Malaria Shmalaria...

How Chris kick starts his day...

Today we went to Oasis instead of Sister Fredas because the electricity company was supposed to turn power back on so we could get some more files and work done, but it didn’t happen.
When we got there we found Jonah and Braumwel hanging out…Well not really hanging out they were sick so they were not in school and going to go to Sister Fredas for medicine…

Since we had no power and there wasn’t much for me to do and I love Sister Fredas, Elia, and the boys, I went with them out to Fredas with 3 other kids who were sick, Rodgers, Teresa, and Joan…

In Freda's waiting room instead of magazines, she has cats to keep you entertained...


Braum...


Elia, you probably can't tell but he's getting fatter...

They were tested for Malaria and Typhoid. All went well except when Joan had to get her finger pricked for her blood test…She freaked out and kept trying to swat the needle out of the nurses hand, which only stabbed her more.

Braum wanted a mirror to see himself, all I hade was my powder compact...Which ended up as war paint all over their face...


Intimidation face...I put the same powder on my face, I guess Ill have to rely on my muscles for intimidation...


Sooo her freak out didn’t work because I held her down and she got it taken anyway, haha! Unfortunately for her, that wasn’t the biggest needle she was going to see today. She ended up with Malaria and had to get the first of 3 shots, which the needles for are ENORMOUS…even the adults that have had it say its pretty painful… We could hear her screams from outside the building, poor girl.

Cute little Teresa was so tough


Me & the little man...

As it turns out they were all sick, either with Malaria or Typhoid, bummer

The nurse passing out the drugs and instructions...
At the end of the day all the kids are fine and will be back to normal in a couple days...I was really happy to get to go with them...

Tomorrow is pool day!!!

New Kids On the Block

yesterday morning at Oasis some new boys committed to coming to the center…Chris had met and spent some time with 3 street boys last week and had told them to come to Oasis…and they did! It was their 3 day in a row and they had their interviews ad pictures taken.



Oasis gave them shirts and Chris took them to the kinyozi to get their heads shaved…you should have seen how excited they were… Speaking of which you should have seen how excited Chris was…it was really awesome to see these kids come in at the beginning and hopefully watch them progress over the next couple of months…its probably even cooler for Chris since he found them.



Their brand new shirts


This afternoon was spent at a school called Gilgol, just outside of Kipsongo. I have never been there before and wasn’t really sure what to expect, but by the time I left I loved it…So much so that I think I might teach Geography 2 times a week…

Chris is the new P.E. Teacher at Gilgol...here he is showing how important stretching is...


I really enjoyed the students and I really like Ben & Christine, who run the school (they also happen to be the same couple that we had a slumber party at their house a couple weeks ago).
Ben & Christine have some amazing ministries north of Kitale in an area of Turkana called Kakuma and Lodwar. Ben is asked to speak and teach all over east Africa and he does a lot of work up in the Sudan.


Gabriel is the tall one in the red...


All of the kids that are at the school are from refugee camps that Ben has worked in either around Kitale when the clashes happened 8 months ago or up in Kakuma and Lodwar.
A lot of the refugees that are up in the Turkana camps are from southern Sudan and 4 of those refugees have made their way to Ben’s school.



Newton, 19, Gabriel, 20, John,16, and John, 18, have known each other since they were young and all fled Sudan around 2000 when the Sudanese in the south were being killed by government forces…
This is Newton, he wants to be a journalist, so Im going to bring newspapers and teach him how to write...

Newton told me that he lost his mom that year because she was murdered…His father and 5 siblings still live up near Juba, Sudan.
I’m excited to go back next week


Last night, the caretaker of our property, Ayub, came in while we were watching one of my favorite movies (Good Will Hunting) and asked if we could help him out…He wanted sunglasses…After jokingly suggesting mine (he almost accepted) Chris found some that he could have…

Classy...


Clearly what pimps are made of...

Today we went to Kitale Forest Primary school do to some follow up interviews with all the boys that live in house 1 and 2. I love getting to go to there. Every time we go it seems like the whole school runs up and surrounds us.


I talked with the deputy about teaching P.E. and I think Im going to be teaching all day on Tuesdays. 3 different classes in one day, classes 5, 6, & 7 & a little bit of office work if they need it. Most of the house boys are in those grade with the exception of Evans…
Here are their new pictures...

Future President of Kenya Braumwel


Officer Edwin ...


So on with the interviews…The boys had been interviewed when they first came to Oasis, but for some that was years ago so Geoffrey and Lydia wanted to update their progress and photos to see where they were and where they are now and see if they actually had made progress…I think it’s safe to say that they are light years from where they were on the street, but we still have to make sure…

Pastor Evans


Doctor Johnstone...

Jonah the Banker...


There were 12 boys and Allison and I split them up and interviewed them individually in separate rooms. I loved getting to sit down and just talk with the boys. We went over where they were from, their past, what their life was like on the street and their life now.

Doctor Joseph


Future Engineer Martin...



Their stories were unbelievable! It broke my heart to envision them living the life they were describing. Sleeping under shop verandas, digging in the trash for food, beaten by police, glue and drug abuse, horrible family lives, if they even had families…

Doctor Moses, although he's reserving the right to change his mind...


Paul the Pilot...

Future Member of Paliament and Professional Hip Hop Dancer Steward

Future Engineer or Chef Timothy (he's got time to figure it out)...


You realize just how extraordinary these kids, as well as kids all over Kenya, really are. How hard they work to succeed, it’s crazy… They are brilliant, energetic leaders that have goals of being doctors, lawyers, pilots, Members of Parliament, even future presidents!


When we got home we had to get started on dinner…it’s definitely something you cant really just throw together at the last minute, especially if you want beans or chicken. We still have no propane so we had to use the awesome little gadget from last night to get the beans ready…They take 5 hours to cook! No pre-made beans here…

Cooking it, Kenyan Style...


In the midst of the bean making process Chris came home with some home made sweaters we had “ordered” 2 weeks ago…theyre pretty sweet and definitely warm, because in Kenya gets really cold. Although mine was a completely different sweater than I had ordered…I gave her blue yarn and somehow ended up with a light purple/pink sweater and I don’t think Allison got her right color either. The sizes were wrong too so we switched…what do you think?
I know what you're thinking, this is pretty close to blue... Pimp Right?


Check out Creepy Chris in the Background


This also occurred just before dinner…Chris has been attempting for the last couple of days to kick this hanging light in our living room, why you ask? Perhaps some light stretching?…He still has yet to accomplish this fete, but hes getting closer...
The warm up…

And the kick!

Not quite, maybe tomorrow

Old Fashioned Cooking

Here are some random but funny photos of todays various events...

We were about to leave the house to go to Oasis and just as we were leaving we spotted a lizard in the house...


Chris & his weapon...


This guys hands are HUGE! Allison says I look like a Lillipution


Our propane tank went out this evening so this is how I had to cook dinner...


Rice, Corn, and Chicken were all made on this...

5:19

So it's a beautiful day in Kitale...we made it through the night safely after our (unnecessary?) scare and had a good morning at Oasis and in town...
But Im super sad...Today Im having a rough day and trying hard to not miss home. And when i say miss home, I dont mean in the sense of wanting to move back or anything.

It has just been a big weekend in Nashville as far as stuff going on and for the first time I'm having a really hard time not getting over not being there.

Theres another big event tonight that Im missing the most and it involves my best
friend and one of my favorite places in the world...

I feel bad for Allison because she has seen me crying randomly throughout the day for no apparent reason. I just cant help it...Since Ive been here I havent wanted to be back in the states as much as I do today...
Even as Im writing this, with tears in my eyes, Im looking at my wallpaper on my computer, which is all the Oasis boys (Evans, Moses, Martin, Timothy, Paul, John, Edwin, Steward, Braum, Elvis, Jonah, Joseph, Johnstone...) and Im reminded of why I'm so happy here, why I feel at home here...
So it cancels out the tears for a minute before I start crying again and selfishly wishing I could just go home for today and come back tomorrow...
If only right?!

What Are You Doing Up @ 2:45 in the AM?

...Oh I dont know, hearing noises...
I dont know what it was we heard but it was freaky enough to wake Allison up at 1AM and enough for her to wake me up and put our friend that works at the prison, James, on speed dial...
We still havent figured out what the sound was but were safe and its gone and now we cant sleep...hence the random blog...
On a lighter note, we had to make dinner in the dark...
Homemade hamburgers and fries!

Today we went to the womens prison where our friend James works at and spent some time with the female prisoners...we weren't allowed to take pictures so thats why there aren't any...sorry

From the prison we had to rush home and get everything we needed because we were meeting all the Oasis kids at Lydia's house to hang out and have lunch...

Steward, Joseph, Moses, and I played basketball for a while before we made lunch..Then lunch began and it was downhill from there...

Again, with the 'stache



We didnt have much water to work with so our pasta ended up being some sort of noodle goo with random crunchy pieces...oh and not to mention that Kenyans HATE pasta sauce...Note to self, don't ever cook pasta sauce for Kenyans...They won't eat it...We had a hunch going into it, but had to make it just to be sure...we were right...


None the less, Steward helped me prepare the sauce, he's going to be a Member of Parliment as well as a Chef


Allison & Joseph...



Evans, I just love him...this is us in a time of peace...


Which always leads to this...Thankfully there were no bloody noses in the end...


I'm not quite sure what Allison and Edwin are up to...

I opened Garage Band on my computer and had the guys sing a little...

The reverse 'stache...