Eastleigh - Feb 17

Today was our last day with the Iftin ladies at Eastleigh.    I think we were all a little sad before we even made it there.   It is amazing how these women crept into our hearts in a matter of weeks.   We had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the level 1 class.   A few of them  practiced their English and introduced themselves and welcomed us into the classroom.

We joined the groups in the Level 2 class.   Nelius made the lesson a bit of a competition.   There were a couple of questions that I did not know the English word - so unfortunately my group lost.   Yes, the competitive spirit is alive & well in Eastleigh.   Nelius is so good with the ladies & our children.   She had Aby take over and ask the group questions.   It is amazing to watch Aby & Micah have the confidence to stand in front of the group and teach.

Later the Level 3 class joined us.   The 2 groups sang the Iftin song for us.   It is beautiful.   I am hoping our video of it will do it justice.    The ladies then broke out into some singing and dancing.   We brought some UNO & Skip Bo cards along today.   Mark was a bit miffed when he realized he had to teach his group Skip Bo.   His mind went blank about the rules.   I quickly reminded him and it worked out just fine.   It was fun watching these ladies play cards.   I do not think they have had the opportunity to do it before.

You may remember me blogging about a home visit we did last week with Mahadi (the 13 yr old boy in Class 3).    It turns out that he did not have a sponsor.   Well, I am happy to say that he now has a family who will sponsor him until he finishes school.   Yes, we were able to sponsor him as well as an 8 yr old girl, Loko.   It was a privilege to meet each of these children and know that we are helping their families in some small way.

We also had the opportunity to provide a camera to Laura for the Iftin ladies.   I had a few co-workers give me some money for the people in Eastleigh.   The day before we left, Aaron & Erica suggested that a digital camera would be great for the program.    We had enough cash to purchase a camera, memory card and case.   The camera is already full of pictures that Aby took last week & today on it. 

We went on our last home visit today.   Once again we went down the road carrying our box of food, a water filter, and crate of soda's.   It is hard to describe the apartment we went into.  We had to walk through a dark hall and up 6 flights of concrete stairs that were lined with garbage.   There is no running water.   The family needs to go the main level for water.   The mother said that often there is no water there and they need to go into the neighborhood to purchase water.   I can’t imagine what it would be like to carry the water up all those stairs every day.  We were so blessed to have met Howwa and her 5 girls & her brother's son who she cares for.   Howwa was from the first group of ladies to graduate from Iftin.   She has a grade 8 education and desires for all of her children to complete their schooling.   She works at Noor Creations and is able to make some money to support her family.   It was exciting to hear her children speak of their dreams for the future.   

Although we had given Farhia our translator a water filter last Friday, it was only released to her today because it had to be further sealed.  We had enough food today so that we were able to give her some extra food along with the water filter.   On our visits, we found out Laura only uses tablets for her water, so Micah & Aby were able to give her a filter as well.  These two ladies were extremely helpful to us on our visits, and we're so glad we were able to become friends with them.  We have one more morning at Eastleigh, when we get back from Malindi, and we will have the opportunity to tour the jewelry making department at that time.  We're very much looking forward to it.

Aby with her new friends Laura & Farhia

Yes this is Mark playing cards :)

I am not sure if Micah taught the ladies all the rules to UNO.  He really wanted to win :)

Our family has grown - Mahadi & Loko

Aby saw this little girl when we went to the preschool classroom last week.   She thinks Halima is the most beautiful girl in Kenya.

Aby presenting the camera to Laura & Nelius

Our last home visit