Where we stayed in Sololo

We stayed at the very nice (one and only I think) Hotel in Sololo called the Ramata Guest House! This photos shows the front. It was a nice clean, safe place to stay! The picture below is in the court yard were all are rooms were and were we all hung out for bible study's and were we shared thoughts about our day. We spent a lot of evenings playing Uno with the hotel manager and out drive Anthony.





They fixed us breakfast and dinner every day. Every breakfast was pretty much the same...Chapti ( a totilla type thing) with a Mendzi-which is kind of like a sopapilla. We got excited when they would have hard boiled eggs for us and bananas! It all was very tasty and the Kenyan coffee was excellent!
For lunch and dinner we ate the same food. It is a very Kenyan meal. Brown rice, Spaghetti noodles, goat meat mixed in with goat live, cooked cabbage, kale, chapti, newgali (almost like cream of wheat that is thick and sliced) and potatoes that where mixed in to a red soup.
This next photo is of the 'shower.' Where we washed up from the little shallow bucket. We got warm water from the pot outside the door that had a fire under it. The next picture is of Kathryn dipping water out for her 'shower.' The water that lands on the slopped floor runs out under the door to the a place where it drains in the wall. There is usually always a puddle there and in the morning this is where you spit your tooth past. I don't have a problem spitting in a puddle but its the smell of the latrines right next to you that gets the gag reflex going! The Photo in the middle is the latrine.
(Very bottom photos is the where we would was our hands and the other is a bannana- they were so yummy! )

Home Visit to Buke House!

The home visit is where I get to go met my sponsored child, Buke, and her family and see where she lives. I get to give her gifts from and visit with her, ask her questions. I have never been on a home visit before and was a little nervous about. Buke was still pretty shy at this point to which added to my nervousness.
This is her house. The use the dirt from an ant hill to mud the house. You say that's a lot of ant hills! No- ant hills in Kenya are as tall as trees sometimes so one ant hill will cover it! Sometimes they only have to use half an ant hill! you c an see that there is painting on the out side. This is created from ashes from the fire, red from the dirt and white is from a plant. I met Buke's mother as she came down the walk a ways to meet us. She is so pretty and young in her green and white dress as she holds Buke's four month old sister on her hip! She is so smiley and cute!
Buke had just put her beautiful dress on and finished washing up when she came out to greet us. Her face and hands where still wet! She wasn't as shy shaking my hand this time as she looked me in the eyes for quick second! She is so beautiful- she had an amazing smile!
Several of the neighbor kids have joined us as they want in on the excitement! There is one boy who is about the age of 5 or 6 who is carrying his 1 1/2 year old brother on his back! They all love getting their photo taken and then seening it on the pback side of the camera. It is probably to only time they have really seen themselves. Its not like they have mirrors or glass.
We were invited inside where we sat on little stools that were hand carved. They rise only about six inches off the ground. We visit awhile. Buke's father is a farmer and wasn't there to join us as he was out with the goats. Buke has to younger brothers who are in school and they were there for the visit. I asked d Buke what she likes to do outside of school. I was thinking like jump rope or hang out with her friends. She said she like to sweep and go get water.
Getting water isn't a matter of turning on the facet or even going to a near by well or pond. Right now because it hasn't rained for the last year and a half almost two years, all the water is dried up. So the women are having to make the 20K walk up into Ethiopia to get water. They carry water back in eight to ten gallon containers on their back that has a rope tied to the top and use that to make straps out of to carry like a backpack. It was a good reminder when Buke likes to go get water that this is the life they know and they are happy. They don't complain-they just do what they need to do and they enjoy life!
I gave Buke the things I brought for her- A bookmark with her name on it, paper dolls, a yellow ball, two hair ties, colored pencils, a note book, soap, and a jump rope. I think she was feeling a little overwhelmed by the visit and now the girts, but I soon saw the ball at school (playing with it with her friends) and the hair ties in her hair!
One thing I would like to mention on how awesome Buke is and how far she has come. Her family was unable to send her to school, that is why she is twelve and just starting first grade. It is neat to see that even though she isn't in grade four with most of the other girls her age, they still except her and they support her in going to school. Before starting school, Buke mainly hung out at her home of going to get water. She never really was around other children her own age. Since January, when she started school she has come a long ways in the social aspect and then being able to warm up to me through out the week is pretty awesome! I also want to share how smart she is- she is in the top of her class and hasn't missed a day of school! I think she will go far! I'm very proud of her!
The photo on the right shows her name by class one with having being in the perfects goal.


The neighbor kids looking at themselves on the camera! To the left is Buke's mother and four month old adorable daughter!

A Typical Day at the School

This is three of the class rooms out of the four. The school has grades one through four and will grow and build up to grade eight. Primary school has grades one though eight and then the children go to secondary school which is grades nine through twelve. Karbururi is growing towards this!

A day at the school would start with as arriving and start working on the living fence when it was the coolest part of the day. The school has a barbed wire fence around the school and we weaved in this plant called Euphorbia (I think that's how it was spelled) that grows great in Kenya. It's pretty amazing stuff, they cut pieces off of ones they find, we stick it in the ground and it grows! It will grow in really thick once it rains and this will keep the animals out of the school compound making the school safer place for the children.

We would then have tea! Chai- black tea with camel milk. It was yummy and a great time to visit with team members and with the school staff. In the right of this photo- this is Andrew, FH feild staff that works here with the school. He helps with getting children sponsored, translating letters to these children, etc. He is amazing with the kids and a great spiritual light the the community. Sitting next to me is Greg from the team.

We than had time to visit and play with the kids! My favorite time! We brought soccer (footballs) ball, Frisbees, jump ropes, and bubbles for the kids. The boys love the football! They were running all over the compound chasing the ball. Soon they organized teams. I'm hoping that they will develop rules soon to! I liked through the Frisbee around with some of the girls. It was also a good time to talk to them and learns some words and see if they would open up enough to speak English. Great time to build relationships!

We then had VBS (vocational bible study) with the kids. Kaitlyn would begin by teaching them a song-'Lord I Lift Your Name On High' One verse a day and be the end of the week they knew the song! It was fun watching them get into it- they like to sing.

Then a bible story would be read to the children. It is an amazing place to read the Bible- it really comes alive there. Like with the parable Jesus told about the man with sheep and one was missing. He would go looking for the lost sheep until he found it. These kids know exactly what this means and it is good for them to know that God is looking for them in the same way! That they each mean that much to God. At the end of the story, they would learn a new memory verse out of the Bible. The all would say it together several times to make sure that they got it!

While some of the team went on home visits- were you get to go meet your sponsored child's family and see where they live, others would work on the nursery. this is a plan to grow shade trees, mango trees, and veggies that the children will be able to eat. This is also a way to teach the children to grow food at home- called kitchen gardens- to supplement their diets. We saved all our drinking bottles to create a dripper system for the baby plants.

Some us on the team used this time to spend with the kids. It was nice because class was over for them. I ofter sat on the school stoop and would sing songs with them and let them play with my hair! This was a great way to reach out to the older girls and build a relationship with them. It is a challenge to come up with ways to bond and reach out to the children not using language. It uses a different part of your brain! It is also amazing how many universal languages there are though!

Back Home!

I have arrived home and have gotten over the jet lag! It is nice to be home- I have so many things to do that I don't know where to start! Brenda and Kara met me at the airport with a big sign saying ‘Welcome Home Stephie!’ It was so good to see them again! We went to Qdoba’s for super-very yummy!
I have decided to continue writing about the trip as I remember things that happened. I the stories I wrote there hardly touches all the things I see and experienced there- I hope to be able to share more. I will be able to add my own photos now! That will be fun to share them!
When we landed in DC- All I could think about was getting a McFlurry ice cream at McD's! I really don't eat them when I'm here but ice cream sure sounded yummy! Kathryn made a special stop for me! It was very tasty with the M&M's in it!
I think I see my life different now. I wish I was able to share how I now view my life but I am still processing it all myself. I do know that my faith in God has grown much deeper and I have a better understanding of how precious God’s people are to Him. How important it is to seek Gods guidance in everything I do- not just in what I think are 'big' decisions. God is very interested in every bit of my life and I need to seek Him through it all. I'm feeling a little disappointed in my self that I still have the same struggles here now as before I left. It is interesting to me that there are certain struggles that I didn't even think about once while I was gone but they were all waiting for me when I got back! I think that God has made me be stronger or maybe I am more willing now to be able to put up a better fight against these struggles. God sure has given me a great responsibility in many things; I pray that I won’t disappoint him.

I would like to introduce to you the wonderful team that I was traveling with. Starting with the front row-Jim, Katelyn, and Sarah. Second row- Carlee, Crissy, John (Crissy’s husband and our team leader), me and Kathryn. Back row is Greg (Carlee’s father). This is the plane we took from Nairobi to Sololo.

Before every take off, the pilot would pray. It was nice to have that time to once again remember why we were there and to make sure that we had the right focus. It was a good time to remember that we are so small and that we needed God with us to be any benefit to any part of this trip.

The flight was almost three hours flighing just above the clouds. It was nice to see the land below and where people are living. It was cool to see the base of Mt Kenya. The top was hidden by the clouds. Many people live at the base- it is pretty green there from the snow melt.

A plane landing in Sololo is one of the most exciting thing that happens there! Every body comes running as soon as they see the plan coming! Before we even go to the runway I could see the people running. Looking up and watching us come in. The school kids and men and a few women! When we unloaded the plane they were all surrounding the plan looking at us! So many eyes and no words! This is the first time I felt way out of my comfort zone as was made very aware of how white I am! We started shaking the little one’s hands and getting them to give us high-five.

Once we got in the Land Cruser the children came there looking at us through the window and putting their hands on the glass. I would hold up mine on my side of the window and they would grin and start to act shy again!
Once the plan took off to go back to Nairobi we were able to drive to the Ramata Hotel where we were going to call home for the next week. We placed our bags in our room, freshened up a bit and headed off to go visit the school! They had been waiting for us all day and were excited for our coming. I was excited to get there too, I was anxious to meet all the kids and get to know them. When we pulled up to the gate they were all waiting (176 children) clapping their hands and smiling! Many of their families came to welcome us as well and the Chief!

This in Buke (booka), My sponsor child. This is taken on the home visit were I got to meet her family and see where she lives. I will load more photos of her later.

Headed back to Nairobi

Good Morning!
Kathryn and I are headed back to Nairobi today. Our plane should be here sometime between 10:30 and 1:00pm! We are sad to leave our new friends we have made here but looking forward to seeing a bit more of Nairobi!
On Sunday we got to go to the part here and seen Elephants, zebras, water buffalo and lots of monkies! Was so awsome to see in 'real life!' having to drive around and find them-pretty cool!
Got some more work to do before we hear out today so will have to share more later!

More to add...

I finished writing my interview stories that Kathryn and I have been working on here so I have a little time to Write to you all while I wait for Kathryn and put our work together. I wish I could upload my photos for you t o see but will have to do that when I get to a computer that has a place to slide in a photo card. I don’t have my USB cable otherwise I could. Sorry about that.

One thing that has been really amazing to me is that there is so much live in the dessert. When we were driving here from Sololo- it seriously is nothing but sand and rocks out there and there is people out there living! Even more awesome then that- there is people that have such strong spiritual lives. It is so encouraging to me to see their great faith in God and God working. Last night Kathryn and I were talking about the verses in Lk 12:6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than the sparrows.” God see and knows each and everyone one this earth. I find great comfort in this. Even the little orphans and maybe everybody else’s has forgotten about- God still loves them and will reach out to their hearts. There are so many places here that aren’t even on the maps. Like Marsabit is a very large place and is the home to many and you can hardly find any info on it on the internet… But it is still important to God. This just really touches my heart.

The young man that took Kathryn and I around yesterday is an orphan and is now taking care of his brothers and sisters. Trying to get them through school as well as keeping them well nourished. He doesn’t have a jog- he volunteers for FH (which means they pay him some for him work and when they need him). He makes the best of it and continues seeking Gods will for his life. He is a happy man and remains optimistic! He wants to take us to where he goes to church tomorrow. We are not sure how it will all work out as we didn’t get all the details ironed out before we had to come back to the guest house. So we will have to see if he shows in the morning. Kathryn will also have a little meeting together tomorrow.

We are also planning to meet up with Anthony- our drive that drove up here from Sololo to go to the park here to see some of the wild animals. We are hoping that the drought hasn’t driven all of them away. We know that there are elephants close and hope to see them as well. At night we here gunshots- it’s the people trying to scare the elephants back to the forest and out of town. The elephants smell water here and see green gardens and trees to eat here and want some to eat! That’s why they keep coming back! Sammy, the man we are helping write stories for, was driving home the other night and found 15 elephants standing in the road and wouldn’t move out of the way! Twenty minutes later the local police were able to get them to move off the road! How do you like that kind of traffic conditions! So I’m late for dinner honey, the elephants traffic was bad today! Crazy ah! So we really want to see these huge creatures!

Our cooking at the guest house is going surprisingly well. We managed to create pan cakes this morning and they actually tasted somewhat like pan cakes! We made spaghetti last night and tasted pretty good. Our only seasonings we have is onions and garlic, salt and pepper. The other guest that is staying at the guest house with us laughs at our American cooking! That’s ok though- her rice and fried onions didn’t really appeal to us either! She is a sweet lady though; she works for FH as well and is a nurse by trade. She had five children and we love hearing her stories about her kids! Kids are the same everywhere- they fight with each other and pick on each other- then call their mom to tell on each other! Too cute!

Something funny about cell phones!

When we first arrived id Karuburi- The school put on a little welcoming performance for us. It was really nice- they introduced FH staff, the tribe chief, head teacher (Principal), and other important community members and well as introducing ourselves to every body. The children had practiced three songs for us. It was truly beautiful! So here I am in a bit of culture shock- I’m experiencing for the first time of being white in an all black community, like Kathryn says-it’s like being treated half way between a celebrity and a freak- people just stare at you. There are goats and chickens running around as we are sitting outside (I’m still processing that I’m actually in Africa) and Andrew is standing in front of us introducing every body in English and Barona when his cell phone starts ringing to the tune of ‘we wish you a merry Christmas!’ It was so funny and crazy at the same time!

Cell phones are great because the only require towers and not land lines and can be changed with a generator. So many people here have cell phones!

Well I can’t think of anything else to share right know. I hope my long stories haven’t bored you too bad. I so wish I could add photos. Let me know if there is anything you are curious about!

A glimps of Marsabit!

Good morning!

Yesterday- Kathryn and I were facing another day of working in the FH office. We were feeling a bit trapped as we have only seen the FH grounds here and we are unable to go out exploring the town and villages ourselves. So we were going a bit stir crazy! In the morning we were going around talking to a few of the workers here, one that is the head supervisor over the livestock and agriculture. Another who is over the health and nutritional needs. This department monitors children’s growth and weight in effort to keep children from facing malnutrition. Here malnutrition is looked at no serious then a common cold. FH is trying to educate that it is very critical to ones health and if not treated and prevented it can cause poor growth physically and mentally. This is a big job there in trying to reach and keep up worth all the communities around here.

The third lady we talked to is Clara- she is the supervisor over the HIV/Aids division here in Marsabit. She is nurse and social worker by tread and has now been working for FH for 6 years. This beautiful 33 year old lady is well respected around here and does very well in the communities around here. She invited Kathryn and I to go on clinic with here out in the field. Us being desperate to get out and see the country was excited and more the eager to except!

Three young men picked up the tiny Suzuki car and we zoomed off to a village about half an hour a way. This car is about the same size as my Kia and we were going up and down super steep inclines and bouncing over rocks and large as watermelons all the while listening to Beyouce on the fancy stereo!

It is incredibly dry here- the worst drought in twenty eight years. So we had to drive with the windows up to keep the dust out. It got very hot in eh car so several time we would pull over and to get out and cool off in the nice breeze. A couple times the car wouldn’t start again so we would have to get out and push the car until it would start again!

When we got to the first community- we watched the nurse that was with us test some of the people in that community. They take a drop of blood on a test strip, wait a few minutes and then get results. They will go back to this community in three months for retesting to get better (more accurate) results. The HIV/Aids team has been working in this community for a little while on education and counseling before the testing so that the people understand and know how to handle positive results. They will also offer support and treatment/comfort care to those who are affected and effected. They tested about 40 people there and about 80 percent of the results that day came back negative. So that is good that the Virus is not running to high there but is still sad that there is a few that have the disease and will have to face the road ahead with it.

The children in this community are not as good of health as the ones in Karburui. They looked weaker; many I could tell had untreated worms and were very malnourished. Hard for me to see but they were none the less sweet and cheerful and the others I have met.

One of the Volunteers of FH took us on a tour of the little community. There are a lot of orphans there and FH builds houses for them and well as a type of group home for them. They also have some of the most amazing gardens there I have seen here. Beautiful flowers and Fruit trees!

One man and his family that we stop by to see with there many children had an nice kitchen garden that he lived showing us! He was so please to meet us and excited that we stopped by to see his home that he wanted to give us some of his cail (lattice type stuff)! We were pretty touched by his gift…we know that times are tough here and that most people here view us as rich...but this man just wanted to share what he had with us! Neat to make that kind of connection with some in a community.

We then headed to a community were they were having youth camp of the week. We also did HIV/Aids testing there and got to tour the village! Also a pleasant visit!

Today Kathryn and I are hanging around the office working on our stories. We have a lot to do since we got to ‘take the day off’ yesterday!

Catch up time!

Sorry about not being able sent up dates more often! No electricity there let alone computers! I will do my best to fill in what all happened this last week.

We arrived into Sololo by a twelve passenger plane on a dirt runway. We did a pass over the runway before landing to scare the goats, cows and camels off it before making the real touch down. Once we had landed, it seems that the whole town was there to greet us! A huge crowd was surrounding us, Eyes staring, hardly a sound. It was difficult to know what to do. So between unloading our things for the plane and waiting for our ride we shook hands with some of the kids and smiled at the others. We finally got into the Land Curser and headed to out new home for the week...The Ramata Hotel! It was fairly nice. Kathryn, Carlee and I shares a room of three saggy cots with blue misquote nets above them. The "shower" was a little stale with a door and a bucket to put water in. the water ran out under the door to the sloped concrete outside and disappeared into a whole into the ground. The toilet situation was a pit latrine, a hole in the ground that liked to house cockroaches :( It had a nice little quart yard that was where we had bible studies every morning, talked with our group on how our day went (debriefing) and played many games of Uno with our FH staff driver, Anatoni and the hotel manager, Adan.

We went to see the school the same day we arrived for a couple hours. When we pulled up to the school yard, the children were waiting for us by the gate, all 176 of them and they were clapping there hands and chattering with excitement! It gave me goose bumps to see and here how excited they were for us to come!

We took a tour of the school grounds, There are four class rooms so far consisting of grades 1,2,3,and 4! They are hoping to continue to grow and add all the grades in time! They have two water tanks for the school only (the community has had to walk to Ethiopia for there water because it is in the dry season and their supply is gone). The water tanks will have enough water in it for another two or three weeks and then the children will have to bring their own. There is a tiny building that the four teaches and two volunteers use as their office and a tiny tiny cook house where lunch is served. There is a building in the far back part of the school yard that will soon be the new kitchen when it is finished. And last but important four Latrines, one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for the staff.

In the mornings when it was cooler weather (though we were blessed with mostly cloudily days:)) we worked on the fence that surrounded the school yard. It had the post and the three strands of wire up already. We then planted this type of plant the grows fast and thick (weaving it in and out of the wire) so that it with be added protection to the school, keeping animals out! We got 2/3 of it done of them so now they only have on side to do!

We also taught the children a song. Singing about praising God and appreciating Jesus! The children in return taught us some songs...waqi wandansa (our God is good) and Yayu eedhe yeso ordofoa (I have decided to follow Jesus). Kathryn did out hygiene presentation and taught the children about worms, the importance of hand washing and feet washing, etc.

Our team also worked on helping expand their garden. In a few years they should have mango trees and a good size veggie garden if it goes well. We learned a lot from these dear people and I think they may have learned some form us! A successful trip.

One thing that is so awesome to me is that these people work incredibly hard, walking 6miles to get water, hardly have enough to eat... but they are so happy and have so much joy and hope! I really appreciate that form them!

We brought a couple soccer balls (footballs!), jump ropes and Frisbees! It was fun playing with the kids and watching them! They were all over that compound with the footballs! I hope they learn to set teams and some rules! The boy really enjoyed the game!

I got to meet Buke (booka) my sponsor child! The first time I met her she was incredible shy. She hardly looked at my when I shook her hand and then disappeared at first opportunity. I got to visit her at her home (hut) and meet her family. Though she was still super shy she was warming up slowly. Buke is the oldest child. She had two younger brothers and a four month old baby sister and is smiley and cuter then ever!

Buke liked the gifts I gave her. She brought the ball to school the next day and she was using her hair pretties! She ended up warming up enough to hang out with me by the end. Before we left on our last day she told me that she didn't want me to leave. The melted my heart! I didn't want to leave either.

I miss the children already. Their smiles and singing! They are so sweet and amazing!

I want to mention about our food! We and Mandazi (like sopia's) and chapati (torttila like things) for breakfast- every morning! A couple times we had hard boiled eggs! we got excited about that! Lunch and Dinner were always the same...Rice, noodles, goat meat and live, kale, this potato soup stuff, and ugali (like cream of wheat only in super stiff form)! So after a week of that Kathryn and I were excited to have peanut butter and jelly!

Our team went to Nairobi on Tuesday. It was a weird feeling watching them take off inthe plane with out us. Totally left behind in the middle of no where! We did fine. Antony Drove us to Marsabit and did excellent with the horrible roads. So we now are here in Marsabit at the FH guest house. We’re super excited about flushing toilets and an actual shower! Such luxury! We are cooking for ourselves now to with what we could find at the market. Last night we had a form of French toast and mashed potatoes. Tonight we had chapati with advacatoes, tomatoes, beans, and fried potatoes. Nice to have different flavors!

Here in Marsabit we are interviewing people who have graduated form the child sponsorship program. Has been nice to meet these people and see what they are doing with their live and for their community. Good to see that it does make a difference!

it was nice this morning to have a bible study with some of the FH staff! A nice way to start the day!

Well I have wrote enough for now!

I wish I could up load some photos- but this computer isn't equipt. When I get back!