it's me

Ok this is what’s up, I’m back home, school’s going ok, and things with my family are good. some bad stuff happened before I left and I’m still trying to figure that one out but for the most part things are good. I’m happy to be home my dog got so big its crazy she was so small when I left and know she has her last shots and everything, she’s up to my knees to.
So where gating ready to do some presentations soon that’s always good IV been flaking out but I’m ready to start buckling down. Well I’m hungry and have already been at school all day so I’m going to go talk soon.

nye

Until next time...

4-29-08

I don’t know what to say. Goodbyes are hard. I just sat in the house with my kids looking at a map of the world, answering all their questions about oceans, rivers, and continents. Little Boaz was curled up asleep in my lap like a kitten, and Christina was playing with my hair. They all wonder when I will return, and even next Sunday seems too far away to them. I put them all to bed, gave them a hug and a kiss, and the girls sang me a lullaby in Kiswahili. I definitely shed a tear, but they did not see it.

The kids here at Rift Valley will be the next teachers, nurses, safari drivers, and police officers. They are smart, and have the resources to go from rags to riches. Compared to most kids in Africa, they may actually have the opportunity to visit America as they dream so often about. They are incredible, and have found their way into a special place in my heart.

This will be my last blog. Tomorrow we will leave for Arusha, and spend a few days there before we fly out of Kilimanjaro airport on Friday. We will spend our final days shopping at the Maasai markets, watching a court case at the United Nations Rwandan War Tribunal Headquarters, visiting a baby orphanage/adoption center, tasting the local cuisine, and relaxing.

This trip was a huge success, and I want to thank everyone that helped make this happen. Lupe told me today she wants to go to college, and wants my help applying. Nye was almost in tears saying goodbye to his kids in kindergarten, and wants to become an English teacher and return to places like the Rift Valley. They have grown so much in the last month, and are two of the most special kids alive. This trip has inspired us all in so many ways, and as the sun is setting out my window; I will say my goodbyes to this incredible place. I know we all will return someday.

Jen

Funza

4-29

Today was the most miserable day in my life. All day long I sat completely discouraged about my effort so far. I wish I had interacted the tiniest bit more with the kids. As I tucked the kids in Manyara house into bed, they all asked when I will return. Neema, one of the three girls, was torn in two. She’s totally heart broken, it breaks my heart to see her cry. I will never forget her beautiful face. I cannot wait to return to the Rift Valley.

I’ll be seeing you soon.

Lupe

Ps- I found a funza in my toe today while I was scrubbing all of the dirt off my feet. A funza is a small white worm that usually lives in dry African soil. I was lucky enough to get one during the rainy season. It looks like a severely infected pimple-thing. There is a small brown dot in the middle of the swollen white tissue. Extracting a funza is much like removing a splinter. Except one must pop it, and then pull the whole worm out. The end result is a tiny crater left in the skin.

Speechless

4-29-08

I can’t put this experience into words. It was the most amazing thing that ever happened to me. Everything is so different. I don’t understand how a country this beautiful with as many natural resources can be so troubled with poverty. In my three weeks of being on this adventure, I have witnessed people without limbs. Women as young as sixteen with a baby girl on their back, I have been swarmed by packs of grown men trying to sell me homemade necklaces made of bone. Children as old as five not being able to say their A,B,C’s in any other way than a song. But at the same time I’ve fell in love with forty-two kids in a three-week period. Not to mention the preschool I have been teaching at since the day I got here. Or the beautiful landscape with its scenery; I am speechless. It is unbelievable. As the end of my journey is near and things come to an end, one of the biggest things on my mind is the people that helped us reach our goal and sending them a giant ‘thank you’.

Nye

R.I.P

ANTHONY NICELS

-SLEEP WELL-

Two more days at Rift Valley

4-28-08

Two more days

Two more days in this beautiful country. I went to the crater yesterday and things went great. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The animals were great, the scenery was great, and the drive out of the crater was amazing. I was on top of the world.

The feeling I had can’t be put into words, let me just tell you that I felt so small in something so big. I realized how beautiful the smallest things in life are, like a tree or a smile. I realized that the world won’t stop for any thing. When I was driving up that mountain it was a culture shock all over again. I’ve never seen any thing like it in my whole life. Now I know why its one of the seven wonders of the world!

Nye B

R.I.P.
BODY.

Mirror Images

4-28-08

Despite the fact I am standing on the soil of Africa, it amazes me each day how my experiences, relationships, and love for the kids here parallel the connections I have with my students at the Phoenix School. Although the kids here are all orphans under the age of thirteen, eat with their hands, take bucket baths, have ring worm, speak Kiswahili, and own one pencil for school--they all amaze me just as much as my students in Roseburg who have a family, are in high school, use silverware, have clean running water, speak English, and drive cars. Whether five years old or fifteen years old, rich or poor, clean or dirty, black or white, in America or Africa, sick or healthy, shy or outgoing, tall or short, orphan or not--kids have so much love to give.

Learning opportunities for life’s lessons present themselves every day and in a variety of situations, and I am discovering that many of the conversations I have with five year olds are simpler versions of those I have with fifteen year olds. Whether it is a kid at the orphanage stealing a marker from his “kaka” (brother), or a high school student stealing cigarettes from a convenient store, the same lessons to be learned are still at the core of the issue. I am discovering that I have a love for working with youth of all ages, and the core of what it means to be a teacher does not change from one age group to the next. Tomorrow will be incredibly hard as it is our last full day to spend with the kids.

Jen

Heartbreaking

4-28-08

My last day of helping teach at Cheke Chea was more heart breaking than I ever thought possible. To think that almost none of the children will remember me, but I will remember all of them is a complete nightmare! I hope for the BEST for all of the children I will be leaving behind.

On the other hand, my heart raced like never before when Jen and I took a long journey to the cornfields near the Oldeani lookout. Every little peep made us jump. We came to a long stretch after we turned a sharp corner. I glanced at, what looked to me, a water buffalo. It was simply a cow being herded toward the great oasis.

That Nye must have some voodoo powers. He cursed Jen that if she took a walk, bees would attack her again. Two minutes later, a bee landed on Jen and stung her in the arm!

Lupe