Kat and Stephanie Intern Update

Jambo from Kipkaren! Kat and I arrived at the children's home this morning after saying difficult goodbyes to our friends at the Ilula children's home. We were greeted by all of the staff singing and clapping a greeting to us. To enter the grounds, we were handed a pair of scissors and asked to cut a rope that had been wrapped in flowers. We were each given roses and were able to greet everyone individually. Our room is right by the river and has drinkable water in the sink!!! We are so grateful to be here and were amazed at the warm welcome we received. After lunch, Kat went to visit the childrens school and speak with the director. I shadowed at the clinic and learned a lot about the common illnesses in this area and got a wonderful tour. The clinic has an HIV counseling department, an optometry dept, exam rooms, a lab, a maternity room and a dental room! We are excited for the opportunities that we will have in the days to come.

We send our love to everyone at home and will try to update later! :)
Steph and Kat

Kate Kerr Intern - Second Update

Jambo rafikis! It’s almost been three weeks here at Kipkaren and it seems that I wake up and experience something new everyday! Last Wednesday, I got the opportunity to go on some home visits to locals that are HIV positive. We stopped by the home of a man named Joseph and found that he was actually in the hospital at the time. We prayed for him with his family and today we got to go back and visit with him. It was amazing seeing our prayers in action. He told us that he had heard of our visit and appreciated all of our prayers and thoughts and that he had been unsure if he would even make it back home again. It was wonderful seeing him with his family and how much he appreciated the little time that we got to spend with him. I know if we keep praying and even greater things will happen!

Other then that, I’m still blown away by the beauty of my surroundings here. A few of us are planning a hike some weekend and some more long walks to explore even more of this area. I’m learning lots of Swahili and have even planned a devotion for the kids tomorrow night that is about 25% in Swahili! The last few nights have been enjoyed by a fire with the children. School is going really well, I’m enjoying working with the kids and getting a feel for the classroom environment here in Kenya. I’m still getting used to walking down the road and hearing kids yell out, “Hello, Madam Kayte”! Keep watching for updates there are always new memories being made!

Kayte Kerr Intern Update

Hey guys! I made it safely and have been loving every minute of this adventure. The facilities at Kipkaren are more than I ever could have wished for and the welcoming attitude of not only the staff and children but the community as a whole has been extremely overwhelming. I guess I will give you a little overview of what I have been doing over here. On Mondays and Tuesdays I spend the day teaching at Brook of Faith, the private school that the kids from the Children’s Home attend. I work with the baby class on Mondays and then class one, two and three on Tuesdays. It has been a joy watching these children learn and be patient with me since most of them are still working on their English and I’m working on my Swahili. On Wednesdays I go to the clinic and do home visits to people in the surrounding area that are either HIV positive or are suffering from a chronic illness. We visit with them and bring them a little positive encouragement while they share their stories with us. Thursdays and Fridays are spent at the public school in town, Chebaiywa. I teach mathematics to class six and class eight and then in the afternoons I teach CRE (Social Studies with a Christian flair) to class seven. It has been such a blessing being a part of the student’s lives there. They have so much potential and I am just starting to see their personalities come through now that they have gotten over the fact that I will be teaching them and that I’m white! Other than that my days are spent almost completely over at the Children’s Home, spending time with all the kids, learning how to wash clothes by hand, and sing and dance. The food is great and weather lovely. I honestly am having the time of my life and couldn’t ask for a better experience. I will tell you some more details and stories in my next blog…tune in!

Ann Pak is in Nairobi, Kenya :)

June 6, 2009

After 24 hours of being on a plane and layovers in N.Y. and London, I finally arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta Airport late yesterday night. Because of the higher altitude, my head felt heavy and it was a bit hot and humid inside the airport, but nevertheless, I was excited about being in Kenya! I passed through the VISA line without any complications and was ecstatic that both my luggage bags had made it safely to the carousel! :) As I made my way out to the general arrivals area, I saw a kind looking man (George) holding a sign that said "Mayfield Guesthouse" and underneath it in smaller letters "Kiprop/Pak". On my way to the guesthouse, I found myself scratching my left hand where a mosquito had already feasted, and noticed that the driver was on the right side of the car and we were driving on the left lane. I also noticed that the gates of the homes and buildings on the streets had some kind of barbwire, spikes, or shattered glass and quickly was informed by Michelle that homes were often broken into. Because it was dark those were my first impressions of Nairobi :) Today, despite my time conversions and efforts to avoid jetlag, my eyes opened at 3:30 in the morning so I got out my airplane pretzel snack and appeased my growling stomach while awaiting the sun to come up. I have a busy day ahead of me with Michelle and William in Nairobi, and I will be sure to blog/facebook about it when I get a chance! :) But I'm super excited to be here and am enjoying every moment!

APU Update

Jambo!

All of us have been having a wonderful time in the village. Saying goodbye tomorrow will be bittersweet. None of us want to leave the children and the joy they create with their singing and laughter. The last week has been filled with many different activities.

Tuesday, we celebrated Brent’s 22^nd birthday. We started off the morning with mandazi (Kenyan donuts) and singing happy birthday. Then the boys went back to keying and the girls tried some hoeing in the garden. Our job was to break up the ground in preparation to plant vegetables. It was a hard job. I don’t know how the women do it in the hot Kenyan sun. The women are definitely to be looked up to. In the afternoon, we had a mini surprise party waiting for Brent at Michelle’s house (one of the missionary nurses). After a tour of the clinic, we walked next door to her house and surprised him with almond cake drizzled with chocolate and another happy birthday song. After speeches from Justin and Brent, we enjoyed the delicious cake Michelle made. At devotions that night, all the children sang him happy birthday once again. Brent said it was one of his most memorable birthdays.

Wednesday, the boys went to the children’s home to key and the girls went on an adventure to the clinic to help prepare for the HIV campaign on Friday. We decided to take a short cut. Now, we’re used to trekking through fields of maize and over hopping barbed wire in skirts, but this time was different. Our short adventure consisted of crawling on our hands and knees under a barbed wire fence in leaves infested with ants and who knows what else. We all made it under without a scratch, but with much laughing and many rear view pictures. Haha. Once at the clinic, we made cotton balls (although the cotton seemed to like Emilia’s shirt and skirt more than being made into balls) and put together baskets for the HIV testing.

Thursday, the highlight of the day was our afternoon in the clinic. The rain came down hard and we all crowed into the clinic to wait for it to stop and then butter bread for lunch at the HIV campaign. We passed the time by teaching some of the Kenyan guys to “walk it out” and “thizz”. They enjoyed hearing about our silly American dances. The funniest part happened when we decided to play musical chairs. It was a rough game, with Justin and Brent cheating the whole time. Finally, it was down to Jonathan, Justin, and Taylor. The music stopped and Taylor found one chair, but behind her Justin pushed the chair away from Jonathan. The chair flies across the room, Jonathan slides and hits the floor. He bounces immediately up, on a mission, and sits down right in the chair. The last round proved to be the most intense. When the music stopped, both Taylor and Jonathan fight for the chair. It skids across the floor with the leg of the chair bending almost completely in half. Everyone gasped in surprise, but the chair was ok and Taylor won. It was a fun afternoon.

Friday, the whole team traveled to a school outside Kipkaren for the HIV campaign. It was a day for the kids to break their normal school routine and come compete in races and also be informed about HIV and AIDs. The wazungu (us white people) learned quickly how fast the Kenyans can run. Not only did they not wear shoes, but we are also 6,000 feet above sea level. Brent and Jeremiah decided they were up for the challenge though and entered the 200M race. Jeremiah was up against some of the older boys and found himself in dead last, but he put up a valiant effort. He wasn’t too far behind. Brent took off and full speed against some of the younger boys and just managed to pull ahead to win his heat. The finals took a different turn though. Brent still proved himself worthy of running along side the Kenyans, but in the last seconds fell back to last place. We definitely learned that the Kenyans are known for their running for a reason. We all had fun timing the races and cheering the kids on. It was a long day, but the experience was worth it. We are learning so much about the culture. From home visits to keying to washing clothes, the Kenyans have touched our hearts and taught us many lessons. Next up is our safari in Nakuru! We will have many more stories to tell when we are back in America. This will probably be our last post before we are home. We love and miss all of you back home. Our flight gets into LAX at 3:20 p.m. Thursday, June 4^th. We can’t wait to see your faces!