AH kguhgi;ouwhrtg;oqiejg;oqeijgoqejgfroanna
i have a million things to say!
but i come home in 5 days!
so ill save it till then!
thaks for all the emails and messages & prayer support!
im sure ill be giving a more... formal presentation at some point!
one thing i want to say is if you were wondering if you should go on a trip like this..
DO IT !! you will never regret it!
at first i was a little nervous about going by myself..
this sounds stupid but i was worried that the people i was going to be living w were going
going to be.. i donno.. nerdy?
but i have made amazing friends here, seen amazing things, and learned so much
i will never EVER regret coming and i hope that someday i will be able to come back to Kenya
i LOVE THIS COUNTRY
the END
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
HELLOO all!
i THINK its about time i gave you an update since i left on a not so sure note!
Ok so vbs is now over and after the first day things began to progressivly get better..
On the second day i did the planned activities with my first class at joysprings then
for my second class at new adventure i brought them outside (its too loud indoors) to a nearby area and read straight from the Bible since it made more sense then the babyfied version of the story.
I found out that the oldest kid in my class was 17.. and about one and a half mes (in height)
im not gonna lie i thought he was a teacher helper on the first day.. until he asked me for juice and cookies. it was very confusing lol!
umm so instead of the crafts we had planned for the kids i played games instead w my class..
the first day we played that game where you tie a balloon to your shoe? and try and break other peoples balloons. im pretty sure they thought it was the best game ever invented.
after that i just let the ones who wanted play football (soccer) because they dont have soccerballs (they are too expensive) so they love to play with a real ball instead of the ones they make out of plastic bags and string (a very good use of kiberas number one resource : garbage plastic)
the second day we had bible trivia and i gave prizes like pencils and sharpeners (a great alternative to the razor blades they use) also during football i brought rope and beads so the girls could make braclets. this was a tough day because we had some lying problems with the kids. id say over 80% of these kids can look you steady in the eye and lie to you as many times as you ask the question, in a row. so its a little bit of a strange feeling, especially since i usually believe anything anyone tells me in seriousness for the most part.. but im starting to be a little more... discerning? anyways it was very disturbing
the next day we split in two groups and we played that game where you pick an animal name and one person stands with a "stick" in the middle and you say.. "tiger eaaatttssss hen" "hen eaaatttsss elephant" etc etc. if you dont know it, ask me sometime ill teach it to you lol. this was a GREAT day because i really started to bond with the kids.. it was a little tough the day before because i was a little bit upset with them after they were all lying so this was a really fun activity. it ALSO helped because i didnt really know the kids names, but after the game i knew most of them by animal name hahaha so i could be like "hey.. anaconda!" and it really helped .. in a weird way.
after that the kids and I started to get along better. they would actually talk to me when i asked a question.. some said hi when i came in and some even said thank you when we gave them a cookie and juice.. it might sound stupid but those little things made a big diff.
so the last day was cut short.. as you may know (or maybe not) there is a presidential election going on. now kenya is one of the more peaceful countries but there is still some people getting killed on occation. the current president kibaki is running again for a second term and he is part of the party called PNU. now the biggest opposition is the ODM party and MOST of kibera is ODM. now.. while we were walking to new adventure we saw some guys putting up a stage and HUGE speakers and .. i donno tons of stuff. and we found out Kibaki was goign to be there in a few hours (PRETTY brave to give a speech on a hill overlooking kibera..) anyways we could hear the music from new adventure (they had music playing while setting up) and daniel (our kenyan SIM watch guy) was getting pretty nervous. he knew that if some of the people from SIM knew that Kibaki was going to be there we would be home in a second but we wanted to at least finish up the bible story for the last day! so he let us sing, tell the story and then be outta there by 2
anyways the last day was clearly the most important bc we were talking about christs death and resurrection. i just wanted to stress to the kids how awesome it was that God came down and died for us when we all diserved to die, and He really didnt need to do anything about it. they really listened it was good. I asked them who had done something bad in their life, like lie or cheat and raised my hand, and almost all put their hand up. then we asked who has had something bad happen to them. and everyone again raised their hand. we talked about how jesus was the only way . how He would forgive the bad we did and also be with us through the bad things that happen to us. We talked about how everyone in this world we know will fail us at some point in one way or another and there is only one constant.
i think it went well.
on tuesday we had bible study with the whole group and we were talking about things we had learned while being here.. we all had different things we had learned and then i asked dwight, the guy who is now SIM Kenya leader, and has been here 12 years, what he learned. He said he learned that no matter what he does, if he does it without God its useless. If we want life to be productive we need to do it w God. So i thought about VBS and wondered if i was stressing so much because i was trying to make it fun and good on my own. and realized it probably was..
and tried to change that
Anyways Joysprings went well the whole week. Im getting the vibe that Kenyans dont like goodbye because all my closest friends and students never show up on what is suppose to be their last day. like a couple of my friends left for upcountry wed. they were suppose to come to vbs till tues. but never came tues. hence no goodbye, this has happened a lot. i am going to miss those kids so much. AH
SO on a lighter note.
today i bought my favorite thing yet.
a giraffe carving..
the same size as me..
SO now i just have to figure out how to get it home.
im also taking suggestions for names if anyone has anything good. let me know.
im leaning towards something that starts with G. .. but im open to anything.
HOPE LIFE back home is good.
id just like to say.. its soooooo warm here
HAHA ;)
i THINK its about time i gave you an update since i left on a not so sure note!
Ok so vbs is now over and after the first day things began to progressivly get better..
On the second day i did the planned activities with my first class at joysprings then
for my second class at new adventure i brought them outside (its too loud indoors) to a nearby area and read straight from the Bible since it made more sense then the babyfied version of the story.
I found out that the oldest kid in my class was 17.. and about one and a half mes (in height)
im not gonna lie i thought he was a teacher helper on the first day.. until he asked me for juice and cookies. it was very confusing lol!
umm so instead of the crafts we had planned for the kids i played games instead w my class..
the first day we played that game where you tie a balloon to your shoe? and try and break other peoples balloons. im pretty sure they thought it was the best game ever invented.
after that i just let the ones who wanted play football (soccer) because they dont have soccerballs (they are too expensive) so they love to play with a real ball instead of the ones they make out of plastic bags and string (a very good use of kiberas number one resource : garbage plastic)
the second day we had bible trivia and i gave prizes like pencils and sharpeners (a great alternative to the razor blades they use) also during football i brought rope and beads so the girls could make braclets. this was a tough day because we had some lying problems with the kids. id say over 80% of these kids can look you steady in the eye and lie to you as many times as you ask the question, in a row. so its a little bit of a strange feeling, especially since i usually believe anything anyone tells me in seriousness for the most part.. but im starting to be a little more... discerning? anyways it was very disturbing
the next day we split in two groups and we played that game where you pick an animal name and one person stands with a "stick" in the middle and you say.. "tiger eaaatttssss hen" "hen eaaatttsss elephant" etc etc. if you dont know it, ask me sometime ill teach it to you lol. this was a GREAT day because i really started to bond with the kids.. it was a little tough the day before because i was a little bit upset with them after they were all lying so this was a really fun activity. it ALSO helped because i didnt really know the kids names, but after the game i knew most of them by animal name hahaha so i could be like "hey.. anaconda!" and it really helped .. in a weird way.
after that the kids and I started to get along better. they would actually talk to me when i asked a question.. some said hi when i came in and some even said thank you when we gave them a cookie and juice.. it might sound stupid but those little things made a big diff.
so the last day was cut short.. as you may know (or maybe not) there is a presidential election going on. now kenya is one of the more peaceful countries but there is still some people getting killed on occation. the current president kibaki is running again for a second term and he is part of the party called PNU. now the biggest opposition is the ODM party and MOST of kibera is ODM. now.. while we were walking to new adventure we saw some guys putting up a stage and HUGE speakers and .. i donno tons of stuff. and we found out Kibaki was goign to be there in a few hours (PRETTY brave to give a speech on a hill overlooking kibera..) anyways we could hear the music from new adventure (they had music playing while setting up) and daniel (our kenyan SIM watch guy) was getting pretty nervous. he knew that if some of the people from SIM knew that Kibaki was going to be there we would be home in a second but we wanted to at least finish up the bible story for the last day! so he let us sing, tell the story and then be outta there by 2
anyways the last day was clearly the most important bc we were talking about christs death and resurrection. i just wanted to stress to the kids how awesome it was that God came down and died for us when we all diserved to die, and He really didnt need to do anything about it. they really listened it was good. I asked them who had done something bad in their life, like lie or cheat and raised my hand, and almost all put their hand up. then we asked who has had something bad happen to them. and everyone again raised their hand. we talked about how jesus was the only way . how He would forgive the bad we did and also be with us through the bad things that happen to us. We talked about how everyone in this world we know will fail us at some point in one way or another and there is only one constant.
i think it went well.
on tuesday we had bible study with the whole group and we were talking about things we had learned while being here.. we all had different things we had learned and then i asked dwight, the guy who is now SIM Kenya leader, and has been here 12 years, what he learned. He said he learned that no matter what he does, if he does it without God its useless. If we want life to be productive we need to do it w God. So i thought about VBS and wondered if i was stressing so much because i was trying to make it fun and good on my own. and realized it probably was..
and tried to change that
Anyways Joysprings went well the whole week. Im getting the vibe that Kenyans dont like goodbye because all my closest friends and students never show up on what is suppose to be their last day. like a couple of my friends left for upcountry wed. they were suppose to come to vbs till tues. but never came tues. hence no goodbye, this has happened a lot. i am going to miss those kids so much. AH
SO on a lighter note.
today i bought my favorite thing yet.
a giraffe carving..
the same size as me..
SO now i just have to figure out how to get it home.
im also taking suggestions for names if anyone has anything good. let me know.
im leaning towards something that starts with G. .. but im open to anything.
HOPE LIFE back home is good.
id just like to say.. its soooooo warm here
HAHA ;)
Monday, December 3, 2007
a plea for mercy from teenage coolness
today was... insane
it was the first day of vbs.
i voleenteered to teach the older kids (half day at joyspring half day at new adventure)
i work w the older kids at joysprings so i was pumped to teach them.
the first half of the day went well,
when we went to new adventure.
about 300 kids were there..
and for some reason my class had 103 of them.
the age cutoff was SUPPOSE to be 12..
im pretty sure i had up to 18 there..
needless to say they thought my craft was the stupidest thing ever, (which .. if i was them.. i would have too) and the story was pretty standard, but written in a way kids could understand which was also boring for them
it was like one of those movies where the kids already know everything and the teacher gets slaughtered by the students lol.
SO im quickly trying to think of other stuff we can do for the rest of the week..
the crafts we can afford are all for little kids so i think im just going to play more games..
Also a wierd thing today..
at that school we were handing out cookies and juice to all the kids...
the older kids were coming in sparatically (we were all at a nearby field)
and i was handing out cookies,
some kids started saying they never got any..
i couldnt really tell the ones who i DID get some from the ones who didnt.
but all the ones who i wasnt sure about i looked them in the eye and asked them
if they REALLY didnt get any
it was weird bc i know some of those kids looked me straight in the eye and lied,
i mean... im sure its happened before in life but i probably didnt catch on
it was a strange feeling..
so anyways i got home.. sat on my bed to check my email.. and i didnt wake up until after 6.. i was half sitting. LOL terri got home from her day.. looked at me.. and asked what the heck happened to me...
i guess i looked a little tired
i guess i could have told them they had to go home b/c the school was told no one over 12 is allowed. it sure would be easier BUT at the same time i cant resist passing up the chance to talk to ALL those kids for the whole week. What an opportunity!
Maybe it will turn out like one of those movies where in the end all the children are so inspired and together we change the world... lol.. maybe?...
ANYWAYS so if anyone has any good ideas.. PLEASE PLEASE PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAASE suggest something..
i dont have a weeks worth of teenage coolness in me (clearly now that im 20 i can HARDLY relate [joking]).. at least vbs kind of coolness.. lol
HELP ME
thanks
it was the first day of vbs.
i voleenteered to teach the older kids (half day at joyspring half day at new adventure)
i work w the older kids at joysprings so i was pumped to teach them.
the first half of the day went well,
when we went to new adventure.
about 300 kids were there..
and for some reason my class had 103 of them.
the age cutoff was SUPPOSE to be 12..
im pretty sure i had up to 18 there..
needless to say they thought my craft was the stupidest thing ever, (which .. if i was them.. i would have too) and the story was pretty standard, but written in a way kids could understand which was also boring for them
it was like one of those movies where the kids already know everything and the teacher gets slaughtered by the students lol.
SO im quickly trying to think of other stuff we can do for the rest of the week..
the crafts we can afford are all for little kids so i think im just going to play more games..
Also a wierd thing today..
at that school we were handing out cookies and juice to all the kids...
the older kids were coming in sparatically (we were all at a nearby field)
and i was handing out cookies,
some kids started saying they never got any..
i couldnt really tell the ones who i DID get some from the ones who didnt.
but all the ones who i wasnt sure about i looked them in the eye and asked them
if they REALLY didnt get any
it was weird bc i know some of those kids looked me straight in the eye and lied,
i mean... im sure its happened before in life but i probably didnt catch on
it was a strange feeling..
so anyways i got home.. sat on my bed to check my email.. and i didnt wake up until after 6.. i was half sitting. LOL terri got home from her day.. looked at me.. and asked what the heck happened to me...
i guess i looked a little tired
i guess i could have told them they had to go home b/c the school was told no one over 12 is allowed. it sure would be easier BUT at the same time i cant resist passing up the chance to talk to ALL those kids for the whole week. What an opportunity!
Maybe it will turn out like one of those movies where in the end all the children are so inspired and together we change the world... lol.. maybe?...
ANYWAYS so if anyone has any good ideas.. PLEASE PLEASE PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAASE suggest something..
i dont have a weeks worth of teenage coolness in me (clearly now that im 20 i can HARDLY relate [joking]).. at least vbs kind of coolness.. lol
HELP ME
thanks
Monday, November 26, 2007
First i would like to make a shoutout.. to my mom .. because its her birthday
HAPPY BIRTHDAY mother
♥
Next i would like to say. life is amazing.
This past weekend was awesome two of my friends and i travelled 6 hours to Maasi Mara and went on a safari. we were gone 2 nights/3 days.
it was honestly the most amazing sights i have ever seen in my life and i will never forget it as long as i live. it was AHHH words cant even describe
ALSO today was a great day. the kids are done exams so i thought i would be more bored then usual ON THE CONTRARY i can do MORE now! ive played more games and had more activities today then i have any other day. Also today i was invited over to go tomorrow to the house of the lady who makes chipati which should be nice.. ALSO today my friends at the corner asked me where i was friday.. i guess they missed me. . ALLLLLLSOOO today (this one is especially good) one of the teachers got her glasses! ok this was a big deal.. glasses are expensive
this lady is honestly amazing. one of the nicest teachers ever, a rare find, and she really truely cares about all the kids. anyways she had serious seeing problems and she had to hold paper about an inch from her nose to read.. (im not exaggerating) it tugs at your heart strings a little when you see that BUT she got her glasses which she has been saving up for for a LONG time and now she can read at a semi normal distance! PRAISE GOD!!
hmm tonight me and Kathy went to see a Bollywood film (in theatre) . it was awesome. i didnt know what i was missing out on.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY mother
♥
Next i would like to say. life is amazing.
This past weekend was awesome two of my friends and i travelled 6 hours to Maasi Mara and went on a safari. we were gone 2 nights/3 days.
it was honestly the most amazing sights i have ever seen in my life and i will never forget it as long as i live. it was AHHH words cant even describe
ALSO today was a great day. the kids are done exams so i thought i would be more bored then usual ON THE CONTRARY i can do MORE now! ive played more games and had more activities today then i have any other day. Also today i was invited over to go tomorrow to the house of the lady who makes chipati which should be nice.. ALSO today my friends at the corner asked me where i was friday.. i guess they missed me. . ALLLLLLSOOO today (this one is especially good) one of the teachers got her glasses! ok this was a big deal.. glasses are expensive
this lady is honestly amazing. one of the nicest teachers ever, a rare find, and she really truely cares about all the kids. anyways she had serious seeing problems and she had to hold paper about an inch from her nose to read.. (im not exaggerating) it tugs at your heart strings a little when you see that BUT she got her glasses which she has been saving up for for a LONG time and now she can read at a semi normal distance! PRAISE GOD!!
hmm tonight me and Kathy went to see a Bollywood film (in theatre) . it was awesome. i didnt know what i was missing out on.
Monday, November 19, 2007
AS PROMISED
OK so HERE IT IS. the promised post.
i figured i better write today as promised before i start a riot on the homefront.
Life is going wonderful. The kids are amazing. The teachers I work with at the school are amazing. Life is amazing.
Writing in here is semi- frusterating because there is so much I dont know what to write!
Ok lets try and back up a little.
I dont think I've mentioned yet the couple that moved into our house here. Terri and Mike, when I heard there was a couple moving into our house I admit at first i was a little skeptical. We had a good thing going. 3 of us living off cornflakes and bananas. AND even the first day i wasnt sure. I was hoping for the grandmother grandfather type, and they were certainly not that!
BUT when Terri informed us that her hubby likes a full meal every night and then asked if we minded if she cooked every night and if we would mind if she bought all the groceries, i knew she was a keeper. LOL but seriously we get along great, they have lived all around the world. Mike is more the .. tall .. string bean accounting guy who likes to talk about the news and Terri has a masters in leadership training so they are an interesting couple to say the least.
Anyways they have been here for a while, but I can't remember if i mentioned them.
Oh they also bought be frosted flakes for my birthday which was definetly appreciated. .
Hmmmm
I've been helping out mostly in nursery and standard 4 these days as you may know. It is going well. Starting tomorrow we have exams so things will slow down quite a bit.. well .. there will be a lot of marking..
We have been having to leave the school after we eat lunch these days because with the election coming up things have been getting a litttttttle sketchy around kibera.
Terri and I were talking about it. There are a lot of young guys just kinda standing around everywhere because they dont have jobs (they are hard to come by here) and politics seems like a good way to spend their time.
On friday we were not allowed to go to kibera at all because there was suppose to be these huge rallies from both sides the entire day which is ALWAYS bad news lol. Anyways things are very exciting here. Sometimes it gets frusterating
When we have to leave early or cant go places, I do not feel unsafe, I cant really explain it, i think the city here... you are.. more on your guard? but it is not necessarily MORE dangerous then any other big city. I think the amount of people who will yell something or make a comment as you walk by is about the same as home. One of the girls I live with and I were talking about this and she agreed. She said the first few people who yelled at her from a car when she got into the country were all white tourists so even though there are more things to be careful of, it sometimes gets frusterating.
We need to be back on the compound at 6pm which is when it gets dark. This one i would never argue with, after 6 is NOT a good time to be out in the city but some days i just wish i could walk more freely through kibera,
I am friends with a number of people down the short road from the bus to the school
There is a lady who makes chapati who i buy from most days to have with Chai,
also, the first few days we were at the school the headmistress was worried about a group of guys who hang out at a booth close to the school, she thought they might rob us, so clearly in my mind the next step was to make friends with them so we wouldnt have to worry about that. The first couple days they thought it was hilarious when i said "Hi" and "Bye" and "See you tommorrow!" BUT now most of them know me by name and come and greet me in the mornings
OK this is getting long already haha SEE this is the problem i have so much i can say yet. hmm
I visited St. Nicholas childrens home from saturday night to sunday. Annalie and Sarah Wassink (some of you may know her, she lives in our area, about an hour away from me, we know the same people, and we met here!!) work there. I had visited there right after i arrived here and was excited to visit again. The children there are so special. Their stories are like those unreal stories you read about or see in the movies. Sarah knew some of their stories and was telling me. There is one boy Mike, he just turned 17, and is now finished highschool (the school year ends here in december) He was found wandering around a bus station when he was a little kid and after a long series of events ended up at St Nicholas. He has absolutly no family or relatives, he has to leave the school soon because he is done highschool. I cant even imagine. His whole life has been at St Nicholas, leaving the grounds to go to his highschool but thats basically it. A lot of the kids have stories so much like this one.
They are like one giant family there, and for being hurt so badly all those kids are SO ready to give of themselves to you, running up to you asking your name, about your family, holding your hand they just love to talk.
Sarah and Annalie are amazing for them. Sarah is staying a year in Kenya and has been here for around 7 months already, annalie is staying for 6 i believe, or maybe 8 and has been here for a while too. Everynight they tuck all the kids into bed, the rooms are like, hotel room style (obviously not NEAR as nice) with two bunk beds in each with two rows of rooms, two halls on the outside edges the girls on one side the boys on the other.
We made the rounds and got to the last boys' room and they made us stay for i think over an hour just talking, they were the oldest ones (including mike) they have their own boy group called "Tempo" a little while ago someone came with a video camera (i think from the states) and made a music video for them. i PROMISED id spread the news of their band all over the world and they were pretty pumped so HERE IS THE LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtBGEXCUa9s
i think this one is part swahili part english. they have like 9 songs(someone brought them to a studio once to record)
we had church w them in the morning (you can see the church at the beginning of the video)
it was great to worship w the kids, it is an anglican church, and the pastor was wearing the robe thing.. which i cant say i was used to but we had tea w him after and he was an amazing down to earth guy. the kids have thier own chior (a bunch of the girls- they got choir robes from somewhere too) and the guys also performed a song (they are too cool to join the choir but want to sing still LOL) one of the boys had a drum so they were playing some pretty crazy beats with the music, and trust me these kids KNOW how to play . for one song a girl had a stick and was hitting one of the metal poles that is holding up the roof it sounded amazing! but the intstrument playing is all kind of spontaneous and the instruments switch hands alot.
Last week we were at joysprings church (the church from the school i teach at) and that was the first church ive danced at. no "frozen chozen" in this church let me tell you! but the worship was awesome, and all they had was an electric keyboard, their voices and their feet
if you ever come to kenya you will see that especially the kids will try and make everything into a song or dance.
just a couple days ago.. well.. on second thought i could keep typing FOREVER. ill save that story for another time!
haha!
God bless!
oh and
P.S. i didnt realize you could leave a comment unless you signed up? that SHOULD be fixed now! and thank you all for the messages and emails ive been getting! !
i figured i better write today as promised before i start a riot on the homefront.
Life is going wonderful. The kids are amazing. The teachers I work with at the school are amazing. Life is amazing.
Writing in here is semi- frusterating because there is so much I dont know what to write!
Ok lets try and back up a little.
I dont think I've mentioned yet the couple that moved into our house here. Terri and Mike, when I heard there was a couple moving into our house I admit at first i was a little skeptical. We had a good thing going. 3 of us living off cornflakes and bananas. AND even the first day i wasnt sure. I was hoping for the grandmother grandfather type, and they were certainly not that!
BUT when Terri informed us that her hubby likes a full meal every night and then asked if we minded if she cooked every night and if we would mind if she bought all the groceries, i knew she was a keeper. LOL but seriously we get along great, they have lived all around the world. Mike is more the .. tall .. string bean accounting guy who likes to talk about the news and Terri has a masters in leadership training so they are an interesting couple to say the least.
Anyways they have been here for a while, but I can't remember if i mentioned them.
Oh they also bought be frosted flakes for my birthday which was definetly appreciated. .
Hmmmm
I've been helping out mostly in nursery and standard 4 these days as you may know. It is going well. Starting tomorrow we have exams so things will slow down quite a bit.. well .. there will be a lot of marking..
We have been having to leave the school after we eat lunch these days because with the election coming up things have been getting a litttttttle sketchy around kibera.
Terri and I were talking about it. There are a lot of young guys just kinda standing around everywhere because they dont have jobs (they are hard to come by here) and politics seems like a good way to spend their time.
On friday we were not allowed to go to kibera at all because there was suppose to be these huge rallies from both sides the entire day which is ALWAYS bad news lol. Anyways things are very exciting here. Sometimes it gets frusterating
When we have to leave early or cant go places, I do not feel unsafe, I cant really explain it, i think the city here... you are.. more on your guard? but it is not necessarily MORE dangerous then any other big city. I think the amount of people who will yell something or make a comment as you walk by is about the same as home. One of the girls I live with and I were talking about this and she agreed. She said the first few people who yelled at her from a car when she got into the country were all white tourists so even though there are more things to be careful of, it sometimes gets frusterating.
We need to be back on the compound at 6pm which is when it gets dark. This one i would never argue with, after 6 is NOT a good time to be out in the city but some days i just wish i could walk more freely through kibera,
I am friends with a number of people down the short road from the bus to the school
There is a lady who makes chapati who i buy from most days to have with Chai,
also, the first few days we were at the school the headmistress was worried about a group of guys who hang out at a booth close to the school, she thought they might rob us, so clearly in my mind the next step was to make friends with them so we wouldnt have to worry about that. The first couple days they thought it was hilarious when i said "Hi" and "Bye" and "See you tommorrow!" BUT now most of them know me by name and come and greet me in the mornings
OK this is getting long already haha SEE this is the problem i have so much i can say yet. hmm
I visited St. Nicholas childrens home from saturday night to sunday. Annalie and Sarah Wassink (some of you may know her, she lives in our area, about an hour away from me, we know the same people, and we met here!!) work there. I had visited there right after i arrived here and was excited to visit again. The children there are so special. Their stories are like those unreal stories you read about or see in the movies. Sarah knew some of their stories and was telling me. There is one boy Mike, he just turned 17, and is now finished highschool (the school year ends here in december) He was found wandering around a bus station when he was a little kid and after a long series of events ended up at St Nicholas. He has absolutly no family or relatives, he has to leave the school soon because he is done highschool. I cant even imagine. His whole life has been at St Nicholas, leaving the grounds to go to his highschool but thats basically it. A lot of the kids have stories so much like this one.
They are like one giant family there, and for being hurt so badly all those kids are SO ready to give of themselves to you, running up to you asking your name, about your family, holding your hand they just love to talk.
Sarah and Annalie are amazing for them. Sarah is staying a year in Kenya and has been here for around 7 months already, annalie is staying for 6 i believe, or maybe 8 and has been here for a while too. Everynight they tuck all the kids into bed, the rooms are like, hotel room style (obviously not NEAR as nice) with two bunk beds in each with two rows of rooms, two halls on the outside edges the girls on one side the boys on the other.
We made the rounds and got to the last boys' room and they made us stay for i think over an hour just talking, they were the oldest ones (including mike) they have their own boy group called "Tempo" a little while ago someone came with a video camera (i think from the states) and made a music video for them. i PROMISED id spread the news of their band all over the world and they were pretty pumped so HERE IS THE LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtBGEXCUa9s
i think this one is part swahili part english. they have like 9 songs(someone brought them to a studio once to record)
we had church w them in the morning (you can see the church at the beginning of the video)
it was great to worship w the kids, it is an anglican church, and the pastor was wearing the robe thing.. which i cant say i was used to but we had tea w him after and he was an amazing down to earth guy. the kids have thier own chior (a bunch of the girls- they got choir robes from somewhere too) and the guys also performed a song (they are too cool to join the choir but want to sing still LOL) one of the boys had a drum so they were playing some pretty crazy beats with the music, and trust me these kids KNOW how to play . for one song a girl had a stick and was hitting one of the metal poles that is holding up the roof it sounded amazing! but the intstrument playing is all kind of spontaneous and the instruments switch hands alot.
Last week we were at joysprings church (the church from the school i teach at) and that was the first church ive danced at. no "frozen chozen" in this church let me tell you! but the worship was awesome, and all they had was an electric keyboard, their voices and their feet
if you ever come to kenya you will see that especially the kids will try and make everything into a song or dance.
just a couple days ago.. well.. on second thought i could keep typing FOREVER. ill save that story for another time!
haha!
God bless!
oh and
P.S. i didnt realize you could leave a comment unless you signed up? that SHOULD be fixed now! and thank you all for the messages and emails ive been getting! !
Sunday, November 18, 2007
HELLO! i WILL write soon! i have tons to write!
until then :
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=370881&id=227400038
until then :
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=370881&id=227400038
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
sorry i havent posted lately! i WILL get around to it soon!!
Thanks for all the love in the meantime!
p.s. i added some more pictures..
heres the link :
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=369436&id=227400038
Thanks for all the love in the meantime!
p.s. i added some more pictures..
heres the link :
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=369436&id=227400038
Friday, November 9, 2007
Say goodBYE to teenhood!
So today i turned 20!
It was a very VERY good day! i woke up to an email from my mom that she had stealthily hidden birthday cards in the lining of my suitcase before i left, and it was a fab day ever since. Everyone i live with is AMAZING!
i got to pick a dinner (one of the other girls.. next door .. is an AMAZING COOK)
so they let be pick WHATEVER i wanted under the sun!
clearly i picked pancakes..
they didn't really seem to understand the logic but that's OK!
So school went great..
two people bought me two chapatis each so i had chapati coming out of my ears..
(i don't know if it was for my birthday.. they saw that i bought some yesterday and wanted to get me some?--Kenyans don't really celebrate birthdays.. some don't really know when theirs is.. but occasionally they will have cake) anyways it was a great day.
at night we had the feast.. NOT ONLY was there pancakes,
but homemade syrup (i had my doubts at first but i am not a homemade syrup BELIEVER [not to mention it was still hot])
pineapple (one my favorite fruits) coffee cake (yes for dinner..)
Cinnamon buns (how do they KNOW these things?)
and CAN YOU BELIEVE WE HAD DESSERT? apple crumble
yes it was absolutely amazing.. i d like to consider myself somewhat of a pancake connoisseur and THOSE were delicious pancakes i MUST SAY
well moving on from the pancakes (sorry they are hard to get over) almost all the simpacters from far and wide showed up for my birthday! there are many sleeping here overnight just so they could come! i got presents and the ones who couldn't make it sent me messages. so as you can see the people i live with are amazing.
In FACT I've decided almost everyone here that I'm working with is amazing. (on a more serious note)
We have the teachers and pastor at the school. they are such special people, they had me and Elise over to their home to eat lunch the other day. The faith of these people is INCREDIBLE and this is what he (the pastor) says to me : "white people have so much better faith then we do" ....
wow
i was basically speechless... and a little angry actually
all the Christians around here are amazing..
at the st.Nicholas school where Sarah teaches & stays (it is an orphanage as well) the girls get up at like 5 in the morning and go pray.. these are little girls.. no one is TELLING them to do anything they just get up before anyone else and go pray..
and I've heard so many things like this..
we were talking to Rose the other day.. (pastors wife / headmistress of the school)
and we were talking about our weekends..
"so what did you do Friday night?"
"oh we had a prayer night here "[joyspring school is also their church]
"oh.. so you had a meeting?"
(keep in mind she is saying this in a nonchalant way, it is completely normal to her and she would NEVER brag about anything like this, we wouldn't have known if we hadn't asked about her Friday night)
"oh no.. we stayed up praying all night"
"OK.. when you say all night.. you mean.. till 12?"
"no till morning"
"... wowza"(i may just have thought that in my head)
"[me again] so you must have slept in pretty good on Saturday"
"oh.. no we just wait till Saturday night to sleep.. we have things to do"
"uhhhhh" [a little bit in awe at this point]
there are many many more stories like this
ANYWAYS the girls and I (that's proper grammar for my mother)
were talking about how the faith of people here seems so incredibly strong even compared to most (including myself) back home, it seems to put some of us to shame!
We talked about it for awhile.. we realized that most people in kibera have almost nothing possessions wise. they rely on God for absolutely everything.. if they don't have enough money to eat or to pay rent they pray and expect/get results.
these people learn to rely on God every day for their most basic needs literally "give us this day our daily bread" and it has brought them to a place where they have seen Him work and give true incredibly heartfelt thanks because of it.
Sometimes in the big west, we say that God provides but we don't really believe it , i mean..
who goes to work everyday? me
who makes the money around here? me
i provide for myself
all i need is me
i count on me
many people don't intentionally think this way but I know for myself i have definitely been caught up in this way of thinking quite regularly.
I think the pastor said that because most of the video tapes, and on t.v. the people who are preaching are all white. It was very very frustrating for me to here. He had this "women of faith" tape with singing on it and the camera went to the crowd and he was like "LOOK how much they mean it!"
and then,( this was all while we were eating lunch at their house)
the classic Benny Hinn came on.
Now I'm not going to say if he is a fake or not a fake because i suppose ultimately i personally dont know.. but i do have my opinions, but its so easy to listen to all the words, because most of what he says is true.
We told him that is NOT true, and how we all saw how special their faith was.. we talked about it for awhile.. they were amazed at the idea that maybe the slum of kibera is a special type of blessing in and of itself, they were fascinated by the idea that maybe in North America we have TOO much,
"So what you are saying is, our trials and troubles bring us closer to God"
Forgive me if this blog is just a big jumble of words, it is kind of a mishmash of events and thoughts!
It MAY or may not be the after effects of delicious pancakes
I might be going to Nathan (missionary kid's) soccer tournament
and NO (this is for all my relatives) by KID i mean kid. aka child so don't get any crazy ideas.
so GOODNIGHT & Thanks for the comments so far!!
p.s that was an inadvertant hint that i like getting comments so i know that im not just
[as i once said..]"blasting this into the unknown world of cyberspace" ;)
It was a very VERY good day! i woke up to an email from my mom that she had stealthily hidden birthday cards in the lining of my suitcase before i left, and it was a fab day ever since. Everyone i live with is AMAZING!
i got to pick a dinner (one of the other girls.. next door .. is an AMAZING COOK)
so they let be pick WHATEVER i wanted under the sun!
clearly i picked pancakes..
they didn't really seem to understand the logic but that's OK!
So school went great..
two people bought me two chapatis each so i had chapati coming out of my ears..
(i don't know if it was for my birthday.. they saw that i bought some yesterday and wanted to get me some?--Kenyans don't really celebrate birthdays.. some don't really know when theirs is.. but occasionally they will have cake) anyways it was a great day.
at night we had the feast.. NOT ONLY was there pancakes,
but homemade syrup (i had my doubts at first but i am not a homemade syrup BELIEVER [not to mention it was still hot])
pineapple (one my favorite fruits) coffee cake (yes for dinner..)
Cinnamon buns (how do they KNOW these things?)
and CAN YOU BELIEVE WE HAD DESSERT? apple crumble
yes it was absolutely amazing.. i d like to consider myself somewhat of a pancake connoisseur and THOSE were delicious pancakes i MUST SAY
well moving on from the pancakes (sorry they are hard to get over) almost all the simpacters from far and wide showed up for my birthday! there are many sleeping here overnight just so they could come! i got presents and the ones who couldn't make it sent me messages. so as you can see the people i live with are amazing.
In FACT I've decided almost everyone here that I'm working with is amazing. (on a more serious note)
We have the teachers and pastor at the school. they are such special people, they had me and Elise over to their home to eat lunch the other day. The faith of these people is INCREDIBLE and this is what he (the pastor) says to me : "white people have so much better faith then we do" ....
wow
i was basically speechless... and a little angry actually
all the Christians around here are amazing..
at the st.Nicholas school where Sarah teaches & stays (it is an orphanage as well) the girls get up at like 5 in the morning and go pray.. these are little girls.. no one is TELLING them to do anything they just get up before anyone else and go pray..
and I've heard so many things like this..
we were talking to Rose the other day.. (pastors wife / headmistress of the school)
and we were talking about our weekends..
"so what did you do Friday night?"
"oh we had a prayer night here "[joyspring school is also their church]
"oh.. so you had a meeting?"
(keep in mind she is saying this in a nonchalant way, it is completely normal to her and she would NEVER brag about anything like this, we wouldn't have known if we hadn't asked about her Friday night)
"oh no.. we stayed up praying all night"
"OK.. when you say all night.. you mean.. till 12?"
"no till morning"
"... wowza"(i may just have thought that in my head)
"[me again] so you must have slept in pretty good on Saturday"
"oh.. no we just wait till Saturday night to sleep.. we have things to do"
"uhhhhh" [a little bit in awe at this point]
there are many many more stories like this
ANYWAYS the girls and I (that's proper grammar for my mother)
were talking about how the faith of people here seems so incredibly strong even compared to most (including myself) back home, it seems to put some of us to shame!
We talked about it for awhile.. we realized that most people in kibera have almost nothing possessions wise. they rely on God for absolutely everything.. if they don't have enough money to eat or to pay rent they pray and expect/get results.
these people learn to rely on God every day for their most basic needs literally "give us this day our daily bread" and it has brought them to a place where they have seen Him work and give true incredibly heartfelt thanks because of it.
Sometimes in the big west, we say that God provides but we don't really believe it , i mean..
who goes to work everyday? me
who makes the money around here? me
i provide for myself
all i need is me
i count on me
many people don't intentionally think this way but I know for myself i have definitely been caught up in this way of thinking quite regularly.
I think the pastor said that because most of the video tapes, and on t.v. the people who are preaching are all white. It was very very frustrating for me to here. He had this "women of faith" tape with singing on it and the camera went to the crowd and he was like "LOOK how much they mean it!"
and then,( this was all while we were eating lunch at their house)
the classic Benny Hinn came on.
Now I'm not going to say if he is a fake or not a fake because i suppose ultimately i personally dont know.. but i do have my opinions, but its so easy to listen to all the words, because most of what he says is true.
We told him that is NOT true, and how we all saw how special their faith was.. we talked about it for awhile.. they were amazed at the idea that maybe the slum of kibera is a special type of blessing in and of itself, they were fascinated by the idea that maybe in North America we have TOO much,
"So what you are saying is, our trials and troubles bring us closer to God"
Forgive me if this blog is just a big jumble of words, it is kind of a mishmash of events and thoughts!
It MAY or may not be the after effects of delicious pancakes
I might be going to Nathan (missionary kid's) soccer tournament
and NO (this is for all my relatives) by KID i mean kid. aka child so don't get any crazy ideas.
so GOODNIGHT & Thanks for the comments so far!!
p.s that was an inadvertant hint that i like getting comments so i know that im not just
[as i once said..]"blasting this into the unknown world of cyberspace" ;)
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
WHOOHOO!
So todays post isnt really about me its about one of my best buds Katelyn!
Shes one of the group of a few tight buds we have (dubbed "the family") We've been friends since we were born and TODAY is the beginning of excitement!
Kate landed herself a column in the Standard and here is the introduction column!
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=765340&auth=CHERYL+CLOCK+Standard+Staff
heres the link to see her first article online
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=765342&auth=Katelyn+Muir.
im excited!
and i think you all will be too
Shes one of the group of a few tight buds we have (dubbed "the family") We've been friends since we were born and TODAY is the beginning of excitement!
Kate landed herself a column in the Standard and here is the introduction column!
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=765340&auth=CHERYL+CLOCK+Standard+Staff
heres the link to see her first article online
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=765342&auth=Katelyn+Muir.
im excited!
and i think you all will be too
Monday, November 5, 2007
EXCITING NEWS. i exercised today. hahaha you thought it was going to be something super. BUT it is good, we got a treadmill over the weekend and now us SIMpacters can work out.
We all eat less and yet we are all gaining weight, mysterious i know...
I have a few theories. A) the africans WANT to be fat, yes they think fat is the way to be, so its not like they take care to get rid of fat in food, now that im thinking about it.. i wouldnt be surprised if they purposely add EXTRA fat. or B) because we cant leave the compound after 6 (when it starts getting dark) we get bored. and we eat.. though it doesnt seem like a lot, but its not like we do much activity after 6. and C) the high altitude. i dont know what that would have to do with fatness but im just throwing it in there. ANYWAYS so this is our new and exciting news.. the workout machine, and apparently we are also getting one of those step machines. so i took it for a test run for a half hour today (clearly not running the entire time.. *insert brisk walk*) and it was good.. but .. at the same time awkward .. since the kenyan cleaning ladies were watching me and laughing at me.. i dont know if thats a good.. or bad thing.
not to mention the little girl deena (super cute) came to sit and watch me and kept asking me all these questions and its really hard to answer while your running // slightly out of breath..
.
so basically i signed my life away and signed up for every single day this week ( you have to sign up to use it at certain times) soon we're all going to be super fit HA
.
ok but lets talk about whats REALLY been going on.. well.. not that that didnt happen, BUT i dont think you really care about the exercise machine..
.
so school was good today, the teacher who was mysteriously sick since the day me and elise started is back.. but she never introduced herself so im a little unsure if she either doesnt like us orrrr is still a little under the weather, OR didnt notice that there were two white people (the only ones for miles) in the tiny school.. haha we will find out tommorrow i suppose. Anyways why do i tell you this? because i have been teaching class 3 and four which was needed BECAUSE this teacher was gone, but now that shes back, teaching class 3 (my favorite bunch) im a little unsure of where i should be once again..
.
so i spent a little while in class 2 today , (it was the first time i was in standard 2) and some girl drew me a picture and wrote me a note that said(and i quote)
We all eat less and yet we are all gaining weight, mysterious i know...
I have a few theories. A) the africans WANT to be fat, yes they think fat is the way to be, so its not like they take care to get rid of fat in food, now that im thinking about it.. i wouldnt be surprised if they purposely add EXTRA fat. or B) because we cant leave the compound after 6 (when it starts getting dark) we get bored. and we eat.. though it doesnt seem like a lot, but its not like we do much activity after 6. and C) the high altitude. i dont know what that would have to do with fatness but im just throwing it in there. ANYWAYS so this is our new and exciting news.. the workout machine, and apparently we are also getting one of those step machines. so i took it for a test run for a half hour today (clearly not running the entire time.. *insert brisk walk*) and it was good.. but .. at the same time awkward .. since the kenyan cleaning ladies were watching me and laughing at me.. i dont know if thats a good.. or bad thing.
not to mention the little girl deena (super cute) came to sit and watch me and kept asking me all these questions and its really hard to answer while your running // slightly out of breath..
.
so basically i signed my life away and signed up for every single day this week ( you have to sign up to use it at certain times) soon we're all going to be super fit HA
.
ok but lets talk about whats REALLY been going on.. well.. not that that didnt happen, BUT i dont think you really care about the exercise machine..
.
so school was good today, the teacher who was mysteriously sick since the day me and elise started is back.. but she never introduced herself so im a little unsure if she either doesnt like us orrrr is still a little under the weather, OR didnt notice that there were two white people (the only ones for miles) in the tiny school.. haha we will find out tommorrow i suppose. Anyways why do i tell you this? because i have been teaching class 3 and four which was needed BECAUSE this teacher was gone, but now that shes back, teaching class 3 (my favorite bunch) im a little unsure of where i should be once again..
.
so i spent a little while in class 2 today , (it was the first time i was in standard 2) and some girl drew me a picture and wrote me a note that said(and i quote)
STD2 My Teacher 5/11/07
My teacher is madam jack
She teaches at joyspring education center
She came to teach at STD2
She is a good teacher
We love her
and this folks is all after about 10 minutes of just sitting in the class hahaha i have to say.. i did not mind std 2 at all!! (except for the fight that started in the back[its really hard to stop fights when you dont speak kiswahili and you dont use a cane]) MOVING ON..
so let me backtrack to the morning where i helped in nursery
..
i dont know about the school YOU go/went to .. but i know that for our school there were classes that were rowdier and there were good classes..
i was in a seriously good class (i was one of the 'rebels' if you can believe that)
ANYWAYS im seeing its the same at this school
now let me tell you about my experiences with Nursery .. aka preschool
The Facts:
there are 50 4-5 year olds (maybe a 3yr old and a 6yr old or two) in a fairly small room
their teacher pinches their cheeks when they are bad
they only UNDERSTAND kiswahili (though they do math and such in english and can read certain words.. if i speak english .. aside from sit down they have no idea)
i DONT understand kiswahili (or speak it)
they are a little bit scared of their teacher
they are NOT scared of me
i AM scared of them (a little hahaha!! )
the teacher leaves the room to go .. to the store(<- to get the food for the kids NO im NOT suggesting shes a bad teacher just in case that thought crossed your mind..)
i am sitting with 50 kids who are not scared of me, dont understand me, and are cooped up
they start going crazy
.
.. dancing.. yelling.. throwing hats... little almost crying children running up to me trying to tell me something frantically about another kid in a language i dont understand... me trying to decide whether to try and gain some sanity in the room.. or just be the cool sub who lets the kids have fun... things getting a little crazier.. even more crazy..me trying to act tough and giving the kids the evil eye (note: the evil eye isnt very effective) and walking around trying to look like i MIGHT enforce some rules (if i KNEW the rules) .. the other teacher comes back in.. sound level goes down a few knotches.. the kids in the aisle get their cheeks pinched.. i sigh in relief.
(i could say this is the end but that would be a lie, because the teacher left again.. i tried to woo the bad kids in the back with a story book i brought.. and i let then try and look at it.. then decided it was a bad choice when 50 kids all of a sudden started piling on top of eachother to look at the book.. and i managed to barely get it[the book] out alive. )
yes all in all nursery is an eventful class. but for some reason i like it
ive always liked the rebel kids
.
i just need to learn some more kiswahili to yell something and catch them off guard.
anyways its a good way to spend my mornings (oh yeah..i mark their work if you were wondering what i actually do in that class[and i taught them a song once...])
anyways i really like my standard 3 class and i hope i can get them back at some point.. EVEN though the kids in standard 2 DID ask if they could sing to me..
.
today i discovered HOT FRESH chapati (if you recall --like a pita pancake only better)
it was delicious, the nursery teacher bought me one (they make them on the streets---[all the leaving me alone issues were forgotten with the warm chapati])
a mere 5 shillings in kibera.. thats like.. 8 cents what a DEAL
.
anyways this is getting a bit lengthy
i DID have a couple more serious things to write BUT i suppose i can just write them next time because its not something that will change
anyways this is a little little taste of what life is like..i could honestly .. (im in the writing mood) sit here and write PAGES on life here right now .. its so different in certain ways yet so the same in others its crazy
.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
.
p.s. we watched lion king.
and there is DEF. swahili in there..
remember rafiki? asanti sana squashed banana?
yeah..
thank you squashed banana
(it has so much more meaning now)
and who would have thunk it that hakuna matata means no worries for the rest of your days?(for real)
on that note..
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Request
Please pray for my roommate Elise, her friend from home unexpectedly died today.
She hasnt talked much about it yet, which is the problem, she has a hard time speaking english and gets even more frusterated when shes upset. Please pray she was already having a hard time here, connecting with people and Im sure this isnt going to make it any easier for her. So please pray as she will obviously be going through a tough time, also that maybe she will find someone who speaks french who she can just carry on a conversation with around here..
* her friend: it was his 21st birthday and everyone went out for his bday and he just unexpectedly collapsed and died
She hasnt talked much about it yet, which is the problem, she has a hard time speaking english and gets even more frusterated when shes upset. Please pray she was already having a hard time here, connecting with people and Im sure this isnt going to make it any easier for her. So please pray as she will obviously be going through a tough time, also that maybe she will find someone who speaks french who she can just carry on a conversation with around here..
* her friend: it was his 21st birthday and everyone went out for his bday and he just unexpectedly collapsed and died
Thursday, November 1, 2007
PICTURES
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=357562&id=227400038
ok so i THINK this link will work, BUT if this doesnt work let me know
ok so i THINK this link will work, BUT if this doesnt work let me know
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
day 4.
well.. today was only a half day at joyspring,
i felt sick last night and even more this morning
i had some pills my mom packed but this one kind wasnt labelled..
none of the other ones were ones i needed to take and the internet wasnt working so i just winged it and took a blue pill haha
(thankfully it was the right one -- i looked it up online when i got home)
but we ended up going home early
apparently i have a low fever amoung other symptoms. nothing major
the nurse mom prescribed bedrest
she said im not allowed to go to the school tommorrow because i had a fever
but i think by tommorrow i will feel fine, we will see..
but im taking the bed rest as an opportunity to write in here,
as a side note, please ignore all my grammatical errors in this blog, i know that i should be using capitals and saying "Elise and I" and all that, BUT i am rebelling for a while against the system and just typing ..
So yesterday i taught a bit in standard four (grade 4) by myself. because exams are coming up before break, most of what the kids are doing is review. i wrote questions on the board and they copied and answered. i marked the books this morning and some of the answers are very cute, i will have to tell you all about them when i get home.
everyday the school feeds all the children. usually we have rice and these split yellow bean things or wheat stuff with the split yellow bean stuff... haha the teachers say its not actually very kenyan food BUT i ALSO found out the government provides all the food for the kids everyday! i was impressed. sometimes the kids bring a little something from home, like chipati (kind of like a pita but better) Oh, the kids also get porridge in the morning during tea time.
Some of you may know that before i left for kenya i had a new found love for chai tea. (the starbucks kind) So i was REALLY happy when i found out, everywhere, at every school they have "chai time" for their first break. of course it tastes different then starbucks but its still pretty good. usually its made with milk, but yesterday and today there was no milk so it was just "black tea" so .. chai tea made with just water. ALSO if you have ever tried tea that i drink at home it is VERY sweet, but here.. i think their tea is even sweeter then mine, so its pretty intense.. The nurse momma thinks that maybe thats how i got sick, because if you arent used to the water here, and its not filtered, you need to boil it for like 15 minutes before using it, but it probably wasnt boiled that long at the school. its hard sometimes to figure out what you should and shouldnt eat. i dont want to be rude or make the school feel bad so its hard to say sometimes..
LAST THING ummm from some of the things being said i think that i should tell you a little about HIV/AIDS here. contrary to popular belief it is NOT that easy to get HIV/AIDS
the easiest way and most common way is through sex
next is blood exchange.
now when i say blood exchange it does NOT mean if i have a small paper cut, and a little blood gets on me, that i will get it, it is VERY VERY VERYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY unlikely to happen, i would need like a HUGE cut to get LOTS of blood on it. there are also pills here for if you have come into contact with potentially hiv/aids fluids you can take them and it somehow protects you.
anyways i just want to say it is not something anyone needs to worry about.
Africa is usually seen as an HIV/AIDS country, and while it does have a very high percentage of the victims LETS NOT FORGET that it is also in our countries, what people dont realize is its spreading everywhere.
Heres some interesting stats:
Between 40,000 and 50,000 Americans become infected with HIV every year. Half of them are between the ages of 13 and 24. That means at least two teenagers and young adults in this country are infected with HIV every HOUR of every day.
Remember, one in 250 Americans is HIV positive; only one in 500 knows it.
so believe me when i say this is not only a problem here, it is quickly becoming a worldwide problem.
but thankfully for the most part, if you are not sexually active and don't inject drugs, you don't need to worry about contracting HIV.
i dont know how comforting that is, BUT the point is.. it is not really something i need to worry about, not anymore then anyone else at least..
well..
on that note..
ill probably add a bit tomorrow, maybe some pictures, because i imagine ill be bored..
i felt sick last night and even more this morning
i had some pills my mom packed but this one kind wasnt labelled..
none of the other ones were ones i needed to take and the internet wasnt working so i just winged it and took a blue pill haha
(thankfully it was the right one -- i looked it up online when i got home)
but we ended up going home early
apparently i have a low fever amoung other symptoms. nothing major
the nurse mom prescribed bedrest
she said im not allowed to go to the school tommorrow because i had a fever
but i think by tommorrow i will feel fine, we will see..
but im taking the bed rest as an opportunity to write in here,
as a side note, please ignore all my grammatical errors in this blog, i know that i should be using capitals and saying "Elise and I" and all that, BUT i am rebelling for a while against the system and just typing ..
So yesterday i taught a bit in standard four (grade 4) by myself. because exams are coming up before break, most of what the kids are doing is review. i wrote questions on the board and they copied and answered. i marked the books this morning and some of the answers are very cute, i will have to tell you all about them when i get home.
everyday the school feeds all the children. usually we have rice and these split yellow bean things or wheat stuff with the split yellow bean stuff... haha the teachers say its not actually very kenyan food BUT i ALSO found out the government provides all the food for the kids everyday! i was impressed. sometimes the kids bring a little something from home, like chipati (kind of like a pita but better) Oh, the kids also get porridge in the morning during tea time.
Some of you may know that before i left for kenya i had a new found love for chai tea. (the starbucks kind) So i was REALLY happy when i found out, everywhere, at every school they have "chai time" for their first break. of course it tastes different then starbucks but its still pretty good. usually its made with milk, but yesterday and today there was no milk so it was just "black tea" so .. chai tea made with just water. ALSO if you have ever tried tea that i drink at home it is VERY sweet, but here.. i think their tea is even sweeter then mine, so its pretty intense.. The nurse momma thinks that maybe thats how i got sick, because if you arent used to the water here, and its not filtered, you need to boil it for like 15 minutes before using it, but it probably wasnt boiled that long at the school. its hard sometimes to figure out what you should and shouldnt eat. i dont want to be rude or make the school feel bad so its hard to say sometimes..
LAST THING ummm from some of the things being said i think that i should tell you a little about HIV/AIDS here. contrary to popular belief it is NOT that easy to get HIV/AIDS
the easiest way and most common way is through sex
next is blood exchange.
now when i say blood exchange it does NOT mean if i have a small paper cut, and a little blood gets on me, that i will get it, it is VERY VERY VERYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY unlikely to happen, i would need like a HUGE cut to get LOTS of blood on it. there are also pills here for if you have come into contact with potentially hiv/aids fluids you can take them and it somehow protects you.
anyways i just want to say it is not something anyone needs to worry about.
Africa is usually seen as an HIV/AIDS country, and while it does have a very high percentage of the victims LETS NOT FORGET that it is also in our countries, what people dont realize is its spreading everywhere.
Heres some interesting stats:
Between 40,000 and 50,000 Americans become infected with HIV every year. Half of them are between the ages of 13 and 24. That means at least two teenagers and young adults in this country are infected with HIV every HOUR of every day.
Remember, one in 250 Americans is HIV positive; only one in 500 knows it.
so believe me when i say this is not only a problem here, it is quickly becoming a worldwide problem.
but thankfully for the most part, if you are not sexually active and don't inject drugs, you don't need to worry about contracting HIV.
i dont know how comforting that is, BUT the point is.. it is not really something i need to worry about, not anymore then anyone else at least..
well..
on that note..
ill probably add a bit tomorrow, maybe some pictures, because i imagine ill be bored..
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
day 3 at joysprings
so today was the first day i didnt feel completely overwhelmed at the school.
i dont know how to explain it but until now, in kibera, i would not actually SEE anything, i would just walk. it was like .. sensory overload? i wasnt taking in anything. but today i am starting to see things (and not in a bad way -- things that are actaully there.. ) so that is good. i have a lot to say but not enough time to write it right now so i will write more later!
i dont know how to explain it but until now, in kibera, i would not actually SEE anything, i would just walk. it was like .. sensory overload? i wasnt taking in anything. but today i am starting to see things (and not in a bad way -- things that are actaully there.. ) so that is good. i have a lot to say but not enough time to write it right now so i will write more later!
Monday, October 29, 2007
HEY ALL !
Well today was the second day at Joy Springs, it is a very small (spacewise) school but has around 300 kids. Things are going well and Elise and I are trying to figure out where we would like to work. Sorry that I am not on msn very often and am not answering messages right away, life is a little crazy, BUT hopefully this blog will make up for that! I decided to make this a little more interactive. What would YOU like to know? Comment and leave me a question and in the next blog I will try and answer it. There are so many things, i just dont know what you would like to know!
Hope all is well whereever you are!
God blessssss!
p.s. the first picture is the inside of the school, this is the "yard" for 300 kids lol its really hard to hear anyone talk when kids are playing.. which is like.. most of the day because classes take turns going since there is not enough room for all of them to be in there and actaully.. move.. at the same time. it looks a lot bigger in the picture then it feels, but all the kids still have tons of fun!
the second picture is RIGHT outside the school door. there is just enough room to get out of the school, i guess some kids managed to snag some chalk from school and drew on the house next door haha!
Hope all is well whereever you are!
God blessssss!
p.s. the first picture is the inside of the school, this is the "yard" for 300 kids lol its really hard to hear anyone talk when kids are playing.. which is like.. most of the day because classes take turns going since there is not enough room for all of them to be in there and actaully.. move.. at the same time. it looks a lot bigger in the picture then it feels, but all the kids still have tons of fun!
the second picture is RIGHT outside the school door. there is just enough room to get out of the school, i guess some kids managed to snag some chalk from school and drew on the house next door haha!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Jambooooooooooo
HELLO! yes im still alive!
so basically this week its going to be really easy to write on here because i dont start till friday at the school. today issss wednesday and we had another orientation day, we had the afternoon off so me and jael went to the yaya center. which is like a mall closeby. it was good to get out of the compound and we are starting to get some freedom. i actually feel extremely safe here, so that is not really in issue at all, especially in the daytime. The yaya center is definitely more touristy. we saw some some other mzungus there (what kenyans call white people) and a lot of the advertisements in the mall have white people soo its fun to go to for a walk but also has higher tourist prices.
there are other people here with sim that are living in other parts of the city, on tuesday nights everyone gets together at one house and theres like a good dinner and a bible study. so i met almost everyone who is working in the area, there are about 20 people all together. we have elise from france (my roomate)
jael -swiss, -came the same night as me- working at a hospital
eva- swiss, - working with.. disabled? maybe..-not living on compound
christy- southern states, - working as photographer
adam- texas, - working at a school - not living on compound
calib-states, - airplane mechanic - not living on compound
alice-taiwan, -came the same night as me - working at a school for blind kids- not living on compound
(uhhh ok this whole remembering names thing is super hard for me.. )
we have shevon - manitoba, -met her at orientation - working at new adventure
sarah wassink - right by me aka ontario, -working at childrens home - not on compound
sarah cavers - lindsay ont, -working at hospital -met her at orientation
Annelie- who works with sarah w from germany
Cathy -who lives in my house from Sandiego cali
OK so i left writing this yesterday and TODAY is a new day -- THURSDAY
Today me and elise went to visit the school sarah wassink is working at, which is St. Nicholas school. Its is in Karen (sp) which is where all the rich people live. the school is on the property with an orphanage (Which they call.. childrens home? you arent suppose to say orphanage, i guess they are catching onto the wests' "political correctness" Anyways. The school is in the country and it is BEAUTIFUL landscape. Sarah and Annelie live there, it looks like a little .. sketchy cottage, but they have a fridge and an american toilet and that. The main building there is for special guests only and is empty at the moment. The children are amazing. I really dont know how to explain everything i saw today it is a little overwhelming.
Later Daniel picked Elise and I up and we set off for Kibera which is the slum that we will be working in. Daniel lives in Kibera, he has for years even though he might be able to afford to live somewhere a little bit better. So as we are nearing Kibera i guess you could say i was mentally preparing myself because... im sure all of you have seen the pictures of the slum and it is very different from what we are used to.
We get to the entrance of Kibera and there were a lot of people gathered, i guess since its the political rallying time the politicians are handing out free food (the day before they handed out free beans? ) so people were waiting around for them to come. ..
As we walk up we see all these men yelling and then this fight starts and people all kinda running towards it but we just kept walking. and in my head im thinking.. okkkkk what the HECK am i getting myself into. BUT it was fine.
Now about Kibera. honestly i thought id be fine to see it, i mean ive seen TONS of pictures of it.. but i honestly cant really describe it. millions of roofs you can see just.. tin everywhere .. garbage everywhere its very very different. im not really one to wear my emotions on my sleeve and if you know me you know i very rarely cry or show a lot of emotion but all im going to say is i had a pretty hard time walking through there.
the kids are amazing. most really young kids dont know english yet and in kibera whenever you see a kid they will start running towards you HOW ARE YOU ! HOW ARE YOU! HOW ARE YOU! its hilarious. some of the girls including me at the very beginning(jael and alice met us in kibera with their kenyan guide) would answer "fine and how are you?" but as time went on i pretty quickly realized they are not ASKING us how are you.. they are CALLING us how are you. i guess the easiest way to get money from a mzungu is to ask how they are hahaha so all the kids (if they want money or not) are just know that is the way you greet the mzungu. anyways it is very different from home. but the first thing i asked daniel when we got out is.. "are they happy even though they are in kibera" and he answered yes. Daniel is big on explaining (and i think we all agree) that no amount of money, no amount of food will change kibera, only God can change Kibera, and all we can do is bring God there. the BEST thing we can do is bring God there.
it was a strange experience, because when i walked through kibera, it seemed like it was .. a tight community. if you know of community you will know what im talking about, either people of the same background, or who live in the same area, or who have experienced similar hard times. these people have all three so i almost felt like when i walked through there i was an intruder (which i suppose i am a little bit) But for some reason the sense of community also made it seem.. more hopeful? less heartbreaking? im not sure. but i like it there, even on the first trip theres something about that place that i really like..
ANYWAYS. it was a good day. oh and i rode on a matatu too that was cool annnnndddd yeah also went to the grocery store last night and bought some frosted flakes. :)
the end for now
so basically this week its going to be really easy to write on here because i dont start till friday at the school. today issss wednesday and we had another orientation day, we had the afternoon off so me and jael went to the yaya center. which is like a mall closeby. it was good to get out of the compound and we are starting to get some freedom. i actually feel extremely safe here, so that is not really in issue at all, especially in the daytime. The yaya center is definitely more touristy. we saw some some other mzungus there (what kenyans call white people) and a lot of the advertisements in the mall have white people soo its fun to go to for a walk but also has higher tourist prices.
there are other people here with sim that are living in other parts of the city, on tuesday nights everyone gets together at one house and theres like a good dinner and a bible study. so i met almost everyone who is working in the area, there are about 20 people all together. we have elise from france (my roomate)
jael -swiss, -came the same night as me- working at a hospital
eva- swiss, - working with.. disabled? maybe..-not living on compound
christy- southern states, - working as photographer
adam- texas, - working at a school - not living on compound
calib-states, - airplane mechanic - not living on compound
alice-taiwan, -came the same night as me - working at a school for blind kids- not living on compound
(uhhh ok this whole remembering names thing is super hard for me.. )
we have shevon - manitoba, -met her at orientation - working at new adventure
sarah wassink - right by me aka ontario, -working at childrens home - not on compound
sarah cavers - lindsay ont, -working at hospital -met her at orientation
Annelie- who works with sarah w from germany
Cathy -who lives in my house from Sandiego cali
OK so i left writing this yesterday and TODAY is a new day -- THURSDAY
Today me and elise went to visit the school sarah wassink is working at, which is St. Nicholas school. Its is in Karen (sp) which is where all the rich people live. the school is on the property with an orphanage (Which they call.. childrens home? you arent suppose to say orphanage, i guess they are catching onto the wests' "political correctness" Anyways. The school is in the country and it is BEAUTIFUL landscape. Sarah and Annelie live there, it looks like a little .. sketchy cottage, but they have a fridge and an american toilet and that. The main building there is for special guests only and is empty at the moment. The children are amazing. I really dont know how to explain everything i saw today it is a little overwhelming.
Later Daniel picked Elise and I up and we set off for Kibera which is the slum that we will be working in. Daniel lives in Kibera, he has for years even though he might be able to afford to live somewhere a little bit better. So as we are nearing Kibera i guess you could say i was mentally preparing myself because... im sure all of you have seen the pictures of the slum and it is very different from what we are used to.
We get to the entrance of Kibera and there were a lot of people gathered, i guess since its the political rallying time the politicians are handing out free food (the day before they handed out free beans? ) so people were waiting around for them to come. ..
As we walk up we see all these men yelling and then this fight starts and people all kinda running towards it but we just kept walking. and in my head im thinking.. okkkkk what the HECK am i getting myself into. BUT it was fine.
Now about Kibera. honestly i thought id be fine to see it, i mean ive seen TONS of pictures of it.. but i honestly cant really describe it. millions of roofs you can see just.. tin everywhere .. garbage everywhere its very very different. im not really one to wear my emotions on my sleeve and if you know me you know i very rarely cry or show a lot of emotion but all im going to say is i had a pretty hard time walking through there.
the kids are amazing. most really young kids dont know english yet and in kibera whenever you see a kid they will start running towards you HOW ARE YOU ! HOW ARE YOU! HOW ARE YOU! its hilarious. some of the girls including me at the very beginning(jael and alice met us in kibera with their kenyan guide) would answer "fine and how are you?" but as time went on i pretty quickly realized they are not ASKING us how are you.. they are CALLING us how are you. i guess the easiest way to get money from a mzungu is to ask how they are hahaha so all the kids (if they want money or not) are just know that is the way you greet the mzungu. anyways it is very different from home. but the first thing i asked daniel when we got out is.. "are they happy even though they are in kibera" and he answered yes. Daniel is big on explaining (and i think we all agree) that no amount of money, no amount of food will change kibera, only God can change Kibera, and all we can do is bring God there. the BEST thing we can do is bring God there.
it was a strange experience, because when i walked through kibera, it seemed like it was .. a tight community. if you know of community you will know what im talking about, either people of the same background, or who live in the same area, or who have experienced similar hard times. these people have all three so i almost felt like when i walked through there i was an intruder (which i suppose i am a little bit) But for some reason the sense of community also made it seem.. more hopeful? less heartbreaking? im not sure. but i like it there, even on the first trip theres something about that place that i really like..
ANYWAYS. it was a good day. oh and i rode on a matatu too that was cool annnnndddd yeah also went to the grocery store last night and bought some frosted flakes. :)
the end for now
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Arrived Alive
Well, here I am. In Kenya!
It's hard to believe it wasn't long ago i was sitting in Canada and now am halfway around the world!
The plane rides went smoothly with no delay. The KLM airline took super good care of me. Each flight had a drink, a little snack and a drink, a meal, a drink, a big snack box/small meal and a drink. On the first flight the snack box was all breakfasty with a bagel, creme cheese, granola bar ex. but on the second flight there was soup and some sort of salady pasta type thing. I didn't want the box so instead the stewardess brought me some mini chocolate bars and a granola bar. So they took really good care of me.
On the second flight I became friends with a UN worker who is a Kenyan national so that was very interesting. I asked him a lot of questions about the country and his opinions on the people (like me) who are white and come to try and help for a couple months. When you looked around on the flight you could tell there were a lot of people either going on safari or trying to do some humanitarian work. I thought, if I was someone from this country I wouldn't know how I would feel to have all these people come who thought they could come for a few weeks and fix everything. Anyways we talked for a while. He explained that there is starting to be a problem with something they like to call "slum tourism." Many people come to just see the poverty. A lot of tourists will hand out cash or supplies to the people in the slum, they are trying to help but actually doing the exact opposite. So many people are learning to just say "give give" to the tourists that they are not doing anything to help themselves.
Basically what I got out of the conversation was that the best thing that I can teach the kids at the school is essentially that they don't really need me.. if that makes sense. Also that giving out free handouts is not helpful, I need to offer skills not money.
Today I learned that I am no longer going to be working at New Adventure school but at a different school on the other side of Kibera. The reason for the change is that, a girl from here is already working at New Adventure, and a team of 14 Americans has recently come to help do some work there. I am definitely not needed there, and quite honestly when I heard there were that many North Americans there already I wasn't overly ecstatic about going. I am working at a school that is run by a local church. There is a Kenyan man that works here named Daniel who is basically a big brother to everyone here. He is a bodyguard and advisor. Because he is Kenyan he knows what is culturally acceptable and whatnot, and because he has worked with SIM for so long he knows how we act as well. Anyways it is his church that runs the school. The pastors wife is the headmistress there and me, and my new roommate Elyse (from France- we both arrived yesterday) will be the FIRST team to ever work there. There are about 350 kids, and it goes up to standard (grade) four! I am VERY excited because this means I will be working with young children. The ages there start from 2 and 3 all the way up to 12. I am very very excited about working at this school. It is a big privilege and challenge to be on the first team going there as we will be paving the way. Daniel is also very excited and it is the hope that many teams will be able to work at this school after we are done.
Everything here is absolutely beautiful. i will fill you in more later!
It's hard to believe it wasn't long ago i was sitting in Canada and now am halfway around the world!
The plane rides went smoothly with no delay. The KLM airline took super good care of me. Each flight had a drink, a little snack and a drink, a meal, a drink, a big snack box/small meal and a drink. On the first flight the snack box was all breakfasty with a bagel, creme cheese, granola bar ex. but on the second flight there was soup and some sort of salady pasta type thing. I didn't want the box so instead the stewardess brought me some mini chocolate bars and a granola bar. So they took really good care of me.
On the second flight I became friends with a UN worker who is a Kenyan national so that was very interesting. I asked him a lot of questions about the country and his opinions on the people (like me) who are white and come to try and help for a couple months. When you looked around on the flight you could tell there were a lot of people either going on safari or trying to do some humanitarian work. I thought, if I was someone from this country I wouldn't know how I would feel to have all these people come who thought they could come for a few weeks and fix everything. Anyways we talked for a while. He explained that there is starting to be a problem with something they like to call "slum tourism." Many people come to just see the poverty. A lot of tourists will hand out cash or supplies to the people in the slum, they are trying to help but actually doing the exact opposite. So many people are learning to just say "give give" to the tourists that they are not doing anything to help themselves.
Basically what I got out of the conversation was that the best thing that I can teach the kids at the school is essentially that they don't really need me.. if that makes sense. Also that giving out free handouts is not helpful, I need to offer skills not money.
Today I learned that I am no longer going to be working at New Adventure school but at a different school on the other side of Kibera. The reason for the change is that, a girl from here is already working at New Adventure, and a team of 14 Americans has recently come to help do some work there. I am definitely not needed there, and quite honestly when I heard there were that many North Americans there already I wasn't overly ecstatic about going. I am working at a school that is run by a local church. There is a Kenyan man that works here named Daniel who is basically a big brother to everyone here. He is a bodyguard and advisor. Because he is Kenyan he knows what is culturally acceptable and whatnot, and because he has worked with SIM for so long he knows how we act as well. Anyways it is his church that runs the school. The pastors wife is the headmistress there and me, and my new roommate Elyse (from France- we both arrived yesterday) will be the FIRST team to ever work there. There are about 350 kids, and it goes up to standard (grade) four! I am VERY excited because this means I will be working with young children. The ages there start from 2 and 3 all the way up to 12. I am very very excited about working at this school. It is a big privilege and challenge to be on the first team going there as we will be paving the way. Daniel is also very excited and it is the hope that many teams will be able to work at this school after we are done.
Everything here is absolutely beautiful. i will fill you in more later!
Monday, October 15, 2007
The First Post
Well.
Here is my blog, in all its glory! Haha!
People have been asking me to write a blog. So here it is!!
Im naming this blog. Jafrica.
hahahahha in honor of my mother who thought it was the best name ever
In less then a week I will be sitting in Kenya. Hard to believe but very true.
All the last minute details are being taken care of.
Just thought I'd unceremoniously make the first post to get this thing rolling!
Here is my blog, in all its glory! Haha!
People have been asking me to write a blog. So here it is!!
Im naming this blog. Jafrica.
hahahahha in honor of my mother who thought it was the best name ever
In less then a week I will be sitting in Kenya. Hard to believe but very true.
All the last minute details are being taken care of.
Just thought I'd unceremoniously make the first post to get this thing rolling!
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