We “showered” this morning with a bucket of hot water provided by our host. It was not the Ritz but it was fancier that I imagined with indoor plumbing (although only cold water). The toilet is broken so we are using the porcelain hole style.
Our schedule was changed from the printed schedule after our hearty breakfast (eggs, sausage, bread, bananas, etc). Instead of visiting in the morning the orphans would come and we would spent time with them while Rick, Jack and Pastor Godbless went to buy a car. We learned later that they first went to the money changing place where Pastor Godbless was able to convince them to take all 80 of Rick;s travelerÂ’s checks instead of just one (which is what they said they could do). They then took a paper bag full of money to the new bank owned by the Lutheran church and
opened up a joint account. They then proceeded to the auto parts store and asked who had a used truck to sell. The contacted 3-4 owners who drove their cars down for them to look at. They were either too new/expensive or too beat up so they did not purchase a car.
Meanwhile we started fairly slowly with the kids by asking their names in smaller groups, but the kids were pretty quiet. We broke out balloons and 2 Frisbees and they warmed up immediately. After some time we gathered the kids and passed out the school bags. They seemed to have been well received as we saw two girls still carrying them hours later. The only breakdown in logistics was while Mary was handing out gum. Suddenly she was mobbed with kids, kids started coming back for seconds (before everyone had a piece), and 2 of MaryÂ’s packs she was handing out walked away. When she changed to dropping the gum in the bags calm was restored. For a number of hours then we passed the time with the kids in conversation, singing (us and them), teaching Swahili to us and English to them, patty cake, and even some outside games that looked like duck duck goose except that no one sat down. So at first you had 1 person going around the circle and then 2, and so on until all the kids were up.


Unfortunately lunch was held waiting for the pastors to return without realizing for some time that they had eaten in town. 1 oÂ’clock came and went and then 2 and 3 oÂ’clock. Some of the group was getting light headed before the call for lunch went out. We went in to eat and the kids were also fed shortly thereafter.
After lunch and the return of the pastors 5 of us from the US plus Pastor Godbless, Edward and Mr Mate went for a walk to see Helen who was a teacher who retired when she got AIDS. She was at deathÂ’s door but has been taking new drugs (1000 Sh a day) and is doing much better. She is starting an NGO to educate people on AIDS. We then hiked the 40 minutes up the hill (I hiked Kilimanjaro) back to the church before nightfall.
Many of us washed up then before tea and dinner. Paul came back with 6 of his 7 kids (Kristina is in form 6 in secondary school which is a boarding school). We visited with his oldest 3 kids but his wife and younger kids did not speak English. We then ate dinner and turned in by 10pm.