Progress?

I'm never sure if things that i think are really positive news are actually going to pan out, but perhaps some positive things have happened in the last few days.  let us thank God for these blessings: First, the street women are continuing to show up on time and listen much better.  We made necklaces with them this week and discussed trust and they seemed to enjoy.  one woman named naomi made me a necklace and bracelet.  people make things for rach and i all the time.  i joke with her that we should see who can wear the most bling at once. 

another exciting thing is that shaniza, the young girl we found on the streets and took home, finally called alex.  she is staying with her brother and found somewhere to go to school.  so i'm hoping that this will pan out and work.  also yesterday i talked with a street boy who i hadn't seen much.  he's only been on the streets for 2 weeks and hasn't done any drugs.  he was living w/ his grandmother and ran away b/c there was no food and no one could pay for his school fees.  alex again took him to live with his brother and told him if he's still there on monday that he'll take him home.  the boy kept saying, "you're going to pay for me to go to school?"  and i said, yes as long as you hold up your end of the deal: no drugs, no running away.  he was super excited, but we'll see.  we didn't risk buying him any new clothes this time like we did w/ francis.  perhaps if he's still there monday we can get him some then.

peter is having surgery today, which is a good thing b/c we've been waiting forever.  they took the vacuum off his leg and part of the skin has healed back together.  but they are doing a skin graft for the other part.  the wound is very clean now but you can practically see down to the bone.  the hosptial has been overwhelmingly frustrating.  i still can't get answers and am being charged ridiculous amounts of money every day.  they don't communicate at all.  they called tall this morning to tell him someone had to come to the hospital immediately to sign release papers before surgery.  why they didn't tell me this yesterday or thursday when i begged for information, i don't know.  i was sooooo furious and mad this morning.  it was all i could do to keep from either crying or screaming.  how would jesus react in this situation i wonder?  Rachel was there for hours earlier in the week with Tall trying desperately to get information (they made her cry).  and i was there on thursday with edwin for almost 4 hours.  i think they finally understood my frustration b/c evenutally there were 3 orthopedic susurgeons by Peter's bed trying to talk with me.  there was much discussion and conflicting views about whether or not his bone had an active infection.  b/c if it did they need to work on fixing it or the wound won't properly heal.  everyone has a different view, and no one is sure it is even fixable if there is an infection.  and by the way, he has compensated for the pain of his leg by walking on the ball of his foot, which has permanently misshaped his foot, and i'm not sure it will ever be right.  i do hope after all this that he is at least somewhat better and able to walk.  this problem is so much bigger than me and completely out of my control.  so just pray that God would work through this and i would trust Him.

Another awesome thing is that Popo graduated from college on Thursday.  he said it was the best day of his life and kept saying thank you so much for sending him to school.  he was saying how much of a role model he had become for people in kibera and that his mom was so proud.  i went with him to the ceremony, which was so ridiculous that you have to laugh.  we left at 6 a.m.  after several buses and matatus we arrived at 8 something.  popo went inside and we proceeded to stand in a very long line for nearly 2 hours.  just as we were starting to get nearer to the entrance a part of the line we had already stood in that was looping around completely turned around and went the other direction so that there were now 2 lines.  so we basically wasted an hour and a half in that part of the line.  then when we got to the entrance they took our tickets, and we went in, and there were no seats.  anywhere.  people were sitting far from the tent on the grass and you couldn't hear or see anything.  and it was hot and eric was with us and went to find a shady place for popo's mom to sit.  that place happened to be the sidewalk far away where you couldn't see the tent at all.  i sat on the sidewalk reading for 30 minutes before popo walked out.  all the graduates were walking around and no one of them sat in their seats to listen for long.  apparently being present at the graduation or listening is optional.  i left after not long to go to the hosptial, but at least i was there for moral support i guess.  popo even walked me 20 minutes out to the road to put me on a matatu before going back into the graduation.  and there were vendors selling all kinds of funny graduation signs and tinsel and flowers.  it felt like a fair in some sense.  TIA.

I heart BOLM

Popo and I just got back from BOLM.  For those of you who've read my book or heard me talk much about Kenya, you will probably remember this place.  BOLM is a children's home where I used to spend a lot of time when i was here last time.  unfortunately, they've moved about 2 hours outside of the city so it's impossible for me to go there regularly. but fortunately i was able to go visit last night.  Popo arranged with Agatha, the director for us to come.  it was fitting that he come with me b/c he also used to spend a lot of time there.  after the street women ministry yesterday (where rachel and i spent a lot of time watching kids while alex talked to the women and then we did some watercolor painting with them and helped the kids who were trying to eat the paint) popo and i took a matatu to get there.  we waited an hour for the matatu to fill up so that we could leave so it took us over 3 hours to get there.  it was already starting to get dark when we arrived, but the place where BOLM is now, Kirinyga, is beautiful.  i love the villages of kenya.  they are much more peaceful (despite the bumpy road getting there), and relaxed.  people were selling sugar cane at the stop where we got off.  everyone welcomed us and i recognized many of the kids.  the place has really grown.  there are over 100 kids now and there were only 40ish last time.  there are 2 big dormitories for boys and girls.  after saying hi, we joined the kids in what agatha called a "fellowship."  we had to go inside one of the classrooms b/c it started raining.  we sang worship songs and the kids danced and clapped around and then agatha preached.  she kind of scares me because she yells so loud and intensely.  i know this is common for kenya, but i can't help wondering if it's too much for these small children.  in any case they seem very happy.  many of them are orphans or former street kids and they are obviously in a better place now.  during all this it got dark and there were no lights.  of course, dumb me forgot to bring a flashlight.

as soon as i got there, i could tell i was very emotional.  agatha kept telling me that the kids still remember me.  they were asking about some of the other MSTs that i worked with last time, and they asked where my mom was too.  i think i was so happy and surprised/grateful to be there.  as we sat there singing in the dark i kept telling popo that i was going to cry.  and then i did.  and not just little tears either; they were pouring down.  maybe it was also the realization that i'm leaving soon or the nostalgic feeling of being there; or the peace that came over me; or how it reminded me of being at summer camp as a kid.  i don't know, but i was crying a lot.  popo was wearing a t-shirt that micah and harry screen printed with the BOLM school on it, and he was telling the kids about how i remember them so much i put them on a shirt.  i saw zakayo, my favorite kid who's in the picture in my living room.  he speaks english now and he remembers me too.  of course, he's no longer attached me the way that he was before, but the fact that he remembers is enough. 

we sat there singing in the dark for a long time until the kids were practically falling asleep, and then they finally got to eat dinner in the pitch black dark.  i've decided that eating is one thing that kenyans do really fast (as do i).  popo and i waited b/c agnus served us food in her house.  i always feel bad knowing that people are sharing the little that they have.  we sat and talked with her for a while.  i don't completely trust this lady b/c of things that happened the last time i was here, and she spent considerable time mentioning about how they needed help there with food and sending kids to school.  i actually would be happy to help but i know it would have to be by directly bringing food there or something not in the form of cash.  i hate that helping is so complicated b/c of trust issues.  at one point she said, "so what are you going to do for us?"  and i said, "I'll be praying for you." popo said that he laughed inside when i said it.  shortly after popo decided he was going to sleep and he left me there with agatha.  i was a little scared b/c it was so dark, and i had no idea where i would be sleeping.  it ended up that i shared a bed with agatha, which was funny.  i mean i have no problem sharing beds, but it was funny that it was her.  she had all these dolls and stuffed animals lining the bed that she removed for me, and she put so many blankets on the bed.  she then left, and i was confused if she was coming back.  the ceiling was vaulted and tall and teachers were in the other rooms laughing and yelling at agatha to make the other go away.  the sound was carrying everywhere, and i wasn't sure if i would be able to sleep.  agatha came back in and put up a mosquito net, which just ended up falling all over my face.  i got so hot and sweaty at night (it's much warmer than nairobi), but i was afraid to take off my jacket b/c i heard mosquitos and i'm not sure if it's a high risk area for malaria or not (and i'm not taking any medicine).  but no worries, i don't think i got any bites.  all night i woke up as agatha came in and out (yes she did sleep there eventually) or the net fell in my face.  at one point i had to go the bathroom but i knew i couldn't get up (the bathroom was an outhouse and i had gone there earlier in the dark with a kerosene lantern).  i was sleeping against a wall too, so i felt a little trapped in a cocoon.  agatha and the kids get up very early.  it was still dark out, so i think it was about 5 a.m.  when i woke up there were about 4 kids in the room making tea on a gas burner, agatha was changing, and everyone was talking loudly.  i stayed there for a while not knowing what to do.  eventually i got up and asked for some water to wash my face.  they were going to boil it so it would be warm, but i told them i was fine. 

we ate breakfast, chai and bread with honey from nearby, and then went to play with the kids.  popo and i brought lots of puppets and did a skit about jesus calling his disciples and telling them to be fishers of me.  the kids loved the puppets.  we sang songs and then passed out markers and construction paper and had them write down ways they can follow Jesus.  they all wrote lots and drew and enjoyed themselves.  i took the older kids and broke out the modeling clay for them to make pendants.  they really liked this, more so than the juvenile boys i think.  we came back together later for more games and singing and prayer.  this was such an uplifting joyous day to my heart.  I am so blessed that God allowed me to go back there.  i love that these kids are so happy even though they have little (one nice thing is that someone had just provided new shoes for all of them, but their clothes are pretty basic and worn).  and i forgot to mention that the night sky there is incredible.  i'm pretty sure that i could see more stars there than anywhere else i've ever been in my life.  it was beautiful. 

please continue praying for peter in the hospital.  this situation has become a disaster because of communication problems.  we hope that he's improving, but i'm having trouble getting clear answers. i don't want to write much or i'll get mad, so let me stop there.  also continue praying for my health; i walk around coughing all day.

i was able to see dottie on sunday and make chapati with her.  it was great reconnecting.

and a funny endnote: before ash left last week she got out her packet of info from the doctor about kenya, the health risks, transportation, climate, etc.  there was all sorts of comments about the matatus being unsafe and there not being an official bus system and health risks and not eating fruit unless you peel it, etc.  she started reading some of this stuff out loud and alex couldn't believe it.  he thought everything was very exaggerated and far fetched.  and it's funny b/c it's a pretty accurate description really.  he said something about probably no one wanting to come here b/c of this information ( and then the next day something happen and he said, "it is true what they wrote.")  one part said that approx 10 vehicles are hijacked everyday.  and alex said, "do you have a car? NO, so you don't need to worry about it"  anyway, we were laughing in good fun about it and because we broke all those rules on day 1 :) 

i wish i knew swahili

So I'm still feeling pretty crummy.  I have a bad cough and feel like I have junk stuck in my lungs.  I'm sure the moldy house is really not helping the problem (perhaps it's the cause), but I found some medicine today, so maybe that will help.  I tried really hard to rest last night, although it's difficult in our house.  Lots of people keep their clothes in our room, and Popo came in late last night and turned on the lights and asked how I was doing.  Yes, lights and noise policies are very different at home. 

Yesterday Alex and I went to the juvenile and talked with them about honesty.  we shared the story from acts 5 about Ananeis and how he lied to God about the amount of money he was giving.  Alex talked about how people rip off mzungus by overcharging them on the matatus, and he's always able to tell stories in a way that makes the kids laugh.  rachel went with julius that morning b/c he had a toothache, so it was just alex and i.  sometimes it's hard for me just being with one other kenyan b/c there is no one to translate what's happening, and i often feel lost and not that useful.  i brought model magic for them to work with.  some of the kids really loved it (especially antony who's good at clay), but many of them just made it into a ball of clay and were throwing it around all over the place.  i tried to explain how to make something else and get the point across that it would probably break once it dried if they used it as a ball, but no one seemed to care.  i suppose it doesn't matter much since they don't have much to play with.  at least they were enjoying themselves.

in the afternoon i went to the hospital to check on peter.  getting there was a challenge b/c i was by myself and i couldn't figure out where to meet the matatu from where i'd gotten off on the way from juvenile.  i almost started crying, which is completely ridiculous, but every person told me something different, and i didn't know who to believe.  it is so challenging b/c in america i'm very independent, and it's much harder to be that way here.  i wish i spoke better swahili and that i wasn't white.  anyway, peter seems fine, but it's becoming a huge frustration b/c none of the doctors will tell us what's going on.  they have this vacuum sort of thing on his leg and i guess they don't know if it's helping until they take it off every few days.  no one would give me a clear answer about anything.  and our attempts to call the doctor have been worthless.  he says he'll update us, but he doesn't or he hangs up.  rachel and tall are there now trying to clarify.  we're concerned that if this isn't working they won't tell us and we will just keep getting charged per day for the hospital stay and we have no idea if they will want to try to do something else instead.  i can't help but wonder if this is partly b/c i'm white and that people think i have all sorts of money.  the one hope is the lady in the billing department who is helpful and doesn't make me wait for hours.  she was talking with me yesterday about what i did.  her sister lives in alabama.  she asked me how i like teaching and if the kids were bad.  i explained that most were good, a few more challenging than others.  and she said, "just like kenya."  but then she said, "at least we can punish kids here though by beating them." and she was asking all sorts of questions about how we discipline kids.  there's some issues like this that are just hard for me to understand.

Friday evening i went with edwin to deliver samosas to nakumatt.  this lady bakes them at her house and pays him to deliver them to various nakumatts around nairobi (yes, very different health code laws).  it was pretty cool being in the delivery part of nakumatt and knowing what happens behind the scenes.  everyone was staring at me like, "what's the white girl doing here."  our first drop off was a success and then we had to go to another nakumatt like 30 km. outside the city.  there was lots of traffica and when we arrived the delivery part was already closed.  actually we'd have never made it on time though b/c the samosa lady said they were open until 8 but it was actually only 6.  edwin wasn't sure what to do, and the lady was yelling at him over the phone about how it was his fault and he'd have to figure it out.  we weren't permitted to bring the coolers in the front door b/c of store policy.  edwin was pretty upset, but then i suggested that we find someone inside to make an exception.  i went with him to ask because although i hate admitting it, sometimes in these situations, being white helps.  sure enough we found someone and i just was very smiley and they agreed to let us in.  the delivery people were again surprised to see me when they opened the gate.  one man said, "wewe!" (pronounced way, way) meaning "you."

today rachel and i met everyone at church.  we slept a little longer and went late since we can only handle a few hours of church without falling asleep.  it was peaceful having the house to ourselves for a bit.  i did some laundry and the basin of water turned completely brown.  awesome!  i'm excited b/c my friend dottie is on the way to visit me.  i knew her last time i was in kenya (she gave me the pink skirt).

update on the week

I apologize for not posting for many days.  There have been many late nights at the hospital this week where we get home too late to go to the cyber or instances like yesterday when I had time but the power was out.  I finally have a free afternoon to write.  Let's see...Monday morning we went to work with the street women, and we made some amazing progress I think.  Only 4 women showed up, and we wouldn't let anyone else come in late, but it was nice to have only people there who really wanted to be there.  Because there were so few of them, there was hardly any fighting or yelling going on.  Everyone was calm. We discussed the fruits of the spirit, i think (my memory is fuzzy now), and then we brought beads for them to make bracelets.  They loved this!  everyone sat around stringing beads and they were excited to wear the finished product. 

The afternoon was less than stellar.  it was ashley's last day so she wanted to do something fun and treat everyone to going to the movies.  rachel and i went with tall early to sit at some tables outside the theater to practice making some beads that we wanted to teach to the HIV+ women on Wednesday.  Unfortunately when 3:15 rolled around, no one was there for the movies except our friend James.  Tall wasn't planning to come with us, and all the other 7 or 8 people who had planned to come were no where in sight.  None of us wanted to go into the movie and keep coming out to pay for people as they arrived.  And personally, I was mostly just coming along to the movie b/c everyone else was excited, and Rachel felt the same.  So we decided just to leave because Ashley was so frustrated and upset that no one cared enough to make it there on time.  so us 3 mzungus went to Java, which is a very Western restaurant/coffee shop, with very good food.  We decided we just needed to be away from everything.  I was also very upset b/c earlier in the week Popo wanted to take Peter to get his haircut.  I asked him not too b/c he still had the cuts on his head, which were just starting to clear up and I didn't want them to get infected.  Of course, a few days later Popo took him anyway, and they next day Peter proceeded to get a really bad rash all over his head.  it then spread to his back.  we're pretty sure that whatever they put on his head to sterilize it made him have some kind of allergic reaction.  i think he got his haircut in kibera, and you can't ever be sure of how clean things are there.  so monday night i had a melt down b/c peter appeared to be getting worse (and when he went to get his leg rewrapped they did a blood test, which i didn't want them to do b/c it's not the best hospital and I don't really trust any diagnosis that they give) and that no one really cared. I walked in the dark (which massively freaked me out...I wrapped a scarf around my head so people couldn't see my mzunguness as much) to the chemist to find Benadryl hoping that that would help somewhat.  Ashley reminded me later that I needed to stop worrying and trust God more. 

Things got better though b/c a big group of 10 of us decided to all go dancing since it was Ashley's last night.  Finding a place to go was a challenge and several changes of plans happened before we finally piled into our cab driver friend, Edwin's van.  our land lady was later commenting to Alex about how many people we stuffed in there.  anyway, all of us girls were pretty embarrassed b/c we hardly brought any money with us.  we hadn't planned on going all the way to town and so we had barely enough money to pay to get in, and had to pay for our cab after we got home.  and getting home was quite the ordeal.  we came back around 1:00 a.m. and no one at home was answering their phone to come open the gate to let us in.  we stood outside for a long time trying to figure out what to do.  ashley wanted to climb over this tall tin fence, which totally wouldn't have worked, and other people were softly banging on the gate hoping not to wake up the land lady.  finally another neighbor came but he was absolutely furious with us, and rightly so; it was Monday night after all.  anyway, we did have lots of fun and despite being locked out it was worth it.

Tuesday we went on a field trip with the kids from Sara Junior (a preschool I volunteered at last time i was here).  we took them to the safari park walk, which is a national park in nairobi.  there are a few animals, which are hard to see, but the walk itself was high up near the tree tops on wooden bridges, and I liked seeing all the trees and natural side of nairobi.  but ash, rachel, and I agreed that they are totally ripping off foreigners by charging them $20.  I wouldn't even pay that much to go to a zoo at home.  The kids seemed to like it well though it was difficult keeping everyone together.  we each chaperoned a group, but these small kids are not used to any sort of structure like this and they often kept running off and we were frantically looking around for them.  by the grace of God I had a really calm group that was well behaved.  i think everyone else had a headache by the time they left. 

afterwards we came back to town to take ash to the airport.  we got stuck in a really bad jam so we proceeded to walk several miles into town so that we could meet the taxi on time.  Edwin, Alex, and Steve took her to the airport and rachel and I left to take peter to the doctor.  it was really sad seeing her go, and it's crazy how fast that month went.  we got to the doctor (after getting on the wrong matatu and having to walk back to town for another one) only to find that the doctor wasn't there.  we waited 2 hours for him to come.  but thankfully he had a plan for fixing peter's leg, and we were able to admit him that night to Aga Khan Hospital.  they are doing negative pressure therapy where they apply some kind of vacuum on his leg to mend the skin back together.  The doctor studied in the U.S., which was comforting to me, and he knew exactly where Iowa and Indiana were.  I do hope that he knows what he's doing and that this works.  We've been to visit peter twice since then.  He was really freaked out about being admitted at first b/c he was in Kenyatta Hospital before, and wasn't well taken care of.  There were 3 patients staying in one bed!  But now he's doing fine b/c they  are serving him chicken, fruit, chips, and soup everyday.  i'm pretty sure this is the best he's ever eaten in his life.  he is supposed to have this treatment for 7 days, and then they'll see if they need to do something to the bone.  please keep praying for him.  it is a relief to have him in the hospital where i know that someone is taking care of him each day and he's not just being left alone to fend for himself.

Wednesday was the best day yet.  we met with the HIV women and showed them this bracelet of ash's made of paper beads.  it's very different though from the necklaces that i sold at home.  i think this kind of style is more original than other things i've seen here and would sell better.  we showed them how to get started, and this new lady, Beatrice came.  she pulled a paper bead necklace out of her bag that she had made, and she was a great help at showing the other ladies what to do.  she was very intrigued by this new style.  everyone got really excited and started cutting, rolling, gluing.  and then we brainstormed other things that they could make with the beads that they could try to sell.  everyone had ideas and was giving input.  it was awesome to see them empowered to make something.  they are planning to make us a bunch of samples before wednesday so we can decide what we think people would like to buy.  at the end they started clapping for us b/c they were so excited.

That afternoon we met with the street women and praised them for how respectful they were on monday and how much patience they showed.  we did a lot of times of encouragement with them before tall demonstrated so ideas of cards they could make.  we tried this another day, and no one was interested then, but everyone loved it this time. they got so caught up in making cards that no one noticed when the food came, and no one stopped working.  i hope we keep seeing this progress.  we saw Lydia, one of the women today, and her leg is crippled, so she came hobbling up with her cane but was smiling and so happy to see us.  on monday we didn't give her food b/c she was late, but on Wednesday she was there on time.

Thursday we were in Kabete with the juvenile small boys talking about the fruits of the spirit.  there are lots of new kids arriving daily, and it seems like it's getting harder to manage a big group of people.  today we met with the street boys.  Gerwin, our Dutch friend, brought this great video to show them about AIDS and he previewed it there, but when the boys came we couldn't get it to work.  TIA.  it felt like an unproductive morning, but we had a nice chat with John, one of the boys.  he recited this poem for us: "In front of you is John Jenga, a street boy, ready to present to you a poem entitled, "I"ve got the Power."  Life is short; life is sweet; take time to taste it.  life is a journey.  find the right path.  but most importantly, life is what you make it.  thank you."

it was very heart warming watching him.  he really wants to go to school, and we're trying to figure out where he can go.  alex is possibly going to try taking him home on sunday, although this worries me a little b/c i think there is some history of abuse/violence in the home, and i'm not sure how he'll do there.  but he's very small and clingy, and really going to get beat up if he stays in the streets.

a funny story to finish:  on the way back from the hospital on wednesday, alex was sitting in the back of the matatu.  when people got off, he came up to sit by rachel and i since a seat opened up.  he pretended like he didn't know us and said hello.  he asked us our names, and we made up new ones.  he made small talk with us as if he'd never met us.  then he said, "are you married?" and we said no.  and he said, "good because polygamy is legal in kenya."  this lady in the front seat turned around b/c she thought he was serious and she gave him the most dirty, disgusted look.  we could only keep the whole act up briefly though before we started cracking up.

all right that's all for now.  pray for julius.  he's having a toothache and might have to have it pulled.  also, i'm getting some sort of sinus/cold kind of thing so pray for that too.  have a great weekend :)

Relaxing with the Dutch

The past two days have been really good.  I feel like God has really given me peace, strength, and encouragement that have been much needed.  A quick recap on what's been happening: Friday we met with the street boys and while we were waiting to start we taught them the macarena, which was quite funny.  Then we had a very serious discussion about AIDS and sex education.  After hearing the street boys talk on Monday, Alex was very alarmed, and we felt it was super important to talk about these things.  The guys did most of the talking, but then we split up the group into the smaller and bigger kids.  Some of the street boys are actually adults or late teens, so we took the smaller ones.  There was one boy in the group who is only 8 years old, and he is on so many drugs that he can barely stay awake during our sessions together.  Our talk with the smaller boys was pretty good.  They took things more seriously than the older ones, and we got them to really open up.  It's amazing that despite the very high infection rate of HIV in this country that these boys don't know much about how the disease is contracted.  Plus there are all sorts of crazy myths going around about ways to get rid of the disease.  Don't think I've mentioned this but Ashley really is a rock star of a teacher.  She's really great at asking questions and explaining things.  I already knew this, but I don't often get to see her teaching, so it's been good to have that experience.  She is leaving on Tuesday and I"m really going to miss her, and Rachel said the same thing.  We realized that this is the most time we've spent together since I was in high school.  i'm glad to have had this experience together this summer.

After the street boys we took Francis to get new clothes.  The plan was that Alex would take him to stay somewhere in Kibera for a few days and talk with him and mentally prepare him to go home.  we walked forever far away to the market (where we constantly get harrassed, "sister, tops, tops, these are nice, etc) to get him clothes and we were carrying heavy bags.  but we finally finished and once Francis changed he looked nice and no longer like a street boy.  Julius took him to Kibera and the rest of us went with Peter to the hospital.  The doctor there referred him to a plastic surgeon at Aga Khan hospital, which is apparently one of the best hospitals in the country and the best plastic surgeon in the country.  we go there on tuesday.  i feel like we're on a bit of a wild goose chase, and I hope that we can just get on with the surgery.  every doctors appointment involves at least 2-3 hours of waiting, and while I'm using that time to read a lot, it gets old. 

Back to Francis, unfortunately on Saturday when Alex's brother went to get him food he ran away, and now he is gone.  Partly this doesn't surprise me but rather breaks my heart, but partly I just can't fathom why someone would choose street life over going home.  I have 2 theories: either he is too afraid to go home or he recently has been using more drugs and he is addicted and he left to get drugs.  I can't really imagine any other scenarios.  Alex thinks we will find him again, although i'm not so sure. 

In good news, Saturday Rachel and I went to the big boys juvenile.  we did the flood skit (again, yes we do every skit about 4 times during the week) and sang songs before doing some arts and cooking.  julius and i took a group of kids and i taught them to make french toast.  the bakery classroom was locked and so we did this outside and i had them sit on this ledge of concrete (the headmaster came later and said, oh i had no idea you were coming.  alex had told them but the man is very flighty).  we only had one jiko (charcoal burner) and one frying pan, and we did this with about 60 kids, so you can imagine that this took several hours.  it was pretty smooth at first but crowd control became a big problem in the afternoon.  i expected this because it's always an issue.  doing things in an organized fashion is not Kenyan style, so you just make do.  there were a list of kids for the afternoon cooking session but many more tried to come too.  boys were shoving each other and yelling and kicking people out, and it was impossible to get their attention. i gave everyone one piece of bread and made them sit and wait.  it took so long that one boy, felix, correctly pointed out that the sun was making his bread stale.  i said don't worry, the milk will soften it up again.  meanwhile rachel was making picture frames with foam, and several boys used it as an opportunity to make love note pictures for her.  one note said "black guy featuring white girl."  i don't think they realize, even after telling them, that we're a lot older.  all in all, despite the chaos, i think the boys liked it and it was a good day.

we got home and ash had prepared snickerdoodle batter.  we went to our dutch friend's house in a nearby nicer neighborhood, and got to use their oven.  however, there are no temperature settings on it and i added too much flour i think and the altitude affects the baking, so they tasted a little different.  anyway the dutch people made us pancakes and we got to meet their adopted children (one from south africa and one from kenya).  they've been in kenya 8 months and are still waiting for their son's visa so that they can go home.  they help us with the street ministry, and it was a joy to hang around western people in a clean house where the roads outside are not dirt.  the roads outside our house are dirt and so dirt gets tracked all over our house.  it's just nice to be able to relate to people and clearly communicate with them.  and i think it's awesome that Erec, their 5-year-old, is getting exposure to so many different nationalities of people at such a young age. 

we came home last night and our key didn't work for the gate.  guess what?  the land lady changed the lock again!  but she came to the gate and gave us a new key (at 9:30 p.m.) um hello...isn't that something you should tell people about earlier in the day?  but we laughed it off.  I offered her one of our cookies and said, "oh we thought maybe we had the wrong gate."  she laughed and said, no, no.  i think she likes us now.  our toilet is leaking like 1 liter of water an hour by the way and it's created mold all over the back of the toilet.  we paid someone to fix it, and he fixed it by putting the handle on upside down so that you flush it up.  unfortunately this only worked for about 8 hours.  by night time it was leaking again.  i have been informed that this building where we're staying is brand new.  i don't think that's possible.  it is so poorly put together.  the counter top is unlevel and things roll off of it.  everything keeps breaking.  the sink leaks and we keep a pan underneath.  my underwear were covered in mold on friday from all the moisture in the room.  at least it keeps us laughing.  the other funny thing is this man, gitau, who works in the building.  he's always wearing this hat so we refer to him as the man with the hat.  whenever he sees us he asks how we are and then when we ask back he says he is very hungry.  we shared some food a few times, but even alex has gotten annoyed at the way he seems to take advantage (only he makes it into a funny story that he tells the kids about how the man acts when he sees the mzungu).  one day ashley said, "yes, we're really hungry too.  we haven't eaten yet." 

this morning we went back to juvenile for a devotion.  amazingly the kids were all sitting listening and ready to go, and alex had no problem getting them wound up with his funny stories.  we talked about the fruits of the spirit in galatians and talked a lot about patience and self-control, which is a huge struggle for them, and definitely me too.  it is awesome to see how much the kids look up to alex.  i think God is really using alex to influence them in positive ways and i'm glad for them to have him as a role model.

then we had tea and went to church 3 hours late again, and then were at church for about 3 hours.  we hung out dancing around the church afterward while everyone packed up.  our friend Tall (don't know if i've mentioned him.  he's someone new that i've met this time) took Rachel and I to the masai market today.  he is excellent at bargaining.  ash is at home getting her hair braided i think.  she went with popo to church in kibera today.

hope you're having a great weekend.  thanks for your prayers.  please continue to pray for peter and his situation and figuring out schooling for him.  the next school session begins in september.  also pray for francis that we might find him again and have wisdom about what to say to him.

Francis, Obama's people, and one year older

I feel like everyday things happen that could possibly turn out to be really good but that they don't always or i'll never know for sure what happened.  for instance, this afternoon alex and i went to track down the street boy Francis.  We found him pretty easily, amazingly, not far from where we meet with the boys on Fridays.  I recognized the back of his head.  Alex wanted to speak with him without the other boys around so we took him to a park.  Alex had a talk with him about how the other boys are influencing him to use drugs and how it's not too late to turn his life around.  I encouraged him as well saying that he had lots of potential and should go back to school.  although he never could look me in the eye, he also agreed that he wanted to go back to school and back to his parents (I didn't know this was an option, but they seem to be on ok terms.)  alex thinks that he might have left home when his parents couldn't pay for school fees.  So we got Francis soap and food, and the plan is that tomorrow when we meet with the boys Alex will take him to stay somewhere in Kibera I think for a few nights.  And then if he does ok there, we will try to take him home to Nakuru on Monday and arrange for paying for school.  That's several hours drive, by the way, and it amazes me that kids from far away make it all the way to Nairobi.  In any case, I'm really hoping that Francis follows through on his part and that this could work.  I will believe it when I see it, and pray in the meantime.  Unfortunately, Sheniza, the girl we met Monday, has not called Alex about paying for school, so she could be back on the street again.  Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed and tired by the lack of progress that seems to happen.  I'm praying that while we are here we would see at least a few kids leave the streets.  Please pray with me and that we would not grow weary in meeting with them.

we visited the little boys juvenile home this morning. and did the skit about the flood coming and the man not accepting the help that God had sent.  we talked about being grateful for God's blessings and using the opportunities in front of us that he has given us.  we sang some songs and then split up for arts and games.  Rachel and I broke out the beads for bracelet making.  Kids love beads here, and I mean LOVE them.  alex and i went over to the big boys juvenile afterwards b/c he needed to meet with someone there about us coming (it seems although alex has been coming for a long time and even though we've told them and met with them, it's not quite right. TIA).  and can i randomly add that as i'm sitting here at the cyber cafe, the man next to me is listening to shania twain in his headphones while singing out loud and playing the music so loud that i can make out every word.  we're also sitting in plastic pool like deck chairs, which are popular here, even in churches, restaurants, etc.

anyway, juvenile: when we got there, class 6 was in class with no teacher--typical.  so alex decides to give them an english lesson so that they're not just sitting there doing nothing.  i tried to help as well as we discussed nouns and verbs, etc.  i tried to have them practice writing something until it became clear that only a handful of kids had a pen or pencil to write with.  can you imagine going to school and not having pencils for students?

yesterday we tried to go minister to the street women but they took forever to come even though we walk right past them and say hello before we go into the church where we meet.  they just leisurely come at their own pace.  the time ticked by, and ash, rachel, and I were needing to leave soon to go take peter to the doctor.  we started talking with chantel, this dutch lady who comes to help, about how the women are taking advantage of the situation.  she agreed and said there needs to be a cut off time where the women must come by or else they don't get food.  we explained this to the pastor, and he said yes we can try that.  and i said, how about we go tell them they have 5 minutes to come or they don't get fed.  and guess what?...they all came pretty quickly.  alex then started talking to them about coming on time and being respectful, and it resulted in this huge yelling/interrupting fest by the women.  it was pretty ridiculous.  i think that they've sort of done things how they want for so long that they've really manipulated the situation.  the fighting was still going on and we had to leave for the doctor.  we then proceeded to have many bus drivers try to rip us off and overcharge us for bus fare, and so i kept refusing to get on any bus.  a worker for one of the bus companies tried to radio another bus to put us on at what he said was a fair price, but i couldn't really tell if he was being honest or not.  finally, we found a bus to take (it had to be the right number) and we only paid 30 shillings instead of the 50 that many were insisting we pay.  it sort of comes down to how long are you willing to wait for the correct price and is it worth fighting for 20 cents.  it's just the idea of corruption and trustworthiness that are important to me and we had a little time to spare, so it was worth it.  we waited 1 1/2 hours at the doctor, even though we had an appointment.  the doctor said at the very least peter's leg needs to have skin grafts for the fibulua because that part of his leg has hardly any skin.  there's just muscle and tissue showing barely and the bone is right underneath.  he couldn't tell if the bone was infected b/c the x-rays weren't clear enough so he sent us to have an MRI done down the road.  he called the place to see how long the wait was.  they told him to have us come tomorrow and he said, "No, these are Americans; they don't want to wait all day.  Please be nice to Obama's people."  we were cracking up.  unfortunately, rachel and alex waited with him for several hours anyway.  i got a little worried about them b/c they came home around 9:30 p.m., which is late to be traveling around Nairobi.  i came back at 8 myself, and i remembered why i don't travel at night.  too creepy, risky, dangerous.  nothing is well lit, so you can't really see who's coming up behind you or towards you.  tomorrow we go back to the doctor to see what should happen with Peter. the doctor was planning to refer us to a plastic surgeon if the bone isn't infected.  continue to pray for this situation.

on a funny note, we helped alex realize that he's 26 and not 25.  we were talking about birthdays and he was saying how he was born in april of '85 (which is 1 month and 1 year after me), so i said, oh you're 26 then.  and he kept saying, no i'm 25.  and i said, well you must be born in '86 then.  and he insisted that he was born in '85, so we told him he had to be 26 then.  he said it's common for people to sort of fudge a date on the birth certificate b/c in his case he was left at the hospital without his mom around for a while so no one knew the exact date.

please pray for ash, rachel, and i for strength and perserverance.  the lack of communication continues to wear on us but we pray for positive spirits and loving hearts to overcome this.

evicted/not evicted and hanging with street boys

i started typing this yesterday, and then we had a sudden blackout and the computers all turned off.  so we'll try this again:
the past day and a half seems almost so ridiculous that i don't think it really happened, and i feel kind of silly telling the story.  but it went something like this:
 yesterday was a great morning for me.  alex and i went to the juvenile on sunday morning for devotion time with the kids.  i talked with them about how we are one family in christ and that it's our responsibility to look after each other and care about each other.  alex expanded on this by saying that no matter what tribe we're from or what city, we're all united in christ.  we sang songs afterwards and i thought we were about finished since we'd been there for 1 1/2 hours.  then a bunch of kids came in, and alex said, ok it's time for session 2.  he looked at me and said, are you ready to speak?  i just gave him this blank expression wondering what in the world he was talking about.  and he says, "you didn't prepare something for session 2?"  um, no...you didn't say anything about 2 sessions.  no worries though.  tia, you just make it up as you go.  this type of miscommunication happens a lot with everyone and after a while it's really exhausting.  it helps though to have ashley and rachel to talk about it with.  i know that there is no way i can ever come here by myself again.  it's too difficult.  you must have another westerner to relate to.  anyway, juvenile was good and then we went and got tea and prolonged going to church, which was fine b/c this service is at least 5 hours long....yes, for real.  we got there around 12 i think and it ended at 3.  i think it started at 9 or 10.  but it was one of the best services i've been to.  the pastor was funny and told lots of stories and we were dancing around and jumping up and down so much during worship that i was sweating.  ashley said we should have worn workout clothes instead of skirts.

the drama started when we got home.  we've been having more small problems with the land lady and alex mistakenly thought that we could use our deposit money to pay for this last month of rent.  mixed in with this is that we were trying to figure out a place where some of these street boys could live and start going back to school.  we were thinking of trying to rent a place and have julius and alex stay there with them and that we would stay there until we left.  so alex decided (sort of without telling us) that we were moving.  he told the landlady as much and we started looking for other places.  we found a sweet apartment and things seemed good to go.  we packed up everything.  and alex nicely asked the landlady for our money back.  i think twice she promised it the next day.  so sunday afternoon we sat around forever waiting for her husband to bring us our deposit and check us out.  he never came and never came.  we had the entire apartment packed up (which wasn't much stuff really).  he finally came at 9:30, and it was this huge altercation with alex about all sorts of things that we'd have to pay for.  apparently no matter what you always have to have the apartment repainted when you leave.  and he was making up charges for all sorts of things.  he wanted to keep all our deposit and told us we owed more as well.  the whole thing was pretty ridiculous.  ash and rach finally went to look at the lease papers, which alex did not have, to make sure everything was true, and it was very brief and open for interpretation, so pretty much whatever the landlord says goes.  we went to bed not really sure what to do.  in the morning when we looked at the lease for the other apartment there were a lot of red flags to me.  like you have to repaint and varnish the floors before leaving and you can't put any nails in the walls and there are no set charges for damages.  so we collectively decided we shouldn't move.  it became clear to us girls that none of these guys have ever signed this type of lease before and have no idea of what is involved in renting apartment.  and ashley correctly said we can't blame them b/c they've grown up in kibera and have never had this experience.  so we went and nicely talked to the landlady, and she was happy to let us stay as long as we paid our rent for this month (but i'm sure we're going to lose our whole deposit b/c of repainting charges, etc).  we then had to unpack everything again, and now all my clothes and stuff are just wadded up in my suitcase, which by the way has mold growing on it b/c it is sitting in that damp room that never dries.  we're chalking this all up to a good learning experience for everyone.  we've been extra nice to the landlady, and we're trying to show her love despite some of our falling outs.  we also decided that we won't be renting a house to put these boys...there are too many what ifs involved for us to think about that right now.  perhaps we can look around and find other alternatives homes to place them in, although alex has many doubts that that could work due to trying this before without much success.

on a positive note, some good things happened yesterday.  we went to see the street women and arrived very late b/c we were unpacking the house.  the pastor that helps with this ministry was there wrapping up his talk with them.  i looked around (everyone was sitting in plastic chairs on this cement patioish thing) and almost everyone was sniffing drugs.  i think the pastor is either naive or too nice, b/c he seemed unbothered by it.  he told us he was leaving to get food for the women.  then he said, "and this lady over there prayed and accepted christ today."  rachel and i asked for clarification on which woman, and it was a new lady who was sitting sniffing drugs.  we just looked at the pastor like, "seriously, you have to be kidding me.  the lady is totally high right now."  i know you're wondering about the good part...here's where it gets funny.  i became super frustrated b/c we've clearly told the women that they can't do drugs there.  i don't think it's too much to ask people to not sniff for 2 hours in exchange for us feeding them (and talking to them).  they were all crowding around alex asking for things, complaining, etc, and i couldn't take it.  and so i just started yelling, without even telling alex i had something to say, i started yelling, and he started translating.  i said that we cared about them a lot but that they were treating this time together like a joke.  they weren't respecting the rules, and it was a complete slap in the face to us.  we're here to help and love them and they can't even leave the drugs for a short time.  as alex is translating, they start yelling and blaming each other.  agnus, one woman, is sort of the ringleader and she's always super doped up.  she started to interrupt, and i looked at her and pointed with my finger "skiza", meaning, "listen!"  and she did.  and everyone got really quiet.  i think it really surprised them to see the nice white girl yelling.  and then everyone started apologizing and agnus took out her drugs and poured them all out on the pavement (alex says she poured out a lot and that it cost a lot of money).  it was a small victory, but it was great.  i think tough love is really important, and we've been more than nice and loving and perhaps too soft at times.  alex also had me talk to this pregnant lady that we've talked to multiple times.  he had me tell her what the drugs are doing to her unborn baby.  i really think that this baby is going to have massive birth defects and learning problems but i pray that i'm wrong.  it is unfortunate that sin does not just affect us but others as well.
also during this time, a young girl came with the street women.  she was only 13.  alex, rachel, and i sat down with her b/c alex said she left the streets 6 months ago and was now back.  we found out that she no longer had school fees and so she left home to look for money and hadn't slept for days b/c she was worried about being raped or hurt on the streets.  we had a long talk with her about going back to school and how dangerous it was living on the streets.  we made cards with her and some street boys who joined us later.  and then we walked her all the way across town (probably 2 miles) to get on a matatu to go home.  we gave her matatu fare, and alex's number.  she's supposed to call him so that we can talk to her mom and arrange for paying for her to continue school when the new term starts in september.  the fees are less than $50, so the cost is not a problem, but she will have to find somewhere new to go.  she hasn't called yet, which makes me a little nervous.  she made cards for rachel and i though saying how much she appreciated us talking to her and encouraging her.

after taking her back to the matatu we walked (many more miles) to a park to meet some of the street boys.  we had fun playing frisbee with them while alex went to get them some food.  but then while we were eating, the conversation became so disheartening.   first francis, my fave kid, was back and had been doing drugs today.  he has been clean every other time i've seen him.  he first lied to me saying that the drugs on the sleeve of his shirt were not his b/c it was someone else's shirt.  but it turned out later that he told alex he did the drugs today b/c someone stole his pants and he had to wear dirty muddy ones and he was embarrassed.  then all the kids started talking about how they got tested for HIV yesterday b/c some organization was giving away free food if you got tested.  b/c they found out they were negative, the went and did who knows what that night.  they really have no clear understanding of AIDS i don't think, and when we talked to them they were just laughing.  alex said that even though they're only 13, they are already sleeping around on the streets.  rachel and i just looked at him with huge eyes, like oh my gosh these kids are so little, please tell me i miss heard you.  so we talked to them the best we  could even though they didn't seem to care much.  please pray for these boys, for their safety, for their futures, for their relationship with Christ.  it is so heart breaking seeing  the ways that they struggle and i pray that we would be able to find somewhere for them to live and go to school and that they would be willing.  remember too that alex used to be a street boy for several years in kisumu, and he is such an awesome testimony of how God broke those chains.

today was our break day.  ash and i got up early and ran to nakumatt to get food to make biscuits and gravy.  while i know i'm out of shape, i was particulary having trouble breathing while i ran and i wonder if that's partly the altitude.  we made it back though and made delicious biscuits and gravy.  ash decided it should be a birthday celebration for peter today b/c he doesn't know when his birthday is.  so we sang to him and gave him a candle to blow out, and she gave him an activity book with a map and stickers of animals that live around the world.  also some letter flash cards and some deodorant spray (the other day he sprayed ashley's dry shampoo all over him b/c he thought it was deodorant).  we then went to the giraffe center and kazuri bead factory in karen.  these were fun things, but it was a long day b/c there were 10 of us walking around together (and also we were surrounded by mzungu tourists all afternoon, which is just wierd here).  i find myself growing very impatient with having so many people and things taking forever and waiting around and people not communicating well.  i got really upset b/c we went down this trail at the giraffe park, and alex had us go up this steep hill.  i kept saying, peter should not climb up there and they said they would carry him, and then they let him walk up there anyway.  i think this is where the mom in me comes out.  what the kenyans don't understand is that we paid a lot of money and that his leg is really serious.  i don't think peter understands either.  we're taking him back to the doctor tomorrow, so pray that that goes well.  also pray that i would learn to hold my tongue more and think before speaking.  and that despite not knowing what is going on half the time that i would have a positive attitude. 

swimming with street boys

first, let me say that i really appreciate the comments that people post.  it is very encouraging to know that people are reading what i'm writing and staying connected with what's happening here.  it's not always easy for me to communicate back to you b/c the internet is slow and the keyboard keys all stick and the internet goes out in the middle of typing, but i am thinking of you all back home and praying for you.

today was a pretty awesome day.  i've been feeling overwhelmed lately by the number of people in our house.  we've had a lot of get togethers recently, which is fine, but having 20+ people in this very tiny apartment of ours is a bit much.  plus there's always loud music on or movies or people constantly getting phone calls/texts in the middle of prayers and no one switching off their phones (totally ok and acceptable).  it's really hard for me to take in, but i try.  this man two computers down from me has someone loudly calling him through the computer, but it doesn't sound like skype, and he was snapping at the cyber cafe worker to come fix the computer.  everyone snaps here to get people's attention.  anyway, despite all this, good stuff happened today.

we went to minister to the street boys today.  we did the skit about the man who is in his house when the flood comes.  he prays that god would save him.  3 people come to help him (one on foot, one in a boat, and one in a plane).  each time he rejects their help and says god will save him.  and the water gets higher and higher until he dies.  he goes to heaven and asked what happened, and god tells him he sent 3 people to help, but he refused each person.  we compared this story with the boys to their lives and how we're here to help them make better choices to get off the streets but that the decision is in their hands.  alex got a guitar today, so we were able to sing some worship music with them.  we then took about 11 kids who were "clean"ish, although not really, and not using to drugs, to go swimming.  (most of the other kids sold the soap we gave them for drugs and they were really dirty).  we had this huge group of us walking to the YMCA, and everyone was staring at the mzungus walking with all the street kids.  i honestly didn't think they'd let us in at the Y b/c these kids were pretty dirty, but they did.  the dutch guys came to help giving swimming lessons.  the kids loved getting in the water, and we were able to teach them a little.  apparently, the jump in the river a lot chasing plastic bags, and sometimes they drown b/c they can't swim.  unfortunately, the water was super cold even for me, and since africans are always wearing sweaters when it's 75 degrees, they were of course very cold.  most of the shorts we bought them for swimming were too big, and so all of them were falling down or barely staying up.  we were a sight to behold splashing around in that pool, people frantically kicking their feet, and trying to learn to breath under water.  afterwards we took them to a big park called aboretum.  it is my new favorite place in nairobi.  we had to walk pretty far out of town up a hill to get there.  it's a shaded park full of trees and paths, flowers, even monkeys and it's pretty clean.  i didn't feel like i was in nairobi there, and i thank god that this beautiful place exists in the midst of a city that is so chaotic.  for most kids it was their first time to see a monkey.  we sang songs, ate chips, and walked around.  it was really sad to leave the boys this afternoon.  i think god has really given rachel, ash, and i a heart for them.  we hope to visit them more and more.  we gave them big hugs on the street corner and had to leave not knowing if we'll see them again.  (francis, my favorite kid from before, was no where to be seen today).  they were already asking people waiting in traffic for money.  please pray for these boys, that they would desire to make good choices, and that there would be a place for them to go.  we took peter with us today, and the boys were very impressed, and jealous to see him looking clean and in nice clothes.

another funny thing that happened yesterday was that our matatu was over filled (with 18 people i think).  the matatu conductor told us that if we get pulled over we should all start crying and pretend we're going to a funeral so that no one would be in trouble.  so we practice fake crying in the matatu.  and speaking of funerals, people take pictures at funerals, which is really creepy and wierd for me.  popo made his girlfriend a movie slide show full of pictures from her sister's funeral..complete with the casket and grieving people.  i've seen it at least 3 times, and it bothers me to watch it.  and he used this really cool swahili song, but i don't want to listen to it ever b/c it makes me think of death.

crazy landlady and street boy in the house

we have a crazy land lady.  on monday we had lots of people over for our 4th of july bash.  honestly, the house is very small and in the u.s you would never try to cram this many people in there, but it's super normal here so it shouldn't be a big deal.  we had a fun time at first.  we invited our neighbors over.  they are eritreans.  we met them a few nights ago because our gas cooker went out right in the middle of making tea, so we asked if we could borrow theirs.  they let us and we gave them a thank you card and tootsie pops in return.  so they came to the party and brought popcorn and we taught them to play jenga.  us girls are really tired of this game, but everyone likes it so we just pretend that we do too.  anyway, popo and friends came in later around 6, and they were being a little loud (but pretty typical to most kenyans) and the land lady freaked out.  she insisted that everyone had to leave immediately.  popo and his friends were really hurt b/c they think the main reason she was mad is that she's scared of them since they're from kibera.  but the story gets more ridiculous.  the land lady also locked out the man who lives in the apartment across from us because she wanted him to leave.  she put a new lock on his door and the lock is underneath a steel panel in the door and you have to reach your hand up inside so it's almost impossible to cut it off.  well the man came home yesterday and couldn't get into his house.  so he came back with 3 police officers and i think they arrested the lady.  then she came home later and had someone cut out his whole door (it's metal) and the apartment was left standing wide open with debris everywhere.  all the people in the building kept coming in and asking what was going on.  then, the lady put a new lock on the outside door that leads to the street and no one could get in or out the building.  ash and rachel left to get drinks and this other man who works in the building was letting people in and acting as a watchman for the gate.  he tried to steal ashley's key saying that it no longer worked but ash took it back from him.  then alex came in to witness all the nonsense and he started yelling at the man about how ridiculous it is that everyone's being locked out of their houses and that we're paying to stay here.  they also keep purposely turning the water off everyday and we don't know why.  we have to ask them constantly to turn it back on or it will permanently stay off.

besides that drama, we have another challenge.  this is the story of peter.  peter is one of the street kids we've been working with.  alex met him a few months ago and took him to stay at his house b/c he hasn't been doing drugs and wanted to go back to school.  alex worked out something with the dad so that he was able to go home, but the dad started beating and abusing him and peter ran away again and was on the street.  he came to our street boys meeting last week and that was the last time in a while that alex has seen him.  but it's more complicated than that.  the worst part is that he was hit by a car atleast a year ago or longer, and he was never properly treated.  his leg is bloody and swollen everywhere.  he met up with us on monday so that alex could take him to the doctor, only he'd suffered another injury at this point.  someone had thrown rocks at his head and he was cut on his head too.  obviously living on the street is rough.  alex sat with him at the doctor all day and he was never properly treated still.  kenyan hospitals are a complete joke in my opinion.  most are very dirty and you sit for hours waiting and will probably not get a proper diagnosis.  i was taking popo to the doctor on tuesday anyway, so we decided to take peter with us.  i think you don't mess around with your health here.  you might as well go somewhere that you can be correctly diagnosed.  so popo and i took peter to nairobi hospital.  it was an all day affair of waiting, paying, having his wounds cleaned and bandaged, getting x-rays and then seeing the doctor again.  peter doesn't speak much english so communication is difficult.  the whole time at the hospital everyone is looking at me with a look of "what are you doing stupid white girl?  why are you trying to help this one boy?  you think you can just save everyone here?  yeah right"  of course this isn't at all what i'm thinking.  it's more like, well i hope that this boy has a chance and that i'm not spending money to help him and that he just runs away again.  but really, i can't be okay knowing how bad his leg is and letting it stay like that.  after speaking with the doctor, he said that he has a bone infection that's really bad.  he referred us to an orthopedic surgeon.  i knew it was bad at that point.  popo didn't even know what an orthopedic surgeon is, meaning they don't send many people there.  we went to speak with the surgeon, and basically he needs several surgeries to fix it.  we're supposed to meet with him next week again.  the first thing running through my mind is, how much is this going to cost?  fortunately, healthcare is much much cheaper here but i don't know about for this.  we won't really know anything until next week.  in the meantime, they gave peter some antibiotics and a tetanus shot.  he covered his eyes during the whole time they were cleaning the wound and started crying at one point.  i stood there and rubbed his arms...i didn't know what to do.  is this what it feels like to be a mom?  we took peter back to our house b/c he can't stay on the street in this condition.  alex says it's fine for him to stay with us b/c he lived with alex for a long time and never tried to steal from him or do anything bad.  i feel fine about it.  there are other street kids i wouldn't be ok with living with but i think peter is fine.  we left him school work to do yesterday and told him he had to wash his clothes, and he did.  popo was with him for a while and then we locked him in the house.  he couldn't leave, so it seemed fine, and we locked up all our stuff just in case.  he also did his dishes this morning, so i don't think he's a bad kid, but just has a bad past.  ash went with him and popo today to have his bandages changed.  she was going to help him with school work.  we worked with him yesterday, and it was pretty discouraging.  he's 15 (although he doesn't know his birthday) and he can't read at all.  he can count a little and add a little, and that's about all.  please pray about this situation.  i do realize it's very bleak, but i also think he deserves a chance.

yesterday we saw the street women.  one of their babies had pooped in his pants and it was wretchedly smelling.  no one had anything to change him into, so they just left him like that.  it made me want to gag and i feel so bad for these innocent kids.  our team took turns watching the babies so their moms could listen better to our message without being distracted.  there are a few women who aren't using drugs, so that's a little encouraging.  we've tried to be more strict about kicking out women who are using drugs during our time together but it's hard. they put the drug on their clothes and huff from there.  what are we supposed to do?...rip off their shirts?  a new woman named Winnie has been coming.  i don't think she uses drugs but has aids.  she is very quiet but has good english and i think she finds the time together encouraging.  we also met with the HIV womenin kibera yesterday.  we shared tea and chapati with them.  eric says that's a big deal b/c people often won't even eat with them because of the stigma against them.

alex's girlfriend, ruth from wales, has been staying with us.she has been in kenya and uganda for 10 months and is briefly going back to wales today.  she brought her friend, we'll call her Stasi, from uganda to stay with us.  stasi is an awesome cook and prepared matoke for us yesterday (smashed plantains).  she is very quiet, humble, and helpful, and has an inspiring story of how she has overcome obstacles.  she will be with us for a few more days.  she also brought us homemade peanut butter, which i mistakenly thought was melted icecream at first b/c it was in an icecream container.

today was sort of a wash of a day.  we went to the market to get shorts for the boys to wear tomorrow.  there are people everywhere selling stuff and walking on top of each other and mounds of clothes everyone.  most vendors specialize in one thing like sweaters, coats, shoes, etc.  one vendor came right into my face loudly, laughing and said, "ha ha.  mobile boutique." and tried to get me to try on this jacket.  i started cracking up laughing.  we then went to find the street boys.  we found a few and took them for chips and talked with them.  stasi took away their drugs and poured them in the trash can.  we tried to take them to the park but alex said we couldn't b/c the police might come and take them away b/c they're not allowed to be there.

i haven't mentioned that nairobi feels mostly the same.  i remember where things are and how to get around pretty well.  there are a few new bridges and roads being built (often through funding from the Japanese and Chinese), but otherwise it's the same.  there seems to be less open corruption with the policemen, which is encouraging.  i haven't seen any officers bribing matatus for money.  alex says it's less but still there, although more secretive.  we went to my favorite slum restaurant for beans and chapati today, and alex asked the owner if he remembered me from 2 years ago.  the guy said, you used to sit at that table over there, right?  and yes, i did.  i told him he has the best beans and chapati in nairobi and he laughed.  as we left there, alex said, oh this used to be the most dangerous part of nairobi here.  people were always getting shot here.  and i said, how long ago was that.  he said a few years ago.  don't worry though, the boys are very protective of us.  we call alex gramps b/c he wears this hat like grandpa back and it's more funny b/c his girlfriend's name is ruth. 

singing in kibera

after a long afternoon, i feel a bit better because ash, rachel, and i just walked out of kibera singing disney songs obnoxiously at the top of our lungs.  people were turning around staring at us, some smiling, some puzzled.  it felt good.  we went to church this morning and then went to nakumatt supermarket to get groceries for our 4th of july party tomorrow.  alex and popo invited about everyone they know, which is a lot of people and i'm not sure if we're going to all fit in our very small house.  this afternoon we went to action group, which is a group of young people that meet in kibera to discuss various issues.  today's talk was about relationships and working hard to make them work.  like most meetings here, this really drug on and on, and us 3 girls were getting a little edgy sitting there for several hours.  i had an afternoon like this yesterday where i sat at a youth for christ meeting in kibera with popo for almost 4 hours.  we were supposed to participate in a dance practice but there was no electricity so they couldn't practice.  instead i sat and listened to them practice skits and discuss things in swahili.   i got really frustrated and exhausted b/c i didn't know i was going to be sitting there all that time.  ash and rachel wisely decided not to go.  but there really wasn't a way for me to leave b/c it was deep in kibera and i don't know my way out.  i often feel powerless...i never know the time b/c i have no clock or watch (last week i thought it was 3:00 but it was actually 7:00), someone has to wake us up every morning, and i don't have my own key to the house, so i hav to go there with someone.  but since i'm never alone i feel safer.  people in kibera were commenting in swahili today about how we were wise mzungus b/c we weren't carrying any bags for people to steal.  some of andrew's friends from the u.s were robbed at gun point a few weeks ago and they were carrying all sorts of electronics and computers through kibera.  andrew felt bad b/c he didn't know they had all that expensive stuff with them.  about the only thing i'm carrying through there is water and puppets, and i can't imagine why someone would want that.

anyway, things got better yesterday after being in kibera forever b/c we came back and played spoons and had a huge dance party.  we are learning this dance from popo and his friend rodgers and ash and i are teaching them our dance and putting the 2 together.

yesterday we were at the juvenile.  we talked about acceptance, friendship, and how to be a friend to others.  perhaps a simple concept but not so much for them b/c they are all from diferent tribes and places.  we also helped them with their chores and they thought it was crazy that i was ok with geting dirty, hoeing, and moving rocks.

friday we were with the street boys.  they are so happy to see us, perhaps because we provide the only hugs and handshakes they get for the week.  we talked to them about the effects of using drugs and helped them set some goals for how they'd like to get off the street and progress.  it is encouraging b/c several of them have stopped using drugs.  francis is one boy that i'm particularly fond of.  he really wants to go to school.  so alex and the rest of us are working on finding a place for the to live and a way to make this happen.  this is very difficult b/c alex has to go find their families and get them to agree.  most of them are on bad terms at home and cannot go back..  i have many thoughts about how great this could be for a few of them, but there's a lot that has to fall into place to make this work.  please pray for god's favor and hand upon this situation.  i do not think we can change everything but i hope that perhaps we can help give a chance at survival for a few boys.  we gave them soap too, and alex promised that we'd take them swimming next week on 2 conditions: 1 they must be clean (and they're really dirty), and 2 they can't be on drugs.  we'll see what happens.  2 dutch guys have been helping us out with this ministry too.

something funny: last week i put a knife in my backpack so that  i could cut my mango at lunch.  we had to go through the metal detectors at this building where we were eating ethiopian food, and the guards pat you down with wands.  but it didn't even go off with my knife.  alex coulnd't believe it and thought i was lying.  he said, it's all about formalities with the security guards, because clearly they're not finding anything.

i'm off to decorate for our party.  alex wants us to make american flags for the walls...yes, cheesy :)