Faces of the Children

Every single one of the kids is special, but there are some I am quite attached to, usually because they try so hard to get my attention or they behave so well, or they flash me the most beautiful smiles. These are some I would take home with me if I could. Most pics were taken by Laney, Ellie, Tamara, Paul, or Anna.

Back-to-School

This past two weeks, we have entered our second quarter of the new school year. With the new term, my schedule changed a bit, but not too much. Here is what a typical day looks like for me:

7:15 am Morning Devotional
8:15 am Breakfast at Wageni House (where I live, the Guest House)
9:00 am Morning Enrichment with the toddlers (walks, talks, swings, and books)
9:30 to 10:45 Free time to read or check email or work on projects for the teachers/directors
11:00 am Tutoring Amos in numbers, alphabet, reading, writing, small motor coordination
11:45 am Set up lunch for and eat with JSS (Junior Secondary Students, ages 14 to 20)
12:40 am Tutoring small groups of JSS students in math, science, grammar, and Bible
1:50 pm Time for working on extra projects assigned to assist teachers, Education
Director Brandon, or Childcare Director Carolyn
3 pm Enrichment with all ages (books, walks, swings, games, free play)
4 pm Free time
5 pm Dinner
6:30 pm Enrichment in specific cottages, Mon-Thurs (reading books to all ages)

7:30 pm Evening Devotions (once per week, we are assigned to join specific cottages and
assist the mamas with devotionals

8 pm Walk for exercise with Ipod
9 pm Read or computer
10:30 pm Bed time

I particularly enjoy tutoring Amos in the morning, and the JSS students in the afternoon. The 6:30 pm devotionals are fun too. These are the times when relationships are developed the most, and I become very attached to the kids. I will truly miss them. They crave affection and attention (don't we all?), and they are all very eager learners. They bring us great joy, and I wish I could take a few home with me.

I do miss painting with the JSS girls, but now that a Kenyan Vocational Arts teacher has begun working with them, we MM's are not needed so much in the class any longer. It was fun while it lasted, though. Soon, the girls will be making jewelry made of cow bone and beads for export to the Rafiki Exchange in the U.S. It's an exciting time, and they are proud when they sell their work to help the school.

Games Week

The morning after Mombasa, we started "GAMES" with the 3 year-olds through the 10 year-olds. As I mentioned, we had been preparing for this big jubilee for weeks. We had even prepared special T-shirts with the kids' names on front and back, which took many weeks to complete in advance. They turned out quite lovely, wouldn't you agree?
The games themselves are designed to entertain and teach the kids during the time that school is out for 2 weeks every quarter. Thus, they require much scheduling, planning, and creativity. They range from such activities as Reading Enrichment to Relays to Orienteering to Scavenger Hunts. Each of us was responsible for planning and leading about 5 or 6 sessions of about 45 minutes each during the 4 days of games.
My assignments were all with the primary school kids, ages 7 through 10. I was responsible for designing and leading sessions in Reading Enrichment (I read Winnie the Pooh stories), Vocational Experience, Painting to Music (Vivaldi, Bach, and water colours), and a Scavenger Hunt. In addition to planning and leading seven sessions under these headings, I also enjoyed helping the others by assisting with their own sessions, like Brandon's science experiment and Laney's relays.

For our Vocational Experiences, I chose to take the kids to visit the outdoor professions. We met with John in the Shamba, or garden, as he described his work planting the produce for our village. Then we visited both current construction sites--the new Primary School where the ground was being prepared to pour the concrete foundation, and the new Junior Secondary School, which was being roofed that day. Also, the guys inside were throwing plaster on the interior walls, which was fun to watch. Tamara took the kids to visit the clinic, as you can see from the photo above where they are playing doctor.

My scavenger hunt required the most work, as I followed Laney's example in creating little poems with the clues for the 12 stations. My theme was "God's Cool Living Things", and the stations were designed to teach the kids something about plants (8 stations) or animals (last 4 stations). Examples of plants included the Plumeria trees, from which the fragrant flower is used to make Hawaiian "lei's" and Bouganvilla vines, with flowers in all colors blooming all over campus. We also have Hibiscus, ferns, banana trees, Norfolk pines, Aloe Vera, marigolds, and so forth. This is indeed a tropical paradise. My last station was a spot in the Village Park where I hid a green plastic bucket full of shells and dried coral species that I had collected for them on the beach at Mombasa. Everyone was able to take home a shell or piece of coral. I only wish they could visit the beach and see its beauty for themselves.

Good-bye to Mombasa

I'm posting photos from sunrise on our last day, April 9th. I set the alarm and woke up at 5:30 in order to hit the beach before the first light of dawn. It was a cloudy morning, but I still enjoyed the hour. As the sun rose above the ocean on the horizon, a few other individuals showed up to run or swim. Igor from St. Petersburg came to swim. We had become endeared to him through Beach Volleyball. He was tall and athletic, with a great personality, and a great serve in VB, someone you would always want on your team. His wife was a tall brunette beauty, who didn't spend much time on the beach, but I did see her playing in the waves one afternoon. That morning, he offered to take my photo with Tam's camera. Then he invited me to swim out in the early morning high tide. We swam past the buoy boats anchored there, and kept on going. When I felt timid about swimming to the second reef, I told him to go on, and I swam back. It was an invigorating way to start my real birth day!
The photos of Mombasa "Old Town" were taken by Tamara, Ellie, and Laney on the Saturday two days before, our first full day at Tiwi. That was the day the girls hired tour-guide Fred and saw the sights they had read about in the Lonely Planet guide book. (I chose to spend that day at the pool and beach, just relaxing, reading, and playing with Mercy and Jael in the afternoon.) They said they adored their guide Fred, who even took them to meet his family on the way back to the hotel. The town looks colorful and intriguing. Notice the rich spiritual heritage in the dress of the people and the architectural shots. You will see an ornate Hindu temple, a Muslim prayer tower, and a couple shots of Fort Jesus on the beach. Mercy says the various religions in Kenya coexist side-by-side peacefully. The elephant tusks are a famous landmark of the city. The gang also visited a crafts center for the handicapped, named Bombulu, from which they bought my turquoise birthday necklace/bracelet set. Another stop on the tour was a well-known spice market, hence the colorful spice jars.
Finally, I've added a few shots from Monday afternoon, just before we said "Good-bye" to Mombasa. I discovered that I don't have Paul's moon shots from Easter evening yet, sorry. Also, note that Mercy and Jael left early Monday morning by bus back to Nairobi. Fortunately, we flew both ways, leaving Friday at 5:45 am and returning at 8:30 pm Monday, which gave us more days on the beach. Enjoy these!

Last Night in Tiwi Beach

We celebrated my birthday on the night of Easter, our last night there. The gang surprised me with the staff singing as they paraded out of the kitchen with a cake. I haven't had that happen to me in more years than I can count. The serenaders seranaded as well, and a good time was had by all. It was a hoot! Then we watched the free African Acrobatics show in the commons area near the pool. Incredibly strong young gymnasts/dancers. I was blessed with fond memories and good friends! Thank you for a memorable 29th birthday! BTW, the photos are mostly Laney's, although Ellie must have taken the one of me with Laney, and Mercy sent me the last one with Jael, me, and the singing waiters. To cap off the evening, Paul, Mercy, Jael, and I went to the beach to watch the moonrise over the ocean at 11 pm. Paul was able to photograph it. I'll include the moonshots in the next entry, a collage of our trip over 4 days.