More News...

It’s Wednesday afternoon…
This morning we spent a couple of hours sorting cowpeas, peeled a lot of potatoes, and picked the maize kernels off the cob to make githeri. It’s Zawadi’s 14th birthday, so we baked a cake too. Hannah (almost 3) and Camilla (2) were playing in the outside kitchen this morning, Hannah sat/ fell into the bucket full of water and freshly-cleaned cowpeas, and made a huge mess!
We have around twelve rabbits that live in the yard behind GCC. They’re semi-free, but there’s a hutch for them, they come through the house sometimes, and we give them some of the vegetable peelings. Anyway, I have to keep reminding myself, “they’re NOT CUTE!”. Last week, Johanna (15) asked me if I’ve ever tried rabbit… yum!!? I guess they’ve only eaten one or two so far. I haven’t really eaten anything too exciting on this trip yet, but I guess there’s still time. We ran out of bananas a few days ago, so it will be nice to have a break from them ‘til we go to the market next week.
Yesterday, I went with Maryanne, Pastor Hasan, Pastor John, Pastor Joseph, and Francis to visit Janet (a lady from the church who had knee surgery on Monday) at St. Mary’s Hospital. It was interesting… after the normal spaces in the parking lot were full, people had parked down the middle, so that only two or three cars could get out. We had the church van, so it took us a while to park, and a lot longer to get back out afterward. The hospital itself seemed pretty nice (this is the only African hospital I’ve been to)… still not sure I would want to be a patient there though. Janet is doing well, and should get to go home in a day or two. I think this was the first time I’ve left the CMIA compound with only Kenyans… it was fine, but it’s a little weird to be the ONLY white person in a public place like that. I guess I’ll just have to get used to it!
We had our first good rainstorm on Monday night, and all the preschoolers wore their rubber boots to school- it was pretty cute! The “rainy season” is coming soon, and we’re starting to see a lot more bugs. The mosquitoes sing me to sleep at night… isn’t that sweet?
The other housemums are a lot of fun, and are teaching me how to “cook African”. Janefer is my favorite- she’s only 22, and in charge of the little ones during the day. I also really like Maryanne. I haven’t heard anything, so am assuming that Greg and Jean made it home safely (I haven’t checked my email yet). Joseph hasn’t had any more seizures, and has been back in school since Monday. All the kids are healthy and doing fine. I don’t think there’s anything specific to pray for this week, but will let you know if I come up with something. If you want me to write about anything specific, you can email and let me know. Hope you’re all doing well and having a good week!
Love in Christ,
Jess

Joseph

Just to let you all know... Joseph came home from the hospital about an hour ago, and is a little tires, but otherwise seems to be doing fine. He should be able to go back to school Monday morning. Thanks, and please keep him in you prayers.

Life at GCC...

Hey!
How are you all? Almost everything here is great… I have a positive outlook right now because the preschoolers (all 16 of them), toddlers, and baby are taking a nap… is that bad?
Here’s something to be praying for…yesterday morning, Joseph Chege (a 10 year old boy at GCC) had what we think was a seizure. He was playing with the other boys, and doesn’t remember anything after that. David and Greg took him to the hospital right away, and they’ve done several tests to try and figure out what’s wrong. His MRI didn’t show any damage, and so far, none of the other tests have turned anything up either. He’s also had a couple of head injuries over the last few years. He’s still at the hospital for observation, and will hopefully get to come home tonight or tomorrow morning… I’ll try and keep you all posted on what is going on over the next few days.
Baby Hope is growing fast, and just started eating real food this week. We mash up paw paw (papaya), avocado, and bananas for her, strain it, add hot water, and put it in a bottle. I would post a picture of her for you, but managed to leave the cord that connects my digital camera to the computer at home.
We stay pretty busy around here- we get up @ 5:30 am and wake up all the kids. I’m in charge of the preschooler’s morning bath assembly-line: three in the tub, wash the one on the left, rinse, get them out, dry them (meanwhile another one gets in on the right and everyone moves down), “oil them” (Vaseline), make sure everyone gets dressed, and fix the collars on their uniforms. What drives me crazy, is that everyone is ready in about an hour, and they don’t leave for school until around 8 am… I don’t get it.
Cooking is quite a job here… I’m developing a new appreciation for the microwave and Easy Mac. Everything we make is for 60+ people (we cook for the HIV-extension home too). Most days, we start on lunch and dinner right after breakfast, and spend most of the day in the kitchen. Chopping cabbage isn’t bad, until you chop two five-gallon buckets of it! Last week, we made “sukuma wiki” (greens, spinach, onions, carrots, and whatever else you want to throw it) for one meal, and I think it took four of us two hours just to de-caterpillar, de-stem, and chop all the greens and spinach. And I’m sure I’ve washed and dried more dishes in the past three weeks than I have in the 18 years before that. I know I’m complaining, but it’s really not that bad. Jean went to the store and got me a potato peeler last week, which was very exciting.
They feed me so much here! The housemums think that I need to eat at least twice as much as they do, and I get lectures about my “blood becoming thin because I’m don’t eating enough” on a regular basis… yesterday, I ate four bread and butter sandwiches, two big pieces of mandazi (sort of like doughnuts), five bananas (nothing against bananas, but five??!), one large avocado (they’re really good here), two large sweet potatoes, and a huge bowl of githeri (potato, beef, maize, etc. stew).
Greg & Jean are leaving this evening, and don’t seem too excited about it. Please pray for a safe trip for them, and remember to pray for Joseph. Thanks. I miss you all!
Love in Christ,
Jess

Makindu & Nakuru

Hi!
It’s Tuesday afternoon, and the preschoolers are napping, so I have a few minutes to use the computer. The rest of the team left for safari this morning, and should be back on Thursday- please pray for a safe trip and good health for everyone (especially Lauren & Megan).
Our trip to Makindu was good- the girls are all doing well, and it was great to see them again. Ramadan (the pastor of Church on the Rock Makindu and overseer of the girls’ home) and his family are also doing well and wanted us to greet all of you who are praying in the States. The girls sang and danced for us, and we had fun painting t-shirts and loading them all into the bus with us to go to the Mobil station for sodas. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to see any monkeys at Hunters’ Lodge (where we stayed), but it was clear enough that we could see Kilimanjaro on the way there.
We got back to Nairobi and spent Friday here- I was sick that day, and had to opt out of going to Carnivore. I knew if I went, my competitive spirit would get the better of me and then I would really be sick! (Carnivore is a restaurant in Nairobi where they serve game meat like zebra, ostrich, giraffe, crocodile, etc., and we always have an eating contest when we go).
On Saturday, we left for Nakuru and got to spend most of the day at the boys’ home there. They danced and did a few new dramas for us, and we got to spend the rest of the afternoon playing and getting to know them. The boys there are awesome, and I wish we could have spent a lot more time there. On Sunday morning, the team split up and went to three different churches. Robyn, Rob, Lauren, Gary, David, and I went to a little Kikuyu village church in Bahati (sp?). They worship with drums and jump up and down while they sing. The people were really sweet- they brought in cushioned chairs for us, and had us sit up in front for the whole service.
This week, I’m just getting into to the “housemum” routine at GCC (so far, so good). The rest of the team is coming back from safari Thursday morning. We’re going to have a pizza party at GCC, and then they’ll leave for the airport. Leaving is tough, so please keep them in your prayers as they return home.

We made it!

Jambo!
We all made it safely to Kenya (all of our luggage made it too) –thank you all so much for your prayers! We got to spend a few hours in London, and did a quick running tour before heading back to the airport. It was so fun to go to GCC (the orphanage I’m staying at), and see all the kids! We just got a new baby a week ago, and she’s adorable! Hope is two months old, and smiles all the time. She was abandoned by the side of the road, and someone found her when they kicked her (thought she was dead), so they brought her to the police. She’s healthy, and tested negative for HIV- praise the Lord!
Life at GCC is a bit crazy, but I love it (so far, anyway). Everyone has been wonderful, and very welcoming. When the rest of the team is not there, the kids and housemums only speak Swahili, and of the few words I can pick out, I keep hearing “Jess-ee-kaa” and “mzungu” (white person). The older girls (Lucy, Zawadi, Teresia, Pauline, Susan, and Rahab) are teaching me how to do everything, and apparently I’m not very good at sweeping (a broom is a bundle of reeds) or peeling potatoes with a knife- I’m learning though. On Friday night, the older kids at GCC watched Survivor (their favorite show).
Yesterday, we took all the preschoolers from GCC and the HIV-extension home to the Giraffe Centre. We all got to feed the giraffes by hand, and we came back with 26 kids- the same number we left with (I’m sure any of you who’ve been here understand what an accomplishment that is!).
Today is Sunday, so we went to Church on the Rock, Langata this morning, and the team put on a “family day” this afternoon. On Tuesday, we’re headed to Makindu for two days to visit the girls at the girls’ home. Please pray for a safe trip, and that God would use us there.
Thanks, and God bless!