Adios Maria & Africa vs. USA

Once again, apologies for the delay between blog posts. The main computer which we have been able to use here is still acting up and we only can use the computer we're using right now every once and a while.

Two days ago our friend Maria, from Slovakia, went home. She was in tears when she left because she truly loved this place so much. The boys miss her already and about 6 of them packed into the van to watch her off at the airport. She was here for 9 months and is scared (but excited) to live life back home again, plus she just became an aunt, for the first time, a day before she went home.

There was a goodbye celebration for her the night before she left. The boys danced, sang, took her on stage to dance with them, and she went on stage and said a little message to the boys. She was choking up because she was leaving her friends but she said something that made everyone think. She told the boys that if they take advantage of the system here is selfish; i.e. doing whatever they want, not doing well in school, not obeying the rules because at the end of the day they know they'll have shelter and three meals a day. Many of the boys here don't do that well in school and don't care. Their life here is much better than what they had before and they understand how to "work the system". She said it's selfish for them to do this because it's their responsibility to do well, grow, change, and become examples for other children in their former situation.

She said if she took three of the boys home with her, had them speak to any group of people, they could easily change 500 lives. If they can truly beat the odds/the situation, they can help so many other street boys and people they will never meet or know.

It was very bold/important for her to say this, especially to the boys. Even last night one of the priests, Fr. Mtunga, spoke to the children about what Maria said and told them how true it is. She will truly be missed here but there soon will be two new girls from Slovakia to replace her. This morning Fr. Seba and I woke up at 4:30am to get to the airport before 5 to pick up Klara and Andrea but no one was there. We have yet to figure out why they weren't but we figure they are getting in tomorrow morning.

It's strange to have new volunteers here, after us. When we came there were 6 other volunteers already living here who showed us the ropes. We are excited to have some new friends, show them the ways here, and pass on all the knowledge we've learned from past volunteers.

Another thing that has been huge here is the World Cup. The children are absolutely obsessed with watching the games. The other night, as you may know, the United States lost to Ghana. Now, you may think what does Ghana have to do with Kenya? Well, I think the same thing. But the children here love Ghana do to the fact that they're from Africa also. A high majority of the children don't even know where Ghana is (Western coast of Africa) but they sure loved making sure I knew the US lost. It was so tough to sit in the entire room with over a hundred people rooting for Ghana while I (Pat) was rooting on the Yanks.

Everywhere in Kenya (and Africa) in the media they're claiming Ghana isn't a country but they're team "Africa". It really was USA vs. Africa. Even before the game we were watching a pre-game commentary and the host said, "America's motto has been "Yes We Can"... but don't forget their President is an African" ha


Maria giving her goodbye speech.

This is just a picture of the boys playing guitar. They play every lunch break.