Stuff

Esther is really getting into the baby doll thing. She loves to feed them, change their diapers, and help them walk. We're going to have to order her some online, the dolls here are really expensive and very poor quality. Esther still wakes up singing in the morning.

Kayla is really becoming 'one' with her job now. Everyday she seems to be more comfortable as 'the boss lady' as I like to call her. She has to go to Argentina next week, I'm not enviousa of that flight from here. It's unusual for her to be gone for more than a day now. We like having her around!

Me, I'm a little frustated. Back problem has been rearing it's head lately. But I'm working through it. Also I haven't been able to do much work lately, internet problems. I can't upload any photos becuase the internet is so bad lately. And the latest news on our shipment container you aren't going to believe; that they actually had it on a train from Mombasa to Nairobi then the train derailed. Geez, what else is gonna happen to this shipment!? The kicker is that if it arrives while Kayla is in Argentina we have to wait til she returns because the authorities need Kayla'a passport to check it out to us.

Max is good too, you will all be so surprised I think at how fast they are growing up, especially since you haven't seen them for a while. Max is very verbal. His Keswahili is doing well, he can understand more than he let's on. He's learned how to lie, to convince his sister to do things. I tell Kayla he's gonna be a good lawyer someday. His class takes swimming lessons twice a week, he has refused to swim with his class for some time now, we have learned that his swim teacher is intimidating, Max doesn't like him (seems I recall a similar situation with me at his age....hmmmm) the teachers in Kenya still rule with some out dated methods which are hard for me to be silent about. They like to shame and intimidate. I've had to have words with a couple of teachers after witnessing some of this.

We now have a better sense of where we want to focus our energy in terms of helping the community. One place is with a group of volunteer social workers who meet only once a month with HIV positive kids and their caregivers at a hospital to try and address the kid's emotional needs. It's called The Children's Club. We spent a Saturday with them [photo]

The other place is an orphanage. Started by a woman who just saw a need and was very resourceful, now she has 80 orphans. Our friends Tim and Michelle have done some incredible organizing to help them. Through donations they were able to build a new shower room and kitchen (imaging feeding 80 orphans from a stove that consists of nothing more than a big pot sitting on some rocks with a fire under it) people here have done some amazing things with no experience with this sort of thing. You'll be reading more about both places in future posts.

We are going this weekend to Buringo for the school camping trip. Since we still dont' have our tents and things [grrrr] we'll stay in a hotel next to the camp site. Actually I don't mind this. Seems there are lots of Hippo's in the area. People tell about how they slept out side their tent and woke in the middle of the night to find Hippo's grazing just above there heads. No thanks!

Shipment Hell by Rod Serling

Well, our container with all our household stuff has been stuck on the docks in Mombasa for three weeks. I have been emailing everyone except the US ambassador and president of Kenya (but I'm looking for their email addresses as we speak) to try to facilite this. There is a dispute among the players and they are using terms like 'crisis' to describe the situation.

On the otherhand, our RAVA4 is now on a boat apparently arriving in Mombasa June 10th, we'll see what befalls that order as time goes by.

This Week...

Dickens
He started school today. He found a new mission that will give him room and board. Let's hope he stays with it. I'll see him on Sunday.

Swahili
Kayla and I started Swahili lessons today. A great teacher. He teaches French, German English, Swahili and a local language called daluo. I gave him a ride home from class and we spent the time talking about his time in India studying Hindu philosophy.

Peter
Our friend Peter arrived over the weekend from Atlanta to do some work at the CDC field station. He brought lots of goodies (thanks Becky) with him; Annies pasta's, M&M's, stickers, but the biggest thing was the Cheerios. Breakfast has been very quite around here since the Cheerios arrived on the scene.

Rafiki
She sat in my lap purring tonight! Remarkable. She still won't have much to do with the kids yet. It must be terrifying to her when she see's these two running toward her (wanting to play) and screaming with delight. She heads for the hill when she see's them coming. There's also this claw thing she does on the furniture. I hope she doesn't shred the sofa before I can buy a squirt bottle or something.....

Max
Just great. Really settled here. He seems so grown up to me. Starting to use his Swahili in a matter of fact way, like it's always been a part of him. We are finding that he is at his best when he is giving responsibility for something. He told me tonight that his two most favorite things are chap stick and phones. He's so curious. The questions never stop.

Esther
Today's my mom's (her name was Esther) birthday. She would have been 82. Little Esther did something that seems so like my mom recently. Little Esther's vocabulary has take a bit of a leap forward lately, no telling what she'll say next. We were walking finger in hand down the hall in the house and she stretched her neck up to look at me and said 'happy? daddy happy?'. Still a little shocked I said ' yes boo boo I am. are you happy?' and she shakes her head and says yes with a big 's' at the end. She's asked a couple times now and I choose to believe she really knows what she is saying, not just repeating something someone has said to her or something she is hearing. But it is so sweet that it chokes me up a little.

Various Stuff....

Just uploaded a bunch of new photos so visit the photo gallery. Mostly of the streets of Kisumu. I’m having a great time photographing in the streets here.

Rafiki, the kitten, seems to be coming around, to my amazement. Kayla sat with her while she ate and actually played with her.

Our ‘stuff’ is still not here, sigh. At this point I can’t remember what all is in the shipment. It will be like getting all new stuff when it arrives!

Dickens (street urchin) has settled on a mission to work with, they will locate a place for him to stay and he’ll come to their school during the days. Hopefully he’ll start and keep going, stay tuned….

Max wants to help Reuben, our gardener, start a small vegetable garden….

Esther is enjoying grabbing your finger and yelling ‘run’! At which time the two of you start ‘running’. Of course in her case she toddles quickly and laughs.

Your comments and emails about the blog are much appreciated. Makes me feel like I’m not just type to thin air.