home from this? What
is our theme, how and what is God trying to work through each of us?

Thursday, Aug 14

Back at the projects. The truck the tractor was being brought in on
broke down. Now the tractor has to drive itself to us. Won't make it here
for quite some time. The Dam folks became deep seed hole workers. Lucky
them. :o) The painters work looks great. The drab gray building is now
white with a red bottom and an angular simple design. Today a stripe
will be painted up high, and the window "specialist" is slated to arrive
to install them and ready them for painting. We in the garden
(Danielle, Pat and I) have completed our task, Praise God!  It is SO awesome
looking at our garden with neat little rows, walking pathways and 2 types
of seedlings growing in there. The work in there was hard, utilizing
unfamiliar tools, but when it came time to water, they went so easy on
us. I saw one mom carrying 2 huge buckets of water at once, yet they
give us maybe 2 inches at a time. I said , "more please. I can carry
more". The water guy said "yes", smiled at me and gave me 3 inches of water.
So the next go around I went over to where the moms got the water and
filled my buckets high. Then my homeboy Robert, a dad who speaks no
English, but had a ball teaching me Swahili came running over and via much
grunting and sign language told me that I cannot use that water. It is
for drinking only. 10 minutes later I saw everyone lined up there
getting the drinking water for the garden. The big tank ran out. (Big
smile) Welcome to our world.

The deep seed hole crew worked SO hard. Aching muscles and joints
abound. Delos' entire shirt was dripping with sweat so much, I thought he
had poured a bucket of water over himself. When everyone else was done,
he kept going. He did over 50 of those things on his own. Ana, our
resident doctor, was concerned about his health and told him to stop, but he
wouldn't. Later in the day, after lunch, he could barely walk. The
next thing I knew, while we were playing Dodgeball with the kids, he was
right in there with them. "I can't sit this one out. It's the boys
against the girls!". I guess that brings us to afternoon VBS. As we were
having lunch, the amount of time we had to do VBS fluctuated several times
until 10 minutes was settled upon.  10 minutes?!?!?  Jill asked gently
if we may forgo the curriculum they provided and utilize the Abeka
bible study reading cards I brought along. It was a go!  300 children
walked en masse up to the classrooms, 3 of which carrying requested chairs
upon their heads. After a moment of confusion, we got the 300 children
seated on the ground in front of the 3 chairs. 2 were for volunteers to
hold the card, 1 for me to read the Jesus Feeds 5 Thousand story
aloud.      You could hear a pin drop. These children are so well-behaved
and attentive, it's unbelievable. We prayed before and after, and recited
a poem asking Jesus into our hearts to finish off. All went well, so
we were onto activities. I am not certain what game Danielle's group was
doing, but Cindy and Laurin's did relay races which were very popular.
Monica and I had Dodgeball. Do they ever like that. Soon enough Jill
and Hillary informed us that we would do one giant game of Dodgeball
with every kid there! 150 in the middle, 150 in a circle! Wow! Was that
ever a blast. We ended with a hilarious round of 300 kids outside and all
of us inside with 1 project mom!  Laurin made it down to the wire with
the project mom, who in the end  


Dinner: kidney, liver and heart stew (probably from the goat we've been
eating the past few days! Boiled pumpkin, rice pilaf, tomato salad,
sliced oranges, chiapatti.

Breakfast: taro root, Mambo cake (sweet white, kind of like a dry pound
cake), watermelon. 

Update#4

My Blackberry ran out of room. here is the blog entry continued:

....the hot sun. There were traditional dances, bible verses, and even
skits! One of the skits was done by the project fathers. In Kenya,
children are typically meant to be seen and not heard and the fathers are
rarely present.  Compassion teaches the fathers to be nurturing and
involved in order to raise more well-adjusted and competent leaders for
tomorrow. One of the fathers was a complete hoot, dressed and acting like
a woman! And can you believe this....they did a skit for us, just like
one we have prepared for here!!!! Amazing. And very funny. Hillary,
Marshan, Cristin, Jenny and Jon were called up to dance (lots of video on
that). They LOVED Hillary. You should have seen her dance...oh that's
right...you will...on the video! ;o) Again, I cannot impress upon you
how special and overwhelmingly wonderful this day was.  Indescribable.
 Marshan, during our debrief, described how he was impacted by the
passion of the singers. There was no short song, yet each repeated phrase was
sung with the same fervor and passion as the last. Many team members
commented on how these Kenyans showed how to provide gracious
hospitality. We wondered how far short we might have fallen in this regard, had
they visited us first, now that we received this passionate welcome.  It
was extensive prep on their end. They was been waiting and working for
US 3 months.  It definitely gives one pause.  I know non one will
believe me, but for the first time in his life, I think, Marshan was
speechless. Nuff said.  
Lunch 4:30: sodas, water, 4 stews, (Aha! The unidentified meat is goat
meat!), bean stew, white rice, chiapatti. Sliced oranges.
Dinner:Bean paste (English potatoes mashed with beans), white rice,
tomato/cuke salad, cabbage salad, sliced avocado

Tomorrow we Will be: clearing a path with machetes for a tractor to get
in to where we will build the dams, then build the dam, painting the
church, digging deep seed holes in a large garden, digging another small
garden, working with the VBS kids

Wazumbus=us (white people)
Bwana asi fiwe=praise the Lord (to which we all answer "amen") 

Photos

Hope this comes through to pass on! The last email was cut off as I ran
out of room on my blackberry and then we arrived before I could finish
the last one. I will send it later in the day. 

We are experiencing our first day in the field! Here is a picture of
Marshan and Jared digging 2' deep seed holes! They made long rows of
these this morning just to find out that only one was deep enough! So they
are back at it again. Pat, Hillary, Lauren,  Danielle and I cleared the
soil and dug trenches and seed beds in a 25'x25' garden today. The
rest of the team are painting primer onto the church and cutting out the
pathway to the dam with machetes. We are all working side by side with
Compassion staff and parents. No small task and everyone is plowing
through the water, and backs are aching, but it is wonderful working
together doing the Lord's work! Everyone is having a ball helping out! Oops!
Jared just broke his tool...the brute! ;o). Well, I had better get off
the Blackberry and onto work!

Hi to all at home from everyone here!
Serving Him,
The Compassion Team   

Day 1 (detailed)

Please forgive all the grammatical and spelling errors which will
inevitably occur.  I am using my Blackberry for these eventual blog entries,
but trying to get all this to you sooner. BB is the only connection
here at all...I cannot even believe that THIS works. We are in REMOTE
Africa. The following are solely my (Rosanna's) personal (and often
rambling) thoughts and perspectives shared "journal style" as though I were
able to post to my blog. This is intentional. Thank you for passing on
to anyone interested. They get long, so "delete" is always an option if
not interested. :o)

We have all arrived safely!!!! (Last night!...I have not been able to
get to a computer ac adapter until now.  We ran out late the night
before meeting everyone at Quail for our departure to get an adapter which
works on the plane. $110 later, I left the appropriate "tip" at home.
Such the fiasco!)

Anyhoo...the flights were AWESOME, ne'er a bump to be felt, such
friendly and competent flight staff and (for some) a LOT of quiet rest
(especially for someone whose name begins with an "M" and ends in "arshan).
Unfortunately there are one or two on the team who are suffering from
sleep deprivation right now. Your prayers in that regard would be
appreciated as we have had understandable tears shed. :o(  Additionally, there
was a moment of stress when Jenn couldn't find her baggage tags at the
KLM desk in London, as they threatened not getting the bags on the
plane without them. After a bit, Marshan stepped in, said "You WILL get
her bags AND get them on that plane!". And that was that. Go Marshan! (I
have never ever heard, in all my years of international travel, of
needing baggage tags half way through. Hmm ). On the brighter side, we met
up with Chris from Servant Life without a hitch and I, the eternal
bubble-headed beach blonde, was able to recover my digital camera left on
the plane. God is good!

Very interesting:  I was pulled aside on the plane by a woman who said
that she is with a group of 15 people going to Uganda with her church.
They were slated to go with us to Kenya with Servant Life through
Compassion! That is why the plane trips booked are the very same for this
leg.  But since this is their 5th trip of this type, they said to Servant
Life, "We would like to do this and this and that" to which SL
replied, "Well, it seems you do not really need our services." They mutually
agreed, and hence went separate ways (to Uganda) instead. Funny.

On the flight from SFO to Heathrow we were all scattered about the
plane with no ability to change seats. From London to Nairobi, however, we
were lumped together as a team, for the most part. Either way, it all
worked out great to get us there in one piece!  Thank you to those of
you praying and fasting on our behalf.

We landed at about 9pm and arrived at this youth hostel at around 11pm.
Unfortunately, we ran into a snafu with three pieces of luggage, one
of which contains the speakers for our skits. 3 of the team have been at
the airport since 8 am, trying to figure that out prior to departing
for our 4 hour bus ride to Mbeere.  I have been praying for that issue
this morning.

The ride from the airport here was interesting. Jared was helping us in
a Swahili language lesson by quizzing our driver on pertinent phrases
and passing them onto us. Then we were slowed by a bad traffic accident
just ahead of us. A car was tossed upside down after having crashed
into the rear of a large construction truck. Pat prayed for the situation
as we sat and waited. We were on our way shortly and arrived well.

We want to thank Eunice and her friends SO much for the fabulous meal
they put together for the team to introduce us to Kenyan food. It
worked. At about 11:30 last night, we had nearly the EXACT same foods:
grilled flatbread (Chiapatti?), sliced cucumber and tomatoes, steamed white
rice, and a yummy chicken in tomato stew. Delicious! I am just pecking
away at breakfast as I do the same on the keyboard: fried eggs, toast,
sliced tomatoes and cucumbers again, and hash browns.  The sodas were
fun last night...ginger ale and ginger beer (non-alcoholic) with a real
bite! I love it! Some others...not so much. Just outside our youth
hostel, from which I picked up orange juice for Delos and lychee juice for
me. Yum!  A few of the Lighthouse girls just walked by for a jaunt to
the java house across the street. Delos just went running after them for
his morning caffeine fix. :o)

Earlier, I woke to take a run with Delos to stay up with the
triathalon-training routine. We made it maybe 10 mins, at which point we had to
run behind some bushes to avoid the thick, and I mean THICK black
emissions coming from the buses. It was less healthy to run and breathe in
that junk than it was to skip the run, so we turned around and bailed. I
did appreciate the little time we had out and about though. Just a
minute away from our hostel is the cutest little market with hanging
bananas, loofas, etc. It was great to see all the locals, all walking in
business suits; men and women alike.  There is not much dressing down from
what I have seen so far.   Even the employees at our hostel have been
dressed "sharply" with leather coats and blazers. The welcome was
wonderful with big, broad smiles and warm handshakes.  The showers were warm
and the toilets were there; more than I expect later in the day! We
have been handed our liters of water and our rolls of toilet paper. We are
ready to be soldiers in the field! :o)

Okay...off for now.  Thank you for making this all possible! Cannot
wait to "get to work" in Mbeere!

11am: We are on the way!  The bags we're located, praise God! John's
was even mistakenly taken home and returned this morning. The other 2
were misdirected at the airport. Now we are trundling on our way in 3
vans. John brought a car-to-ac adapter, hence my ability to type while
drivng. Yeah! We love media people!

I am sitting in the front seat, by the charger, we have been in the car
for about 7 mins and I have had at least 20 cars zip by me with about
half an inch to spare. Fascinating.  So many round-abouts too, much
like the ones to be found throughout Europe and the Caribbean. The carbon
monoxide around here really is toxic. Every third vehicle spurts
billows of the poison in varying shades of dark gray to pitch black. The
traffic is thick, but thankfully the weather is very nice. 79F as I type.

Marshan just tapped me on the shoulder to tell me that Jeff (a
Compassion former sponsored child and graduate who is accompanying us) just
told him that on Sunday, our team needs to do 4 dramas in 4 different
churches....at the same time! Alrighty then. I can't tell you how nice this
would have been to know back in the states when we kept asking how to
prepare. Putting our thinking caps on now. Gotta put those gifts of
creativity and flexibility to work now.   We knew we would be stretched in
this regard! ;o)

1pm: We've been on the road for 2 hours now. The countryside sights are
really something. Donkeys, goats, cows, and oxen are tied perilously
close to the road throughout the journey so far. I am not certain why
they are kept just there when there are so many more grassy areas to
graze and tie down. There are dozens of Kenyans afoot and atop bicycles on
either side of the road, even in the more sparsely settled areas. One
wonders exactly where they are going to, coming from, why and for how
long. Small market stands peddling rice, fruits and drinks are scattered
everywhere and the fire red clay dirt lay before our eyes in all
directions. People work in rice fields, chopping down reeds and corn grown
haphazardly (no rows) along the road, or sit relaxing/napping in the
afternoon sun. Even here 2 hours from "metropolitan" Nairobi, the people
are most often dressed up, pretty dresses and suit coats with dress shoes
worn while trodding for miles upon the hard clay road.

1:30pm: we had a quick restroom stop at a lovely resort en route. Nice
little relief in more ways than one. Jared and Hillary gave us some
comic relief as they leaned in for a closer look at "the cute little
monkey" which launched right at them, teeth bared! They and everyone else
were laughing so hard when I came around the corner to see what was
happening, however poor Hills did bonk her head on the roof trying to avert
the attack. She's okay though. Just a minor bump.

3:30pm
Ahhh. We are "home"!  We were again met graciously and shown to the
dorms (singles) and rooms (couples). We couples lucked out with the
lavatory facilities! Rather than just a little hole in the ground, we
actually have the bottom part of a toilet bowl sunk into the ground for more
aiming possibilities. There is a large "mess hall" in which to meet and
eat.  From the Welsh's and our room there is a beautiful view for miles
as one gazes over the chicken coop and through a tree with nearly 30
birds nests silhouetted against the sky. The grounds are donned by
beautiful bouganvelia and scattered coconut trees. A couple of old dogs join
beautifully marked birds wandering the property. By the chickens is
what we think is one of those giant anthills or termite mounds. It's
maybe a meter tall. The footing is deep loose red dirt outside our
quarters. So I am now glad that I did decide to bring my red clay dirt covered
tennis shoes from Kaua'i!

3pm Lunch: steamed white rice, pan-fired flat bread,
tomato/carrot/onion/cilantrio salad, unidentified meat stew.
After lunch we were informed that we need to preach and give
testimonies in addition to performing the 4 skits at 4 churches at the same time.
Zowie! Each church has provided something special for us, hence we
must reciprocate or run the risk of being extremely rude, which of course,
is not an option.  Our "break/rest time" from 4:30 until dinner at
6:30 is spent dividing up responsibilities and leaders for each group.
Marshan takes Jill and Hillary with John W. on congos to work on a capella
worship music.  Delos takes the "Everything" skit with Jared slated to
do the sermon/worship praise, and I head to the front room with Jon,
Nicole, Ana and Danielle for the "Sin Chair" skit and Pat, Jenny, Cindy
and Bill (who will be preaching) for a "Sin Chair Skit #2"!  Chris will
apparently be preaching at sin chair skit 1. Oooo the adrenaline is
flying now!

6:30pm meeting with Susan, Jeff and Jim from Compassion. I can't tell
you how pooped people are. 3 are asleep at the table. It doesn't help
that it is warm, dark outside and dimly lit inside.

Dinner: same unidentified meat stew, brown rice pilaf, cabbage dish,
same carrot/cuke/onion dish from lunch.

Rules for trips to the project: no exchanging contact info.
Children might never have seen a white person, be prepared for stares.
Photos ok in project; outside project with permission only!
Do not reject foods. Very insulting.
May not "help" family" unless it goes through Compassion.
If a child is tagged for Australia or UK, that's that. You may not
sponsor them.
Clothing: no tight jeans or shirts, dresses for church, nothing shorter
than capris in general for women.
Explained how water situation for bathing goes.  We have one huge black
tub filled with non-potable water. We scoop that water out to "flush"
our "toilet". Twice a day boiling water is delivered for sponge bathing
into large pans. Towels are provided. The "quick dry" towels we all
purchased from REI are so well appreciated!

8:30pm: Bed! Yahoo!

I have no idea what it was, but several times there was an exceedingly
loud caw, caw, caw screeching right outside our window, just as if a
vulture or raptor of some sort were proudly bragging about its kill.
We're in Africa all right.

The chickens are funny. They barely speak (cluck) . I stand there and
stare at them and they just stare back. I guess they think I am pretty
odd too.



Tuesday, Aug 12th
7:30am Bkfast: sliced, untoasted white bread, baby bananas, sliced
watermelon (dark purple shade), boiled eggs, purple skinned (skin removed)
white sweet potatoes, bottled water, hot lemon water, coffee

8:30 off to the project. We travel in 3 vans, the cool wind blowing
through the open windows. About a 45 min ride there and back each day.
They will perform for us! We are excited to meet these children and see
what they have prepared.

En Route: cows and goats wandering in the woods. Beautifully colored
birds  roadside. Pedestrians/cyclists much more sparse, but definitely
present, and still often dressed to the nines.
People love to wave and smile...and so do we! We yell "JAMBO" (hello)
loudly out the windows and have that and more repeated back to us.
It was hard to miss all the logs in the tops of trees. I couldn't help
but ask "why?".  Beehives for honey. Of course. I should have known!
;o)

45mins later, we're here!
Long road in, kids chasing van, running, smiling, waving.  Many donkeys
and cows.
So many children in their brown Compassion uniforms! Beautiful smiling
faces. Already I'm getting choked up, and nothing's even transpired
yet.  Their excitement and enthusiasm for our arrival is infectious. What
followed, upon our arrival can never fully be explained in words, but
could only be experienced. It was a day we will never forget...beyond
comprehension.  What lay before us completely blew us away. There are 303
children in this particular compassion project. Every single one of
them, plus the "project moms" and (previously unheard of) project dads,
along with the Compassion and church staff have literally worked for 3
months in preparation for our arrival. And it SHOWED!  The day at the
Raicine Child Survival project lasted from 9:30 to 5:30! Five and a half
hours of it were pure performances and bible verse recitations! We
mostly sat in stunned silence,  with huge grins plastered on our faces,
sometimes clapping and swaying with our hosts.
Included in the festivities were formal introductions, prayer, a
special clap the staff developed, explanation of the many acronyms used and
tomorrow's duties, (gardening, digging deep trenches, working on the dam
[nice sideline about all the crocodiles in the river], cooking, and
painting the church inside and out.)   We were provided a lovely snack:
triple layer butter and jam on white bread, hot tea and hot cocoa (88
degrees in the shade, 96 in sun...but they wear sweaters and jackets and
drink hot beverages regardless). Next we were  given a tour of all the
facilities. Amazing what can be done within mere clay walls with the
work of God going on inside! For instance, the kitchen.... A small
rectangular building with openings for windows and just 2 pit areas (a few
rocks in a pile) to cook for 300 children.  The classrooms are large and
simple furnished merely with homemade desks and chairs and one
blackboard. There is the small church we will be painting, and the Compassion
offices. The offices are warm and welcoming with beautiful bright
paintings on the walls inside and out (you might be familiar with this from
the slide shows at church) and stuffed animals everywhere. There was
even a little nap room with 2 little ones sprawled and out for the count.
The grounds are spacious with beautiful views in all directions. The
Baubau tree ominously dot the horizon with their straight, wide trunk and
leafless branches. Legend has it that the Jaguar did not like the
Baubau tree which angered the gods. Therefore they picked up the tree,
stuck it top-down into the earth and forever more it grew this way.
Smacking of more truth is the fact that old African tribes used these trees as
a source of water, wringing droplets from it during dry seasons. At
least that's what Pius, our driver next to me says. :o)

Following the tour, the welcome presentations began. They had set up a
U-shaped table with flowers, a pink table cloth and temporary shade for
us.  The children and parents sat under a large shade tree, and let me
say for all of you with children or grandchildren, these little people
from "class" 1 to "class" 12, sat with rapt attention for FIVE and a
HALF HOURS. In the dirt. Later in the day, in
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