Day Two

We woke up at 4:30 AM by the roosters, but we were exhausted and went back to sleep until 9, which is very very late here, as the children are up by 5:30 every morning with the sun.  

In the morning, we went to church in the school house, where the teachers led prayer, and the children all sang songs. Meredith played the guitar, and the sermon was all about our arrival as a miracle from God.

It is heartbreaking the amount of faith they place in us. They have no cars that work, so when the kids get sick, they don't have a means of taking them to the hospital. The kids all sleep  two to a bed, their dormitories are not complete, and this year they ran completely out of food, having to borrow from the local farmers. They have a contaminated well, and their teachers are paid just enough to live on. Yet, the school is one of the best in Kenya. The examination results just came out, and they got the 2nd best school in the Western Province. In is a formidable task the teachers have given us in asking for help.  We are 19 and 20 years olds, totally clueless, but we will do what we can to help.

The rest of the day we spent playing with the kids, and the excitement over the little gifts we brought was almost too much. They hadn't ever played with Frisbees or a baseball bat before, and they shrieked with excitement when we brought out the balloons. Duck Duck Goose was a big hit, and the children sat around us excitedly for over half an hour as we blew up a giant inflatable ball. The best part was when I got tired and sat down, all the little girls would come over and sit with me and smile, wanting to play with my hair.

The kids hadn't seen many cameras either, and they were very excited. They all giggled to see themselves on video, and they all wanted to be in pictures. They were so enthusiastic; the hardest part was getting them far enough from the camera to get a picture of more than one of their noses. :)

Here, I am so glad to speak some Swahili. The kids speak some English, but with our American accents, it is hard to communicate. I can understand enough to get by, and I explained a few games in my broken Swahili, wishing to learn so much more.

We'll be up at 6:00 AM tomorrow, so for now usiku mwema (Good Night).

-Laura

P.S. I have pictures, but uploading them is difficult, so I will try tomorrow.