The summer is coming to a close, and it’s time to say goodbye…
As this is almost the final blog, LIVE from Kenya, I’m sad to say my time is running out. How has the summer flown by so fast? It seems like just yesterday, I arrived at Maisha to a beautiful opening ceremony, and now, “The Goodbye Song” is being sung.
The last week at Maisha has been one to remember. I was down for the count the first few days, being sick in bed with a bacterial infection, but nothing seemed to slow down at Maisha while I was gone! The second team from my home church, Vintage Church, in Edmond arrived anxious to get to work. Darrel Haley, leading this trip, was glad to be back for the second summer in a row, bringing his family and many friends to accompany him on this journey. This was also a sweet reunion, as one of my best friends, Lyndsey Mackown, made her first journey here, after falling in love with Maisha at last years “Light the Future Gala.”
As they were here, the team especially enjoyed their time working in the slums. Almost every day, members would journey out and hear the stories of the Maisha clients, and read verses to them while encouraging them and sharing the gospel. At one point I heard Brandi Yates say, “I went in expecting to encourage them, but instead, they encouraged me so much more.”
While they were working hard in the slums, we are happy to say that the rest of the team was back here working hard on the completion of our new toilets. They are all painted with a fresh coat of white, and almost ready to be opened!! We are so excited for all the kids, and currently in the process of training them on how to properly use a bathroom, seeing as most of these kids have never used a flushing toilet before. We would like to thank Vintage for helping fundraise a great portion of the money for these new toilets.
Along with the slums, a few members of the team had a passion for cooking and working in the kitchen. After working with the widows in the kitchen for several days, we hosted a party night to thank all of the widows for all of their hard work. They made a Mexican meal for all of them, set up the dining hall real fancy, and even bought them all flowers and escorted them in. They ate and enjoyed the night, and then danced the night away until they couldn’t dance anymore. We are so thankful for teams that come in, and encourage the women of Maisha. No one deserves to be waited on more than these hardworking women!
As they left for their safari, we were very sad to see them all go. But as Darrell reminded us, “We are not saying goodbye, just see you later!” With those words, I want to thank you for keeping up with The Maisha Project this summer. Before I leave, I will post one final blog, documenting all the big changes that have happened this summer. Keep a look out for Live From Kenya – The Final Blog.
The Word of the Week is CHOO which means toilet in Kiswahili, an important word to know in any language. Enter the Word of the Week Contest by taking a brief survey and entering this week’s word at http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e9e3jmdwhvzne3c8/start. This is your final chance to win Maisha swag in the Word of the Week contest so enter now! A grand prize winner will be drawn from all entries for a special secret prize.