Running in Flip-Flops

Our friend, Dori, came to visit from Washington state for three weeks. She's a teacher and coach, so she started a running program with several of our children. Almost all of the kids have been on at least one run, and several of them keep coming back for more. You can tell from the smiles on their faces that they really enjoy it. Near the end of Dori's time here, we held a "Flip-Flop 3K" race for the kids. We invited the community to come cheer them on, and we had an awards ceremony for the top five male and female finishers. Keep an eye out, you might see one of these kids in the olympics some day!

New Desks for School

Our children were thrilled when the team from Wildwood Baptist Church, GA built two new desks for their school. Several of the children at Nyaduong Primary school sit on the floor, because the school is unable to afford desks for all its pupils. While the team was building the desks at The Hope Centre, children from preschool through second grade were crowded around watching their progress and asking to which class the desks would be going. It was cute to see how excited they were about getting a new school desk. Can you imagine an American child being excited about a desk for school? It's amazing to learn the things we take for granted. These children teach us something everyday.

Home for the Holidays

We made it home on Friday after four unsuccessful days on standby. It's great to be home! We've got a busy schedule this month, but who doesn't?! I ran a 5K race in Jefferson yesterday, and after the race we went out for Mexican food with my parents. We're headed to church this morning, out to lunch with friends, then back home to pack for a visit to Sherwood's family. We'll drive to DC to pick up Sherwood's kids, then the four of us will fly to FL to spend four days at Disney; we'll fly back to DC on Friday and continue our drive north to NJ to visit the rest of his family. We might make it up to NY to visit one of his sisters, and we thought if we make it all the way to NY, we might as well keep going to RI to visit my extended family. But we might be too tired for all that driving. We'll see how we feel. Regardless, it's nice to be home for Christmas!

Stranded in South Africa

Sherwood and I have been stuck in South Africa since Monday. We're flying on buddy passes with Delta, and it seems (even when they have empty seats available) that cargo is more important than passengers. We, along with 18 other people, tried to fly out on Tuesday night, and despite the fact there were seats available, Delta choose to leave all of us stranded to put more cargo on the plane. I was talking to one passenger at the airport last night who paid full price for his ticket and almost didn't make it on the plane. Since the flight was overbooked, and his travel agent hadn't assigned him a seat, if everyone who purchased a ticket had shown up, he would have ended up waiting to fly out for another 24 hours. He told me his dad's company used Delta to ship a suitcase, and they paid $20,000. No wonder they won't let passengers on the plane, suitcases are much more lucrative!

We've been spending our days reading, playing solitaire, and watching movies, and we take our guest house's shuttle to the airport every night in hopes of getting on the plane. They're telling us it doesn't look likely for us to get out of here until Monday. Yesterday, they told us Sunday looked okay. We're not sure what they've got going on, but I haven't been impressed with Delta--although I must say, the individual movie screens in the back of every seat are a nice touch. I might be willing to sell out to the cash machine in the future if they continue to provide individual entertainment, on demand, during the 16 hour flight between Johannesburg and Atlanta. On second thought, maybe not.

Tutoring the Little Ones

I have been tutoring the children in English. Kiswahili and English are Kenya's official languages, but in rural areas like Oyuma, they are often neglected in schools where teachers are more comfortable speaking in their mother tongue. Here's a picture of me tutoring our children in preschool through second grade. Because they don't return to school after lunch, I get to tutor them every afternoon. The small children are a big change from the high schoolers I'm used to teaching, but they're so much fun! They're like sponges; they soak everything up, and they love to learn.

Fish, Anyone?

We think these little guys are minnows, but we're not completely sure. Around here, they're called omena, and we get them twice a week. They're a little fishy tasting, but if they're fried in oil with tomatoes and onions, they're not too bad. Sherwood and I pretty much eat the same cuisine that the kids eat. The food is healthy and grown right around here, which is pretty cool, but there's not a lot of variety. We're looking forward to lots of invites to dinner when we get back home!

Tearing up the Roads

This is the mode of transportation we were using before we purchased a 1987 Pajero from a missionary couple who is returning to the states. Sherwood is a good driver, but it's still scary to ride through packed streets and muddy, rutted roads on the back of a motorcycle! You never know when a cow might meander into the street in front of you or a bicycle rider might swerve into your path. We do a lot of praying when we're on the motorcycle!