Happenings over the past couple of weeks
- CJ and many of the boys recorded a cd consisting of 8 original raps in Kiswahili (and a little English by “DJ CJ”)!
- Keela and I led the kids in a project coloring pictures and designs on t-shirts with fabric markers. The t-shirts are going to children in America who made shirts for the kids here.
- CJ & I started a bible study/discussion group that is going phenomenally! About a dozen kids come everyday to learn what the bible has to say about various topics and ask questions. Our intentions the first day were to try to make it last one hour, three hours into it we were still talking. The list of topics the kids came up with includes Jonah, anxiety, fear, cheating, complaining, discipline, fasting, juding others, gossip, Job, jealousy, and much, much more!
- Made boondoggle bracelets with the kids.
- Watched Michael Jackson music videos with the kids.
- Took the kids to a field a few times to play football and just run around.
- The kids and I have danced…A LOT!
- Drawn, colored, and read books with the kids.
- Celebrated Christmas with thousands of East Africans at an annual Christmas crusade. More about that another time.
- I have read 6 books (Everything Belongs, Community Making and Peace, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, Dead Aid, People Power, and Say You’re One of Them).
- Keela and I have watched six Julia Roberts movies…I think CJ has made it though one with us haha.
- Celebrated New Years Eve with card games, wine, and chocolate. Keela and CJ drove Mama’s car…quite an adventure considering neither of them had ever driven in Kenya and the car wouldn’t accelerate properly. Later, I engineered a ball (bag of banana peels) to drop from the top of our staircase at midnight. A New Year’s to remember no doubt.
- New Years Day we took the boarders to the beach where we enjoyed a feast of goat and chipatis, played football, collected shells, and swam in the Indian Ocean. It was my first time swimming in the Indian Ocean and easily my favorite day of the trip so far.
- CJ and many of the boys recorded a cd consisting of 8 original raps in Kiswahili (and a little English by “DJ CJ”)!
- Keela and I led the kids in a project coloring pictures and designs on t-shirts with fabric markers. The t-shirts are going to children in America who made shirts for the kids here.
- CJ & I started a bible study/discussion group that is going phenomenally! About a dozen kids come everyday to learn what the bible has to say about various topics and ask questions. Our intentions the first day were to try to make it last one hour, three hours into it we were still talking. The list of topics the kids came up with includes Jonah, anxiety, fear, cheating, complaining, discipline, fasting, juding others, gossip, Job, jealousy, and much, much more!
- Made boondoggle bracelets with the kids.
- Watched Michael Jackson music videos with the kids.
- Took the kids to a field a few times to play football and just run around.- The kids and I have danced…A LOT!
- Drawn, colored, and read books with the kids.
- Celebrated Christmas with thousands of East Africans at an annual Christmas crusade. More about that another time.
- I have read 6 books (Everything Belongs, Community Making and Peace, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, Dead Aid, People Power, and Say You’re One of Them).
- Keela and I have watched six Julia Roberts movies…I think CJ has made it though one with us haha.
- Celebrated New Years Eve with card games, wine, and chocolate. Keela and CJ drove Mama’s car…quite an adventure considering neither of them had ever driven in Kenya and the car wouldn’t accelerate properly. Later, I engineered a ball (bag of banana peels) to drop from the top of our staircase at midnight. A New Year’s to remember no doubt.
- New Years Day we took the boarders to the beach where we enjoyed a feast of goat and chipatis, played football, collected shells, and swam in the Indian Ocean. It was my first time swimming in the Indian Ocean and easily my favorite day of the trip so far.
In love with Kenya
- I love how spirited the people are. There is much singing and laughter here.
- I love the references to God painted on cars, fruit stands, hair salons, etc. It is normal in one day to see a sticker exclaiming “The Lord is my Shepherd” on the back windshield of a matatu, “In God We Trust” painted on a wall at a hair salon, “God is good” on the mudflaps of a semitruck, and “Glory to God” painted on the side of a car.
- I love the children (so much). Their eagerness to learn, their physical toughness, and their ability to joyfully entertain themselves is too incredible to explain.
- I love the variety, affordability, and availability o
f fruit! Everyday we make a huge fruit salad with mangos, bananas, pineapple, passion fruit, and occasionally coconut. People line the streets and alleys selling fruit. Everyday I am baffled by how cheap it is…you can buy four mangos, six bananas, a pineapple, and eight passion fruit for $4.00!
- I love how warmly people greet each other. Everyday people shake my hand and smile excitedly when we greet…children and adults alike.
- I love the incredibly large number of small businesses – tailors, fruit stands, hair salons, internet cafes, clothing stalls, furniture shops, stalls selling handmade metal cookware, and the list goes on and on. There is one paved road through the middle of town and off this road lining every side dirt road and alleyway are small businesses. Most are set up in stands or stalls measuring about 6x6 and made out of plywood, tree limbs, palmfrawns, and scrap pieces of metal.
- I love the breeze and the sunshine while it sprinkles.
- I love how everyone happily exclaims “Jambo” to us as we walk past each other.
- I love renting movies! For a little over $1.00 we get a dvd with 10 movies on it!!
- I love how spirited the people are. There is much singing and laughter here.
- I love the references to God painted on cars, fruit stands, hair salons, etc. It is normal in one day to see a sticker exclaiming “The Lord is my Shepherd” on the back windshield of a matatu, “In God We Trust” painted on a wall at a hair salon, “God is good” on the mudflaps of a semitruck, and “Glory to God” painted on the side of a car.
- I love the children (so much). Their eagerness to learn, their physical toughness, and their ability to joyfully entertain themselves is too incredible to explain.
- I love the variety, affordability, and availability o
f fruit! Everyday we make a huge fruit salad with mangos, bananas, pineapple, passion fruit, and occasionally coconut. People line the streets and alleys selling fruit. Everyday I am baffled by how cheap it is…you can buy four mangos, six bananas, a pineapple, and eight passion fruit for $4.00!- I love how warmly people greet each other. Everyday people shake my hand and smile excitedly when we greet…children and adults alike.
- I love the incredibly large number of small businesses – tailors, fruit stands, hair salons, internet cafes, clothing stalls, furniture shops, stalls selling handmade metal cookware, and the list goes on and on. There is one paved road through the middle of town and off this road lining every side dirt road and alleyway are small businesses. Most are set up in stands or stalls measuring about 6x6 and made out of plywood, tree limbs, palmfrawns, and scrap pieces of metal.
- I love the breeze and the sunshine while it sprinkles.
- I love how everyone happily exclaims “Jambo” to us as we walk past each other.
- I love renting movies! For a little over $1.00 we get a dvd with 10 movies on it!!
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