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
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
posted by Jess at 6:14 AM
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