Ombeyi

Hi there! It is Dan again. Today we traveled to Ombeyi, a village outside of Kisumu. The cities here are a bit different from in the states. You can think if Kisumu like the main part of the city and the other areas like districts within the city, like Dunga. Ombeyi, however is further outside of the city, kind of like a suburb. However, the villages are like the slums on the outskirts of the city. The conditions there are much worse than in the city, with quite a bit fewer amenities. However, there is a unique feel in the village. It is a place that is very welcoming - it is a place that seems to pull you in and makes you want to go back or not leave at all.

There are several volunteers here at Christ's Hope that work alongside Joe. One of them is named Anneke - she came from Holland and spent a year here, then went home for a year and is back again for 2 months. She has been working with our team, and was so excited to go to the village. Knowing it was even less developed than here in Kisumu it seemed like a strange thing to be excited about, but after having been there, her comments of "I just love the village" make a lot more sense.


We arrived to the school we were to work with and were greeted by a class of beautiful children singing for us. After their songs were done Solomon introduced us to the staff of the school and had Joe introduce our team to the children. When Joe first came to Kenya he lived in Ombeyi for a year before moving into the city and Solomon is someone he met there who runs this school. He even says that "Joe is a Luo." After the long introductions we performed a skit for the children, sang some songs and then went outside for some games. The children love "Deep and Wide" as well as "God is so Good." They know the latter both in English and Luo and the older kids that have also learned Swahili also know it in that language as well.

Once outside we played a game of bubbles, where Tom, Cameron and I all blew bubbles and the kids ran around trying to "catch" them. They had a lot of fun with that, and then we played "over-under" followed by a relay race.

We then went back inside and Ashley taught the parable of the lost sheep to the children. After that we had a craft for the kids where they were able to glue cotton onto pictures of sheep and then color. We then played some more games outside. After that we went back inside, sang songs and prepared to leave...

When we walked out of the classroom we thought we were going to be leaving, but it didn't quite work out that way. As we headed out for our matatu it turned out that the school we were going to be headed to next was not prepared for us, so we went back inside where we then filled the next 45 minutes on the spot with games, songs and a re-enactment of David and Goliath. We couldn't have pulled it off on our own, but thanks to Ashley for thinking quickly on her feet! To quote Joe, this is the "practical side" of her education for her Christian Education degree.

After the children were dismissed we ate lunch there in the village which was an experience in itself. We ate chicken that was killed that morning. Everything, including the head, was included in the pot we were served from. Then we also ate rice and chapatas. Chapatas are the Kenyan version of flat bread. They are made from corn flour and fried over the fire and are DELICIOUS. After lunch we found out that even though we were not going to the other school, we had until 4 pm to stay because Anneke was teaching a class to midwives in the village that ended at that time so we stayed and played with the children for the rest of the afternoon.

Tom, Cameron and I played soccer for a while with some of the teachers and older children in the village while the girls and Dave played with the other children. The girls learned a new phrase, "mazungu dina." Mazungu simply means "white person" and "dina" means "carry me." They all wanted to be held and spend time with/on us. After the soccer game disbanded, the three of us sat down rather exhausted and after talking for a few minutes we decided to sing "Deep and Wide" in the deepest voices the three of us could muster, but that must have been some sort of beacon to the children we didn't know about since at that moment it seemed like every single one of them decided it would be a good idea to sit on our laps. They also brought the girls with them, but we ended up the entertainment and toys for quite a while after that.

As the afternoon came to an end we made our leave of Ombeyi to head back home to Kisumu for dinner and the rest of the evening. I don't know about the rest of the team, but today was the day that I finally feel at home here in Kenya. I have been enjoying my time here quite a bit, but it doesn't feel so foreign after today. That and the children make it really easy to fall in love with this place. Ashley keeps asking how many she can take home and Suzy keeps picking out different ones to "take back in her carry-on."

Please continue to keep praying for us. There are still some nagging health issues; they seem to be mostly allergies at this point, but both Suzy and Shelley are suffering a fair amount of discomfort and are having trouble keeping up their energy through to the end of the day as a result. Tomorrow we are going to have our first taste of Care and Compassion. Half of the team will be heading out for that and then we will have more time teaching Choose to Wait in the afternoon. Thursday we are going back to the village and then on Friday we will be working at the Children's jail. On Monday we will be back at Dunga school. There is so much ahead of us so please keep us in your prayers as each day brings a whole new set of opportunities and challenges!

Dan