Recess Duty or Boys Will Be Boys

I have morning recess duty this week and I have learned many things:

How to fly a paper airplane

How to play a clapping game

How (not) to play rugby

How to put something in a classroom you are not allowed to go back into (through the window)

This video is showing the difference between boys and girls.  Notice the girls are cooperating to make something beautiful together.  Notice the boys are cooperating to steal the show from the girls and mess them up.  It's me laughing at the end because it was so funny to see my serious students hamming for the camera.

PS. I know the camera is sideways at the beginning.  I quickly remembered that a video cannot be flipped like a picture.  Sorry!

Widows' Actual Work

I would like to share my amazing Saturday experiences with you.

These are the poor women of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) working on beautiful products.  Many of them have HIV and are outcasts, or their children have died of AIDS and now they are responsible for grandchildren they cannot support.  Enter the widows' program!

Only a few of the women speak English, one of Kenya's two official languages.  They meet to work and sing hymns and have Bible study.

The only light in the room came from the windows and the door.  No light bulb in sight.

They had laid out their handiwork for us to see.  So beautiful!

One woman had a child with her. 

Outside, while talking with the coordinator Helen (above), I felt someone put a necklace around my neck.  The women had given me the most intricate and beautiful necklace of all.  It makes me cry to think about it.

We left with one more gift: a smile from these beautiful women, who now have hope and an income.

Widows' Work

You might have noticed my lack of posts the last few days.  Or last two weeks.  Uhh...anyway, I have a great reason that I would like to share: we've had company.

This past weekend eleven people from our Home Office stayed with us in the village and we hosted two of them, the chairman of the board, who happens to be a lawyer, and RC Sproul, Jr., who followed in his father's footsteps to become a pastor.  Having a pastor, a lawyer and a seminary student (Richard) at the table always made breakfast very exciting.

On Saturday, we coordinated with a partner church for our guests to meet with the Widows' Program.  One of our ministries is to purchase arts/crafts from widows and other poor women, and then sell their handiwork in the states so they can earn money to support their families.  One very cool you-should-be-jealous part of my job is working with the widows' program to select and order products.  I have been praying for an opportunity to meet the widows directly and watch them make such beautiful things.  I'm so grateful God answered that prayer on Saturday! 

Here is a video of how our meeting started.  The women greeted us with "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross" sung in Kikuyu, a local tribal language.  The video is kind of long, so enjoy as much of it as you would like.  More posts in this vein to come!

How many men does it take to deliver dirt?

Richard noticed a concrete pit filled with rotting banana leaves and decided to repurpose it has a garden.

The old cattle trough was emptied out:

Then it was ready for dirt.

A lorry load of red dirt was ordered and delivered.  Along with enough pollution to kill the other plants.

Six men came with the load of dirt, and only three seemed to do anything, so we asked why so many were needed.

Two men loaded the dirt with shovels into the lorry.

Two other men unloaded the dirt from the lorry.

One man drove.

One man received the payment.  That makes perfect sense!

Thankfully it only took one person to plant the garden:

Not Yo Mama's

Name this tree.  Clues:

1. You've seen it all your life especially at a certain holiday season.

2. You were told not to eat it, and if your cat ate it to call the vet, pronto.

3.  Sometimes, especially in the American south (not South America, as all my students seem to think) these are dusted with glitter.  I'm not sure why, except Myrtle Beach is also in the south and it seems to match the style of Myrtle Beach.

A little closer view:

This is out and about in Nairobi.  Take a guess!

Mind the Curve

Remember those brain teasers titled: What's Wrong With This Picture?

I'll give you a few seconds to ponder.  And here's a back view:

This is our village gate.  It was a complete, whole, formidable and sturdy gate until 1:30 am Sunday morning, when a car did not mind the curve and crashed into it.  Fortunately for the driver, the car missed the rock wall and nailed the gate instead.  Apparently, they were so unfazed by the incident they drove off before anyone could stop them.

We received a phone call from our village director asking for help.  Richard and another missionary went to the gate to see what was to be done.  They had to go get the police from the local police post less than a mile away.  Thankfully we have a great relationship with our local cops and they came quickly and were very sympathetic.

When you are woken from a deep sleep to be told your security gate is crashed in, it kind of shows you how your faith is doing.  Do you freak out?  Do you go back to sleep?  Do you worry some bad guys in a lorry (big truck) are going to pull up and steal everything in sight?  I won't lie.  I was a bit anxious.   But "the name of the LORD is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are saved."

While I was imagining and praying about all the horrible possibilites that might happen that night, the only thing that went wrong was a mosquito got in through our mosquito net and I had to swat it all night.  So much for worrying!

Saturday Afternoon

Our village on Saturday afternoons is a whir of activity.

Literally:

Between cartwheels and tire races,

 

sometimes the swings seem more sedate.

I love play time with the kids.

Winter

Right now, it's winter in Kenya.  That means we are enjoying waking up to 50's and layering so that by afternoon, we are comfortable in the 70's.  Aaaahhh....

It's also the dry season.  It's not supposed to rain again until August or September.

Here are some pictures of what Kenya looks like in winter.

These are my baby tomato plants.  I can't wait! 

And I'm sort of wondering what summer will be like.

Share the Road

Today's lesson will be how to drive through a herd of cattle.

Rule 1: Nothing changes whatsoever about traffic.

Rule 2: It's easier if you ride a motorcycle.

Rule 3: People hoot (honk) at you if you stop to let the cattle pass, or to take pictures.

Exhibit A.  Track the bus in the following pictures.  Notice how quickly the purple monstrosity moves up in line.  And how the motorcycle is not crushed, but actually slips through the cattle.

Please do not be distracted from our task by the crooked power line.

The motorcycle is zooming through.  I think it needs a "No Fear" bumper sticker somewhere.

The bus is third in line to come through.

I turn to take a quick picture of the herder.

Now the bus is next in line because the other two cars are on their way.  The motorcycle in true "frogger" style is now through the obstacle course.

Don't feel bad, cows.  Traffic doesn't wait for me either.

World Cup Madness

The best World Cup games came on at 9:30 pm here.  We stayed up and cheered and tried to decipher what the announcers were saying.  Things like: "Well, this final match of the World Cup is going to be a decisive game."  Yup.

Anyway, we have our own football team and soccer pitch.

Sometimes you gotta fight for it.

Sometimes you gotta talk it out.

Sometimes you just gotta go all out.

Whatever happens, you always gotta do laundry the next day.

Roasted Goat

We had some things to celebrate this past Friday:

• We were at the end of a three-week break from school. 
• It was the last night in Kenya for a sweet couple who fixed our Internet issues among other things. 
• One of our missionary couples is moving to Rwanda next week to carry on work there. 
• We received our 91st child the next day. 

So of course, the only proper thing to do was buy one and a half goats, roasted, and the other stuff that goes so nicely with roasted goat, the most important being chapattis.

Yum!!!

Roasted goat.

Irio - the local dish of mashed potatoes, peas and maize.

Beef stew.

Chapattis.  Extra yum.  They are like chewy tortillas.

Geoffrey, seen above munching on goat bone, said that one had to "clean the meat on the bone when eating it."  He meant "don't waste the bone meat because it's the best" but it came across as "you had better sanitize the meat before you eat it."  I've never seen so many people look so sick all at once and put their goat bones down so quickly.  Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I'd ever before seen anyone with goat bones.

Recipe for Roaring Good Time

1 set s'mores supplies divided out by cottage:

100 smiley face marshmallows:

1 fantastic I-can't-stand-near-it-because-it's-too-hot fire:

90 kids in snow suits because it's 60 degrees F:

2 entertainers (guitar optional):

Tastes best when shared with others:

Guaranteed to make anyone smile!

Cast of Characters

While walking through Mwiki, we met lots of different people.  Here are a few.

Some things don't need words.