Move In Day

Nothing happened on Saturday as we had hoped BUT yesterday in the middle of church Phil came to say the boys were about to move in. Needless to say we rushed out of church just as a student, Frederick, was getting up to preach. I felt so rude but there was no way we could miss the boys coming to the house for the first time. When we got to the home we got some sodas and cookies for the boys and waited for their arrival. I do not think the boys knew where they were going - they walked in the door very timidly. We handed them soda and cookies and they lined up along the wall to eat and drink. They we so well behaved! After a few minuets we asked Kashenge if they knew this was their new home. He told them but there was no real reaction. I am not sure if they did not believe or did not know how to react. Then we told them to go pick a bed, it would be there very own bed. At that point they all raced for the same two or three beds and I thought a fight would break out but it did not. They worked it out and in a few minutes each had their very own bed. I went around and gathered names and ages which I will list for you.

Amos - 14
Chukru - 13
Amedes - 13
Kelvis - 12
Evans - 12
Juma - 10
Jackson - 8
Isreal - 8
Kelvin - 7
Collins - 4 1/2

There are two other boys that should be here but Kashenge said they were at church. They did not show up all afternoon so I am wondering if they will be there today. After they choose beds we handed out airplanes and cars and we all played. It was so much fun - boys are boys all around the world. Little Ruben had a great time playing with these boys that spoke a completely different language. After a while our group left to go eat but Gwen and I stayed. Mama Mursale had asked Gwen to stay for lunch so we did. I was a bit nervous to stay and eat but it turned out to be a very tasty beef stew over rice. I was concerned that there would not be enough to go around and I felt guilty about taking even the smallest morsel of food from these boys but it turned out to be more than enough for all of us. Gwen reminded me of the four loaves and two fishes story in the Bible. She was right!!

While dinner was cooking the boys had a shower and put on the new clothes the people from church donated. After their shower I got my Swahili book and started asking questions. Many of the boys can speak some English. Amos, the oldest, was fascinated with my book and he and I were reading and telling each other how to pronounce the words. Me telling him the English and him telling me the Swahili. We were joined by Amedes and all three of us were on one bed with our heads in a book. It was really cool. Both boys are very smart and Amedes likes to sing. At dinner each boy had their own bowl, spoon, and juice cup!! We sat all together on three beds and ate. After dinner we headed back to our hotel but I left the Swahili book for Amos. It turned out to be a really good day!!

I have tried three times to upload photos but Blogger is not cooperating. I also took a wonderful sunset photo of Mount Kilimanjaro from my hotel window. I will try to upload them later. We are all going on safari tomorrow morning and will not be back until late on Friday so I will not have access to a computer again until Saturday, November 3. We will be spending 3 nights in the Thompson Classic Camp at Ngorongoro Crater with Thompson Safaris. I hope you all have a great week and thank you again for all the comments!!