In a nutshell.

Since I haven't updated regularly, I'm going to to write briefly of the events that have been taking place the last week.

We just got back to Shalom House from Mombasa at around 6:30 pm, after leaving this morning at 10 am. It was a long ride back... thank God for music. Well, let's go back to Thursday before going to Mombasa. That day we went to Nyumbani -- "home" in Swahili. Nyumbani is a home for orphans who have HIV/AIDs. It is set up that about 14 kids are in a "home" with a "mother," who takes care of them. We played with the kids that didn't go to the school, and they have so much energy! I played jumprope with Katherine, Margaret and Junior, who are all 10 years old. There was also Anne, who was 2, had the most adorable smile. Anthony-- who was only 6 months old, with the most beautiful eyes. You can hold him, cuddle him, and he'll never cry. Faith, who was the star of the show. Winnie, who wetted her pants and very much attached to Desiree. The Pauls, 2 boys who are very adorable too. But the one boy who really touched me was Kenneth. He was 12 years old, but he looked like he was 5 years old. When Ken came to Nyumbani, he didn't talk. I got him to smile, but he didn't have much energy, so he would just fall asleep in my arms. Since he didn't talk much, I would sing tunes, and he'll nod if he knew the songs. I put him on my lap, and all you can feel are his bones. But I knew he was happy. He was safe, had food, had a loving mother and friends all around him. I walked back with him into his home and tucked him in his bed. There I met a girl name Elizabeth, who was visitng Ken. She was 17 years old. She too looked like she was much younger, but the way she talked, I could tell she was much older than the other kids. I asked her what she wanted to be; she told me she wanted to be a manager.

After leaving Nyumbani, I was an emotional wreck. Inside, I felt angry and sad. I was angry at the mothers who chose to breastfeed their child, angry at the fact that the mothers would leave them at the hospital, and just the fact that I'm 18 years old, healthy and not required to visit the doctor twice a week. It just hit me really hard, and just to see their happy faces, and giving them my love was worth it.

So Mombasa, the coastal city of Kenya. When we just arrived there, you can feel the humidity immediately, very different from the cold weather in Nairobi. We arrived at 6 am, and we walked down the beach to see the sunrise. It is beautiful. I wish I had the pictures to show you, but they're not uploaded yet. The place we stayed at was Shalom House-- Mombasa. 2 men take care of the building, and they are so sweet. After a morning nap, we all went to the beach, where we took a ride on a CAMEL down the beach. Then, we took a boat out to where the coral was and Dan, Rick, Desiree and Paul did some scuba. They saw one fish. :) The rest of us did canon balls off the boat into the Indian Ocean. Pretty sweet. Then, we got back to the beach, and enjoyed the last couple of hours there snacking on local chips and playing around. When we got back to the house, we had dinner and then an extended worship. We sang outside on the balcony with the warm breeze blowing.

With all the nature that I've seen, God is so awesome. I don't know when I'll be able to go to Kenya again, but I will always remember the beauty of this land.

Well, it's late here, and we're leaving for church at 7 am. 2 more nights and then I'll be on a plane home. Becca was right. It feels like time has stopped before we left, and we came here, and then time will start again. I hope that's not true though; God has taught me more than I can ever imagine in the past 3 weeks.

Quote of the week:

"Lucas, stop the bus! Stop the bus! We missed the African Chicana"

- Peter, one of our guides