Reika:“Is there a chicken under our bed?”
Caitlyn: “HAHAHAHA no wonder your allergies are so bad.”
This week Reika and I ventured off to the villages. We learned what it meant to live without running water (which meant no showers for us), had a 4:30am alarm clock from Mr. rooster and the baby cows, learned how to milk a cow, became professionals at killing flies, woke up from nightmares because of the mosquito nets falling on us and the cockroaches in our bed.
Reika and I learned what it meant to live a very simple life. We weren’t even able to see our own reflection for a whole week, which isn’t that long, but when you are used to getting ready in front of a mirror everyday…it really is. We lived with a beautiful family that, by the goodness of their hearts, took 24 orphans into their home, and support 170 orphans in the boarding school that they started.
We started our morning bright and early. After having chai and a piece of white bread, we headed to the school. We started off with the little pre-schoolers. They were precious. We played with them during recess, and helped them with their ABC’s in the classroom. The children LOVED to dance and sing. They were full of little songs and dances, and I believe I got them all on video. We quickly fell in love with them. The teachers were precious as well. Their love for the children was evident in every action they made. They had so much patience, and a child like spirit about them. We played with the children until lunchtime. After lunch we helped out with some of the P.E. classes for the older kids. This consisted of kicking the ball around in a circle or playing volleyball for the girls, and soccer for the boys. At 3pm the school director gathered all the girls, ages 12 and up, for us to talk about “girl stuff”. We had them give us characteristics of what they want and don’t want in their future husbands. We also covered the topic of abstaining from sex before marriage, and answered a lot of questions. We soon came to realize that, in the Kenyan culture, the parents don’t find it their responsibility to talk to their kids about these issues. I really love public speaking, so I enjoyed every part of it. The following day we talked with all the children ages 10 and up on hurtful words, gossip, and forgiveness. When we walked into the room we were faced with 200 children pilled on top of each other in a tiny little classroom.
Every evening we would return to the orphan home where we would have a cup of chai, and then we would go in the little hut of a kitchen and help prepare dinner in an 18th century style. Everything was made over an open fire in a clay pot. It always smelled so good. I do believe that the kitchen was my favorite place on the property. I felt like I was Cinderella in the kitchen, without the being forced to work aspect.
At dinnertime we ate to the sounds of all 24 children singing songs in Kipsigis and playing the drum. It was such a beautiful sound. It brought so much joy to my spirit. A couple of night we went in their room to watch and sing-a-long. They loved quoting scripture for us as well. It was so sweet. The orphans really have my whole heart. God has made them my passion. Our meals consisted of the same thing…Ugali, rice, cabbage, beef stew, and fresh milk. By the second day I really started liking the ugali, but the milk and beef stew I never really acquired a taste for. Although, Reika said that it was the best milk she had ever tasted.
The third afternoon while we were in the school we just happen to hear a bunch of children singing. We decided to check it out. It was the children worshiping the Lord completely student led. And let me remind you that these children were from the ages of 4-14. It was one of the most powerful experiences that I’ve felt since being in Africa. I had chills all the way up my spin. When they prayed it was like they were crying out from the inner parts of their hearts, and when they sang, it was one of the most beautiful sounds that I’ve ever heard. It just reminded me of the verse 1Timothy 4:12-16 “ Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers…” God uses children to change the world. I truly believe that I saw God in the faces of orphans that afternoon.
The last 24 hours consisted of more laughter that I have experienced than the whole rest of my trip. We woke up around 6:30 to go milk the cows. Upon getting out of bed I realized that my foot was in an extreme amount of pain. I looked at it and quickly realized that it was very infected from the 2in. thorn I had stepped on the week before. I just ignored it, and I prayed it would go away. Reika was also having a rough morning. The first thing she said to me upon waking up was “Do my eyes look swollen?” Upon looking at her I immediately broke into laughter. I could hardly even see them. Not only were her eyes swollen from her allergies but she had two huge mosquito bites on one eye lid. And let me also remind you that we still had yet to shower. I was at the point where I could actually smell myself.
When we got to the cow pasture Reika was the first to give it a try. She made it look easy. After she decided she had enough it was my turn. I got in the correct position, placed my hands on the udders, and gave a pull. I quickly realized that milking was not for me. I could handle the front udders, but when trying to milk the back ones I’m pretty sure I threw up in my mouth a little. It makes me cringe just thinking about it. When walking back to the house I looked up from walking because I heard Reika say, “oh shoot”. The Director of the orphanage turned around to make sure we were okay, but quickly turned to the front again when he realized that Reika’s skirt had fallen off. He was so embarrassed. When she saw him looking at her she said, “oops…sorry this thing just fell off.” When I realized what had happened I was trying to hold in my laughter, but wasn’t doing a very good job. Especially when I realized not only did it fall off, but it had fallen into cow poop. Reika and I are both dying of laughter now just writing about it. As we sat down for lunch Elijah, the director, asked if we had slept okay. The reason he had asked this is because the previous night a fly and a mosquito got under our net. And Reika had just finished securing our whole bed to be sure that nothing got in. Reika was freaking out and trying to make me give her my book so she could kill them. I very respectfully said, “no way, get your own book.” As the mosquito got closer she got more nervous and started asking louder and louder as I was laughing harder and harder. Eventually she got her own book, and the next thing I heard was a loud SMACK. After about 5sec. we heard a knock on our door. It was Rachel saying, “Is everything okay in there.” Apparently Elijah had told her, “O my, what is going on in there. Rachel, please go check on your daughters.” I’m sure it sounded like we were fighting and then she just hit me. We responded, “Ohh, we are just fine. We just killed a lion.” She laughed, and then told Elijah, and then he laughed even harder. He had informed us earlier that day that a mosquito was even more dangerous than a lion because it takes so many more lives (from malaria)…so we started calling mosquitoes lions.
After playing with the kids for a while we had to say good-bye. It was so sad. I think the teachers were actually more upset than the children. They gave us about three hugs each and walked us to the gate. They told us that the children had said that they wanted to cry. We told them that we promised to return before going back to America. It was such a sweet moment.
Upon getting back to Tenwek we both took a deep breath upon walking into “our home”. I slowly limped in the door, because my foot had increasingly gotten worse. I then decided to go upstairs to see our neighbor, Mary, to assess the situation. She told me I needed to soak it in water. As I soaked it I felt like the pain was increasing. I tried elevating it, and it still killed. I was able to get on the internet, and after asking my sweet mom to pray I asked her what I should do. She reminded me that I live next to a hospital and I know all the doctors first hand. I called my supervisor, Amy, who sent her husband over to check it out. He is a doctor in the hospital. Upon entering in the door he had a look on his face of “what have you done now?” I smiled as much as I could and said, “help, I hurt my foot.” By this point my toes were going numb, and I was having trouble breathing. He looked at it and told me to get ready because what he was about to do was going to really hurt. I grabbed a pillow and after covering my face, I gave him the okay. As my eyes watered a lot and I screamed into the pillow, he pushed the infection out of my foot. When he stopped to take a break, I looked up at Reika and started laughing because she looked as if she was in more pain than I was. He grabbed my foot one more time and pressed as hard as he could (Thank God I have a high pain tolerance). When he was done I could not thank him enough. The only pain I felt was the pain from the bruise that I now have from him pushing so hard. All the pressure was gone. I could walk, and I was able to get a perfects night sleep. For all who knew about my foot…thank you for praying. The Dr. came about 10min. after I had informed my mother, whom I am sure e-mailed her entire address book to pray for me haha.
Reflecting on this week Reika just reminded me of how pure the people and children in the villages are. She said, “I would hate to see someone come over and westernize these people. They might seem like they have so little, but really they have everything that they need.” They have been given a family, food, clothing, shelter, and an education. They live such simpler lives, and since they do not know anything else, they are happy with it this way. The children can entertain themselves all day long just by having old painted tires to play with, a few pieces of string they use as jump ropes, and their voices to sing. A child elsewhere would never be content with such a small amount.
I'm so glad you sent me this. I miss you and these times we got to have together so much. love you.
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