Anika, from Give Us Wings was here last week to check on the progress of the building project in Ilkiloret and meet with Grace. It was a whirlwind visit as usual but we accomplished everything we needed to. We went down to Ilkiloret in a pick-up truck with what I thought would be the last supplies needed. Unfortunately, when we arrived we were told they were missing one fascia board and needed 3 more tonnes of cement! So on Friday I sent a truckload of sand and the board and a few other small things down to the site. The transporter who has hauled the stone and sand for this project has a lemon of a truck that he gives me anytime I don’t have a huge load to haul… the last time it went they brakes had problems, this time it overheated. The truck left Ngong at around 9:30 am and arrived in Ilkiloret around 4:30 pm! At least I didn’t travel with it this time!
Friday evening we took a break from the chaos of our lives to go have dinner with my new friend Jill, a retired American early childhood special Ed teacher who is working for the Methodist church here in Kenya. We met in the line at the supermarket and discovered that we are both mzungus (foreigners) who use public transport… this is not the norm for mzungus who reside in Kenya. Jill invited the kids and over for pizza. However, when we arrived at her house she told us that she didn’t have power and her oven is electric. So we rounded up enough pasta (some Kenyan friends were staying with her) for all of us. I had brought fixings for a Greek salad and we feasted like kings and queens by lantern light. It was a wonderful evening and a nice way to start the weekend.
Saturday was Wezesha’s Thanksgiving Celebration at Kimuga Farm. It was a wonderful day. Many of our Maasai neighbors and members of the Ilkiloret community joined us.
We gave certificates to all the children for their hard work over the past year. Their guardians had all been invited and came up to receive their certificates with them. The certificate read:
Wezesha By Grace
Certificate of Excellence
Is hereby granted to:
Child’s Name
For outstanding performance in Class/Form
Way to go Child’s Name. Then something like, Keep up the good work. We are so proud of you.
The audience participated by saying “Way to go” and “We are so proud of you.”
The kids beamed - even the big kids!
A testimony was given by, Peter, the man who owns Testimony Hardware (where we got some of our materials for the construction project in Ilkiloret) and who was once given funds for college by Grace and John about how important it is to empower youth with education. He used his life and success as an example of what can be accomplished with hard work and a helping hand.
Grace, Janet and I spoke about the progress for Wezesha in the last year.
A pastor spoke and there were lots of prayers and praise.
A nice lunch was served. It was a fun day. The weather even cooperated to give us a pleasant day.
On Sunday it was back to Ilkiloret with Njenga to make sure the fundis would be finished on Schedule on Tuesday. And to plan a walk thru of the site upon completion.
Monday, December 12 is Jamhuri Day (Independence Day) in Kenya. I had made plans to spend the day with my friend Bea, who currently works for the European Union in Nairobi. She adopted a Kenyan daughter five years ago. Zawadi, Bea’s daughter and Judie are good friends. We met Bea at Junction and bought some food while Omondi and Zawi went on a trampoline type thing in the parking lot. They put you in a harness and you can jump and do summersaults – it’s pretty cool.
Then we went to Bea’s friend Lisa’s house. Lisa works for Save The Children and also has an adopted Kenyan daughter. They live in a very fancy housing development near where Bea lives in Lavington. The kids played outside and after lunch they went swimming in the pool. The wind was a bit brisk so Judie, Bea and I decided not to swim. But Lisa and the kids jumped right in.
Tuesday morning Omondi had an interview at the Presbyterian primary school near our home. The full name of the school is Presbyterian Church of East Africa Enchorro Emuny Primary School… it’s a mouth full! Omondi didn’t do very well on his test. He got a 385/500, which is a low score for a private school. The principal said she was very impressed with how well he could read and they would accept him provided he came to a few weeks of tutoring before school started. That was fine by me because having him under foot all day is a bit more than I can handle. And miracles of all miracles…he loves to go to school! Today is just his third day, but I have to hurry to keep up with him when I walk him to school.
In the afternoon Grace and I and Omondi and Ian and Nyambura, Grace’s grandchildren all headed to Ilkiloret for the final walk thru of the classroom building. The fundis asked for a Christmas bonus… I didn’t give it to them. I did however give money to Janet who is no longer being paid for her work by Give Us Wings and has put up with a lot of guff from the fundis over the last few months. We are hoping to get her paid by the district literacy office… but just like in the US, all the government agencies are having to reduce their budgets…so at this point we can only pray.
On Wednesday Grace and I went to Joram GM Academy, a school in Matasi that offers boarding for primary students, to speak to the Kenyan founder who has just returned from many years of living in the US. He was late for our appointment and I had to pick Omondi from school. But while Omondi and I were apartment hunting in Ngong, I got a phone call from Grace saying that the founder wanted to speak to me and would I please come back. Luckily Matasi is only about 15 minutes by matatu from Ngong. He and his wife are career educators and they are looking to invest a lot of time and energy into the school now that they are back in Kenya full time. Grace and I are excited about the prospect of taking the remaining primary school children at the farm there in January. It is not very expensive and I can see that the children will be well cared for at Joram GM Academy. A big plus is that they have a clinic on their school grounds and an agreement with the hospital in Matasi to care for the students.
Omondi and I had no luck looking for an apartment; we might have to settle for a two bedroom versus a 3-bedroom. There is just not much available in Ngong. People are moving here in droves. We even talked to somebody about booking a space in a building that is still being built…so basically without seeing what it will look like – scary! But it is right up the hill from the Bounty Hotel and the Bounty has a gym and aerobics that are open to the public (for a fee, of course)… but that’s a huge plus for me. And it’s on the way to Judie’s school so she wouldn’t have to walk so far when she gets dropped off during her school breaks. It is a bit further from Omondi’s school, but I’m betting we could find some shortcuts.
Today I made an appointment to get a holistic massage. With so many trips back and forth to Ilkiloret over the past month, my back has really suffered. I’m hoping Omondi will behave himself, while I’m getting the massage because Judie is not here to watch him at the moment.
I sent her to Meru on Tuesday to apply for her identity card. She’s 22 and doesn’t have one yet. When she turned 18 I wanted to get her one, but people told me not to because she was still in school. Now the law has changed and she has to have one! In order to get it she needed her father’s id card. Finding him took some effort and then he complained that he didn’t have the $3 fare to bring her card to Nkabune where her grandmother lives. Judie was pissed. She told me later that she told him that he brought her into the world and that this was the least he could do after not supporting and caring for her for most of her life! I think we’re still going to have to pay at least part of his fare, but I’m proud of my girl for standing up for herself.
I had about half an hour to figure out the logistics for Judie’s trip. I first asked around the compound if anyone was going to Nairobi. Luckily, Sammy was headed to Ngong and then to Nairobi, so he called us when he was leaving Ngong and we headed up to the main road to meet the matatu he was on. Judie is an amazingly bright young woman but she is definitely not a city kid. So I needed Sammy to get her from the stage where the matatu from Ngong dropped her to the stage to go to Meru, which is only about 6 blocks away. My friend Justin, who drives a taxi in Meru, picked her up when she arrived around 7 pm and put her up in his house. His family has invited us to stay with them whenever we are in Meru even though their house is very small. Justin has been helping us for about 4 years and Judie refers to him as her Meru dad. He has even done school shopping with her and taken her to school when I’m not in the country.
Judie has been having a nosebleed on and off since Sunday. She is a big girl, I can’t force her to go to the clinic to be checked, but if she doesn’t go when she’s in Meru – she will go when she gets home! I’m sure her Meru dad will be all over that!
Please join me in prayer for her – that her journey is safe and that she accomplishes all she needs to. I’m really hoping she gets home before Friday evening. We have a fun weekend planned with my friend Jackie and her son Kyle and I don’t want Judie to miss out on a minute of it!
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