Well, Andrea and I have just completed our first amazing week here in Kenya.  We are having an amazing time, but don’t pretend ourselves into thinking that our head and our hearts are in the same place.  One can prepare themselves as much as possible for Africa, but the reality is always far from what you might expect.  I have said often that Africa is a dicotomy.  One minute you are witnessing despair, the next an act of kindness that melts your heart.  To see poverty at this level awakens all your senses.  The smells of Africa suggest filth and disease, but the people are happy, truly happy!  Where fear and intimidation might be your companion, you find those fears unfounded and exchanging contact information with the lovely young girl who waved you over to sit next to her on the Matatu. While walking through the slums of Gongoretti, you find children no different than home. They play, they laugh, they look for all that is good.  They even find a Mzungu (white faced person) and make them feel like you’re the most important person in the world.  The 3rd picture down was taken with the children I lived with in the slums for the first 4 days.  My nephew’s wife make bracelets to share with the Kenyan children.  They were beyond excited to receive them!  Their faces tell the story!  Thanks Emily! Once we got to Maasailand, we were given a grand welcome!  Our Maasai friends have seen Mzungus before, but what they will tell you is that, “We see many mzungus, but nobody ever comes twice?!”  It is a special thing to return to a village where they know your name, remember your words, and welcome you into their community as if you’ve always been there.   The children at our Sister School of Ronesa have grown in size, both physically and in numbers.  I was amazed at all they have done in the last year to the school.  They have painted the classrooms, groomed the landscape, and even have a water tank now for the kids.  It’s all very exciting to be a part of.  We brought many school supplies with us and as you can see from the picure……….they were thrilled.  To hold something that belongs to just them is something new and wonderful for them all.  Of course, we had to quickly explain what the glue sticks were for as many of them proceeded to try to eat them.  It was precious.  Each day we worked in Ronesa, learning how they communicate and interact with the teachers.  These children come to school ONLY knowing their mother tongue, the Ma language.  Within months you hear them speaking not only Swahili, but English too.  We were amazed at how quickly they learn.  They are well behaved, extremely happy to be there, and especially happy their Mzungu friends are they to help them learn.  We purchased over 25 uniforms with the donation from Shaffer today and I will be picking them up on Saturday with the others who are arriving from Colorado today!  What joy we will have when we give them their uniforms.  We are also working on a special feeding program for the 15 plus children there who are from polygimist families and are suffering a lot from being one of many children to one father.  Our sweet Shadrack who is in our 1st grade class said to the teacher yesterday, ” Please teacher, I need some porridge so I can learn.”  He was well fed, food was sent home with him for the evening, and today he was a completely different boy!  Moments like these are gut-wrenching, but where hope abounds…….change can happen, even if in small doses. Andrea and I also had the opportunity to go with our dear Maasai friend Simon to deliver 2 goats that were purchased from friends/family in Colorado. The recipient is in the picture above.  He is a 75 year old man who is very poor, was left alone to raise grand-children and now has nobody to look after him.  We brought him goats and he just kept laughing and looking at us.  We weren’t sure if he was more excited about the goats or the paper we gave him to keep as a momento of the person (Dylan Nelson, my cousin’s son) who donated the funds for the goats.  He said he would hang the paper in his boma and pray for Dylan every time he sees his goats.  Truly this is the gift that keeps on giving!  We have many more goats/chickens to deliver this coming week and I can hardly wait! Andrea and I had a wonderful few weeks together and it’s going to be hard for me to see her go home. We’ve laughed about everything from the flies in our Chai to the many adorable moments with the students.  We’ve had our heart strings pulled on numerous occasions as we struggle with how to help a community to better their lives when so many things seem to stand in the way of progress.  But most of all, we have experienced unconditional love in a way that neither of us has ever know.  We’ve been challenged by giving up our comforts only to realize how silly they really are.  I think I can speak for both of us when I say that while emotions are raw,  hair and feet are constantly dirty, we’ve looked forward to the adventure each day has brought us.  I’ve cautioned Andrea to not even try to process this whole experience while here in Africa, but to just take it all in. Thank you Andrea for sharing in this adventure with  me!  The Maasai have been blessed by you and can add another American Maasai to their family. I hope you all are enjoying your summer so far. While I’m sad to see Andrea leave, I’m happy to welcome Deb Gardner and our husbands to Kenya to begin another great adventure with Ronesa and the beautiful people of Kenya. Love, hugs, and blessings! Naisula (my maasai name:>) Julie