Tuesday 4th November

After a long 44 hours of travel I have made it back safe and sound to Kenya. Not until i got here did i really realise just how much i love this place and my friends that are here.
I stayed in Nairobi last night as i arrived late and it is not safe to travel in the dark... and i slept like a log the whole night which was great as it put me straight into Kenyan time.
Mary and Martha came to pick me up first thing and we did a few things around Nairobi and then headed to Nakuru.
I woke up this morning feeling as though i was a little kid at Christmas time as i have been so excited to see the children... so we couldn't get to the orphanage fast enough!
Lucky the road has been fixed since i was last here so it is not nearly as bad or as painful for me and my old back.
Arriving at the orphanage was better than i imagined... I was last here 1 year ago and i have been imagining how much the kids would have changed.. but arriving here and having all of these children running up to me i just didn't know who to say hello to or hug and kiss first! it was overwhelming seeing that many people who i love so much all at once... especially after thinking about returning nearly everyday since i left one year ago.
My head is still ringing from all the noise and excitement.. I am sure it will be like this every year i come here. They are all so precious and I am so happy to have them all in my life.
They all surprised me with a 'Welcome Home Sarah' cake and they all said that they do remember 'Sarah from Australia' and they are happy i am here. I personally think they where happy that they go to have cake but i will pretend it was all about me.
Its now time for bed and I am sure i will sleep a full night again... so much excitement for one day but i am sure it will still feel like Christmas for me everyday until i leave.

Checking out of the guest house in Nairobi this morning

The kids surprise me with my cake!

So many kids to catch up with

The construction of MIA Junior Academy

Wednesday 5th November

We wake up to Obama MANIA on TV this morning! Kenya is going crazy for him. They are celebrating and dancing in the streets for Barack as his father is from Kenya and Obama has relatives here. You would think that it was the President of Kenya the way everyone is going on. President Kibaki even announced tomorrow is a public holiday so everyone can have the day off to celebrate Obama! It is all that is on every channel of the TV.
I like the man so i am happy and think its just what the USA needs.
I am already used to the constant noise of the children.. i just love being here and am fascinated at how the children are growing up so much. They have changed since i was last here and are all progressing so well.
As you will see from the picture on the left that i took today, the MIA junior academy sure is coming along well. It wont be long till our little ones and some others from the community will be taking their first walk to school!

Karl and....

....Suzie enjoying the slip and slide.

Thursday 6th November

Another busy day today... (it is never a quiet day here!) We went to meet some friends of MIA to check out their school and how it is run so we could get some ideas for our school. What a fantastic job they do! The stories of how the children love to learn and how it changes their life is really inspiring. It made me want to become a teacher! They have approx 170 students at their school and they are all from very poor families in the community. They cannot afford to pay school fees so this amazing couple fundraise so these children can go to school. We take so much for granted dont we?
We got so many great ideas and now i want to stay and help set up the school!!
We then had to go into town to buy some shoes for some of our kids... you would think this is an easy job but when you have to go from market stall to market stall and bargain constantly it is an absolute nightmare... i was not even doing the bargaining and i was exhausted and frustrated by the end of it. It took about 1.5 hours to buy 4 pairs of shoes.
Then it was time to do the groceries and we had 2 wonderful helpers today. Mercy and Diana. They just loved coming out with Mummy to buy shoes and do the shopping... the shop owner gave them a treat at the end and they could not have been happier!

Its great coming home after you have been out for the day to smiling children who just want hugs, hugs and more hugs.
I adore them.

One of the class rooms...

The traffic out the front..

Welcome to Kenya

Friday 7th November

I wake up this morning feeling rubbish. I think i have an 'air conditioned' cold. I caught this from being on air conditioned plane for 9 hours and then a freezing Singapore airport for 9 hours then another plane for 11 hours then a boiling hot South African airport for 8 hours etc etc.. my body is confused.
I went and checked out the new junior academy today and had the grand tour and i must say that it is so exciting! i could just picture how everything will look and how fabulous it will be to have our school. Not to mention how cute the kids will look walking to school.
I know that all i talk about is how cute the kids are but they are and you would too.
On our way into town there is chaos. Nakuru is starting to remind us of Nairobi. People and Traffic everywhere. They are working on some new roads into town and from hour to hour they change which side of the road you can drive on. We came into town one side of the road and then by the time we went home they had changed the lanes. The truck accident is a common site. You know you are in Kenya when you get to a roundabout and you have cars coming at you in the wrong direction. Gee i have missed this place....

Mary, Antony, Jayden, Millie, Joshua, Lillian, Lucy, Warimu, Jacob and Ivan outside the school construction


Kenyan style scaffolding

Off for the morning walk...

Saturday 8th November

Today is Sabbath here for MIA so the kids get to have a yummy breakfast (mixed cereals and nuts and fruit) they love it. They still eat as much as they did last time I was here... i must remember to take a photo to just show you exactly how much these kids eat! as much as me i think. The young ones feed them selves with not much mess at all and I can honestly say that i dont think i have ever seen any child leave 1 scrap of food on their plate.

It has been raining on off and off since i have been here. I didnt bring many warm clothes as it was hotter last year... so i think i will be living in the same out fit for 3 weeks. what a hard life.

The rain was so loud this afternoon on the tin roof (as we dont have ceiling right through out-just tin) we couldnt hear anything at all. There was thunder and also a bit of hail at one stage! It was leaking rain into the orphanage in some areas... and all i could think about where all the people who live in our surrounding community... People who are not as lucky as we are and who dont have a house to live in or people who live in mud huts.. there is no way that the rain could have stayed out today. I just wish that every one could be safe and warm like we are... we all know how uncomfortable it is to be wet and cold... and most of these people will sleep like this tonight.

We plan on going around our community soon to check and see if there is any one who needs roof repairs etc...

 

The rain... coming down so hard

Our land looking over to the school...


Me SLAVING away in the kitchen ALL MORNING...

Roslyn enjoying her bridal shower...

Sunday 9th November

Today the rain was on and off again all day.
The day started with baking, baking and more baking. We were preparing for one of our workers (Roslyn) bridal shower as she is getting married next weekend. We were making doughnuts, cupcakes, cakes etc... the kids kept coming up and asking whos birthday it was. Its hard to explain that its not someones birthday as they know that when there is a cake it means BIRTHDAY!
The bigger kids had Karate this morning and it is adorable to watch them kicking and punching the air...
I spent the afternoon with the children (one by one) doing their pictures for their sponsors.(I have only done 15!) They just love it when they are asked to come upstairs by themselves. Giving them one on one attention is heaven for them... i really enjoyed it as well. They all have a huge personality and its great to be able to spend time with them with out 36 other children around!

Roslyns bridal shower

Time for KARATE

Me with Lillian who is working very hard on her beautiful picture...