Things that made me glad this week

I had some issues with my google account and it's storage limit. Thankfully, I figured it all out and now I am able to post pictures again!

Just a small glimpse into some highlights of my week (because there were some things that made me pretty sad this week-will share about it later). We must keep looking for things to be thankful for right? Give thanks in all circumstances...

1. Rose and Paul's paradise wedding. 

This wedding was simply gorgeous! It was at the nicest resort in Mombasa and it looked out over the Indian Ocean. The deco was stunning and the food yum. The guest list was 80 people so it was wonderfully intimate. Not to mention, I totally adore Rose (as my new best friend here) and was delighted to see her walk down the aisle. 

 A high table perched over the Indian Ocean...divine. I also LOVED getting to dance my way into the evening. They played a lot of "white people" music and Rose's family were the first ones to hit the dance floor and the last ones to leave. I got to let out my awkward white girl and just dance!! Ah, felt so wonderful.

2. Treats from home!

My best friend, Nikki, and her sister, Charly, put together this nice package for me a couple weeks ago as a random act of kindness. I was in tears as I was opening it at the post office (you have to open it in front of the people there so they can see what is inside and what to charge you in duty). I bet the ladies there thought I was nuts crying over chocolate and coffee. But it made me happy and we have been enjoying these treats all week. Not to mention the beautiful roses I snagged from the centre pieces at the wedding....

3. A subwoofer (sp?)

Nicky, the young man who works for us, came to me with a big fat grin on his face and told me that he managed to save up 5,500kes (like $70) to buy a subwoofer for his 'home sound system'. He told me he saved for 4 months to be able to buy it. Part of me was excited about the fact that the idea of 'saving' is finally getting into his head. But then I wondered why a subwoofer? Don't you want to go to school or something? So I asked him and he told me, "Now, in my area, I will be the one with the biggest sound system and making the most noise." I had to giggle! Didn't know making the most noise was something to be proud of?

4. Christmas!

Our Christmas campaign is out and we are having lots of awesome response from wonderful people! Keep it coming! We have yet to reach our target.

5. A fridge full of veggies and one large watermelon

Kelvin and I went to the market on Wednesday. You have to understand that this is no small market. It is the largest market in the coast of Kenya. It is ginormous! And totally overwhelming for a white girl like me. Nonetheless, I squeezed in between the vendors trying to get me to buy everything while I was dripping with sweat. We came out with a hefty bag of fruit and veggies to last us a while. I had to squeeze them into all the little spaces in my fridge. And down below is one large watermelon that made us giggle. This particular type of watermelon is in season right now and most of them are actually in the shape of a bean! We just had to buy one. Oh, and that's Neema sleeping up there. It seems to be her new thing.

6. A few days at home with Kelvin.

Kelvin has spent more time at home this week preparing for our Christmas events and a Christmas play he is doing for church. I won't lie, it's been wonderful spending so much time with him this week.

7. Our new apartment!!!!!!

We are moving in next week. I know, I have told you that already. But I am just so excited! Come visit please.

Have a wonderful weekend and find some things to be thankful for this week ok? 

The Sweat Moustache is Back

The sweat moustache has returned. The awkward line of tiny sweat beads that adorn the top of your lips is now presenting itself back on my face.

Mombasa is heating up again! And I am spending more time wiping the sweat moustache off my face with my shirt...

I even had a cold shower yesterday. Although it wasn't entirely by choice; power was out in most of Mombasa all day so I couldn't heat water to bathe.

The fan now stays on the medium level all night long and all throughout the day.

Ice Cream shops are becoming more and more tempting by the day.

I take extra trips to the grocery store just to enjoy the air conditioning.

However, I am so so so excited to move next week! The new apartment faces the ocean which is a big deal. Our current apartment does not face the ocean therefore we get no breeze coming through our place. Now, I didn't say that we can view the ocean; we are just facing the direction of the ocean. The new apartment also has lots and lots of big windows that are filled with window panes. There is this new fad in housing in our area. People love these chic sliding windows that are meant for an air conditioned apartment. They look kind of fancy but they are terrible unless, of course, you have an air conditioner (which most people don't). The don't let in any air (as half the window is closed at all times) and they are really tiny. So it makes for a really hot n' stuffy apartment.

That's why I love our new place. Its a bit older but it doesn't have these new fancy schmancy windows that are all the rage. And that means that I get to experience lots of ocean breezes flowing through my house. Ahh sweet breezes...

For now, Kelvin and I will enjoy a nice cold glass of fresh passionfruit juice I made this morning....yum!

Christmas!

Christmas is creeping up on us. It's time to tell you about this year's Christmas campaign. 

Last year, we were able to supply all our boys with a large bag of groceries for Christmas. They had Christmas feasts with all their families! If you want to read more about last year's "Christmas for the Boys", please click here. 

This year we have three special ways that you can give:

Celebrate with Community

$20 will provide a Christmas feast for four community members. In Kongowea, special events and holidays are celebrated with lots of food! Families will invite neighbors, friends, and other community members to come enjoy a large feast of goat biryani. This Christmas, we want to hold our own feast and invite all our youth and friends in Kongowea to celebrate this special day together!

Cable TV for Kongowea

$50 will provide the capital needed for the Rehma boys new business venture. They were challenged to come up with an income-generating project that will help support the team’s needs as well as their own personal needs. Over the past 2 months, they have researched and planned out a very impressive business plan to supply cable TV at a low rate to the residents of Kongowea. All they need now is the capital to start the business.

College Students

$150 will pay for one term of college school fees for our youth. Over the past year, we have identified and mentored several youth that we would like to support to further their education. We believe that these particular youth will be focused on their families, great leaders in their communities, and give back to others in need.

You can donate on the left hand side of this blog. In the "donation to be used for" box, please indicate which project you would like to support. Once your donation is received, you will be sent a card explaining your donation that you can gift to your loved ones this Christmas. Note that all donations are tax-deductible. 

As a side note: one of my favourite gifts to give and receive for Christmas is a donation made. I remember, when I was graduating from high school, my french immersion teacher gave me the coolest gift. She gave me a card that said she donated $25 in my honour to an organization that aided victims of war. It is the only gift that I remember getting for graduation. I still have the card. 

It really is a wonderful gift to give your loved ones this Christmas! 

Merry Christmas!

Noah: Our latest graduate!

Time for me to brag about another one of our youth. 

Noah graduated! Noah is one of the young men on our team. He approached us last year and asked if we would be willing to help him go to college. By the sounds of things, his parents aren't so supportive of him. They live upcountry and don't really bother to provide or help him. Noah is a young man of really noble character. He is the kind of boy who might lie to you and then feel so guilty about it and come confess right away. 

He did a one-year clearing and forwarding course (something to do with the port). We used to go check up on him at school and the teacher couldn't stop saying good things about him. He passed all his exams and was even able to find an awesome internship. We are now praying that this company will hire him full time once his internship is over! 

We attended his graduation on November 3rd. We were the only ones who could attend as his family had other things to attend to. It was a very long ceremony. We arrived at 8 and left around 1. By the time we left, they were still doing some presentations and opening numbers. Yes, they hadn't even handed out the certificates yet. Noah was gracious and let us leave early. 

So SO proud of this young man!! Congrats Noah!

Mini - Meltdown

Upon returning home on Monday morning, homesickness began to creep up on me. Around 4pm, I just couldn't hold back the tears and struggled to figure out why I was so upset. I realized that I just missed home. 

It's not an unfamiliar feeling for me but it is rare nowadays. In the past two weeks, I have had several people ask if I miss home and I proudly answered that I miss my family but not really home. I am pretty content here in Kenya. That's why I was so surprised that I was in such a misery come Monday afternoon. 

And when you are so homesick, it seems like every small thing becomes a HUGE obstacle. And mostly I start to blame it all on 'Africa'. "Ugh, kenya power sucks!" "Africa is so corrupt" "It's so dirty in Africa. Why can't it just be clean." "Its so dysfunctional here in Africa." 

I was actually picking out pumpkin seeds to roast, tears dripping down my face, while murmuring, "Stupid Kenyan pumpkin seeds are so hard to get out!" 

Tuesday and Wednesday got a tad better but I still had a few moments of tears and murmured "I hate Africa" a few more times. However on Wednesday afternoon, I had a mini-meltdown after realizing that my internet modem is broken and needs to be replaced. It was especially disheartening after we had just put a large deposit on our new apartment (which we are really excited for!!) that pretty much sucked up all my savings. Just one more thing that we need to shell out some cash for. Nonetheless, I sucked it up and went and bought a new one - which is working gloriously now. 

I was reading an article on SheLoveMagazine this morning and I came across this video. At first I laughed, because there is a lot of truth in it, and then I cringed realizing that that was me. Although I live in Africa, I still complain about 'First World Problems'. 

So today I am no longer complaining (which is easier now that my internet is back). I am purposing to just let things go and enjoy the small stuff. 

I love the last one "I hate when they put pickles on even when I ask for no pickles".

Some Muddy Soccer

We are home! We did indeed make it to Kipkaren for a wonderful week of learning, listening, teaching, and fellowshipping. 

I grew up in a small town so I love the intimacy of a small community. Mombasa was the last place I ever wanted to be cause its so big, clustered, dirty, and cramped. Going to the village is like a vacation for me even if I am working all day long. The beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the quietness, the green landscape, the cool weather, the simple lifestyle, the fresh produce, the humble people, and the slower pace of life. So wonderful! 

Our hosts were amazing! They have this swanky guesthouse (which was three times bigger than our apartment in Mombasa) fit with the most comfortable beds and steaming hot showers!! They fed us wonderful meals and let us enjoy their family. We learned a lot from them! They too are a mixed couple like Kelvin and I. They have been doing community development in this area for 14+  years. I picked their brains on so many things like their mistakes, triumphs, difficulties, finances, etc. We were so privileged to work with them. 

 We tried to wake up early every morning to have coffee and do devotions together while the sun was rising. Spectacular! 

The reason we were asked to come up there was to help start a youth program similar to ours. The state of the youth in this community really broke our hearts. I was especially heartbroken for the young women most of whom dropped out of school at an early age and got pregnant either by their husbands, someone else's husband, or some random men. They really need someone to walk alongside of them and point them towards Jesus their Healer, Forgiver, Redeemer, Lover, Provider and Father.

Above Kelvin was doing devotions for a group of youth and widows in the community. After devotions, we took the youth and did some team building exercises while teaching them a few life skills. 

 Jayden, the son of our hosts, is too adorable for words. Seriously, he melts the heart of everyone he meets. He is a man of the community just like his father.

 Jayden watching as the boys begin to play soccer. 

 It was really really muddy. It poured with rain every afternoon we were there. I loved the thunder and lightening but didn't so much enjoy standing outside watching soccer in the rain....

....hence the awkward missionary/village/freezing cold fashion. Finally, by the third day of being ridiculously cold, I put away my pride and dressed to be warm instead of trying to look decent.

 We came hoping to find a bunch of youth eager to play soccer. We were told there were many but quickly learned that they only come if there is something they will get out of it (like a ball, blankets, gifts). So our method of reaching youth through soccer didn't work out so well. The show still went on and Kelvin did what he does best: love on youth and point them to Jesus. Here they are praying after practice. 

 We even brought some swanky cones and balls for them to practice with.

 A seriously cute kid! The best part is that he doesn't even speak english (even though his Mom is american)! They taught him swahili first which has kind of inspired me to learn so that my kids will be bi-lingual. 

 Kelvin utterly amazed me the whole week. He was in his element doing what God has created him to do best. It was so amazing to see my husband truly THRIVE in what he was doing. I was so so proud of him!!! 

We have committed to supporting a group of youth in the community. About 50 of them have formed a group where they come together to grow closer to God, grow closer to each other, support one another in their lives, create jobs and do income generating projects together. We hope to go again every couple months to mentor, train, walk alongside, and love on them. 

We couldn't go all the way to Eldoret and not go to Ilula to visit all the kids and my 'family'. We only spent one night but it was just enough to drink yummy chai, sing the latest hits with the girls, goof around with the young kids, and talk and laugh around the dinner table with the Ronos. To our surprise, Emmanuel picked us up in their 'new' car. We had quite the ride to the children's home. At one point a large piece of metal fell off the side of my door as we were sliding around in the mud. It felt so good to be home....

We are back in Mombasa and will be updating you with some exciting stuff soon!!

On the road again...again

We are leaving tonight. I hope.

We were suppose to go  to kipkaren a few weeks ago to work with an organization there and help build up a soccer program for youth. However, stuff happened and we didn't make it. In fact, we missed our bus but that was only the beginning of a rather crazy week.

Tonight we are booked to leave Mombasa at 10:30. We will probably arrive in Eldoret around 1pm tomorrow, pick up some free soccer balls, and then head to kipkaren for a week or so. I am still thoroughly looking forward to our time up there, connecting with friends, and seeing how we can connect with youth. I have packed my socks and sweaters and looking forward to getting a bit chilly.

You probably won't here from me till next week!


PS. Our boys actually won today! They have been having a hard time winning lately and have been getting a bit discouraged. Our goal was phenomenal! If he wasn't there, we would have lost terribly. The goal we scored was kind of lame but, hey, a goal is a goal. Everyone had heavy hearts today after a young man, a friend to many of our boys, was shot dead yesterday by a police man in Kongowea. It was such a tragedy that seems to have rocked a lot of people. My heart goes out to the family, who we know well, who is now having to deal with the loss of a son/brother. I am just thankful that our boys were more interested in watching the MAN U vs ARESENAL game than attending some political rally (where this boy was shot). 

Four Years

November 8, 2008. 

That is the day I first stepped into Mombasa four years ago. It was also the beginning of possibly the hardest 6 months of my life. 

We were placed in a mansion that was meant for a large Indian family. There were 8 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, a humongous living room, and hallways that you could do endless cartwheels in. And we were only two girls. The house had some pretty major quirks: no water, no airflow, lots of dirt and gecko poop, a tiny kitchen, a noisy neighbourhood, and a few guards with their own personal issues. It was not an easy place to manage. 

I started off pretty excited about what was planned for us but my zeal quickly faded. It just wasn't what I felt called to do but I did it because we were told it was necessary, a spot needed to be filled and we got lots of praise for our courage to be there. Meanwhile, I was fading. We lived in a difficult neighbourhood and got constantly heckled by the men even though we tried as hard as we could to cover our bodies and act respectfully. It didn't matter; our skin colour was enough to make them go crazy. We had little preparation and support for what our work really entailed. No one guided us. We pretty much had to figure it out on our own. It was a huge learning experience and a massive point of growth in my life. But it wasn't easy. 

I eventually fell into depression and needed to get out. I went for counselling, my dad came over to visit, and they moved me to Word of Life. 

That's when things changed. I met Kelvin. I felt alive again in a position I felt I was good at. I was cool, literally, from the sea breezes that flowed through the Word of Life compound. It was a life changing few weeks to say the least. 

I swore I would never come back to Mombasa. Never ever ever! 

But alas, four years later, this city has captured my heart and offered me a wonderful life, an awesome community, and a pretty rad husband. 

I dug up some old pics of my first stint in Mombasa in 2008. 

We hosted a huge Christmas party at our house. To this day it is one of my favourite Christmas'. We had such a blend of cultures and religions there. We ate, played games, and hung out. We talked about the meaning of Christmas and love was shared. Such a memorable moment!

Our house came equipped with this inflatable boat that we had too much fun in. I remember rocking it back and forth singing "Rock the boat, don't tip the boat over..."

I worked in a youth library and we did a lot of youth events. We had a retreat for valentines day and we did some skits. I think this guy was proposing to me during our skit. 

This was new years. Yes, we laid in the driveway in the middle of the night. It was hot.

I spent most of my time trying to make friends. Some of these girls I still see today.

My organization partnered me with another girl named Sheena. I am really not sure how I would have survived without her. She was originally from Hong kong but lived in Canada. Naturally, she attracted every person in Mombasa who was also from Hong Kong so I listened to a lot of Cantonese and ate a lot of chinese food during my 9 months in Kenya. 

We used tuk-tuks a lot. It was easier and cooler. I hated walking around town. 

We purposed to enjoy ourselves since we lived in such a beautiful place. Here we had gone to Malindi, just north of Mombasa, for a day of snorkelling. Sheena was such a water baby. I didn't like the salt water and I didn't find the ocean refreshing as usually it was so warm from the heat.

My bedroom. 

The view from the outside of our mansion. I didn't say it was a pretty mansion. 

In the community we lived in, most the streets were like this. It was cramped and crowded but some of the structures were really beautiful. Some were pretty ugly. It is the old city of Mombasa and it is rich with history.

So Happy Four Year Anniversary to me!

Mombasa, I am glad you showed me that you can be an enjoyable city to live in. Thanks for loving me and caring for me over the past four years!

Time to Move??

I got a call from Kelvin's sister on Monday night asking if I was ok. "Why?" I asked. She told me she had heard from one of her friends that there were gunshots at the bar downstairs. I reassured her that all was fine and I didn't think that was true. I am pretty sure I would have heard gunshots if they happened.  We hung up and I popped my head out the door to see if there was any commotion. I could only hear the normal sounds of dance music and people chattering.

I told Kelvin when he got home and he kind of just shrugged it off. He didn't think anything happened either.

However, yesterday Kelvin asked the watchman downstairs if it was true. He said that it was indeed true.

From what we understand, three armed robbers entered the internet cafe downstairs targeting one man in particular. They stole all his money (he had around $300 on him), his phone, and his car keys. This guy is the owner of the barber shop next door. Once they had all that, they fled. It was obviously an inside job of  some sort as they didn't target anything else in the shop and they didn't harm anyone. No shots were fired.

Meanwhile, I was sitting upstairs cooking supper and waiting for Kelvin to come home. Didn't hear a thing.

Slowly, more details are emerging. Apparently it is even mentioned in todays national newspaper. This man must have done something to tick someone off. We have heard about his lifestyle of many women, including several white women, along with a wife abroad and several mistresses. It almost seems he dug himself into this deep hole of scandals and lies. They are assuming its one of his many women taking revenge.

We are also learning that he is not the only man living this lifestyle who works in our building. A few others are into some shady stuff with many women.

My heart breaks at the total disregard of the sanctity of marriage, relationships, love, sex, etc.

Anyways,  Kelvin and I are thinking (and have been thinking - its not just about this incident) about moving now. Please pray with us as we search for the right place.

Mombasa's Seasons

Mombasa has three seasons, according to me, and this is how I have classified them:

The warm and dryish season. 
The hot and humid season. 
The painfully hot and soaking in sweat season. 

Currently, we are entering the hot and humid season. The warm and dryish season has ended. It usually lasts about 4ish months during our summer months. This hot and humid season will last till about February where we will enter the painfully hot and soaking in sweat season. Thankfully, that lasts about 2 or three months and then we slowly transition through the hot and humid season and then back to the warm and dryish season.

So what does hot and humid really mean? It means that:

• I still need to heat water for a bucket bath. Its just a tad too chilly to bath in cold water. 
• I sweat when I cook but at least drops of sweat don't end up in the food. 
• I can wear clothes twice before they smell too bad. In the painfully hot season, you can't even wear them for half a day before having to change and wash them. 
• Sometimes, I can wear pants at night and feel comfortable. 
• If the power goes out at night, I won't wake up because the fan turned off. 
• The fan stays on low. At times, we even turn it off. 
• If I walk outside for more than 10 mins, I start sweating profusely. 
• My shoulders often get a nice sweaty rub when I get in squishy matatus and the people next to me have sweaty armpits. 
• At about 4am,  I pull a sheet over me. 
• Half my fridge is full of bottles of cold water. 

One things I do love about all the seasons in Mombasa is that the sun is always shining!!!!! We get very few days of clouds, rain, or overcast. It also makes for some pretty incredible sunsets!!

Eid is bringing back the memories

Eid Mubarak friends!

It's Eid al Adha, the Muslim holiday which celebrates Abraham's courage, faith, and obedience to God when he took his son Ishmael to be a sacrifice. Yes, his son Ishmael, not Isaac, like we Christians believe.

For me, this holiday brings me back to when I first moved to Mombasa. We had only been in the city for about 3 weeks and were having a really hard time adjusting. I woke up one morning only to find the eerie prayer calls going for hours and hours. Totally confused, I started getting text messages from Muslim friends wishing me a 'Eid Mubarak'. I was so baffled as to what was happening. It was all so new and surreal to me.

I was able to find an email I sent out to friends about the day. Here is a short passage that I wrote:


Lately I’ve been able to sleep through the loud and eerie prayer calls from the local mosques in the morning so when I woke up this morning at 4:30 I knew that they would be coming soon and that I wouldn’t be able to sleep through them. Well they started around 5 am and they played and they played and they played and they played some more. It wasn’t until about 7am that I decided to get out of bed and figure why they have playing for hours. I discovered that today is one of the biggest celebrations for muslims called Eid al-Adha.

I had to look up what the significance of this day is and this is what my book said, “This celebration commemorates the willingness of Abraham when he was asked to sacrifice his son Ishmael. Abraham showed his readiness and Al’ah was very pleased. A ram was sacrificed instead of Ishmael on Al’ah’s command.” Does that sound familiar? Muslims believe that it wasn’t Isaac Abraham offered to sacrifice but Ishmael. I also believe that this day celebrates the end of Hajj which is the 10 day period where the pilgrimage to Mecca is made. If muslims do their pilgrimage to Mecca during these 10 days, it is more significant than if they go at any other time of the year.

 Today, they will go to the mosque in the morning to do their prayers, fast all day, then slaughter a goat and feast on it tonight. I was walking around town today and there was definitely a different feel to the city. I ran into a friend of mine from the library who was trying to explain to me her excitement that she gets to go shopping They are supposed to buy new and fancy outfits to wear for the feast tonight. I had another friend who text messaged me first thing this morning to wish me a happy Eid day. I can see their excitement. This is a day where they get new clothes, get a wonderful meal, and get to spend time with their families.

Outside our house we usually find this large herd of goats. There must be about 25-30 of them that wander around out neighborhood. Lately, we haven’t been seeing them and I now understand why. Every mus.lim family in the world is supposed to slaughter a goat today if they have the means to. Now, that’s a lot of goats. My guess is that those goats were especially bred and kept for this day. As we walked through the streets yesterday, we could see goats tied up outside of everyone’s houses. And they all have green spots on them! I am not sure the reason for it but the entire city is filled with green goats! We will never see our little neighborhood goats again…

I have learned to love Eid. The beauty of living in a city that embraces two religions is that you get two sets of public holidays! We are not working today since most of our youth are muslims and are busy with Eid celebrations. Kongowea kind of shuts down. Even the Christians celebrate it.

I am not really sure if people really understand what they are celebrating. I think some just know that its Eid so they must celebrate.

For most people, celebrating means food! It's the one day they save up for to make biryani. And its YUM!

In fact, as I was in the middle of writing this post, we had a friend deliver a big pot of biryani to our front door! Guess what we are having for supper!?

Our prayer this morning was that our Muslim friends would seek God with all their hearts.

Because God promises that if you seek Him, you will find Him, the true God.

My little bundle of inspiration.

Often, my greatest inspirations are our youth. When I see what they go through, how they overcome, and the joy that they still have am in constant awe of them. 

One of them is definitely Munira. 

I have loved this one from the moment I met her. She is a ball of fire in a small package. She is always laughing, giggling, having fun. She seems to never be sad. She has this awesome raspy voice that just roars over the whole room. 

A few months back, she stopped coming on Saturdays. Some of the others told me that she got a job. Honestly, I was pretty sad knowing I wasn't going to see her as much but I was so happy she was able to get work. 

I later learned that she works at an Export Processing Zone, or as we sometimes refer to them, a sweatshop. Conditions are not as harsh as those in other parts of the world and she does get paid minimum wage in Kenya (which is about $100/month). She spends almost a third of that just on transport and lunch. At the end of the month, she comes home with around $70 in her pocket. 

She needed to work to pay off her school fees. Last year she finished high school. In order for her to get her clearing certificate stating that she did indeed pass high school, she needed to clear fees. 

Later on I learned that her father doesn't pay school fees for the girls in her family. In fact, she is the only girl of seven who has finished high school. 

She also has dreams of going to college and becoming a secretary! I have never met anyone so excited to be a secretary (besides my best friend Nikki). She found the college and the course she wants to take. The only issue is the fees. 

Well, yesterday she came bouncing into my office and proudly showed me her high school leaving certificate!!! I was almost in tears!! She worked hard and did it all by herself!!! SO SO PROUD!!

I made a deal with her. I said that if she can save a third of the total college school fees plus some extra money for transport, I will pay the rest. 

So if you want to help ms Munira fulfill her dreams of becoming a secretary, please please donate on the left hand side of this blog. 

She also informed me that it is her birthday tomorrow. She has decided to skip work on saturday, use some of her pay to buy lots of sweets and juice, and come celebrate with the ladies. Can't wait!!

A Reminder

God tends to remind me that life is not all that bad just when I think things are falling apart.

I mentioned that our last two weeks have just been one thing after another. And it has yet to stop. For example, after finishing the injections in my buttocks, I woke up with a terrible head cold that quickly turned to fever/cough. Thankfully, I woke up feeling a thousand times better this morning and actually had some energy to get out of the house. But I also discovered that my hot water kettle (that I only bought 6 months ago) plus the large fluorescent light bulb in my kitchen have both decided to fritz out on me. And those aren't cheap to replace. Then we discovered yesterday that one of our boys, who we had helped with some medical issues, actually took the money we gave him for medication and used it to pay rent. He has been avoiding us for months and finally came to fess up to Kelvin yesterday. Unfortunately, he came in desperation for more money since he was now being kicked out of his house and still hadn't taken the medication. Kelvin denied as he didn't have any money and now we are confused on how to really help this guy.

You see, its not really huge, life altering things, it just seems to be one disappointment after another.

However, God gave me a reminder of His goodness today at church. Our youth pastor preached an awesome sermon. At one point, he was explaining a passage in the bible (don't remember which one - bad christian!) but then he paused and said,

"Don't get disappointed so easily. God is still working."

As simple as that, just don't get disappointed so easily. Keep moving on. Things will change. God is working. He is indeed there and does actually have good plans for me. Stop hanging your head, rolling your eyes, or getting downright upset over these small, insignificant things that happen.

Then our service leader thought it would be good to call up all the orphans in the congregation and pray for them. This was actually a very bad and embarrassing idea. The ones who stood up (there were many orphans who didn't out of embarrassment) were asked to come to the front to be prayed for. Again, it struck me in the gut that life is actually not so bad. Some are worse off than me. Some suffer constant disappointments and suffering.

 I tried so hard to fight back the ugly cry.

I am seriously SO SO blessed. Even when everything just keeps falling apart, I am STILL blessed. May I learn to focus on all the blessings and push through all the disappointments. 

Learning to take good photos

Our wedding photographer, Ben Kiruthi, started a project called the Imani Initiative  where he trains young photographers or photography enthusiasts in the basics of taking a good photo. When I first read about it, I immediately thought it would be a great idea for our youth not to mention that I really wanted to learn from this awesome photographer(seriously, he is one of the best in kenya. Don't even try book him, he's full). 

He agreed to come down this week and spend some sweet hours with a handful of our young people eager to learn something different. Some just wanted to be challenged, some are taking related courses in school, some wanted to learn to take good photos, and some really just wanted to come hang out with us. 

It was such an awesome couple of hours. I learned a TON about photography and was totally inspired by Ben using his gifts and talents God has granted him and totally thriving in life. 

Our youth were pretty impressed with all the celebs he takes photos of and the fact he makes more money than doctors. I hope they are starting to dream big now. 

During a break, he let them use his fancy camera to take a few shots and this is what they came up with:

 Caught me a little off guard. Or maybe this is how I normally look due to the intense heat and humidity.

 Playing with 'depth of field'. See how Irene is clear and Nicky is blurry?

 Oh, now Nicky is clear and Irene is blurry. Aren't they cute?

The whole group with Ben. 

Kelvin and I are using more of our awesome friends to mentor the young people we work with. Our friends are slowly falling in love with our youth and our youth are really begin to grow and develop into the people God has created them to be. We are so proud of them! Almost half my girls started college in the past few weeks! This is a dream many of them never thought could happen but it is happening and they are making it happen. We are so so proud!!

Thanks Ben for coming to hang out with us and share your knowledge!

Ants in my buns

I feel like I have SO much to tell you - you, out there, reading this, whoever you are. This last week and a half has been a flurry of random, overwhelming highs and lows on so many levels. That is how jumbled my mind is about all of it. Let me just tell you a few of the events of the past 10 or so days:

• Two of our phones broke, including the brand new one that Kelvin bought. I had to pull out our old iPhone that doesn't work unless its plugged in. It may sound nice to have an iPhone but its not. This is one screams difficulty. But its what we have until our two other phones get fixed. 
• I discovered one of my girls' sister tried to sell her off to an old man because she needed money. No wonder my girl ran away from home.
• Kelvin and I both have been having tummy issues. We have been taking medicine (including daily injections into our buttocks). The side effects of the medicine are worse than the discomfort we were feeling. We had our last injection today so hopefully tomorrow we will stop limping. Those things are painful! 
• My cat wouldn't let the vet take her stitches out today. The vet said that it is not normal behaviour for a cat to be THAT violent towards other people. He says we spend so much time with her that we are the only ones she trusts. In other words, I baby my cat. 
• Kelvin has challenged our boys to come up with an income generating project for the team. We sat with them today and listened to their brilliant idea to supply cheap satellite TV to people in Kongowea. They have really thought it out and done their homework. We were thoroughly impressed. We admitted that we couldn't have done that good of a job. They are brilliant - they just need the opportunity to use their brilliance. This project will hopefully provide for all the team's needs and more. That would mean that they could be self sustaining and not rely on donations. How awesome would that be? 
• Tomorrow, the photographer who shot our wedding is coming to do a session with a handful of our youth on the basics of photography. I personally can't wait to learn from such an awesome photographer. I hope my youth will show up on time.
• Police have increased in Mombasa these last few days. There is a group in Mombasa who believes that the coast should be a separate state from Kenya and they are causing raucous. They are threatening to disrupt students exams which are going on. So far, all is well just a whole lot more police  carrying around overbearing AK47s. 
• We got news yesterday that Kelvin's twin sisters returned home yesterday from boarding school. Apparently the grade 11 students burnt down the dormitories in protest of something. If the school doesn't find who did it, all the students have to pay 10,000KES ($120) to get back to school. Twins= 20,000KES. We are thankful that they weren't hurt. Unfortunately, in another school, some kids didn't make it out when their dormitories were burnt on monday morning. So sad.
• I have been baffled by the amount of lying that is ingrained in this culture and the people here. It seriously blows my mind how many people blatantly lie about everything and they think nothing of it. I will write a whole post on this soon. 
• Kelvin has been doing the dishes a lot lately. It's been nice. 
• Last night I made some yummy buns to go with our vegetable stew. I wrapped the leftovers in tin foil last night only to wake up and find that an army of ants somehow made their way under the tin foil and into my buns. That was the breaking point. Tears started flowing after that. Yes, I cried because ants took over my buns. 
• I then went and laid in bed to just relax. Meanwhile, Kelvin came and snuggled me. It was just what I needed. I adore him. 

And this is only the beginning of all our shenanigans but I will use some discretion and keep the rest to myself. I can't tell you enough how amazing my husband is. We have walked through all this stuff together and have come out stronger. I am in awe that God has grant me the amazing gift of my husband. 

...Or Not

We didn't end up going to Kipkaren like I had ranted about in my previous post.

Stuff got in the way and we ended up missing our bus on Monday night. Yes, I was pretty disappointed but sometimes life gets in the way like that.

We had a tough couple of days. A lot of figuring out of messy and disheartening situations. We decide that, since we had already planned to be away and handed over most of our duties for the week, we would just hang out for the rest of the week.

It. was. pure. bliss.

We turned off our phones (not on purpose but because they broke or got lost - part of our crazy couple days) and just hung out...together...with no plot, nothing on our plates, no demands. We ate yummy food, watched countless movies, talked for hours, and prayed and discussed what God was teaching us.  We were free to be us and kind of forgot there was a whole world outside. It rained!!! And not just drizzled, but poured and it was oh-so refreshing!! ( I realized that Mombasa maybe gets like 30 days of rain a year- mostly just drizzling). To get some goosebumps was amazing! Last night the power went out so we got to light some candles, enjoy the sound of the froggies singing melodies, and just be.

I was almost in tears because I was so thankful for my husband and this time together. Marriage is a lot of work and isn't always easy so when I get a few days of bliss with my husband, I am so so so grateful.

My prayer is that you too can find some time to truly, thoroughly enjoy your loved ones.

On the road again

We are off again tonight. Feels like we travel every month. We have been invited to a village outside of Eldoret, called Kipkaren, to help develop a soccer program for youth in the community. We are so excited for this opportunity! We don't know exactly how long we will go (probably not more than a few days) and what exactly is waiting for us up there. We know we will be doing a lot of home visits to widows - something Kelvin is very passionate about since his own mom is a widow. We know we will be meeting with youth mentoring them, training them, and playing soccer with them. We know there will be more listening and learning than talking and teaching. I am anxious to work alongside a couple who is like us, black and white, and see how they do community development. I am excited to see some friends who live in that community. More over, I am elated to get out of Mombasa (its heating up again) and immerse myself in village life.

We have also been donated a hefty amount of indestructible soccer balls! Such a huge blessing! A couple in Eldoret is giving them to us so we will be able to pick them up when we get there. You have no idea how precious soccer balls are around here.

Pray for safe travelling. Pray for a wonderful time connecting with the youth and community. Pray that we can discern the amount of involvement we are to have in this project.

I will be back next week with lots of photos and stories!

Thanksgiving Pancakes

I tend to forget Canadian holidays when I am in Kenya. Especially holidays, like Thanksgiving, that doesn't align with American holidays. I always dream of being that wife/mom who celebrates all these holidays and makes it extra special for my family by cooking a nice meal, doing some family tradition, and inviting our friends to join in. It just doesn't happen. Mostly because I forget. Like I almost forgot that this weekend is Thanksgiving. 

I was a little weepy yesterday for many reasons. Holidays (and birthdays) always make me miss home. Sometimes I just wish I could jet to Canada for the weekend to enjoy a yummy food, fall colours, and my family. 

I decided to do something somewhat Canadian - make pancakes. After travelling a little bit, I realized that most countries in the world don't make fluffy pancakes like we do. They make pancakes more like crepes. And Maple Syrup seems to be a distinctive Canadian thing (at least we have some sort of traditional food we can claim). 

They turned out ok. Well, actually kind of pathetic. Nothing like the ones my baba or mom makes. We ate them plain and with our hands. I made Kelvin a couple smokies since the pancakes just aren't enough for him. Come to think of it, the smokies probably weren't enough either. Nonetheless it was nice, it reminded me of home. Maybe from now on, the Opiyo Thanksgiving tradition will be pancakes for dinner. 

I mentioned that we bought some plastic chairs and tables to start playing games with people in the community. Its been such a huge hit. While I was meeting with my ladies on saturday, Kelvin gathered some curious kids and played a game of Rummikub. I wonder how well the kids got it since it is a game that requires some thinking. 

I hope Kelvin won. I am the master of Rummikub. He just can win against me. I know it hurts his man pride. I hope him winning against little kids made him feel better. 

Too much fun

Do you ever have those times where you are seriously having too much fun? You are totally free to laugh, make jokes, smile, and be all round joyful. You don't want that time to end but you want the fun to just keep going. Your cheeks start hurting from smiling so much. 

That's what I had yesterday with my two crazy, lovely, amazing neighbours - Miss Ndela and Miss Eddah. 

They called and invited me to go swimming with them (for free I might add). We frolicked in the water till our fingers turned into prunes. Then we were treated to a yummy cup of chai and some nice pastries. We sat, dripping wet, giggling over pretty much everything.  We poke fun at each other and our life situations - me-a white kenyan wife who is trying to blend into this culture as much as I can, Eddah-a fashion designer who is addicted to sugar, and Ndela-a famous Kenyan musician who constantly gets picked on for her marital status. Makes for some good fun I tell you. 

After that, we changed and started making our way home. We LAUGHED all the way home while dancing to our favourite Kenyan gospel song in the middle of the road. We belly laughed when we got in the matatu and I am sure people thought we were absolutely nuts. Then we stood across the street from my apartment, not really wanting to part ways and end our fun. I had to get going and start cooking for Kelvin so we said our goodbyes. 

I came into the house so incredibly grateful for two awesome friends in a place where I am different, I don't quite fit in, I don't quite 'get' everything. Words can't express how grateful I am to God who has blessed me with awesome friends.  

Lucy

I got an email from my dad this morning telling me to call him right when I wake up. My stomach got a little nervous. It's the kind of email that you know something bad has happened or else they would have told you in the email. 

So I called dad right away and he broke the news to me that our beloved pup of around 15 years (I forget how old exactly) passed away. It wasn't a big surprise as she was quite old and ailing. She was blind and deaf and had constant seizures. She was also waking everyone up at night to go pee causing a severe lack of sleep for my parents. Anyways, I guess she had a major seizure and once she snapped out of it, she just wasn't the same. Dad took her to the vet and they had to put her down. 

We loved her. She was such a big part of our family for the past 15 years. Amazing how animals can grab a hold of a special part of your life, eh? We will miss you Lucy lu. 

In the meantime, Neema returned from the vet this morning where she got spayed or, as I like to say, snippered. As you can tell from this photo, she is not the happiest cat alive. I started noticing last week that she was acting really strange. I mentioned it to Kelvin and he told me that she is in heat. I have never experienced a cat in heat. It was wild! We decided it was time to make sure miss Neema doesn't have any mini-neemas.  We bought this tiny basket and picked her up this morning. Since then, she has been trying to bite her stitches (no head cone here) and then she gets scared of them and tries to run away from them. Obviously, they follow her everywhere she goes so it has been a bit tormenting for her.

Kelvin could probably care less about my animal stories. Animals are only really good for food around here so naturally my husband doesn't have the compassion I do for my animals. Thank God that he still loves me!