Someday I will take my yellow scarf to the beach and run into the ocean as it waves behind me!
Last Saturday/Sunday consisted of a seminary/institute lesson, a talk in sacrament meeting, a Relief Society lesson and an after church meeting with the Relief Society president to teach her the ins & outs of Visiting Teaching. I finished preparing my talk Sunday morning and ran off to the internet cafe to print it off. I realize that I should have prepared far enough in advance so that I could have printed it off on Saturday but it just didn't happen. The internet cafe was still closed when I got there and I'll be the first to say that it served me right. I ran to church and got there early so I started to jot down everything that I could remember of my talk. That's when 25 white visitors walked in the door. As if it wasn't bad enough that I didn't have my talk with me, I now had double the audience (ok, I exaggerate...there are more than 25 members in the branch, but still...) They were all coming as part of Coins for Kenya. I hadn't heard of it before and am still not really sure what they do but it was fun to meet them all. Anyway, the talk and lessons all went well.
On Tuesday I took Denise to Changamwe (an area north of Mombasa) to visit some center meetings where the women make savings and loan payments and discuss any issues/needs. Denise interviewed some of the clients about Yehu's products and other marketing information that she's been gathering. This little girl and I became new friends. We played with her rocks and bottle caps during the meeting. I couldn't resist pulling out my camera. Isn't she a doll?
After our visit to Changamwe the plan was to then pack some clothes and head down to the Pope's for the night so we could attend some more centers the next day. We packed, stopped by the office for a minute and caught transportation to the ferry. It was rush hour so we were packed in like cattle all waiting to get on the ferry. After another matatu ride and meeting up with Louis & Chriss we finally made it to Diani. We ended up staying two nights down there and had so much fun.
On Wed Louis let us use his truck and we went to the new Msambweni branch after which we went to two different center meetings. At the second meeting the women gave us gifts. Denise received a pretty sweet woven mat. I received a lovely food warmer (see below).
Here's where I need all of your votes. To keep the food warmer OR not to keep the food warmer? That is the question. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE that they went out of their way to give us something and I more than appreciate the gift...but do I really need to keep the food warmer to remember them by? Back at the head office everyone looked at my food warmer with befuzzlement (pretty sure that wasn't a word until just now). So, I know I'm not the only one that wonders what one should do with the gift. I asked several people what the phrase means. I got several different answers but they were all something along the lines of, "To have peace and joy there must be understanding between one another." I wonder if the wife put that on there because she burned dinner. Just a thought. My favorite part of the center meeting was actually 'dancing' with the women. Let's be honest...I don't dance. I met a 3-year old girl on the matatu today that has more moves in her short three years than I will ever acquire. But back to the center meeting. Some of the women started singing a song that ends with them picking a friend. Yep, I got picked! I was pretty excited until I realized this meant I had to join my new friends in their dance. Good thing they don't mock...or at least I don't understand them when they do :)
Later we met this butcher Omar (below on the right). Last year his business was run out of a small stand. Raw meat from a stand...yikes! But then he joined Yehu and within a year has built a new (and hopefully cleaner) home for his business. There aren't many male clients in microfinance but the ones I've met are stellar.
Today I said goodbye to our cleaning lady, Gertrude. This woman has got to be one of the sweetest ladies I know. I just learned today that she's going to have a baby next month. I had suspected for awhile now that she was pregnant but I certainly didn't expect her to be due next month! I'll admit that at first I felt horrible that we had someone clean up after us but then I realized that work is scarce down here and this was an opportunity for her to support her family. I will certainly miss her.
Before Seminary/Institute Denise and I went to the wood carvers' shop. While Denise was shopping I met up with Janet (the Primary president) who works there. She walked me around so I could see all of the carvers and say hi to her friends. This guy was one of my favorites. Check out his handy work!
Today was also my last seminary/institute lesson and so of course we had to take a class picture. From the left we have Herbert, Catherine and then Penina. The little girl is Penina's cousin and I'm totally forgetting her name. Anyway, these guys are pretty awesome. I'm really hating all of these goodbyes.
Last Saturday/Sunday consisted of a seminary/institute lesson, a talk in sacrament meeting, a Relief Society lesson and an after church meeting with the Relief Society president to teach her the ins & outs of Visiting Teaching. I finished preparing my talk Sunday morning and ran off to the internet cafe to print it off. I realize that I should have prepared far enough in advance so that I could have printed it off on Saturday but it just didn't happen. The internet cafe was still closed when I got there and I'll be the first to say that it served me right. I ran to church and got there early so I started to jot down everything that I could remember of my talk. That's when 25 white visitors walked in the door. As if it wasn't bad enough that I didn't have my talk with me, I now had double the audience (ok, I exaggerate...there are more than 25 members in the branch, but still...) They were all coming as part of Coins for Kenya. I hadn't heard of it before and am still not really sure what they do but it was fun to meet them all. Anyway, the talk and lessons all went well.
On Tuesday I took Denise to Changamwe (an area north of Mombasa) to visit some center meetings where the women make savings and loan payments and discuss any issues/needs. Denise interviewed some of the clients about Yehu's products and other marketing information that she's been gathering. This little girl and I became new friends. We played with her rocks and bottle caps during the meeting. I couldn't resist pulling out my camera. Isn't she a doll?
After our visit to Changamwe the plan was to then pack some clothes and head down to the Pope's for the night so we could attend some more centers the next day. We packed, stopped by the office for a minute and caught transportation to the ferry. It was rush hour so we were packed in like cattle all waiting to get on the ferry. After another matatu ride and meeting up with Louis & Chriss we finally made it to Diani. We ended up staying two nights down there and had so much fun.On Wed Louis let us use his truck and we went to the new Msambweni branch after which we went to two different center meetings. At the second meeting the women gave us gifts. Denise received a pretty sweet woven mat. I received a lovely food warmer (see below).
Here's where I need all of your votes. To keep the food warmer OR not to keep the food warmer? That is the question. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE that they went out of their way to give us something and I more than appreciate the gift...but do I really need to keep the food warmer to remember them by? Back at the head office everyone looked at my food warmer with befuzzlement (pretty sure that wasn't a word until just now). So, I know I'm not the only one that wonders what one should do with the gift. I asked several people what the phrase means. I got several different answers but they were all something along the lines of, "To have peace and joy there must be understanding between one another." I wonder if the wife put that on there because she burned dinner. Just a thought. My favorite part of the center meeting was actually 'dancing' with the women. Let's be honest...I don't dance. I met a 3-year old girl on the matatu today that has more moves in her short three years than I will ever acquire. But back to the center meeting. Some of the women started singing a song that ends with them picking a friend. Yep, I got picked! I was pretty excited until I realized this meant I had to join my new friends in their dance. Good thing they don't mock...or at least I don't understand them when they do :)
Later we met this butcher Omar (below on the right). Last year his business was run out of a small stand. Raw meat from a stand...yikes! But then he joined Yehu and within a year has built a new (and hopefully cleaner) home for his business. There aren't many male clients in microfinance but the ones I've met are stellar.
Today I said goodbye to our cleaning lady, Gertrude. This woman has got to be one of the sweetest ladies I know. I just learned today that she's going to have a baby next month. I had suspected for awhile now that she was pregnant but I certainly didn't expect her to be due next month! I'll admit that at first I felt horrible that we had someone clean up after us but then I realized that work is scarce down here and this was an opportunity for her to support her family. I will certainly miss her.
Before Seminary/Institute Denise and I went to the wood carvers' shop. While Denise was shopping I met up with Janet (the Primary president) who works there. She walked me around so I could see all of the carvers and say hi to her friends. This guy was one of my favorites. Check out his handy work!
Today was also my last seminary/institute lesson and so of course we had to take a class picture. From the left we have Herbert, Catherine and then Penina. The little girl is Penina's cousin and I'm totally forgetting her name. Anyway, these guys are pretty awesome. I'm really hating all of these goodbyes.
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