quick update

ok, don't have much time so i'll try to give a brief update:

-twice this week we had to take kids to the clinic. we took mary to get her eyes checked out. it's about a half hour walk to the clinic. when we got in to see the doctor we told him about her eyes and a rash she has on her face and knee. he wrote a few things then sent us to the lab guy. the lab guy handed us a little container, a piece of toilet paper and a stick. then he pointed us in the direction of the squat toilet and told us to bring him back a stool sample. what the heck does that have to do with an eye infection?? luckily majo isn't a queazy gal and she collected the sample. we had to sit and wait while the technician did his thing. except he decided to sit down in the waiting room and watch some tv before he examined the sample. things sure work different in kenya. eventually we talked to the doctor and he gave us a bunch of medications for her her eye, rash and some stomache issues, then we walked her home. the second boy we took to the clinic had malaria so we got him medication as well. both kids are doing so much better already.

- the kids finished exams this week. english and reading are definitely the biggest struggles. we did lots of correcting and writing up final reports. i felt like a real teacher writing the encouraging little comments on their report cards!

- the americans here decided we should still celebrate thanksgiving. so on sunday we had a feast. about 6 americans were up at 8am cooking turkey and all the fixings. it was crazy! there were nearly 30 of us, representing 6 countries. it was such an amazing sense of community. all sorts of people, different ages, various backgrounds, all united with one common goal - to help people here. so good.



- yesterday i went on a tour of kibera. one of the guys who helped with shoot locations on the movie 'the constant gardner' took a few of us around. it was interesting to see some other parts of the slum. it is so amazing to me the conditions that some people live in. the trash, the sewage, the smell. its so sad. the kids couldn't get enough of us and kept following, asking us to take their picture and chanting 'how are you, how are you'. i bent down to say hello to one little girl, but clearly it was her first mzungu encounter. she was absolutely terrified. she screamed and ran away. woops.



- on wednesday, a guy who works for 'feed the children' came by our school. he gave us some information and gave us a contact number. we called and set up an appointment with a man named ramby campbell. we talked with him about setting up a feeding program for our school. his program has a requirement of 200 kids, but our school only has about 90 permanent kids. so he took us next door to talk to another man who runs a similar program for smaller schools. right now, their program is at max capacity but we were told to write up a proposal and get the school on file so that when there is an opening we can implement the program. but they have some requirements that we don't meet - must have a kitchen, toilets, water, and storage. we've got none of those things. but there is a public restroom very nearby, and a kitchen across the tracks we could rent. the main issue is storage. we're looking into possibly building some storage. but we don't own the land or the building - it is a church we rent to use throughout the week. so we have a meeting on sunday with the church people to discuss adding storage and perhaps improving the building. so please please please keep this in your prayers. a feeding program would be sooo incredible and is so needed. we are also going to go see some land located just outside of nairobi to possibly purchase so we can build a new school and get the kids out of the slums. that's going to take a lot of fundraising. so pray please!

- when i left, aaron gave me a little box full of homemade envelopes. he had written a letter for me for every day i'm gone. (i know, greatest boyfriend ever) well, my once full, microwave popcorn box of letters now has veeeery few letters left. my time here is ending. tomorrow is my last day of school. i have no idea how i'm going to say goodbye to my kids. seriously. i'm in such denial right now. it's going to be so incredibly hard. i'm going to miss everyone here so much. my kids. the volunteers. irene (my host). the people here have been so amazing. i love them.

so much for a brief update. there's just so much going on all the time. i apologize in advance because i'm not going to be able to shut up about kenya when i get back. and to you zambians, i can't wait to talk africa with you!

much love!