Fusball - the beautiful game

Soccer at a nearby field

     I've been under the weather for the past few days and while Gloria and Claire traveled to work at an IDP camp this weekend I stayed in Ngong. This afternoon my illness began to clear up and I ventured out with Issac to the nearby soccer field.
     There are no language barriers in soccer. A hand signal for directional plays, hands to the chest for a "me, me, me" action and hands down palms up to ask for the ball placed at your foot. The warm ups are always the same, I made a fool out of myself and then made a fool of others. As the day went on respect and communication between players grew. A "budda" (brother) or "wewe" to get attention and "cuja" (come) to get a player to continue dribbling.
    At 4 the children were on the field for practice, but as time passed the elder boys, and men coming home from work joined the frey for a very fast paced game. As more people arrived they easily stepped into warm-ups and the game, no conversations needed. Though I did not participate in the later game I hope once I'm back to health I can.
    And no matter where you go there seems to always be the same confrontations. In example the prima donna striker who dish out some tough blows but will complain when they receive a strong tackle from a no-nonsense defender who hates prima donnas.
    All you need is a ball and a place to play. This is why soccer is a global game a beautiful game.

Those three simple words . . .

Obediah and Kefa

Today, two of the children said "I love you" to me. While you can hear these three words from your parents, your spouse, lover or a friend there is something indescribably powerful when a child says it to you. It makes it that much harder to think about leaving Faraja. Which is why I know that this experience is going to develop into a life long commitment. While I've always thought about the possibility of being a mother to biological children I now know in my heart that I am meant to take care of children that are already here. My sons and daughters are already living.

A bedroom at Faraja. One room has 13 girls, the other 13 boys

I never thought I would be able to cook for 32 children but thanks to cooking lessons with Omari, I'm able to do it and enjoy every minute of it! The kids give my bean soup great reviews. We had a chapati making party today and even got the kids involved. Chapati is similar to pita and we make it from water, wheat flour and salt. We make the dough and then slice it, roll it and fry it. Preparing, cooking and eating food together is an essential component to our Faraja family. Ester, a beautiful eight year old girl, who was responsible to roll out the dough for me, and I had a little food fight and laughed so hard we found ourselves on the floor covered in flour. We cleaned up before anyone noticed;)

Ester, Morra's youngest child

Momma is always trying to feed us but many times we make up excuses since we know food is low. Yesterday, she followed me down the hill with eggs telling me to take them and eat them so that I keep up my strength. Food pushers are universal, I used to think only Italian grandmas behaved that way.

I am teaching the kids how to make pizza next week, if Momma gives me the ok, of course. They tell me they have never had it but have heard of it and really want to taste it.

Focusing on Faraja

     After 4 days on Safari I couldn't stop thinking about Faraja. Though I really haven't been able to be around the kids because of the work I do there is the continuous thought on how to allow Maura and Omari become sustainable.

The chicken coop

     Cleopus from Fadhili stopped by today to see how our placement was going. Gloria and I were more than happy to show them the orphanage, introduce them to Omari, and ask for some extra help. Claire should be joining us tomorrow but we'd like to get another male and female when the next orientation group comes on Sunday. Fadhili has been more than accommodating and we firmly believe that this can happen.
     Omari's chickens laid about 46 eggs today, nearing the magic number 60 so that they can begin selling in market. We talked about small loans from Faulu (a micro-finance institution) that might lead to larger loans. The difficult aspect is the first loan can only be 5000ksh and must be repaid in 6 weeks. We feel that Omari's eggs must be viable before taking the loan to guarantee repayment and move on to larger loans.

     Gloria's beans for lunch were a hit and my ugali was good (at least that's what I thought from the reaction of the kids. Ugali (right) is basically a maize flour based "bread". It's light but very filling. I prefer mine with chile sauce. Cooking for 30+ kids was interesting because the pots are huge. The ugali was mixed with the semblance of a canoe paddle and two hands on it at all times because it gets heavy to flip.

     There are many things to do here before we leave but I'm confident that Gloria and I can tackle any task and goal we put ahead of ourselves. When we are on "African time" it seems like we've been here forever and time is standing still (in a good way). When we find out the days date reality kicks in on how fast time is flying by.

      I've meant many kind-hearted souls, adventurous and energetic spirits, and downright great people so far in this experience and I hope it continues.


Capitalism (and incentives) might work:
$1 = 80ksh (Kenyan Shillings)

Laundry at Faraja

1. Considering incentives for day labor to build the fire pit. Eg: 100ksh for the day, 250ksh if done by 12:30, if not finished not hired back the next day. Laborers are used to being paid daily and I regularly see plenty on break when the "boss" isn't around for the day down the road. If the fire pit project gets off the ground I think it can be done in 2 days.

2. Talking with the Sudanese businessman (the "boss" I just mentioned) to get his unused mortar block or to get in on next week's shipment. 50ksh per block is the standard rate and we'd only need about 36-42. Don't plan on taking his labor, but 1 guy a day would be OK by me.

The donkey cart guys

3. Renting out a donkey cart from the water merchant who fetches water from the same pipe. He's there hauling 500L on the cart, maybe offering him 1/4 of the value of his haul to deliver it to the door. This wouldn't be done on a daily basis, but maybe on a Friday to cover the weekends. Kenyans pay a shilling a liter, and to have the tank filled in 45 minutes is a lot better than all day, and it will supplement the time needed to supervise the firepit project.

We've been fortunate to have some donated funds and hope to spend them wisely and appropriately for the duration of our time at Faraja. If you'd like to do anything to assist, just ask.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing...

Hey kids. Its been awhile. I have missed some important events and want to acknowledge them before I begin to blog about whats been going on over here. Happy Birthday to my most amazing baby bro, Anthony!!!! Sending you tons of hugs and kisses from Africa and promises to make you Blue Moon cupcakes and a four course dinner upon my return. To my dear Cheryl, aka "Cherbear", I wish I could have been celebrating your bridal shower with you. Love to you and Bradley as your special day approaches. To my beautiful nephew MJ, I wish you a fast and safe recovery from your eye surgery, you are our little fighter.

Since I last wrote I've been on quite a daring adventure. Luckily I've had wonderful friends new and old to join me on the ride.

Our safari group with "Action" Jackson

I spent four days on Safari. Three days in Masaai Mara Game Reserve and one in Lake Nakuru National Park. I felt like I was in a dream. I stayed in a tent that resembled a house, had my own bed and a shower and toilet with running water. Pretty swanky for here. I finally shaved my legs after almost two weeks. The things we take for granted.

Dinner is served

On our first run through the reserve we spotted a lion eating a wildebeest. You could actually smell the blood of a fresh kill. We also spotted zebras, buffalo and gazelles. It was sick, in a good way and made me a little sick in a bad way. The animals were within inches of our open aired van. Our driver, Jackson, was the fastest and most aggressive driver out there and would get us into spots I never would have imagined the van could fit in. On day two of the safari we spotted more zebras and lions. The highlight was when we drove to the very edge of cliff and witnessed the Great Migration of the wildebeest, one of the seven natural wonders of the world! Scary and amazing! We had hoped to complete the "Big Five" sightings but the rhino and leopard were nowhere to be found. I also spotted elephants as our van was almost charged by one and hippos in the Mara River. A completely unreal experience and the foil of New York City. The land seems to span to eternity. At Lake Nakuru National Park we were able to get up close and personal with some flamingos and spotted the rhinos we had been hoping to catch in Maasai Mara. Sadly, we never spotted that bastard of a Leopard. My camera is busted so I will rely on Claire, Karen and Marc to post and link for me. 4 out of 5 of the Big 5 is cool with me.

. . . mad ups . . .

We also had an opportunity to visit a Maasai village. The Maasai tribe rejects westernization and is oddly similar to the Amish in the US. I was able to ask many questions and members of the tribe had many questions for me as well. While there I participated in a traditional welcome dance with the women members of the tribe and learned how to make fire from friction. I also was taken on a tour of a manyatta (a small home built out of mud and wood with no running watter). The Maasai are very self sufficient and seldom leave the tribe. The people I met there seemed incredibly happy. Sammy, our Maasai guide took us to observe a ritual of drinking cow blood. An arrow is shot into the jugular vein of a cow and blood spurts out into the air and is collected into a bucket. The bucket of cow blood is then passed around to drink. Marc, of course, drank from the bucket. I nearly passed out and am reconsidering vegetarianism due to this event and other things I have witnessed here. While not tasting the blood I did dabble in the yummy honey beer brewed on premises. I guess the lesson to be learned is that no way of life is necessarily better than another. We are all doing the best we can with what we have where we are.


A pretty kick ass adventure but I must admit I was so happy to return to the children today. Could not help but talk about them to everyone I met during my time away. I guess I now understand more than ever what being a mom must be like.