Habari!

Greetings everyone. I hope this message finds you well. I am doing well and just "survived" a weekend in Nairobi with Deb and Wanja. It was a little get away from Machakos Town weekend. We had fun. I want to use this blog message to say a special THANK YOU to many! I receive such wonderful messages from you telling me I am in your thoughts and prayers. I receive messages saying that I am missed and loved….And…I receive gifts from you at my home to help the children in my orphanage. THANK YOU SO MUCH! It all means so much to me! I’d like to specifically take a moment to thank: My Aunt Carol Kumbalek Carl Rozas and Kathrin Lisa Jansen and Dean Brian And Maddy Covelli Janet Markwart I have some pictures of the dormitory as of Friday morning! It is looking great and will be completed by the end of this week. I’m so proud. I’m very happy and so are all of the children, Leah and David. Deb and I have tried my best to make every last shilling count. We’ve paid workers well for their time and their labor. We’ve paid local shops for their supplies. But we’ve tried to make our shillings go a long way…and with the extra money I will be investing in our children directly through education. I haven’t quite figured out exactly what we will donate the amount that is left, but I think that investing in some sort of educational “thing” would be a wise investment. Maybe a better study area for the kids (which will include some tables and good lighting). School fees so that some of the older kids can actually go on to high school (you see the Kenyan government makes primary school almost free for kids. They pay for books, supplies, the building and the teachers. BUT beyond what we call grade 8, parents have to pay for everything…books, uniforms, room and board (if they are orphans). This is quite costly for those that are poor and for those that have many orphaned children. Our contribution may be used to help some of these children). If you have thoughts on what you might like to see our money spent on, please just leave me a comment in my blog. I do read them. Or send me an email. I’m open to suggestions! One (sort of) quick story before I sign off on this blog…I went to the school earlier this week. The walk through the Kenyan hills to the school is beautiful. Breath-taking actually! There is a small creek and an old wooden bridge with a bunch of big rocks along the walk to and from the school. After helping at the school, during my walk back to the orphanage, I decided to take the opportunity to enjoy the nature, the scenery, the day. I sat down on the rock and closed my eyes and just thought…prayed…meditated. Now just so you can understand, it is strange for someone to do what I was doing in this culture, particularly in the area that I was in. If you aren’t cultivating the land, walking to get somewhere or talking with one of the locals, it looks bizarre to be just sitting on a rock…admiring beauty. And to see a mazungu in this area doing something as weird as what I just described is unheard of. As I was sitting there, I heard footsteps come up behind me. I opened my eyes, turned around to find a woman who had walked up to me. She reached out and started moving and playing with my mazungu hair. How incredibly strange it felt to have a complete stranger, come up to me and just start moving my hair around from side to side, all the while laughing. What did I do, you might ask? Well, to be honest I smiled and said “you like my hair?” She laughed and asked me where I was from. I couldn’t carry on much of a conversation with her since she spoke more kikamba (their tribal language) than swahili or english, but it was a bit amusing to us both, I think. My “western” view really felt uncomfortable and wanted to just get up off the rock and keep walking. And to be honest, I was a little irritated at the situation as well. But my meditation and yoga training let the words acceptance and just be with whatever feelings arise happen. I wasn’t in any danger and I used a curious mind to find out if she would actually stay. Part of me felt angry that a complete stranger would have the audacity to walk up to a foreigner and start playing with her hair. But that’s a “western” thought and perhaps her gestures weren’t meant to be rude, rather nothing more than inquisitive. As she walked away, she yelled from a far distance, while smiling (and partly chuckling) "you are smart, very smart" (smart in this country means very beautiful). Imagine if I had let my fear, anger or embarrassment in this situation take over. I would have missed an interesting experience, a blog story and a very sincere compliment from a stranger. Thanks for continuing to read my stories. In a few short weeks and I’ll be back home. I can’t wait to see all of you! And 15 days til my birthday!!! Blessings.