On the train on the way to mombasa! (top right pict - jenna, me, gretchen, jen on the train)

(bottom pic - gretchen, me, jen in the train station)

Is it July already!???!

I’m having a wonderful, wonderful time.  I moved into the hostel last Monday.  I can already tell the next month is going to be so completely different from the previous month.  There are a dozen other volunteers at the house about half and half guys and girls, and even more volunteers in Nairobi that started their trip staying at the hostel, but have since moved to host families that still come around to hang out.  There’s a guy from Mexico, a guy from Great Britain, a guy from Spain, a guy and girl from Denmark and the rest are scattered across the states.  I share a room with three other girls (I’m on the top bunk).  One of the girls kind of keeps to herself, but the other two – Jen and Jenna, are super cool.  We talk about music, god, and the books we’re reading.  It’s great.  Jenna has been here for three weeks, and unfortunately is leaving this week.  I’m really bummed she isn’t staying longer because she’s really cool, from California and might be my musical soulmate, except that she’s cooler than me.  We knew it was love when a weepies song came on my computer. I told her about the music co-op that Justin and nick and the other guys do, and we decided we’re gonna do the same thing.  Except all four of us girls (Jen, Jenna, Gretchen and me) are gonna do it together, so it’s gonna be a music/book/movie/fun, great, exciting things co-op.

I also started working at the orphanage this week.  Three other volunteers from the house work at the project with me.  The Spanish guy, Alex, works on construction at the orphanage; except when the other construction workers don’t show up, then he sits in the room and tries to play with the babies with us.  Needless to say, it’s a little awkward.  It’s sweet when he tries to hold them, I guess he just doesn’t have the baby gene.  The other two girls that work with me are from NC!  Jen just graduated from High Point University and was in the same service fraternity as me! Go A.P.O!! She reminds me so much of my cousin Lisa, it’s wonderful.  Jen has been here for a couple weeks, and is staying six months! I don’t know how she’s doing it, but more power to her.  She’s fun.  And my new best bud is Gretchen.  She got into Nairobi the same night I moved into the hostel, so we started at the orphanage on the same day.  She’s from Durham and plays soccer at UNCW.  She is cute as a button and so sweet.  She loves animals so much, she even says “aawwww, look….” When we pass the really dirty sheep and goats digging in the trash on the side of the road, and then takes a picture. Know anyone else like that?  I’m gonna go on the same safari with her in a couple of weeks.  She’ll be here for the whole month of July, and leaves the day before me.  I can tell we’re gonna be tight; we’ve already made plans to go to a Durham Bulls baseball game, and visit her brother in Boulder, CO, and she’s gonna come to the TMP and I’m gonna go to one of her soccer games.  We both talk a lot about our boyfriends and our families; we’re kind of each other’s reverse-wing-man, meaning when all the other girls are going to find boys to flirt with, we just take a walk and tell each other about the really wonderful, sweet email we got from our boyfriend or our family and then make the other one really miss their family and boyfriend, but then get happy that we have each other.

 

Working at the orphanage can be summed up in three words, to quote Justin: “AFRICAN BAY BAYS!”  It’s about a 45 minute walk to the orphanage, which always seems to be a speed walk in the morning.  Unlike walking to my last project, which was mostly a city street walk with shops and people selling things, this is much more countryside, pretty classic Kenya.  I’ll try to get a picture next time to post.  As soon as we get there we head to the baby room and are immediately handed a baby to feed.  There are 12 infants under 9 months.  The sisters at the orphanage set up an assembly line to change and wash the babies, then hand them to us.  We grab a bottle and start feeding.  It’s so wonderful.  We basically sit in a circle bottle-feeding babies; we talk to each other some, we talk to the babies some, but mostly we just sit and stare at the little darlings and do a lot of ooing and awing.  It’s fun.  Daniel is the front runner for my favorite.  Or maybe it’s Austin? Or Rosemary? Or Nahashan? Or Nathaniel? Ok, I love them all.  But especially Daniel.  After the infants, it’s the toddler’s turn.  There are 5 toddlers, each with their own beautiful face and adorable personality.  The three I usually play with are Elijah, Gloria and Patience.  Elijah is a complete boy, he has one yellow ball that he will play with for hours.  If he’s not playing with ball he’s running around the room just jumping and falling.  When he smiles, it melts my heart.  Patience is definitely Ms. Priss.  She is the girly girl that wants all the attention and will fake cry if she doesn’t get her way.  At the orphanage they say “this is Patience, she doesn’t have any.”  And Gloria is the quiet, but kind little girl.  She usually gets last pick of the toys, but is still happy with what she gets.  She’s also very pensive.  You can tell she really thinks about what you say to her, or about what is going on around her.  She is darling.  After the toddlers are fed, we play with them for a couple of hours.  Then we do whatever needs to be done around the orphanage – cleaning bottles, sorting beans, hanging pictures and posters in the classroom, etc.  At 12:30 it’s lunch time and the whole process is repeated.  The babies are so adorable, and it is so much fun to hold them and play with them.  Most of them are severely underweight and many of them have developmental problems.  The infants probably spend 20 hrs a day in their crib.  The other girls and I decided we are gonna start taking our shukas to work and carry the babies on our back while we play with the toddlers. After lunch we finish whatever odd jobs need to be done and head home anywhere between 3 and 5.  Last week the weather was nice enough that the women let us take the babies outside.  There is a giant playpen outside (it really just looks like a cage with two mattresses in it), so we took the babies out there and just laid them down on the mattresses.  It looked like a baby yard sale.  We just shuffled the babies around, trying to give them all a turn to be in our lap and get equal attention; of course there wasn’t enough time or hands for all the babies to be held, but it was still good to let them have some time outside of their crib.  The walk home is a little bit more leisurely.  Alex usually walks home alone, but the girls and I walk and talk the whole way home.  We’ve already done some serious bonding. 

 

 

            This weekend a group of 14 of us took a train to Mombasa.  The train looks like one of the first trains ever made.  It’s super old-fashioned, and super-cool looking.  We were all really excited about taking the train and hanging out together.  We had a lot of fun doing dumb things, (i.e. sticking our head out the window), and snapping pictures. We left Nairobi at 7pm on Friday and were supposed to get in Mombasa around 10, but a train ahead of us was derailed so we didn’t make it all the way.  Instead we decided to jump off the train (cause we didn’t know how long we would have wasted sitting there waiting for it to go again), and we started walking to find a matatu to take us the rest of the way.  We found one matatu that pulled over and kicked everyone out to let us all ride together for a good price, and took us right to the hotel.  Most of us stayed at a really cool tree house hotel called “Stilts”.  There wasn’t enough room for all of us to stay in the treehouses, but the owner was this really awesome, laid-back british guy that set up tents with mattresses and sheets so the rest of us could stay there.  Gretchen and I shared a tent.  It was really cheap, and everything we needed.  There was also running water and flushing toilets (the first I’ve used since I’ve been here).  The whole property was absolutely gorgeous, and had a tree-club house in the middle where we all hung out.  During the day we walked across the street to the beach.  There was a bar/restaurant on the GORGEOUS white sand beach called “Ali Baba’s”.  It was straight out of a movie.  There were loungey couches and chairs under the cabana right on the water.  There were also camels right there!  Heading Justin’s advice, Gretchen and I wasted no time.  The first thing we did was go for a ride down the beach.  It was incredible!  Saturday night Stilts had a barbeque that all the guests came to.  It was by far the best food I’ve had since I’ve been here – steak, mashed potatoes, salad, grilled veggies, and some other really great stuff; and we all sat around the bon fire.  It was such a cool vibe.  After dinner we went back across the street to Ali Baba’s, which had turned into a really cool, dimly lit loungey beach bar.  It was all tourists staying there, but most were foreigners (not Americans) so it was really cool meeting people and talking to them. Unfortunately Gretchen was sick all weekend, so after Ali Baba’s everyone else went to another club but she wasn’t feeling well, and I didn’t really feel like going to the club so we went back to Stilts together - WMFL (wing-man-for-life).  Sunday was also great, the only problem was that we realized we didn’t have enough time in Mombasa.  Most of the other volunteers decided to stay a few days longer, but again Gretchen wasn’t feeling well, and we’re trying to save our money for the other gazillion things we have to do before we left so Gretchen and Jen and a few other people came back on the train.  Before we left on Sunday, we were hanging out at the Ali Baba’s, sitting on the beach, all of a sudden I heard this really great Jazz band.  It was the neatest group of cool, old, black men that were just the hippest group of guys wearing matching shirts, (the saxophone player had on shades), playing Dave Brubeck, and Frank Sinatra, and Eric Clapton.  Jenna and I went up to the bar and just watched and drooled. It was soooooo cool.  It made me the most homesick I’ve felt since I’ve been here.  I know that everyone I love, would have loved to have been there.  And I thought they woulda been so great for the music party!  It was a great, GREAT, weekend, and a much needed get away trip.  I couldn’t have made the switch to the hostel at a better time. 

 

 

            I am so grateful for the time I had staying with the host family.  Not only was the work project incredible (see posts below), but also being there alone I really had a good chance to experience African culture.  Although it was lonely at times, I can tell from talking to the other volunteers, that I was lucky to get quality experience; and even though I was staying connected to home through emails pretty regularly, being there by myself, and really living with the family and living the way the family lives, I can confidently say I was disconnected from American culture.  Don’t get me wrong, at the hostel we’re still eating African food, using African toilets and taking African showers.  But it’s definitely different doing it with other wazungu (white people).  I had a great time with my host family, but I was in need of a change.  I came to the hostel, and met the other volunteers at exactly the time I needed to.  It’s almost like it was done on purpose? I wonder if someone’s looking out for me? Someone that knows exactly what I need, exactly when I need it.  It’s a pretty cool feeling. 

The night before we left for Mombasa I talked to the girls in my room and Gretchen (who is staying in another room, but will most likely switch to ours before long) for almost four hours.  I basically told them my life story (including justincase, which I was a little shy about, but they all loved), they were fascinated, and that opened up a whole huge awesome conversation about boyfriends, family, love, sex, God, what it means to be Christian, and a bunch of other really great topics.  It was so much fun to talk with these girls because everyone’s got their own story, and everyone has their own unique, personal perspective on life.  That night was my turn to tell my story, next time it will be someone else’s.  And we are all just a little different, but so completely open and honest and willing to share and listen and learn.  We usually go to bed and pass out asleep around 10:00 (because we’re so tired from working) but we stayed up talking until 1:00.  It was just some serious quality time. These people are really, really great. 

 

            

a few things from my list of stuff to share...

1. i prayed at dinner the other night. i don't know if i've said this, but i really love when this family prays. part of it could be because just about every night they pray for my family and friends back home, but its also because i love exactly what they say. the girls (carol and faith) have been trying to get me to pray for a while now, but i don't really like to pray in front of anyone, let alone this whole family. the other night everyone was gone and it was just me and the girls for dinner, and they asked me to pray, so i did. i think it went pretty well. i'm glad i did it.

2. one day last week i saw the BIGGEST baby and the smallest baby! the big baby was more than double the average/healthy weight, and was enormous and adorable. the nurse had to explain to the mom about obesity. the little baby was only a week old and was born 2 months premature. needless to say she was teeny teeny tiny. that same day i also saw four different babies pee on their mom - they were all boys.

3. one of the most interesting cases i've seen since i've been there was a 1yr old baby that couldn't look straight. by that i mean, she could only see out of her peripheral vision. she couldn't look straight ahead, if she wanted to look at something right in front of her she would have to turn her head and looks to the side. (does that make any sense?). it was really very fascinating. also she was unable to stand on her own. the nurse didn't know what to do so she sent her to the daktari (doctor).

4. a couple of weekends ago, peter and i were on the matatu on our way home from the city, and there was a lot of traffic (as usual), and all of a sudden the men on our matatu were sticking their heads out the windows and yelling, and people were jumping out of their matatus and running by. it was pretty chaotic. come to find out one of the matatus in front of us was high-jacked and they were robbing everyone on the bus. it was kinda scary for minute. but the cool part was how everyone came together to help the one matatu that was in trouble. the men all got off and ran ahead to help. after the initial fear, it was exciting to see everyone working together.

5. besides when i get to give an injection, my favorite part of the day is the faces of the babies when they get the injection. i know that sounds cruel, but it's not. i'm talking about how the baby usually is pretty happy and looking around at the nurse like "oohhh... heeeyy... whats that shiny thing in your hand" just happy happy. and then they get stuck. and all of a sudden they realize that it hurts. and they just flash the saddest, most heart breaking look at the nurse and everyone in the room says "aaawww... poli poli poli" (aww... sorry sorry sorry). i'm not sure if this is really making any sense... but don't worry, i'll show you when i get home. it's adorable. and by the way, most of the babies stop crying pretty immediately after the injection is given.

6. ever since i volunteered to take the woman's blood pressure, i've kinda become the "blood pressure girl". it's probably just because they think i have a fancy bp cuff, but now not only do i take every patient's bp, but the staff comes looking for me just to take their bp! i'll be in the immunization room in the middle of diluting a hepatitis injection (one of my favorite things to do), and some one from the maternity ward will come in and say they have a friend back there whose bp they'd like me to take. the other day, they gave me a whole room to myself where i called the women in to take their medical history and bp. it was pretty great.

7. when i prepare the syringes for the nurses, after i fill them, i actually hold them up, flick it a few times to get the air bubbles out, and i even squirt a little out the end. it's so cool... and i gotta say, i'm gettin pretty good at it.

8. i worked with two nurses today. it was so great... we were totally a team. one nurse did all the paper work, i prepared the syringes and gave polio and vitamin a to the babies, and the other nurse gave the injections. we were like a well oiled machine. i can understand enough swahili now to know what each baby needs. it was so fun. then at the end of the day, the nurse asked how much longer i would be working there. i told her this was my last week. she said they would be sad to see me go, that i was "one of them now" and i told her how wonderful they have all been to me. we totally shared a moment.

9. last week I worked in the clinic weighing babies, and all morning i was working with this well-spoken, very kind, pretty woman named sally. she told me she was also a volunteer and that she normally works at the larger hospital as an HIV educator and counselor. she told me about what a hard time they have convincing people to get tested and what kind of challenges they face with educating people, and how there is such a terrible stigma attached that even when people find out they are HIV+ many of them refuse to believe it and go into denial and won't get any treatment for it. i spent the whole morning talking to her. in the afternoon when we were taking tea i told her that i just got my degree in psychology and originally wanted to persue counseling, but had decided to go into nursing instead, and she said i could stop by the hospital and see how she works and shadow her for a day or a week or as long as i wanted. she was so kind to me the whole day. it wasn't until after we exchanged numbers and just before we had said good bye, she told me she was HIV+ and had been for 5 years now. i was totally caught off gaurd. this of course opened a whole new can of questions. she was of course more than happy to answer all of them. she's not the first HIV+ person i've come across since i've been here, but i'll be completely honest, i was a little uncomfortable and uneasy around the patients that i knew were positive, but she completely changed the way i felt about it. the nursed do that too. they don't act the least bit different. at first i thought that maybe wasn't the best idea - for obvious health concerns - but after meeting this woman and talking with her, and watching these nurses work, i realize now what i believe makes someone a great nurse... the ability to care for a person as an individual. by that i mean, even though much of their day is routine and they end up doing the same thing over and over, they always seem to give each baby and each child exactly the personal attention they need. nursing is so much more than taking care of someone's physical needs. whether its giving a baby an immunization and realizing they have a rash and talking to the mother about what to do about it, or talking to a woman in family planning about the right kind of birth control, or counseling a mother in the ante-natal clinic that just found out she is HIV+ and helping her move forward... these nurses seem to care so deeply and fully for every single patient in every single situation. more often then not they are speaking in swahili and i only understand bits and pieces of what they are saying; but i can fully understand their caring tones, and warm body language, and the relief the patient feels at the end of the conversation. it's incredible.
i can't wait to be a nurse.

anyone need a tetanus shot? cause i can do it!

AH!! It happened!! i knew it would happen!

i gave my very first injection today! i gave a tetanus shot to a pregnant mother in the ante-natal clinic today!! she was the last patient, so i only got to do one, but hopefully that will open the door. now, the next time a nurse asks me if i've given an injection i can say "yep. mm-hmm. sure have. want me to do it?"
this is such a great feeling. nursing school here i come!

darling sharon and lovey jo jo

sweet sweet brian. he's warming up to me a little.











this is joe, brian's older brother. he plays soccer with his older brother tony almost everyday with a completely deflated volley ball; their actually pretty good.

joe, jojo and me havin fun

me and jojo.

The kind of day that makes me think I could stay forever...

I had the most incredible day today! I worked in the Ante-Natal Clinic (for pregnant mothers). I helped check all the women in, took their height, weight, temperature and blood pressure, and filled the syringes for the injections. I was in there with the nurse, and we would take in two patients at a time and each take one. i had my own patients!! aahh!! after i got their history an took their vitals, the nurse checked them out - gave them a physical. She let me palpate the breast for lumps, measure the baby in their belly, then listen to the fetal heart beat! it was sooooo great!! i felt like i was really contributing today. after tea, i went with the same nurse to the PMTCT room (prevention of mother to child transmission), where they take blood from the mothers to see if they are HIV+, then counsel them either way. evey day they let me do a little more. although, i think they might be figuring out i don't have any real medical training, (even though i kinda told them i was a nursing student, oops). my goal before i leave the clinic to give at least one injection. i can't make any promises, but i sure am gonna try my hardest!

after the PMTCT room, i went up front to help with booking as they were short staffed. the first week i worked there i was sooo nervous to take the names and check the people in cause i was having a really hard time understanding them, and they sure couldn't understand me. but now i can do it all on my own! it's the greatest feeling. even though i still don't really know swahili, you'd think i did if you saw me have pseudo-conversations with the patients. its wonderful.

right before i left, i went to the back to get my water bottle, and decided to stop by the maternity ward for a quick second, and right when i poked my head in... a baby was poking her head out!! eww... awesome!! the woman delivered her baby right then, so i threw some gloves on and after she cut the cord, the nurse let me take the baby and weigh it and then clean it off and wrap it up. it was soooooo awesome!!! soooooo awesome!!!

it is quite common for goats and sheep to be wandering the streets or to be tied up to something. today i passed a sheep that was really tangled bad, the rope was wrapped around it's leg several times, and stuck around its neck and it could barely move. now, i have been told that even if there's no one around for miles and it looks like the sheep/goat is alone, it's not; and if you touch the sheep/goat the owner will jump out of nowhere and yell at you for trying to steel it! well, lucky for the sheep i was having one of the best days since i've been here, and was feeling somewhat invincible, so i decided to walk over to it and untangle it. i walked up to it and said "look sheep. i'm gonna help you out, but you gotta help me help you, and not bite me. we cool?" it was totally cooperative. i untangled it, it kept eating grass and smelling just as nasty as ever, and i went on my way. it was wonderful.

oh, and the other really great thing that happened today...
yesterday morning i was weighing babies. the first baby i put on the scale was crying (as most of them do when the mom puts them down on the cold scale and steps away), so i did what i normally do - used my pen to distract him, give him something to look at. well, this little sneaky baby grabbed the top of my pen and never gave it back. i didn't realize it til the little perp was long gone. now mind you, this would have been no big deal, except it was my favorite pen! why do i use my favorite pen you might ask? well... it's my Chapel Hill nursing school pen. it's kind of like inspiration. anyway... i'm embarassed to admit that i was a little sad for the rest of the day cause my pen was gonna dry up and i couldn't use it anymore. well, just before i left the clinic today, a woman came up to the window and handed me the top to my pen! she said she found it when she got home yesterday, and came all the way back today just to give it to me! is that incredible or what? she is gonna have some seriously good karma!

sounds like a pretty great day, huh? it was!

Kahawa Health Center

the first two pictures are the immunization room. the close up is the cart with the syringes i fill for the nurse and the polio vaccines i give to the babies. the bottom two pictures are the maternity ward. the picture on the left is of everything they get together when preparing for the baby. the little black thing to the left of the scale is what they use to listen to the baby's heart beat. crazy. and the last picture is the bed where the women give birth. thats it... no sheets, no pillow, no technology, no nothin!

Waskom School

theses pictures are from the school that my host family own. their son daniel teaches at it and faith is a student. this is early in the morning when the kids first started to arrive.

Living Quarters

my shelf. it makes me feel at home
looking out from the front door. they live in a little mini-village. its so fun. the white truck is sitting right in front of sharon and jojo's house.

Gettin my hurr done.

carol is braiding my hair while faith and rebecca teach me swahili.
they thought my hair was sooo interesting. they couldn't stop touching it. i'm smiling in the picture, but it hurt.

carol (the "house girl") wanted to braid my hair. and rebecca (in front of me) is a sweet sweet girl that lives down the street, but has come by every day since i met her.

on my way home from work
jojo on the left, sharon in the middle

jojo

“We Can All Dance”

 

Allow me to clarify.  This was a statement made by a kenyan friend of mine, brian. And when he says “we” he of course means all Kenyans, not all people.  This was in response to peter telling me he wasn’t a good dancer. Yeah right.  I went with my host brothers peter and daniel to SPA fest (Stomping Performing Arts festival) last night.

 

It.

Was.

AWESOME.

 

I have never been more jealous of every single person in the room in my life. dancing is just a piece of them, a part of who they are; dancing, and being good at it is like blinking – they always have done it, they always will do it, and it takes no effort to do it.  We left for the festival at 2:45 pm on Sunday, and we got back to the house at 7:30 am Monday. 

The festival is a competition for dance groups from churches in the surrounding area.  I went with our home church presbyterian church of east africa – kahawa farmers district.  The dance group was “the ignitaz”, the returning champs.  In fact, they have won the last two years in a row. Needless to say, they won again. They were awesome.  I’ll post a video of it.  I’ll I’m saying is… amras here I come!! I can’t wait to get back and show off my new snazzy dance moves.

The dancing was great, but that wasn’t even the best part.  That night changed my heart.  I met some of the most amazing people.  In a crowd of over 2,000 people I saw another muzungu (white person) so I decided to talk to her.  Turns out she is from Michigan and is in Kenya for the summer doing research for her nonprofit organization – Redeeming Africa’s Hope.  She introduced me to her sister who is moving to charlotte in the fall to go to nursing school!! Of course we immediately hit it off and exchanged numbers.  It was great to meet another foreigner, someone who is going through the same things I am, but the best part was how she changed my heart about Kenya.  As stated in the previous post, I have been a little bit homesick and still feeling out of place; I just haven’t quite settled in yet.  These girls, who have been here for a month already, totally comforted me, explaining that they felt the same way at first, and that it takes time but before I know it I’ll be running the joint and won’t want to leave.  Sound familiar kendall?

I was having a good night, enjoying the people I was with, loving the dancing, but after talking to those girls, I was having a great night!  My heart was open, and instead of enjoying myself but still missing everyone in a sad way, I was enjoying myself and being in the moment.  it was like a switch was flipped,  I could see all the greatness all around me.  I was seeing everyone with different eyes.  This new way of being in the moment and loving every part of it, gave me the opportunity to have one of the most amazing spiritual conversations.  Richard, who lives down the street from my host family, is in school at the University of Nairobi playing on the soccer team and studying psychology, shared with me his experience with Christianity.  Uh-may-zing. 

 

My journey has just begun.

 sharon.  my favorite
 statue of the first president 
brian is on my lap.  not so happy.  jojo on the far right.
 menasi and brian.

A typical day last week:

 

8:02 -  my egg shaped, multi-colored alarm clock goes off – always making me think of mom.  I can hear the neighbors animals sounding off – the most obnoxious cow moo, and the most cliché donkey heeeee-haaaaaw you can imagine!

 

8:32 -  I finally get up out of bed, get dressed, fill my pack for the day, eat some breakfast (usually a flattened pancake with red plum spread), and head out the door just before 9.  It’s about a 15-minute walk to the main road, where I hop onto a matatu.  The after a 10-minute matatu ride, it drops me off somewhere in kahawa west.  When I get off the bus, it’s another short 15-minute walk to the health center.  Depending on how long it takes to get a bus, and where it decides to drop me off, I get to the health center anywhere between 9:30 and 10:00

 

9:30-10:00 -  when I first get to the health center I say hello to janet and sicily the women at reception who were slow to receive me, but seem to like me more by the day.  Then I go to the clinic side of the health center, which is specifically for the children under the age of 5.  I help check in the babies, weigh them and take their temperature. 

 

11:00-11:30 -  when things start to slow down in front a little, I head to the back to the immunizations.  This week I have been shadowing a woman by the name of Miriam.  She is a wonderful, soft-spoken little woman that moves very slowly and seems exhausted, but when it comes to the mothers and babies she works with, she is so sweet.  She has really taken me on as something of an apprentice.  Although she was slow to talk to me at first, I think she really likes teaching me now.  She is a great teacher, and when I can understand what she is saying, I really learn a lot.  I went from standing in the corner watching, to writing the paper work, marking the books, to now giving the polio vaccines to the babies, and preparing the syringes for the DPT/Hepatitis, measles and tetanus vaccines. This is my favorite part of the day!

 

3:00-3:30 -  I leave work, and begin my walk back.  I usually stop at an internet café where an hour and 15 minutes costs about $1. 

 

When I get home I play with Faith and a few of the kids that live close by.  There is a little group of kids that play outside, but there are three kids that I usually play with.  Jojo is a sweet little 5 yr old girl that always wants to touch me, but just barely; she timidly holds my hand or sits just close enough to be touching me.   She doesn’t entirely understand me when I talk to her, but she tries really hard.  Brian is 2 yrs old and seems to always be a little out of it.  He just stares with big beautiful eyes, and loves to be held.  He is the neighborhood baby, they just pass him around.  He is still figuring out whether or not he wants to be my friend.  And my favorite little darling girl is Sharon (pronounced shalone).  She is 3 yrs old and has no clue what I’m saying when I talk to her, but just smiles at me anyway.  I have never seen such a melting smile in my life.  She is precious.  There are two older boys that play soccer outside, and she runs in there to play with them, and then runs back to give me a hug when I cheer for her.  She ‘s not afraid to hug me.  From the first day she has never had any hesitations about me, she’s just happy to be my friend.  

When it starts to get dark, I go inside where the rest of the family is usually watching some ridiculous tv show i.e. “that’s so raven, wwf wrestling, sebastion & catalina (an Italian soap opera), or strong medicine.  I will either watch with them, or pick up one of the four books I’m currently reading.  We usually eat dinner around 8:00 and talk about our day.  I love sharing about my day with the family.  They tease me that everyday I come home I say, “this was the best day so far”. 

 

Slowly everyone trickles off to bed. It’s usually me and the boys left up watching tv.  There are a couple of shelves in my room that I am slowly filling with my things – books, papers, my clock, and other miscellaneous items.  The more I do this, the more the room feels like my own.  I usually read and then watch something on my computer.  Despite the bed feeling like a board, and the pillow being about as thick as a vhs tape, and about as comfortable as one too, I always seem to get a good nights sleep.  

It's June already??

I WATCHED A LIVE BIRTH TODAY! i'm adopting.

i also observed some immunizations, and they said they would let me do more tomorrow!!

more to come....

Mother Theresa Quote

“May today be peace within. May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be... May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you... May you be content knowing you are a child of God... Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love. It is there for each and every one of you.”

i found this quote over a year ago, and typed it in a word document and kept it in a file on my computer. i haven't read it in probably 3 or 4 months. now i know why i found it. i read it everyday.

First Kenya Blog!

i'm in kenya! 

downtown nairobi to be exact.  

we stopped into a hotel 

oh my gosh... what an experience.  quick recap:

i worked at the health clinic thursday and friday and loved it.  so far ive only done receptionist work, but its good cause i'm learning some swahili, starting next week i'm going to ask to be more hands on, and i'm pretty sure they'll let me.  the first day i was there, they gave me a tour of the maternity ward and there was a women they thought was in labor, so were checking the fetal heart beat and let me listen!! there is almost NO technology at all... they listen to the heart beat with hour-glass shaped piece of plastic.  and it worked!  turns out it was only false labor, but they assured me there would definitely be a birth while i was there! almost every woman that comes in either has a baby on her back, or in her belly!

i have seen sooooo many babies! but i don't haven't gotten to play with or hold them yet! I am supposed to be at the health clinic for another 4 weeks, but i may have to switch a little earlier just so i can get my hands on those sweet watotos (swahili for children, of course).  

host family:

great. 

the father is Stephen, and he is the sweetest man.  he laughs all the time.  he reminds me a lot of my dad, because everytime we go out somebody stops him to talk cause they know him.  he makes them laugh, and then we leave.  on our way out he always leans over to me and says "he/she knows me... but i do not know her".  sound familiar john tosco?

mary, the mother, is strong but kind.  she didn't love me right away the way stephen did, but i think she's warming up to me.  they have five kids, two are in boarding school, so i won't meet them.  the three that live at home are peter - 22, daniel - 19, and faith - 9.  daniel and i don't talk a whole lot, but he's a good guy.  he teaches at a school that their family owns.  faith is sooo sweet and so quiet.  i didn't hear her talk for the first three days i was here (mostly because nobody talked to her).  when we got home the other day i asked if i could help her and she let me.  mostly i let her read to me, and she taught me a little swahili, which i loved.  we quickly became friends.  ever since then she smiles at me and we play games.  she always runs up to me and gives me a high five, i can tell she's holding herself back from giving me a huge hug.  she is such a blessing for me.  she makes my day.  

peter has been my tour guide.  yesterday he took me to hang out with some of his friends.  that was pretty great.  they are all in a singing group together and were meeting for rehearsal.  they were really good. (i'll post the video).  but the best part was how nice they all were to me.  after their practice, we all walked home together and stopped at their church on the way and met some more nice people.  tomorrow he's taking me to a dance competition, an AFRICAN dance competition.  i am super excited about that!

after much discussion with many people, i think i have to do a safari and go to mombasa.  everyone here is insisting on it.  

the house is pretty good. i have my own room, which is cozy.  but there is no running water.  yikes.  the bathing situation isn't terrible; although i have to use a bucket, its hot water, REALLY REALLY hot water.  but the bathroom.... rough.  they have a toilet, but no plumbing.  so its basically a raised hole in the ground.  

wanna know a secret?? i wait until everyone goes to bed to use the bathroom. oops.  i'm sure that will change soon.

i've already had some pretty great days, but to be honest, the nights are tough.  i'm so glad i brought my computer - i watch an episode of scrubs a night. my new favorite show.  i miss you guys like you wouldn't believe.  it is definitely harder than i ever expected.  but even though i get sad sometimes... their is a strange feeling that everything will be ok.  i'm reading a lot and praying a lot.  there is a mother theresa quote/prayer that has been helping a lot... i'll post it.

i also wanna say thanks for all the emails.  it was great to get on the internet yesterday and have those to read.  really brightened my day.

i send more when i can.

i love you all

everything happens for a reason

there has been a slight hiccup in my trip as is evident by me posting from raleigh, and not nairobi.

in all my preparation for the trip, i overlooked probably the first thing i should have checked!  

my passport was expired.  there... i said it out loud.  my most embarrassing secret posted on the internet for all my friends and family to see. and although i was devastated at not being able to leave for africa, i can now say, with confidence, that i am glad it happened.  having to get a new passport did several things for me; it forced me to take a road trip to washington dc with my best friend.  even though  more time was spent in the car than in dc, it was a great day.  a day that never would have happened, had i gotten on the plane last saturday. but more importantly it showed me what an incredible family and group of friends i have.  feeling completely heartbroken about missing my plane and unsure if i would still be able to go to africa, i was surrounded and lifted up by the support and encouragement of my family and friends.  i can't express the incredible feeling of unconditional love.  everyday i feel more and more blessed to be surrounded by the amazing people in my life.  

whether it was to avoid a plane crash, political uprising, malaria, or to spend a little more time with the people i love before i leave, there is a reason i didn't get on the plane last saturday.  

i'm not longer sad about having to get a new passport, i'm grateful.  i want to go to kenya more than ever, and i believe that on monday i will fully be ready to go.

first blog ever!

Uh-oh... it's happened.  I am now officially a blogger.  But I have a pretty good reason to be!

I've gotten so much support and encouragement about this amazing adventure I'm about to take, that I've decided to keep you all as close to me as possible.  Since I might not be able to call or get in touch with you all on a regular basis, I think keeping up with a blog will be the most practical way to keep everyone informed on all the amazing things I will be experiencing!  I'll do my best to keep it up to date, but I've been warned that there will be so much exciting stuff going on that it will be impossible to keep up with all of it.

Since I leave for Kenya in two days I have been packing and preparing and really soaking up the time I have with my friends and family.  I am definitely scared a little bit, but I am also excited out of my mind!  I will be posting as soon as I possibly can!

I hope you all enjoy!

Thanks again for all the amazing love and support.  It is because of you guys that I am able to make this dream come true!