The Slums.....

Two days ago the girls and I had our worlds rocked and our hearts changed. We went and visited the 2nd largest slum in Kenya. Words cant describe what we witnessed, pictures cant either. Out of all the countries I have traveled too this is THE saddest place I have ever seen. there are over 500,000 people living in a place maybe as big as flat irons mall there sewage runs directly in the middle which is also used as water. There is one toilet for all these people that you have to pay 5 shillings to use. The houses fit 4 to 9 people and are about as big as a americal closet. We visited there school which was on a cliff when I story drop into garbage. In one classroom about the size of a one car garage had roughly 60 students, one teacher and one lightbulb. They were so excited to see white people in different classrooms we they would sing us songs, rap for us or read us a poem. In one classroom they sang a song about the hope of Jesus to get out of the slums, and it brought us all to tears. The smell was one that we will never forget that burns the eyes and makes you gag. Our tour guide was a Man name moses who runs a free daycare for parents who are trying to get jobs so they can provide schooling for there kids. He sat us all down and asked us to reflect on what we saw. We were all speechless. He asked us for advice on how to help these people and he had nothing. We left feeling completely hopeless and discouraged because nothing is being done ot help. SO we sat as a group and we have decided that we are going to make something happen, we are not sure what, or how big, or when. But we arent going to be like all the other white people who tour the slums like its a zoo and then move on, we are going to do something.

The girls are all going to come back with there own stories of this day and there own hopes and dreams, I pray that you all ask then to tell you! Support them! and join them to make a difference!!

Eunice's son jason was with us that day, he has been our tour guide for the last month. He saw how upset we were and left us with this story

there was a fishman walking up the beach, he saw that there was hundreds of fish washed up on shore slowly dying. He started throwing the fish back one at a time. He was question by a person watching "why are you doing that, you cant save them all" and the fisherman picked up one fish and said "it matters to this one" and threw it in the water.

We are going to figure out a way to throw the fish back in the water. even if it is one at a time and the problem seems so huge. He have hope that it matters to "the one fish" look at the 57 kids at tumaini, it matters to them.

One of our goals is to help get the rest of the Tumaini kids sponsered. Eunice cant get more children out of the Childrens home and out of the slums until the kids she has now are all fully sponsered. SO we are going to be asking YOU to help and do your part as well. We learned that some of our kids that we have fallen in love with were taken out of the slums as well, so its even more of a reason to get them sponsered.

We love you, we miss you. we come home in FIVE days!! we say goodbye to all the kids at tumaini today. I dont even know how this is going to be possible because they are our family. Thinking about leaving Joy brings tears to my eyes

we leave for safari tomorrow!! we are excited to have this adventure and some down time to figure out what has happen in the last month.

cant wait to tell you about all the animals we see!!!!!!

Hope

I have been pondering the idea of hope in africa for the last week. Eric the boy who is disabled from Nairobi's children home has been on my mind and what hope there is for him. I found out he has Cerebral Paisley, he was so malnourished I didn't realize that and I have many friends who have CP. I got the awesome opportunity to go to pick up a boy from Tumaini at his special school. His name is Kamoni and he was taken into Tumaini from THe same childrens home Eric is at. He also has CP but now he life looks completely different, he is almost able to walk, he is going to his own school for kids with disabilities. He is about to feed himself and play and he is really really happy. He sings which is the sweetest thing to hear. At his school there was 12 other students who has a huge range of disabilities. It was cool to see a very kind teacher who loves them and wants to help them thrive. It gave me hope for Eric and made me so happy to be a part of Tumaini which is sending Kimoni to this school. It gives me hope!

i dont know if that makes sense to anyone, but please know that daily myself and the girls get to experience seeing Hope in a way we never have before. Kenya is such a beautiful country and a lot of our fears of it are not true. A lot of the things we worried about most dont exist here. kenya has opened my eyes a lot. ANd the other girls too.

WE are all so happy to be here. we have 4 days left with the kids. If I wasnt living at home I would try to figure out how to Adopt this girl name joy who has stollen my heart.

We leave for safari soon. I Have been practicing searching for animals in a tree at the farm. i was convinced that there was a loan goat in the field and went on and on about how i am the best animal finder there is....but to my embarrassment it was a stump.... now i know how my dad felt with the "bear" he saw at yellowstone when i was a child =0) we love you guys!!!!!!

our love for kenya

hello!!! things are going really well here. We are all happy and mostly healthy. We have passed a cold from person to person for the whole trip which will hopefully die out soon! I had it for like 20 hours, but its gone now! woohoo!! We have really gotten used to life out here. We worked on the farm this morning picking beans and we found a really good lizard! The animals here have been so cool and we arent even on safari yet! we have 8 days left with the kids which seems like no time. Yesterday was a really good day, we got to go to the house and do dishes and laundry. Then we went to the school where the kids are at and teach them some games. it was so fun playing duck duck goose with them. Our meals have been fanastic and we all will miss our morning chai when we are gone. I cant wait to try and make it when i get home! Sorry its a short e-mail, but we have to get back to the Samba for dinner!!
miss you and love you!
P.S. sorry if I havent been able to e-mail any of you back, my email has been slow here.

Life in Kenya

The last few days have been very nice. We went to the market and got all of our gifts. It was quite the experience and We taught the girls the concept of "haggling" which is always hard for peoples first times. My first purchase I almost got ripped off but I got helped from our guide and got it down to a reasonable price. We left with everything we needed but it was exhausting!!!! but i am very proud of them all surviving for the most part =0) The next day the kids came to the farm to play for the day. It was relaxing to not have to travel on all the bumpy roads and have the kids come to us but endless soccer games, hair playing and playing this cup stacking game we all got pooped!! its been nice because we have to be back at the samba (the farm) before dark so we have all of our afternoons to chill, a lot of us (ryan!!) go to bed by 8pm everything even if we are being roudy in our room!! Last night some of the girls went stargazing in the field, well I went to bed and woke up around 2 am and rachel still wasnt in bed!! (we share a tiny bed, its quite funny) I got nervous and wondered if I should go look for her, but trusted she was with the other girls. Apparently they fell asleep outside and got poured on! its been rainy and cold the last few days. Today we went to the school and hung out with the kids. we are starting to get used to everyday life here and tomorrow we get to be cooks and make the kids lunch and deliver it to the school!! thank you guys for all your prayers and encouragement, this trip is seriously a dream. They girls get a long with such joy, we are truly a family here. love you all!
lala salama (goodnight)

Working on the Farm.....

Yesterday and today we have been changing it up a bit and working on the farm!! After such a hard experience at the Childreds home we needed a little break. Last night for dinner they slaughtered a Goat. I Didnt watch but most of the girls did! I walked out when they were cleaning out the bladder and intestines. Rachel, Ryann and I milked a cow!! it was quite the experience!!! And then we had that milk in our afternoon chai and we ate the goat for dinner. it was really good. I am really starting to like this all natural work for your food start of life style!! This morning we helped harvest the bean crop. It was hard work, we had to pick all the dead beans, then beat them all in a huge pile so they get out of there pods, then sift threw them all. It was very rewarding!!! When we were walking back rachel tryed to feed a cow (all of the animals roam the farm freely during the day. Goats, sheep, cows and 1 horse) and it started to follow her, then bumped her in the butt, it was so funny, then we got chased by the Horse named "rude boy ralhf" and Allyson ryann and I had to climb a water tower!! haha!!!

We are all happy and healthy! a few of us have colds but we are holding strong. Tomorrow we go to the market to get all of our gifts. I am excited! thank you for all your love and support!!

Nairobi Childrens home

Today was a hard day for us. We went to the Nairobi childrens home which is the government run orphange. There is 75 kids there but it can get up to 200. They have very little money and have about 5 staff per shift for the 75 kids. As you can tell it was very hard to see. About 6 babies on a bed for sleeping, many left to cry themselves to sleep. I walked into one of the rooms with 15 babies and one staff and there was a boy in the crib that stuck out to me. I got closer to his crib and I knew he was disabled. His name is Eric and 9 years old. I dont know what disability he has but he maybe weights 35 lbs, about 2 feet and can not walk or talk. The staff said he was rescued from his home becasue he was locked in a room not able to leave. I asked the staff if I could take him outside and she said yes even though he normally only leaves his crib once a day. I sat with him and my heart broke. To sit they put him in a would slanted chair with a block inbetween his knees so he doesnt fall forward. Leaving was hard to do because I left feeling helpless, but I am going to do something for him when I come home. I dont know what, but we cant let him live like this any more.....and Jon smith if you follow my blog, please know you are the first i am going to contact. we HAVE to do something.......

It's Ryann!

Hi everyone! Mi Familia and Friends :) i miss you all so so much! But i am truly having the time and the greatest experience of my life! The kids are the most amazing people i have ever met. i have learned so much already from them. Its so crazy to just see everything here and fully understand that this is what people deal with on a daily basis. I have just been praying that it goes from my head to my heart and that God would fully just use this experience to transform me mind body and soul. There is so much to say i could just sit here and tell you all day but i gotta go! I love u all and hope all is well at home! Mom next time i call u better be by your phone cus i need to hear your voice!!!!!!!! Sis and brother i miss you so much and cant wait to tell you everything, and nina! your roomate will be home soon enough. And aaroyo family i love u all and will call u as soon as i can to see how everything is. I miss u beyond words.i love u all so much! Muah Muah Muah!
Love,
RY

TUMAINI!!!

hello from kenya!!

WE MADE IT TO KENYA!!!!

hello friends
we had the longest days of our lives. out spend so much time on planes it was getting alittle ridiculous. Two of our flights had delays but we were already on the plane so we were stuck sitting on them for hours. but we made it here last night 2 hours after we were suppose too. We had a little miss communication with our driver james and he wasnt there to pick us up. he thought we were coming the next day. So we were thrown into figuring out the kenyan life really fast. we borrowed a phone from a girl to call him and then had to figure out where to meet. (chris, good thing you made me write down james number, because if we didnt I would have been SCREWED!!!) but we just had to wait an hour then a sweet driver james showed. he is a great man and enjoys doing transportation. We stayed at the Free Pentecostal guest house which was SO fun! it was kinda like a dorm and we were the only ones there. the girls are loving it here and so am I. we are heading to the orphanage today to get settled and meet our new family for the next month.

I am filled with so much peace. After how hard planning this trip was and how many times i wanted to give up, we are here, we are happy!!! I am totally convinced this was exactly what we were suppose to do.

We bought a kenyan cell phone to make it easy to call parents. so if you are lucky you might here our beautiful voices!! but if not remember NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS!! I dont know when I will be able to post next but I am sure I will have many stories.

Keep praying and we will keep on having the most amazing experience of our lives. deal??
Emily

P.S. how about that spain germany game???? SPAIN IS GOING TO TAKE IT!!! in amsterdam was funny because of all there world cup stuff, little to they know they are going to get there butts kicked!

Take off in 11 hours!!!!

we did it!!! we leave tomorrow at 11:30 and we have a lay over in detriot, Amsterdam then we will get picked up by James our driver in KENYA!!! the girls are really excited, we went through all our luggage, paperwork and money to make sure we are all set. So far no major problems except for I am going to get little sleep tonight, but i have the plane flights to catch up on that. hopefully we will be able to keep up on this a lot! Well my brain is fried and I need some sleep so I will write more tomorrow in amsterdam!!!

Emily

COUNT DOWN! 7 days!

We leave in 7 days!!!! Can you believe it?!?! All lost passports have been found, all shots have been taken, and all backpacks are getting stuffed. Believe it or not, after a year of planning, praying and dreaming, we are heading to Kenya!!!