Spring Break

Spring break, the mid point, the marker of the middle. I can't believe it already came and is about to leave. Two more months of school then a few weeks of service, it will all be over so soon. 

This week has been such a blessing to me, such a refreshment, such a much needed break while getting my hands dirty, and being in community with fellow Christians. 

Tuesday we travelled down to "south coast" where R4C is in the process of planting a new church then school. This area is very heavily populated by a tribe who believes they are born muslim. This area is very poor. Church is currently being held under the mango tree and water is fetched by bucket daily. Due to the severe drought going on right now, the bore hole has been dried up. Therefore, the community walks 10 minutes (from the church to the pond) to a pond in the middle of a field where they fetch their water, do their laundry, and then walk 10 minutes back. I was able to make this walk and see this water for myself. It is so hard to see this and think that never once growing up was I concerned about having to find clean water or carry water for drinking, cooking, bathing, or washing. 

Beautiful! You can see the ocean in the distance

Church under the mango tree

Wednesday was teacher fun day! We woke up to a beautiful rainbow, which means it had rained the night before!! We arrived at the school and I found all the ladies in one of the rooms using face paint as make up and painting their nails to ensure they looked their best for their special visit. Everyone was dressed to impress. We all traveled to Vpingo, another school which is run by Crossroads Church (here in Mombasa). The teachers spent the morning talking and exchanging ideas with each other. We then stopped to kill some time at the super market.  Can you believe this was some of the teacher's first time to ever be inside a supermarket??? I could not believe it. I was buying candy for the staff and asked Lucy, one of the teacher assistants, to help me pick out what they would like. She had no idea where to begin or where to end. After we picked out all the candy, she was still searching for something. I asked her what she was looking for and she asked me where the biscuits (crackers) are. She thought everything was on that one isle. We found the biscuits and then she was overwhelmed with the selection she had to choose from. Let's just say this was an eye opening experience for both of us.

God's promise

Immanuel, the music teacher, dressed in his best

house across from the school

Grandmother of the house and 3 of her grandchildren she wanted me to take all sorts of pictures with her and the kids

she moved nextdoor and had me take pictures of all of these kids. 

They make their own cars out of cardboard and sticks and use the wheel and a stick to drive it. Super cool invention.

Mbewau staff!

Jackson, Chris, and Rama wanted some MBEWAU pride and had their thumbs painted with blue nail polish

 We then took the staff to the animal and environment reserve park. The excitement they had about seeing these animals was childlike and beautiful. It was everyone's first time to see giraffes, crocodiles, hippos, turtles, and water buffalo in real life. They even were able to feed the giraffes. They were at first very afraid of getting close to the giraffes but then became very excited and all took pictures in front of them and were yelling and calling each other and oh, what a sight! There were a good amount of Europeans in the park with us. Everytime we passed one, one of the staff members would come up to me and ask me if I knew them because they are mzungu. They figured we all come from the same place and all know each other. They were quite shocked when I told them that some of the mzungus didn't even speak English.

beautifully colored birds

Mbewau staff: changing lives

HUGE, real turtle

 Thursday morning was game day for the staff. The church youth volleyball team came out to play against the staff and beat them pretty well, in all three games. However the games were very intense and very entertaining to watch.

Preparing the chicken for lunch

Immanuel, always dressed ready to go

Jackson, going up for a block

 Friday we set up for the sale we were having to raise money to buy reading books for the school and today we had the sale. The sale was similar to a garage sale. There was an overwhelming amount of children's clothes. Everything had been donated by Americans, mostly from mission teams that came over and a children's resale shop. Everything was sold for under $2. Most items ranging under $1. The most bought items were the travel sized soaps you get at hotels which were sold for about 8 cents. We raised almost $200!! Praise the LORD!

Gymboree from the 90s

Some awesome overalls for a little boy

HUGE millipede/centipede 

look at all those babies on the backs!

shop till you drop

this poor boy had no idea he was wearing women's heels. He knew he needed shoes and he found himself some shoes. 

Simon the gardener who served today as Security and crowd control. I LOVED his hat!

acrobats came to perform

My namesake, Kadzo. She came and sat with me and told me how her kids were doing and how much they had grown and asked all about how I have been. I feel so blessed by these loving people. She later told Jackson I need to hurry up and get married and come live in their village because "we want to see Kadzo every day!"

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to get dinner with my friend Kristen. We both were in Mombasa in 2008, 2009, and now. She has been here for the last year as a missionary and is getting married in July to a missionary in Mozambique. I am so incredibly excited for her and know that the Lord will bless their marriage. It was so nice to sit down and share our hearts and talk about the problems we are facing and the grace and mercy of the Lord and how he provides. We are very similar and both share a deep passion for this wonderful country. This was the first time I could truly talk to someone who shares and understands what I feel for these people. If you are looking for a way to give, she has set up a sponsorship program for the children at the schools around Mombasa. I strongly encourage you to get involved if you have the means. Her organization is called Operation Give Hope. She is also in the process of trying to help the water situation in some of the villages to get more info on what Kristen is doing, click here: operationgivehope.org

Feeling blessed,

Cathy