Supa Rafikis! (hello friends)

I want to start first by wishing everyone a Happy Father’s Day! It’s never easy being away from home during holidays, but it also reminds us how fortunate we are to have so much to celebrate! Father’s Day is celebrated here, but certainly not in the same tradition as back home. Many of the fathers here have many wives, so you can imagine how difficult it is to see all their children. They do however, take great pride in their many offspring………..goats, chickens, and cows included in that! :>)

We’ve had a busy week in Maasailand. We said goodbye to Molly and Brian today and while Maasai don’t cry in public, it was clear that they were struggling to see them go. Molly and Brian were a constant source of energy and never stopped working and playing while they were here. Brian built goal posts for the kids while Molly and I painted them zebra colors. He spent many days putting plywood up in the new office and we all laughed at how good we got using the only tools we had to measure, cut and hammer the boards to the tin on the inside of the office. There were times we had to share the hammer with the 2 workers building the orphanage nearby! We were also surprised by the donation of a water tank for the Ronesa children from the same Volunteer organization that I initially came to Kenya through. Kelsey, Abbey, Molly and I have been doing a lot of teaching in the classrooms, helping kids make the connection between words they know and actual pictures, and to somehow introduce the concept of just reading a book. They are so excited to just SEE a book, but as they say here, “pole’-pole’” which means slowly by slowly we will help them to make connections between the many English words they know and their meanings. Abbey and Kelsey have been awesome with the kids and they are even going to fill the new tank full with water before they leave for home on Wednesday! Water is sure a precious commodity and should never be taken for granted. We will really miss “Moley and Brian,” but I get a few more days with Kelsey and Abbey before they too head back home. The same day they leave, my sister, 2 of her daughters and 2 of my daughters will be arriving……….so I am so excited about that!

The highlight of our week would have to be the 2 deliveries we made of goats/chickens. The first was to an elderly woman who alone and needed caring for. She was very moved by the gesture and showered Molly and Brian with beads as a way to say thank you! The second delivery was to a single mom who was left by a elderly husband to care for her children on her own. She too was overwhelmed with gratitude for the donation that came through Molly and Brian through Crossfit Parker and the firehouse that Brian works at. It is easy now for us to see how giving an animal is truly giving the Massai a gift that keeps on giving! Perhaps equally as fun is walking too and from the homes with our dear friend Simon! He is a constant source of amusement, gets our American humor and entertains us as we listen to stories about the Maasai. We inevitably hear him say more than a dozen times, “Ask me more questions Mzungus!”

Yesterday all 5 of us went into Ngong, the nearest town where we get water and supplies for the week. While the ride in the matatu getting to Ngong is always an adventure……….we actually look forward to taking the piky-piky’s back to Mama Sheilas home. These motorbikes are a fun way to experience Africa and one is sure to either have to pause for the giraffes in the road or be humored by a marriage proposal or two. The town of Ngong is a bit “sketchy,” but an eye opener into the infrastructure of the Kenyan culture. It only takes an instant to absorb the multitute of filth, chaos, and busy vendors trying to run their businesses from shanty kiosks that seem impossible to manage. In constrast though, it takes quite awhile to process the beauty that lies beyond this scene. When you look beyond the filth you can see beautiful lace white dresses the woman and children are adorned in. Behind the chaos of roaming people, we actually see some that we know and even meet a Kenyan runner with one eye who is training for the next Olympics. And then when you look inside the tiny kiosks, you find many functioning, even happy business owners who greet us with smiles and welcome us in a way that we don’t receive even at home. Like many things in life, there is beauty in the storm and it seems to depend on what we all choose to see! Africa is a world of contrasts and most of us find that dicotomy both disturbing and intriguing at the same time. Bono said it best when he said, “GOD is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. GOD is in the silence of the mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both of their lives. GOD is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. GOD is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and GOD is with US if we are with them.”

Until next time,

Julie