One week and counting...

Well, I am so packed of greetings for all my family and friends and church at home after today! Today was my last day at church here and they all wanted me to send many, many greetings and blessings and their love to all my friends and family at home. It is cool that everyone here loves you because they love me. And, they wanted me to say that you are all welcome to visit here :)

I was privileged to witness something beautiful today. To back up a bit, in the last half of this week some of the volunteers have been connecting with the street kids. It started with 2 or 3 and then we met those ones and more came. On Thursday, we introduced 11 street boys to Samuel. We gave them some bread, which they veraciously devoured, and some bananas (and tried to keep the peace and they tried to grab from each other) and just chatted with them. Being a muzungu (white person) gave us a platform to hold their attention that we wouldn't have had if we were African. Samuel talked to some of them and arranged for their leader, a personable young man named Jeremiah, to collect more little ones from the streets and meet at the tranport stage on Saturday. They met and then arranged for them to come to church today. Little steps at a time... This morning, 21 boys walked into church. They were welcomed, said their names and even sang a song, and then sat down. The volunteers spent the morning playing with them and giving them more bread and the hope was to visit some of the younger ones homes to see if they can come to school. Unfortunately, the weather turned cold and wet so that wasn't possible, but even having them come to church means they know one place in town where they are welcome. They know that these people love them and want them, even if they can't fix all their problems.

It is a hard reality that there is no program for the older boys right now, so they will stay on the streets. Ones heart yearns to take each one and give him what he needs so that he can see his value and realize his potential. Most of them are educationally at early primary level and you just can't have 15 year old boys in Nursery class. As it is, one of them has been attending Chazon this term and is 12 but in Nursery. He is a small boy though and only looks 8.

But for me, I know it is a big step on a slow journey. Most, if not all, of them are addicted to glue (which they hide in the collar of their clothes for easy access), are used to trusting few people, and always need to fend for themselves. Life here is hard without food or family-- desperately hard.

One a different note-- ONE MORE WEEK AND I HEAD HOME!!!! I am very ready to leave-- it has been a long five months and I am anxious to see my family and friends. I hope these next days fly by and next Sunday at 11:35 pm comes super fast. This week, school closes, so my ability to organize will come in handy. I will also try heading to Nairobi by myself to pick up a volunteer- something I haven't done yet. On Saturday or Sunday, I will head to my friends in Nairboi who have been holding on to my large suitcase for me and then it is home I go.

I can't wait to see you all! Although, if you ask me 'how was Africa?' you will probably get a blank look because it is impossible to sum up my experience here in words. :) Haiti took me years to process, and I have still recently learned what I learned there and it was almost 10 years ago! I am sure my experience here will be the same.

See you soon!