I Kill Snake!!

I’ve become much closer with the two farmers. Mainly, because I have increased the number of trips I take to milk the cows and Deewas had her baby calf earlier last week. It was sooo exciting! I missed the birth, which upset me, but I got to see then end of it and the delivery of the placenta. I know-Gross. But, it’s actually really amazing and fun to experience, especially in Kenya! Anywho- I’ve become especially close with Festis because he speaks good English and he actually jokes around and is pretty funny and is always making us laugh. He’s an amazing runner and he was supposed to go to the Beijing Olympics, but he injured his knee running on the road when he stepped in a pot hole—very typical in Kenya! They don’t have much- wait, actually no concern for the shape of the roads. I’m so sad for him to have lost out on the Olympics. But, he and I believe that he will make it there soon. So, I’ve been spending more time with him learning about being a farmer and whatnot.. Annnnddd we end up killing a Black Mamba. Yupp! An incredibly poisonous snake.. Goggle it!

I could see Festis walking up the field to get grass for the mama cow and I was instructed to wait for him with Meshak. So as I watched him his body language completely changed and he quickly froze. I run over to see what’s wrong with him. He’s starring at something and as I approach he very seriously tells me to stop and stand how he is. Festis is rarely serious, so I know he means it and I stand in the ridiculous position—legs crossed over one another and my right hand gripping my left wrist….Ookkk. I stand there for a few seconds and then when I’m about to tell him to stop joking around I see the black mamba snake he’s been starring at!!

Ohh goodie!! Hah ha! Let’s see how this little game turns out. He can tell I’m skeptical of the bizarre positions we are standing in and explains to me that when you stand like that near a snake in Africa, it is said that the snake will not bite… I’m like- Ok Check! I’ll just stand like this, no problem. At this point, two of the welfare officers have shown up. Meanwhile, Festis tells me he’s going to kill the snake… (I’m thinking- ohh great idea, get closer to the deathly poisonous snake… I agree.. hah! NOT!!) While I’m thinking this, I realize the two officers are yelling at Festis because I’m there. They tell him it’s too dangerous and they try to get me to leave. But, I refuse. Of course.

After some “planning” all the men grab sticks and begin to surround the snake preparing to kill it. As I’m still standing in the position Festis put me in. He positions himself between me and snake so the officers can’t keep a good eye on me… perfect! Festis whacks the snake and stabs it with his stick. (not killing it, just making it incredibly angry) And the two officers instead of joining in take a few slight steps back. (what wonderful watchmen) I’m not impressed and tired of standing in the silly position as the snake strikes at them and gets closer and closer to biting them. So— I grab a rock. One of the officers sees me (unfortunate) and grabs me trying to get me away. I tell him I’m going to kill the snake. He is not pleased but I creep up behind Festis and smash the rock over the snakes head! ☺ ☺

I’ve done it!! The snake is dead. Quite the crowd has appeared at this point and they’re all cheering and shocked and they all think I’m crazy for being that close to a snake. But, someone had to. Festis is impressed because he pats me on the back and says, “Sawa sawa”. (means ok, ok ) He disposes of the snake by putting it into the toilet hole.—and I mean hole. It is very common to go to the bathroom by squatting over a hole in Kenya.

The gaurds Still cant seem to understand why I was there with a snake. They kept asking me, “do you not fear?” and I kept trying to explain to them that it was my fear of snakes that helped me kill it. But, they just nodded and looked at me like I was mad.

Henry Jr.

Deewas had her baby cow last week! It was soo exciting! Unfortunately, I missed the birth. But, I got to see the end of it and the delivery of the placenta. (kinda gross-but soo cool) oh and for those of you who know how rare it is to see me awake before mid-day... i was awake with the sunrise to see this!
And for those of you who don't believe me.. if you know anything about telling what time it is by the shadows from the sun.. note the shadow in the picture :)
Cows are a big deal in Kenya!!
They asked me to name the cow. (i felt so honored)
I named the cow Henry Jr. after Henry Sr.-- the fabulous farmer

milking a cow

here is a picture of me learning to milk a cow-- special just for Grandma Lois. I love you!

ELDORET- May 8, 2010

Leaving Nairobi and Heidi’s family was hard. I really had a great time with her and her family. They are so fun! We went on safari to Lake Naivasha my last day there. It was amazing! The drive was beautiful and as we entered Naivasha we came over the top of some huge hills that over look the plains. There are lots of volcanos there too. It I can’t remember the names of them :/ but lake Naivasha is beautiful. We went on safari and I got to see lots of wild animals. We saw zebras, gazel, warthogs, giraffes, bafoons, and lots of birds. I could hear the hippos when we ate lunch on the lake but you can’t see them. They come out at night and they are really mean and dangerous, but I could hear them grunting.

Sunday, I went to the airport to fly into Eldoret. That was a scary experience in many ways. The security is nearly non-existent. You walk in and put your bags through the check point and if you look behind the counter the people are laughing and talking while your bags go through instead of watching the monitors. Haha I don’t think people in Africa are too concerned with terrorists. I guess that can be good and bad? Next you check in and they don’t ask for any identifcation…okkk.. and then they tell you to proceed to the gate. I walk to up the next “check” point and they ask me where I’m going. I politely tell them I’m going to Eldoret and they smile. I try to hand them my boarding pass and passport, but apparently in Africa that is not necessary. They laugh at me and push it away. Haha! Silly me. Next, a man walks up and asks me my name and where I’m going. So, I respond with the same information I gave the first woman. He raises his eyebrows and says, “hey! I’m from Eldoret. My home is in Eldoret .” I’m like oh really? What a surprise haha! He then says, “Are you married in Eldoret?” I’m thinking to myself- married in Eldoret? How many places can you be “married” in? haha I tell him no. He then says he would like to marry me in Eldoret. I’m like ok.. no thank you. And I offer an innocent smile as I walk away. Apparently, men like to “marry” several women so that they can have someone (or many) in each town they go to. For instance, if they work away from home, it would be common to have one “wife” at home and another where they work. Basically, getting married here is rare unless you have money. They usually just say they they’re “married” and then they “marry” another… and another. Well you get the point. So, I was unimpressed with this man’s offer.

I proceed to my “gate” which I can’t seem to find. Then I realize there is just one common area where several gates are. We are told our plane is boarding. Now this is the first time anyone asks me for a boarding pass.. but still no need for identificiation. But it didn’t really matter because I made it safely to Eldoret ☺

I’m met at the airport by Linda & Dave (one of the couples living in Eldoret that help run the orphanage) and two other volunteer girls- Catherine and Morgan. It was easy spotting me because I am literally the only white person there. And from the airport they take me straight out to the village where I’m going to stay in a house with orphan children. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. When they opened the door to the house I’m staying in (Armani) all the kids jumped on me before I could walk through the door. It was overwhelming! Each one wanted their own individual hug. It was really cute.

Getting to know all of the children in my house individually has been one of my favorite parts of the experience so far. They call me “Aunty Anne”. They just started saying it because for some reason Anna was too complicated. Some of the kids have some terrible stories. There are three brothers in my house- Ken(13), Victor(9), and Zadock(7). Their story was the hardest to hear and the closer I get to the three boys the harder it is for me knowing how badly they were treated. Basically, their father was abusive and tortured them. They were confined to one room and not let out. Ken & Zadock have burn marks all over their arms and a few on other parts of their bodies from where their dad would burn them. And if that’s not bad enough, Victor got the worst of it. Along with the burn marks, Victor’s legs are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. They told me that his dad used to bind Victor’s legs together and cut them with a macheti (sp??) and several times he cut so deep he went clear through the bones. One of his legs needed a steal rod put in it to hold it together when they were rescued and the other wasn’t much better. The scars are horrific. And his legs don’t quite have a normal structure to them. I cried when they told me. Victor pulled up his pants to show me and I almost had to leave the room. I almost couldn’t believe it. And I really didn’t want to. But the sad part is I can’t tell myself its just a story, or a movie, or some picture on a postcard…it’s real. And when I thought I couldn’t handle anymore and I was seriously thinking to myself that I didn’t want to do this anymore they told me that Victor also has Sickle Cell Anemia and he had just returned a few days ago from the hospital.

I didn’t know what to do or what to say. They said that when the boys were brought to them a few weeks before I got there that when they asked Victor about his legs his brother Ken stood there with tears running down his face. From then on, I felt oddly drawn to the three of them. I figured I could give them as much of me as I possibly could and maybe that could some how help them. It seemed obvious to me that these boys just needed to be loved. Since I’ve been here, I make a point of spending most of my time with those three boys. The two parents in my house (Paul & Sarah) told me they’ve already seen major changes in the boys. Ken has settled in and I’m starting to see more and more of his personality everyday. He is so sweet and kind hearted. He’s also very smart and has great English. He told me yesterday that he was thankful for me. He said that he had prayed for a visitor to come and he was happy with the one God had sent him. (there are two others house on the property and Morgan and Catherine stay in them- so the house I’m in didn’t have a volunteer for a few weeks until I got there) I was completely caught of guard. This kid has been through Hell (literally) and he’s sitting here telling me he prayed to god for a visitor and was happy with the one he sent??? Wow…

Sarah and Paul also told me that Victor used to walk to the door of his bedroom in the morning and stand in the doorway. He would just stand there. He didn’t feel comfortable in open spaces and they said that they would have to tell him to go out and play with the other kids. They said it would take him awhile but he would go out. Then he would come back ten minutes later and sit in his room. This just made me sad… here’s a kid who is too afraid to run around with other kids because of the horrible things he’s been through. But, I haven’t seen him do this since Monday. And on Wednesday, I talked him into going to the field to play soccer with everyone. That was huge! ☺ Part of having Sickle Cell Anemia is that he can have pain in areas of his body. And one of them is his legs, which I expected. Lately, he’s been coming to me and talking to me about it. He’ll show me and point to where it hurts. And we’ll just sit there and I’ll hold the area that hurts for a bit and then he’s up and onto the next thing. One night, we were watching The Lion King (which the kids LOVE!) and he said, “Aunty Ann, it doesn’t hurt as bad when you hold it.” So, I’ve slowly earned enough of his trust to where I told him he could come and find me any time it hurts and I’d sit with him and hold what hurt… and he does.

Zadock (is absolutely Adorable) is much younger and it’s harder to tell if he’s just shy and that’s his personality or what. But I’m trying to get more out of him. He doesn’t have as good of English, so it’s harder for me to communicate with him. But- the kids are teaching me Kiswahili! So I’m slowly hearing more from him. They are the sweetest and I mean THE Sweetest kids. I have to be honest- adopting them has crossed my mind, honestly! I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never really understood the draw some people have to adopt kids, but these three have touched me and I’ve thought of adopting them. Now, that isn’t possible because they don’t allow the children to be adopted (believe me, I’ve asked) and I’m 20 years old and nowhere near ready for children. But, I want them to be with someone who wont leave them and someone who wont abuse them. Which brings up another problem for me. I’ve never seen so many children with bad backgrounds, they’ve been abandoned, and many have serious issues. And here I am, entering their lives for a few months, just to leave them. In a way, I feel like I shouldn’t be here. But then at the same time I’m trying to help. But in the end, I’m going to leave. And I don’t think it’s a good thing for them to having people coming and going. I was walking out to do laundry last night and I was carrying my laundry bag and Naiomi (age 7--one of the girls in my house) put her head in the couch and said in Kiswahili, “I will cry.” Sarah told me that she thought I was leaving for good and that she was really sad. I told her I was only doing laundry and I would be right back. She didn’t believe me so she followed me and helped me with my laundry. See—its things like that that make it really hard for me stay when I know they’ll be hurt again when I leave.
Anywho- I’m done for now. Sorry this entry isn’t as “happy” as the others. It’s real stuff here.

I have also:
Milked a cow (several times now—Grandma Lois, it must be in our genes!!)
Bandaged & cleaned wounds and cuts, given meds, etc. at the village & feeding program
Served food at the feeding program
Eaten little fish (served whole)—NASTY!
Taught classes at the school
Leanred how to make Chipati
Oh.. and ran with a world class Olympian runner ☺ no joke!!