Kenya - Day 13

Here I am with Sydney and Laura teaching. We had the neatest opportunity to teach young girls about feminine hygiene. We gave them feminine hygiene pads that are re-usable. They don't have anything like that there and once we explained what they were the girls were speechless and literally cheered for us that we would bring them such a gift. It was so humbling.

Here are the girls learning about feminine hygiene. They were shy at first, but we assured them that we are all women and go through the same things. They asked us some really interesting questions about their bodies - the lack of education in this area was really hard to accept. I was so happy to be there and assure them that they are all normal.

Here we are doing our feminine hygiene demonstration. They giggled the entire way through it, much like we did in 6th grade maturation. Ha!

They're listening intently to my demo. I was pretty nervous to get up there and just go for it, but it was so much fun once we got comfortable.

I love these faces! They're so happy to relate to us as women and have some girl talk.

We probably talked to them for at least 20 minutes in a Q & A session. Sydney and Laura we awesome to work with.

This girl came and grabbed me after we were done teaching and wanted pictures with me and had some additional questions. As cheesy as it sounds, this picture speaks so much to me about my experience with these young women. I'll never forget their faces.

I love this picture with all the girls. That's pure joy on my face.

Checking out our picture we just took.

One of my favorite things to do was show them the pictures we had just taken. I told her how beautiful she looked and she would blush and run away for a minute. What a sweet moment captured in a picture.

We couldn't leave the boys out - so we taught them basic hygiene and gave them toothbrushes.

Happy to have a toothbrush, even as a teenager.

We told them we were going to take this picture home and show it to all our American friends. They were ecstatic.

A group shot - after turning down our marriage proposals for the day. :)

Here I am outside our guest house. I love the sign!!

The entrance to our guest house. Right after we took this picture a truck drove by and I got lost in a dirt cloud. Classic.

One of the huts inside the place where we stayed. Isn't it beautiful? It was so tropical.

A picture of our guest house. I miss it!!

Our backyard.

This is how we would unwind at night. Ha! We're in the common room playing a WILD game of cards and laughing so hard.

I LOVE these people!!

You tell me - whose hand made it to the bottom of the pile first?! Ha! We laughed forever. It was a tough call but think we ruled it a tie. I should also probably mention that we got in trouble a lot for being too loud at night. Whoops!!

Kenya - Day 12

This was a common sight - me and Jessie braiding Laura's hair and anyone else who got in line. Sad that it was day 12 before we decided to start tag-teaming it. Ha!

K, I was laughing so hard in this picture. Eric and I were given the job to pump up the soccer balls we were taking to the schools that day and my job was to hold the ball while Eric manned the pump. Eric is awesome and totally fun and animated and he sang songs to the beat of the pump. I was lovin' every minute of it. Never a dull moment in Kenya. Seriously.

On the way to our schools in the morning we'd often play "iPod idol" and sing, as well as several renditions of "Africa" by Toto. (Tell me that's not the coolest thing ever...singing "I blessed the rain down in Aaaafrica.." as you bump through dirt roads in the armpit of Kenya. Surreal.)

So we had a bit of a cow incident this day. Aubrey and I had a solid game of ring-around-the-rosies going and the school cow decided to charge our circle and ran straight into it. Everyone scattered and left me with that look on my face. I may or may not have peed just a little.

The kids are waiting to see what gifts we brought for them.

Here they are cheering when we showed them the soccer ball we brought for them. They LOVE soccer and it was the best feeling in the world seeing their faces and hearing their cheers when they'd see the balls. I'd never get tired of doing that.

Eric and I are leading a song, I'm sure - a little song and dance. A little number, maybe. Did I mention we made complete fools of ourselves there?!

Case in point. Aubrey and I leading the "tootie-ta" game. It's a crowd pleaser.

"Hey kids, do what we do." And you know what? They did.

Entertaining our circle of kids.

Whoops - gettin' a little crazy. This picture makes me laugh. If you want an idea of what I did in Africa the whole time - this is it. I acted crazy and loved every minute of it.

The craziness continues. The bigger dork you were, the more they liked you. So you better believe we hammed it up.

Another giant game of ring-around-the-rosies. We tried the hokey pokey but they didn't like that one so much - they wouldn't do the actions which left us looking like idiots, so we threw that one out. Gotta know your audience.

The next school we visited was really unique, and definitely one of my favorites. It was a small primary school, it was well-run and the children were darling. Here are the girls performing for us.


This girl is performing a poem entitled, "The Child." One we heard quite a bit but it's really touching if you can understand her accent. I love it. I miss it.

I don't know his name. But I love him. He's honestly my favorite child I met there. I was playing in a circle of kids and I noticed him in his yellow shirt, standing off to the side by himself. He was shy, and still too young to know much English, so he didn't talk, but he wanted me to pick him up and he put his little cheek next to mine and wouldn't let me go! It was such a neat moment in my life. I can't describe it. All I could think was that he must not receive much affection. Some families there express affection in different ways and I think all children need to be loved and hugged. I held him for about 20 minutes and it broke my heart to put him down. He also had a little half-eaten cob of corn in his front pocket. Could it BE more cute?!

Here he is, holding tight. I love that sweet little face!

Kelli our photographer got some great shots of him - I love that he's chewing on a weed.

Melts my heart. Oh, I wanted to bring him home!!! I'll never forget that moment I had with him. I hugged him and told him I loved him. That's really all you can do!

Here we are playing games again- these girls brought out their chinese jump ropes and were really good.

They loved watching Eric - and my gosh, that's got to be a 4 ft. vertical! Look at you go, Eric! The kids ate it up.

Here we are with the entire school. They were so grateful and expressed it over and over. It was a fabulous day with unforgettable experiences.

Kenya - Day 11

Sunday again! We found another branch to attend church. I love this picture -the cow is perfectly placed. It was in the middle of nowhere in a tiny little building.

Aubs and I in front of the church building - that's the primary room you can see into.

The church bathrooms.

Here we are in sacrament meeting. We were a little late getting there - they knew we were coming so they waited 15 minutes to hold sacrament meeting for us.

The branch president gave a great talk. After church was done, everyone in the branch came up and introduced themselves. They are the sweetest, most humble members. The church will catch fire in Africa, I know it! The people are just too good.

After church we stopped at a school and ate our lunch. (Rice, beans.) This is what a typical school looks like.

George is a Jazz fan! Who knew?! He even told me he plays for them. Ha!

After church we made plans to visit the Lillywhite Orphanage. We pulled up and saw them standing in lines like this, screaming and cheering for us. They sang us a song as we walked in between the lines and into their school room where we all talked. I believe the people who run the orphanage were members of the church and the kids sang "High On A Mountain Top" for us. I recorded it but couldn't get the video to upload. It was wonderful hearing our own hymns and feeling that sense of family the gospel brings no matter where you are. This orphanage was in serious need of help. We were there to give encouragement and to teach them how to be self-sufficient.

We went on a tour of the place. This is a classroom, which converts into the girl's bedroom at night. They sleep in the classrooms, on the uneven cement floor. I felt sick inside seeing this. 2 girls sleep on each bedroll.

Another view of where the girls sleep. It broke my heart.

Here's where the boys sleep.

I found these little guys out in the back of the orphanage. How cute are they?!! They were playing with a puppy when I found them. They didn't know what to think of us but they were so cute.

How sweet is that face?!

This guy wasn't so much happy to see us. Ha! We tried to get him to smile but nothing worked.

I wanted to bring them home! How about the kid with no pants?!

These girls were so sweet. They asked me to take a picture and they kept touching my hair.

Hey everyone, meet Johnson. The fattest baby in Africa. I could NOT get enough of this kid. He is seriously the cutest little thing ever. And I love that his name is Johnson. What a champ.

No, seriously. I almost brought him home.

This is Victoria. Reach The Children is actually sponsoring her education and she wanted to thank us personally for helping her out. She promised me that she would take what she learns and teach it to her family to help them make something of themselves as well. I'll never forget her.

This is Dominic, someone else I'll never forget. We had a memorable conversation. Reach the Children is sponsoring his education as well. He wants to be a nurse. He told me how grateful he was that we were there. He said he and his siblings have waited their entire lives to meet "mzungu's" (white people) and he couldn't believe the day had finally come. He told me he always thought that we were so much different than him. Then he touched my hair, looked at me and said, "Although we are different on the outside, I'm happy to realize today that we are not different at all. We are people with feelings, we care and want to help each other and I thank you for that gift of knowledge you gave to me today."

WOW. I was so touched. He made me cry! I'm so happy he has a chance to get his education because he is exactly the type of person that will go far and do good things. He wouldn't let go of my hand the rest of the day. It's a sign of friendship there, and it was a sweet moment in my life.

We brought a bunch of gifts for the orphanage. Someone's grandma knitted these little hats and this girl grabbed one right away and put it on. Isn't she beautiful? I should submit this one to National Geographic. Her eyes tell such a fascinating story, don't you think?!

Here's our entire group, along with everyone at Lillywhite Orphanage. This was one of the highlights of my trip for sure.

Kenya - Day 10

Day 10 was awesome. It was monumental for a few villages in Kisumu. Reach The Children organized the first ever sports/recreation field day. Hundreds of people attended the event. There were several events, including: sack racing, bottle balancing (on your head), tug-of-war, wrestling, and a US vs. Kenya soccer game!!

First a picture with the kids!!

Here I am with Steve, George and Jeff. They drove our vans and were wonderful friends - we hung out with them a lot and I love these guys.

Before the sports day some kids who are too poor to attend school ran up the road to see what was going on.

As usual, there was entertainment for us before we started all the field events. These boys were great drum players and they loved every second of it.

The old women performed a dance for us. It was awesome.

We had a tug-o-war: US vs. Kenya! We won the first round. They were actually really excited that we won. Suchi told us that we proved a point that day. He said that they think Americans are lazy and not strong because we rely on machines to do our work for us, but that day we proved that we actually can be physically strong as well. The Kenyans won the second round, and there were plenty of high-five's going around after each match. It was so much fun.

Here's Suchi again, giving another one of his inspirational speeches on education and self-sufficiency. I can't get enough of this guy!!

FUNNIEST moment of the day. We all got up and danced with the children and old women, and this sweet sista was shaking her booty and trying to get me to shake mine - I was laughing so hard - I got a booty-shakin' lesson in Kenya. Could my life BE more cool?!

Me and my bootylicious sista who loved wearing my sunglasses.

Cute kids watching the dancing.

The babies there are SO cute!

Another picture of our tug-0-war match! USA! USA!!

Big sister was so nice to give her little sis a piggy back ride - but she was falling asleep. Adorable.

These kids scaled the tree faster than I've ever seen anyone get up a tree, and in mass numbers. I bet there are 20 kids in the tree, all trying to get a better view of Eric wrestling the locals. It was such a fun field day - we were exhausted at the end, especially after they kicked our butts in the soccer match. Let's be honest - we didn't stand a chance. We knew this. But it was fun trying. Go team!

Kenya - Day 9

We got to go to a huge dance competition this day. I wish I had pictures, but they charged money to take pictures at the event so we all decided to just watch and enjoy it. Thousands of kids showed up and we got to watch each dance and see how unique each group and village is.

Funny story. This is the first (and only) day that I had to use the outhouse. I know, I know. I just never had to go to the bathroom during the day. Thankfully. A friend* and I went out to the outhouse together and found it. She went in, and not 2 seconds later I heard an, "Oh SH#%!" and she came running out with her skirt over her head and she yelled, "There's a GIANT LIZARD in there!!" Ha! You just never know what you're going to find when you open the door to one of these things. Oh, and I had to kick the chickens out of the way before I went in because they were trying to come on in. Here's a picture of me immediately after my first outhouse experience in Kenya. Gross, but I did it!

*Name withheld to protect said friend