General Update- Feb 14th- Some of this is review

Hi all,
We apologize for the length of this update but we've decided this is also our diary so hope you enjoy what you want and skip the rest!!

Dinner & Devotions

We eat at 5 in the dining hall with different families from the cottages each evening. It is nice for the Mamas to have some adult conversation and it encourages good behavior among their children. We will be done about 5:30 then again on Mon & Wed at 6:30 we will visit one of the cottages for enrichment (usually books or games) then stay for devotions which start at 7:15 and last until about 8. For example: In one cottage, Mama Lydia, who is paid by Rafiki and her 10 boys were all ready when we got there. It was very clean and neat. We read books and played games while their Mama got them ready for bed. Then they sang--like a choir with harmonized & solo section and repeated scripture verses. Mama Lydia read from the Bible and taught a lesson on Joshua that came straight from her heart. She said that Joshua was a leader and he had to be wise and sometimes firm/courageous. She said that as the leader of their house she also has to be wise and firm with them because she loves them. She told them that she hopes they will also be wise and firm with their loved ones. After training to be a Rafiki Mama she had a wait 8 months before getting an opportunity for employment. She calls her house Canaan as it is the Promised Land. She never had children until she came to rafiki in 2003.
School
Rog's fifth grade class is now working on Multiplication. Jane subs a lot in first and fourth grade besides working in the library. The teachers have high expectations for paying attention and behavior. This is very much reinforced throughout the village. Students take their turn willingly to sweep the floor, clean the bathrooms, mop the classroom floors and clean the chalkboards. They also spend time each week working in the community garden (which they all enjoy when the food turns up onthe table). Saturday morning is reserved for additional cleaning in their cottages.
People
We love the other missionaries and meeting locals who work here and other visitors who are staying here to learn about how to run similar orphanages in Kenya. They treat us very well (laundry done and folded, rooms cleaned and fridge stocked food, special treats on the table at our house, invites to dinner at the director's house, invites to church/ soccer/movies..Peter Turuthi is staying in the wageni (guest house) this week and training for his job as administrator of a satellite village that The Rafiki staff here is encouraging. Peter told us last night that the funding for his village has failed and the future of the satellite village is uncertain. He is determined and we sure hope the situation will soon improve for them.
Food
The portions are always more than we really want to eat so we usually ask for a smaller serving or give some of our food to the kids at our tables. We eat with the students for lunch. It helps them with speaking English and they are expected to learn from the example we provide. The meal is often rice with beans (cooked in different ways with spices and Rog thinks is very good but you can guess what Jane thinks} or ugali (like unsweetened cream-of-wheat though it's cornmeal) with cooked spinach orkale. Also there is often an slice of orange or mango or another type of fruit. Everyone gets the same thing and there never seems to be any complaining. On a few occasion I have seen a kid that had to eat on the floor because they had not been sitting properly in their seat. The Mamas & teachers make the kids behave! At lunch today I talked with my table about Oceans, equator, hibernation and migration. Most of the information was new to them.
Interesting note:When it is 10:35 PM here it is 2:35 PM in Michigan. We are 8 hours ahead of you.
Baby Orphanage in Nairobi
We went to a baby orphanage in Nairobi Saturday morning. Some of the kids here had lived there as infants and today was a reunion for them and their caregivers and other kids that lived there before being adopted. Two Mamas and eight kids went along, too. They have a very nice orphanage that is clean and bright with plenty of staff. There were activities for the kids such as face painting, balloons, coloring, entertainment (futbol player doing tricks with a soccer ball) trampoline, and a bouncing castle. They also served lunch (sandwiches and something very like empenadas called sabousas, donuts, and cake.) Rog poured somecoke into cups for Clint and Kyle (the two boys that were with me). They didn't know what it was. They wanted more, though. It was a moving day as we watched so many orphans who would have died running and playing...all the while they played "You raised me to more than I could be."
Traveling
We have traveled both in a bus & cars. It is always interesting to see the people along the way and their tiny businesses that line the road seemingly for miles. Unemployment is about 60-70% here and there are always lots of people moving from place to place. Beside every road there is a well worn path crowded with walkers. Traffic is pretty heavy with few rules that we recognize. People cross the street at any and all places and expect drivers to avoid them. We noticed just one traffic light today on our journey to downtown Nairobi and back again. We have seen very few accidents so I give the drivers high grades here. I'm glad I'm not driving.
Plans
A safari trip is planned for next weekend. We will be out and about on Thursday through Sunday. Later we may also be traveling to Tanzania with a doctor from the US (she looks forward to having some company).

Time to quit. We did hear the good news about Andy (Rog's nephew) &Karra's new baby daughter born yesterday. Hope all is well with anyone still reading this!! We do miss all of you.
Roger and Jane

I have been enjoying looking at the beautiful birds and flowers. Such vibrant colors. Even the sky seems to glow.


Dad and I feel very useful around here. We do lots of tutoring one on one and also small groups. I have been used as a sub lots. The children are very disciplined--standing often when I call on them or enter the room.

Monday, Feb 8th

Dear Friends and Family,
We had a very interesting day as it was our first day to leave the compound. The church service was surprisingly similar to DUMC--with big screen lyrics for all hymns and a choir leader! Everyone was dressed up for the service-all the kids looked great. Everyone here in Kenya has been very friendly and accepting of us. They are all good hosts.

We rode to church in a small bus with five mamas and their ten children each. We sat in the third row on the bus-there were 12 children, the bus driver and a mama in the two rows in front of us. None were complaining a bit. We rode through busy, rough roads with many walking along side the road (too close for comfort). The drivers here must be very skilled or we would be seeing lots of accidents. Since I was the last to get on the bus I thought I might stand on the step just inside the closed door. One of the mamas told me that I should sit down or the police would see me. The kids were sitting four to a seat wearing no seat belts and I was breaking the rules!

Last week I was the goalie for a game of futbol (soccer).I started out alright but before it was over one of the opposing players was scoring on me at will. Needless to say my team did not win the game, but they sure ran like crazy and burned off a lot of energy. We are eight hours ahead of you so at 3:30 pm your time it is 11:30 pm here.We have been getting used to their way of conserving energy. Because the electricity bill has been high in this area they now turn off the electricity during peak use times. So there is no power from 6:30-8:30AM, 11:30AM-12:30PM, 3:30 PM-4:30PM, and 5:30-6:30PM. All other times are good! It is most convenient to have coffee made and up and dressed before power goes out at 6:30am. Sunrise is about 6:40am so there is some outside light as we finish preparing for the day.

Today (Monday) we are scheduled to go into Mwiki to tour the town/area for a couple of hours. There are many businesses so we might do some shopping. An employee that works on the maintenance crew here (Joyce) will be our guide. She is nice and always friendly whenever we see her. S he volunteers to do this for us because she knows we would like to learn about the area. When we were out Yesterday we noticed many houses that were partially complete. Jane asked about them and we were told that building is a way to invest money that that the people might otherwise have to give away. Apparently the custom is that you are expected to give money to your friends if they ask for it. To do otherwise would be selfish and no one would want to have others think they are selfish. So they give it. However if the money is already spent constructing something they don't have it to give. When they get some money again the building will get a bit closer to completion.

There are usually three guards at the front gate 24 hours a day. They unlock the gate for us whenever we want to leave or enter but do not allow in anyone who would harm or steal from the Village. Everyone appreciates them for doing their job. Usually one is holding a spear or a bow and arrow. We went to devotions with Bethany cottage tonight. As we walked to the cottage we heard music coming from the dining hall. Kids and Mama Lydiawere singing so we went in and watched them rehearse for a presentation coming up in March. They were having fun and seemed to be enjoying every minute. We played (soap bubbles) with the kids for awhile then it was time for them to get ready for bed. The kids sang songs and prayed, then I read the story of Abraham. We shared pictures of our families then took some pictures of their family. Mama told them that we (their visitors) had listened to God's call and had not been afraid to come to a foreign land just as Abraham had done. It was very humbling to be compared with Abraham... Love from Africa,
Roger & Jane (Dad & Mom, Grandpa & Grandma)

Video About Rafiki

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

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

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

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

Futbol, Feb 4th

After dinner tonight I was the goalie for a game of futbol (soccer). I started out alright but before it was over one of the opposing players was scoring on me at will. Needless to say my team did not win the game, but they sure ran like crazy and burned off a lot of energy.

Love, Rog

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