Ode to Euti

When we met Euticauls he greeted us with hugs.

We bombarded him with questions to which he just shrugged.

We met his sweet family: Joe, Jeff, Melissa, and Jane

Their meals are better than American food, so we cannot complain.

They feed us beans, rice, ugali, spinach, chippaties, and cat...

OK, maybe not cat - but gives me a good laugh when I tell Steph that!

They won't let us walk and are making us plump,

so when we get back to the States the saying will be true...

that white girls can't jump!

He's made our stay here warm, welcoming, and then some-

Buying us beds, mosquito nets, a persian rug, and water by ton!

He's 10% water, and 90% Fanta

He loves coke too, so we'll take him to the museum in Atlanta!

That's only if he'll come to the States with us sometime-

He's been before and his passports too full but there's no harm in tryin'!

He looks out for us just like he's our dad,

That's one reason why we think he's totally rad!

He has a brother Phillip, and they're BFF's

When we ask a dumb question he tries not to laugh.

We decided to do laundry and then set the date,

When we asked him to join, he said sarcastically,

"Sure it will be a party... and then we'll have some cake."

We've been laughing and laughing till our stomachs ache,

He has become affectionatly known as Euti the Great!

We love you Euti!

Love,

Stephanie and Chrissy

Road Trip to Uganda

Hey everyone! Thanks for all your prayers for our safe travel and for our time spent in Uganda - it was quite an experience and we're excited to tell you all about it!

We were there from Thursday till Tuesday and in that short time, we fell in love with Uganda, the children, the people, other volunteers, and it made for one teary goodbye!!

The orphange is run by Ugandan women, called "Mama's", as well as volunteers that are referred to as "Aunties." The Mama's are there full time, and the Aunties are scheduled from 8am-5...sometimes 7pm. There are 60 children, ages newborn-5. There were 4 HIV positive children and 2 with full blown AIDS. These children have been either neglected, have parents that are in jail, parents that have been murdered, or have parents too poor to take care of them. Most of the days we were there all day, however, we had the opportunity to have "dates" with our children which consisted of spending half the day having one on one quality time with a child taking them into town or out to breakfast. In the evenings we would hang out with other volunteers, go into the market where we bartered for some pretty cool things, or talked to the native Ugandans.

Here is a typical run down of what a day consisted of:

Aunties assisted in helping the children with breakfast, changing diapers, bathing them, getting them dressed, play time, changing diapers, cleaning up spills, throw-up, taking them on walks, changing diapers, calming a crying baby, putting them down for naps, feeding dinner, and did we mention changing diapers? We had our work cut out for us - we came back with spit-up, throw-up, grass stains, and poop - baby poop and bird poop...we'll get into details later on that last one! :)

We got quite attached to several of the children....

It was heartbreaking to hear some of the older children talk with such excitement about their familes in America, but know that it would still be quite some time until they would see their familes. The court system is very manipulative in that it waits to make a ruling until enough time has passed that a family is willing to pay them money as a bribe to speed things along. There is a current case in which the family has been waiting 2 years for their child.

Stephanie fell in love with a boy named Victor who told her he loved her. She and Victor went on a double date with Chrissy and Junior and shared some juice and a pancake. At first he was very shy and timid, but after he got some food in him he was giggling and hugging Stephanie -obviously so happy to be with her. On the way home--and this is the kicker--he saw a dog and got scared and started crying a little bit. Stephanie picked him up and they kept walking. After a minute or so he said "auntie?" She answered him to which he responded with three words that sealed the deal that she was in love: "I love you." Victor is pretty quiet, he is about 3 or 4 years old (she still didn't quite figure this out from questioning him), and he is gentle and kind. After the one-on-one, whenever Victor saw Stephanie around the orphanage, he ran to her- never wanting to leave her! They were surely BFF's (best friends forever).

Chrissy fell in love with the 3 J's: Junior, Jimmy, and Jeremiah. Junior and Jimmy were both toddlers and Jr had the privilege of going on a date with Chrissy. They went to a restaurant by the name of Aussies that's run by an Austrailian woman where Jr. gorged on a big waffle with lots of syrup, and a bottle of Fanta. Jimmy was the flirt of the 3 J's and always greeted Chrissy with big hugs and flowers to place in her hair. Jeremiah was a 3 year old baby who is placed with the 1 year olds. Jeremiah has a disability that has not been labeled due to lack of medical resources. He was literally dropped 15 feet in a latrine pit (an outhouse) and no one knows for how long he had been there until he was found. The orphanage has had him ever since. He can't speak, walk, let alone stand alone. He hums and offers the biggest smile that just makes you melt and be thankful that you've even had the chance to know such a beautiful sweet boy.

Please look at the website for Amani Baby Cottage if you have time. We were encouraged to be a part, even if it was for just a few days, of such a neat ministry as this one. One night while we were there, the entire group of volunteers went out to dinner and we got the chance to hear Sue Ann (the orphanage's nurse) talk about how she came to Amani which is an inspiring story in and of itself--she basically sold everything she owned and left her home in the states after a mission trip brought her to Jinja and opened her eyes to the need for medical care that Amani had at the time. The founder of Amani is a lady in her young 30's, with 2 adopted Ugandan girls, and she came to dinner that night as well. The heart behind this place is huge and we know that the staff is closely following the Lord.

Some Highlights of Uganda:
(In no particular order)

1. Boda Boda: When we arrived to our bus stop Thursday morning, we needed to take a taxi to the orphanage. Or so we thought.... We had one thrill of a ride traveling by a Boda Boda which is equivalent to a mo-ped and/or dirt bike to get to our final destination. Euticauls had his own bike with driver, Stephanie and I had our own bike with driver, and then another boda boda carried our luggage. We have the whole thing on video - crazy fun!!

2. Who says we can't go to Africa and do all work but no play? Well, we played. We played all day on the NILE FREAKIN RIVER!!! Yes that's right, we went white water rafting, survived grade 5 rapids...well almost did so gracefully--because we flipped a lot! We quickly became known as the swim team of the group. We even got up enough courage at the end to raft the grade 6 rapid called the Bad Place. The scenery of the Nile was breath-taking--there were long breaks in between some of the rapids to work on our tans and eat fresh pineapple. Chrissy, however, failed to apply the necessary amount of chapstick required in this kind of African heat and ended up with a 3rd degree lip sunburn. Okay, I don't know if it was 3rd degree or not, but it was bad enough to make the kids ask what was wrong with her the next day at the orphanage.

3. On the last day, the director gathered everyone together in the yard for a staff meeting. Most of us had kids in our arms at the time...it was a big group of people sitting around the director in the grass...when all of a sudden, we heard some oohs and ahhs. It was at that moment that I (Chrissy) realized, as people pointed and looked around, that a bird had flown over and pooped on Ruthie's (one of the volunteer coordinators) head and on Stephanie's leg. I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face as I struggled to laugh due to my cracked, sunburned lips. Both pictures of our horrifiying incidents are posted for your viewing pleasure/laughter.

4. We got to do some American things such as watch Friends and play a couple rounds of Spades at night with the volunteers. Yes, Chrissy the Expert, taught me how to play Spades and I've become addicted! Think I may have to start my own Fest Group!!!

5. Nutella. (If you don't know what it is, go to the grocery store and get some because you're missing out on the greatest goodness we have ever tasted. We put it away in 2 or 3 days.

6. On the way back as we were going through the border of Uganda and Kenya, Euticauls wanted to purchase some pineapples before getting back on the bus. While standing there, we were approached by a skinny, Shaquille O'Neal Ugandan man. He began trying to sell us some things. Not really understanding what he was trying to say (we did manage to pick up a couple of words such as fanta, coke, and gold) and this one sentence, "If you are trying to run away from somebody, all you need is this..." At this moment he whips out some sort of knife, bigger than a pocket knife and big enough to make Stephanie jump 10 feet in the air. We both stared at each other and then back at the creepy man as he continued to ramble. As soon as he left we laughed hysterically over what had just happened and quickly found our father, Euti.

a week in africa.

alright guys, i know you are all just dying to hear from me this time--chrissy has finally given up the keyboard.

today marks one week that we have been in kenya now and we want to bring you up-to-date on the things that have taken place since the last post.

chrissy told you about our first full day at the youth center on friday, and so by now we have had two more full days there. i absolutely LOVE. THESE. CHILDREN. you're going to have to take my word for it when i say that they adore us. it's true, they do. and they would love you too because they are simply not used to seeing white people, or muzungu's as we are commonly called. i thought the newness of our being there would fade but no, during our breaks when we play in the yard they ALL want to touch us: our hair, our skin, our face. they get our attention by saying "how are YOU" (especially the younger ones who don't know much more english than that) or "teacha!" and then just smile shyly and truly we are many times surrounded and almost knocked over or dragged down by these kids. my class is class 2 (2nd grade) and i am so excited to finally know all of their names. today i taught a lesson on the difference between to, too, and two...and a lesson on trusting god...and really whatever ann tells me to teach on the spot. it's crazy. i've had the chance to plan one lesson because i knew it ahead of time (on germs and properly preparing foods). tomorrow i'm going to bring a book to read and usually at the end of the day i teach them a game. hangman today was a HIT. chrissy is doing well and teaching all sorts of things like good leadership or science lessons. they are responding very well, but we both agree that there are times when we struggle to explain it as clearly as possible simply because of the language barrier--they do know english but there are times when we are glad to have a kenyan teacher in the room with us to clarify something they are not completely understanding. the staff at the youth center is wonderful. these teachers are getting paid not even a salary--it is so small you could only call it an allowance, euticauls told us. the youth center pays the teachers what they can, but they are running basically on donations and what someone might give for that month. most of these kids have lost one or both parents to hiv/aids, and their families would not be able to afford to send them to school if it were not for this ministry.

right now euticauls is still driving us to the school in the mornings, but soon we will walk because it is not far from our apartment. we look forward to being able to walk there soon. we walked home from church on sunday and i loved it because i felt like i was a member of the neighborhood for the first time. we saw a HUGE pig in the middle of the road walking and chrissy and i thought it was so funny, we took videos of it with our cameras. jane, euticauls' wife, must have thought we were crazy to be so entertained by a pig.

saturday morning we moved from the bed and breakfast we had been staying at, to our brand new home! an apartment right downstairs from the one that euticauls and his family live in. we were blown away by all that they had done for us with this: jane had put up curtains on the windows, there was a big persian rug in the living room...they really are doing so much for us to make us feel right at home here. we love them. the apartment is big for just two people so we spend most of our evenings upstairs with the family and eat our meals with them. saturday we spent the day moving in, getting set up, and getting to know euticauls' three kids and their neighborhood friends. these kids...oh my goodness...wonderful. joe, jeff, and melissa are 9, 7, and 6, and there are several other kids who we have gotten to know. we taught them every game we could think of outside in the little courtyard of our apartment. i've played a lot of jackpot lately. joe can't get enough of my ipod and his favorite song is none other than...yes...justin timberlake.

okay, so the weekend for us looked like a lot of hanging out and fellowshipping with the family. getting settled in. meeting the church body on sunday morning. whew, that is a story in itself! we went to sunday school and church--and so were at the church from 8:30a to 2:00p. i don't want to make this post too long, so i won't go into great depths about that but i was so eager to see the church and was blessed by the warmth with which each person greeted me.

sometimes i stop and think that this must be a dream. not only because i can't believe i'm here...that's not really what i mean...but i can't believe what an entirely different world this is. the slum is like nothing i've ever seen. i still can't wrap my mind around the extent of the poverty i see and the new things i am seeing, hearing, smelling, touching. suddenly the $100 worth of school supplies that chrissy packed make a world of difference. we are thrilled to know how far these pencils, paper, crayons, pencil sharpeners will go at the youth center. i am kicking myself now for not bringing more books with me. children's books or adult books, because the teachers have been passing around a few of the books for pleasure reading that chrissy and i brought along. the children get behind in copying the work from the blackboard because they have to stop and sharpen their pencils with a small razor blade. yesterday i noticed quenter, one of my students, writing with almost JUST the lead of the pencil between her little fingernails. everyone knows how much need there is in africa--and i have a million thoughts running through my head constantly as the problem-solving side of me comes out and i think about solving this on a broad scale...the root causes of why things are this way here. sometimes i just don't understand. but on a very real note, i am here now and i can help, and that is exciting. please keep praying for us.

tonight euticauls, chrissy, and i are taking a bus through the night to jinja, uganda. while euticauls goes to a meetings/conferences and handles his business there, chrissy and i will spend 4 or 5 nights at an orphanage there called amani baby cottage. at this point we don't know too much of what to expect but we can't wait to be there. you can pray that we would have safe travel and that all the plans would work out smoothly for this week. we'll be back in nairobi next tuesday night and from then on out will continue with our work at the youth center. we will be back in touch soon! we love you all tremendously and want to reiterate once again how encouraging you are with your comments, emails, facebook messages! keep them coming! we are continually blessed by your prayers.

so much love.

stephanie

Friday = First FULL Day!!!!

May 11th... Today was our first full day in the schools!

Stephanie taught a couple of lessons on division, singular versus plural, and a bible lesson on trusting and obeying. She also led the students in a game of 7-up and she said they caught on fairly well and seemed to enjoy it.

My 3rd grade class received a chapter reading of "Charlotte's Web." I'm really having to scaffold them for many of the words and do a chapter summary once we're finished. I think it's a little above their grade level, but nonetheless, I think they're enjoying a read aloud. We also did a lesson on opposites, and a science lesson on water. We concluded with a couple rounds of hangmen which they thoroughly enjoyed. When I divided up the teams Boys versus Girls it was a huge hit. The girls loved parading around the room when they won - BOTH games.

After school ended at 4pm, we sat down with one of the assisstants at the school who made out a list of common phrases and words in Swahili. Just when I thought I was finished with school I'm given homework!!

But we don't mind at all - we think it's a beautiful language and it gets us one step closer to being able to "better" communicate with the children.

Just for kicks...say this: Jina lako ni nani?

Don't you love the way it rolls off your tongue? By the way, you just asked: Did you fart? (That's for you Hannah ;) ) Just kidding... you asked, "What is your name?" Start practicing 2 week team!!

Statistics show that after 8 years of age your ability to retain another language decreases - let us be the first to tell you that these statistics are very accurate! It has taken us 3 days to learn, "Abariyako" (how are you) - if Euticauls had a nickel for each time we asked him, "How do you say, How are you?" He and his family would be vacationing in the Bahamas, driving a hummer and affording the gas to drive it.

After our first full day at the school, we headed back to Euticauls' home to relax a bit before we were taken back to our Jennifer's. We ate some papayas and logged online again and celebrated some more when we saw their were 5 more posts to the last blog. If you haven't caught on, we LOVE it when you guys posts or send us emails/facebook messages!

We ask that you continue to lift us up in your thoughts and prayers -specifically that we will be able to commit these basic fundamentals of Swahili to memory.

In His Grip,
Chrissy

PS: We prayed for those of you that did the Silent Auction today, we can't wait to hear how much money you guys raised for Romania and Africa!!! Can't wait to see you in just a couple of months!!

Thursday: Half Day in the School

We have officially made it through jet lag and are adjusting well to our new home: Nairobi, Kenya!

Our first official day was Thursday (May 10): Euticauls picked us up at 9:30 to take us to the Youth Center. Words can't express the conditions we rode through. At first, we were riding through a neighborhood filled with beautiful, extravagent houses (literally homes you may see on MTV Cribs) and within a blink of an eye, it went from wealth to poverty. What a contrast it was. The roads weren't paved, pot holes everywhere (I could picture my mom calling the highway department wanting them to come fill the pot holes), homes made of cut boards and mud, children unattended, adults in small shacks selling 2nd, 3rd, 4th hand clothes/belts/shoes, etc.

I asked Euticauls how they perceived Americans and he said they think we're rich. For a split moment, I wanted to protest, but I'm glad I held my tongue. Although I'd like to say I'm one poor college student who racked up some debt to make this trip possible, compared to these Kenyans - I have it made. And I do. We are extremely spoiled.

When we arrived at the Youth Center, the children began screaming, giggling, and singing- almost as if in unison, "How are you?! How are you?!" We immediatly lit up, anxious to step out of the car to love on the children. Once we got out, they swarmed around Stephanie and I wanting to touch every part of our body: our hands, arms, face, hair. I was filled with a joy I've never experienced wanting to cry and laugh at the same time - but had to hold it together in fear they would think I'm some luny from America!

After we were shown around the school, we were immediatly thrown into the classroom. Stephanie is working with a young lady by the name of Anne, in a 3rd grade class. They are getting along really well and although Stephanie reiterates on a daily basis, "I'm not teacher material, I'm a communication major!" She's doing a fine job because I can hear her in my classroom that neighbors hers!

That's right, I have my own classroom - at least for now!! The teacher is on maternity leave and they still haven't found someone to replace her, so I'm filling in for now. Just wondering Lander Professors: Can this count as my student teaching? I mean.... I'll be in the schools for a minimum of 100 days, and I'll forward you my lesson plans, lesson reflections, attendence log, video tape/reflection - not to mention I already have a cooperating teacher and advisor on stand by to sign the forms. Food for thought :)

The students are extremely well behaved. When we enter, they stand to greet us with a "Hello madam, how are you today?" The adult/teacher will respond and ask a series of questions until they are told to have a seat. The students thank the adult and they sit and wait for instruction. I really wanted to brush off this ritual, thinking I didn't need this form of welcoming when I entered, but I have to remind myself: This is their form of respect to an adult and/or teacher, and I need to embrace rather than dismiss this culture.

Our lessons that Stephanie and I taught went smoothly, however, we are both in agreement of how heartbreaking it is to see the lack of school material these children have. Their notepads are notebook paper binded by newspaper, pencils are used until they are almost touching the eraser, chalkboards are scuffed up, and the eraser for the chalkboard is a small sample size piece of carpet. (Katherine M., I can not thank you enough for all the school supplies you gave me to distribute - we are currently dividing up the crayons, and will have to divide up the notebooks/paper so it will be evenly distributed to the students - I promise to take lots of pictures so you can see what you did!!)

I was disgusted with myself when I thought of all the times I began taking notes in class and tore the sheet of paper out because I didn't like the way I wrote my name or how I began a sentence. These kids do NOT waste. They use up the ENTIRE sheet of paper...front and back.

They are well mannered, disciplined, hardworking, and do as they are told. They are truly every teachers ideal students.

12:30 the kids are dismissed for lunch. Usually the Youth Center provides them a meal, but they didn't have money to fund meals this past week so they are being sent home for lunch. The Youth Center is completely faith based and relies on support from ministries and anyone else that is led to give, to provide for the students.

It was only a half day for us on Thursday - We went to Euticuals home where Jane prepared a feast for us and even had the chance to log on the internet. Stephanie and I had a small celebration over our 4 comments we had posted from our last blog....

(**Luj you too mom - we are meditating hardcore - budders - Hear that?)

Euticauls took us back to the Bed and Breakfast where we washed up, had dinner, and spent the rest of the evening journaling outside on the patio, under the veranda.

(Friday: To be continued on the next blog.....)

Jambo, Rafiki

(Jambo Rafiki: Hello friends), we've made it! Euticauls greeted us at the main entrance of the airport with hugs for the both of us. We began our journey to our destination and it was a sight! Some paved roads, some dirt roads, people everywhere, children walking to school or adults on their way to work. We realized we were no longer in America when we passed through a toll booth where the guard had an AK-47 strapped to his back--it was like a scene taken from a movie or a documentary. We utilized this 45 minute ride to a bed and breakfast to ask Pastor Euticauls questions about Kenya, the people, while soaking in what will become our new beloved home for the next couple of months.

We are currently staying at a bed and breakfast. One of the first things we did after arriving here was take long-awaited showers (we had been on planes or in the airport for 2 days so trust us when we say we needed it). We ate breakfast, and are currently suffering from jet lag. We laid down to take a 30-minute power nap but instead slept through an alarm clock, and several knocks on our door throughout the hour by our host Jennifer. We woke up at 7pm (noon U.S. time) and just laughed at the fact that we had just slept our day away.

Our host Jennifer is a beautiful Kenyan woman who owns this bed and breakfast, guest-home type thing. So far we have enjoyed talking over breakfast, and then some more during dinner, when we finally woke up. We will be here until Saturday morning when we will move into the apartment that neighbors the apartment that Euticauls and his family live in.

So far this is what we've gathered: Euticauls' church, Lucky Summer Church, is planted on the edge of one of the largest slums here. They started a youth center a few years ago in the slum where 200 or so kids go to school and can stay after school to learn crafts or basic vocational skills like sewing or woodwork. Tomorrow (Thursday) he is picking us up in the morning and we will have our first day at the youth center. We'll be assisting the teachers in the classroom--we're starting out with 3rd and 4th grade, I think, but will soon get to experience all grade levels while we are.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers specifically for: safety and the cultivation of deep and meaningful relationships while we are here.

love to you all!
Chrissy & Stephanie

Three more days.... but who's counting?!

Salutations! Welcome family and friends to our little website so we can keep you guys updated on our journey to Nairobi, Kenya! We'll keep you informed by posting journal entries and pictures throughout our stay! Thanks again for being so supportive of us in this trip!

How do I start these things? I guess I could start with how I feel three days prior to us leaving. A blend of emotions really - Excitement... Nervous.... Joyful..... Anxious..... and as I type these mixed feelings I noticed a poster that hangs to the left of my office desk. It's a picture Steve Watson took of an Acacias tree -a common tree found in Africa. If you've ever seen the movie, "The Lion King" theirs an acacias tree where Simba hangs out right before the stampede takes place and his father comes to rescue him.

The photo is beautiful... the sun's rays seep down through the clouds with the acacias tree right smack in the middle of the picture. As a promotion when we went through the series World Missions at the church, we enlarged this photo to a movie size poster and printed the statement, "Be less for Christ." Three words were posted below the tree in a smaller font reading:

Tireless. Fearless. Relentless.

It gave me chills. I've seen this poster a gazillion times and for the first time it gave me meaning. I'm about to travel to a world that is displayed on the news as one of the most poverty stricken countries in the world. Suffering is an understatement - AIDS, psychological scars from the wars, malnutrition, neglected children, pot-belly kids because of parasites, and the list goes on....

When I proposed the idea of spending the summer in Africa, I was asked this question:

Do you really think you can make a difference?

My answer was this....

YYYYAASSSSSHHHHHHH!!! (side note -for those of you that don't watch The Office, you're missing out on this term that is equivalent to "yes" in Michael's language).

We've all heard the story about the little boy walking down the beach throwing starfish back into the ocean. One by one he tosses them and a man comes up and says to him, "There must be thousands of starfish on this beach, it would be impossible for you to save them all, you can't possibly make a difference." The boy smiled as he picked up another starfish and tossed it back into the ocean. "I made a difference to that one," he replied.

With every smile, hug, new found friend, clothing handed to a child in need, medicine distributed from our medical team, and every utterance spoken of the name Jesus Christ, we have done one small thing to advance His kingdom. We will make a difference.

We will be...

Tireless.
Fearless.
Relentless.

Till next week -
Chrissy Johnston