Working for Shoes

The following are two new community development projects I am working on this semester. These events include our entire school in attempts to reach out to those around us in need.

Project one: Supply 150 Sinai slum students with a pair of "gently used" shoes. Each WNS participant will be given a sketch of a Sinai student's footprint. The participant's job will be to find a pair of shoes to match that specific footprint. At the end of March, we will personally deliver what we have collected.

Project two: Sponsor 200 Mitumba slum students to attend a vacation bible school over Easter break. These kiddos will have one week with a warm bed to sleep in, three meals a day, a place to bathe, an opportunity to learn about God and participate in fun activities away from their harsh daily reality. Our high school students will be responsible to run parts of the camp, interacting with campers over the week of April 21-24. The cost is roughly 25 dollars per child.

We are working alongside "Christian Mission Aid" and "Feed the Children" to support these slums. Please pray for success in these two projects and all those involved. See article entitled "this Easter" at http://www.cmaid.org/

Can you say... COLD!

As part of my job, I coach elementary intramural sports after school. Currently we are in the middle of swim season. We offer two classes, beginning and advanced. Each class has 20 students and 4 instructors, including myself. The kids have been showing huge improvements over the last four weeks. It has been fun to watch.

This is a picture of the pool we practice in twice a week. Its location is down the street from our school, at a place called St. Christopher's. We bus our students over. The pool itself is very nice but the water, in my opinion, is freezing. I think there are some blue lipped children walking around that would agree with me too. Kenya has beautiful weather, not what I expected before coming here. So, outside temperatures never quite get hot enough to warm the pool.









On a daily basis, I work with a team of high school coaches. Hanging out with these guys is often the highlight of my day. Being the only girl, I have had to learn to fend for my own, but I think they would tell you I have pulled my fair share of the weight. When I was offered the job of coordinating after school sports I didn't really feel qualified, but it is something I have learned to enjoy. Despite the fact that it has given me the opportunity to try something new, it has also opened the door to connect with students outside the classroom. Having the support of other coaches has made it easy to ask questions through soccer, kickball, swimming, roller hockey, and soon to come, basketball. The different coaches often attend each others games and interact outside of school. I am more than blessed to be a part of this team.

Lesson in Swahili

Swahili is written in the Roman alphabet and the letters are pronounced more or less as in English, apart from these vowel sounds and a few consonant blends.
a as in far
e between the 'e' in bed and in cafe
i as in Lima
o as in orange
u as in flute

Numbers zero through ten... sifuri , moja, mbili, tatu, nne,
tano, sita, saba, nane, tisa, kumi
yes - ndiyo
no - hapana
ok - sawa
hello - habari
good morning - habari za asubuhi
good evening - habari za jioni
goodbye - kwaheri
see you - tutaonane
thank you - asante / no thank you - la asante
How are you? -hujambo?
I'm fine - sijambo
How much is it? - ni bei gani?
sorry - samahani
please - tafadhali
nice to meet you - nimefurahi kukutana nawe
What do you do for work? - unafanya kazi gani?
I am a teacher, and you? - mimi ni mwalimu, na wewe je?
happy birthday - furaha kwa siku ya kuzaliwa
What is your name? - unitwa nani?
Hello, anyone in? - hodi