Driving in Kenya...

So today was my first day of REAL Kenyan driving - by this I mean going the actual speed limit instead of crawling along like a granny. I even passed donkey carts and matatu's (public vans) in curves and on hills! We spent the day measuring kids' feet to buy new shoes. The 7 of us plus Maureen (Patrick's grown daughter who works at the LCC) and Ben (the shoe salesman) crowded into our van and headed to the K-Branch (the smaller, newer branch of the children's center) and measured the feet of about 70 children. Then, we had to drive to area elementary schools to track down the rest of the children to get their shoe sizes. The schools are in the middle of nowhere with TERRIBLE roads. At one point I thought we were going to tip over (so did everyone else in the van).

At the public schools, you would have thought we were rock stars the way they acted when we pulled in. They surrounded our van and for those who were brave enough to get out, they were immediately encircled by huge groups (hundred!) of kids all saying "How are you?" It was quite fun. One even asked me if I was Kikuyu (a local tribe here) after I tried out my limited Swahili on him.

We also were fortunate enough this morning to meet a retired school teacher from Louisiana who runs a baby orphanage. She has 4 babies there right now and we happen to have 4 teenage girls with us, so we're hoping to get by there in the morning to hold babies. In the afternoon we're heading back out to measure feet. We still have about 150 kids left to measure. We were running a little short on money to purchase the best quality shoes and were blessed by a donor who made up the difference. God is really amazing in how He works everything together!

Keep the prayers coming - especially as my driving continues to improve!