Friday, June 25th - Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Today at school, I requested a list of the children who are either not yet sponsored or are no longer being sponsored. Bright, one of the women who works as part of the administrative team, is compiling that for me. I stopped by the babies rooms this morning to see them. One of the babies, Leon, has malaria but is already on medicine for it. Unlike many people who visit the country, many Kenyans do not take malaria medication. Once they are sick, they go to the hospital and are put on medicine then.

At lunch time, I started to read the book, “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich. It is a novel about how Ehrenreich leaves her somewhat normal life as a journalist to live in low-wage America. She leads a different life by working in Florida, Maine, and Minnesota working as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart associate for about a month in each state.
On our way walking back to the school, Julia and I got caught in a downpour. Luckily, we had brought our rain jackets with us. The ground was wet from the rain earlier. I sunk into a big, hidden mud pile about 4 inches deep. Then, a huge truck flew by us on the highway and splashed us with mud! Ten seconds later we had to backtrack because a man was herding three of his cows down the tiny dirt path we were walking on. We had a very comical span of 10 minutes. As soon as we arrived at the school, the rain stopped. The children were all laughing hysterically at how we looked with my once yellow poncho covered in mud. You can’t sweat the small stuff.

At school, Julia and I watched the drama club perform a segment of their play from “Dreams of My Father” written by Obama. It was mostly Primary School students involved. They are such naturally talented singers, dancers, and overall performers. They have won awards for being one of the best groups out of all the Kenyan Primary Schools. I went with some of the girls to the field for “games and sports” time. We didn’t have any equipment to use so I decided to have a track practice with them. Together, we did drills, sprints, and an Indian run. They LOVED it! I’m hoping that I can start a running group with those who enjoy it especially for when they don’t have a soccer ball to use. They have speed, coordination, and awesome potential. Just as it was about to rain again, I walked the girls back to school. I quickly showered and then went to Vespers, dinner, and Compline. I’m happy that Julia finally was able to share her love of drama with the students and that I was able to coach the girls on some running techniques.