Click here to see a Video about Rafiki
Scroll down until you see the small video box, click on "Watch Rafiki Video"
It's about 4 minutes long
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Update, Feb 8th
Good morning Kids!
Sorry we haven't written more but we keep very busy with jobs and the power is off at various times several times everyday--so it's hard to write often. But we think of you very often and wish you were all here with us!! You'd love the weather, the vegetation (flora) and the children. I am so glad to hear that you are keeping in touch with each other--warms my heart. We must admit, we have it nice. The plumbing and electricity is rough but very functional. We have a warm shower, clean towels and the laundry comes back folded --even the underwear. We are sleeping well on kind of hard beds with mosquito nets but neither have had back aches. Our frig is stocked with --yes, light coke! It's not the same as diet but close enough. We also have lots of fresh fruit mostly grown right here: tinysweet bananas, avocados and some type of clementine. We have sandwich meat, cheese, bread and even chips. Usually we eat with and what the children are eating but last night and today we won't. So I'm not sure if this mission diet is working. Somehow, I almost feel guilty about how nice it is!! But--they do keep us very busy. We both have projects and we both are teaching most the day. We play with the kids in the evening and walk around lots.
Our safari is planned for Feb 20 - 22 and Yeenlan (the lady in chargearound here) made all the arrangements. She was able to get us a flying safari which is suppose to be the nicest for less than we had thought we'd pay for a road safari. Flying safari means we fly to the Masai Mara, stayin a camp and then take road trips out at dawn and in evening. We haven't checked into the balloon ride yet.
Well our bus will be here shortly. We're going to church with 30 kids and their mama. Also two of the Americans are going and we'll stay in town with them and just check it out. We're glad to see what's on the other side of the wall. We love you all and really miss those babies so keep sending pictures and we'll plan a skype time soon.
Update, Feb 5th
Hi All,
Our days are busy and flying by! We are both in classrooms most the day. Jane subbed in today and will sub tomorrow & Monday too. They have mostly local teachers and no subs so I think the word is out that we're available. They are a delight to teach as discipline is strict and classroom sizes are low. Supplies are minimal so oral recitation is used a lot. Though many have learned to read--they often don't know what the words mean. Tomorrow, Jane has to teach Swahili so the shoe will be on the other foot! The teacher is with the kids all day which means she's librarian, lunch lady, PE teacher, and even supervises the students sweeping & mopping at the end of the day. No one has to clean the library because the students take their shoes off before coming in because there is a small rug in the center.
The children are so entertaining. Roger was a magnet when he started up a "futbol" game with a ball that was half flat. They played with gusto. They also love just rolling tires around or climbing trees. Jane asked Johnson (about 4 yrs old) who made the big holes (about 4") that are all over. She expected the name of an animal but Johnson quickly and confidently answered, "God made those holes and puts bad people in them!" I suggested asking and learned they were termite holes with the top mound knocked off. They eat like horses and no piece of rice goes to waste. Mama Susan tonight told one of her boys to only eat until he was full and then share his left overs with his brothers which they quickly devoured. She was given two eggs as she had been fasting because she had had things to pray for. She ate one and then asked who wanted the other. All ten did so she chose the youngest four and divided it equally. They were ecstatic and savored it by only licking their 1/4 egg for several minutes.
The update of the little boy who is afraid of Rog's hairy arms--each day he has gotten closer and today, he touched his fingers!! And it's time to tell a story about Jane: one little boy came over while I was sitting down and touched my cheeks saying "big cheeks" and felt my hair saying "Christmas hair". Gotta love em! Rog talked to some students during lunch today and asked them their favorite season (if there are seasons at about 1 1/2 degrees S. Latitude).They responded with Summer! So he asked them when is Summer because we have heard that the temperature doesn't vary more than a few degrees all year. They said February, March, and April!
We could tell much more but we're tired. Thanks for all your responses to our last email. We'll write more later.
Rog and Jane
Our days are busy and flying by! We are both in classrooms most the day. Jane subbed in today and will sub tomorrow & Monday too. They have mostly local teachers and no subs so I think the word is out that we're available. They are a delight to teach as discipline is strict and classroom sizes are low. Supplies are minimal so oral recitation is used a lot. Though many have learned to read--they often don't know what the words mean. Tomorrow, Jane has to teach Swahili so the shoe will be on the other foot! The teacher is with the kids all day which means she's librarian, lunch lady, PE teacher, and even supervises the students sweeping & mopping at the end of the day. No one has to clean the library because the students take their shoes off before coming in because there is a small rug in the center.
The children are so entertaining. Roger was a magnet when he started up a "futbol" game with a ball that was half flat. They played with gusto. They also love just rolling tires around or climbing trees. Jane asked Johnson (about 4 yrs old) who made the big holes (about 4") that are all over. She expected the name of an animal but Johnson quickly and confidently answered, "God made those holes and puts bad people in them!" I suggested asking and learned they were termite holes with the top mound knocked off. They eat like horses and no piece of rice goes to waste. Mama Susan tonight told one of her boys to only eat until he was full and then share his left overs with his brothers which they quickly devoured. She was given two eggs as she had been fasting because she had had things to pray for. She ate one and then asked who wanted the other. All ten did so she chose the youngest four and divided it equally. They were ecstatic and savored it by only licking their 1/4 egg for several minutes.
The update of the little boy who is afraid of Rog's hairy arms--each day he has gotten closer and today, he touched his fingers!! And it's time to tell a story about Jane: one little boy came over while I was sitting down and touched my cheeks saying "big cheeks" and felt my hair saying "Christmas hair". Gotta love em! Rog talked to some students during lunch today and asked them their favorite season (if there are seasons at about 1 1/2 degrees S. Latitude).They responded with Summer! So he asked them when is Summer because we have heard that the temperature doesn't vary more than a few degrees all year. They said February, March, and April!
We could tell much more but we're tired. Thanks for all your responses to our last email. We'll write more later.
Rog and Jane
Recruiting Bekah
I have already signed Bekah up for mission work here!! Really!! The American long term teachers are begging to find websites where they can find worksheets and also the best website to find the benchmarks. I proudly said, "My daughter is a reading specialist and would be a great resource!!" So Bekah... they are looking for benchmarks & websites for 1-2 and 3rd grade in both reading and math. The students are almost at the same level as the states thanks to the small classes & strict discipline though their vocab understanding & comprehension is much lower. Perhaps Bekah's ESL background could help also.
Love,
Mom
Love,
Mom
Quiet Nights
The nights here have been very quiet.
We hear some birds around 6am and there are bush babies that live in the trees. Mom heard one last night and said it sounded like a baby. They are about the size of a cat but I haven't seen one. More later... Love, DAD
We Have Arrived! Feb 3rd
We have arrived and all is well. All our luggage arrived also!! We are astounded by the beauty of the children, the Rafiki village, the flowers and feel blessed to be here. We feel that we have come to an oasis of shade and cooling breezes with very nice accomodations that will be very comfortable for us. Just outside the wall of this compound are many whoare scrambling to survive by their wits alone as there are few jobs to befound and there is no shade because most of the trees are gone. It is no wonder that when the locals come through the Rafiki gate they say "This must be Heaven!"
Today we met all the other volunteers, many of the children and their mamas. The mamas (local women hired to live with tenorphans) are very loving at the same time they demand best behavior. We also toured the school and already have a teaching schedule. Besides tutoring , we've been asked to teach small groups for reading and wholegroups for math. Many of the teachers here live locally and will appreciate our input and also some time off.
Tonight we were invited to one of the homes where Mama Ruth and her ten children were having evening devotions. The children sang with gusto several hymns before listening and answering questions about a bible reading. Then Mama Ruth asked Rogerto read them the story of Noah--how ironic! It was inspirational to listen to their evening prayers as they prayed for us and our visit here. Finally, we showed them pictures of our grandbabies, family, home and Dexter. I wanted to kiss them all good night!
Funniest part of day--Roger was surrounded by children who wanted to touch the hair on his arms and one little guy who was so afraid of Rog's hair that he ran to getaway! It's bed time and we're ready!
Roger and Jane
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