Woo Ra Ra...

Go team! Ah, I cant believe that I totally forgot to mention about the challenges and group activities that I had proposed. Ah, its wonderful! They want me to run a course for the older kids and do a retreat doing goal setting, challenges, etc. And they have asked me to do one for the staff as well. Im very excited about both. I cant believe that I forgot to write that, sometimes things just slip my mind. Other than that things are going very well. The other day Uncle John had a talk with the guys about life and responsibility; it was much needed. They asked for my opinions so I talked to them about learning, the value of education and appreciating everything they had. It was crazy how intently they were listening. Their eyes were glued to me and their ears were open to the words flowing from my mouth, it was crazy that they actually responded and I got a thank you from ALL of them from washing their dishes that night instead of from a select few. They are so lucky to have what they have and I think they dont realize it. They dont realize that there is a world outside where people struggle for their next people; I dont think we realize it either. Once you do begin to realize these things you really grab hold to what you have, hold on to each moment and are thank the Lord for what you have been given. Life is wonderful like that. What else is new? We have new volunteers. Natalie and Kirsten are here from he East Coast and Gaia and Paul are coming tomorrow from Ireland and Italy. The group from the Kitui Village is here which is Jim and Jean (UK), Clemonce (France), Herman (Father from Penn) and Kat (Rhode Island). Its great to have all the volunteers together and really get together to share experiences, stories and what not. Its also great to hear from all of you, it makes my day getting your calls, texts and reading your emails! :) I think about you all the time, really I do. For example yesterday I was cutting a mango and I thought of Dad, why you ask, because I was cutting it like you would fillet a fish! :) Ever since I had the pictures of baby Anabelle the kids have been asking "How's the baby?", so I think about baby Anabelle and the Byrne family all the time. The boys try to beat me up and I say "thats nothin", and they say "why not?", my response is "if you saw the size of my brother you would know how hard Ive been hit"; they laugh. Seriously, the craziest things make me think of you guys. Its weird, I know my patience would be further developed here, but I always thought it would be by the kids. No, thats where I go for stress relief. Currently, I am working with the cleaning staff and sometimes, in my opinion, they do things a bit backwards. For example, the clean in the morning when everyone is walking though, then they have to clean again at night. They also sweep the drive way and then 5 mintues later more leafs fall. They dont move chairs they just mop around them. They dont clean with soap all the time. Its very frustrating. So having to take orders from someone and do things much differently than I would normally do them has been a struggle for me. But I do it and I do it with a smile, knowing that Im not the boss and that this is how they do it. Also, living with my Italian roomie and having to wait for her to tell stories SLOOOOWWWLLLY and look up words has been a challenge. I'm making this sound worse than it is. I love everything, I really do, I just want to say that I am learning, that I am growing as a person and that its not just fun and games all day with the kids. :) ha ha. Alright, we are going to town. Oh, also, I had a chance to meet up with Greg, a fellow Marquette-er which pretty much made my week! It was wonderful to see a familiar face! My fabulous roomie Elizabeth cooked us a great Italian meal and we just hung out at Nyumbani for a while. It was cool, just to chill with a familiar face. Hopefully Ill see more of him while we're both here. Alright, time to go to town. Peace, love and Godspeed.

The essense of time

Do you ever wish you could make time stand still? You know, just lock yourself in a moment, a day or a place? That is what its like here. I miss you all dearly and even there are certain comforts from home that I miss like warm showers, my comfy bed, friends and family, and everything else that makes me feel at home there is still something about it here, something that I have adapted to, a place I can truly call home. I suppose home is what you make of it, that is what Ive learned here. Family is not who you are related to by blood but instead the people that surround you who love and care about you and who respect you regardless. Its this mentality that I hope to carry with me for the rest of my life. Ive only been here for a month or so and I don't know how I'm going to be able to leave. Its crazy, even on the 4th I felt at home, which is one of my favorite holidays and a time when I knew I would be homesick. This coming from the girl who doenst get homesick. So what have my few days been like? Well we've had some major uppers and downers. ha ha. July 4th, Wednesday Wednesday is my new day off. Elizabeth and I ventured to Kazuri beads, a factory where single mothers from the slums make beads and they are sold around the world. It was great to see how business can really help change a group of people and how the mentality of the women really helped boost their self esteem. From here I saw a sign for a wood shop so we thought, why not take a walk so we strolled down the road to Tomography a wood shop; which was nice, but over priced. From here we walked a few miles to Karen Blixen (Out of Africa, movie if you have ever seen it) coffee garden, had some tea and then went into town. Apparently the Embassy had a big whoopla but Sister Julie didn't let me know until later. boo. Well, Father D'Ag, the founder of Nyumbani, was American so he had a tradition of taking all of the Americans out for dinner on the 4th. Sister Mary now runs the show here at Nyumbani and although she is Irish she wanted to carry out the tradition she we went for a fancy-smancy dinner in town. I even had apple pie for dessert! Sister Mary was sneaky enough to grab flags from the US Embassy for us as well. To give you an idea the US Embassy is across the street from the UN (largest in Africa) and is about 4x the size of the UN. Moi, the former Kenyan ruler spoke at our 4th celebration; this is just to show how big of an impact the US has in Kenya. Our ambassador even spoke Kiswahili. So all in all, it was a wonderful 4th and although it was VERY hard to not be up north sitting in the back of the truck watching fireworks kids on each side and the aroma of bug spray and smoke followed by a bonfire and good family fun. I thought of all of you lots! Thursday the 5th Ignatius of the boys had a headache, so I hung out with him all day as he stayed home from school. Otherwise, normal routine. Friday the 6th We traveled to the Nymbani Village in Kitui , it is a project that has come very far and is AMAZING! They support HIV grandparents and children and are self-sustaining and GREEN! Very eco-friendly. It was amazing to see that in just a few years a whole village can be created and one that is full of love and growth. I have so much to say about this, but am running out of time. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTIAN! Saturday the 7th NOT GOOD PEEPS. Something in Kitui did not agree with me. I was sick, Beth was sick and Gabrielle was sick as well. ICK! By the evening I made my way to the cottage as I knew the boys would cheer me up, but I was still out of it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Sunday the 8th Oh, I should mention Anita a new volunteer came on Friday she is Irish and just wonderful! Beth, Anita and I went into town after Mass. Oh how I love mass. We went to the Ya Ya shopping center where they have like a Flea market, we explored a bit and then did some grocery shopping. Good day! Monday the 9th TODAY and now I am late for cleaning because I wanted to write to you. Its ok, Mum Alice said no worries, I asked before. My thoughts and prayers are with ALL of you. Peace, love and Godspeed.

The boys are kicking me off... computer game time for them.

One week down and Ive already found a home; I really dont know how Im going to be able to leave. I suppose just knowing that the children are in the hands of the best care ever will allow me to leave and also knowing that I will be back. So what is it that I do you ask?? My daily schedule is a bit like this: 8:00 Morning prayer with the staff 8:30 Start work with the cleaning staff 1:00 Lunch time, either the kitchens food for my wonderful Italian roomie makes us Pasta :) 2:00 Break time, which is usually when I write to all of you wonderful people, go to town to get food, go for a run, do laundry, shower (if it has been a sunny day as we have solar power), or just relax) 3:00 Back to work with the cleaning/cooking or someone else 5:00 The boys are home from school, I go help the clean, we play soccer 6:30 Dinner time with the guys 7:30 Homework time-- this has been a struggle, but is getting better 8:30 Bedtime for the guys I go back to my room and chat with Elizabeth, my roomie and sometimes the other volunteers if they are around, otherwise I read or just hang out. I am usually in bed by 11. If the food wasnt the best at dinner I make myself something to eat at this point. Fun huh? I like it! On Saturdays an Sundays we have off as do the kids, so we pretty much just play all day. Jump rope, soccer, basketball, whatever. We also have mass on Sunday, which was very cool as there was lots of singing and dancing. Once the kids are out of school I will be teaching, Im not sure what exactly yet. Today I am going to propose to Sister Julie, the volunteer coordinator, that I teach a challenge course to the older kids. Here there is no counselors, well there is one social worker, but she is over worked and doenst really have time to teach the kids life lessons. I want to propose teaching a class on setting goals, responsibility, challenging yourself, self-respect, love, sharing, faith, etc. I want to challenge the kids to think outside of the box; have them doing challenging excercises and then have them talk through it, have them journal and ask questions. They really dont have any outlets or places to go for questions or answers. I see a lot confussion and self destruction in these kids. They were spoiled as children. They are in an interesting place as no one ever though they would live. Now, they will be able to live full lives, get married, have kids that are probably even HIV -; but they dont know these things. They have gotten some answers from Susan, a Fullbright Scholar from WI who has been here for a while. But they dont have an outlet for their feelings and I see them taking it out on each other, on their things and that is not healthy. So, Im hoping Sister Julie will allow me to challenge these kids to reach a greater limit; as many of them do see themselves as much. Phew, thats a handful huh? That all came to me in the past week, both through working with the kids and prayer. I know that I am here for a reason, I really do and I believe it is more than teaching the kids 1+1=2. Not that that would be bad, but I feel like I am here to do more. Im hoping to work on African policy when I go back. It would also be my hope to start taking some social work and more psychology classes part time. Dealing with HIV is a very hard thing to go through and to come to terms with, and people need help with it. Im hoping that next time I come back I will be trained to do counseling work, to help them work through the problems. Make them realize that they are just as amazing as anyone else. Imagine first of all being left behind by parents and coming to terms with that and then imagine having a life long illness that will effect you for the rest of your life. There are very few people who can get through this alone. Depression, anxiety, confussion, pain, frusteration, anger, these are just a few of the feelings people suffer from. See, it all sounds so depressing you think, but its not. Its amazing, these kids. They are living full normal lives, well not normal, but much more normal than we had ever expected. And these kids are going to change the world. They are smart, creative and passionate. They are so loved and care for here, which is beyond awesome. Sister Julie and I joke that we live in the "Nyumbani Bubble"... a happy place. I love it! Also, the volunteers here are awesome there is my wonderfully big-hearted Italian roomate Elizabeth, Beth from Boston, Susan the Wisconsin Sex-Ed woman, Clemonce the French girl who is going to village... ah! Alright the boys need the computer.