the Litungu dance

Salome and Sammy at work

A yard full of fun

Yes, even I tried...white men can't dance...comparatively speaking

Our supervisor Anna, and her best friend Marwa

Grace Wilfred and Bahati Wangwe in Kurian traditional outfits

One day when Eric, Liz, and I were conducting a business trip to investigate the Crown Paint factory and Zingira Fence Supply in Nairobi, we found ourselves checking out a local cultural attraction I have heard about for years called Bomas of Kenya. People representing most of the tribes in Kenya have come together to form a historical and cultural show for both tourists and locals alike, highly visited by school children as a fieldtrip destination. The different tribes here in Africa all have unique characteristics and traditions, and blend together beautifully into a nation rich with heritage. Our attending the cultural dance made me year to know more about the Kuria tribe that we work among in Tarime. And this past week, we got to experience just a bit of that. Our farm supervisor and day guard, Mwita, prior to working for Angel House, was part of a group of almost 20 Kurian people who travel to various places to peform the traditional Kuria dances. The children of Angel House dressed up in traditional attire and joined in the dancing and fun. The dance itself is a mixture of three parts...feet taking turns jumping, arms held at a 90-degree angle swinging back and forth, and neck moving dramatically up and down. It was quite a sight to behold...staff, children, villagers, and mzungus alike, all sharing in a rich history that goes back hundreds of years...participating in rain and harvest dances, learning, and laughing together. The most amazing part to me is just how very big our Creator is...that He could fashion such difference and beauty among the people of this world; it continues to fascinate me.

Salome, the resident tomboy

She is a beauty and can dance like there's no tomorrow, but she'd rather be playing in the mud than anything else...what's not to like about that?

The Gift of Water

Water is never in abundance here in Tarime. There are many mornings that we have to use the rain water collected outside to bathe with and Katherine uses that water to wash our clothes. There are people that walk over a kilometer to fetch water for their homes. They use the minimum amount of water to bathe, cook, drink, and wash their clothes. However, Eric and I drink an average of 12 bottles of 1.5 liters of water each week. That is 18 liters of drinking water alone. At The Angel House, each child is required to carry 3-5 buckets of water each day in order to have enough for the kitchen, each bathroom, and some to boil for drinking. It usually takes them about an hour to all fetch water and fill the buckets in the house.

A few things that we have been able to change in the last month have greatly helped the house keep water in the buckets and allow us to decrease the labor on the kids. Mwita, our day guard and shamba man, attached a bucket to a plastic hose and ran it into the living area. There are two buckets on the left side and two buckets on the right side that now collect all the rain water rolling off of the roof. To give you an idea of how much rain…each bucket holds 210 liters. The rain water is safer for the kids to drink and it is cleaner even after we boil the water from the current well. When it down pours, which is every other day or so, the kids all run to their rooms to grab buckets and it becomes an assembly line in the living room. The kids are able to collect enough water there for their bathrooms and the kitchen. Those are happy days because they can spend more time playing!

The most exciting thing this month is the drilling and installation of the new well. The new well will have a hand pump and it is right in front of the house. The kids do not have to walk more than 20 feet to get water. Preliminary tests have shown that the water is clean enough to drink without having to boil it. Also, the new well will have enough water to provide for over 250 families.

We have been very blessed to have these opportunities to improve the lives of so many people. Water is a gift and is taken advantage of in so many cultures, including our own. Our children now have water accessible to them in their front yard as well as their own living area.

In Christ,
Liz E. Soard