We left out at 8AM this morning to head to the Jikaze shamba (or farm) where they have a chicken house and a 2.5 acre lettuce farm. Needless to say my dad would have loved this morning. And Mom probably cringes just at the mention of a chicken house. When we arrived at the shamba we got to meet Peter who oversees the chicken house and he took us into the house. The chicken farm is called Uhuru Cookoo. They have 12,000 chickens in this house...this is their second round of chickens. It is a pretty crazy operation as they only allow the chickens to sleep 2 hours, constantly keep them moving, use charcoal heaters to keep them warm, etc. etc. Someone is always in the chicken house with them. Peter, the overseer, had been in the house for a 24 hour stint minus 2 hours that he slept. After the chicken house we started on the lettuce. We were to plant 7,000 seedlings of lettuce. The farms help to provide scholarships for the school and also provide jobs for the people of Jikaze. Social businesses at work. Again, I encourage you to check out Uhuru's website www.uchild.com as this is an awesome organization with such a vision that God is working through every day. We planted several different types of lettuce. The process started by digging holes with sticks...followed by dropping a nitrogen product into the hole and mixing it in the dirt....dropping the seedlings....then covering up with dirt. There were no tractors...not even donkeys. No setters. None of the equipment Dad uses for tobacco setting. The workers seed the greenhouses too. I used to help seed our greenhouse (or just use it as a reason to get out of school) but they do it all by hand. So much respect for these workers. They use a drip irrigation system out of Israel. Dad will appreciate these details as I can remember him telling me about Israel having the best systems when we bought Pa a drip system from Christmas one year. But back to our actual day....we got the field fully planted and ourselves quite dirty.
After the farm we headed back to Jikaze to spend time with our families. I was able to see Sharon briefly at the farm but it was mainly work. They all came back with us on the bus to Jikaze. Once in Jikaze we had a couple hours to spend at our families' homes. It was just as special today as it was on Tuesday...and maybe even more. When we arrived to the house no one was home but soon after Jeremiah came with several kids. And we finally got to meet Sharon's daughter...her name is Federis (not Ferris as I think I put in my post on Tuesday). She was so precious. The dirtiest little face with the brightest smile and sweetest grin. Another little girl Mary came too who was a cousin. Sharon immediately started making chai for us again. I asked her if I could help and she took me outside and said "I teach you how to wash the utensils." I laughed and told her I wasn't that clueless in the kitchen. But she took me outside and showed me anyway as it was quite different from the way I do the dishes. I told her about how I used to love to do dishes when I was little with my grandpa. Paul, one of the men in our group. offered to help and she wasn't having that. Apparently men don't do any housework here. So she thought the fact I washed dishes with my grandpa was funny. We had chai and just before we did a toast and showed them how to cheers. The grandpa laughed and laughed at it as I guess it was something new. I really wish I could have understood him as he had to be saying some funny things. Sharon then started cooking for us. She made ugali for us. Ugali reminded me a little of cornbread...but it is maize meal and water mixed together and boiled and then it forms into a big loaf like thing. She served it with a mixture of kale and onions which is called sukuma wiki. We were able to pray with them before we ate which was a great time to share in our faith. The meal was just as delicious as the last meal! And Sharon was not going to let anyone leave without them finishing their food.
The kids were incredible. Federis immediately clung to me and wanted to hug me and sit with me. It was exactly what I had hoped for in meeting her after hearing about her from Sharon. I brought a kickball for them and as soon as I gave it to them they were so excited. They ran outside to play with it. Mary was quite the dribbler and Federis could catch. You all know I was in heaven playing ball with little kids in Africa! (Candice--tell Camille not to worry--she would love them too!) This time playing with these kids was one of those moments I can't really write about it words. You looked at them and your hearts broke for them but smiled for them all the same. The boys came back too...Benson and Ivan. Benson was a little standoffish at first but before we left he warmed up. Maybe because he got to play with the camera and have some sweets....but he had a sweet spirit and gave me a big hug. The boys also got to play with the ball and all the kids seemed to really enjoy it. A few other new kids came around too--one little girl was Margaret and she was so sweet. I also had some twizzlers that I shared with the kids but also with Jeremiah, the grandfather. It was hilarious to watch him eat it as he wasn't sure what to do with it. He seemed to enjoy it though. For my softball family reading....I brought over a little DJP to share with Africa. DJP does Kenya if you will. I showed her to the family and the little girls LOVED her. As much as they loved her I couldn't bare to take her away. She was going to go on safari tomorrow and have her picture made with some lions but a little DJP will forever be in Jikaze with my new family in Kenya. And I couldn't think of any place I'd rather be. (The part I leave out is that her shoes/the base might have broken off during her time with the girls too. ....Sharon was so worried about them breaking it but I was sure to tell her that Coach Papa was their's to keep.)
(Federis--Mary--and DJP)
After Jikaze we went headed back towards Limuru to go to Angels which is an abandoned children's home. This experience too grabs at your heart and makes you never want to leave. There was about 15 orphan babies here. Each had a different story but I can tell a few of the ones I held and played with while we were there. Livingston was the first baby I picked up when we walked in the nursery. He was maybe 6-8 months but a big boy. He had the biggest eyes and lips. I didn't want to put him down and definitely didn't want to leave him. Then we were told that Livingston was left on the side of the road....and after that I wanted to take him with me even more. Another little guy was Solomon who was left at the hospital. He was 4-6 months and the cutest little guy. There was also an older one named Michael who loved to have his picture taken. He could walk and run around. There was even a little one month old who also was left on the side of the road. So many little ones, so precious, and yet abandoned. If God had not broken my heart many, many times already this afternoon broke it even more. When we were leaving Ron made the comment that he couldn't help but think that when Jesus returns His first stop won't be a big church or anything like that but will be a place like Angels. And I couldn't agree more. Jesus said, "Let the little children come...for their's is the Kingdom of Heaven."
(Livingston)
Our last stop of this full day was Nairobi to go to the maasai markets and have dinner. The market was insane. It is complete bartering and for those of you who have never experienced this you need to. (Well maybe not all of you as you might be overwhelmed...but Carmen, you'd be great at it!) I was pretty proud of some of the deals I got. I'll leave show and tell for when I get home but there was some really cool stuff. I wore my bright, highlighter yellow shirt.....and Tadlock, you can take pride in knowing I got so, so many comments as I walked around, Kenyans loved the color! One guy even offered me anything he had for my shirt. I seriously considered it but then thought I might be pretty chilly.....and then I talked with him more and he seemed to take away his offer of "anything." Aggressive is an understatement when it comes to these people. They would come find you 30 minutes later and offer again on the item, grab you and pull you over to see their things, try to keep you from walking away.....but I loved it! It was so much fun to barter and get the price I wanted. It was definitely an experience.
We had dinner at ArtCaffe which is one of the restaurants that Uhuru Child sells lettuce. It was a very Western type cafe, but had really great food. (And the lettuce was awesome!) There's not a lot to tell about dinner, but it was nice to have a meal at a place we know has a part in the Uhuru Child mission as one of their customers.
So today was a very full day but a day full of blessings. I will ask that you join me in prayer today specifically for Sharon and her family again--that God will hold them close and provide for them and if it is His will He will bring me back to see her again. I also ask that you pray for the babies we were able to hold today--that He prepares a way for them and brings families to them that they might be loved and treasured here on Earth and that they might grow up knowing the love of their Father in Heaven. And pray for the ladies running this orphanage....as they truly are angels here on earth. Pray that they will have the strength to continue their good works, the ability to provide for these children, and love--for they have shown some of the greatest love.
Tomorrow we wake up bright and early to head out for safari at 6AM. We'll be there tomorrow night and then back to head to the airport Saturday morning. I'm super excited for the safari and will hopefully have lots of great photos to share.
No comments:
Post a Comment