Smiles

As the girls continue to get more teeth, their smiles continue to grow cuter.  One of our favorite tricks is turning them upside-down so that we can see their upper teeth (and the girls love looking at each other upside-down).  So that you can all enjoy the cuteness, here are some of our favorite smile pictures:

Sharing

After writing this blog it took a solid week to get a good sharing picture...

I think all of us can remember the zillions of times our parents, teachers or even other kids told us "you need to share." Learning to share is one of the classic stepping stones in childhood.

In the past couple weeks, Matt and I have been reveling in Lizzie's desire to 'share' with us. We are having such a great time as Lizzie offers us her food/toy/whatever to chew/kiss/hold. It has become a regular part of playtime routines for Lizzie to hold out her toy for us over and over again. If we do not respond, she just keeps holding it out, watching us expectantly. Once we accept her offer with expressive kisses, thank yous, and happy faces- Lizzie gives us a big smile and chuckles. But it's important not to forget that this sharing is a short-term offer- it always comes with the expectation of a swift return to the object's proper owner.

It comes as no surprise that Sophie doesn't necessarily follow Lizzie's sharing rules. Quite often, Lizzie offers a toy to Sophie who promptly swats it away or takes it with no intention of giving it back. Yet, somehow, Lizzie accepts that response most of the time. The girls do throw little tantrums when one takes the other's toy, but often, they just roll with it and find something else to do. First steps toward true sharing? Perhaps, but not likely.

Dental Hygiene Club

Now that our girls have about 6 teeth each, its time to start thinking about keeping those chompers clean.  Fortunately, the girls really love their toothbrushes and bedtime is never complete without a minute or two of holding their brush.  Hopefully their love of dental hygiene will continue for the rest of their lives!

Each day: Today

As we approach the end of our term in Najile, its hard to focus on what God has for us here.  A common refrain in our household when things are just not working out is..."13 weeks" or whatever the count is at the time.  However, even while back home in September, God gave us a word to run the race faithfully until its completion.  Recently, that same idea was reinforced when we heard a similar word, "Set your eyes on my work today.  Be faithful each today." This word has helped us refocus our eyes on our work here and on God.  While we are called daily to take various preparatory steps towards our return, we try to avoid meditating on the future when there's much left to do today.  I pray that each of you knows God's call for you today and allow the blessing of today to shine brightly. 

Fridge Fiasco

One of the great material blessings for us here had been our fridge.  Not only does it allow s to indulge in treats like ice cream, it runs on propane in case the power goes out (a thrice-weekly occurrence).  Unfortunately, its been walking the long road to worthlessness.  Over Christmas it showed the first signs of weakness when it stopped getting cool while on propane.  we were fortunate that it still worked while on electricity and when we later started it on propane again, it worked fine.  However, over the past two weeks its slowly been getting less and less able to cool.  Right now, the freeze is about the temperature of the fridge and the fridge is just room temperature.

No big deal, just take it into the shop right?  Yeah....well the nearest service point is Nairobi which means we need to transport our fridge (upright of course) from Najile to Nairobi.  Our vehicle is much too small so we started calling local matatu (local transport) owners.  Most run pickups from Najile to Ngong twice a week so we figured they could carry the fridge to Ngong for us and then after they drop off their passengers, make a quick dash into Nairobi.  Well, between a sick matatu drive, poor phone network, and two guys who just didn't want to help, we've made zero progress.  One person was ready to do it for Ksh 9,000 but we were looking at the Ksh 4,000 so not quite in the same ballpark.  For now, we're content with just using the freezer as our fridge but be praying that eventually we can find a way to get this daggone fridge into town!

We'll keep you all posted

Fono Coffee

At the beginning of the year, Kenyan students who have just finished class 8 receive their scores on the national standardized test.  Over the next month or so they are required to apply to high school like we apply to universities in the States.  This requires copies of their test result form (which could be recreated on MS word in about 5 minutes).  Since we have the only reliable copy machine (in our 3-in-1 printer) in a 10km radius, we have had a steady flow of traffic asking for Fono Coffee (its an aural coffee experience) which we now know is the Maasai word for photocopy. 

This regular interaction with people is no problem, but we occasionally get some strange requests.  The other day, a teacher from the secondary school nearby came looking to make 90 copies of a 4 page test.  I made 30 and gave him the stank eye as he sat on our couch for the 20 minutes it took to spit out the copies.  Today we had another special interaction with the ol' fono coffeier.  After making three copies of a report form the young man asked for his envelope back.  I handed it to him and he said, "no, I want you to copy it."  Being a plain, cheap looking envelope I was a bit confused.  "Why do you want to copy it??"  Then it dawned on me: he thought that by copying the envelope he'd have more envelopes.  I tried to explain it didn't work like that (and didn't get into 3-d printing) while he sceptically grimaced at me.  Eventually he left but I still wonder what else he thought a printer could spit out.....

Lost in Translation

As we prepare to come home, we are wondering if anybody will understand our English.  We've picked up so many "Kenyan-isms" that when we edit our writing we can only cringe.  We thought we'd provide a "decoder ring" in the form of this blog so that if you hear us say something that doesn't make sense, you can have an idea of what's going on in our minds:
1. "Slowly by slowly": If we say this, it means "little by little" more or less.  It can be used in any context to refer to something not really gaining momentum but progressing very slowly.

2. "Small Small": repeating any adjective implies magnifying it.  If something is "far far" its very far away, or "small small" its very small. 

3. "He's not taking anything": to take usually means eating or drinking.  So if Sophie wasn't taking anything this weekend it means she wasn't eating or drinking.

4. "There's no problem": This one can be a doozy.  If, for example, you want to give somebody a ride to town, they might say, "there's no problem."  That means, they are happy to accept your generosity.  It does NOT mean they don't have a problem and you should drive away.

5.  Oleng/Pi (pronounced pee): These are Maasai words we hope to bring back to the US. Oleng means "very" or "much" and can be put in almost any context to add emphasis.  "That car is expensive, oleng".  Pi means "completely" or "entirely" and again can be used almost at will: "I am tired, pi" or "I have no job, pi"

6. "I'm not getting": I don't understand

7. "Nice Time": like goodbye or have a good day

Well, I hope that helps all of you as we re-integrate both our lives and our languages back to Pennsylvania in a few months.

Joys of 2011 Finale: Nempiris and Nashipae

To wrap up our week-long review of our joys in 2011 there can be only one choice: the birth and growth of our two twin babies, Elizabeth Grace and Sophia Joy.  The fact that they were healthy and didn't not need emergency care was a miracle in itself given that they were 5 weeks premature and weighed just 8 pounds combined.  After their stay in the hospital they have continued to grow and mature and bring amazing joy and love into our lives.

We praise God for babies who can: sleep from 7pm-5am, who love to interact with us and play, who have yet to destroy anything significant, have been healthy throughout their lives, and clearly love their parents and friends so much.  The girls have a Maasai fan-club of children and adults (who know the girls as Nempiris: Lizzie and Nashipae: Sophie) who regularly come to hold and play with them.  Even this has been a blessing, giving us a new opportunity to connect with our community and have our home be a more open and welcoming place. 

Overall, we're always remember 2011 as the year of our girls' birth.  We can only pray that our beautiful daughters will continue to grow up in faith, in love, and in the knowledge of their identity in Christ. 
And now for the baby pictures:

Joys of 2011: Good Fruit

One of the things we love most about working for MCC is having time to really learn about the community we've come to serve.  In year one, you're just figuring out what is happening.  In year two, you start to think about what to do and realize half of your ideas (if not more) don't work.  In year three, we have finally been able to get in a groove, supporting the partners, knowing what to say or not say, knowing where we have the ability to bring about change and where we need to simply bring things to God in prayer.

By God's grace, these efforts have begun to bear fruit.  Throughout the area, self-help groups are springing  up as a way for the community to critically identify and solve their own problems.  The GAR staff has made leaps and bounds in understanding their work and how to help people move forward and not just stay put in the role of "needy."  All of these areas of growth were revealed to us metaphorically through Matt's passion fruit.  After months of care yielding little results, the rains came and the vines exploded with new growth, new flowers and new fruit.

In all areas of our lives, we've been so blessed to have the opportunity to see the fruit God is bearing through us.  We pray that as we transition home in 2012, we can continue to be faithful stewards over the new land God will entrust us with that some day it too may bear good fruit.

The Najile Self-Help Group meeting in front of our house

Joys of 2011: Good Rains

Water is life.  There is no better way to put it when it comes to the Maasai.  What can you do without water?  The reality of drought and searching for water is a constant burden that weighs heavily on the mind of every Maasai.  However, this year God blessed our community with ample rains.

Coming into the year, the area had basically had enough rain but no more.  If either of the two rainy seasons failed, we would have verged towards a serious drought.  Thankfully, after a few rains in March and no rains in April or May, the rains came with a vengeance in June and July.  This was a big surprise for many people, the heaviest July rains in decades.

The short-rain season usually begins mid-October and runs to mid-November.  This year we got all that plus some.  Between October 2 and December 5, we had 29 days of heavy rains.  That is more than most long rains and turned our home into a veritable garden of Eden.  Beyond the blessing we received, almost all of Kenya also received good rains in October/November, ending a severe drought in the Northeast of the country.

All in all, this year has been blessed with rain.  The cows are fat and pregnant, milk is plentiful, the goats are many and going  for high price, and the grass is still green going into January.  We can thank only God for this blessing and say together with our Maasai neighbors, "Ashe Enkai."

The Ewuaso/Najile road flooded by the Ewuaso "River"

Mt. Suswa and the Rift Valley in its green glory.