Volleyball

With the beginning of this new school year the Light and Power Center (our school at Challenge Farm) will begin competing in games against other public and private schools. The catch is that we don’t exactly know when the games will begin therefore we have no idea how much time we have to practice before our first game. I’ve been put in charge of volleyball. This will be a challenge since I must have a Kenyan helping me in order to have an interpreter and sometimes there is a conflict. The kids are used to playing volleyball freely using whatever method they can think of to get the ball over the net. Today we worked on learning how to rotate. There will be a boys' and a girls' team so I get to teach two groups of middle school students how to play volleyball. Prayers over this area would be greatly appreciated. This will be a lot of work!

Daily Kenya updates

For daily trustworthy news on the happenings in Kenya, please visit Daniel's blog.
dlipparelli.blogspot.com

I also have a link to his blog site on the right of my blog entries under Other Great Blog Sites

Farm life update

If you’ve read my previous blogs, you will already know that I’m completely fascinated by the farm life here. Today I was walking to the kitchen to cut up some pineapple when I saw a small pink animal dash off in the distance of the shamba. I immediately knew that we must have piglets and no one told me! Excitedly, I hurried down to see the filthy yet cute animals. There are a total of nine one-month-old piglets running in the shamba pin. I’ve never been around piglets before that I can recall. They really are fun to watch and cute as can be. I’m excited to watch these little guys grow up. I’m not too fascinated in the full grown pigs as they are just big and fat but I’ll enjoy watching these little ones run around for a few months.

Later in the afternoon during lunch break I was relaxing in the grass when one of our 3 month old calves walked up. He was very interested in me as I lay in the grass in a green shirt. I kept wondering if he thought I was grass and wanted a nibble. I had kicked of my flip-flops to become more relaxed and the calf came right up and started licking the bottom of my foot. Oh how it tickled but it was so sweet that I let him continue.

I left around 5 o’clock to head home. I had driven the car to work because I was transporting a couple of large things from my last home back up to my office. It’s always nice to drive home because I get there so much quicker than my usual routine. On this particular day, I didn’t manage to get home as quick as I should have. I don’t drive the car much so the gas light usually stays on because I never fill up too much at a time due to cost. I guess I didn’t judge correctly on how far I could go today because I ran out of gas on the way home. The most unfortunate part was that my phone was completely dead to where I could not even turn it on to find anyone's phone number. So, when I waved down a Kenyan on a bike, I couldn’t even use his phone to call because I didn’t know anyone’s number. The gentlemen that stopped were very helpful. One took my gas can and left by matatu to go get some gas while the other one stayed with his friend’s bike and me. Everyone that passed us stared a while wondering what we were doing chatting on the side of the road. Within 15 minutes the guy was back with my petrol. Luckily, I had one empty water bottle in my car and we used my trusty Swiss Army card that included a knife to cut off the bottom and use it as a funnel. I was on my way after a 40 minute delay. Whew!

To live the life of a gypsy or nomad

I’m referring to myself now as a gypsy or nomad. Last Sunday I moved for the second time in the four months I’ve been here. At the end of March I will be moving yet again so I’m not getting too settled into my current residence.

All the moves are within the same neighborhood, which is all walking distance but then I guess everything is walking distance here in Kitale. The house I’ve moved into is the one I’ve posted pictures of before when celebrating the recent big holiday occasions. It’s different living with other people in the house but so much more fun than living alone. It’s like being in a co-op in college. We have a daily schedule for cooking and washing dishes so I’m having normal meals for dinner instead of brainstorming last minute for something to eat. We play games often and follow rules like no guys in the girl’s part of the house and vice versa. All food in the refrigerator is free game unless you put a name on it. It’s really nice to call this my temporary home for now. Even though I’ve just been there two days, it has been fun to have a change in my daily schedule. Having people at home when I arrive after a long day has been the best part.

My Dallas friend Whitney Dickens arrives at the end of February and she’s agreed to sharing a room with me while we stay at this house. That is going to take me back to the good ‘ol camp days when we used to laugh ourselves silly at night. I do hope I’ll catch up on extra rest before her arrival.

An Emotional Saturday

A week before my return to Kitale I was told about a boy named Sammy who had run away from Challenge Farm on December 28th. The news was sad as I’ve become fond of this particular child. I’m not sure how to get used to children running away so often, but I’ll do the best I can to understand that the reason usually stems from the difficult life they have had so far.

I arrived Kitale on Wednesday, January 23, and rested at home a few days to recover from jet lag. Friday, January 26, was my first time back into Kitale Town. A friend had picked me up in her car to grocery shop and to make a quick stop at the Internet café. We had finished errands and were walking back to her car when I heard my name called. As I turned, I saw Sammy smiling up at me. My heart began racing; I couldn’t believe my eyes. I said many things to him, but I don’t recall what it was and I’m not sure what he understood. My adrenaline was rushing so fast. I wanted to take him back with me, but I was not in my car so I told him I would come back to pick him up. An hour later I went to find him but he was not around. After talking with some co-workers at the Farm we decided to look for Sammy again Saturday morning.

Around 8:30 Saturday morning I arrived in town with Mike, who takes care of the boys' dorm at night. We parked where I had seen Sammy the previous day and started walking through the streets. The boys had told Mike where we might find Sammy as they all hang out in the same area. I had never been behind the buildings in town. The scene was much more difficult to grasp than I had dreamed. One street boy came up to us asking what we were doing. His glue bottle was all but permanently attached under his nose. We asked if he knew Sammy and if so where we might find him. This boy was so high on glue that he hardly knew his right hand from his left, but he led us to where many kids hang out.

After walking through trash and stepping over streams of liquid smelling like beer, we turned a corner into an open courtyard where we saw many street kids just walking around with their glue. I even saw a toddler with them. She was maybe two. About five boys stood around us conversing with Mike; each one had glue. I had only been standing there for 10 minutes before I was completely light headed, dizzy, and felt a headache coming on and I was at least 5 feet away from any of them. I could only imagine what that two-year-old toddler must be inhailing. My eyes began to well with tears at the scene. I couldn’t get a handle on the situation and for that moment, I had forgotten about Sammy and was transfixed on the courtyard. What were these kids’ stories? How did they get to this point? Did they have any family who cared for them or who had loved them at any point in their lives? A friend had told me before I moved to Africa that I would want to rescue all the children I met but that there was no way I could reach them all. On this day, I did want to rescue all these kids and show them that God has a plan for each one of their lives.

One of the older boys walked with Mike and me to some other locations where we might find Sammy. He was nowhere to be found, but we decided to stay on the street awhile just in case. Around 10:00 Sammy came walking up with some street boys who had found him. Mike began to quietly talk to him, but a group of 20 kids were surrounding them making the situation extremely distracting! I stood back not knowing what was being said in Kiswahili but prayed fervently over Sammy from a distance while being tugged at for money by the little street kids. My focus was on these two right in front of me. Sammy was not wanting to return to school. He said he wants to work for his uncle and become a mechanic. He does enjoy fixing broken things around the Farm. He played a large role in repairing the well which I blogged about before I left for Dallas. Many young kids cannot understand why they have to go to school. What they are learning does not seem to have anything to do with their future. These were some of the same complaints I heard at Shelton. Other elementary and middle school teachers reports the same attitude.

In order to talk seriously with Sammy we had to get away from the crowd. The three of us went to a restaurant and had tea. Mike began explaining what good comes from school and that God has a specific plan just for him. Sammy didn’t want to budge, but I could tell that he was happy to be there with us. I got him to smile at me the few times he lifted his head and made eye contact. I also expressed how much I wanted him back at the Farm and that each day would not be complete without him. Realizing that I had tears in my eyes, I stopped talking and let Mike take over. I see now that I get a little too emotional in these situations and should probably step back and watch from afar. After an hour he agreed to come back with us. I pulled the car around to a different spot to pick him and Mike up so that Sammy would not be bombarded by the other boys. Mike had him dispose of any glue before getting into the car to return to Challenge Farm.

God was with us today and I thank Him for bringing Sammy back to the farm. Please pray for Sammy over this next week as he goes through withdrawal from glue and readjusts to the rules and routine at Challenge Farm.

a quick word

I do apologize for not having posted but one entry over the last month. I am now posting my entries for Christmas Eve and day as well as some others I have written upon my return to Kitale. I will do much better at keeping you all updated now that I have an Internet connection at home! I hope you are all having a great start to 2008.

I apologize for not having posted any information recently. I have been home in the States but very caught up in what has been happening in Kenya. On December 20th I made a last minute decision to fly home for a brief visit and flew out of Nairobi on the 27th just barely missing the repercussions of the election. Now I'm trying to decide when to return. The country seems to be calming down, but I get conflicting reports from different sources. Of course no one knows what might happen next.

Most of the Challenge Farm kids are back from holiday break; everyone there is fine as the Farm had stocked up on food and other supplies. However, Grace, the Kenyan director, has not yet returned from holiday. She is of the Kikuyu tribe which is in some danger as it is the same as that of the re-elected president. Please pray that she can soon safely travel back to Challenge Farm as it relies heavily on her guidance. Also pray that the political crisis in Kenya will be resolved so that the country can return to normalcy.