July 22, 2007

Will and I have less than two weeks left in our Kenyan summer experience. The trip has really flown by, but when I look back on things we’ve done and seen, it makes sense that it’s almost time to go. We had a good week at the orphanage last week. We just arrived from Mombasa on Monday, so we only worked for four days. I thought that having other volunteers there would spice things up a bit, but it really didn’t too much. Dave (likes to be called Darve) and Amy are very nice people, but after one day of laundry they had had enough. This was their vacation and it was obvious that they weren’t here to get dirty, but just to experience something different, which is perfectly fine, of course. It made me miss our other volunteer friends that had been with us before, because we all had experience a lot of things first hand, together. We’re both pretty impressed that Dave and Amy did give up their vacation time in order to come to Africa and volunteer. They brought bubbles one day last week and the kids just went wild. They didn’t give the bubbles much time to live, but just popped them as quickly as possible. I tried to get them to admire the beauty of floating, circular soap, but they just wouldn’t have it. Tabitha seemed to be very frightened of them, too (she’s the one who is developmentally challenged). I’ve never known bubbles to scare a child, but I think they kind of blew her mind so she just couldn’t handle that experience so intensely.

I’m just remembering that I forgot to talk about our newest baby. On the Monday before we left for Mombasa, Will and I met Samuel. He was born the previous Saturday morning, and after his mother had apparently tried to strangle him (he had awful markings all around his neck), a couple women brought him into the orphanage that evening. So when we met him, he was only two days old. He is so, so tiny and fragile looking. Fortunately, on Tuesday, a couple of missionaries came in to have a look at the orphanage. They met Samuel and took him to the hospital so he could get checked up properly and receive the proper medication that his body needed. Everything went smoothly, and the woman, Ardith, emphasized to me that he needed to be watched closely. I think she wanted to make sure that he wasn’t overlooked and that he did receive the special attention that he needed. Ardith was there with her husband, Andy, and we learned they were planning on meeting with Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu the following week to discuss plans to create an organization that would help orphaned children in Africa. Will and I were sure to give her our email addresses because we knew she’d be needing help eventually if all went well. She was a very religious woman who felt that nothing in life was a coincidence, so I felt very confident in the fact that if she finds she needs our help, she’ll let us know.

But back to our latest week at work. After bubble day, it was Friday already. We helped Hannah make lunch that day, and it turned out that she was making Chapati, our favorite. I don’t know if I’ve talked about that yet, but it’s basically just a flat pancake, cooked in butter and oil. But it’s so greasy and tasty, especially after having ugali days before. We also found out that she pays 1400 shillings a month (roughly $20) to live in a small, tin house that’s probably the same width and length of my car. I don’t know how she gets paid because she works for the orphanage and the only money they make is from the donations they receive. I’d like to help her out and just give her some extra money, but I’m not sure how that would be received. We just got her a couple of new potato and carrot peelers from the grocer and she liked those, so maybe she’d appreciate some rent money. Friday afternoon, after lunch, we didn’t head to the Boma, but headed home for a little while instead. The reason being, is that Samuel had gotten two new puppies a couple days before and they were locked up in a bunny pen. We went home to let them out so they could romp around for 30 minutes or so, before having to be shut up in the pen again. They’re already potty trained which is fantastic. As soon as I let them out of their little cage, they hop on in the grass and do their business. I was ready to bring them home, but I found out Manasseh wants to keep them so they can be good guard dogs in the future. Apparently Douglas and Popo are getting a little old and slow. The puppies are so cute though and fun to play with. The only problem is that they’re covered in fleas and ticks, so we spend some time trying to clean them up. I named the little boy Tusky, but couldn’t decide a name for the girl.