Where do I begin?

We had such a full day. Left Nairobi at 5 am for our short flight to Kisumu. I had been too excited to sleep well overnight so fell asleep promptly on the plane and awoken sunrise to this…

Ah, Kisumu is all rolling green hills. The Africa I imagined. Alongside the natural beauty, there is the chaotic joyfulness of women dressed in heels riding on the backs of motorcycles, the smell of cars about to burn up…

Checked into our iconic hotel complete with mosquito net.

After breakfast we piled into our van & headed out to a Compassion Center. On the way we passed through the city center and market stalls. Borrowed from its British heritage, almost every little business is titled “Ltd.” or “Enterprise.”

Then this incredibly bumpy stretch of road. We passed cows and goats and children waving to us from the schoolyard and lots and lots of motor bikes.

The welcome we received at the Center and the church worship service that followed were so moving that I completely lost it. Fortunately Q was sitting a few rows back among the locals. He’s been a trooper, taking it all in stride, but I know from the comments he’s made that it is all giving him lots to think about. And me too. I have never seen such abject lack …and yet these people appear as far from lacking as could be. They more than make up for their lack of material possessions with their abounding love and friendliness and deep deep faith. And likewise the people along on the trip with me are extremely well traveled and compassionate, some sponsoring as many as 12 children!

The home we were invited to visit was mud floored, three roomed (one for mom, dad & baby; one for the other 5 children; and one for the cow). They do all their cooking over an outdoor fire pit. The little girl was in need of a sponsor and by the end of the visit one of the girls from our group had signed on.

Oh, and today was my first time using a pit latrine!