I got a bit overwhelmed just now when I checked facebook to see that 70 people have "liked" the photo of the kids and me. It's so nice to know that I've got everyone's support in this whole thing. I wish I could say the decision to come here was made easily, but I've had doubts and questions stewing in my head since January that ultimately came down to my dad saying "I'm okay with you taking a semester off of school if you do something meaningful with your time." I knew this would be a meaningful and life changing experience, but I didn't realize how much I could be affected after being here just 7 days. A week from today I had my first full day at Hillcrest as the only volunteer, and today I went back to Isaac and Elizabeth's house for a late lunch at 1:30 and ended up staying until almost 8:00. The whole time sharing dreams, struggles, differences between America and Africa, questions, exploring faith, and getting a big life lesson from Isaac's sister, Mary, who just got into town late last night. Amongst our late lunch discussion was this tid-bit that had 3 people laughing in my face which I tried to hold back all the stew I had just eaten...
Me: "Isaac what kind of pasta was that in the stew? It was chewier than anything I've ever had.."
Isaac: "Pasta? No no that was cow. The insides, intestine."
Isaac and Mary asked all about how we live in America. I said something about a dishwasher, and Isaac couldn't believe we have machines to wash dishes for us. He doesn't even have a light in his home. He was even more surprised when I told him that tomorrow will be the first time I'll have washed my clothes by hand. I told them that we have rooms for cooking, as Elizabeth cooks in the room they sleep in over a big bunson burner (essentially.) The most shocking thing I told them was that we have 5 bathrooms in my house in America. Between 7 families here including Isaac & Elizabeth, they have one toilet and one shower. Isaac said, "Oh you live in a very big mansion!" I told them that there are televisions as big as the world map on his wall, and lots of kids have their own bedrooms or share with one other child. And Mary and Isaac's jaws dropped when I told them that dogs sleep in beds with people. He said was that America is the land of opportunity and that he believes the worst life in America is still 100x better than a good life in Africa, and I believe it, too.
Mary told us about a village in Northern Kenya she visited on a mission trip a couple months ago. There are no rooms for teaching, instead class takes place under a tree and students write in the dirt. If there is rain, there is no class. There are no toilets of any sort, people just use the bushes- that's all they know. And girls can't go to school during "those" days of the month because they don't have/know about sanitary products. She says the best part of America is that the people are cared about. In Kenya, nobody cares about their people. The government is corrupt, the churches are corrupt, everything is corrupt. The 5 presidential candidates for the upcoming election in March are all in court right now which means the election will probably have to be pushed back...what?!
Moving on..Isaac loves taking pictures of me doing the teacherly duties. Carrying the water on my head, making the porridge, distributing it in the mugs and then to the class, teaching the students, playing with them outside. Every time I do something he asks for my camera then gets offended when the pictures aren't on Facebook that evening. I told him (and am telling all of you) that I'm putting pictures up this weekend, so check on Sunday.
During our tea time, he told me how sad he is that it's my last week. It was quiet, and then he yelled, "TELL THEM KATHERINE IS ONLY FOR HILLCREST, NOWHERE ELSE!!!" :) I gave all the kids high fives today as they wrote numbers and they Loved it. During play time, I went outside with them for a few minutes and spent the whole time flipping all the kids upside down and over my shoulder only to drop them on their feet behind me. I never thought I'd like having 24 dirty children climbing on me and pulling on me, but I actually love it. Clara and Flora made me sit on the floor with them during today's lesson, and it just made me so happy. More than a pair of shoes or a new sweater, these kids just need love.
I'm going to really start taking pictures next week, I've wanted to take this last week to absorb everything for myself so I've hardly carried my camera, but now I'm really wanting to show all of you at home how these people live and how I'm living while I'm here. On our home visits yesterday, we went to the Maasai village and each family we gave the flour and soap to spent at least 5 minutes thanking me and telling me how God will bless me for the things I am doing for their community; I give them hope for a better future. I don't think I'll ever get tired of how appreciative people are here, even for just a bag of flour and a bar of soap...it's beautiful.
This is an amazing place.
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