Gone but not Forgotten

It has been more than two months since Walt and I left Kenya.  In many ways, it seems like much longer.  We've taken a couple of trips, moved two boys to their new "homes" on their respective college campuses, etc., etc.  But the Virginia Home of Nakuru, Kenya is never forgotten for us.  We give money to them monthly. We communicate with both the director and many of the students on a weekly basis.  We have hopes and dreams for their future.

I have been told that my recount of the "theft story" struck a nerve in some who are passionate about the children and Kenya.  I have been told that some people didn't think I should write the story, make it public, or show the photo of the boys.  Honestly, I am a little taken aback by this for a couple of reasons: First, I never knew anything I would write would make people mad (which solidifies for me that it was an important story to tell), and secondly, I want you to know what life is like in this third world country.  As I stated before, I was not mad that my property was taken, I was sad that someone made that choice and why they felt they needed to.  I was, of course, bothered by their methods to produce "justice", but this is how it's done in this culture.  I felt like it was important for you to see the "authentic picture".  If I only told you all of the beautiful stories, and showed you the beautiful photos, you would feel good.  You would feel happy inside and you would move on to the next Facebook article.  By showing you the boys' photo, I wanted you to identify with them, and pray for them. By telling you "the warts and all" of the Virginia Home in Nakuru, Kenya, I want to strike a nerve.  I want you to feel a tiny bit of the passion I have for them.  I want you to consider ways to help them!

Currently, as I type actually, there is an ACO Team spending a couple of days at the Virginia Home.  It's a small part of their time in Kenya, but Tom, the ACO Executive Director, asked me before leaving:  What would you like for us to look into while we are there?  I gave him a couple of "business/housekeeping" items, but my main request was to look at "What's next?" through a fresh pair of eyes.  I'm excited to speak with Tom once he arrives back home. I believe in these children, want what is best for them (even if it means telling you the stories that make you uncomfortable) and I'm excited to take the next step and hopefully get you on board!

Oh Happy Day!

Although yesterday seemed a bit surreal, it was a good day.  I wish I could have better conveyed to you how "cultural" the scene was. Kids shouting, "It was that boy!  He is of guilt!  It was just him right there!"  "It was the tall boy.  There was no other one.  He is just a thief."  My heart still breaks thinking "he has been run off" or he has run away for good.  One temptation led to one very bad decision.  

BUT, these photos do a good job of mending a broken heart!

This is Paul.  I'm speaking of the cow.  That's his name, of course.

Alfred doesn't know much English, but he does know "Hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs!"  So, we hugged!

Now tell me this doesn't look like trouble with a capital "T"?! Moses, Bon, Stephen and Samuel (pronounced SamWELL), are sweet, active boys that have captured this mama's heart!

The shepherd and his flock.  Teacher Evans has been a staple at the Virginia Home for MANY years.  

Walt having a word with Paul before going in to teach the lesson. Do you suppose Paul had some good advice?

When I asked this boy his name he replied, "Clinton Jairus" (well, I thought he said Derulis at first).  He is the only kid in the history of my Kenya that has ever replied with their first AND last name!

I am not sure what it is about Bonface, but he is just a really cool kid!  He is even rocking those shoes!

Ok, y'all, this might be the cutest photo in the history of ever!  This was David's response to my saying, "Smile, I like those teeth!"

So what's a chicken to do during all the drama of yesterday's events?  Lay an egg on someone's bed, of course!

Alvin is so smart.  He's about to graduate from high school!  He's the first kid we sponsored at the Virginia Home.

Ummm, hello girls!  We see you!

This is a neighborhood boy.  I'm not sure of his name but it's loosely translated as "big Irish potato"...no joke.

Eunice is one of the children we brought to Virginia from the Remand home in town as her mother abandoned her.

Ummm, Bon, what's that ya got there, buddy?

And I'll leave you with Kenya's version of 5 o'clock traffic.  It seemed like a good idea at the time to block the street with a big old truck and poor tar onto the sidewalk...but the Kenyan solution is to drive on the sidewalk (and it's not really a two lane sidewalk...).  Oh Happy Day, indeed!  

I don't even know what to call this day...

I wasn't sure I wanted to tell this story, but my FB friend, Laurie Lynn Coleman, recently said she enjoyed reading my blog because it was real and gave her a true "picture" of what goes on while I am in Kenya.  So this one's for you Laurie...it has definitely never happened to me before and I'm still a little shell shocked about how the day went down.

So the day started off awesome!  I was well rested (for being in Kenya), got my coffee at 7:30, my shower water was finally lukewarm (you don't know what a blessing that was) and off to the Virginia Home we went.  Walt taught about sinning today and I took some great photos and got some great "quips" from the kids (which I will still share with you). We went outside for some free time and Q&A from the kiddos before lunch. We've done that a million times!  I gave Walt my backpack since he was sitting down with a group of children and I was walking around.  He reached in my side pocket to get our portable router but grabbed my phone instead.  He slid it back in the pocket and then found the router in the other side pocket.  As you can see, the children kinda crowd in real tight when you are showing them photos (yes, Walt is really in there!), so I decided to take my backpack to the car so they wouldn't fall on it and land on my laptop.

A bit later, Walt and I headed out to lunch in town.  We sat down at the table, and I reached in my side pocket and my phone was gone. I kind of had this sick and panicky feeling, but knew I needed to go look in the van to see if it had fallen out.  Walt was concerned that maybe he had missed the backpack when he was trying to slide my phone back into the pocket, so we knew we needed to get word to the children's home to check the yard.  Our driver, James, and I searched the van with no luck, and he tried to make contact with the director of the home, with no luck.  So during lunch, Walt kept asking me what was going through my mind because I looked upset.  It wasn't about the phone, stuff is just stuff, but it was this nagging feeling that one of the kids had stolen from me.  Walt told me not to jump to conclusions, but my gut just said it was so.  We have been coming to Kenya since March 2011.  We've let the kids carry our backpacks, use our cameras, sunglasses, etc. NEVER fearing one of them would steal from us.  When we arrived at the van after lunch, James informed us he had spoken to the director and they would look for the phone.  On the drive back Walt again asked what was going on in my mind because I was so calm...I did not tell him what I was wrestling with as I knew that what I was feeling now would be the direct opposite of what I knew was right. I was feeling that IF the phone was indeed stolen, maybe we were in over our head and shouldn't be supporting and trying to deal with these kids.  But I knew, once I thought it through, no matter the outcome of my phone, "bailing" on them was not the answer.  

When we arrived back at the Virginia Home it was scary scene. Everyone was at the site where my phone went missing.  I mean everyone! The director looked very angry, an older boy was yelling at some boys sitting down and an angry mob was starting to form. My phone had been stolen and they had decided on their suspects. I just stood and watched in disbelief from afar.  I did not know what to say or do, but I felt nauseous.  The director yelled at the suspects to go to the dormitory and wait for them.  When they stood up and I saw who they were accusing I was shocked!  One of the boys I had known for a long time and I knew it couldn't be him.  The kids kept running up to me saying it was them, they knew it!  One girl had remembered where everyone was sitting and they were the only two it could be!  Walt said to me, "Go get your camera!  You were taking lots of photos, maybe we can see if she was right about where everyone was sitting!"  As we looked through the photos, we came upon this one:

See my backpack to the right of the boy in the navy sweater?  It was him and the boy in the white shirt (the boy I'm close with) who were the suspected thieves.  While they were in the dormitory, the crowd moved altogether from one place to another, talking and shouting about what was going on.  I just stood off in the distance, honestly not even knowing what to think or how I felt.  I do not want to make assumptions about a culture, but the Kenyan ways are DEFINITELY different from the American ways.  What I am told that happened next, I'm just not sure what to make of it.

I am told that our driver went into the dormitory and told the boy in the blue sweater that he was not playing around and where was the phone?!  When he came out of the dormitory, he was putting his belt back on so I'm not sure if it was used or not.  The next thing I heard were chants that they had found my phone.  I stood still, I was scared to move towards the action.  They brought me my phone and told me it was in the garden next door, wrapped in socks, a cellophane bag, partially buried and covered with a rock. The boy in the blue sweater said that he had taken the phone, passed it under his leg to the other boy who took it to the dormitory, wrapped it up and put it in the neighbor's garden.  The general feeling is that these two were "true dirty thieves" who had been planning this and needed to be punished.  I did not see them afterwards.  I kind of wanted to see Joe (the boy in the white shirt) and ask him why?  I am told they were put in the director's office for a long time and when released they both ran away (like legitimately ran away, never to return).  As I am typing this story, I still cannot believe it.  I am told it is to be expected that they were whipped in the director's office. That is their normal.  It is a different culture than ours.  As I was looking through my photos I found this one:

It is of the two boys who took my phone.  They had asked me to take their photo just a short while before the incident.  I really would like to understand they "why" behind it all.

We stayed for a couple of hours after this incident, laughing and visiting with the other children, including this group of Seniors and Juniors which is where it all began for us in 2011!

It is because of this crew that we have come back time and time and time again!  We are so thankful that their schools gave them the afternoon off to come and catch up with us!

Each time I visit Kenya I develop a special bond with a child I interact with.  It's always surprising to see which child it will be. It may just be a smile or a quick conversation.  This go round it is probably this guy:

He has got the cutest smile and is super sweet!  His name is Peter and he laughs at my jokes! 

All in all it was still a good day.  A lot of great things happened!

Hitting the Wall

Yesterday (Wednesday), I just hit the wall sleep wise.  We hadn't gotten much sleep the night before (about 2 hours) because we had a long nap in the afternoon and then some business to tend to back home during the middle of the night.  It was all I could do to post those photos yesterday, and I fell asleep TWICE doing it!  I was asleep before 10 pm Kenya time.  I woke up once during the night and then woke up for good at 4:30 am.  I feel like a NEW person, ready to face the day! Yes, at 4:30 AM I feel refreshed and ready to go.

Things are going well.  You definitely need a sense of humor in Kenya to deal with everything from communication "issues" to traffic.  Each morning at breakfast, Walt's food is brought out first, and a bit later, mine is brought out.  Yesterday only Walt got toast...not sure why.  I told him this morning, I hope I'm the one that gets the toast as I'm kind of hungry!  Tuesday night I had asked for coffee around 7:30 am, but Walt was sitting right there with me so we assumed it was a package deal. At 6:15 Wednesday morning (also a contributor to our short sleep Tuesday night) someone knocks on our door with a pot of French Press coffee and one cup. There was no cream and no cup for Walt (I hadn't asked for the cream, even though I've taken it each morning in my coffee).  We just laughed and asked for cream and another cup.  It is currently 7:02 am and I'm not hearing any signs of life in the kitchen, so I'm wondering what, if anything, this morning will bring since I didn't specify anything last night...you just never really know so you just chuckle, shake your head, and move on.  It's all good.

We got tickled yesterday as the kids were performing for us.  The choir was getting ready to sing and they (all Kenyan kids I've seen in this setting) were introducing their song.  So they girl says, "We, the children of Virginia School for the Needy, stand before you today to sing a song and we hope that you enjoy."  We have never heard them say "school for the needy" before so we wondered if it had been stressed as a "marketing plan" when visitors are there. Not sure if it has been helpful, but I will say, the kids seem to be doing well.  As always, I have to remind myself it's by Kenyan standards and not American standards because they are NOT the same.  They definitely need new uniforms, and they need a bit more "structure" outside the classroom.  We will be meeting with the director today, to discuss some of these issues.  There is a team living here (from the US, Canada, etc) who are trying to help the community with sustainable resources.  This would be invaluable to the slum where the Virginia "School for the Needy" is located.  They did their assessment of Virginia yesterday and the director told Walt afterwards, "I don't think they like what they see."  Heck no they don't!  But I'm hopeful the director LISTENS to what they say. We will discuss the importance of this with him today.  I just feel like logic doesn't always come into play and I've CERTAINLY learned you can't be subtle.  They just seem to be making progress and it would be wonderful if they could continue on down the path!  

Have a great day!

**UPDATE: We did get coffee at 7:30!  See....

We also BOTH received toast, but only Walt received bacon.  Hey, it's a process. :)

HOMK (Humans of my Kenya)

In continuing my HONY experiment, I'm learning there's much more to making it successful than I knew.  My hat goes off to you, Brandon Stanton.  Leading the Kenyan children into interesting stories and "quips" is quite difficult.  They merely nod their head at me.  I don't know what to do from there!  I desperately want you to get to know "my" Kenya, so here goes!

I didn't have to talk to this man to know that he is thinking: I hate Kenyan traffic!

A voracious reader I encountered at breakfast.  Voracious to a fault.

This is Marion.  Oh yes, and this is Marion.

Peter, what is that in your hand?  <blank stare> Is it kind of like something you just roll around, or is it a CD "wheel" on a bamboo stick?  Yes.

Ouma was chosen to write on the board because he was tall.  So he erased the lower "teachings" and wrote there.

Samuel eloquently reading Romans 3:23.  A little pint sized evangelist right there!

Gloria is rather shy at first, so I asked her friends to say something about her.  They said she is kind, innocent and a good girl.

What are you doing, Luke?  Are you relaxing in the sun?  "No, I'm just sitting by the blue storage container."

We love our Goldfish Snack Crackers!

Look!  My Goldfish are flying!

Mary wins the award (in my opinion) for the Most Improved child we have known at Virginia.  When we first met her she was scrawny with some bad fingernail issues.  She barely talked.  Today she knew EVERY answer and then some before Walt finished the questions.  She's filled out, and become such a helper to her teachers and friends.

James, not only are you an excellent driver, we just really love that hat!

It's a day in the Kenyan life.  I shall write more later, but the jet lag has pretty much gotten the better of me. Goodnight all!  Hope you enjoy!

Good Morning Kenya!

Today, we woke up to this:

Ahhhh, yes indeed, that was right outside our door!  It was cool and inviting us into the day!

Walt (my husband), still has not received word of his lost bag, so we made a run to the Nakumatt to get him some essentials until the bag could be found and then we made our way to the Virginia Home in the Ronda slum of Nakuru.  He is also not feeling real great (still getting used to the Kenya thing...) but he taught a lesson on "How to get to Heaven",  and then we rested this afternoon.  It was an interesting lesson and even more interesting to hear how the children thought you got to Heaven.  Here he is teaching the lesson in his borrowed clothes and feeling puny:

What a trooper he is!!  Ok, I am fairly obsessed with the HONY (Humans of New York) images and stories so I thought, while I can't compete with their greatness, I would do a similar take on the kids of Virginia so you would get to know some of them a bit better.  I find people interesting in general, especially these people and I hope you will too!

When I asked Stephen how many teeth he's lost he shook his head at me and said, "You count!"

Bon and Samuel want you to know they are best friends!  (So much so that they shoved poor Nickson out of the photo...)

Nickson had to settle for me, and you can see how thrilling that was for him...

Brian asked me "Where is Harrison?" (my son).  When I explained he was away working at a summer camp he said, "Oh.  Because he said he would give me his hair and I want it."

These boys are best friends also.  The one on the right is newer to the school and his name is Alfred.

David was kicked out of the above photo.  His favorite subject in school is Science. 

I have seen Stephen and Abram grow up so much in the past few years.  I have been proposed to twice by Abram (on the right), to be the mother to him and wife to his father.  Needless to say, it didn't work out.  Their father had been very sick but seems to be doing better now and even working a bit.

Definitely a "teen" and more reserved around adults, Dancan's favorite subjects in school are Science and CRE (Religion class).

They all seem to be doing well, and there will be many more photos and stories to come, but I am a bit disappointed they knew we were coming.  We don't want them to put on their Sunday best for us, we want to see how they are really doing.  We are also trying to figure out "what's next?" with this children's home.  Do we expand our support and bring others on board to help or do we say that what we are doing is enough?  They need new uniforms again, so we will have to consider raising money for that.  

All in all, it's been a great day!

AWA (Africa Wins Again)

Well, guess where we have gone...that's right, we are back in Kenya!  This trip is just the hubby and me.  It's hard preparing for and going on a trip that NO ONE seems to want you to go on.  Not friends, not family....no one.  I understand that I'm blessed to have people who love and care about me and my safety, but it still makes it hard.

And coming to Kenya isn't like most vacations.  You have to mentally prepare beforehand and then you arrive and realize you haven't mentally prepared at all!  It's SUCH a different place than we are used to.  Everything about it is counterintuitive to what we, as Americans know.  My husband's bag was lost in transit, so he scraped together some clothes from our friend's house until we can figure it out.  Thanks Tom!  Communication is a nightmare at times.  I told three people today that we wanted dinner at the house and it's 8:15 and there's nothing going on in the kitchen.  It's not like we can call Dominoes!  Yes, I know, I can afford to miss a few meals, but it's the communication that's so frustrating to me.  You certainly cannot be subtle when speaking with Kenyans.  With stories like this, people always ask me, "Why do you keep going back?!"

I must admit, today I've asked myself this question a couple of times.  I guess I do on every "first day" here, until we get back into the groove.  But, last night, while waiting in the airport for my husband to turn in his information for his lost bag, a young Kenyan man working at the baggage carousel said to me, "Are you having trouble, madam?  You just seem to have been standing there for such a long time."  I love the way Kenyans speak! The way they put their words together!  He made me smile and think, "Ok, now I'm starting to remember why..." 

A man on our plane was speaking to another man who was bringing his family to Kenya for the first time.  He said that Kenya is like a relationship, it can be volatile, have it ups and downs, but in the end you are bound to it because you are in love.  He's totally right!  That's why I keep coming back! Today I was looking through the old notes on my phone (because we had no internet connection at the time) and I had jotted down this statement from a past sermon (circa 1/27/14):  Love is embracing the inconvenience. How cool is that?  So as I sit here with stomach growling, I will reflect on that. Because I am in love with Kenya and am bound to it, even though others can't always understand that.

And hey, tomorrow will be a better day, right?  I'll be more in the groove!  Today might be an AWA day (as Tom always says), but tomorrow might be a different story.  (and of course tons of photos of the kiddos)

**UPDATE:  It looks like we may be getting some rice for dinner.  Africa may not take this one after all ;)

** 2nd UPDATE: Although we still haven't eaten, I think it's more than rice.  But, I have been informed that you can actually call Dominoes.  Wish I'd have known that 3 hours ago (but that would require me using my Kenya phone....also a challenge for me, ha, ha!)