June at a Glimpse....

June has been the busiest month in my opinion, so far. We have had two teams come through this month, both doing huge things with Uhuru Child to help our progress and growth both at the school and the farm! I have enjoyed getting to be part of their endeavors as well as helping lead these teams. Also, Christine and I have taken on the role of house sitter for the next 6 weeks as one of Tim and Jody Jackson's neighbors is gone. So, we have been going back and forth between our house and their house as well as taking on house sitting for the Jackson's as they left Saturday for their daughter's wedding! So even in our down time we are shuffling around and trying to get things done. It's good though and we do not complain that we get to stay in houses larger and nicer than ours for the next 6 weeks! (Not to mention one house has a dog and the other a cat so I am getting to hang out with some of my favorite animals!)

Leading teams after having been here for 5 MONTHS officially makes me feel like I have been here for even longer! We have just learned so much in this past 5 months about the culture, how things work within our organization, our roles, etc. that I feel fully comfortable answering questions that volunteers have. I also enjoy getting to know them and their reasons for being interested in our organization. It's one thing to here about Uhuru Child stateside but its definitely another world to come and experienc the chaos that is Uhuru Academy, Uhuru Shamba (farm), and Uhuru Lettuce Processing! I enjoy welcoming outsiders into our world and showing them the work God is allowing us to here! 

The first June team was specifically an Uhuru Child college group. There were about 18 of them and they stayed in a team house provided by Amali Safaris. Amali Safaris is owned and operated by one of our close friends Kelvin, so by partnering with him, we get a really nice house for our volunteers to stay at while also supporting his new business! While this team was here, they helped plow an acre of our new farm land for planting of more lettuce seeds! Our lettuce business is quickly growing and in order to keep up with the demand we are expanding our farms by 10 acres or more! So this work they did was start and huge help to this expansion project. Also, they did some beautification work at the school and assisted our groundskeeper in some projects! They helped dig up some of the bad soil to make room for new grass and helped pave more of our driveway at the school to make it look more presentable to visitors. In addition to working hard, they planned a Sunday church service at the school with the students where some of the volunteers shared their testimonies or a message with the girls. One of our students who became a Christian last term even joined in to share her story! Everyone was moved to tears by the end of hearing everyone speak and you could just tell the Spirit had been moving in that room! It was awesome! This group also cooked spaghetti with the students one night for a family dinner! And on one of their free days they came to the school for some outdoor fun involving soccer (of course), volleyball, and basketball to build closer relationships with the students. These girls love when we have visitors from the US come and making new friends so it was a pleasant experience for all! And possibly one of the most unique things we have experienced on a trip so far was the Massai dancing around the bonfire at the team house, provided by Amali Safaris! They some traditional fire dances and one of our volunteers even participated in a mock wedding! Needless to say, this trip had a unique and wonderful experience with us in Kenya and we enjoyed having them!

                                             Amali safaris team house!

      One of the greenhouses we visited in Jikaze where we employ 17 members of Jikaze!

                                       It's not a bonfire without the Maasai!

The weekend after that trip left, a few if Christine and my friends who are in Kenya for 6 weeks came to visit! They are a group of 10 students from UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State involved with the ministry Christine and I both were a part of in college called Campus Outreach. One of my very best friends, Emily, was the female leader of this trip so I was so thankful they could come and stay in the Amali Safaris team house for the weekend! They have apartments in Nairobi and are doing ministry on the University of Nairobi campuses so they took a break for the big city to come to rural Limuru! During their time here they also helped plow some of the farm land as well as visit Jikaze and one of our local Kenyan churches here in Limuru. Then, after that full of day of work they graciously came to the school to lay more cement and further that process of paving the driveway and then played soccer and volleyball with the students to get to know them! They even assisted with lettuce in their jam packed weekend! We tried to give them a true Kenyan experience apart of the hustle and bustle of the city and I think they enjoyed their time with Uhuru Child. I know I enjoyed getting to see them especially my best friend and plan on visiting them a few more times in Nairobi before they head back to the states! BUT, it won't be long until 2 of the boys from that group along with 3 more from Campus Outreach move to Nairobi in January for two years to do full time ministry on the campuses of Nairobi so I am excited to have more friends moving closer in the next 6 months!

Finally, we concluded June with the coming of a team of adults from the Summit Church in Durham. Some of them brought their children and some were still in college so it was a wide array of people which made it more interesting! One of the men on this trip also painted a mural on the wall of the dining hall and it is gorgeous! We could not be more satisfied with his work. Tim and Jody Jackson, our older married couple on staff here were the primary leaders of this group so I did not get to spend as much time with them but the time I did spend I enjoyed! They were a very caring and passionate group who I think really understood the vision of Uhuru Child and were excited about becoming more involved when they got back to the states. Some of the people on this trip were part of a bible study that sponsors two of our students and getting to meet them in person was more than they could have dreamed of. Getting to see their blessing in action, helping these girls receive an education made it all worth it and we are hoping and praying they would be advocates for more sponsorships after seeing the impact they have made in these girls lives. God is doing some amazing things both Kenya side and stateside !! Sadly, this team was only here for a week as opposed to the full 2 weeks the other trips are doing but I think they maximized their time efficiently and were able to grasp just the amount of work is put in here day in and day out from the school, to the shamba, to the lettuce processing.

AAANNNNDDDDDD they left behind 3 interns for the summer! So, Kenya staff has taken on 3 interns for the summer, two will be here for 6 weeks and one for just one more week. Their names are bailey, Taylor, and heather all from different walks of life so they are keeping it interesting for us! Bailey and Taylor are both here for six weeks and Heather for one, but both Taylor and Heather will be working with the teachers at the school trying to develop more learner centered activities instead of just trying to get the students to memorize facts for a test. We know their knowledge in these areas is going to be a huge help to not only help our students succeed more in class but also help our teachers to become more effective and set our school apart. Bailey, who is going on staff with Uhuru Child stateside is also going to be doing some exciting things both here and in the US. She will be handling and leading our future trips as well as better preparing them Pre-trip for Kenya! She will be the liaison between us and future trips and making our trips more effective by not only preparing future volunteers but helping give them more ownership over their trips. Her vision is to help them to really understand and buy into their mission while they are here as well as the mission of Uhuru Child in hopes that more people will become passionate and involved stateside! It's a great opportunity all around having these interns here to help things move along more quickly and efficiently for the organization as a whole, but they are also just some really cool people that I am excited to get to know and spend more time with.

That's a glimpse of what has been happening this month and I apologize for not posting sooner but things have just been so nonstop which is such a GOOD THING! I will try to do better in the coming weeks as July is fastly approaching and our last team of the summer will be arriving.

QUICK PRAYER REQUEST: my grandfather has cancer and has not been doing well lately and my grandmother has recently called in hospice to make him comfortable. I am sad that I am not getting to be there with my family at this time but my request is that you could pray for my grandfather to be peaceful and comfortable and surrounded by the people he loves and that God would comfort my family and be with them at this trying time in the instance that my grandfather would pass. My Poppy is a strong man of God and am thankful that he has lived such a glorifying life serving our Lord and I am proud to call him a fellow brother in Christ and loved Patriach of our family! I love you Popster!

Summer and Second Term are Heating Up!

Second term has officially started back at Uhuru Academy and we are excited to announce we received a new form 2 student named Teresia Wanjiku!! All of the students gave her a huge welcome and she has fit right in!

 Also, we had our first summer team come for 2 weeks from Vanderbilt University! It was a group of 8 girls and 1 boy and they came to Uhuru Academy to teach some life skills clubs on communication skills, decision making skills, hygiene, relationships, HIV/AIDS, and business as well as help workers in Jikaze fetch firewood, deweed gardens, plow the fields, meet with different families in the village, and help beautify the land at the school. It was nice having a chance of pace from our regular schedules each week and to inform others on what exactly Uhuru Child is doing day in and day out!

Along with accompanying them to Jikaze and the school, I also got to go with them on their safari....for free! It was the same park I went to with DB, my boyfriend, the week before but still a wonderful experience. We stayed over night in the lodge which was really nice! It even had heated beds! And we went on 3 game drives and saw some lions stalking some zebras and impalas!  We were so close to some of lions, one of whom was sitting in a tree above our heads. It was epic. And the food was amazing. I was definitely glad I got to chaperone! Not to mention the students themselves were a treat to be around and I enjoyed spending time with them!

cape buffalo

impala

lioness perched in a tree right above our van!

lioness walking down the road!

lioness stalking some zebra!

stalking action

Lake Nakuru Park

zebra

On the last day of their trip, the Vandy kids made pizza with the Uhuru Girls and soap as a tentative business the students could start! All in all, it was a productive trip and I was definitely glad they were our first visitors this year because they made it very enjoyable and set the bar very high for future groups! And, they are going to continue to raise money at their school for Uhuru Academy through their KenyaDigIt club.

Christine teaching everyone

Enjoying the fruits of their labor!

It was nice getting to sit in on the Vanderbilt teams' life skills clubs or GLOW club as we call it (Girls Leading Our World) because they had some great lessons that invoked many questions from the girls. It also helped prepare the way for Christine and I to start our series on HIV/AIDS which will take up the whole term! I am excited about doing this series because there a ton of myths about the disease and how it's contracted and what actually happens in your body once you have it. I didn't even know some of the answers to the questions the volunteers were asking the girls! So it'll be informative for both sides. And we are hoping that by equipping our students with these facts, they can become leaders among their peers and in their communities by informing others with the truth so that these lies about AIDS will stop spreading. Also, so that those who do have AIDS will not be treated like lepers by their communities or families.

In Bible Study, Christine and I are starting a unit on prayer! We are going over the what, who, when, why, where, and how of prayer because it is one of the more misunderstood topics in this culture when it comes to Christianity. So, we are hoping to give them a clear picture by teaching and modeling before them what prayer is and isn't and what the significance of prayer is. 

In Discussion group this term, we will be covering different religions of the world. In Kenya, the dominant faith is Christianity but there is a Muslim and Hindu presence so there are also many misconceptions about those faiths and their followers. By covering some of the major world religions, we hope to inform them about the similarities and differences between these religions and Christianity so that if they were ever sharing their faith with someone of a different religion, they would know how to relate the two accurately. Also, we would like to inform them of the facts so that they can be leaders and properly inform those in their communities and families.

Lastly, in Chapel which is the part of discipleship program that I lead and teach, we are going to do a rendition of J.D. Greear's (pastor at the Summit Church in Durham, NC) series "A Search for a King" and it's about the life of King David! This is one of my favorite sermon series by JD and I am excited to convey these principles and applications I learned from it to these girls! It will be hard for them at first to learn how a Bible Story they heard as children relates to them personally but my goal is teach them that everything, every story, In the Bible not only relates to us but points us to Jesus. I don't know all of their religious backgrounds but most of them grew up in church and in some of those churches there was not a lot of deep, personal, reflection and relation to the Bible and it's teachings or practical application being taught. So, we hope that by the end of this series they will be able to explain how a passage relates to them and what they can apply to their lives from it!

Like I said, some really exciting things are happening this term not to mention 3 more teams coming this summer for short term trips! 2 college teams and 1 adult team and I look forward to showing them and being proud of what we are doing here through Uhuru Child!

A few requests for Uhuru Academy:

-LAPTOPS LAPTOPS LAPTOPS! We have 3 laptops for our computer class and 20 students do if anyone has an old laptop they a getting rid of or don't use or know of someone that does, please please please let me know!!

-we are having some fundraisers for instruments for music class going on online right now at http://www.crowdrise.com/kenyamusic

- as well a fundraiser for a library and filling it with books! http://www.crowdrise.com/uhurulibrary

-and we are always accepting money for scholarships for our IDP camp girls! If you would like to donate money to sponsor a student at our school go to http://www.crowdrise.com/ScholarshipsforIDP

Uhuru Academy is only running because of the grace of God, prayers, and generous donations so please continue to help us in these areas! And tell your friends!

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" -Isaiah 52:7

Mpenzi Yangu Alikuja Kutembea! (My boyfriend came to visit!)

April 28 to May 4, my boyfriend, DB, came to Kenya! Although he was here for only a week, we jam packed it with as much Kenyan experience and fun as possible.Being in a long distance relationship is not ideal, but we have grown closer and as individuals so much since I moved to Kenya and being a part of this process with him has been nothing but a blessing. I am excited for this journey we are on together and thankful that I get to have my best friend with me every step of the way, even if he is an ocean away. Literally.

First of all, he brought a whole second duffle bag full of things I could not fit in mine when I moved here along with some of my favorite snacks like POTATO CHIPS (ruffles...the good kind), peeps, cadbury cream eggs, crystal light, a 5 lb tub of BBQ sauce, and two huge containers of ranch dressing. All things I cant get here but consider necessary in America :) I was so excited and thankful! Especially since he paid the same amount for 15 cadbury cream eggs in America that I did for 6 in Kenya.

So, Monday was the first full day DB spent in Kenya and I basically just showed him around Limuru and my everyday life. We walked up to Brackenhurst and I showed him some of the beautiful views of the tea fields and then we walked to Uhuru Academy so I could show him where I work. Then, we got some Kenyan coke because its made with sugar cane instead of high fructose corn syrup and showed him around Tigoni Market. He also got to meet Lydiah and Francis, two of our Kenyan Uhuru staff members who were hosting him for the week he was here!

Tuesday, we visited an orphaned elephant sanctuary!! These baby elephants mothers had died and the babies were found alone and taken in by this organization with the intention of eventually releasing them back into the wild when they are of age. So, we got to watch as they bottlefed them and even got to pet some!! They were sooooo precious and their skin is so hard and rough, I was surprised. But luckily the came up to us before they started flailing around in the mud and getting themselves dirty. They were so playful and precious though and we had a great time! Then, we went to the giraffe center where we fed and took pictures with some Rothschild Giraffes. I learned all about the different kinds of giraffe that Kenya has and difference between them. It was awesome! Then we headed over to this really nice new restaurant in Nairobi called Seven and wined and dined ourselves.

Wednesday, Christine and I finally got a car!! Its a purple Mazda Demio and we couldnt be more in love with it! All of the cars here are either SUVs, trucks, or mini SUVs because the roads are so back so our car, also know as Lilly Lavender, is very practical here in Limuru. She is a little hatchback and we ride in style :) Then, after riding around in Lilly all day, we prepared a meal together. We made pizza and drank Fanta blackcurrant (my favorite) and moved the furniture onto our back patio so we could have a romantic candlelit dinner. We even got to shag dance while the rain poured down around us. Luckily, we were covered by our back patio ceiling. All in all, it was a perfect date night :)

Thursday, we went to Jikaze, the IDP camp that our lettuce, tomato, and chicken farms are at and where most of our girls at the school come from, so DB could meet some of these lovely ladies. We only got to see Teresia and Josephine because the other girls were at the far away farm digging. But, he got to drink some Kenayan chai at Teresia's house and her and Josephine showed us the huge rift in the ground from all the water washing away the land! It was like a huge cavern had been carved out. Then, we went to Windsor Country Club where we spent the rest of our day laying out in the sun, eating and drinking by the pool with poolside service, and swimming! It was soooo relaxing :) That evening, Kelvin, a close friend and the one who planned all of our adventures that week, made dinner for DB and I. He has a team house for volunteer teams he hosts on trips and so he set up this candlelit dinner outside on the patio with freshwater fish, roasted potatoes, kales, and chapati to eat! And some South African wine! It was all so delicious and very thoughtful!

We also stopped at the view point of the Great Rift Valley!

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Josephine (left) Teresia (right)

Friday, was our safari day!!! It both of our first safaris so we were really excited about it. We went to this park about two and a half hours from Limuru called Lake Nakuru National Park and it was beautiful! We saw soooo many animals too! Although, some of the roads had gotten covered by water because it has been raining so much so there weren't as many flamingos as normal. But we did see some waterbuck, water buffalo, zebras, giraffes, impala, gazelles, baboons, all kinds of birds, and LIONS! We were told to not be upset if we didnt see lions because they hide very well in Nakuru. But we saw two lionesses, a cub, and a young male all lounging underneath some bushes in the shade during the middle of the day! We were literally ten feet from them and if DB hadnt just barely seen the back of one we would have missed them altogether! It was incredible and the young male even got up and walked around so we got some pictures! We were out in the park for about 5 hours and then headed to the lodge for lunch where we were greeted by some baboons trying to sneak in to get our food. Luckily, they had a Maasai tribesman guarding the restuarant to ward off any hungry baboons. Then, we headed to Lake Naivasha National Park where we went on a boat safari and saw some hippos in and OUT of the water! They were so big! And we saw some African Fish Eagle swoop down and catch some fish, as well as more giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, pelicans, and waterbuck grazing by the watering hole in what seemed to be the perfect African landscape. It was a great capper to our adventure week and we both love wildlife so much that we both enjoyed every second of it!

Lake Nakuru!

The water has basically taken over....

Cape Buffalo

Baboons

Giraffes (twiga)

Zebra (punda milia)

when one of the lionesses showed us she was there!

a young male lion (simba- swahili for lion)

two lionesses

a cub! (the real simba)

waterbuck

warthog (swahili- pumba)

male impala

Lake Naivasha!

Waterbuck

African Fish Eagle swooping for a fish

Giraffe poking its head over the trees

Hippos! Out of the water!

Saturday was the day he left for America and the goodbyes get harder every time. But, we are both thankful to be in each other's lives even if its thousands of miles apart for the time being. We know God does not withhold any good thing from us and if there is anything we have learned in this process it's that God is faithful and we can trust Him to not lead us astray. We are even thankful that DB could even come to visit me because it was not a cheap trip! I am so glad he could come and experience my life here for a week and see the new place I am calling my home for the next two years and even meet some of the girls I have fallen in love with here. I am beyond thankful to have such a supportive boyfriend who is helping me achieve my goals and follow Jesus where ever he calls me. Even if its to another country for the next two years of our relationship! He is a godly man whom I am proud to call my boyfriend and pray that we will see each other a lot more over these next 2 years and for the rest of our lives ;) I couldn't have asked for a better week with him! God is soooooo good!