Ned & Emily's Blog

Eva's Post

2010-05-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

WE MADE IT TO GREECE!!!

2009-12-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

Are we thankful for our life? Very.

Oh How I have been wanting to visit Greece since my brother went... when I was about 13. Ned had an unexpected week off due to a Muslim holiday so we just did it! It was beautiful, the weather was perfect (sunny and cool), and Eva traveled like a rock-star.

To see more photos check out this link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=441593799703:374008864&facebook=true&sourceId=984136008703

View of Acropolis from our hotel roof deck. Ned and sleeping Eva at Erechtheion.

"The real Greece"

View of a castle in Nafplio we are about to climb up to. One of the best parts of our trip was being able to be outside and hike around a bit. Walking to the mall and back in Abu Dhabi just gets a little old after a while :)

View over the sea...

Happy Camper in her baby bjorn!

Church of the Holy Apostles, it was built to commemorate the teachings of Paul in Greece.

We spent 3 nights in a medieval village up in the mountains, this was the view from the house we stayed in, which was initially built in 1650.

Stay tunned because Ned will make a quick trip to Tanzania in the next couple of weeks!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!!!

Ducheks in Dubai ?!?

2009-07-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

My apologies to those of you who follow the Blog AND are on facebook, the photos are usually the same. But believe it or not, there are those who are not on f.b. that we want to share our stories with!

The doors parted and mom and dad planted their first step in the U.A.E., boy were they excited! Dad had a new camera to play with (as you can see he is already sporting it around his neck) and they had just watched Meet the Falkers on private TV screens... We were excited too.

The first thing we did was take a day trip to Dubai. First stop: indoor ski resort in the mall. We had lunch in a really nice Lebanese restaurant overlooking the bunny slope. Mom said, "you know what is nice about this meal- it is all just meat."

Dad had so much fun taking his pictures. I had fun taking pictures of him taking his pictures. Unfortunately the air was so thick with sand that day that photos of the Burj Dubai (tallest building in the world) were not really possible. We did drive around it several times and it is actually a beautiful building.

We drove out onto the Palm Tree Island and checked out the Atlantis Hotel. We didn't get to see Paris Hilton, but it was impressive just the same.

July 4 Beach BBQ. We have met so many great people here. Most are not from the US, but were happy to oblige us anyway.

The men cooking the meat.

Lounging at the pool. They didn't actually get to enjoy the beach club so much, as Eva came exactly one week after their arrival.

Ned and I didn't get to make the desert safari with them- we stayed home with Eva. But the excursion involves 'dune bashing' in SUVs; unfortunately mom got sick.

They rode camels and tasted the milk- yuck.

A stop over to let the engines cool. What a majestic landscape the desert can be.

Photo of the year!

They got to try on Emiratie dress, this is what all nationals wear on a daily basis.

Oh my gosh- I wouldn't have believed it without the photo. My parents smoking Shisha! It is very common for families to smoke shisha after dinner or coffee shops in the afternoon; probably as common as it is for us to order a coke with our hamburger. My guess: smoked, but not inhaled.

Dad figured out the video option on the camera to get this one...

And of course they took several photos of Baby Eva.

They toured the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

We had an amazing brunch at the Shangri La Hotel on Dad's last day. Eva is Soooo good she slept through the whole thing.

View of the Grand Mosque from hotel.

Mom is on her way home today. After anticipating this trip for 5 months I can not believe it is already over. We are so thankful that they were able to be here to help us get up and running with Eva. Mom cooked, did the dishes (no dish washer) and vacuumed the living room every day. Dad fixed our kitchen exhaust, installed shelves in my cabinets, oiled the door hinges, etc. But best of all they were here to hold her and love her and welcome her to the world!

Eva Catherine Greene- July 10 2009

2009-07-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Beth we have some amazing photos of Eva on her first big day.

First: Going to the hospital this morning- one last belly shot!

Second: Wait a minute- after 4 hrs on the birthing ball this is not so exciting anymore...

At this point I had a 'reaction' to the pain (ie.started vomiting) and so decided to go ahead with the epidural... which did not work! Apparently this only happens 10% of the time.

Due to shift changes and lunch breaks we went through 4 different midwives before Eva was actually born. It made me feel more like I was having my tires changed than giving birth, but all ended well as the last one was fantastic and led us through a 45 min. delivery with no complications. We didn't see a Dr. until is was over... and I started vomiting again.

Ceiling in our room: All good hospital/hotel rooms must have a sign indicating the direction of Mecca for prayer times.

The proud Papa.

Grandma Julie in delivery room. Grandma Julie was also the photographer... this is why there is no 'first family photo' shot:)

Grandpa Dennis didn't get to meet Eva until the next day because of visiting hours. He spent a lot of time in the 'men's' waiting room, which is of course separate from the 'women's' waiting room.

Ahhhh... we get to rest now right?!? I was in a shared room and visitors are not allowed to stay past 10pm so Eva and I spent two nights in the hospital alone. On the first night my mom tracked down one of the doctors in the employee only cafeteria and somehow got herself permission to stay in the room with me. It was totally out of question for Ned to stay since he is a man and everything.

She is pretty darn cute- right!!! She just makes your heart melt.

After our time at Cradle of Love Ned is actually a pro with a nappy, but this was his first as a Papa.

Home at last. Eva is a FANTASTIC baby. She NEVER crys or fusses. It took us both a while to figure out how to feed and she lost too much weight; but we are back on track, she is rapidly gaining and pooing frequently! Yes, I have started counting poopy diapers- this is probably the point where most of you will loose interest so I will sign off now and spare you the details.

A big thank you to everyone for all your support and well wishes. We are soooo blessed and happy to be sitting here with our beautiful healthy baby girl!

Oman

2009-06-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

We have not been out of Abu Dhabi much since we arrived, but finally made it to Oman the other weekend. Muscat is known as a beach resort town, but instead of staying at one of the big resorts with a pool and ocean view we checked out 4 dodgy hotel rooms before settling into one we could be proud of... it had running water AND the a.c. worked.
These old men sat outside the hotel ALL DAY playing a game with stones in the sand and drinking tea.

The 'old town' was very beautiful with white washed buildings tucked into the mountain coast line. In the background you can see ancient stone forts overlooking the bay.
It was SOOOO HOT the only thing we could do during the day was drive around and peek at the coast line and the way people live. Most of the time I feel like these goats; hopping from one bit of shade to another. This is a soccer field (you have to look real close to see the goal post/nets) can you even imagine sending your kids off to play here? I miss Portland.

The other major attraction was an ancient covered market, which was surprisingly beautiful. It was also refreshing to see locals doing their shopping here instead of just tourists.

They might have to wear an abaya, but these girls are still flashing the bling however they can; sunglasses, Prada bags, and stiletto heels!

Aquafina.
This photo is for Amy.
They use boxes of 'kleenex' everywhere instead of napkins. This high class restaurant even had a box cover... in the shape of a sofa.

Baby Shower!!

2009-05-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Some of the girls from our church group threw us a co-ed baby shower... SURPRISE!!! It feels pretty amazing that there is such a large group of people that are supportive and anticipating Eva's arrival along with us.

They knocked themselves out with great decorations, games, and a cupcake tower to boot!

The boys took some of the games very seriously and really got into it, it made the afternoon a lot of fun.

And there were gifts, lots of wonderful thoughtful gifts, including bedding for the crib! (note the artistic wrapping job)
Eva's first little friend- Izzy.

We feel so so (SO) blessed to have been included with this small group/Bible study for young couples. We are making friends with people we really respect and admire; so far it has been the best part of our experience here in Abut Dhabi. Truth be told, if we had not discovered this group I would probably be pestering Ned to go home already (really pestering).

Updated belly shot: 31.5 weeks

Camping in the Sand!

2009-05-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

This was probably about 6 weeks ago, but we made a quick camping trip to the desert with our small group from church. It was fun to see our first real camel out there in a natural setting.

Ned with a view of the dunes...
A trip over the nearest dune (i.e. toilet) and were surprised to see camel tracks .

On the drive home there were several herds of camel being driven along the highway to a camel race track about 5 miles away. So much different than spotting a deer alongside the road, this is when we realized: How strange- we live in the Middle East!

2009-03-09T01:17:00.000-07:00

People have been asking for photos of the 'baby bump'. I didn't realize just how big it is until Ned showed me this photo!

There is A LOT of construction in Abu Dhabi, this is the view from our beach front.

Our beach/pool club is truly an oasis in the middle of the hot and dirty city. We love love love it!

This is the garden/restaurant area at the beach club... we plan to spend a lot of time sitting at the English Pub under that palm tree:)

Thankfully there is a nice children's park just across from our building. It is teaming with little kiddies until midnight each day.

I love all of the American franchises with Arabic signage (Pizza Hut)

A personal favorite: Arabic KFC

This is the neighborhood. All of the roads are big, 4 or 5 lanes each direction. There are way too may cars. walking around is really unpleasant. Fourtunately we are only a couple of blocks from the beach club!

This is our building, we live on the 18th floor!

Typical: construction in the desert.

View from our living room window.

Back in the US of A!!

2008-12-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

Well, we never really posted a final blog about our good byes and return home in mid October. It was really hard to leave the kids. We want to know what they are doing every day but are just trying to let go a little. We are keeping in touch with letters, Christmas gifts, and even phone calls.

Ned says good bye to his crew of security guards.

Good bye mwalimu Mery.

Ned bought everyone soda on the afternoon we left. Good bye mama sara and mama joyce!

Look! I can chug my wholel soda!

Good bye Eric!

Ned says good bye to his best bud and cab driver- Joseph.

good bye neighbor lady that brought fresh eggs and milk each morning!

Bye baby Enochi.

Bye friends from the village.

But rather than finishing our story about Africa, we think it is time to start the next one:

Ned & Emily's Blog Part II: Abu Dhabi and Brand New Baby!!

Yep, we are moving again. This time for 2 years instead of 1. Ned accepted a job with a Portland engineering company that is sending him (us) to the United Arab Emirates to help start up an international office. Ned is really excited about the opportunity and can not wait to get over there and get started. Emily is a little bit more hesitant this time around. Picking up and going to Africa without any set plans was exciting/adventurous/risky; going to the middle east to have a baby is... I am not sure what it is yet. But the good news is that we are going to have a baby! Next July! Stay tuned!

U.A.E is between Oman and the Persian Gulf. We will be living in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which is just down the coast line 90min. from the Emirate of Dubai.

All visitors welcome! (Except maybe not in July)

Day With The Neighbors

2008-09-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

Meet our friend Mery. She is a 15 year old girl that we met when she came to look for work. Since then she started coming to 'greet' us regularly...a little too regulary. She is not able to finish high school b/c her parents don't have any money, but she told me she wasn't really interested anyway and wants to take a vocational cooking course instead. We thought that was a great idea so Ned and I are helping her enroll in a Hotel Training program this fall. Ned gave her some money to get a uniform made, some new shoes, and a few school supplies. It was really cute b/c she made her big shopping trip to town and couldn't wait to come back and show us all of her new goods. She had managed to buy herself THREE new pairs of shoes instead of paying the tailor for her unifrom like Ned told her to. I was kind of annoyed with her... until I remember how excited I would have been at just 15 years old.
Her family was so thankful that they wanted us to attend church with them and then spend the afternoon at their house. This Ned in the living room with her brother- note the chicken nesting in the corner behind him.
Group shot outside the house.

Mery's parents. The dad is pretty slow and is not really able to move around. Her mama works in their garden everyday and produces everything they eat.

House #2 Opens

2008-09-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

We have been pretty busy around here opening the second house for another 10 children. Most of them are 3 years old, a couple are 4 and 5, so they require a lot of attention and training. We started a separate blog for the orphanage specifically; for photos of all the new kiddies check out http://www.havilahvillage.blogspot.com/

This is Dao, the new baby of the bunch. Dao's interests include sucking his thumb, wetting the bed, pooping outside in the lawn, eating with his hands, and crying at night and screaming "MZUNGU!" (ie: hey white people, come and get me!) This is me rocking him to sleep on one of his first tough nights here in his new home.

Vero Goes Home

2008-08-31T07:37:00.000-07:00

Before Vero came to Havilah she was living with a neighbor family that took her in after her mother died. She had been with them since she was two and believes that this is her real family. So today we are all happy that she is returning to stay with them for good.

This is our Enochi giving her a kiss good bye (although she lives very close by and will be coming everyday to lean and eat lunch with us). The other little boy is Adili, her brother.

(Ariel and Merriella and volunteers that just arrived last week and will stay with the kids for the next 10 months.)

Emily & Vero

Ned carrying her little bed through the fields.

Vero back at home with her family. I actually thought she might cry when we left her, but she was so happy to be there that we could barely get her to say good bye.

TEJA SOHI GREENE

2008-08-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

Our nephew born August 23, 2008!
6 lbs. 4 oz.

How do you spend a typical Wednesday?

2008-08-14T04:08:00.000-07:00

As you may know, Havilah Village currently has one house full with 10 children. Our current task is finding/screening/selecting the 10 new kiddies for the second house which has been finished for some time.

In the process we have met several families from the nearby villages and spent time getting to know them and their stories of need. Most are grandparents or neighbors of children whose parents have died or have abandoned them. At first we were shocked by the number of people trying to ‘get rid of’ their children/grandchildren/nieces/nephews. We were also shocked by their ability to lie about the child’s age and the truthful whereabouts of the parents. We were skeptical of a couple of the stories we had been fed so we decided to set out on dirt path to see if we could catch these people at home and witness their actual living situations.

In one instance Ned’s surprise visit revealed truthful information. He arrived when the grandmother we had been communicating with was not home. Her daughter was there so Ned asked her where the little boy in question was… he was at his own mother’s house that day. Oh, you mean the mother that ‘abandoned’ him years ago? Ya, she lives just down the road, do you want me to show you? No thanks, but please understand that we will not be able to take this child in as an orphan.

However in most instances we are realizing these people are in a world of hurt and simply trying to procure a decent future for their children. A common household scenario looks like this: 1 grandma (with AIDs and little time left on her hands), no one from the ‘parent’ generation (AIDs or hit the road a long time ago), 5 or 6 children from any combination of different parents, a missing father figure (probably living with his other wife), and no income. It is the Grandmothers we have been dealing with most. They are strong old ladies who are desperate to find homes for their children before their time is up, and they will tell you absolutely anything in order to do so.

We visited this Bibi (Grandma) today. She is staying in a small house taking care of 6 little rug rats that have been left with her for one reason or another. We are pretty sure two of them will be moving into this house. After visiting I found it hard to stay mad at her for lying about a third child she was trying to squeeze into the original deal. She cooked up a special porridge of ‘milk’, ugi, and dirt in honor of our visit. We felt terrible declining her, we really do try to eat everything…but I tried it and there was NO WAY I was going to finish a whole glass. She was really mad at us and embarrassed that we left her house with out full bellies. Shameful.
This is Hawa, showing us how she can write her own name…in the dirt. Good Girl!

Here is the second Bibi we saw today. Her health is getting pretty bad and she has a pain in her leg that makes it hard to walk. We went inside to talk and she offered us her two stools, the only items in the concrete room. She has been left alone with three little girls, the rest are just neighbors that ran over to have a look at the wazungu (white people).

It was a long hot dusty walk through coffee plantations and corn fields, so we stopped at this little store on the way back for a drink and a rest. Dorcas asked to come along and for some reason I let her, she is happy to have Ned and Emily all to herself today. This is what we did on Wednesday.

Day by Day

2008-08-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings all! I was recently reprimanded by my sister for not updating our blog more often, and because the stories are too short. This, says the person who makes it her business to make fun of all my stories for being much too long…

Life is just moving along day by day and it does not always feel like we have anything news worthy to write about. So I just decided to share some of our recent photos and a bit about what goes on in our everyday lives here in Ngongongare…

This in Enoch (Enochi). Global Vessels brought a mission group to Havilah to continue work on the next two children’s homes and among them was Enoch’s sponsor from the U.S. She brought him the new sweatshirt he is sporting in this photo. He has no idea who or what a cookie monster is, but is very proud of his new digs all the same!

This is Dorcas…waiting by the front gate. The other day I came outside and found her dressed in her American pants (otherwise known as jeans) and school shoes; she was carrying in her bag a pair of pj’s, a toothbrush, and a hair brush (which is an essential item for a girl with a bald head).

“Dorcas, where are you going,” I asked.

“America. You are going to call Uncle (who is our cab driver), he is going to take me to town, and I am going to get on a big plane to go to America.”

“Oh, ok. By Dori!”

We had joked around about going to ‘America’ the day before. I told them that there are such things as doughnut shops and inside there might be 20 or 30 different types of doughnuts. AND, there are such things as ice cream shops which might have up to 50 different flavors to choose from. “WHHOOOAAAAA! Let’s go now, please?”

I thought I made it pretty clear that no one would be going anywhere. But apparently Dori woke up at 5 am the next morning, put on her best clothes, used lotion on her face an arms (which is a notable detail for the girl who won’t wash her own face), packed a bag and went to wake the house mother up to tell her good bye. She was told to go back to bed, but returned to Sarah’s door every 15 minutes pleading to be let out of the house so she could catch her plane. I was pretty darn cute, but at the same time I really felt for her because I know what it is like to really want to get up and go somewhere when there is absolutely no where to get up and go.

So……….we begged Ned to take us to a near by lake! This was pretty exciting. The largest body of water any of them have seen was the mud puddle created in the road during the rainy season. (They were so excited about that mud puddle that we actually let them go swim in it- but don’t tell anyone.)

Our first boat ride… maji kubwa (big water)!!! Fun, but not as relaxing as the booze cruise.

View of Kilimanjaro from the boat.

Mama Emily’s turn!

We have been taking a few kids at a time on special field trips, which usually involve getting to ‘go out’ to eat. We bought the girls swim suites with the intent of taking them all swimming, but the weather has been so awful that so far only 3 kids have gotten to experience an actual swimming pool. But this does not stop the one-time swimming veterans from showing the others how it is done. They had spread a blanket out on the living room floor and were taking turns running and jumping into the pool/blanket. The event was made complete by wearing proper swimming suites over their pajamas.

This is not the best photo, but it is the tail end of the local village military regiment performing their afternoon cross training. They run/march by our house about once a week singing military songs and carrying fake riffles carved out of bamboo or sugar cane or something. They are such a rag tag bunch of the kids and young men that it is hard to imagine them coming together in uniforms and protecting us in the case of an ‘event.’ This is why we are happy that in spite of everything else, Tanzania is a very happy and peaceful place!

Serengeti Safari...

2008-06-26T03:01:00.001-07:00

We have been in Tanzania for 8 months and have finally taken a proper safari! We were waiting to take the trip in case family was able to visit, and thankfully Lacey and Kristen (her good friend from Portland) were able to join us! It was not the best time of year to see the 'great migrations', but even so we saw every animal that one is supposed to see, and had the best and closest views one could ask for!

Ned & Lacey checking out a Leopard.

We drove for 4 full days and camped in tents for 3 nights. We also had a personal cook along for the ride who fixed some pretty amazing meals and waited on us each night. The campground in the Serengeti was right out in the open with all of the animals. We did not have any close encounters; but heard many stories of people with buffalo grazing right outside their tents or lions standing between them and the outhouse in the middle of the night- yikes.

This is Kristen explaining water conservation policies to the Maasai people of the Ngorongoro Crater. Well not really... she is actually caving in and buying beaded souvenirs.
Ngorongoro Crater: This was a fantastic spot with flamingos, hippos, wildebeast, and zebras all sharing the same lakefront property.

It was a fantastic trip- you have just 3 months left to take advantage of having friends and a place to stay in Tanzania!!!

Check out the link to see the rest of our safari photos!

We Climbed Mt. Meru!

2008-06-18T03:48:00.000-07:00

Lacey (Ned's sister) came to visit us in Tanzania for three weeks! Yeah! So without really trying we were able to give here some real Tanzanian experiences, like eating ugali and fried fish, riding in a crowded dala-dala, and riding on top of a dala-dala because it was already full.

(This is Lacey on top of a bus, we were trying to make it home before dark)

For our first big adventure we decided to climb Mt. Meru, the mountain which is right in our own backyard. It was a four day hike up and back the 4562.13 meter (14,967 ft.) peak. No, it was not Kilimanjaro, but arguably a more technical and more beautiful climb. Might I add- this is higher than any point in the continental US…although much easier to summit because there was no snow.

(There is a herd of buffalo in the background of this photo)

Day 1 – The tour company picked us up at Havilah around 10:30am and after throwing our bags on top of the van we were off to Arusha National Park. During our short drive thru the park we saw giraffe, zebra, buffalo, wart hogs, baboons, and an assortment of birds. After registering and a quick lunch we were off. We started at an elevation of 1500 meters and climbed to 2500 meters the first day to Mariakamba Hut. The weather was nice, we felt good, and slept in some decent cabins.

Day 2 – A sizable breakfast of burnt oatmeal, crumbly bread, eggs, and sausage and we were off for another 1000 meter climb which involved a lot of stairs. The morning was misty and damp, but after climbing above the cloud layer we had some great views of the peaks of both Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro. We made it to Saddle Hut, rested for a bit, and hiked up to Little Meru (3801 meters) to help us acclimate to the higher elevation. We returned to Saddle Hut for the night.

Day 3 – We roused ourselves out of bed at 12:30am to start our climb. In the dark, with headlamps, we made our way pole pole (slowly) to the top. It was definitely hard going at times, and the higher elevation made our hearts have to work bit harder. The trail involved a lot of scrambling over rocks as we ascended, but we made it to the peak just after sunrise and had a magnificent view of Kilimanjaro rising above a blanket of clouds. (Check out the photos!) We returned to Saddle Hut for food and rest, and then continued down to Mariakamba Hut for the night.

This is the sunrise from behind Kilimanjaro, the only item we could see over the clouds at 6am!

3 of us at the summit! (very cold)

Day 4 – The last day we opted to take the longer route back to the ranger station, which was a pleasant walk thru the forest. We saw a few colobus monkeys and got quite close to a giraffe. We made it safely by mid-day, had a warm lunch, and were awarded certificates for our achievement. Our soreness and tiredness were overshadowed by our feeling of accomplishment, so after returning home and taking warm showers we headed out to a local lodge for a celebratory dinner. Emily enjoyed the trip so much that she tried to convince us to start up Kilimanjaro the next day.

That trip will have to wait for another day because next week we are off to the Serengeti!

Happy Children

2008-04-15T05:26:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to upload a few photos of our kiddies at play... This is Yasini!

The girls hamming it up for the camera.
Jackie (with missing tooth), Victoria, Vero, Vivi

Say Hello Vero!!!

We will return in October!

2008-04-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

Well, we have finally settled on a return date. We were in the process of committing to stay on as Directors of the children’s home until next December, until we realized that the airline will not extend a return ticket for more than 1 year. We will have to return by October 17th. For a while we were wondering if we would go home in May or stay for much longer, but we don’t really have a choice and it feels good to have this settled. Now when I day dream about a DQ blizzard or movie theather popcorn I know that I only have to wait 7 months!

Here is Ned with his girls. Vivi and Victoria are twins and they are sporting their new dresses that a mission group from a high school in the states brought. Things with the children are going well. We have become very close with them. Our house mother left so it is really just the two of us taking care of our little family of 12. They call us mommy and daddy and we really ARE their parents. I can not even imagine how hard it will be to leave them and to explain why. If we could just take the children and the landscape we are living in we cold be happy here forever.

Unfortunately, there is more to the operations of an orphanage than the children. There are all of the adults that have their fingers tied wrapped up in the business one way or another. They all lie, they all cheat, and we are getting really tired of trying to conduct everyday business like this. The latest discovery is that most of the kids are not actually orphans. Their mothers are living nearby in the village and have told the kids to call her ‘auntie’ when/if she comes to visit. We are essentially teaching them that if they can pull this off they will be able to live in this nice house and eat nice food. We are also teaching them how to lie when they take their final examinations at school and the teacher tells them how to fill in the answers. We have a little boy that is behind in his learning, if you show him the number 7 he is likely to guess ‘G!’ or ‘Red!’. He came home from school with final examinations/report card showing 90%. Others have told me that this is common. If you are paying their school fees don’t you want them to come home with high marks? The whole bit about earning the marks and learning the material is completely irrelevant.

Ned continues to help manage the construction of the next two homes. The guy who was supposed to be doing this also just left, so Ned finds himself making the long trip to town to buy materials almost every day. The days of us sharing the housework, taking the kids for walks together, and napping in the afternoon are long gone….

Village Tour

2008-04-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I have several stories written about our life here. Stories about our discipline struggles, about the shock we received after observing the school our kids are attending, and about how incredibly different people are here. But, they are way too long. For now I am just sharing a few photos to serve as a “Tour of our Village.” (Please see the SnapFish link at the right side of the page.)

This a view of a typical ‘shamba’ or dwelling for a family lucky enough to have a plot of land for growing food. There are several small buildings, one for sleeping, one for cooking, and one for the toilet; everything else is done outside. Looks pretty shabby, but they have million dollar view of Mt. Meru in the background!

This is the ‘town center’ nearest our house. There is a small store if you want to buy candy, phone cards, or coke in a glass bottle, and a vegetable stand if you want bananas or really bad tomatoes. We pretty much have to drive into Arusha (1hour by taxi) in order to get food; but we come home with a car full of mango, pineapple, papaya, watermelon, etc.

This is Vivi. We keep their heads shaved because they all have ring worm. Ned was the barber and was playing around with her hair….the clippers ran out of battery at this point. Poor girl cried and cried but we thought it was pretty funny because she is such a little turkey most of the time.

THANK YOU FOR OUR MEN

2008-02-18T04:28:00.000-08:00

I have spent a great deal of time with friends talking about men, why are they this way or that, why are good ones so hard to find, why are American men so spoiled, self absorbed, etc. Here are another couple reasons that we American women should thank the Lord everyday for our husbands/boyfriends/prospects even if they don’t take you out on a real date and call the very next day.

Reason Number One:
The other day I was cooking and Rhoda (house nanny) noticed a couple red marks on my arm, “Emily! What is that, are you ok!” Oh that, well you see the children here have pretty severe cases of ring worm on their heads. I have contracted it and yes, I have had fungus growing on my arm. But since I have built up somewhat of an immunity, I often have large red marks where the blood is rushing in to ‘attack’ the recent contact with ring worm. At least I think that is what is happening. A few days later we were discussing with Rhoda the reasons why Americans no longer really spank or hit their children. She was completely shocked by the idea that someone would actually consider taking your children away simply b/c you hit them. And then she said, “what about the wife?” I couldn’t figure out what she meant. The wife and husband are the same, it is not good for either to be caught hitting their children.

Rhoda, “No, I mean what if the wife is misbehaving; it is ok for the man to hit her- right?”
Me: “NO!”
Rhoda: “Are you sure. The other day when I saw the red welts on your arm I was certain that Ned had hit you.”
Me: “NO! NEVER!” We told her that instead, we talk about our differences and then hug…like this.
Rhoda: She thought this was pretty funny. “America-this is a good country.”

Reason Number Two:
Rhoda, Baraka (the watchman who is never watching the gate but always sitting on our porch trying to chat), and I were sitting on the porch- chatting. They wanted to know if Ned had taken a girlfriend since we have been here…um no. Baraka said he likes the color of white skin, he wants to get him one of those, do I have any advice for him? If he went to America could I help him find one? Um no. Baraka, it does not really work that way. Besides, what would your wife and three children think of a white woman moving into your one room place? He didn’t understand the question. I tried as hard as I could to explain that this is not acceptable behavior in The States, at least not publicly. That it is even illegal to take more than one wife at a time. They kept pushing and wanted to know ‘what if’. I said that if Ned found himself a girlfriend the first thing I would do is go in our room and take all of his money, credit cards, etc. Second, I would call a cab and be at the airport in 30 minutes. The idea of ME taking HIS money was just too much, they laughed for 10 minutes. I think they want it to happen just so they can sit on the porch and be the ones to actually witness my leaving. Again, Rhoda thought this was really funny, “America, this is a good country.”

“Hey Rhoda”
“Ya?”
“In America there is a public school system and you don’t have to pay tuition for primary/secondary school if you don’t want to.”
“What!!!!! America- I think this is a good country.

Her monthly salary is $90. She has three children, each need $150 every time they have to pay school fees. The boys are in boarding school, but the 12 year old daughter attends day school. Since Rhoda lives here with us, the girl is at home alone, about an hour away. But it is ok, because it is an apartment sort of place and the neighbors are really close…. She says, “This is not good, but this life.”

FISH FOOD

2008-02-18T04:17:00.000-08:00

I would LOVE for my sister to be here and have to watch these kids eat their fish. It is kind of a stretch for me to have to cook whole fish in the first place. But they way they eat with their hands and suck every single bone clean is really quite amazing. They eat everything; scales, fins, insides, etc. When Victoria stuck her finger in the eye socket and popped an eyeball into her mouth Ned just looked at me and said, “please go get the camera.”

This is what we started with.

This is what our plates look like when we are finished.

This is Jackie in the process. Nothing is done with the fingertips, she picks up a whole chunk of meat and holds in the palm of her hands.

This is her plate when she is finished.

You know how in cartoons they put a whole fish in their mouth, pull it out by the tail and are left holding a skeleton of a fish? It is pretty much like this, except yesterday Vivi actually ate her chicken bones. SHE ATE HER CHICKEN BONES!

We are going to start working on table manners….

ZOOLANDER IN AFRICA?

2008-02-18T03:41:00.000-08:00

Meet Beni, Cory, Simone, Philipo, and Maria. When we were still at the baby home we shared an apartment with other volunteers. One of them brought movies so Ned and I were able to watch Zoolander on our lap top. The very next day we look out the window and saw this….four little boys running around the yard in little girl swimsuits. I think the nannies who dressed them simply didn’t know that girls are supposed to wear ‘costumes’ and boys are just supposed to wear shorts. They were oh so happy running around in their little suites and having a little water fight. Their actions were oh so joyful, light hearted… and gay. I am not exaggerating- it was EXACTLY like the Freak Gasoline Fight Accident scene in Zoolander. This is without a doubt the hardest I have ever laughed in my life. Ever. If you don’t think it is funny maybe you should watch the movie again.

Philipo and Maria went to live in a home for children with HIV. I felt so terrible the day they left. I imagined how scared Paige would be if two people just came and picked her up one day to go and live in a new home. We felt much better after actually seeing them go. Maria got to wear a new dress and pretty shoes as her ‘going away clothes’. Philipo didn’t really care about his going away clothes, he was so darned excited because he got to leave in the back of a gari! A car.

MEET THE CHILDREN

2008-02-05T04:33:00.001-08:00

Karen Gibson
DOB August 6, 2001

We suspect Karen is older than what is listed on the intake form, by one or even two years. Karen started first grade this year, but the learning material was not challenging. Her teacher suggested moving her to the second grade, we discussed it with the headmaster and she started her new class that day. We think it will be good for her to be among peers rather than the mother-hen both at home and at school. She learns quickly, is able to write well, read, and can do simple math sums accurately.
The first things we noticed about Karen were her maturity and what a hard worker she is. She is clearly the leader of the group and the rest of the children look up to and listen to her. She has no trouble getting the children to do what she wants; luckily we have not seen her abuse this power. She does have the younger girls washing out her school socks, but they are happy to do it so we have let it slide.

Karen helps with washing dishes, cleaning the house, and bathing the other children. She does not like to go out and play with the others, she would rather stay and ‘help’ us out, but she will go if she is told to because defiance is simply not a part of her nature.

I frequently tell her she is a good girl (because she really really is) and lately she has started parroting, “Emily is a Good Girl.” Each night she says her prays with the maturity of an adult and tries to use as much English as she can. The other day I came down with a fever and she told Ned that she was going to pray for my health…it is enough to make your heart melt!

I often ask her where she learned this or that and she usually replies, “Bibi angu” (her grandmother). I think she misses her Bibi, but I think her Bibi will be very proud of her one day.

Erickson (Erick) Elias
DOB January 6, 2001

Erick is the oldest boy here at Havilah. He began school this year as a kindergartener. We are spending extra time tutoring one of the other children and told him that he is welcome to join, but is also able to go out and play; so far he has chosen to sit at the table and practice his penmanship.

Erick is very giggly and is almost always in a good mood, sometimes so much so that he can hardly contain himself within his long, lanky arms and legs. He always wants to be more involved in what the ‘big kids’ are up to. He likes to watch the older boys play soccer and loves the soccer ball he received for Christmas. Even though it was punctured a while ago, he continues to kick it around every day. Each night he begs to help out in the kitchen, and during bath time he is trying to demonstrate that he is able to bathe himself…we will see.

Every night after diner he says, “Ssank ew verrry much!”

Abdulrabi Asmani
DOB October 13, 2002

Birth Certificate lists father’s surname as Mgunya. Paper work at Global Vessels lists child’s last name as Asmani.

Abdul is an all around great kid. The first two weeks we were here he was always happy and never in need of special attention or discipline. Since then we have discovered that he is in fact a normal little boy, but he is much more discrete with his less than perfect behavior than are the others. He really gets into group singing and dancing, he loves to run and play out doors, and this boy also LUVS to eat!

Abdul is the second eldest boy and we think it was a little hard on him when three of the others got to go to school and he had to stay home with the babies. He is every bit as ready for kindergarten as anyone else. During our preschool time he is able to sit still and follow along with the group, but sometimes misses the concept of the day…all with a big smile on his face. We can often hear him in the next room singing the ABC’s to himself and just last week he made it through the difficult L-M-N-O-P part for the first time!

Dorcas William
DOB December 30, 2001

Dorcas is a loud, excitable, and happy girl. We are working on helping find her “inside voice.” She loves to make up little games and stories, and is frequently the ring leader in getting the others wound up and excited about something. She has never had a discipline problem. Most of the kids love to sing and dance, but Dori really gets into her dancing and loves to perform.

Dorcas began first grade this year and we wonder if she might have the slightest bit of anxiety about going to school. She sometimes drags her feet on the way to school or is in a very mellow mood when coming home and wants to sit in someone’s lap or receive a great deal of hugs, this is not typical for her. Her teacher mentioned that she needed a little extra help in the evenings with penmanship and addition. She looks forward to her tutoring time and even asks for it on Sundays. I think the extra difficulty comes because the teachers do not speak Swahili in class, I bet we would all have a hard time in the first grade if no one would speak to us in English!

Jacquelyn William
DOB March 25, 2003

Jackie is one of the most beautiful children there is to be seen. Her little smile is enough to light up a room. She is very sweet and truly amazed at every new thing she sees. Even if it is just a baked potato with cheese and avocado on top, she will ooohhh and ahhhh and clap her hands with delight. Although she doesn’t really misbehave, she is still a baby in the group. It can be hard for her to keep up with the big kids so she spends a fair amount of time pouting if she is not being held or getting special attention. We are really trying to ignore the pouting spells, but she is so darn cute it is hard not to pick her up!

During preschool time I am amazed at her attention span and ability to sit through a small lesson. She desperately wants to learn all of her colors, but still thinks most items are pink…

Dorcas is her older sister, but we don’t really see a special relationship between the two. They seem to mix with all of the kids as though they are siblings.

Victoria Okuma
DOB August 11, 2001

Victoria and Vivian are twin sisters and both have pretty dynamic personalities (meaning they can be extremely happy one moment and a little naughty the next). Victoria is the slightly taller and more graceful sister, she is very muscular and would make an excellent dancer. (Vivian, who is always jumping around and hanging from things, is more apt to be a fantastic gymnast.) Victoria has a big Cheshire Cat smile that can glow in the dark.

With the two eldest girls in school, Victoria has delighted in taking on their position as ‘first to answer’ in class and is even trying her hand at telling the others what to do. She is the best at English pronunciation, picking up the sounds of words very quickly. Last weekend we had prepared a couple of songs (in English) to sing in church and when the musicians handed her a microphone I cringed. I knew that she had never held one before and certainly wouldn’t know how to use it. She stood up tall and sang so clearly into that microphone I couldn’t believe it…this girl is a natural singing and dancing talent!

Vivian Okuma
DOB August 11, 2001

Victoria and Vivian are twin sisters and both have pretty dynamic personalities (meaning they can be extremely happy one moment and a little naughty the next). Vivi is very small, compact, and muscular; we think she would make a fantastic gymnast. She rarely sits upright and is always hanging from or jumping off of something like a little monkey.

Our first two weeks here we joked that Vivian was hard of hearing because whenever we called her name or asked her a question she would either ignore us and continue doing whatever it was she was doing, or look up and in her high pitched voice squeak “eh?” She enjoys being left to her serious play business of cooking ugali with rocks and dirt. She is the least apt to participate in a preschool routine, there is simply too much ugali to be cooked outside.

I think of her as such a tom-boy, but she absolutely loves to dress up and wear any sort of dress she can get her hands on. She is constantly wearing a skirt that is much too large and asking everyone around to help her tie it, pin it, belt it, or rope in onto her little body.

I call her Dudu Ndogo Angu (My Little Bug) and she thinks that is pretty funny.

Veronica Juma
DOB February 28, 2003

Vero is a beautiful meek child with a GIANT heart. I have never seen her misbehave and sometimes feel bad for her because it is the naughty ones that seem to get most of the attention. She always wants to be the one on ‘the lap’, but never kicks or bats her way into that position like the others. One time she had her food taken away for playing with it at the dinner table and it truly broker her heart. We ended up giving it right back because it is obvious through her heartfelt tears. She is not one of the more physically active or coordinated, if she had dolls I can guarantee that she would spend a lot of time caring for them.

During preschool time she is always going along with the program and was the first to really grasp the idea of ‘colors’. She has difficulty pronouncing English words, but she tries very hard. Obtaining the approval or positive reinforcement from the three of us seems to be very important to her.

We call her Na Mimi (and me, now me, my turn!) because those seem to be the first and last words out of her mouth everyday. Fortunately, she is very patient and will sit and repeat Na Mimi, Na Mimi about 10 or 20 times before her turn usually arrives.

Yasini Andrew
DOB January 15, 2004

Is this a cute kid or what!?! Yasini is a good solid boy. He loves to sit or stand in front of the stereo and listen to the same two CD’s over and over. He frequently plays by himself, singing little songs or just spending time in his imaginary world. We think it is great that he has his own little peace and does not have to be in the middle of whatever ruckus comes along with ten children.

Although he is one of the youngest left home for preschool time, he is the best at sitting upright, paying attention, waiting his turn, and participating in preschool lessons. Having these basics down, I think will do very well when he goes to school.

Because he is not outgoing or demanding he sometimes finds himself lost in the shuffle. For example, if he wakes from his nap late and comes outside to find everyone else with a snack, he will silently move to the corner and start bawling instead of asking for his share. One time we stopped and rested during a walk, after the whole group moved on down the road we realized he was still sitting (and crying) at the resting spot because he had not been specifically invited or told to resume walking. He is pretty darn cute, if these children were for adoption we would want to take Yasini home.

Enoch Godbless
DOB January 5, 2004

Although Enoch and Yasini are the same age, Enoch is the baby of the group. He has a dainty little body which has a way of moving onto your lap with out your awareness. Now that he has discovered that we will hold him….he loves to be held and asks for it frequently. The smile in this photo is a very typical, sincerely laughing Enochi.

Enochi is also a talker and not discouraged by the fact that we don’t know what he is saying most of the time. He loves to pray and we often catch him praying even before his afternoon snack. During evening prayer he asks the Lord to bless his food, and when he decides that someone else’s prayer has gone on long enough he will blurt out, ‘AMEN’ as if to say ‘Next Please.’

Enochi is not much interested in the preschool time we have each morning. There are just too many colorful and enticing objects in the Activity Room for him to put his hands on that he is very easily distracted. He loves to touch everything, and those items he has been told not to touch are that much more fun to…touch!

Enoch is always the kid with his sandals on the wrong feet.

If anyne feels moved to sponsor one of these children, for school or in life, please let us know.

Ned & Emily

OUR DAYS

2008-02-05T04:16:00.000-08:00

So here we are at Havilah Village and we’ve committed ourselves to at least 5 months here, possibly longer if we extend our stay in Tanzania. I think I change my mind on weather or not I want to stay longer at least four times a day. There are times when the children are outside playing and are happy, the weather is nice, our chores are complete, and Emily & I can sit on the porch and enjoy the life we have here, sharing the blessing of parenting ten children. And other times we are pulling our hair out not able to keep a child from screaming her head off at night and not telling us what’s wrong. We try to have grace for the children at these moments, not knowing what backgrounds they have come from, but it can be very difficult. Our savior is Rhoda, the house mother. She is a good mother to the children; they love her and she them. And to our amazement, the children listen to her. We tell the children to go to bed and be quiet and they are running around like banshees. Rhoda tells them the same thing and they are as quiet as mice. It makes us question our fitness as parents and can be downright frustrating and demoralizing. In reality rearing children is very different in America than it is here, and our expectations of the children do not necessarily agree with how they have been taught thus far in life. It is a good learning experience for all of us.

And when we are not wrapped up in what the children are doing, it usually involves having to deal with the adults in Tanzania. As white folks, we attract a lot of attention, both good and bad. Most people want us to buy something from them or just give them money or gifts. At least a few times a week someone asks us to pay for school fees, either for their children or their own university classes. We know everyone has their own cause to support, but it is difficult for us to feel much sympathy for a 23 year old student who comes by saying “Woe is me, no one will pay for my school fees. Whatever shall I do?” How about working and saving money? Not to say that it is easy to find stable work here, but the attitude of sitting around waiting for someone to pay your way goes against the work ethic Emily & I were raised with. If a person is going to succeed, if this country is going to succeed, it is necessary for everyone to be more innovative and motivated. But of course there are many people here who are straightforward and good hearted. Unfortunately these are not always the people rushing up to us trying to become “friends.”

And finally, I never thought I would come to Tanzania and care for chickens, but recently Emily bought three chickens for the house. I’ve taken on the responsibility of fixing up the chicken coup ("house of chicken" as Baraka calls it), complete with doors and chicken wire windows, making beds with wood shavings, and buying good food (dried fish and ground maize) for them. So far we have gotten four eggs. Yum! My latest efforts are to try to train the chickens to lay their eggs inside the chicken coup rather than around the yard where we have to hunt for them and to get them to go into their house in the evening. Currently the later task involves me chasing (herding) them around for five or ten minutes. Like many things we do here, I’m going completely overboard fussing about the chickens while the locals sit back and laugh at me. Good times.

Ned

HAVILAH VILLAGE

2007-12-26T04:58:00.001-08:00

Two weeks ago Emily & I were enjoying our day off when Max came by the apartment to ask for our help with something. An orphanage up the hill, twenty minutes from where we are staying, has ten children between the ages of 3 and 6 years old with two nannies living there. Unfortunately both nannies had malaria and needed some time off to rest and recuperate. “Would you be willing to help out by taking care of the children for a couple of weeks?” Of course! Within an hour we were packed up and had arrived at our new home, Havilah Village, started by Global Vessels (a non-profit out of DC). The long term plan is to have 10 of these households situated here, two others are built and another group of children is expected to arrive in the next month or so. The ten children spoke no English and Emily & I, as much as we have been trying, still know very little Kiswahili. This was going to be great.

Fortunately for us the children were relatively well behaved and were patient with us as they tried to explain what they needed, what part of their body was currently hurting and in need of attention, who took what from whom, etc. And on top of trying to give love and attention to these children who only three months ago came to live at the house, we were also figuring out how to cook, clean, do laundry, teach in the “activity room”, and maintain our sanity. They were long days, and sometimes long nights comforting sick or simply sad children who were missing their parents or relatives (we didn’t always know).

Emily & I quickly fell in love with these children. Karen, age 6, is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. She would get upset with us for not letting her do the dishes, cook, bathe the other children and mop the floors (which apparently the nannies have her doing every day). Dorcas, age 6, loves to dance and make up stories that we don’t understand. Her little sister Jacqueline, age 3, is beautiful and playful when happy, but cried often when she was not held and whenever it was time for bed. Victoria, age 4, was shy and smiled a lot when she was happy, but was also depressed and cried quite a bit while we were there, perhaps sad because she was missing her family or because she was not sure why her nannies were gone and we where there. We were told she and her sister were very thin and had been treated very badly when they arrived 3 months earlier. Her twin sister, Vivian, the monkey, is a bouncing, jumping, climbing, excitable child who we sometimes thought was hard of hearing or simply in her own world. Veronica, age 4, our flower child, craves love and attention, but is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Eric, age 6, is the oldest boy, always wanted to help out, but hadn’t been exposed to the amount of chores Karen and Dorcas had simple because he was a boy and culturally boys don’t help with the housework. Abdu Rahi, age 4, usually had a smile on his face and was in a good mode. He loved games and was very sly about hitting or taking things from the other kids, only doing it when we didn’t see and always with a smile on his face. Yasini, age 3, is a cute kid who frustratingly would cry sometimes, but not tell us what the issue was. Usually it was something as simple as he wanted to sleep in the top bunk rather than the bottom. Enoch, age 3, was not bothered by the fact that we did not understand what he was saying. He would talk and talk, repeating things over and over to us without getting frustrated. He also habitually wore his sandals on the wrong feet.

(Emily)
It seems that we keep having experiences that we claim will be the ‘best’ or ‘most memorable’ part of our trip. Right now I am saying that our stay at Havilah Village is sure to be on the top of that list. Two weeks seems like such a short time, but for some reason it feels like we have spent months there…with our ten kids.

Setting:
As much as we are in love with the kids, we are in love with the setting of this village. We are out in a rural village that is situated on a small hilltop. The air is much cooler and from our front porch we can look out over the bush and see Mt. Kilimanjaro! Behind us is the second tallest peak in Tanzania, Mt. Meru. We are also just outside the gates of the National Park where we took our first safari game drive.

Domestic Labor?:
Before we left on this trip I had mentioned that I was actually feeling the need to become more domestic, to really know what it means to have to work in order to meet basic needs. The American household has become relatively easy to run with its washing machines, dishwashers, and mops heads that actually stay attached to the stick. Man did I get what I asked for! I found myself constantly thinking of my Grandmothers, both put a lot of hard work into raising their 7 and 9 children, both passed away this last year. As I was de-boning a whole chicken (Ned removed the head and feet), hanging the laundry out to dry, or moping the floors daily I often wondered if I could ‘hang’ with my Grandma Brock out on the farm. Do I have what it takes to work as hard as she did, not just for two weeks but day after day, year after year? Am I capable of standing in the kitchen all day long in order to prepare just one meal? Would I ever be able to find joy in domestic labor? Did she enjoy it, or did she spend her day wishing that she had a house girl to do the work while she went to the Whitman Hotel for lunch? One afternoon while Karen and I were washing our 10 plates, 10 cups, and 10 lunch forks Ned overheard the little boys playing outside and saying something ridiculously funny; we laughed so hard that I started crying and the 6 year old was looking at me like ‘can you pull it together- we have a job to do here.’ I realized that yes- there is a lot of joy to be had at home working away with your little family. We were working hard and having fun. I am lucky b/c I am pretty sure that neither of my Grandmothers had their husbands alongside to do half of the work!

Karen:
Karen is the 6 year old that Ned described as a hard worker. She really put me to shame as she instructed me on the proper way to really scrub all of those children in the bath, and then thoroughly scrub tub between each bath… I am pretty sure I would have just filled the tub back up with water. She would give my cousin Jessica or even Aunt Sheri a run for their money in the hard worker department. She is the one who took to us the most and it was really hard on her when we told her we were leaving. She spent the morning crying, which is something she had not done once during our visit. She had been staying with her Grandmother who taught her how to READ, how to speak a little English, and how to do simple math. But since moving into this house with these nannies she had not been given a book or toy; they have been treating her as their own little house girl. We are pretty certain she does all the dishes, scrubs all the floors, washes everyone’s house slippers everyday, etc. One night at dinner she waved for my attention and I realized that she was actually choking on her food. Panic, Oh my God, what do you do. I was already hitting her on the back when I realized that was the wrong thing to do and that she needed the Heimlich. At that very instant the power went out, as it does most nights. Charming; now we are in the pitch black, all the other children are excitedly screaming about the lights, Karen, or something else, and I am trying to get her out of her chair and find that one spot on her body. We managed to complete the task, the lights came back on, and there were only a few tears. Her tears, not mine, although I really felt like I wanted to cry!

Nannies:
I could go on and on about the nannies, but the short story is that they are stealing from the children’s home. They think they have hit the jackpot because these wealthy Americans have set up this home for the kids but have no idea how much things here really cost. Until now they have been left to determine what and how much food the children need each week. But after just two weeks we have realized that they are taking Global Vessels for 3 times what they actually need and handing the rest of the money and food out to their family and friends back at home. The sad part is that this is VERY common here and it is virtually impossible to hire a local that can be trusted not to cheat, even if it is just a little. We are pretty upset about it. If there is extra money it should be going to the children’s school tuition. We are going to suggest to this organization that we stay there, do the grocery shopping for them and keep the nannies from handling any of the money at all. The need for some sort of supervisor will be even greater as the other houses come on line and fill up with children, so we are really excited about the prospect of getting more involved.

More on this later. For now we will say a belated Merry Christmas! Hope yours was good. Ours was wonderful!

ONE MONTH

2007-12-26T04:49:00.000-08:00

We have been at Cradle of Love for four weeks now and although the initial shock has worn off, there are still many times when I don’t know what is going to happen next. This week was probably the most eventful with three new babies arriving (2 month old Georgina and 11 month old twins Mishric and Chadric), and two toddlers leaving. Philip and Maria are each nearing four years old and are HIV positive. They were able to be placed in a government run home for children with HIV. We were both sad to see them go and happy for them to have a home to grow up beyond what the baby home here can provide for them. We hope we will be able to visit sometime.

There was also a wedding party that stopped by last weekend, complete with marching band, three truckloads of bridal party members, and lots of dancing. They wanted to begin their life together with an act of charity, which was much appreciated by the staff here. I did not have my camera with me upon their arrival and was only able to get one shot of the bride & groom’s truck as it was leaving, but I know Davona has posted some photos on the Cradle of Love web site.

Last weekend we also took our first field trip with the toddlers to a local animal sanctuary. There were zebra, monkey, porcupine, one lone crocodile, and many different types of birds. Even more fun than seeing the animals was the car ride. The kids loved it, especially the older boys, Philip, Simon, and Cory. “Gari! Gari!” they kept shouting the entire two mile trip.

Well, it’s taken me awhile to learn, but I think I’m now proficient at putting cloth diapers on the kids. The nannies no longer take my “work of art” and re-wrap the child properly. I’m no where near as quick as the experts, but I feel good knowing that I can get the job done. I’m also more skilled at bathing the kids, which at first involved a lot of kicking and screaming by both me and the child. I suppose I’m not the only one who has made it to thirty one having never done either of these tasks in my life.

Emily has been working with the toddlers this week during classroom time to learn shapes. They started by learning a circle the first day and were able to turn two circles into a “gari” (i.e. car). The second day was a square, which turned into a house, and the third day was a star. What’s next?

CONSTRUCTION METHODS

2007-11-30T03:35:00.000-08:00

We thought this concrete shoring looked pretty scary….until we saw this construction site! The women are better at hauling buckets of water on their heads, so you can see them carrying water bit by bit to add to the concrete mix. The men have formed a line to toss buckets of concrete person by person up to the second level. The whole site looked like a busy little ant hill. How thankful we are for cement trucks and hard hats!!!

ARUSHA NATIONAL PARK

2007-11-30T03:33:00.000-08:00

Last weekend our friend Trenton came to visit. He has been working in Nairobi for two months with a micro finance organization that provides loans to low income workers. His visit gave us an excuse to go out for a couple of nice meals and also go on our first safari! Arusha National Park is only 20 km from where we are living, but rarely visited by the regular safari crowd who are going to the bigger parks; Serengeti or Ngorongoro. It made for a perfect day trip. Our guide book informed us that hiring a ranger and walking thru part of the park was an option, which sounded like a great way to get some exercise (unlike us Trenton has been spending his days sitting at a desk). However, when we arrived at the first gate, the park ranger told us that yes, it was possible to go on a walking safari, but not to the part of the park we wanted to go to. He also told us that the only way to get to the next gate, from where the walking safari started, was by taxi. Somewhat reluctantly we opted to hire a driver (with a pop-top van) for the day to take us thru the park, which in hindsight was a good idea because we were able to see much more of the park and get much closer to the animals. The Animals! Within the first 100 yards we came upon a heard of giraffe, practically in the road. There were eight or ten of these majestic creatures just relaxing, eating, passing the time. We could have stayed and watched them all day, but our driver was eager to keep going, a sign which we took to mean the entire park would be as densely populated. So for the next hour we drove thru the mountain and saw only colobus monkeys, sausage trees, and elephant dung. We did get a chance to walk for a little bit after the van spun out and could not make it all the way up the hill, but this part of the day was overall uneventful. Moving thru the next section of the park we saw many baboons; then zebra, buffalo, water buck, huge warthogs, gazelle-like creatures, and some unidentifiable birds (sorry Lacey). In addition the day was clear and we had great views of Mt. Meru and caught our first glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We could write more, but I think checking out the photos will tell the rest of the story.

NEEMA'S BIRTHDAY

2007-11-28T02:42:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite nannies, Neema (a very common name that means Grace in Swahili), came to work the other night and told me it was her Birthday. Why didn’t you tell us earlier, we could have made you a cake! She admitted that it was kind of a bummer to be babysitting on her Birthday, but that there was no reason to complain. She was just thankful and praising God that she was having a 24th Birthday because she has had a good life. How sweet is that!

When we returned to our apartment later that night we realized that we had a couple things stashed away for a kid's birthday party, like birthday hats and candles. We even had a couple small loafs of banana bread and a bottle of chocolate syrup, so we added a few bananas, came up with a makeshift birthday cake, lit the candles and took in downstairs to sing happy birthday! It was really cute because she was so excited. We got the impression that they don’t do the ‘birthday candle’ thing because she looked at us like ‘why is my cake on fire’ and on of the other ladies had to tell her to blow them out. She wanted a proper birthday photo taken, so she changed from her nanny clothes into her normal clothes.

Apparently the custom is for the birthday girl to feed her guests their first bite of cake, and for someone to feed her as well. So we have photos of everyone taking their ceremonial bite!

"WHO'S YOUR FAVORITE TODAY?"

2007-11-20T03:07:00.000-08:00

Everynight after we put the kids to bed, Emily likes to play a game we call "Who's your favorite today?" That's when we talk about what each of the kids did that day, who was good and who was not so good. As we get to know each of their personalities better, and as they get more comfortable with us, it is easier for us to tell which kids are just having a bad day and which ones scream their heads off because it's their nature. We also get to see the pure goodness of some of the kids, like Cory, who will share his bread with someone who did not get as much. What is it that makes people so different? These kids that grow up in the same place, eat the same food, and share everything (clothes, toys, food) each have such unique personalities. It is enjoyable to get to know each of them and love them all, but impossible not to have favorites.

Ned

CRADLE OF LOVE

2007-11-15T00:32:00.000-08:00

CRADLE OF LOVE
I really wanted to write our first ‘blog’ about the hiking trip we took through the remote villages in the Usambara Mountains. We have not seen Kilimanjaro yet or been on a safari, but I am pretty sure this 3 day trek with a hired guide will be top on our list of tourist things to do while in Tanzania. But, now that we are settled in at the baby home that is foremost on the mind!

We have been working now for 4 days and I am already at home sick. Partly because I spent too many hours in the baby home and became exhausted too quickly, but mostly because there are a lot of coughs, colds, and runny noses. I am actually a little thankful for being ‘out’ today because it has given me a chance to sit down and write a letter. The other perk is that Ned cut up a bowl of fruit and served it to me in bed this morning! (He was not able to actually climb the tree as you will see in the photo, so he had to resort to buying a pineapple from a lady on the street corner- probably with 20 of them in a basket on her head.)

OUR LIVING ARRANGEMENTS:
The baby home facility is really very nice. It is just 3 years old and probably one of the nicest place we have been in Africa. There is a volunteer apartment above the home for up to 8 people with a large living room and kitchen (we have a stove- most people and restaurants still cook over an open fire.) We are VERY lucky to have such a comfortable place to spend the next 3 months. Another couple and their 14 year old daughter are also here, but leaving soon. The director is Seventh Day Adventist and the compound is shared with an Adventist international relief program that her husband directs. The compound is fully fenced in and there are full time guards and grounds keepers so we feel very safe. We are preparing all of our own food; the out door market is about a 20 min. walk away, it is also possible to flag down one of the many Dalla Dallas (small mini van that usually packs in about 18 people) for a lift down the road for about $0.10 each way. They will go out of their way to stop and pick us up because we are wazungu (white people), and therefore are probably loaded with money; it will be ok for them to charge us $0.20 before we even understand what is going on.

THE BABY HOME:
This is such a wonderful place for all these children to be, but at the same time it is very different from the traditional American family system that we are so used too. It can be tough to see a couple of them struggle for their share of the love and affection. There are about 30 children; 10 toddlers + 20 babies can sometimes equal chaos. There are 3 full time nanny groups, so there are always 6 paid workers in the home (paid- as in $70/month wich is above average), as well as the director and any volunteers that might be around. Most of the nannies are very nice, but we definitely have a different way of pampering our babies! I will save the specifics of the day to day routine for later. Ned and I spend our time running back and forth between those who are the least attended to at the moment (i.e. the loudest). It is really pretty easy b/c it seems that there is one thing that makes them cry, they just want to be held:)It is very unusual to hold just one baby as I usually have one in each arm and one in the lap, propping his bottle up with an elbow.

TODDLERS:
The toddlers love Ned. When he arrives in the morning there will be four or five of them tugging on his arms yelling, “Daddy Daddy!” They are old enough for some sort of routine and group training, but the nannies usually have their hands full getting food made and keeping diapers washed…yes, cloth diapers that hang out on the line to dry. They have two washing machines and would love a third. Anyway, Ned and I are going to try and help come up with some additional preschool routines for the morning. We might have to get creative with supplies/materials because there are not too many and it is not like you can go to a 'Teachers-R-Us' and buy them. I am going to ask my family to send some teaching supplies, but the cost of shipping is so high that it is hardly worth it.

We are also thinking about different ways to help the big kids with dinner. Right now they sit at a nice little set of table and chairs, but all of us adults are feeing babies so there is no one to sit at the head of the table and ‘model’ what you are supposed to do with a cup, a bowl, and a spoon. Last night they all poured their water into their porridge bowls and then the watery mixture back into the cups, and then on to the table, over their neighbor's head, and on and on. I immediately took all of their cups and most of the food away, which caused a good 5 minutes of screaming. It was later that night I realized instead of just taking it away from them in a frenzy, I should have sat down at the table and helped them practice how to take a drink water and then a bite of food, but not both at the same time. Sippy Cups- that would be a miracle! (Porridge is served every night for dinner- they also get really good snacks like banana, avocado, bread, cookies, etc.)

That's probably enough for today. We will have more stories and photos to share in upcoming weeks. Hope all is well with everyone at home!

Ned & Emily

NED

2007-11-15T00:27:00.001-08:00

NED
Ned can do everything better than I can…and it really ticks me off. I thought learning a language together would be fun, and it has been. But I like to be the one who gets it right away. Not so. He can sit down with the book for an hour and then walk away using all the verbs he just read, and remember the irregular forms as well. My only saving grace it that I am more willing to approach a stranger/storekeeper and try it out, but I usually have to ask Ned how to say it first…

The Poor Guy… I am the one who has spotted Baboons (while riding through the bush in the bed of a truck, sitting on 20 bags of rice with 19 other men), and the one who was able to see the Colobos Monkey in the jungle. Ned is the one who had food poisoning from his first local dish, had bed bugs attack two nights in a row, and whose best shirt and walking shorts were chewed up by a monkey that got into our hotel room via the balcony in the middle of the night….the poor guy.

Emily