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

Things i (Eric) Can’t do that I Can Do

I think we often forget that the times when we reach the end of our own abilities is when God steps in. I often wonder when I take some time to read through the Old Testament if David or Gideon or any of the other successful kings and judges were really gifted generals and leaders or if they just have more faith than the rest of us. Did they know what to do in each specific situation that they stumbled into or did they just have God so much at the front of their minds and lives that they followed him wherever they went.

If they can do it what is stopping me? For a while I thought that I just wasn’t as faithful, or maybe that kind of stuff doesn’t happen anymore. It took me a while to realize that in actuality I was not living my life outside of my own abilities, I was holding back. I was too worried to step out on a path too difficult for me to finish myself. Now there were times when I chose to follow God’s way of doing things instead of my own even in the easy part of my life and it turned out well, but for the most part I tried to stick to stuff I could do myself so that I could do it my way. I am now in a place in my life where I can’t do it myself anymore.

I am about to embark on the adventure of building a school for the children of Angel House and surrounding community. We will start with the foundation, move on to the walls, roof, doors and windows, and eventually finish up with the plaster (inside and out). The process reminds me so much of what guiding the growth of kids at Angel House can be like. We hope to lay the foundation of God, add the protection of walls and a roof through good living and education, and pray that in the end they chose to put on the finishing touches of plaster in a way that honors God. In both of these processes other people will be there to help and even be in charge of different parts, but I know that the parts I will be responsible for will not be within my normal capabilities.

I will have to be able to focus on God throughout this project so that when I lose my way I just have to follow his path, the one laid out for me through experience, faith, and the wisdom given through his word. I have a feeling that if I asked those kings and judges of old they would say the same thing. Look toward God and he will provide what is needed, do his will and he will not leave your side. We know that God is faithful and my prayer is that I can be as well. How is your faith and what are you willing to do in the near future that requires you to trust in God more than yourself?

little miss Winnie

Winifrida William was terrified of us the first day she came to Angel House. I'm not sure what they told her about white people in the village she came from, but I mean literally terrified. Screaming and crying when any of the three of us would come near, hiding behind the staff or under the table...and these days all of that couldn't be further from the truth. She is a lovebug, hanging on my arm everywhere I go, asking to be held, lovingly gazing at me with a big smile on her face.

She actually has a mother that is still alive, but she has what I'm assuming is severe diabetes...they called it sugar cancer...so seriously that she has lost all sensation in her fingers, has no teeth, and can't move around well enough to take care of a growing child. So last month Winnie came to live with us. She's a spitting image of Nossi, who used to be our youngest, in the craving attention category.

She started into school when she came, and is studying in Nursery class, which is the equivalent to Kindergarten. But...she is the teacher really, because lately she has taught me an important thing or two about going through life. Wherever we go, she wants to be holding my hand. Which is great, but she walks really slow. I'm constantly reminding myself that I have no reason to really be in a hurry, but after years of feeling a bit hurried, I can't help it. There are times when I have wanted to just have my own hand back to itself, because the walking will be a bit easier. But I'm reminded that people are placed in our lives to teach us something or another, and with her, I feel blessed to have a continual reminder that, though life can seem less complicated if you're doing it independently, it is actually more enjoyable in the long run to go through whatever comes on the path with someone else. Who would have thought a 5 year old could teach a 29 year old a thing or two about sharing?

A big thanks to Rho Kappa Sorority & Amy Weber for choosing to be her sponsor; your giving will send her to school at St. Jude English Medium School's Kindergarten class this year.

3rd grade's day out

Only here, can you say you're going into town to study, and all age levels of children will want to come. 3rd graders have been working hard on English and Math lately when they're off school, so Wednesday they got a trip into town to have a lesson at the volunteer house, and enjoy a soda afterwards...happy campers were they.


Siza

Angel and Bahati
ChuChu

Salome enjoying Pickles after class

,

faces too precious not to share...

nyanokwe sweet grace

chacha yusuf
angel