First Wives Club

"Life is lived when tiny changes occur."
-Tolstoy

The strike is over! Yay! Monday the kids start school back as normal. (I have no idea what was decided as far as salary and such, I just know its over.) This past week was quite nice though. We set up for the level 8 kids to come to school (in secret) and work on their studies with us. It was so fantastic. I taught Social Studies/ Geography, and Christian Religion Education, CRE. The biggest challenge that we found is that there is zero independent thought in schools. If the teacher says it, its absolute truth. So on friday, I did a lesson about thinking for yourself and always questioning things that dont 'sit well with you'. It took quite a few examples and about 10 minutes of discussion for them to get it. I put a list of 15 words on the board and asked the class if each thing was good or bad. Most were easy- drugs, lies; but some- money, posed challenges. They said money is always good. I asked what if you stole money from someone, they got quiet. I said what if your only goal in life is to get more, more, more money? Then they started to disagree with each other, which was great! They were thinking on their own! It was the best feeling to explain an idea, and have it start to play out in front of me. I told them that after they leave school and leave their parents, there will be no one to tell them what is right/wrong good/bad and they have to decide this for themselves, and they need to start practicing now. For most of them, this is their last year of school, which makes it so scary that this is the first time most of them have thought to disagree with something that they have been told in school.
(Like, the teachers there taught them that when the British colonists came over to settle in Kenya, they brought AIDS, and therefore they hate Brits for this.)

When you come to a country that is in a "malaria zone" you have to take some type of anti-malaria medicine. I had heard about the side effects concerning some of these meds, but Im not normally effected by stuff like this- not this time. One of the side effects is vivid and realistic dreams- which I love! My dreams have been so interesting and lifelike- its really fun. But.... I think this medicine has also caused my mind to manifest other things. At home, I am not afraid of the dark at all. But, here, I am terrified some nights. My fear of the dark has been quite crippling at some points. It seems silly now, to even write about, but once the sun goes down and one of my senses is removed, its serious! The moon doesnt come up most nights until after I go to bed, so there is a point when it is completely dark. No lights, no towns, no electricity. I have a good walk from the house to the latrine, and most times, Kathy has to come with me. If I go alone, I begin to think of the things that would scare me, (soooo dumb, not things I should be scared of, like leopards!) and then I hear someone coming up behind me, I spin around and shine my light there, only to hear the noise behind me again! When I whirl around again, I find the source of my fears to be nothing more than an old bread bag rustling in the wind. One night, I go up to go to the bathroom, and thought a tree was a giraffe and almost had a heart attack. Laughable now, but my mind is going crazy at night. But, in all this, I found my 'night power verse': "The Lord is my Light and my salvation- so why should I be afraid? The Lord protects me from danger- so why should I tremble?" Psalm 27:1 Im working on it....


God is so cool about speaking to me in ways I truly understand. I just finished this book, "Closer Than Your Skin", (thanks to Sarah Johnston for giving it to me!) and in the book, the author says, "When He says something to you, it will be in your own language, significant in a personal and specific kind of way. It will be exactly what you need to hear." Thats just what I feel here- in so many kinds of ways. And its not that I didnt feel like that at home, I just have less distraction here, (and if Im really going to be honest, have opened myself up to more here). For instance, at church this week, the pastor talked about discarding sin as "filthy rags". Would you take off your dirty clothes, and bathe yourself clean, only to put back on the same dirty shirt and ruddy pants? You have no idea how filthy I am here, so this spoke to me so much. I get to shower about once a week, and that feeling of cleanliness doesnt last long, mainly because sandals dont allow for clean feet. But what a visual I got! It made sense. And 'joy' has always been an important, kind of power word in my life. I have no reason to ever not feel this amazing emotion, I am so blessed. And those blessings are reiterated through this word joy. Like, my Maasai name- means one filled with joy. Then a little girl with the same name just came up to me and gave me a beautiful yellow beaded bracelet, that I now call my joy reminder. In class at school, one of the kids said "you are always happy!", so encouraging to me! Its just so amazing...

One of the most exciting ways Ive been spending my time here has been working with Kathy and Maggie on creating a women's co-op here. I call it the First Wives Club, because its made up of first wives who's husbands have moved onto their 2nd or 3rd wives (they practice polygamy here) and they no longer have an income to take care of themselves or children. We want to import the beautiful Maasai jewelry to the states and have 2 (or however many) shops host some of these gifts. The profits would go directly back to the women who make the jewelry, enabling them to take care of themselves, send their children to school, and break the cycle of poverty in the 'man'-powered Maasai community. If the women can afford to send their daughters to more schooling, then the daughters have the opportunity to get good jobs and not have to just be first wives and mothers who have to struggle. Ooohhhh! We're so excited. (More to come on this, you can be sure!)

Next weekend is Safari! And the last 3 days before I come home, Im taking a mini vaca to Lamu on the coast with Kathy and another volunteer, Tif. Yay for girls weekend!

Maggie's word of the week:
"If God says yes, no one can say no."

A few notes for donors:
For those of you who donated money: THANK YOU!!! Here's how some of your funds have been used so far:
-A community water tank! (Water is pumped in and the community has full access!)
-School supplies for all of Saikeri Pri School (400+ kids!)
-Exercise books for all of Saikeri Pri School
And thanks again for everyone who's continuing to pray and send me the wonderfully supportive emails and messages! I love you guys! And I miss you mom and dad!!! *muah* love you

B

PS- if one more person tells me how good Lost is, I'll go crazy. I cant wait to watch it when I get home! haha, actually I did see one episode playing on a tv here, but it was from season 2 and featured Ana Lucia.... probably the worst episode ever aired of Lost