Another Adventure from Africa!

Hi My Friends:

It's been a week since I last added something, so I will get you up to date on our adventures here. Last Tuesday was Kenyatta Day, a holiday honoring Kenya's President Kenyatta from the past, as he gave the Kenyan's hope and worked for them. We went to the Mercy Caring and Children's Home (MCCH) and had a sports day for the children. They had so much fun playing 'football,' which is really soccer, with David and Candice. Even Dane got in and played! I sat on the sidelines and yelled.

Yesterday we went to Faith Community Church, where once a month they have a day for the street kids. There were at least 70 street kids that day. They come into the church's backyard, which is totally grassed, go over to the plastic tubs which are filled with water, take their clothes off and have a bath. Then some of them wash their clothes and hang them in the bushes so they will be dry when they are ready to leave. They play 'football' (called soccer in Canada), some with only their jackets tied around their waist as their clothes are drying! Medicines, bandaids and cleaning solution is brought out and any wounds the children have are cleaned out and tended to. If they are sick with a cold, they get cough syrup and antibiotics to take. Lunch is then served. Most of them eat some of the lunch but bring a plastic bag to put the rest of their lunch in so they can take it home to their starving family. They are then allowed to take one piece of clothing.

The behaviour and respect these street kids have for the church personnel doing this was humbling to see. We as a Team really enjoyed the day, interacted and put on our nurses' cap to help with this very worthwhile service. We hope to do it each month until we leave. The majority of the children are from Kipsongo Slums.

Last weekend we went door-to-door visiting with families. One of the other team members was telling that they were invited into this little house and the lady was putting fresh cow dung on the floor, so they had to step around it to sit on the couch. Guess the cow dung dries/hardens and they have a fresh layer of floor!

There is a wedding coming up from two members of MCCH staff, so we got on the topic of marriage at dinner one night with our host family. Their son had to have a dowry of four cows for the bride's family before he could marry her. The host said that it depends on what tribe you are from what the dowry would be. Another tripe it is sheep and/or goats.

I am still enjoying have children in one-on-one to talk with and to give a little special attention. One of the boys had just learned he was HIV positive. He has no parents and was very sad at the diagnosis. He barely responded to our talk, so I hope to have another chat with him and give him some hope and love.

I want to thank each of you at Gibsons Elementary School who sent items for me to take here for the school/children. I see the children walking around wearing new shoes and clothes. We have added to their small library - they love books! And the school supplies are definitely being used.

The girls and, yes, boys still love to play with my blonde hair - it's such a novelty. I don't know how they will react when they see that there is an inch of grey now growing from the roots of my hair. Between that and 'please take your teeth out and show us your dentures' makes me feel my age.

Little information on the Kenyan flag. Look up somewhere so you can see the flag. The red is for the blood that was shed for them to become independent; the white is for peace; the green is for the vegetation and the black is for the color of their skin. The shield in the middle is for defending their country.

Thank you for your e-mails, and if I don't get around to e-mailing each of you personally, I'm sorry. We are still working on photos being sent and also getting a modem into our host family's house so we can use the internet there. We are getting there but found out that the lovely laptop cannot handle it here in Kenya because it's a Mac!!

We are in the planning stages of going with the Grade 6's and 7's on a field trip to Lake Victoria (look on the map - it's very large) in early November and a trip for our Team to Kampala, Uganda late November. Time is going by fast.

Love to you all until the next time,
Nancy