So Much News To Share :)

Hey y'all,

It is hard to know where to start... So much has happened since our last post. Our apologies for it having been so long since an update, but we have been pretty busy. I am just going to try and go in chronological order, so bear with me!


Sunday, May 25, we went to church with the children again, for the second week in a row. At church a visiting pastor (another Pastor Peter) had a great message in his sermon, which was to be committed to your faith, and to abandon the excuses we make for ourselves on why we are not already living committed. Whit and I felt very convicted- it was refreshing :) On the way to and from church we ride with the kids in the van which is always an entertaining experience.

Prince and me on the way to church!

Monday, May 26, we took 6 infants (Jabari, Benson, Abraham, Ian, Linda, and Justin) to the same hospital I went to when I was sick. It was sooooo busy. We ended up waiting 3 hours, before our nurse, Liuba, decided Ian and Abraham were too critical to wait any longer, so we got back in the van and traveled to a small family practice where the babies were seen right away. They used a nebulizer on Abraham, because his breathing was so bad. He and the rest of the babies were prescribed meds and we traveled back to Happy Life.

Whit & Jabari; on way to hospital

My favorite man, Benson

Tuesday, May 27, was a fun day, because the grounds keeper, Wilson, taught me how to make samosas. I can post the recipe later if anyone would be interested in trying to make them. They are a little complicated to make and roll out the dough, but are so delicious. We made a batch of 40- we froze 20 of them, and cooked and shared the other 20. We have been rationing them ever since haha

Samosas!!!

Whit enjoyed them :)

Wednesday, May 28, we started out feeding the infants (we usually do most of the feedings every day), and then in the afternoon we met Pastor Peter at the church, and he took us to Village market, which is a nice place to shop and buy groceries. We got to walk around a little bit and see what they had. It was a treat because we were able to get french bread from a bakery, and green apples, figs and sugar snap peas from a really nice fresh market called Zuchini. We also managed to find Joshie's (Roey) favorite candy, Jelly Babies, at the supermarket there.  We then got even more spoiled by getting to stop at Java Cafe on the way back, where Whit got a chocolate milkshake, and I got a delicious banana one. Sooo amazing. We went to Pastor Peter's Wednesday night sermon at the church, which complimented the commitment sermon we heard Sunday. This sermon was on being persistent in your faith and your prayers, and not to give up. He spoke about Elkanah's wife Hannah who prayed for so long to have a son, and how God remembered her and blessed her with Samuel, because she was so persistent in prayer. This was also wonderfully convicting, and refreshing.

Our view from the roof of Happy Life

Sunset on the roof :)

Thursday, March 29, we spent all morning playing with the children. We fed the infants for the first feeding at 8:30 am and then helped the moms give out snacks to the toddlers and preschool aged children. They loved the biscuits we gave them, and it was so adorable watching the little ones try their best to eat them. :) In the afternoon, Liuba, taught me to make my most favorite food here, Chapati! I was going every day to a man's stand who I swear makes the best Chapati in all of Nairobi, so to save money I had to learn to make my own! haha This was easier to learn than the samosas and they are so inexpensive to make. I have since made chapati another 2 times :) While making the chapati, Luiba told Whit and I the story of how her husband had to propose to her a million times before she finally said yes. She is hilarious. They also now have a son, Larry, who will be 2 on April 20. We can't wait to do some birthday shopping for that! Thursday night we went out to a bar called Tortillas (pronounced with the "L's" haha) with Kyle and Robert. It was very interesting to say the least. haha A lot goes on at the bars here. We did get to meet a bunch of new people though which was so nice. Among them were Cynthia, Nick, and Steve, who we talked to the entire time we were there. They are super nice, and it was definitely nice to meet another girl to hang out with.

Alvin & his biscuits

Melvin :)

From Left: Andrew, Jonathan, Privilege, John (pronounced Joan), Jacob, Erica, Simon, Prince-O, Patience.

Alvin, who will soon be adopted :)

Josiah

Liuba spinning the chapati

Rolling out the chapati

Whit, Kyle, Robert and me before Tortillas

Friday, March 30, we helped with the feedings in the morning. We went with Rosemary to a supermarket called Naivus, to get new diaper covers for the babies, and to do a little grocery shopping of our own. We also got to get ice cream bars there. Vanilla with chocolate shell- such a special treat! That night we went with Pastor Peter, and his wife Faith, to a crusade in Kenol that was meant to invite people the new church they are starting there. On the way there, we passed the Delmonte fruit plantations and got to see miles and miles of pineapple plants (which I have never seen before!), it was unbelievable how much land they have. The crusade went so well- it was so neat to see how God is moving throughout Kenya. It was so funny too, because at one point a group of children inched closer and closer to us. Upon saying hello to them, they one by one, came up and shook our hands. I think we may have been the first wazungu (white people) they have ever seen haha. On the way home Faith gave us a bunch of bananas that Pastor Peter's mom grows. We each ate one. It was dark in the car and I felt something sticky on my skirt that I thought was banana. However, I knew it wasn't banana the second it touched my tongue. I took it out right away, turned to Whit, and said "Turn on your cell phone light. I think I just put a slug in my mouth."  Sure enough, I do believe I got a little extra protein. yuck. I guess that's freshly picked produce for you haha


Saturday, March 31, Judy (Happy Life's social worker, who is just a year older than Whit and me) took us into Nairobi for the first time. On our walk to the matatus (public buses/vans) to meet Judy, we realized there was a riot going on. We asked someone we knew why the people were rioting and he said it was because the government had said they were going to pave the roads but had not done so yet. Because the rain hadn't started it was so dusty, and the people of Roysambu were getting tired of it. They were throwing rocks in the road so no cars could drive on it and kick up dust. As we kept walking we saw a large group of policemen walking towards us with guns and batons. They were moving the rocks off of the road, and the Kenyans began running in the opposite direction. We kept walking toward, and then past, the police officers, and came upon something burning in the middle of the road. We thought it was strange but didn't think anything else of it. As we got closer my eyes began to water and I began to cough. I had to stop after we passed what was burning, and Judy called us to inform us there was a riot and that the police were using TEAR GAS. That's right... We can add getting tear-gased to the list of things we got to experience during our 6 months here haha.  When we got into Nairobi, Judy showed us around and took us to the Maasai Market to shop for local Kenyan-made products. We ended up very satisfied with our purchases. :) We then ate lunch at a place in Nairobi called Steers that serves burgers and fries. It was nice to get a taste of home haha. After lunch, we met up with Rosemary briefly at a small bakery where we got cold drinks before heading back to Happy Life.


Sunday, April 1, we went with the children to church again. The van ride was especially fun on the way back to Happy Life, because we invented the game "Your name is...", where the kids and Whit and I proceed to tell each other "From now on I will call you _______", where we insert silly words and then laugh about it. haha! You can tell we are super mature around them. ;) But I think it's nice for them to have this silly interaction with us, and we are mature SOME of the time haha Sadly, Sunday night, we had to take Kyle to the airport so he could fly home.

David, Privilege, and me on the way to church

Whit and Lowes!

Kyle and Laya before we left to take Kyle to the airport

PRINCE-O

Monday, April 2, was one of my favorite days we have had since we've been here. Whit, Robert, and I got to go to Limuru to spend the day with our friend Brad Brown (and our new friend Joe Heritage) and learn about his organization, Uhuru (meaning "freedom") Child, and all they have been doing since its creation in 2009. I cannot believe all they have accomplished- God is so good. Upon arriving we got to eat breakfast at the Brakenhurst. We got eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. Mmmm it was soooo good! Then we rode in Joe's car to go and see an organization Brad and Joe work with called CTC international (Comfort The Children international www.ctcinternational.org <-- check it out, it's amazing), where women make bags, reusable coffee sleeves (we bought 10. They are canvas with black screen printing on them- amazing!), and soon-to-be ipad and laptop sleeves. They are already selling the bags and coffee sleeves at Whole Foods, and will be selling the laptop and ipad sleeves (through Uhuru Child's branch called Uhuru Threads) there soon too. We actually got to give our input for what we think will sell best in terms of textiles for the laptop and ipad sleeves, which was really fun, and so different from what we've been doing. One of the beautiful things about CTC international and Uhuru Threads, is that both organizations give 100% of their profits to the women who sew them. The laptop and ipad sleeves will even have a tag inside that says "made by _____", so you will know the specific woman who made the product, and you can look up her story on the website. Pretty amazing.

The beautiful landscape just getting into Limuru

The Brackenhurst- where we ate breakfast

The textiles that will be used for the insides of the laptop & ipad cases. Beautiful :)

Next, we went to Jikaze (meaning "to work hard"), which is an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons; People were displaced during the Kenyan Post-Election Violence of 2008) resettlement village, that Uhuru Child started in 2009. The people of Limuru that were displaced from their homes were each given a small amount of money from the government as "compensation" for being forced from their homes. A group of about 900 people put their money together to buy 17 acres of land in Limuru, which makes up what is now Jikaze. Uhuru Child then raised money to build the people houses made from sticks and clay. The people have made them beautiful, surrounding them with lush gardens and animal life. One widow in Jikaze, who is 91, owns 90 goats, just herself. :) Uhuru Child also helped to put up greenhouses where they have planted crops to sell. There are currently 4 greenhouses and they are hoping to have 10 by the end of the year. It is so cool, because each greenhouse employs 15 people, and provides money from the crops. The idea of this resettlement village is to help the people become a self-sustaining village, where they eventually won't need the help of fundraising to fully function. They are also planning on building a private high school which will teach the children of Jikaze along with children from wealthier families which will help to fund the school. It is incredible what Uhuru Child has been able to do, just in the last 3 years. The people, especially the children, we met in Jikaze were so inspiring and full of life. To say the least, we did not want to leave so soon.

The stick & clay houses they live in.

The Borehole that gives water to the entire Village of Jikaze

One of the beautiful gardens a resident of Jikaze planted

Brad, Whit, and Annie's (Brad's wife) favorite little girl

Jikaze greenhouses with The Lugnot Volcano in the background

Kids waiting for us outside the greenhouse area

A little boy who reminded me of Toby from Happy Life :)

Some of the kids that live in Jikaze

One of the goats

Add caption

Posing :)

Boys will be boys, won't they? :)

One of my favorite little boys I met. He was so full of life, and truly inspriring.

Sweet boy

My favorite picture I've taken the whole time we've been in Kenya. How precious is he?

After Jikaze, we stopped to get a soda and look at The Great Rift Valley. It was beautiful.

My sprite and sweet hat!

Panoramic of the Great Rift Valley

Brad, Whit, and Joe gazing at the Great Rift Valley :)

We then headed into the heart of Limuru, where we got lunch at a Kenyan restaurant. I had vegetable curry (it was unbelievably good), and Whit got fried chicken and fries, which must have been good because I didn't get to eat any of it hahaha. Right after we went and bought some inexpensive movies from a place in town. Sadly, then we had to leave. We road a matatu back, which at one point had 22 people in it (it's supposed to be a 14-person van haha). I also had some guy ask for my number on the way home. He was mad to find out I was taken haha I wish we could provide a video of the encounter. It was hilarious.

YUM :)

All of us squeezed onto the Matatu

Tuesday and Wednesday, April 3 and 4, were super low-key. We did a lot of feedings. It started raining Tuesday night and didn't really stop until Wednesday night. We were also able to finally build our shelf/close rack on Tuesday! We will have to take a picture of it and post it next time. It makes a huge difference- it's so nice not to have to dig in our suitcases constantly :) plus, my husband is an excellent craftsman, so it looks great too! AND He only squished my fingers twice in the building process ;). Patience was tried on both our parts that day! hahaha On Wednesday, in addition to the feedings, we hardcore cleaned our room. Mopping and wiping down everything, and putting everything up on our clothes rack/shelf.


FINALLY, today, Thursday, April 5, we went and picked up 2 new precious baby boys from a hospital in Nairobi, and we got to name one of them! They are both just over a month old. One of them, who is so tiny, we named Noah. :) It is so hard to believe that people can abandon these precious babies, but we just thank God for Happy Life, where we are able to bring them "home" and give them so much love.


We did not get back until around 1:30 pm, so we played with the kids for a long time, and then we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant that is located at Safari Park Hotel, where we ate at the Brazilian restaurant. So apparently Wilson was right and they did have pizza there haha Whit got Spaghetti Carbonara, and I got Gnocchi with alfredo sauce. For dessert we split strawberry gilati misti (gelato), and I also got a cup of Masala Tea (which is chai with ginger, and delicious). Everything was fantastic, except for the gnocchi with alfredo, which was just really different tasting. But overall it was a great date night :) We found out there are 5 restaurants in all there, and want to try the Japanese restaurant next!


Well, I hope you survived that blog post and are still reading! We will try to do more frequent updates so the blog posts aren't as long, but thanks for checking in with us.

More Soon,
Max