Made with Love Monday

Disclaimer:

Gotta say...severely spraining your ankle so far from home can really put a damper on your day.  I'm a bit behind on my blog...so I'm going to catch up and publish a bunch of entries today.  Forgive me, traveling companions, if I put the wrong info on the wrong day!!  Doing the best I can...which, on some days, is clearly insufficient!

We stopped by the orphanage this morning...where Maddie tried her hand at making chapati with several critical on-lookers.  Oh, the pressure!  

The pan she is using is placed on a small wood-burning fire contained in a cyclinder...doesn't exactly have the temperature control of a Wolf or Thermador gas range.  I'm thinking that burned chapati on the pile was her first effort...and a valiant one considering the boisterous crowd and the cooking conditions!

Today we helped the Mighty Acorn kids with a project for their sponsors.  (If you are a sponsor, please skip this paragraph!) I helped two little girls, Metrine and Harriet, aged 2, with their projects.  It was tricky because they didn't really speak English and my Swahili is limited to the "How are you?", "What's your name?" variety. 

Harriet was very proud of her scribblings...and would tap me after each mark and give me the universal "Pretty good, huh?" look and then I would heap appropriate praise with my limited Swahili, "Kazi mizuri."  Good work.

Millecent and Isabelah were also at my table...they are good friends and can often be found together.  You may be able to notice in this photo that Isabelah has an eye condition that requires treatment, or it may lead to blindness.  Both sweet, fun-loving little girls.

Millecent, it turns out, is 13...not 10 as I was previously told.  Originally, I thought she was telling me she was 13 because my daughter Maria is 13...and I suspected she thought she had a better chance of being Maria's friend if they were the same age.  Nope.  She really is 13.  Apparently, it's quite difficult to get the correct age, spelling of one's name, and other details...I'm thinking documentation in Kitale is not quite as rigorous as at home.  The good news is the clothes I brought for Millecent were girls size 10, which fit her with some room to grow.

Barry Devlin and I also had a conversation, with Richard's blessing, with the high school students today about the possibility of going to college in America.  Barry talked about dreams versus goals and asked them each to write on a piece of paper what they would like to be "when they grow up."  It was a great way to start the conversation.  We have several doctors, pilots, engineers, teachers and lawyers in the crowd...that's good information!

The idea of attending college in the US wasn't a promise...it was more the presentation of an opportunity.  We were just making it known that students with their background, good grades and good tests scores could possibly get scholarships to well-funded US universities.  We wanted to motivate them to do their best in school...that a college education can happen for them if they make it their priority.  It was amazing and inspiring to watch the light bulb click as they realized, "Hey...they are talking to me!"  

Newton Kioko just finished Form 4 (the equivalent of his senior year in high school).  He has taken the Kenyan college entrance exam and is waiting for his scores.  So attending a Kenyan university is an option for him.  Richard and Hellen tell me he is a good student...and I can see that in him.  When you ask him to do something, he is on it!!  I can imagine he is a diligent student who takes care of things today, not tomorrow.  Barry and I told we'll help him if he wants to take the SAT and ACT and try for entrance to a US university.  We told him it was all on him...he'd have to study for the test, take it, do well, etc.  We'd get him the resource books and pay his fees for the exam, but he is the one who has to make it happen.  He's shy but we could tell he was excited to try.  Makes me happy to see his face light up with possibility...that's really what this whole journey with the Mighty Acorn Foundation is about.  Possibility.  Lives transformed.  It's amazing.  (Thank you, David and Denise DeMarchis!!)

 

Okay...honestly...starting to wear out!  More on the adventures of Newton Kioko tomorrow!

Tish