It’s been a busy couple of days… I’m writing this at 1 am local time. Haven’t slept well so far. I think it’s jet lag and adjusting to the 8 hour time change. Today we went to the K Branch of the Limuru Children’s Center in Karimaithu, had lunch with the kids, and played all afternoon with them. We brought several soccer balls that a club in Tupelo donated. The K Branch has 60 pre-schoolers divided between 3 classes, There are an additional 90 students who went to K Branch for preschool but are now in primary school. On our first trip in 2007, we me the first “batch” of preschoolers who are now in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade! They came to the K Branch for lunch today and it was wonderful to see how much they’d grown since the last time I’d seen them in 2007. The older ones are doing beautifully with learning English. I also met Phyllis’ brother, Elijah. Phyllis made a huge impression on us in 2007. She was HIV+ and tiny for her age. By all accounts, she is doing well (she stayed home today – some kind of problem with her leg). I also met Mary who had a club foot. She recently had surgery to repair it and is in braces from her foot to her shin. Appears to be very confident and happy. Teacher David is still in charge of the school and is amazing and full of love and commitment toward these kids.
After the K branch, we went to the LCC main branch to greet the kids as they arrived home after school. John Kahera (my godson) was there early and has the rest of the week off of school. We were able to spend some time together. He loves his new school – a very competitive private school where he is in a class of 8 students (as opposed to 55 in a public school classroom). He just started there in January. There is a large bus that picks him up and drops him at home each day – that’s a real rarity in Kenya. I also met our new godson, Patrick Kiare. He’s a tall, pleasant, and quiet young man. He doesn’t get home from school until after 6 p.m. so I haven’t been able to spend much time with him yet. Looking forward to getting to know him better. We plan to spend all day Saturday there and will have the opportunity to spend a lot of good quality time with them then. The kids are growing up and seem very happy. The moms are doing great. I hope to do better about taking pictures and get some of them posted soon.
One great surprise – today, Anne Wambui came to visit me. I met her in 2007 and each visit, she’s managed to hear through the village grapevine that we are in town. When we met she was in 3rd grade. Today, she’s a beautiful 7th grade young lady!
Geoffrey, our guard from 2009, is with us this year as a translator and guide during the day. He is a joy to be around. We hope to see his famly this trip and also plan to see Mama Joan and her family. She was our housekeeper in 2009.
Tomorrow (Thursday) we’re going to visit some area schools and a couple of baby orphanages. In the evening we’ll meet with a team from African Impact to hear more about their work. We are expecting our great friend, Cornel, to come by to see us.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers – for safety and good health for our team, and for sleep for me.
It is wonderful to be here to see the children and to reconnect with all of the wonderful friends we’ve met through the years. It’s fun to drive down the road and stop to visit people we know.
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