So it has been a long while since I have posted on my blog. I am so sorry. I guess I am just getting into the Kenyan “pole, pole” mindset (which means slowly, slowly). Just kidding – I have been terribly busy. I am sure you know the phrase “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” That does not apply here. I have had a great mix of work and play. I would first like to update y’all on where I have been working. Since I last posted, I was working mainly at Madodo/Street Children in the Mathare slum. I was working with the boys to prepare them for their exams and interviews so they can be placed in schools. Yes – every student has to have an interview to get into any school, including primary school. I am pleased to say that all of the boys (15 of them) were placed into schools. One of the best things about this is that Madodo funds their schooling so the boys are going to school for free. Thus, I have been running errands with the boys in preparation for the school year to begin in January. I have taken half of the boys to the tailor to get their measurements for their school uniforms. Most of the boys were puffing out their chest during the measurements as they all were comparing their size. Even the boys entering grade 2 took part in this. I have also been doing home visits with the boys. I take a group of boys and, one by one, they take me to their homes so I can speak to their parent/guardian to make sure their home life is good and that they are staying out of trouble. These boys are so much fun. There are two boys around 3 years old who are arguably my favorite. One is named Ryan. I cannot pronounce the other boys name so I call him Leprechaun. Last week, I was messing with them when I was asked to run an errand. I came back maybe 15 minutes later to find bright yellow paint on the office chair, a couple of books, and the floor. The boys were nowhere to be found. I looked for them when I saw Ryan with yellow paint on the sleeve of his white shirt. He was hiding in the kitchen. Leprechaun was found by his mother (who is the chef) with yellow paint on his blue sweats. He tried to act as if he was not guilty but, as one would expect, that did not work out too well.  Again, the boys are so much trouble but so much fun to be around.

            Though I have been spending a lot of time at Madodo, I have three new places where I regularly work and one place where I occasionally work. One is called St. Maurus Academy in Mathare. It is a school for the mentally and physically handicapped. The students are from age 7 to 22 and have a varying degree of disability. There are a couple students with cerebral palsy, some with fetal alcohol syndrome, some with Down’s Syndrome, and some had their mental development arrested at a young age. All of the students are wonderful. I was able to take most of the students to a Special Olympics event in Mathare. They were so grateful and happy. I even got to participate in a three-legged race with one of the boys who did not have a partner. We did not win but that did not matter to any of the participants. There is one boy named Daniel from St. Maurus who is very good at soccer. No joke – he represented Kenya on their soccer team for Special Olympics International League earlier this year in South Korea! He is proud of that (and rightly so). He has invited me to watch his games in Nairobi sometime. I hope to make it there soon.

            I have also been working with the Missionary Benedictine Sisters next door. I can write an extremely long blog post about each of the sisters attempting to express their awesomeness but that would not do them justice. They have welcomed me as their brother and I have had some great times working, praying, and hanging out with the sisters. Anyways, Sister Emily asked for my help in organizing their store room. She is in charge of their fantastic primary and secondary school named St. Scholastica’s Catholic School. They have over 900 students in the school and they have one tailor that makes multiple uniforms for each of the students. That man deserves some kind of reward for his toil. I have helped him organize the store room so that he knows exactly how many of each clothing item he has in stock. This is not the most fun work but I know that it helps him tremendously. And everyone who works at the school loves having me work there. I have been invited to have lunch with them multiple times. I have accepted on a couple of occasions and we went to what was literally a shack on the side of the road. They ordered for me and I received a salmon fillet with kale and ugali. The first time, I was confused because I did not have a fork. I quickly realized that I had to eat with my hands. The trick is to use the ugali to pick up the other foods. It was a strange experience but the salmon was surprisingly good. Anyways, the teachers invite me to many things and I hope that I can visit some of them in their villages over the holidays.

            The Benedictine Sisters also run a dispensary called Uzima, which is Kiswahili for life. One of the sisters found out that I stuided Biology and referred me to the Superior of the House, Sister Rosa. She is in charge of the dispensary and placed me in the laboratories which are Biochemistry, Microbiology, Hematology, and Parasitology labs. Nerd moment – the workers showed me around the labs and every single machine and process they performed, I have done at some point in my college career. Props to the Belmont Abbey Biology Department (Dr. Reilly, Dr. McLeod, Dr. Ellington, Dr. Baker, Dr. Tompkins) and my Chemistry professor Dr. Martin-Schwan for preparing me much more than I had realized. In fact, the man in charge of the Hematology department tested my knowledge when I was looking for malaria in a patient’s blood sample. He asked me questions about immunology and was taken aback when I answered everything correctly. Yeah. I had some pretty sweet professors if I do say so myself. I love working in the laboratory and plan to spend more time in the dispensary.

            The last place that I work, though not regularly, is an AIDS orphanage called Cottolengo. It is in Karen, which is about a 45 minute (or 2.5 hours based upon traffic) matatu ride from where I live. I have only been able to work a couple of times as it is far for me. The center has about 100 kids who have been orphaned by AIDS ranging from 3 months old to 25 years old. The older ones do not stay at Cottolengo but have been so successful that some have just completed their graduate studies. Most of the kids have AIDS but there are a few who are lucky enough to be HIV negative. The first time I went to Cottolengo, the kids saw me and charged me out of joy. Everyone wanted me to hold their hand and hold them. It was so precious. What my job entails is to just make the kids happy. I help feed the younger ones, which includes bottle feeding the 3 month old named Vivian (talk about a happy and cute baby). I also take them to the playground and make sure they are having a good day. It is not too hard at all when the kids are already so joyful. When I leave, they walk me to the gate and try to leave with me. The poor security guard has to do damage control when they realize I cannot take them. The only truly bad part for me about working there is that most of the kids call me “Baba,” which means father. I think that they think I am looking to adopt them. If I had the money and the resources, I would love to take care of all of them.

            So in case you cannot tell, I am having a magnificent time here. I cannot believe that I have to renew my 90 day visa next week. Then, I apply for an alien resident card! I only have five more months left to spend in Kenya and I know that time will only pass by faster. There is no way, however, that I will not return to Kenya. I am constantly reminded how blessed I am for the opportunity to work and travel in Africa. I would not have passed this up for anything. Since this blog post has been a tad long, I will be posting in the next couple of days about what I have been doing for leisure and fun. Trust me, you will not want to miss out on some of the amazing stories I have to tell. Stay posted and thanks for reading. I truly appreciate it!