What does a camel call its goat?

Tonight as I was helping a horde of kids with "maths" homework after dinner, two older kids came up to me with we're-up-to-something looks on their faces and said "We need to ask you a question." I said "Fine, but make it quick." You can't mess around in a room of 50+ who are supposed to be homeworking. Here was the question: What does a camel call its goat? Thinking they were trying to tell me a joke, I was not amused...trying to think in liters and kilograms was kicking my butt, and I was exhausted. I replied "I don't know what you're saying. Go ask Dad." They didn't want to, which made me even more sure it was a joke on the muzungu. This time one of the kids I was helping tried to assist us by asking the question again, only this time it sounded like What does a Hindu call its goat? What. Somewhat irritated, I repeated "I don't know what you're asking me. Go ask Dad." They wouldn't. "Guys, I don't know what a Hindu calls its goat. Go ask one of the uncles." Uproarious laughter. Everyone around me kept repeating what I thought was the joke until I finally deduced that they were actually asking me what do Hindus call their god? Oops. That's a legitimate homework question if I ever heard one. I'm telling you, friends, those accents are still a struggle for me. I guess this is just one more thing for the kids to add to the list of ridiculous things this muzungu says/does!

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I've been living at First Love for a little over a month now, and although I have been terrible at journaling and blogging since then, I did write down how I felt that first night here, so I thought I'd share!

From January 16: I officially came to stay at First Love last night for the first time and oh, my cup overflows! I was a bit uncomfortable at first because I’m still unsure of exactly what my role here is supposed to be, but as soon as the kids returned from school my doubts were gone. Dozens of little hands holding my own, sitting on my lap, asking to be picked up, playing with my hair. I was swarmed by all of these little people with wide smiles, giggling with the delight of a new visitor. One little girl kept kissing my hands over and over again, and all of the kids (and I) couldn’t get enough hugs. After about an hour of just delighting in each other, it was time for devotions. A room filled with 80 rowdy, noisy kids clapping their hands and singing praises to our LORD has to be one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever been blessed to witness. Simply, stunningly beautiful. Dinner involved a lot more laughter as the girls I sat with tested my Swahili skills (I have about five words now, ha) and told me that I should eat my ugali with a spoon because I’m a muzungu (I ended up opting to eat with my hands, like a true Kenyan!) My doubts about being here are gone. My cup overflows.

First Love is still an amazing place to be, and I dread the day I need to say goodbye. I am truly impressed with the way things are run here, and love the people I get to work alongside of. Chris is the director of First Love and his wife Irene also works here and is mine and Rochelle’s field placement supervisor. Chris and Irene are the founders of the orphanage and they would and do do everything for these kids—I have seen them work 12+ hour days more times than I can count. I am reasonably sure that they are the most kind-hearted and loving people I have ever met; they greet me with hugs each morning and ask if I need anything, and when I was sick they each showed up to check on me. This morning Chris was introducing me to a visitor and he said, "Anna came here as an intern, but you know now she's our daughter." How blessed I am.

Being loved by people here reminds me of how I always forget that we were created to be in community—just like when I spent the summer in Texas, I continue to want so badly to be independent and not need others (I also hate to say goodbye, which can be avoided if I avoid community!) But God always knows better. He always provides. He always surrounds me with community that I never could have imagined.

Boaz (who happens to be Chris’s brother) and his wife also named Irene, are “Dad” and “Mom” to the 72 kids here (which includes 3 of their biological kids). They live on First Love’s compound and know and love these kids like their own. Their boys were in boarding school before Boaz accepted a position here this past summer, and he and Irene pulled them out to come live alongside the kids here. Boaz said that he didn’t want anyone to be able to think that he wasn’t treating the kids here as if they are his own, and his kids truly do live just like and with all the others here. What conviction. What dedication. Boaz can be found at 5 am keeping the little boys from having a wild rumpus in their dorm as they get ready for school, at endless school meetings throughout the day (he had nearly 70 parent-teacher meetings the other week…can you imagine?), and checking everyone’s homework until bedtime at 9. He truly has a servant’s heart.

So now that I've told you how incredible First Love is, you probably wonder what I do all day! Unfortunately the kids have really long school days (leaving around 6:30 and getting home at 4:30/5), because I wish I could just hang out with them all day! There are three main things I divide my time between:

School: On Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to the elementary school that most of the kids here attend and help in pre-unit (kind of like our preschool; we have 3-5 year-olds). Sometimes I'm left alone to teach which I don't love because most of the kids only know Swahili and sometimes they pee on the floor and everyone tries to tell me but I don't know what they're saying so I have to find out for myself...but jumping into things a bit unprepared tends to be my experience here in Kenya, so I'm learning a lot! The kids are cute and hilarious, which makes my days there fun.

Baraka Women's Center: ("Baraka" means "blessing" in Swahili) This is my favorite project, by far. The Baraka Center is here on First Love's campus and is a training program for women from the nearby Kibera slum to learn to be seamstresses. Empowering women so they can take care of their families is one of the most important aspects of ending poverty and something that I am passionate about being a part of so naturally I am all about Baraka's mission. The women make products that are sold in the U.S.: bags, quilts, dolls, toys, jewelry, aprons, etc. We're hoping to somehow develop a demand for the products here in Kenya, but that's still in process. Rochelle and I are working on an online catalog of the products to make ordering easier. There is an incredible artist named Leonard also from Kibera who is teaching the women to make greeting cards that will also be sold and I'm coordinating that project (today I joined the lesson and because I don't speak Swahili my map of Africa on the card ended up facing the wrong way...ha). There's a potential that I will start teaching the women to make some earrings too--I am very excited about that!

Case files: The only description this needs is: welcome to the rest of my life as a social worker :). 

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Life here is good, and full. I keep feeling like just when I start feeling like I'm lacking something, God provides: I was just starting to get fed up with not being able to easily connect to people back home, and I now have reliable wifi where I'm living (until the power next goes out, so as reliable as Kenya gets!) I skyped with my roommates from back home yesterday morning and with Krista last night...it was wonderful. (Those who are hoping we can skype soon, you're next!) Today I was feeling a bit lonely, and I ended up having an awesome conversation with a new friend at lunch about his future dreams and the difference between Kenyan and American politics...and you all know I love a good political discussion. Tonight I was asked at the last minute to do devotions for everyone before dinner, a task that really intimidated me, and God provided the words. He is good.

Life is beautiful.