I promised to share something about our safari so here goes...

We left Sunday morning, July 22nd to fly to an airstrip somewhere near the David Livingston Lodge. May I add that "near" is a relative term. I have no idea where the airstrip is in relation to the lodge. It could be half a mile for all I know. We were taken on a three hour "game drive" on our way to the lodge. I am not complaining...just describing. But before I get into that I have to mention that at the air strip there were two interesting structures. One looked very much like a park shelter house and it had a sign indicating that it was the "Arrivals and Departure Lounge." Nearby was a shed with some bleached animal bones outside and a sign that said "Duty Free Shop." Oh, I forgot, there was a toilet.

We saw numerous animals that morning...zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, a couple of different kinds of antelope. One of the best decisions I made on this whole trip was to enjoy the moment and let others take the pictures.

The animals that we saw were absolutely amazing. Seeing them in the flesh and moving freely about is utterly unlike the movies, TV, or the zoo. I have to admit to being a tad disappointed because the migration from Tanzania had not yet started so we didn't see the huge herds of zebras that I had hoped for. They are still incredibly beautiful creatures. On the contrary, the wildebeest (the zebras' almost constant companions) are incredibly ugly.

We arrived at the lodge at straight up noon and had time to check into our rooms before lunch on the lawn at about 12:30. The food at Livingston is reputedly wonderful but I liked the soups and the breakfast omelets the best. Otherwise what we had at Kolping Guesthouse in Nairobi was better.

The lodge is located on a bend in the Mara River. You can sit in the outdoor bar and see (and hear) about 50 hippos in the river about 20 yards away. You definitely don't go down to pay them a visit, however. There is an electric fence and two crocodiles between the lodge and the river. I don't think I realized how noisy hippos are. You could hear them snorting and bellowing even when you went to bed at night. The bellow reminded me of an old man's very low pitched "Har har har" type laugh. As I sat on a bench watching the hippos a three foot monitor lizard appeared in the grass and several spider monkeys ran along the wall. A Masai in full regalia walks around the bar and dining room with a sling shot to keep the monkeys out of the people areas.

I shared a room with two other women...Jen, a delightful and beautiful project manager for Sprint out of Chicago and Jodi, an equally delightful and beautiful lawyer from Colorado. Both are at least 30 years my junior but they were very tolerant of me. Our room was tiny. There was room for the three twin beds with about ten inches between them and perhaps three feet at the foot. Shadrach was our assigned housekeeper and after the first night we had hot water bottles in our turned down beds when we got in. I found the shower to be fairly reliable but unfortunately, the toilet was not. Oh, well. You win some and lose some.

We went on an evening game drive from 3:30 until almost 7:00 on Sunday. Then we saw a mother cheetah and two cubs and 23 lions. The lions were in two groups not far apart so we assumed they were part of the same pride although that seems really huge. Our driver, Teddy, had never seen so many that close together. As we were watching the second group of 16 when a large tusker (elephant) came strolling in from stage left, soon to be followed by another. We were spellbound.

Of course we saw more antelope (Thompson's, Grants, impala, kopi, and eland), zebras, giraffes, baboons, ostrich, and wildebeest on that afternoon. I cannot describe how awful the roads were. They made the road on which we returned from Lake Nakuru seem like a super highway. But more about that in Monday's episode.

Monday morning we went on another three hour game drive starting at 6:30 a.m. More lions and cheetahs as well as their prey (ho hum). I don't mean the ho hum part, of course.

When we set out on the Monday afternoon drive it looked a little threatening in the far distance. We asked the drivers if it was going to rain. They said no and we believed them. No reason not to. About 45 minutes into the drive it started to sprinkle and within minutes there was a deluge. Within a few more minutes the roads (such as they are) had turned to something slicker than any icy road I have ever experienced. Teddy (our very competent driver) tried driving on the grass when he could but sometimes the boulders were just too big. We got stuck in a nasty mud hole and were dragged out by a passing Land Cruiser (painted with zebra stripes, by the way). We went a little further and got stuck again. I should say here that we were in a rear wheel drive Nissan van while our companions were in a 4 X 4 Toyota van. They pulled us out and we made it back to the lodge three hours later still at the end of their tow rope. Some people in other vans were still out there at 11 p.m. I wasn't sure if it was an adventure or an ordeal. We decided that if nobody was hurt it must have been an adventure.

We cancelled the Tuesday morning game drive.

Mid-morning Tuesday I started feeling a little unwell so I headed back to our room and slept for three hours. Only two of our number chose to go on the afternoon game drive...my intrepid friends from Joplin, Jim and Brenda.

Wednesday morning we set off after breakfast for another game drive on our way back to the airport. It was on this trip that we saw a herd of nine elephants and spied a black rhino through the binoculars Betty had sent with me. Teddy had spotted the rhino from about a mile away and asked for the binoculars. He dragged my backpack out of the back of the van and I dug them out. He was quite excited to see the rhino and we "sped" off (probably 10 mph instead of our usual 5) to get a closer look. Unfortunately we couldn't find it.

Somewhere along the way we stopped at a Masai village and were allowed to visit a home inside for $20 each. Pretty interesting.

Finally back at the Arrivals and Departures Lounge, we ate the huge box lunches that had been sent from the lodge. Then we visited the Duty Free Shop. My plastic water bottle from Walmart was traded for a necklace for Jen and somebody else traded one of my bandannas for earrings, I think. Brenda brought back a handful of stuff in exchange for her $18 watch and a baseball cap. I traded a pair of beaded flip flops that I had bought at a market in Nairobi (and which hurt my feet to wear) for a carved statue of a Masai family and a small beaded basket. I gave Teddy the binoculars. I don't think I have ever given anyone a gift who was more appreciative.

When we got back to Kolping Guesthouse in Nairobi Helen and Gordon had prepared a wonderful feast for us. The tables were set on the lawn and there were streamers and balloons. Our Kenyan friends, Nelson, Kym, Kwami, Obayou (Emmanuel), Gloria, and Marcus were there to eat with us and then accompany us to the airport. Saying farewell to Kenya was really, really difficult. God willing, I will get back there somehow.

I am glad to be back home.

Having had a few hours to reflect....

I am still overwhelmed.

I feel as if I should somehow be able to reflect on all my experiences of the past weeks and come up with something profound to make of it all. But I am unable to do that as of this moment. Stay tuned.

I've slept, had a long hot shower, been able to use a dryer on my hair, and put on makeup. I'm not sure I feel a lot different but I certainly look and smell different. Some things I promise never to take for granted again are: hot showers, hair dryers, and toilets that reliably swoosh away all the waste with one flush. Actually, having grown up with an outhouse rather than a flush toilet, I couldn't have imagined that it would make such a difference to me. Of course, these things don't register at all, really, compared to how I have taken for granted such gifts as adequate food, clean water, reasonably clean air (at least here in Missouri), sufficient heat, a bed, and garbage-free streets.

This afternoon I ventured out into the world to have a pedicure and have my nails done, to buy photo paper, and do a bit of grocery shopping. How spoiled I am!!!

With Kathryn being away at a conference until day after tomorrow and Reed in Springfield or on the road somewhere I have the whole house to myself. Honestly, as much as I enjoyed my travel companions, it is a luxury to be able to retreat into my basement apartment and not have to talk with anybody. I suspect that many, if not all, of my fellow travellers feel the same. I have unpacked, done two loads of laundry, and laid out all the stuff I bought. I haven't even completely sorted the mail. I've listened to NPR while I was in the car but haven't even been tempted to turn on the TV.

I promise that within three days I will put a description of our safari to the Masai Mara on this site. It was incredible! I'm tempted to say "Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!" but there were neither tigers nor bears. But plenty of lions, elephants, hippos, giraffes, and definitely zebras.

By the way, I have re-read my previous entries and am amazed at the number of spelling and grammatical errors. I was never the best speller but Spell Checker has ruined me...that and slow computers with sticky keyboards at the cyber cafe in Nairobi. Hey...I gotta blame something or somebody. It's the American way.

Back in Kansas City

I arrived back in KC about 5:30 today. The culture shock will be huge. I'm sure it will take a while to adjust. Something inside me doesn't want to re-adjust entirely. Soulfari is intended to be a transforming experience and it has certainly been so for me.

I'll be more able to process the last few weeks after I have slept. It is about 9:00 p.m. and I think I will go to bed and sleep for about 12 hours, if I'm lucky.

Saturday, our last full day in Nairobi

No, Andy, I'm not filled yet. Sometimes my eyes glaze over and I think I can't take any more and then something else happens.

Yesterday was our leavetaking at Huruma. I spent most of the day in the infant room and with the "old dears" as fellow traveler Jim Jackson calls them. I went by and blessed my tiny boy in the handicapped room and said goodbye to Thomas, Baba, Columbo, and Collins.

After lunch all the children from the primary school gathered in the school courtyard and a group of African dancers and drummers from a Dandora parish came and demonstrated their remarkable skills. Again I am at a loss for words. I simply cannot believe what these young people can do with their bodies. Of course, they had some of us join for some of the dancing and I showed them a few of my best moves. :-)

This morning we walked to Kibera, a huge slum about 15 minutes walk from our guesthouse. There we joined several soccer teams of local youth to clean sewers. Yes, I said clean sewers. Honestly, an old woman like me wasn't much help but these young Kenyans worked very hard to get the debris out of the ditches where it backs up and overflows into the streets. They put the solid trash and garbage (it appeared to be mostly plastic and corncobs), bagged it up and trucks came to take it to the dump at Dandora. Julius and a group with him decided to leave the project early because he couldn't see taking trash from one slum and depositing it in another. The dump at Dandora is the only one authorized by the ciy, however. It is a very difficult issue.

Tomorrow we are up at our usual time to go to the airport to the Masai Mara on safari. I may or may not write again until I get home. We hope to rest and reflect and ease ourselves back into the American life. Another difficult issue.

I will be home Thursday evening.

My Second Thursday in Nairobi

My amazement continues.

Let's see...Monday I went to the Autism Unit at theNairobi Primary School along with Sarah, a young woman in our group who is a special education teacher from Houston. We sort of surprised them so we were only able to do a quick tour and then wait to see the Head Mistress. She was unable to meet with us before we had to go back to the orphanage but we were invited to return the following day. Sarah chose not to return but I did.

I have spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and today, Thursday, at the Autism Unit (AU). These workers are as amazing as those who work at the Missionaries of Charity. The AU is in one wing of a public primary school. Conditions there are primitive there also and the classrooms quite bare. Remember it is Kenyan winter and about 60 degrees, I think. There is no heat in the classrooms nor is there artificial light. There are about 40 children with all degrees of autism and perhaps 15 workers. I think there are five classrooms. A couple of the teachers have some special education training but I believe most don't. I don't know the level of training of the teaching assistants. But they are doing a super job.

Angela is the business administrator and Grace is the lead teacher. They both astound me as do the other teachers. Everyone is eager to learn whatever I can teach them. I have done some demonstration teaching with individual children and the teachers and aides hover around watching closely. I must strongly encourage them to get them to ask questions but when they do their questions are relevant and observant.

I am already thinking about how I might come back again and do a little more teaching and consultation. I have never encountered a group of people who absorb what I try to teach so eagerly.

One slight problem we have encountered is that I speak rapid colloquial (did I spell that right?) American English in a fairly loud voice and they speak rapid formal strongly accented British English in very soft voices. I explain that I am old and deaf and they try hard to slow down and speak up for my benefit. I think they are too polite to ask me to repeat myself. I only hope they understand.

I gave each teacher a special item of teaching material that I had demonstrated for them. Those of you who gave money can take the credit for the suitcase full of materials I gave to them. I chose to give almost everything I brought to the AU because they started using them immediately and will continue to do so. If we gave something so simple as rattles made of plastic pop bottles and beads to the children at the orphanage when we got back the next day they had been put away. Oh, well.

As I prepared to leave today Grace and Angela took me into Angela's small office and presented me with a necklace, bracelet, and ankle bracelet that had been made by the teenage children in their workshop. To say I was overwhelmed is an gross understatement. These people have given me the blessing of working with them and sharing their children with me AND they give me presents. Who can explain such generosity of spirit?

We also took a bunch of the stuff you bought to Villa Teag yesterday. Villa Teag is an orphanage for 50 children and school that the brother of Julius Were, our team leader, helped establish. It is in the Dandora slum which appears to be marginally less populous and deprived than Humara. The children sang and chanted for us. Each child was given either a toy car (sent along with me by Aiden Adair, who is my sweet "adopted grandson" from Smithville), a ball, or a jump rope and a toothbrush and toothpaste. Those who had been there last year were given a portrait composed by a Missouri or Kansas artist from a photo taken last year.

Some children come to the school at Villa Teag from the surrounding homes. Villa Teag feeds 120 children a noontime meal which is cooked in two huge vats. They have two dishes each day. I will share pictures when I get home. They vary the meal according to the day of the week to keep the diet as balanced as possible. I cannot put into words the creativity and dedication of these people.

We then took a walking tour of Dandora. A charming young man (21 years...looks 12) named Joseph attached himself to my elbow. He is a friend of Emmanuel who had asked him and another young man to accompany us around. We were 8 muzurus (white tourists), one African American, and six young Kenyan men riding herd. Julius and Emmanuel took us to the building where they grew up. We went to the roof of the four story building and looked out over the Nairobi dump which starts no further than 20 yards away. It stretches one mile wide and about five miles long. Pigs, goats, giant ugly Maribou storks, and human scavengers pick over the garbage. The stench is incredible. How hard is the heart of she who would not weep at this sight!
Joseph, on the other hand, is cheerful and says he is quite comfortable. He says he wants out but all he can do is "be comfortable, pray God, and work hard." Unemployment is high and he has no job but he volunteers at Villa Teag. He admired my bright gold University of Missouri t-shirt. He rode back to the guesthouse with us and ate dinner with us...probably his best if not only meal of the day. He had a hundred questions about life in the US. When we got back I went to my room, put on another shirt and today there is probably a delightful young Kenyan man walking around Dandora in an MU t-shirt. God Bless him.

More on Saturday, perhaps.

Recollections of a Powerful and Interesting Weekend

,,,,.....!!!!!?? Put these in where they belong because I'm not even going to proof read.

Saturday we went to an elephant orphanage where they take baby elephants found abandoned for one reason or another in the wild and raise them to about two years of age when they take them out and gradually re-introduce them to a wild herd. Keepers sleep with the babies (a different one each night so that the babies don't pine for a particular one when he has to be gone), keep them covered with blankets, and feed them often from bottles of special formula. This group has been successful in introducing 38 orphans into adoptive families of wild elephants and have 46 that they are currently working with. Some have taken as long as 9 1/2 years and others as little as two years to reintegrate.

From there we went to a giraffe center where we hand fed some giraffes. They are breeding the endangered Rothchild's or White Stockings giraffe. Those tongues are unbelievably long when viewed from close up. And sticky!!!

We went to a sort of suburban shopping center for lunch. Our leaders had thought that there was a street market that day but it had been on Friday. This place, called the Village Market was not dissimilar to an American mall. Except for buying a Tusker beer ball cap for Reed and flowers for our evening's hostess I found it a waste of time.

Saturday evening we went to the apartment of a woman named Gloria who is a friend of Julius. She and two friends had prepared a Kenyan dinner for us. I'm afraid to check my blood sugar. The dinner included a bit of stewed meat, rice, two kinds of potatoes, and two kinds of bread. There was delightful conversation. I spent most of the evening chatting with Nelson, one of Julius's friends from his early 20s. He conducts adventure/outdoor activities for both corporate teams and youth groups. Somewhere in the back of my mind is a combination trip for a few of the kids from our church in which they would spend some time at the orphanage and some time outdoors with Nelson and his brother, Kym.

Yesterday was probably the most amazing day of my life, so far. We left early to drive to Lake Nakuru National Park. To get there we had to go over a high pass (about 8,500 feet) where we could look over into the Great Rift Valley. It was enshrouded in fog so we couldn't see very well. As we drove along there were people walking along with steel milk cans that looked like they would probably hold about two gallons of milk. I assume they were taking them to market somewhere. There were goats, sheep, cows, and donkeys along the highway. Some were tended by children who looked no older the four or five. Some appeared to be untended. So did the children.

The last hour of the 3 hour trip was over the worst road I have ever been on in my entire life. Our leaders had suggested that I sit in the front seat with the driver of the van. I think it was a concession to my advanced age and bad back. As you will note later, that had it's advantages and disadvantages. But the trip there was worth it when I saw my first zebras along side of the road!!! And a short while later we saw several baboons.

We arrived at the park and the top of the van was lifted so the others could stand and look out. I was content sitting. Joseph, our amazing driver, had the eyes of a hawk and could spot animals that were miles away. Among others, we saw giraffe, zebra, water buck, Thompson's gazelle, white rhino, cape buffalo, and a dung beetle. And did I say 10,000 flamingos? Our driver said there are 3.4 million on Lake Nakuru. As I sat overlooking the valley with the acacia trees with a browsing giraffe, a herd of zebra, several rhino and buffalo and the lake tinged pink with flamingos I couldn't help but wish that my father, who had such an appreciation for nature, could have seen this. But, as one of my fellow travelers reminded me, I guess he can.

Our lunch was at the Lion Hill Lodge in the park. It was an excellent buffet but it was the only time we have been among the majority white people. It seemed like something out of Ernest Hemingway or something. I didn't like it much.

The trip back was harrowing, to say the least. Joseph drove like the proverbial bat out of hell. The dirt road would (sometimes)accommodate three lanes of traffic. There were times when Joseph would pull out to pass a bus or a large truck which was passing a car or another large truck. Coming toward us might be another bus or large truck that was passing two other vehicles. I was terrified. And I felt marginally fortunate to be at the front of the van because those in the back were being tossed about like BBs. The road was incredibly dusty and I tied a bandanna around my face like Jesse James to be able to breathe. We eventually hit smoother road but we were battered and bruised by then.

I don't know how to tell about the next part. I will try. There had been many police stops along the way (Julius said it is just a way to get bribes) and as we approached Nairobi there was a big slow down and, thinking it was another police blockade, I asked Joseph why there were so many of these slow downs this afternoon. He pointed slightly ahead and to my left (remember the driver sits on the right and the passenger on the left) and before I could look away I saw the horribly mangled body of a man who had apparently had been struck by a truck or a bus. I will never be able to forget it. This is Africa...incredible beauty, high adventure, and death at every hand.

I will share my today's experiences at the autism unit of the Nairobi Primary School tomorrow.

Friday in Nairobi

I spent very ittle time in the handicapped room yesterday, partly out of self protection and partly becasue I felt I could do more good elsewhere. I did go in to check on my little Madani, whom the sister says is 6 or 7 years old. He may weigh 15 pounds.

I started with a level 3 math class that was learning fractions. The teacher asked me to teach nd I panicked and said, No, I will watch and teach next week." At the end of the lesson the teacher let the children ask me questions and they all applauded when I got the answer right.

Julius has arranged a private room near the handicapped room for me to do some individual work with a couple of the more capable children. I worked individually with Thomas and Colin trying to familiarize them with the letters of their names. Colin is so physically disabled that he has trouble even pointing with much pecision but he appears bright. I will work with them again on Tuesday. Monday I go to the Autism Society. I have no idea what I wil do there.

I took two two year olds, one at a time, out onto the steps outside their room to do some individual work with them. You cannot do it in their cLassroom because when you get onto the floor with one there will literally be three more climbing on your back. It was recess time for the older children and several of them gathered around while I had the little guy sort poker chips into black plastic frozen dinner containers with a similar colored disc velcroed inside. Both boys I worked with caught on quickly and seem shyly proud when I prasied them and tickled their tummies.

I even skipped feeding in the handicapped room and took some Oriental Trading Company type foam crosses with decorations for the women to do. These are similar to some of the things we do in the Upper Room class at FUMCNKC. Only two of the dozen who gathered around were capable of doing it themselves without a great deal of help. For some it seems a physical and others appeared to have a sort of learned helplessness. They were as thrilled with the crosses as with the scarves yesterday.

Two new babies had been brought into the baby room overnight. One was less than a week old, maybe a newborn. The other was a very small and thin boy of about 5 months. Two of the women are unable to pull themselves away from the babies. In fact, an appointment has been made with an adoption lawyer to explore what the possabilities are. I have realized that I am the only one of this whole group that has children. Most of the women are in their early to mid 30's and must hear the biological clock ticking.

In the aftenoon we with to Amani Ya Juh (I hope that is the correct spelling. It sounds like Amani Yazoo and means Peace from Above.) It is a collective of women from different countries who make a wide variety of crafts, mostly fiber art. They have fixed prices and high quality items. I didn't even worry about the shillings to dollar conversion rate and loaded down two bags. Hey, I"m leaving most of my clothes and all other stuff I brought and I have to bring something home in those giant suitcases. After we had shopped they brought us a huge teakettle of rich, spicy Chai-type tea. It was delicious.

Last night for dinner instead of eating at the guesthouse we walked about 15 minutes to an Ethiopian resturant. Food was brought on two foot in diameter trays lined with a spongey bread like stuff with dollops of different foods...lentils, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and some other things that I could not identify. There was a small brazier of goat meat which was, to my surprise, quite tasty. I did set aside the little riblets, however. It was just too much of a reminder of the actual animal, partiuclarly since there were several carcasses and parts thereof hanging nearby. We tore off pieces of the spongy bread and dipped up bites of food. It was delicious. They bring a samovar to wash your hands before and after.

We have decided that instead of spending all the donated money you guys gave on school supplies we will buy some food in bulk, divide it into smaller packets and give one to each of the children from the Haruma neighborhood who come to the primary school operated by the Sisters. We will also give a packet to each of the workers who come from the neighborhood to work with the kids. I may have mentioned this before but forgive me. These women are paid a tiny wage and are given one dress a year.

I must go now. We will go to the Elephant Orphanage and giraffe center and then to a big market where we will experience bargainig with the people there.

Day Four at Missionaries of Charity

I wrote a long message yesterday but the power at the cyber cafe went off just as I was about to send it. I had saved it as a draft and I haven't been able to figure out how to find it again and post it. Oh, well. In the scope of world problems that is not one.

Yesterday was easier for me. I spent the whole morning in the "handicapped room." My precious little one had made it through the night and was still there again today. The first hour yesterday was spent washing the breakfast dishes and pots and pans. They prepare a sort of gruel of rice, potatoes, carrots, greens, and milk. Some can eat it minced but most must have it put through a ricer/foodmill and diluted with additional milk to the consistency of junior baby food. They start feeding the midday meal about 10-10:30 and we all gather to help with that. Yesterday I spent about a hour feeding the diluted food to a child who was probably about 10. He was not enthusiastic about it but he ate most of it.

After eating the little ones are put on a mat on the floor and the noviatiates and neighborhood women who work there (and those of us who volunteer) do a sort of physical therapy with them. Then after helping the workers wash up the dishes and pots and pans from that meal we go sing and dance with the adult women who stay there. Some are retarded, some mentally ill, and some just old and sick. It has occurred to me that many of the "old ladies" are probably about my age. They seem ancient. Yesterday the one American man in our party got one of the old blind ladies up to dance with us and the others said they had never seen her so happy. The favorite songs we sing are Jesus Loves Me, This Little Light of Mine, Head Shoulders, Knees and Toes, The Hokey Pokey, and Jingle Bells.I'll tell more about today in a bit.

Today I spent my first hour and a half bathing and dressing toddlers and then going with them to their classroom at the school. Agnes works with at least 22 children who are probably somewhere between 18 months and 2 1/2. After time in chairs singing and chanting they march in a sort of conga line to the toilet...which is really just a drain into which they urinate. The only flush toilet in the complex is adjacent to the room where we volunteers gather to leave our belongings and then to eat our lunch. Back in the classroom we got out about 15 toys...mostly broken and faded Fisher Price items. The children squabble over them a good deal and there is not enouh staff to teach them to share.

By then it was feeding time again and today I fed a girl of about 12 I'd say, who ate with a coming appetite. Actually I think she reflexively opens her mouth at the sight of a spoonful of food. But she ate a whole dish and a half of food. The dishes are stainless steel bowls, plastic spoons, and plastic cups. I wish for metal spoons and cups for sanitary reasons but Josie (one of the group leaders) says they have brought things like that before and they were put away unused. These sisters take the vow of poverty very seriously...for themselves and the children.

I had brought some sheer neon colored scarves and we took some of those along with some tiny bottles of bubbles and balloons to the women's room. That was quite a hit...especially the bubbles. They were just those tiny little bottles that people use at weddings. They were so happy with those things they didn't even ask for the Hokey Pokey.

The two brighter of my ambulatory boys came up to me as I was massaging a little one and were very interested in the writing on my shirt. So we had a little "reading" lesson using the words (and numbers) Salmon Jam 2004. Jammin' in the Park, Cordova, Alaska.. Well, maybe it wasn't actually reading but it was letter and number recognition. I think tomorrow I will take them to a side room and use some of the flash cards I brought to do a little more.

I'd better post this before the power fails again. I continue to support the local economy by having a massage daily. Tomorrow we will go to a Women's Craft Cooperative to shop after "work" so I will miss my massage. I realized when I got to the shop today that I had only 800 shillings with me. There is a Bureau de Change near here but I didn't even have my debit card. The one hour massage costs 1000 shillings and I usually tip the young woman 50 shillings more. So I told her that I could only get a half hour massage today because I had forgotten to bring more money. She insisted that she do the full hour and told me that I could bring the rest on Monday. What a trusting soul! I hope I don't die over the weekend so she won't be sorry she trusted me. 1000 shillings is about $13, by the way.

We have plans to go to an elephant orphanage and some kind of giraffe center on Saturday and to Lake Nakuru on Sunday. I hoped to find a Methodist service to attend but I decided that I would skip it this week to see 10,000 flamingos.

Mama Edna is actually in Nairobi

What an experience this is being. Today was our second day at Missionaries of Charity. I spent all but a few minutes in the room for severely disabled children. I don't think any of my training in autism or anything else has prepared me for this. The toddlers are wonderful and I enjoyed my few minutes bathing and dressing several of them. I also spent about 20 minutes in a second or third grade class having a math lesson.

Only about five of the children in the "handicapped room" are ambulatory. Those include BaBa, Colin, Columbo, and Thomas who rolls around in a wheelchair. I spent time again today with Baba, who is clearly autistic. He says nothing but babababa. Yesterday he hit aother child and snatched the ball from him. I said told him "No!" and gave the ball back to Columbo. At which point Baba bit me on the butt. Actually he couldn't actually get hold of flesh through my pants but he certainly tried. He calmed quickly, however.

Today more wrenching was holding a tiny child whose arms where no bigger than my thunbs. He is clearly starving. He cried when he was placed on the mat for me to massage him. is brow was so furrowed and he was crying in pain. Instead of massaging him I held him in my arms and stroked and rocked him with support for his head which was arched back. He face relaxed and he seemed no longer in pain. The sister came and told me to feed him and gave me a bowl of porriage. He nibbled at it but after a bit he didn't want to open his mouth. She had told me to feed it all to him and I tried. After a bit, however, he vomited it all out over himself and me. When the sister came back she said I should have only given him 4 spoonfuls. They said he vomits all the time. They took him from me and wouldn't let me hold him anymore because they were afraid he would get used to being held and comforted. I can only hope that he doesn't have to suffer for too much longer.

We are finally in Nairobi. We got into bed at the guest house a little after midnight. I don't know about anbody else but I slept like a log.

We went for our first visit to Huruma and the Sisters of Charity home. I don't care how much TV you have watched and how well you think you have prepared there is nothing to prepare you for the level of poverty here in the midst of great beauty. The Sisters are loving and caring and the children are clean and obviously well fed. I must say I have never seen anything quite like a king-size mattress type baby bed with nine severely disabled toddlers in it. Many were clarly delighted when we stopped to pat them and talk to them but others were too disabled even for that. I was most distressed by the flies that crawled on them and they were unable to brush them away. That is not because the place was not clean but there are goats grazing in the garbage dump just outside the gates of the home.

The baby room had at least 20 cribs with very sweet nondisabled babies, all probably under six months. Sister says they are brought to them shortly after birth by the police who find them in the gutters, garbage cans, etc. I fell immediately in love with a cutie named Gregory.

The Todders were in a yard with care givers. When we arrived the were standing at the gates peering out and reaching for us. When we came inside each of us was accosted by at least a couple of children wanting to be picked up. We did that,of course, but it is heart wrenching how they cling to you when you try to put them down...or you are holding one and another is trying to climb your leg.

We start work Monday. There are ten of us in our group including the two leaders.

more when I get a chance. Keep us in your prayers.

I Leave Tomorrow!

Everything is done in preparation. It's time to go to bed and wake up tomorrow to leave for Kenya. I can hardly believe it. I'm feeling a little like the kid in the Disneyland commercial a few years ago..."I'm too excited to sleep!"

You guys are awesome! You have helped me raise almost $1200 to support the children and women and families in Nairobi. It will be so thrilling to get there and see precisely what is needed and how your money will be best spent.

Keep checking back over the next three weeks and I'll try to keep you up to date.

Pray for us on our venture.