Greetings from Kenya!

I am actually writing from Neema. Now that we have a generator (is was donated back in January) we can use the computer from here. I have started teaching computer lessons to those in 7th grade an up whenever the generator is on. I stay busy in the evening as they are all eager to try out the computer. Another blessing has been the promise of running water by the end of the year. The current president, Kibaki, has done a lot in the region since he became President only a few years ago, so we are very excited about this. Since we will have water soon, the money that I brought that was meant for water and electricity can now be used to pay for another teacher as well as invest in a second computer so more of the students can learn how to use it.
Next Saturday we are closing school for everyone so most of the remaining students will go home to stay with their relatives for a week. There are about 20 that remain here throughout the year because they don’t have any relatives they can go to, so we will be left for the week. Its fun when there are only a few left, but most of our time will be spent on the farm because the rains have come! While it makes the time rather miserable now that it seems to rain constantly day and night, it is very nice to have a reliable source of clean water and to get the garden planted. I have invested in a pair of gum boots that have come in very handy!!

My prayer request include:

Safe travel for the children as they go home and return to school in these next two weeks
- for Mary, the 9th grade student who is having surgery next week on her shoulder.
- For Mwangi, the 4th grader who broke his arm. He is going back next week to the doctor. We are hoping his cast comes off soon because he is one of the most active boys ever and it is a constant battle to get him to not run and play soccer!
- Our new student, Metho. Metho was one of the first boys at Neema, taken from the streets 12 years ago. He lived here for 6 years, then ran away. He has been back twice since, but has left both times. He has lived on the streets and has been in prison twice. He is now back, wanting to return to school, so he is in my 7th grade class at 21 years old (not that uncommon here). He has a lot of adjustments to make coming back to a life with structure and disciple, but we are hoping that he will stay and complete his education this time. Also pray for his influence on the other kids here.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!!

Becka

its been awhile...

Well it has been awhile since i have been able to write. I have only been to Naivasha to check mail and for some reason the blog wont work on the computers there. So... life have been going well at Neema. Having the generator is so amazing, not only do we have lights at night, but also we are able to use the computer and tv now!! The director, whom we all call Mum, used to teach at a secondary school, about 12 years ago before she began Neema. She has had the tv and computer in her house but has been unable to use them until now. I am the only one there who knows how to use the computer, so we started lessons for students and teachers this week. Hopefully before i leave they can have a pretty good grasp on the computer!

We took our trip to Nairobi! Thank you to everyone who donated money to help do this. The first week we took the socondary students, and then we took classes 5-8. The trips were very exciting!! Iwoke up the girls at 3 am to get ready, and we left by 4:30 in the morning!! We went to visit the airport, then to a session in Parliment, to the Nairobi Animal orpahange and to Bomas of kenya where the kids say dances and the homestaeds from many of the differnt tribes in Kenya. They had a great time. The younger group also got to ride an elevator up to the 30ths floor of the Kenyan coference center and enjoy the view from the roof. They were absolutly terrified of the elevator. Even the other teachers had never ridden one before. They loved it! Also, we used flushing toilets and saw running water, many of them for the first time!!On top of all that we ate bread (which is a big treat), mangoes, avacadoes, peanuts, chapaties ( the kenyan version of tortiallas), juice and bananas. Also, to their surprise we bought ice cream. Not a single on of them had every eaten ice cream before! Most of them thought it was too cold so they decided to take it home with them to eat later. I tried to explian that it was supposed to be cold, but they all thought I was crazy! So both trips were great, but the younger ones thought everything we so exciting. There is a boy in calss 5, Ngugona, who had never even seen a paved road before, so we had alot of new experiences for the day!

The last week of March we closed school for the term and most of the kids went home for easter. We are having class for the older ones (class 6 and up) during the holiday, so there are still about 100 there. We will close for them the last week of April, but there are about 20 kids or so that dont have any relatives to go to, so they stay at Neema even that last week. its relaxing to only have a few for that week, and the kids enjoy it becasue they get a little spoiled that week, with fruit and special food and treats! For easter we decied to make cake. I was a little unsure of our plans since we have little charcoal stoves, but they turned out great! We put the cakes on the stove and then piled more charcoal on top. not too bad! i think the last week we will have cake decorating lessons. they have all seen my pictues of Lindsay's wedding cake and now they want a cake like that haha!

Thanks so much for all your emails, thoughts and prayers. Mary is having her surgery on April 24th. Also, we have a new girl named Hannah that is having problems adjusting. She is in class six and came from another children's home, but needs alot of attention that is hard to find amunst the 150 other children. Thats about it for now. My time is quickly coming to an end... only 6 more weeks that i am sure will fly by!