a big fire

I'm considering myself extremely blessed and very thankful right now to have avoided being part of the massive fire that consumed and destroyed the Nakumatt (like Wal-Mart) downtown Nairobi on Wednesday. I frequently go to Nakumatt 1-2 times a week, and actually had to go that day, so the fact that i wasn't in the store when it happened is amazing. i was on the way back to town around 4 that afternoon when i saw the smoke. 1 person died and over 30 people are missing b/c no one can go into the building right now for fear it will collapse. the fire station apparently responded in time but the problem is that there are only 2-3 working trucks for the entire city of nairobi! can you imagine? we have more than that for the little town of brookville. so additional private fire fighters were called in. it took over 24 hours to put out the fire, which is believed to have started when the generator exploded after it had kicked on during a power outage. people were jumping out from 2nd story windows to escape. everyone was lined up and down the street watching, and unfortunately creating a difficult situation for trucks to manuever down the street. the police had to tear gas people several times to clear the way. i finally saw what a tear gas gun looks like that day.

i have been feeling more at peace the last few days. on tuesday night i came home and had a debrief with collin piper (the icy director from the UK) about my stay here. i shared the good and all the concerns i had. i felt like a huge weight was lifted. collin is very concerned about getting things right here, and making this program more successful. it has been a good experience for me, and fortunately i am self motivated and able to do many things on my own. but i suspect this situation could be very difficult for people who are not as independent. collin is also concerned that the lack of water in the house is creating a health hazard and wants peter to move soon. i have already seen improvements made since collin left. like when peter came back from chatting with him at the airport, we immediately started doing house devotions and worship again at night. i suspect this is b/c i talked about there being a lack of unity and teamwork amongst everyone. i am really enjoying these nightly gatherings. they are lifting my spirits, and helping bring us together. there has been a lot of tension between melissa and lauren b/c they are complete opposites. but last night they spent a long time working out this song together and playing my drum. it sounded awesome. lyonne and i cooked pilau during this, and i made fried zucchini and eggplant. i was amazed b/c everyone in the house loved it. even peter who hates vegetables.

the schools have ended the strike as of last night, so that's good news for the kids here. and lauren tells me the kids at BOLM were playing with their beanie babies last week, and it sounds like they got there books back too. so things are looking up. on the other hand, i found one of the boys from BOLM on the streets in Donholm where i live (very far from BOLM) on tuesday. a street boy was asking for money. and then john (this boy) comes running around the corner yelling my name. i wasn't sure who he was at first. but i did recognize him. i could tell all the boys had been sniffing glue, and i'm sure he'd been living out there on the streets. he came home for christmas and hasn't come back. he told me he was coming back to BOLM this week, but i doubt that's true. i became very angry that the director let this boy go home for so long. clearly there is not a loving family waiting for him there, and he has easily fallen back into bad company. my heart breaks for situations like these where kids are shuffled back and forth from one environment to another. please pray for him, that he might return.