Lemomo and his pink outfits

One of the greatest things about where we live, is that clothes are clothes and no one cares what color they are! Lemomo (above) has several pink outfits, one of which is a pink Tinkerbell hoody like the one he has on now, but it has sparkles! I just love that the preconceived notions of what colors boys should or shouldnt wear are not present here at all.

Our little man....Dickson

This cute little boy is one of our newest arrivals at the RVCV. His name is Dickson and he is 2 1/2 years old. He has the body and weight of a 12 month old baby, however he walks,talks and is so adorable we just call him our little man. He is literally about a foot shorter than other children his age, but otherwise seems to be at the same level as his peers. We attribute his small stature to lack of nutrition as a baby, but I have to say it makes him so cute!

Thought for the day....

In Tanzania, the word Jamba means fart. So that makes Jamba Juice what?? Fart juice? :)

Sorry, I have been pondering this for a while...I either have too much time on my hands or too little adult conversation....I know it cant be the time thing as I have no time on my hands!

New cooking facilties at Shule or School

We have built a new cookhouse so all of the local children are able to have a hot lunch every day. For most of these children this meal is their ONLY meal of the day so it is vitally important that it is hot, nutritious and tastes good! Our two full time cooks Mama Titus and Mama Kajuju

These are two water purification tanks recently installed to ensure that the kids are drinking filtered water everyday...at least at school.

Shule or School

Our children, as well as all of the children in the area, go to Gyetighi Primary School. We have taken over the management contract of the school and are slowly renovating all of the classrooms as well as the teacher housing and anything else we can get our hands on :)

Below is an example of an older classroom and a picture of one of the newly renovated classrooms.

The new one above is actually the Chucke Chea classroom or Kindergarden so they have little tables and chairs. We are building individual desks for the older students so they dont have to sit at the bench/table style desks. The rooms are great though, high ceilings, white walls and skylights.

Godwin

This is our head Askari, Godwin.

He is a wonderfully regal Masai warrior who guards us at the Rift Valley Children's Village. We have a total of 6 Askaris, all of whom are Masaii. They patrol the property 24 hours a day, predominantly to protect us from the Elephants and Cape Buffalo, but also to keep unwanted intruders at bay. He is walking the perimeter of the village with one of India’s dogs Winchester.

Sunrise, Sunset...

A small glimpse of the daily views and beauty of my surroundings...

Sunrise at Rift Valley Children's Village

A view from our hill to the valley below

The Sun setting over the edge of the rift

The medical clinics are back in full swing!

Local villagers waiting to see the Dr.
Dr. Frank checking out a patient

Our version of Triage :)

And the wait begins...

We are so excited that Dr. Frank and the mobile medical clinics have started up again! Dr. Frank and his team of Dr.’s and nurses show up every two weeks and we host a free clinic for the surrounding villagers. Some of these people walk for hours to get to the Rift Valley Children’s Village in order to receive free medical treatment and dawa (medicine).

Dr. Frank Artress or Dr. Frank as we all call him, has a medical clinic in Karatu and a foundation called FAME. TCF and RVCV actively support FAME and Dr. Frank’s great work in this region. With 69 kids now we routinely send a car to the clinic several times every week!

Mama Upendo and our smallest baby, Gracie

Ester and little man Dixon who is a new arrival at RVCV. Dixon is 2 1/2 years old, however was so malnourished that he is very, very small for his age. He is wearing 12 month baby size clothing! It is amazing to see him walking around and he is starting to really talk, but is so tiny you can believe it.

Baby Emanuelle, my first love here at the Village. He is starting to crawl and wave bye bye. What a doll!

Filling our last house!

All of the new kids plus Colletta.

In June we initiated the process of filling our last Children’s House—Rubondo House. Last week we welcomed 8 little ones to their new home and family. Like our other children when they first arrived at the Children’s Village, these kids looked terrified and shell shocked. Imagine landing in a world so unlike anyplace you have ever seen?? Where there are real houses, real beds, hot water coming from a tap and white people lurking in every direction! But within 24 hours their fears have been replaced by joy. The joy of having a full tummy, the joy of feeling clean, the joy of knowing that all those crazy white people don’t intend to eat you, but instead want to hug you. It’s magic to watch these children be transformed.

Last week we went to Mongola to pick up a little 6-year-old girl named Neema to bring her back to live with us. The area is hard to describe…it is a desolate and depressing area. Deforestation has lead to the loss of all topsoil so the dirt is like red baby powder. Scrubby trees are peppered around, sagging mud houses and skinny cows and goats search for water. This is our cold season where it can be in the 50's at the Children’s Village, however, it was in the low 90's in Mongola! I can't imagine what it is like there during the hot season. Many of our new kids come from this area. I only wish we could get more children out of such a hopeless environment! The area we live in is the complete opposite of Mongola. We are in the mountains and surrounded by rain forest and coffee plantations. As I sit at my desk I can see the peak of Mt Oldeani and the Ngorongoro Crater rim. In the early mornings it is so beautiful, it brings tears to my eyes. The people who live near us are just as poor and struggle daily to survive, but somehow with so much beauty in our natural environment, we don’t lose hope.

This week we will be picking up a one month old baby and 2 more little girls to bring home with us. We will have then filled the Children’s Village with all our children. I am already feeling sad, like a woman who has decided not to have more babies (again!). But, then with so many budding teenagers I realize that 69 children is probably enough!