There is more than one way to skin a cat

I was so out of sorts this morning, that concentrating in town was difficult. This was only compounded by the heavy rains which soften the ground to a heavy mud cement at the soles of your shoes. Trying to navigate through the market is sobering, especially if you are a klutz and/or have a tendency to fall easily. Both apply to me. After 3 near death experiences - you know the type, where your back straightens up to compensate for one foot suddenly 2 feet off the ground - I began walking gingerly from pole to pole, in a half hearted attempt to buy underwear for the kids, for God's sake. I was far more interested in NOT falling. Everyone in the market wants the mzungu's business, especially mine. They all know who I am, and start shouting to help. Because of the currency situation here, I made the decision when I got here, not to barter. This is tough for me, as I love the sport of it, and am, not to toot my own horn, good at it. As I braced myself against another fall, a woman started laughing. Very funny, I said - it's easy when you're sitting on the table napping, isn't it? Well, we all started laughing and I ended up with some ridiculous amount of underwear for the girls, as well as socks and underwear for the boys. Kenyans were born to laugh. If you laugh with them (and at yourself) you will be treated well. I went to the same clothing store I hit on every trip, and purchased an outfit for each girl. Robert, if you are reading this? THANK YOU! I will do the same for the boys on Sunday. The girls were in heaven when I gave them their clothes :-)

Next stop: wholesale grain dealers. 75kg of maize, 50kg of beans and 25kg of rice later, I paid and ran across the street to the hair salon, and asked two women to come with me to the home to do Margaret's hair. (Braids and weaves are allowed in secondary school). Give us 5 minutes, they said. Gotta love this! The four of us piled into Tony's car, scraping bottom as we hit the street. Sorry, Tony! Ever the good sport, he simply said 'sawa'. (It's that patience thing again).

The rain wouldn't let up today. Tony and I picked the little ones up at 1:00 - there we were, 15 of us in his Toyota. The legality of this matter floored me, but Kenyans don't even think about it. I couldn't even turn around to see who was in the car, so I called out their names.

Somewhere along the line, Tony told me that Agnes was conducting a Board Meeting today. I thought: perfect opportunity. So, at 2:15, I walked into Farmers (the 'resort' she owns at the bottom of the Nagolie driveway) and asked : "Is this a Board Meeting? May I join you? I have a few things I would like to say". What could they say? I sat down next to Tony, who was stifling a laugh. Next to Tony was Njau. Good grief, I thought. What is HE doing HERE? It was my recollection that he had been kicked off the Board, after he had stolen from me, and Agnes, and the children. (I must have been mistaken. OK, sarcasm off.) Njau glared at me, which resulted in me treating him like a lamp post. Moving on, the Board was restructuring, and little did I know that Njau was the Secretary, serving his last meeting. In a nutshell, the meeting ended with Tony and I being elected to the Board, with me being named Manager of Nagolie Children's Home. At my insistence, we will be visiting Ereteti Primary School on Monday, to report the abuses that have occurred since I have been here. As an aside - I did contact the CDO today, and reported Mrs. Lucy. With any luck, she will be behind bars. Given that this is not realistic, the next best thing is the CDO visiting her at the school the second week of November. I am sorry I cannot participate.

The day ended well. Agnes and I chatted a bit more as I was leaving. She was genuinely pleased to have me on board; as she hugged me good night, she said : Stay strong and do not let anyone ever intimidate you. You can handle them all." I thanked her and headed back to the home, to say good night to the children. As I entered the office to grab bags I had put together for the children, I noticed they were gone. Njau, who had the key for 5 minutes to clean out his belongings, decided to clean out the children's gifts as well.

Tomorrow, the 17 older children and I are headed to Nakuru National Park for the day. The kids are ecstatic! Even me. (For those who have been to Kenya, 'even me' is a familiar expression).

Lala salama, all ~ I'm sorry for the lack of pictures. The rain was a serious deterrent!!

With love,


Simmie and Mturi