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| Cocus! |
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| Cocus! |
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| Godfrey our Friend! |
It's been an
extremely hot day but nothing can melt away the precious moments spent
with these kids and staff. Maybe it's because I'm now on the other side
knowing that in 6 short days I'll be leaving, so I savor every moment
with them. Patti and I spent the entire day working here - would you
let me describe some of the precious little ones and staff that are
unforgettable and a few of the duties. We hang wash to dry.
I am
so drawn to Cocus; I'm not suppose to have favorites and I love on
them on but Cocus is just my favorite. He's about 8 years old (one of
the older boys here) and he has an enormous hump on his back and another
smaller one on his chest, due to tuberculosis that settled in his spine and that will affect his growth
and only get worse as he heads to adulthood. His parents decided that
they didn't want him a couple of years ago. He was already very sickly
as a baby and now the disease was too much for them so he's here at
Rafiki blessing everyone who meets him.
I learned that Cocus
father died of HIV and his mother possibly is HIV positive and a prostitute.
He had tuberculosis and it settled in his
spine.
His little brother Edwin arrived here a month
ago of severe neglect also.
He's loving and kind and smart
and loves basketball and by the way, him and I won a water balloon
contest and he's trying very hard to beat me at Uno. He would be
considered a cast-away in society, no good, useless but I have to
believe that God has favorites too (sorry you theologians) and Cocus is
one of those. Cocus is precious in His sight. Cocus is a picture
of all of us and God's unconditional love for us. Makes my morning
when he comes for a hug...I walk him to school, hand and hand and then
he's back doing chores, working hard here and then we have fun, games,
crafts and EVERY NIGHT ends with everyone giving each other a goodnight
hug. Sort of reminds me of the Walton's show "Good-Night John
Boy"...except it's done through hugs and we tell the kids they are
loved. Then we hang wash to dry :)
Let me say in earlier emails
that I have referred to Moses as the one who drives us. Moses is so
much more than that as you have read earlier, he started a school in his
village. Moses is a brother in the Lord, wise beyond his 25 years and
now having him as a friend is a great privilege. Both Moses and his
brother Godfrey are fathers to these children. They discipline, They
love, They play basketball, They tease the kids. Their roles are huge.
Godfrey is a great dancer and has entertained us with his skills! Godfrey also has sacrificed his FAN for these two hot white women! It was truly a life saver. Godfrey took Patti and I to the craft market and laughed when the policeman with his AK-47 wanted to search us! We looked half dead because of the heat and I don't think we fit the description of terrorists (but glad they take that serious around here!).
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| Mama Monica (the cook) and the babies watching the videos! |
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| We LOVED Mama Monica. We did NOT speak her language | |
| but love translates into any language! |
We are coming up to
the busiest time here. the kids just got home from school and we start
helping with homework, snack time and then have a craft time for them.
Our job is to keep them somewhat occupied between now and dinner around
6:30. It's really really roudy here in the afternoon. Typical kids
glad to be out of school. I can't tell you enough how much they have
enjoyed the video
capability of the
little camera and this computer. It's the highlight of the day to make
videos and then play them back. In fact, the cook who lives here is
Monica. She's probably my age or younger, speaks NO english and we love
her and she came tapping on my shoulder while the babies were napping
and one of the other children interpeted that she wanted to make a video
(this lady is VERY SHY)....so the child played the drums and she did a
little african dance and she was so proud of herself. We will play it
tonight for the kids and her. I don't think she's ever seen herself on
video. (SEE VIDEO BELOW!!!) She has about 5 children in another village far away and this
job helps support her kids. Other relatives take care of her children
while she lives here. She loves Patti and me and I think because we are
around her age and I think she's use to have younger workers here. I've
been washing all the dishes for her at night with one of the other
kids. She stays in the kitchen ALL DAY. You can imagine, now with 15
kids and at least 7 adults, she fixes the most wonderful meals. No meat
usually. Just all fresh vegetables such as for lunch we had collard
greens, cooked pumpkin, fresh avocado, sweet potatoes. The food sits
covered all day long on the counter and will be put out again tonight
for dinner!!!! so far so good....I've eatten EVERYTHING including
mango, jack fruit, pineapple (anything that can be pealed!).....
We
have worked hard today. The heat has returned with a vengance and Patti
and I have done loads and loads of wash and hanging to dry and folding
to dry. We are so glad though to help the workers and they are too.
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