July 13

Today was the day we handed out the new play shirts!!  These shirts were very special to me.  Each child got a new Mbewau/Wowkidz! play shirt to wear only while at recess.  These kiddos tend to be pretty rough on their clothes, hopefully these shirts will help make their uniforms last longer!  

Thank you so much to everyone back home who helped make this possible (Jackie you especially!! Love you!), and a special thanks to Monograms & More for the huge part they played in these shirts, without your giving we would not have these shirts!!

We got every class out one by one, lined the children up and put not their new shirts.  The shirts were a BIG hit!! All of the children loved them!  Then once the whole class was outfitted in their brand new shirts, we arranged them and took class pictures with the teachers!  

This process took a while, but went amazingly smooth!  

Once this was done it was about lunch time.  I headed over to the Feeding Center, and got there in time to snap a few shots of Jaylyn giving a hygiene lesson to the children.  Thanks to some awesome donations we had a toothbrush and toothpaste for every child!  Jaylyn demonstrated good tooth brushing techniques, and taught them to do this every morning and every evening.  She did an awesome job, and the kids loved watching her swish!! 

At the end of class we handed each child a hygiene packet with their toothbrush and toothpaste, they loved it!

Once school was over we all gathered and got ready to go home with the assigned kiddos.

Today my group went home with the Kalume family.  Anne, Sampson, and Martin Kalume all attend Mbewau, they also have twin sisters who are 1 1/2yrs old.

The Kalume's don't live far from Mbewau, still about a 15min walk (we weren't walking super fast).  

When we arrived, the mother (who is all of 90lbs…maybe) immediately grabbed Austin's backpack, it is just the custom to serve your guests!

We walked up to her house and she grabbed plastic chairs for us all to sit in.  The people here are so hospitable, even to strangers!

Then we began to hear her story unfold.  Mrs. Kalume is 24years old, with 5 young children.  Her husband was killed in a motorcycle accident with the twins who are 1 1/2years old, were 5 weeks old.  She is unable to work and under their customs is under the rule of her husbands family, and cannot remarry without their permission, which is rarely given. 

So instead she will remain where she is, living in the house that was her and her husbands, which for the area is a "Nice" mud hut, which her and her husband moved into 10 years ago.  It was larger and actually had beds with mattresses, and 5 different "rooms". 

She farms for food, she has a crop of Maze (corn).  The Moore's sponsor the children to be able to attend Mbewau, and she gets water from Mbewau.

She gave us a tour of the house, and a tour of her farm, which was pretty far back!  She also gathers greens that grow and any fruit that might grow near her farming area.

Her twin daughters are so cute, but couldn't get to close while they were awake because they are scared of white people! Even Chris who has known them since they were born!!  But, one of them fell asleep while we were there, so both Chris and I were able to hold her!!  She is really small for a 1 year old and super light.

Justin was our translator, and as we walked back we went past his house, he stopped us and said "you must come in! my wife has made you Chai" Well it would be rude to say no! Lol!! Love that stuff!  

So we went to his house!  Elizabeth is his wife, she is the asst teacher in the baby class and so sweet.  

Justin and Elizabeth are wealthy for the area, and are the only ones with electricity nearby.  We walked into their hut and they had furniture and a tv!! 

We sat down and were served hot Chai!  It was really good and we enjoyed talking to Justin, Maureen (who stopped in for some chai), Elizabeth and Justin's brother.

We then got a call and the rest of the team was ready to go!  It was our last day at Mbewau until next week, and because we had taken so long we got out of loading the bus!  lol!  oh well!  It was a good day!!