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
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