Wow, we have less than 36 hours to go. This week has been a whirlwind getting everything done for HOME. Unfortunately it meant spending a lot of time away from the orphanage and I feel like I've hardly seen the kids this week. But we have the rest of today and all of tomorrow to take in all the fun we can get, including a dance party tonight.
The incubator has been ordered and paid for and will arrive on the 30th. On Thursday we picked up 100 day old broiler chicks. They will be ready to sell in about 4 weeks. This afternoon I will pay for another 100 chicks to be delivered on January 3rd. This will be a different breed which can give fertilized eggs for the incubator. It's all very exciting.
I apologize for those of you reading the blog, I put that the cow's name is Sunshine. It's not, she is called Sunrise, as first reported, apparently I was in a daze when I wrote that on Wednesday.
Yesterday was our Christmas party and it was excellent. Quite the production, as we had gifts for 108 kids, from the 3 month old baby Ramsay to the older kids. Wrapping took over 4 hours on Thursday night. Everyone got a new to them piece of clothing, plus something fun like a book or deck of cards. They all got an orange as well. We made chapatis for them and cupcakes and had drinks.
It was all very exciting. They did a performance for us, with songs and speeches. I made two speeches as well (glad I'm no longer petrified of public speaking, must be all those presentations at Rotary). The kids had so much fun and were so grateful. I would have to say it's been my best Christmas ever, just seeing how happy it made them!
It's pretty hard right now, as kids are already telling us how much they'll miss us and not to forget them (how could we). The big question is when will we come back, which I can only answer as soon as I can.
Wednesday we did a tour of Kibera with my friend Dan. He mostly helps people with HIV, bringing them food, cooking for them if they are very weak, taking them to the hospital, really anything he can do to help. He also has one patient who was shot in the post election violence by the police and is now paralyzed from the waist down. He has 3 small children.
Our day consisted of meeting people and taking them food. I bought 90 kilos of beans and 90 kilos of maize flour (for ugali, the staple maize porridge they eat in Kenya) from the HOME funds, which will feed about 40 families for a week. Many of these people depend on this program as HIV and related illnesses have left them too weak to work.
Well, time to get back and finish off everything. I'm off to Denmark for a week over Christmas and should have time to put photos up and write more about the orphanage, the project and the kids there.
Happy Holidays to you all and thanks for reading!
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