"You have grown so fat!"

After 3 planes I made it to Kenya! I arrived Thursday morning my time (I am 7 hours ahead of Ohio) without any problems, the planes were barely half filled so I was even able to lay and sleep a bit on the ride. I felt very much at home arriving at Hekima Place, even though many of the girls are not here. It is their vacation so they are visiting family members. There are about 15 girls that are staying here, and the rest will begin to trickle back as one school begins this week and another next week. I am staying on the 3rd floor of the Maisha house, which houses the babies through 3rd grade, but on the 3rd floor is Fiona, a Senior in High School who has graciously welcomed me to stay with her.

For those that don’t know: Hekima Place, where I am now is an orphanage for 60 girls, 15 of which are in high school boarding schools. The rest of the girls (from 6 months through high school) go to 2 different school in town. They are taught in English, as is all of Kenya. If a person is educated they speak English, Swahili and their native tongue. Bright people. Hekima Place is the most beautiful home I have seen in Kenya, which is why I keep coming back. It is run like home, the girls do chores, there are mums that live with the girls and do cooking, and uncles help around the yards for the girls to have positive male role models. The girls will fight like sisters, but they also are great friends and always help each other with homework etc. It is a beautiful asmosphere.

There are definitely a few cultural differences that I forgot about since I was here last year, but have quickly caught back up on. One being when I met with Eunice (Mary O, this is for you!) for first time, I told her she had grown so tall, and she responded “and you, you have grown so fat” (smiling). “Fat” is one of their greatest compliments of being beautiful, but it always catches me off guard! I also forgot how hospitable Kenyan people are. They are so excited to welcome me back here for the 3rd time, and they welcome me as a member of their family in every way: including giving me more food at dinner than imaginable! This isn’t a problem when we had Chipati, which is my favorite meal, it’s a flatbread tortilla type bread that they fry and it is heavenly. But when their generosity comes in the form of mile high piles of beans and Ugali (a flour and water mixture that becomes like grits) I have a more difficult time being excited! I am constantly blown away by their hospitality and willingness to serve me, even though I am here to serve them. I was able to catch right back up where I left off with the girls, playing cards, helping in the kitchen and learning new games outside to play. They still don’t let me help hand wash their clothes, I guess I am too slow or something…

The first few days have been slow since there are not many girls, mums or uncles around to help. I have been doing a lot of prep work in the kitchen with the mums: washing and cutting carrots, beans, spinach etc, and separating the good green grams and rice from the bad (talk about a lot of work, I value the machines that do that for us in the states, it takes hours!) Something vital to know about me is that I am a huge do-er. If something needs to be done I tend to do it immediately, and I like to stay busy. Since these past few days have been so slow it has been difficult for me, but I am learning that it isn’t always about what we DO, as much as who we are becoming through the process. In the next couple weeks 15 board members from the States will be coming into town for the dedication of the new land Hekima Place has been building on, so it will become busy fast. I was able to see the new land on Friday, it is beautiful, at the bottom of the Ngong Hills (if you have seen Out of Africa, those are the Ngong Hills where I am located) and right on the edge of the Great Rift Valley. They have tons of land for animals, a garden and 5 houses.

I have had a lot of time to read in these slow days, which has been a huge blessing. I read Fr. Dave Pivonka’s book: Spiritual Freedom and it challenged me in a lot of ways to go outside of my own thoughts when I begin to get discouraged or frustrated that I am not doing enough (which is crazy since its only been a few days). There are reflections at the end of each chapter and one of the strongest messages that I received from them was that God gives each us a time of despair and confusion in order to ask him “What are you trying to teach me during this time?” This is a message I am sure I will return to throughout my semester here, trusting that God has a plan unique for me and I must slow down and see that plan rather than creating own!

I hope you all are well, it’s barely been a week but I feel so distant since I am not in constant communication! When we went to mass Sunday morning I saw my first white people since being in Paris on my layover and I felt a little piece of home! I am thinking of you and praying for you often, please pray for me!
Much love, Christie