ROAD TRIP!!!

11th of November, 2009

The residents of Cheryl's and the children in the foster program that attend high school all go to boarding schools in various parts of the country. When it is time for the holidays, most of them put themselves on a Matatu heading back to Nairobi leaving most of their belongings in a trunk at the school to wait for their return after the break. Those few who are leaving high school forever (YAY!!) must bring those trunks and all their belongings home with them. Since that would be incredibly difficult on a 3 hour bus ride, Someone needs to go and get them when they are finished with their exams, this time I was able to tag along!
The ride is long, but its amazing to drive through Kenya and see more of the country and the difference in landscape once you leave the city. On this gorgeous Tuesday morning we headed down a road that was familiar to me, as it is the same one taken to the Mara and the IDP camps. Its familiarity did not lessen its beauty. We drove past the great Rift Valley look out points, fields, forests, slums, farms and in the distance, Mburuku IDP camp with its new chickens and precious dust babies to to farthest from Nairobi I had ever been. We reached the small city of Nakuru and did a little shopping for Mary (our social worker) and her family as well as purchasing treats for the kids who were unfortunate enough to not be graduating and so had another few weeks of school left. As we left Nakuru, it felt like we were leaving Kenya, it was so different from Nairobi. Everything was green, and quiet in a calm, comforting sort of way. There were trees and shambas (farms) and children running around and waving at us as we drove past. It was so beautiful and peaceful, and here, tucked behind some trees and a few bushes was the house where Mary grew up and where her children still live with their grandmother. It was a small place, but comfortable and peaceful. A lovely place to spend the morning, retirement, your life....
After visiting with Mary's family for a bit we headed off to pick up James and Maria, who had been waiting for us all day. It was great to see some of the kids whom I had not seen since I first arrived in Kenya right before they started their term. The girls were happy to see us and thankful for the treats we had brought. They laughed and chatted with us as their school mates looked on and wondered what the Mazungus were doing there. One girl, Rhoda, I had never met before but she walked right up to me and hugged me and hung on me the whole time we were at the school. The boys, when we went to their school, were much more reserved but equally happy to see us. I realized how much I missed having them around and my excitement for the end of the term and their return home grew as we hung out with them for a bit before we left.
The drive home was fun, not lacking in laughter and chatter and singing. We arrived back at the home late, but happy. Two more members of our family were home and more would be following shortly.
Coming home is always a good day.

SOCIAL WORK

9 of November, 2009

**Disclaimer**The following will most likely be difficult to read, but it is life for many here in Kenya, and, I would venture to say, in much of Africa.

I have such a new respect for social workers after today. Especially ours. Her name is Mary and she has two kids that live about three hours away with her mother while she gives so much to provide for her family with her time and effort and heart to the motherless children here at Cheryl's.
The files of the children are a disaster. Many of them don't have one and the ones that do are out dated and disorganized. So, I decided to lend my magnificent organizational skills to make them a little easier to deal with. The task is a big one that begins with me familiarizing myself with the back stories of some of the children. I spent most of my day in a chair in the office reading these files on the verge of tears/in tears. Let me tell you about how the children at Cheryl's were:
Some have been abandoned. One was left on a bus at approx 4 years old. We have no idea what the name his mother gave him is.... many are not sure when their birthdays are or how old they are.
They have been tortured, beaten, burned, hit repeatedly in the head with blunt objects and pimped out by their own fathers.
They have gone days without food, slept in the streets, under lorries, in gutters.
There are those who witnessed the murder of their mothers at the hands of their fathers.
Many were unable to go to school, forced to stay at home, beg in the streets to provide and care for younger siblings.
They have watched their parents die of AIDS and other diseases, some do not know how their parents were killed.
They were displaced, cast out, unloved and unwanted....

Now, let me tell you how the children at Cheryl's are:
They are healing. They are loved. Accepted. Wanted. They are being educated. Encouraged to follow their dreams. They have food, shelter, clothing. They are well behaved, well liked and well adjusted children. They are a part of a family that looks out and cares for one another.

Seeing where they are now, you would never know where they used to be.

They are living proof of the power, grace and goodness of God.

THE K.A.S.

A Haiku

yellow, black, hairy
killer African spider
fear, screaming follows

WHO DOESNT LOVE A DAY FULL OF BRUCE??

18 of November, 2009

Today we brought some of the older kids to Kieren's house because school was not yet out for the younger ones and the big kids had not had much to do or anyone to do it with.
So 10 of us piled into the 7 seater and we made our way across town to the house with the big T.V. The night before Kieren and I had visited the grocery store and purchased sodas, chips and cookies for the kids as well as food for me to make lunch (which, by the way was so good).
When we got to the house it began to rain making it a perfect day for a movie day. The first movie- "Die Hard." It had been years since I'd seen it and the kids love the explosions etc in any movie so I knew it would be a good time.
After the movie was over the rain had stopped so I suggested that we go outside and sit on the veranda, or listen to music, or that they peruse the library. All of my suggestions were promptly, and politely shot down. They wanted to watch another movie. The second movie? "Die Hard 2". They loved it even more than the first one.
Kieren got home just after five and we were just finishing, you guessed it, "Die Hard 3." There was of course, no way that we were going to watch the first three and not the last one so we made dinner and settled into what is in my opinion, the best of the Die Hard movies--"Die Hard 4.0"
There was waaaaay to much violent T.V. being watched but at the end of the day, it was a good one and the kids enjoyed themselves which is what really matters.
And besides, how can a day FULL of Bruce Willis not be good?

SINGING AND SPARKLING- A (VERY) SHORT STORY

6th of November, 2009

Once upon a time, in a land over the ocean; a land teaming with wild life and rich in culture and beauty, there lived a group of children. These were no ordinary children. Although their short lives had been characterized by difficulty and grief they were children who had been marked by the hand of God. For although they had faced the harshness of life on earth, their hearts were pure and their gifts many. They had been given the gift of a life started over, the gift of a safe place to sleep and a full stomach, the gift of a new day and most importantly, the gift of Joy. Joy found in each other, in this new life they had bee given, and in music.
You see, they loved music. They loved to sing and to dance and because they had been given these incredible gifts, and because their lives were harder than most, they enjoyed this past time and found more pleasure in it than most. Like those who have been given incredible gifts, they delighted in sharing theirs with others.
They had heard of a home of retired x-pats who needed some music in their lives so they put on their good clothes, piled into the van and drove to the other side of the town to share their gift.

The children's performance sparkled. Their voices pure, their faces, smiling. The joy of the "oldies" was evident in their laughter, and smiles and clapping hands. When the music part of the performance was over the children mingled with the residents of the retirement home impressing the old folks, and bringing more laughter with them. Their job was done, their gifts shared. They drank sodas and played with sparklers and laughed and talked and reminded us all again how good life is.