Home and playing catch-up...and pictures now!!!

I've made it back, safe and sound, nostalgic but grateful. I'm uploading all my pics to the computer and I'll paste links in each blog entry to the right album. It's much easier than putting the actual pictures in. If you go back through all the old entries there are links to the right places, or you can just go look at everything all at once here: http://picasaweb.google.com/passionflower24

I had some old notes and reports so I'll just paste them in.

Cell phones in Kenya are a BIG deal. They almost convey your worth as a person, and people like to buy accessories and flash them around so that everyone knows what type they have. Some of the clothing even has little appique cell phones! You can buy fake flip phones on the street so that it looks like you have a prestigious phone! This even trickled down to the kids, as they loved to draw pictures of cell phones, and write NOKIA on their sponsor letters. I even found my little Akileng carrying around a hand-made cell phone. He had taken a block of wood and colored little squares and numbers on it. He even had listed names on the screen of other kids; his address book of people to call! Kukat is another very gifted boy who makes these fabulous cars out of the trash in the rubbish bin. The wheels are tops of jars and tubs, and the body is fashioned out of wire and other objects.

12/14/07 Last night I taught Noryu, Chepkopus, and a few other girls how to play "Thumb Wars". We sat on the porch after dinner and I taught them the count-off and how to play. THey thought it was great. There was a lot of giggling as I feigned weakness and let them all win against me a couple of times. Then I started trying to win...these chicks are strong! Soon they were beating me with their eyes closed. I set up a tournament structure, and the littlest one ended up beating us all! I encouraged them to teach the other kids, since it's good for counting and also just a lot of fun.
12/15/07 I noticed 2 kids today asking me to go to the hospital, which I find quite odd considering that usually equals a painful injection. I finally figured it out as little Akileng looked at me with hopeful eyes and said "hospital?" that the word had probably spread about our post-clinic treats. I just feel so bad when they get the shots, what can I say, I'm a total softie. So I'm glad that the soda or biscuits or fruit we get on our walk home are making them feel better! 12/16/07 It's really amazing how much the little ones respect and listen to the older children. Today, a few older ones headed off to church and the whole orphanage wanted to follow them. It reminded me of how much influence the older kids have. We rely on them so often to help translate and guide the little ones; it would be downright impossible to maintain any semblance of order without their help. Sometimes I forget that they're kids too because they are so responsible and mature and wise. They are so selfless and helpful and often put their own needs aside to help out the younger kids. They don't abuse their position of power either, which I find amazing because I've never really seen teenagers act this way before.
12/17/07-12/20/07 Trip to Bungoma!
12/21/07 I was welcomed home by the children today one by one. It was so cute; they all came up and greeted me and hugged me. The staff all did as well, and everyone said they didn't want me to leave again which was pretty painful considering I only have 5 more days here in Kenya. I don't want to leave either.
12/22/07 It never hurts to get in good with the cook. Our local kitchen Mummy Pauline has been hooking me up and showing me the love lately. We have a mutually beneficial relationship where I bring her biscuits (cookies) and treats when I go into town, and she saves me my favorite dishes like githeri and green grams. Lately, she's even been trying to push extra servings of meat and chipatis on me which is kinda funny being that I am by far the "healthiest" person here. The kids think it's hilarious how fat I am, and love to come up and put their fingers around my arms and say "big" and poke and prod at me. It's amazing how much they eat and still stay so slender, which may be worms but I think has a lot to do with genetics also. Some of the kids who are only 1/2 Pokot are markedly thicker and heavier but most all of the kids are so so slight, which sort of makes them all look like beautiful little adults, especially the girls who all look wise beyond their years (but are just as goofy and silly as little kids should be).
12/23/07 The election campaigns are in full swing here. One of the major contenders, Raila Odinga, has appealed to the poor and working class segment of Kenyans, and the Pokots seem to really be on board with him (his tribe is Luo). Since our orphanage is in the slums of Nakuru in an area called Githima, there is also support for him here even though Nakuru is mostly a "Kibaki zone" (this is the incumbent running for re-election). Today a big orange truck came down our road spouting out the usual slogans and rallying support. All the kids flocked to the fence and started shouting "Raila, Raila!". It was fun to see them get so excited about politics because I had no idea they were so informed. But since the rest of the country is in such an uproar, it was great that they got to participate too. Today was finally the day we had all the class lists together and the children assembled to take pictures for the web. Laura had drawn up a lovely sign on our new chalkboard, and Festus was helping get all the kids into class groups for pictures. However, they had all come from the preschool where Cassidy was leading them in sponsor-letters. This meant they all had access to the new markers I brought for Christmas. Everyone had some sort of decoration on their face; pictures and makeup and all kinds of pseudo-black eyes. Some of the kids, bless their hearts, looked like mini drag queens. It was quite hilarious, but not the picture we thought should go on the web. So we gave them an hour or so in masquerade, then everyone washed up and went in for their photos.
12/25/07 All the volunteers worked into the night to make sure we had stuffed all the needed stockings for the kids. Laura made a wonderful Santa Claus, and definately wins the award for holiday cheer! We cleaned up the new preschool room, hung balloons and decorations, and strung the 83 fat little stockings across the room. On Christmas morning, we had a special breakfast of hot chocolate and rice pudding, and fretted about keeping the party room a surprise. Well, we had absolutely no cause for concern because the kids didn't suspect a thing. When it was finally TIME, we first brought the sick kids and blind Kamama in. It was so sweet, because they were so shocked that they had no idea what was going on. We had to lead them to the stocking with their name on it and convince them it was all for them. They very mindfully poked through it, and as soon as they really believed what was happening, started to smile and giggle. It was beautiful to see children actually appreciate and enjoy the wonderment of a Christmas morning instead of tearing through expensive presents like maniacs on a mission (this has been my own experience in the states). Because they didn't expect anything, they were truly surprised and happy and it was heartwarming to see them so happy.


My time in Johannesburg, South Africa was amazing. I was met at the airport by Sunny Boy, perfectly according to plans. He was there with a friend of his, a native of Soweto. They were ready to party, and took me to a local pub called a shebeen. The music was PUMPING. People were dancing; the whole atmosphere was electric. It was totally impossible to have a conversation. We ate a delicious snace of traditional barbequed meat called braai. The first bite instantly converted me (via a culinary religious experience) back to a bonified carnivore. I'm not kidding. The stuff was simply that divine.

Lolo's guest house was amazing, and I'd recommend it wholeheartedly. I slept on a beautiful bed with CLEAN SHEETS. Then I woke up and had a shower with warm and continuous running water (first time in a month). Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I went into the dining room and found a beautiful breakfast waiting for me...it was all there, down to the hot dog (???) and fresh guava juice. I felt like a princess.
At 10:00 Sunny and I left the house and began our tour of Soweto. Sunny was a very informative guide who was actually trained at University to give tours. I learned so much that I can't possible remember it all, but here's a few factoids:

-Soweto is the largest township in Africa, yes the whole continent, with approximately 4.5 million residents. It's hard to get an accurate number because the last census in 2001 included it in the city of Johannesburg. Also there's tons of illegal immigrants and "informal settlements" that throw the numbers off. It's comprised of 34 different suburbs.
-Soweto has just ONE hospital for the entire township; can you imagine how huge it is for all those people? It takes up blocks and blocks, and is the largest hospital in the ENTIRE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.
-We visited an "informal settlement" and I was given a quick tour by a local resident named Eric. It was pretty neat, but also a bit upsetting when Eric started laughing about how drunk his 1 1/2 yr old son was (and I don't think he was joking). I even got to go inside one of the homes, which are all constructed out of materials like corrogated tin and cardboard. The homes have no electricity or running water; the entire neighborhood shares a communal taps. An amazing fact is that South Africa is one of only 12 countries in the world that has 100% safe drinking water, straight from the tap. There are parts of these areas where residents pirate electricity from light poles on the main roads. Sunny showed me where they hack the leads off and prop them up with makeshift poles made of twigs and stuff. He said they hook the supply wire up at night, using hundreds of feet of wire, and then disconnect them during daylight hours to avoid detection. The government finally installed pit latrines in this settlement this past April. Up until that point, residents were sharing chemical toilets that were only cleaned once weekly.
-We visited a large Catholic church which has been nicknamed "The Soweto Parlaiment" because during the 1976 uprisings, this is where students convened to hold secret rallies to protest Afrikaans being taught in the schools. The police were informed via spies though, and busted into the chapel with rubber bullets and tear gas. You can still see evidence of the chaos as it has been purposefully left to remind people of the struggle. There are bullet holes in the ceiling and still a broken altar and statue of Jesus that was toppled in the raid.
-Another huge Jozi tourist attraction is "The Only Street in the World Where 2 Nobel Peace Prize Winners Have Lived". I actually went inside the former home of Nelson Mandela, which has been converted into a small museum. It was very emotional, and I got the chills several times realizing that I was in such a sacred space. Down the street is the current home of Desmond Tutu, who spends a lot of time in Capetown but still maintains his residence in Soweto. Also in the same neighborhood is the home of Winnie Mandela. She has been divorced from Nelson for a few years and he lives with his new wife in downtown Johannesburg.
-The Apartheid Museum. Whoa. No words for this one. Check it out here: http://www.apartheidmuseum.org/. Probably the best cultural museum I've ever been to. It was very powerful and well done and I cried quite a bit. I was only got through about 1/3 of it really well in the 2 1/2 hours I was there since it was so huge and full of alot of information.

I feel somewhat trite trying to describe how incredible this trip was. Words really cannot do it justice. I am so hesitant to do a "wrap up"; it's like I don't want to defile it by reducing this amazing experience to a journal entry in a travelogue. BUT for the sake of posterity...

I'm scared to go back to my busy life. I don't want to get wrapped up in details like tax evasion, vacuuming the carpet, and spin class. I want to remember the deeper sense of purpose and mindfulness I've felt over this past month with the children and other volunteers. In one sense I feel relieved to have found a calling, and I'm happy that I didn't sweat the small (or big) stuff to the point wehre it distracted me from the good stuff. On the other hand, I'm anxious about HOW exactly to make this calling manifest in my life. I want to get a job, make a lot of money, and travel to IHF centers for years on end. But I'm also scared to get caught back up in the rat-race. I need to remember that God is totally in control. Up until this point I have been shown my path and been kept safe, so it only makes sense to keep the faith and the Universe will continue to provide direction on what my next step will be.

I met so many great people and I want to help them all so much, I just get worried about money. Poor Carol must feel like this all the time. I'll have to be very clear with how much I aid I can offer to the Ouma/Khisa family and remember that they have means to provide form themselves whereas the children literally don't have anything.

One of the coolest things was getting a chance to know the other volunteers, who were all from different countries so it was a cultural learning experience in it's own right. I feel very close to Laura in particular and am SO grateful to have had her there. Juan was also a really awesome guy. We've made a semi-serious pact to meet up at the Thailand IHF center next Christmas since that's where he'll be volunteering. I am praying that this reuinion will be a reality!

I want to learn Kiswahili. I love chipati but I was OVERJOYED to get my raw vegetarian meal on the first flight. I met my Christmas dinner before I ate it this year ( a goat donated by IHF Kenyan lawyer, Juma). I am SO my mother's daughter (diagnosing, overmedicating, hypochondriacking, caretaking, kid-loving, comfort-giving). I enjoy being clean more than I ever realized.