Meeting My Children AGAIN! WOOWOO!
The next day I woke up with a fresh start. A new perspective, an additional motivation to live well and each day to the max… it was going to be a great day today. I was meeting my children again. One of mine and one of my parents. I knew they would be excited… waiting to see me and hear about how I am doing in person. I was ready to see them too… even though I was nervous. There was no need to be nervous, but I was. Sammy and I went to Nakumatt first (Kenya’s Walmart). We stocked up on rice, oil, sugar, and bough a cute outfit for Brenda. Spending a good chunk of money, we retreated to the Compassion van to make our way to Korogocho Slum. Within the slum, there is a large cement wall and steel gate guarding the student center for the church. Driving in we had people watching us inquisitively, wondering what we were doing there, let along having a white person in the van too! We pulled into the student center where I was looking for Brenda. Nope – must not be here yet. I got out of the van and looked around. Out of the office Brenda ran – full speed into my arms. She looked different. She had grown about 3 inches, her hair was braided and she wore a grin the size of Texas. We took hold of each other’s hands and retreated into the Compassion office, where we sat and talked. She had really been learning English and did a fabulous job talking with me. I would venture to say her comprehension was better than most adults. I was so proud of her! My little girl!
We talked in the office for a bit and then headed into the van to go to Brenda’s home, play in a park, and enjoy a meal. Sammy looked at my feet in disbelief… flip flops. I had broken the cardinal rule in Compassion travel: closed-toed shoes! Whoops! It was raining and muddy, but we were able to get the van almost right up to Brenda’s front door. Through a tiny path between shacks with tin roofs we snaked our way to her tiny door. Inside, I realized out of all the 30+ homes of children living in poverty, this was the smallest I had ever seen. I would guess the room was 8X9 feet, maybe. There was a sheet dividing the room up, and we all sat on the couch while she opened her gifts. The new dress, overshirt, soap, rice, oil and other items seemed so important as her dad’s eyes welled with tears. It seemed like so much to them and so little to me. But, that is how it always seems… that when I am at the store thinking of my bank account, I think that things are tight.
However, when you are in that moment… the moment where time stands still and you see and feel and smell the realities of your sponsored child’s life, you feel so greedy. So blessed, so sad. So many emotions to even begin to describe. And the child loves what you bring. It is not like they are looking in the bag saying, ‘is that all?’ I could have brought nothing and she still would have been happy to see me. Heck, I think back and wonder if relatives showed up on Christmas with no presents, how would I react as a kid? I cannot imagine I would make my parents proud!
Moving on, we said good-bye to her tiny home and headed to the park. In her new dress we tip-toed through the mud to the van. Inside the van, we headed to the park. Sigh, but alas… traffic. Or, so called in Kenya, the JAM. LOL. A whole bunch of people going nowhere. Sitting in the van for an hour with 2 sponsored children and my bestest friends in Kenya wasn’t as bad as some would think. James drew a couple pictures, wrote a couple poems. Brenda and I played hand games and talked about school and so on. By the time traffic was moving, we were so deep in conversation we didn’t even notice it. To a park closer to the slum where we could enjoy ourselves. Pulling into what looked like an empty amusement park, we ordered food and Sammy decided to take Ben and I quickly to see his plot of land nearby. Even though I thought it odd to leave the kids and her dad at the park, they assured us it was fine. You see, food in Africa can take hours… literally hours to prepare and consume! So we headed to the little plot of land, which I will talk more about later.
Returning to the park, we played soccer, and James recorded greetings to my parents on the camera, along with a funny skit that clearly displayed his wit. Once dinner was ready, we sat by the pool (yes, it was a nice pool, too!) and enjoyed our chicken, rice, ugali, and chips (fries). It was a great meal. James and I talked about his girlfriend and he braided my hair (weird, but whatever). He said my hair was very different because it was slippery and the braids he often made in his sister’s hair didn’t stay put in mine! Soon we were in the van, dropping the kids off to take the bus back to the slum. Goodbyes are always sad, and this was no exception. We had to hurry as the place we stopped was illegal, and we gave oiur hugs, kisses and farewells. When I got into the van I faced the window, watching them slowly get smaller and smaller in the distance. When Sammy decided to talk, he said that it was too bad that we didn’t ask Brenda to stay the night at the house. I looked at him in disbelief. Yeah, he said that she could have come home with us, played all night and gone home the next day. I just looked at him with disbelief and held back my tongue. I know he would have mentioned it if he had thought about it sooner. I decided to let any feelings go and make a mental note that when I return he owed me this favor. The drive home was slow, slower than most nights. We stopped at the office and then hitched a ride to Nakumatt where Betty’s search for fitting Sammy to pants was a failure. As I watched Sammy and Betty interact, I was warmed. It was the typical man “I don’t wanna shop, these aren’t going to fit” and wife, “just try them on…let me see…” I smiled to myself and wished my relationship was like that. But, living in the land of “if only” will kill a person (I know it, I came close!)
Oh, and returning to the plot of land thing. Sammy has purchased a plot of land in a really nice area of town. It is green and lush and next to a wide open space. The houses around are HUGE homes, nice and spacious and look like they would be very beautiful inside. On his plot of land he is growing many things… bananas, sugar cane, and other random fruits and veggies. Because the standard of housing is so high, we don’t know if they will be able to build there eventually. I sure hope so. We chopped up some sugar cane and I was the laughing stock because I could not tear it with my sensitive teeth. It was a great trip to the land, though, and I really enjoyed it.
We talked in the office for a bit and then headed into the van to go to Brenda’s home, play in a park, and enjoy a meal. Sammy looked at my feet in disbelief… flip flops. I had broken the cardinal rule in Compassion travel: closed-toed shoes! Whoops! It was raining and muddy, but we were able to get the van almost right up to Brenda’s front door. Through a tiny path between shacks with tin roofs we snaked our way to her tiny door. Inside, I realized out of all the 30+ homes of children living in poverty, this was the smallest I had ever seen. I would guess the room was 8X9 feet, maybe. There was a sheet dividing the room up, and we all sat on the couch while she opened her gifts. The new dress, overshirt, soap, rice, oil and other items seemed so important as her dad’s eyes welled with tears. It seemed like so much to them and so little to me. But, that is how it always seems… that when I am at the store thinking of my bank account, I think that things are tight.
However, when you are in that moment… the moment where time stands still and you see and feel and smell the realities of your sponsored child’s life, you feel so greedy. So blessed, so sad. So many emotions to even begin to describe. And the child loves what you bring. It is not like they are looking in the bag saying, ‘is that all?’ I could have brought nothing and she still would have been happy to see me. Heck, I think back and wonder if relatives showed up on Christmas with no presents, how would I react as a kid? I cannot imagine I would make my parents proud!
Moving on, we said good-bye to her tiny home and headed to the park. In her new dress we tip-toed through the mud to the van. Inside the van, we headed to the park. Sigh, but alas… traffic. Or, so called in Kenya, the JAM. LOL. A whole bunch of people going nowhere. Sitting in the van for an hour with 2 sponsored children and my bestest friends in Kenya wasn’t as bad as some would think. James drew a couple pictures, wrote a couple poems. Brenda and I played hand games and talked about school and so on. By the time traffic was moving, we were so deep in conversation we didn’t even notice it. To a park closer to the slum where we could enjoy ourselves. Pulling into what looked like an empty amusement park, we ordered food and Sammy decided to take Ben and I quickly to see his plot of land nearby. Even though I thought it odd to leave the kids and her dad at the park, they assured us it was fine. You see, food in Africa can take hours… literally hours to prepare and consume! So we headed to the little plot of land, which I will talk more about later.
Returning to the park, we played soccer, and James recorded greetings to my parents on the camera, along with a funny skit that clearly displayed his wit. Once dinner was ready, we sat by the pool (yes, it was a nice pool, too!) and enjoyed our chicken, rice, ugali, and chips (fries). It was a great meal. James and I talked about his girlfriend and he braided my hair (weird, but whatever). He said my hair was very different because it was slippery and the braids he often made in his sister’s hair didn’t stay put in mine! Soon we were in the van, dropping the kids off to take the bus back to the slum. Goodbyes are always sad, and this was no exception. We had to hurry as the place we stopped was illegal, and we gave oiur hugs, kisses and farewells. When I got into the van I faced the window, watching them slowly get smaller and smaller in the distance. When Sammy decided to talk, he said that it was too bad that we didn’t ask Brenda to stay the night at the house. I looked at him in disbelief. Yeah, he said that she could have come home with us, played all night and gone home the next day. I just looked at him with disbelief and held back my tongue. I know he would have mentioned it if he had thought about it sooner. I decided to let any feelings go and make a mental note that when I return he owed me this favor. The drive home was slow, slower than most nights. We stopped at the office and then hitched a ride to Nakumatt where Betty’s search for fitting Sammy to pants was a failure. As I watched Sammy and Betty interact, I was warmed. It was the typical man “I don’t wanna shop, these aren’t going to fit” and wife, “just try them on…let me see…” I smiled to myself and wished my relationship was like that. But, living in the land of “if only” will kill a person (I know it, I came close!)
Oh, and returning to the plot of land thing. Sammy has purchased a plot of land in a really nice area of town. It is green and lush and next to a wide open space. The houses around are HUGE homes, nice and spacious and look like they would be very beautiful inside. On his plot of land he is growing many things… bananas, sugar cane, and other random fruits and veggies. Because the standard of housing is so high, we don’t know if they will be able to build there eventually. I sure hope so. We chopped up some sugar cane and I was the laughing stock because I could not tear it with my sensitive teeth. It was a great trip to the land, though, and I really enjoyed it.
posted by Nic at 3:32 PM
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