First days in Nyeri

Salvete omnes!!

On the road leaving Nairobi

We set out yesterday from Nairobi and arrived in Nyeri at Tumaini Children's Home after a two hour drive. That drive included people selling their wares ON THE ROAD, three cars driving side by side on a two lane road, and a fun game of "I'm going on a trip and I'm taking with me..."

We took a side trip to a curio which was an INTENSE experience for me. The people there follow you around and explain everything to you about items that you might be looking at. Then, should you desire to buy something, you MUST haggle down the price! You know you're doing something right if the manager is called over. Julie, who clearly binge-watches "Storage Wars" was the veteran of the group and had the pleasure of dealing with a manager.

As I looked out the window throughout the trip, I was struck by the beauty of the nation and its people. There is also some sadness there once you observe some living situations and the people working on the road; but there is beauty in even that for me, as I see strength and perseverance in God's people, and industriousness in the manner in which they find a way to work and earn a living.

Arriving in Nyeri

Once we arrived at Tumaini, we were introduced to Eunice, the day to day manager, as well as several elders of the parish. At dinner we went around the table and introduced ourselves, and I was struck by how the elders introduced themselves. Their identity is so closely associated with their faith that they say something like "I am ___ and I am saved by Jesus." I wondered at the beauty and courage of that. We dined with them and had a mini-sermon presented to us by Nicholas, the main pastor of the parish. His words were based off of Matthew 16:24, asking us to contemplate what we have denied ourselves to be here and perhaps what we are able to deny ourselves that we have not yet.

After dinner we settled in to our apartment which consists of 4 bedrooms, 1 toilet and 1 bucket. Luckily for us, we have 6 people!

Faith

Today (Sunday) we attended 1.5 church services and introduced ourselves to both congregations. We only went to a small portion of the second church service which was in Kikuyu. After church we had a meeting to determine the plans for our time here and were finally able to play with the children. While I did feel like a prized moose at auction for a little while (i.e. I was stared at), I have found it rather easy to engage and play with the kids. You quickly find yourself thrown into several different games with rotating groups of children. I played futbol with a real ball, then futbol with the innards of a deceased ball, then "one touch" with that same deceased ball, and finally some handclapping games. At one point a boy named Victor tapped me on the shoulder and tried to pin it on someone else. I decided to chase Victor, but this may have been a bad plan as two other children have tried the same trick, clearly wanting me to chase them. I guess I'll get in some HIIT (high intensity interval training).

I am already amazed at the children, but I cannot yet put into words what I am thinking or feeling. I just hope I can remember names apart from outfits tomorrow! I am looking forward to even more time with them tomorrow.

By the way, the things we took on our trip were: ascot, banana, cow, dung, elephant, fruit cocktail, goat, hibiscus, ibis, judge, Kenyan, load, mountain, nickel, odor, peanuts, quorum, rhinoceros, snake, toys, undergarments, vitality, xylophone, yaya, zydeco music.

Until next time,
Ex animo,
Stella aka Ngwaci (sweet potato)

Today's feelings in GIF form: