A day in the life

Driving through Nylenda

Stand in the village 

Precious Obama ... 

Courtyard at Russia hospital 

Russia hospital

Our room at Heidi's - blessed!

Jambo (Swahili for Hello!) from Kisumu! 

I wanted to share a few quick photos of our first official day in Kisumu to share the sights - 

Needless to say, it was a lot to take in and we've had a very full and touching day.

I'm going to keep it brief as I know I will share more in the days to come but here's a re-cap of some of our first day out and about.

We started out by going to Ring Road day school so that we could meet ALL (roughly 390!) of the kids and start off some new friendships. As soon as we arrived the kids were let out of class for their morning "porridge" break, where they swarmed the courtyard and us to say hello and meet the new faces. I was shortly reunited with sweet Teri from yesterdays arrival at the airport and we hit it off again and she introduced me to some of her classmates in Standard 4 (3rd/4th grade to us). We practiced learning each others names and they wrote them down for me to study up for tomorrow, along with Swahili numbers 1 - 10 :)

While on the compound of the school (which also contains the clinic & church, we had the chance to meet many wonderful teachers, staff, social workers and the sweet women who cook & care for the kids each day.

I also was introduced and immediately drawn to a precious boy named Obama... I heard about his story briefly last night and when I met him today, my heart was completely attached. So many questions to ask with many of life's circumstances you guys, but seriously I do not have the words nor the bandwidth today to fully comprehend this boys story or convey the horrific conditions in which he lives. I know that I was meant to meet him today and after some slow and steady togetherness, I got a magnificent giggle and smile out of this sweet little boy. He is incredibly malnourished and lives in a home environment that is unimaginable in every way. He is probably about the size of a 2 year old , my guess is maybe 20 pounds (based on my own interactions with my nephews at home) and ya'll, it pains me to tell you that he is SIX years old. He comes to RingRoad every morning and stays all day long and I'm thankful to say during the day he is receiving a lot of love and care from the amazing people at Ring Road and I trust in time, more healing will come as many people want to make his life better.

More to come, honestly it was a whirlwind day, there's so much to process and ponder as we experience life in Kenya and all that entails.

Thanks for the love and keep the thoughts and prayers coming!

xo

Mandy