FULL,FULL,FULL,

I ate 6 servings of spaghetti and there was still like 7 servings of spaghetti left. Dad, Carly, Mom, and I went down to RVA and Carly and I went down to the playground and Mom and dad went the long way.

Adam


It was another action packed morning with the four regular boys at the children’s ward. Samson, Richard, Nicholas and Dennis keep us all busy. They are typical little boys and we have grown very fond of them. They are usually waiting at the entrance to the ward when we get there at 0800 hours. They sure make us laugh. Nicholas has been saying goodbye at noon with, “See you tomorrow!”. They like to play Bingo and call out the numbers in English. Samson’s Dad is a Masai guide at Masai Mara Game Park, so his English is pretty good. We enjoy visiting with him. He is so friendly. Dennis’s Mom is a beautiful Christian women. One day she and her friend called Adam over and asked him if they could touch his hair!!! The Africans sure love kids and Adam is a popular boy with all the adults!! I can usually get a good laugh out of the kids as soon as I try to draw something on the chalkboard or make something with playdough. The other day, James called my horse that I had drawn, a rabbit!!(in Swahili). They really don’t believe me when I say my name is Lori. A lorry here is a truck!!! It’s even more hilarious when I tell them my husband’s name is Gary. A Gari here is a car!! And then they can’t remember who is the truck and who is the car.

The kids and I walked down to the Supa duka to get more oatmeal for breakfast and to a little shop for some beaded braceles. The kids had gone up to the library this am to exchange their 14 books that they had gotten on Monday for another batch. I wrote some letters today and mailed them so they will get home before we do! We took a walk this evening around the guard trail at RVA. It was quite windy and it had cooled off quite a bit from this afternoon. The last two days have been very warm and sunny.

We have been going to the devotion time every morning at 0800 hours. It is interesting to meet the nurses and staff. Every patient needs a guardian, so there is often double the people on the ward than there is beds for patients. Most often, children who are born disabled in any way are kicked out of the home (along with the mother) by the father. These poor women often keep their children covered up with blankets, etc. so that you cannot see the child. At Kijabe, thankfully they are loved and accepted and encouraged.
Mothers who accompany children to the hospital often leave a number of other children at home, along with cows, goats, chickens and gardens to tend. This leads to a lot of anxiety among the women along with the stress of having an ill child. My heart goes out to these women. Unfortunately, in Africa, the women do most of the work. It is a very hard life for women here. There is a very large hydrocephalus/spina bifida ward here at Kijabe. I have never seen cases to the extent that I have seen here. There is also the Crippled Children’s Hospital just a few feet away from the main hospital and they are constantly full as well.

Lori