November 8

On Friday night we went over to the boy's house (House 3) and just hung out. Allison and I helped Anthony prepare dinner while the boys played Uno, danced and took a ton of pictures in their new sunglasses and hat:) It's been so great just going over to their home and spending time with them.

House 3 pics...

Allison giving Ovi a "zerbert" (Her word not mine)

Isaiah and me

Allison & I. This is my first time firing chipati. I burnt my ankle from hot

oil splattering, my fingertips were super sore by the end of the night, but it

all helped in contributing to my sense of accomplishment

Here is Juliet (from Rwanda & who also lives on our compound), Anthony

(who watches over the Boys at House 3) and Dan our favorite taxi driver

Kamau

Isaiah

Wiki

Ovi

Jon

On Friday morning/afternoon we went with all the Oasis kids to "The Show." "The Show" is sort of like the OC Fair, but with only 3 rides, A TON of agriculture, and a camel ride instead of an elephant.

Pics from "The Show"

Jordan, Allison and me

Joel & Collins (Collins is one of the boys in class)

Etau and Joel (I think the tallest & shortest of Oasis)

Emanuel & Kamua

Sisters-Jennifer & Ester

Sarah, me, and Rael (Sarah is also in my class...I just love her)

Sisters-Ajix and Lucy

Jennifer in front, Simon on the left, Wendy, Joanne, and Celine (and Ellie behind her)

Best agriculture at the show

Me and Sarah

The following pics are misc. that I just want to share...

Lucy and Ester

Me & Steward (holding a stick that Jeffery gave me & I've carried in my backpack for the past 3 weeks...the stick has gone missing & I joking told the boys that there is a $ reward if its found)

This is the road we walk down everyday to and from Oasis...isn't it just so beautiful? Allison took this pic while Jordan and I are racing some kids from Oasis down the street

Clockwise-Me, Cleophas (our night guard...who is SO happy & cheery all the time), Jordan, Emanuel, Hannah and Juliet. Here we are waiting for Dan to pick us up. It's raining outside so 7 of us (Allison is taking the pic) all crammed in this little guard house...about 3 ft x 3 ft in size. At one point, I rapped Fergie while everyone danced. Right now there is this dance club at "The Show" called "Omega 1" (the music is so loud the entire town can hear it and it goes on till about 6 am! ) Allison called our dance party "Omega 2!"

Allison, me and Cleophas

Cleophas in my favorite outfit of his! I just laughed out loud

for like the tenth time looking at this picture

Below are some pics of the 7 boys who attend & sleep at Oasis of Hope. The center just bought them little mattresses this past week. We had dinner with them on Thursday night at Oasis. That night really affected me. We walked into the classroom I teach in everyday to see 7 beds set up. I was so stunned. I knew they stayed at Oasis but I guess I didn't really think through the reality of it. And to think, just 2 days prior they were sleeping right on the concrete floor really just made me so sad. But the boys are wonderful and funny and we had a great time! They gave Jordan, Allison and me nicknames. Jordan is Moses, Allison is the virgin Mary, and I am Princess (hmm...not sure why they have Biblical names and I don't...) Jeffery has called me Princess all week...you are more than welcome to do the same...haha...I just made myself laugh out loud again.

Pics of Oasis of Hope Boys...

The boys getting their mattresses for the first time

Michael carrying his new mattress and me. Michael is also in my class.

Here is a pic of our dinner (french fries and chicken) and sodas taken in my classroom.

P.I.G. (Stands for Peter is Great), Emanuel, Etau, and Ero

Me, Michael, and Paul

Charles, Jackson, and Emanuel

On Thursday we went to a prayer meeting at Kitale Forest for the 8th grade boys who will soon be taking their KCPE test. It was so fun because we were able to watch the boys from House 2 perform a dance! Then we had lunch with the 8th grade class. I said I felt like a proud mother with how many pictures I was taking of the boys that afternoon.

I know this is tiny, BUT I had to include this pic of me and the entire

graduating 8th grade class at Kitale Forest.

Allison, Steward, and me

Here are the boys dancing...So funny...Moses started teaching me the dance last week...I'm terrible at it, but it consisted of a lot of laughing...so it was worth it

Okay...so these two boys (complete strangers) came up to me (Princess) at Kitale Forest and asked to take a picture with me. I felt famous and awesome for a brief moment!

Paul, Jose, Pato, Steward, me, and Moses

Friday-Monday

Friday: Discover to Recover, TI and Ugali

On Friday we visited Discover to Recover again. (Discover to Recover is a center where kids are either effected or affected with HIV/Aids...There is also a school attached for kids whose parents can't afford school) I met this really sweet girl named Nancy who made me a ring out of beads. She was 14 and spoke English really well. After talking to her for maybe 5 minutes, she proudly showed me her bedroom that she shares with 3 other girls, one of which she shares a twin bed with. It was really interesting to hear Nancy’s take on her friends that are infected with HIV. She personally isn’t infected, and she answered a lot of my questions. An eight-year-old named Derek who is HIV positive hung out with us in Nancy’s room. He was so sweet. I showed him pictures of my family and friends and a picture of me when I was about five-years-old. He was so stoked on it and thought it was so funny to see a picture of me closer to his age. He kept confirming that it was actually me. Since he was taking medicine regularly he looked healthy and I would have never known he was infected if Nancy didn’t tell me. I know I must have spent time with children here who have HIV but this was my first experience of knowing for sure.

Here is Allison blowing bubbles for the children at Discover to Recover

Here is a picture of Benja and Allison at Discover to Recover...how cute is he? Allison says, "He's like this rad, old fat man as a kid!"

Here are some more kids from Discover to Recover

Here is Me (and my ring), Nancy (ring maker), and Christine at Discover to Recover.

Later that day we went to another compound called TI (Transformed International) for a BBQ. TI is a Christian organization where American’s and Canadians (mostly) stay for some time and work on various projects in Kitale. It was so funny to be surrounded by a ton of white people. I was laughing to myself at the fact that it felt weird at first. It was a lot of fun though, and we got some good laughs out of me rapping “Gangsters Paradise” and Allison trying to “jump” and touch the ceiling. (Side note: If you haven’t seen Allison try to jump, you have to ask her!)

After returning from the TI compound I had my first taste of Ugali (I’m not sure why I feel the need to capitalize all the new foods I try). Ayub calls it “African Cake” (very misleading). It tastes like air. Not good or bad. But he also made this delicious dish with kale. I just enjoyed hanging out with him and trying a new food I’ve heard about for 4 weeks.

Saturday: Halloween

In the afternoon we attended a Bible study that is held at Oasis for some of the older kids. I actually led this weekend and I talked about Ephesians 3:20, "With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine," something I've been thinking about a lot since I've been here. Besides that, Halloween pretty much came and went like any other day here. It’s so funny how I saw nothing even remotely “Halloween-ish.” I haven’t even seen a pumpkin. Allison and I watch "Donnie Darko" which has a scene that takes place on Halloween, so that sort of counts.

Sunday: Jordan’s Birthday!

On Sunday Jordan turned 22! It was a fun day! We actually visited this deformed animal conservancy. It’s pretty much exactly like it sounds. There are 3 and even 2-legged goats and sheep. But this was the most shocking of all! A bull with 4 horns and two faces merged into one. Totally creepy! Sorry bull.

Then we took a boat ride in this little lagoon. Emanuel (they guy next to me) is from Rwanda, and someone made a joke a couple weeks ago that he’s my boyfriend, so everyone told him to put his arm around me for our” first boat ride.” He just recently starting learning English so he actually sits in Leyla and my class at Oasis.

Also at the conservancy: Emanuel and my first see-saw ride-haha.

Monday: Oasis of Hope and Jeffery and Olivia's

Yesterday at Oasis I thought it would be fun to do a project with popsicle sticks. Jordan and I gave each student 10 popsicle sticks and some glue. We told them they can make anything that they wanted and to be as creative as they want. After about 5 minutes of the students looking at their sticks with blank stares, Jordan finally made a sample “house.” Then they were all about it, and it was really fun to see them jump in and get really excited about it.

Here is the class I teach with Leyla. This is where I go Monday-Friday.

This is me with Rose on my right shoulder, Sarah in front of her and

Here are the kids working on the popsicle stick project

In the front of this pic is Emanuel. He is so bright. He knows the answer to almost every question I ask in English or Math. He's has such a sweet personality too.

This is Joanne. I love calling on her to write on the chalkboard because she is so very tiny that she has to stretch to reach even the bottom of the board. It's so cute to watch, and sometimes I like to call on her just because it's so cute! She is Centrine's (from the girl's house) sister.

This is Elizabeth...she's so sweet! Last week when we were playing "Heads up 7up" Jordan came into play with the class. He wanted to guess that Elizabeth touched his thumb but he was unsure of her name so he asked me. Elizabeth saw me whisper her name to Jordan and she thought I was cheating by telling him who touched his thumb! I felt so bad because with the language barrier there was no way to explain that we weren't cheating!

Last night we had dinner at Jeffery and his wife Olivia's. She is such a great cook! She made chicken in curry and chicken in coconut milk, chipati, rice, green grams, and this really really spicy dish (carrots and peppers). It was really fun to hang all together. We watched Madagascar and Juno, ate SO much food, and just lounged. I was just telling Allison yesterday I can't believe I've only known Jeffery for a month. I feel like I've known him for years. He just has a very warm and welcoming personality.

Making up for lost time...

October 28-Happy Birthday Molly StoeckerJ

Sooo…It’s a quarter to 8pm here, and our Internet is finally up and running again. It’s been down for about ten days, so, sorry for the lack of blogging. I'm really excited to fill you in..I have so much to share!

I’m having a wonderful time here and the past 10 days have been great! I will share some of my favorite memories…

Oasis of Hope

I’ve continued helping Leyla teach at Oasis. It’s been fun (and a little challenging) trying to come up with new ideas. Today we played “Heads up 7up” for fun. I kept laughing because there would be 7 kids standing in front of the class and 6 or 8 kids would stand claiming their thumbs were touched…always one less or one more than the kids standing in front of the class. They eventually got it, and the greatest thing about my participating with them is that I was picked every time. On Monday, Leyla and I also tried this sort of pictionary-like game with English words. They all seemed to get involved...it was just great!

Allison’s Birthday celebrations:

Allison turned 27 this past weekend on the 24^th. We celebrated by going to the “Girl’s House” on Friday and some of the younger boys from "House 1" joined us. Then, “House 2” on Saturday, and out for some great food on Sunday at a restaurant called Pinewood.

The “Girl’s House” was so fun! We ate chipati, green grams (lentils), and rice and drank soda from the bottle (from the bottle-which I love about Kenya). Then after dinner we passed out brownies that Allison had made earlier (which the kids loved). We then danced for an hour with no music. Well, we created our own music, which was so fun. Beat-boxing, spoons drumming on the table, etc etc. I taught a bunch of kids the dance moves to the Macarena (and now I’m asked everyday, literally, to do the Macarena someone,) However, since I don’t know any words to the song (does it even have any words…I think there are two versions, one with words and one without) I just make sounds until I get to: “HEY MACARENA!”

Saturday at “House 2” consisted of Chipati, dancing, and Uno playing. Spending time with these boys has been one of my favorite things about Kitale. They all have unique stories to how they ended up at Oasis of Hope and in their home. They have such high aspirations (judge, lawyer, newscaster, pastor…to name a few) it’s encouraging to me personally.

Sunday we went to Pinewood for dinner. Pinewood is a Chinese/Indian/former dance club restaurant, ha! The food was delicious. I ordered this great soda called Alvaro and it tasted like pineapple gummy bears (Shane-you would have loved it!)

Dinner at Pinewood: Allison, Jeffery, me, Olivia (Jeffery's wife) holding Charlotte (their daughter), Jordan, Leyla, Emanuel, and Dan (our taxi driver...who we see almost everyday...so we are well acquainted)
Olivia, me, Allison, Charlotte, and Leyla

Girl's House: We counted 22 of us that night...all eating and hanging in one room
This is me painting Jon's nails (yes, Jon). I brought nail polish over to the Girl's house and I didn't know it would be such a hit with everyone...the boys and girls.
Here is Wiki, Kamau, me, and Eso
Me and Allison dancing and singing
Me holding Kamau
Me hugging Lucy (Lucy in her same dress that I love & want one of my own)

Oct 19: The Boys House

Allison and I went over to house two and hung out (House two is the house we have been going to on Monday and Wednesday nights to help tutor in math). It was so fun to spend time in an informal setting with no agenda. Allison, Evans, Moses, Justice, Martin and I played Uno for hours, drank soda (again-from the bottle) and ate this really great pastry called Mandazi. It was fun spending time with these boys and laughing with them and totally getting competitive in trying to beat them in Uno. Moses was sitting next to me and every time he had a card that would make me draw 2 or draw 4 he would set it down on the table face down and make some comment about having a gift of present for me and he would make me turn it over. I’m smiling writing this but I don’t know if this will be funny to anyone except Allison and myself.

House Two:

Justus, Steward, Martin, Stone, Allison, Moses, me, and Jose eating dinner together

Allison, Pato (brother of Lucy, Ajix, Amlango) and me

Tree planting:

Last week (Oct 20) was so fun! We were invited to attend a tree planting ceremony at the Kitale Club where 5,000 new trees were being planted. I kept joking around asking if I would be able to plant some trees on my own and lo (it’s not low, Allison and I looked it up) and behold I planted about ten trees! I mean the holes were already dug and all I had to do was place the tree in the hold and put some soil around it, but I feel solely responsible for ten new trees in Kitale. Haha.

5 pics of me planting trees (about 4 pics too many)

Jordan, me and Allison planting our first tree

Me...planting my very own tree
Little baby tree...

Me planting a tree by myself...yepppp, told you I was proud

I know this is a bad pic because my hand is in the way, but I had to add it because here I'm pictured with these men: one of which is a pastor, the other a bishop, the third, I'm not sure. I've never met any of these men but the man taking the photo insisted I get in the photo with them. I couldn't stop laughing.

Today in Shimo:

This afternoon we visited 12 homes in a nearby slum called Shimo. All the homes we visited were homes where children from Oasis live. We’ve only been home for a little over an hour and to be completely honest the afternoon is still sinking in. It was great to go to these children’s homes and meet their mom, dad, aunt, or grandmother. We brought each family a blanket, flour, bars of soap, and some candy for the children. The crazy thing about this was just to see how poor some of these children's families really are. But regardless, it was a great experience and I enjoyed going.

It was SO funny. When we first got out of the car in Shimo there was a group of kids surrounding us saying "Muzungu" (white person). Jeffery told me it's the first time some of these kids have seen a white person. The kids looked excited, most were laughing and a few looked scared. I put my hand out to shake one of the girl's hand who looked scared, and she slowly crept up to me, touched my hand, and then ran as fast as she could. I laughed for a minute straight...I've never thought of myself as scary!

Shimo...I just had to add this because it's so beautiful

We crossed this bridge...

Back: Jordan, Leyla, Jeffery, girls' mom holding baby Chris, me, Allison,

Front: Jennifer, Ester, Jon, and Celinah

Jennifer, Ester, and Celinah all go to Oasis and they all have great personalities!
Jeffery, me, Lucy (holding her baby brother Peter), Leyla, Lucy's mom with Erica hugging her leg, Allison, and Jordan. Lucy, who I've mentioned many times, is the cutest little thing. She also goes to Oasis everyday. She is still wearing her infamous dress, but it just is covered with a little jacket in this pic.

Here is little baby Peter (Lucy's younger brother)...isn't he just the cutest little guy?

Allison, me, Brenda, Jordan and Nancy. Nancy and Brenda are sisters who also attend Oasis. Brenda is in Leyla and my class.

More pics of the compound we are staying on:
This is right outside our compound...

These are some animals from our compound...they don't look like it, but they're super loud

And finally...this is what I see when I look out our living

room window...isn't it gorgeous?

Love you all!

A little somethin'-somethin'

Pokot Travel Health Clinic

On Thursday we accompanied Sister Freda and her husband Richard on a travel health clinic. It was a very interesting (to say the least) 2-hour drive with a car filled with ten people on “roads” that barely had a path cleared. When we arrived, we were greeted by a group of 60 or so people dressed in bright clothes singing songs (the only word I understood was Jesus). This was probably my greatest moment of culture shock-I felt like I was in a completely different world. As I looked around in all directions, all I could see were some shrubs, trees and a few huts and mud houses in the distance. Richard told me that we were the first white people some of these people have ever seen. They all surrounded a little church waiting to seek medical attention. We quickly began unloading the medical supplies and setting up inside. Sister Freda and her staff had quite the methodical system. Ten or so people would come in and state what was bothering them. Then they would be written prescriptions that Allison and I would fill into little bottles for them to take home. My afternoon consisted of pouring medicine into little bottles and writing the name of the medicine and instructions on labels. Some children were immunized and some people were even tested for HIV. At one point we ran out of little bottles to put the medicine in, and not wanting to disappoint anyone, Sister Freda and her staff had us wash out the water and soda bottles we used for lunch and had them filled with medicine. The day flew by and was probably one of my favorite days here. It was such a cool experience to witness and take part in. Sister Freda visits this community twice a month because their closest hospital is about a 3 hour walk. The church gave us a rooster to show their appreciation for the clinic and we had to drive home with the rooster (still alive) under our seats (Ah!-Allison and I were officially creeped out)

This is what it looked like in all directions around

the church....
Here is the small church where the clinic was held with patients waiting outside... Here's the medicine we used all afternoon...
Some Pokot women and their children waiting to be treated...
Me, Allison, and Richard inside the clinic...
Allison and I playing pharmacist...
Sister Freda checking the heartbeat of a Pokot child...