School's Out!

Today was the first day all the school kids, except for class 8 were out of school.
I told Moses that I have been waiting for this day since they went back to school in August. Not that I don't want them to go to school, I selfishly have too much fun with them and love hanging out with all the kids...

Katie has been coming here I believe since at least 2000 (?) and every time she comes she puts on a huge Field/Camp day for all the Oasis kids and to say they love it is an understatement, so they were really looking forward to this day...

We had four different stations, 2 crafts and 2 sports/outdoor activities...
There was so much going on and it was so fun, the pictures could probably do a better job of telling the days events...

Arts and Crafts with Katie and Ryanne








Steal the bacon with a soccer ball..



Sack races...



















Moses, Bram, Andrew, Timo


Poa


Geoffrey even got in on the fun










Etao


Collins


Timo




Silas brake dancing...again, every time there was a camera pointed at him this is what he would do


Teresa


Kevin and P.I.G.


Matt & Johnstone


Brian


Steward


Kevin playing ring toss


Jose and I perfected "the stache"...perfect arm symetry(?) and everything

Safari na Nairobi

Here's some pics from our safari in the Mara...we got to see most of major animals, elephants, lions, tigers, a rhino, giraffes, and of coarse wildbeasts. It was a lot of fun, especially because Ryanne had never been one safari and we got 2 float tires in one day. Once while on our way to the Mara and the other while on the Mara, as a hyena watched us...we thought it was going to eat us...





The first flat tire


And the second...





Lions...



Giraffes


Elephants..




Zebras, our guide Victor said that a zebras stripes are as distinctive as humans thumb prints


Water Buffalo

Edwin's back!

We just got back from Nairobi and picking up Katie, Ryanne, and Matt and our time there was so much fun. It was great to be in a big city and eat things other than rice and beans (not that we dont love that, its just to be able to have a turkey sandwhich now and then) for a while...but ill post about that later...

Today we went to church at Oasis and I was so excited to be back and get to see all the kids. Afterwards we just kind of hung out and caught up with all the boys for a while...I wandered up to the hill at the top of Oasis and saw Moses, who I hadn't talked to yet, so I ran over to him and gave him a big hug and talked with him for a few minutes.
Then he grabbed my hand and said "Come here, I have something you want to see." So i followed him over to a group of boys and they all just sort of parted and there in the middle was Edwin, one of the boys who had run away over a month ago.


I immediately started crying when I saw him. I was so happy to just see his face. He looked different. He was a bit skinnier and wearing clothes I'd never seen before...not that i knew his entire wardrobe but most of the house boys have similar clothes...

He was a bit quiet but answered my questions, so I just sat with him for as long as I could before we had to leave. He told Moses he knew he was wrong for leaving and so sorry and he wanted to come back. He said he missed school and wanted to go back...



What do you say to that?
How do you look at this kid, this face that you love and tell him, kindly, that he was wrong for running away? How do you tell him he's forgiven and are happy he's back, but he lost what he had because he made many poor decisions?
The best that I could offer was tell him I loved him, was so happy he came back and that I've been praying for the best possible decision Lydia and Geoffrey could make, and I knew they would have a horrible time deciding but in the end they would make the right one...

This morning we went to Purpose Driven to interview the Oasis kids that board there to update Oasis' files.
We haven't done interviews for a while and I was honestly happy we were getting to do them again. I interviewed Silas, Abraham, and Irene...
Their stories are incredible and to hear about where they came from and see where they are now is amazing...
One of my favorite parts of the interviews was when I asked Silas if he had gotten in trouble at school and he kind of smiled and said yes and I asked why...He told Manu in Swahili, laughing mind you, that he got in trouble for beating Shaban. I asked why he was laughing and he thought this was funny and he said that he had hit Shaban because Shaban had been beating a younger kid, so Silas hit him and told him that it was wrong. He said that Shaban and him and hadn't been good friends before that but now they are...
I loved hearing Silas story. He has done and seen everything on the street and not in a good way, but to see him now, working hard and doing well in school and actually "setting things right" and having a moral conscience about things just made me happy.
He's got a sweet heart, but you definitely don't want to cross him...

This afternoon was spent at Gilgal High School. I missed going last week because of malaria and was so excited to get to see their faces. I taught a lesson about igneous rocks, (so interesting)and then we talked about the upcoming election in America, tornados, cellars, maps...Their questions were ridiculous!

Tomorrow we leave for Nairobi to pick Katie and Ryanne! Once we pick them up we'll go on safari for a day and be back in Kitale by friday evening...so if our blogs are quiet for a couple days thats why...but well have some great pictures once we get back

The Show pt.2

So I couldnt finish blogging about the show last night because the malaria kicked in and I got tired, plus there was just too much stuff to put on one blog so heres the rest...

This was the initial group that showed up to Oasis, but then we added the house boys and some others along the way...



This was the stadium where they had soccer and rugby games as well as marching bands...


Moses





Don't worry the bleachers might look a little unstable, but they didn't wobble too much...


Look quickly, it looks real...Everyone said that the show used to be better when President Moi was in power because the animals were real, but they said now its not as fun as it used to be. They said it was pretty much the same every year.


How do you feed over 100 kids lunch? Easy whole loaves of bread and soda


Fun


We got lost in some corn for a while...


The perfect ending to the day of coarse would be to ride a camel, so...




We were famous, some guy even videotaped our entire ride, which lasted all of a minute...