We got to visit an orphanage during our first week. It was a different one than I went to my first time. It was run by a young woman from Holland. She said she came to Kenya several years ago on vacation with her family and was touched by all she had seen. She was back in Holland, was unhappy in her job and felt like she could be doing something much more important with her life. So she quit her job...moved to Kenya...by herself...to start this orphanage. Wow! It reminded me of something Francis Chan said in his book, Crazy Love. He said, "Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."
I think starting an orphanage definitely counts as something that matters.
There were about 40 children at the orphanage. They had all drawn us pictures and cards as their appreciation for us coming. I will treasure those torn, wrinkled up pieces of paper forever. We gave them all a soccer jersey and silly bands. They were so grateful and excited.
One of our team members brought a frisbee for them. They acted like they had seen one before but for some reason they didn't know how to use it. Turns out, they had a few frisbees of their own but were having to use them as plates. They were so excited when we showed them the other function frisbees could serve. Bless their sweet hearts. I just hope they don't start slinging their supper.
On our last day with pastor Alfred, my mom and I got to visit a school. It was a private school that has pretty much turned into an orphanage. There are about 200 hundred children that attend the school, and almost half of those are orphans and stay there full time. The students sang several songs and danced traditional African dances, one of which has a tradition of dragging their guest onto the "dance floor" with them. Me and my mama doing African dances together-now that was a hoot y'all!
Then we got to take a tour of the school. Since I teach in a brand new school where every classroom has 21st century technology, this really hit me hard.
This was a lesson that had just been taught the day before. They write their date with the date first, then the month.
Behind the divider is another "classroom"
The man who runs this school said there are sometimes 3 children sleeping in one cot. They are do not have enough money for more beds and even if they did, there is no room for more.
As we were leaving, some of the children followed us to the car. It's not every day that a car comes through the bush so they get pretty excited about it. They noticed their reflection in the car and they were going crazy. It was so precious!
I think this about wraps up our first week. Safari and second week post coming soon!
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