Goodbye Shree!

The boys have completed their studies at Shree Swaminarayan Academy.

They've had final exams for a week and a half! They have been working and studying very hard. I'm very proud.

I was flipping through Paulo's science exercise book, and I was so pleased when I saw how much he has worked to improve his handwriting. Look at the difference between the beginning of the year and the end.

In the end, Andre ranked #8 in his year 1 class with an average of 95%. Pretty impressive after having skipped a grade! He had been very self-disciplined and had shown great self-confidence even when others were mean sometimes.

And Paulo ranked #13 with an average of 93%. He really learned to work hard this year. He even had to make some really tough choices to hang out with a new crowd when his old buddies were habitually getting in trouble. This is something that he told me he decided on his own. He said he is still friendly with the other boys, but he thought it would be better to hang out with the other boys more.

I'm very very proud of these boys. 

Goodbye, Shree!

Bombolulu Workshop and Akamba Handicraft

Our last free weekend to squeeze in some last minute sight-seeing has arrived.

We decided to visit Bombolulu Workshop. The workshop is a compound where individuals with physical disabilities and their families can live and work for their living.

I actually visit taught a woman who lives within the workshop, and every time I've visited, I've noticed a special feeling here. Everyone is friendly, and they seem to take pride in being able to work for their living rather than choosing to beg on the streets.

We got to see some of them working on leather products, and we saw the cool carved crafts that were in the process of being made. Hunter set up this silly picture.

Inside the compound, you can visit a cultural center where you can see and walk through different homes from a few different tribes. A tour guide took us through and taught us.

Here, the boys are pretending they are the men of the village sipping beer through these straw-like sticks. I know, I know! It was just for fun.

This next kind of dwelling is typical in the Luo tribe. Our friend Dickson is Luo. You don't find these kinds of homes around Mombasa, but you find them "up country" where it's much more rural.

Here's where they store grains.

This one was supposed to be a Maasai home. The actual homes we saw were much nicer than this one.

At one point in the tour, some people performed some cool music for us with the local instruments. The guy singing was particularly fun to watch. I admire people who naturally smile a lot.

The old man is blind, but he plays many different instruments.

The funnest part was watching the same guys above and some other dancers perform the traditional dances from the coastal province. They were awesome.

Here's the MC is announcing the warrior dance. He was quite animated.

Wedding dance:

At the end, they invited our family up to join them and dance. It was super fun. While Andre decided to be shy, Paulo was a good sport and joined in the fun quite confidently. Made me proud.

We took photos with the musicians afterward.

This is hilarious. This dancer kept trying to carry Reyna, and she just wouldn't have it. She's like me--her face shows how she really feels. :)

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After leaving the workshop, we decided to visit Akamba Handicraft. Miriam, who is from the Kamba tribe, recommended we check it out before we leave.

Before hitting the shop, we walked out back to see the wood carvers at work. There were so many people carving so many beautiful things. I was very impressed.

All the carvers seemed to just love their work. They were kind enough to give us some little carved animals that they were working on.

This guy is carving something really cool. It's one piece in the picture, but when he's done, it will be the base of a three-legged table. The three legs separate and open and lock in a tripod sort of way.

Later we bought a few souvenirs from the shop. I especially wanted a small figure of a woman carrying a burden on her head. I was lucky Hunter found this one in a dusty forgotten corner of the shop which was filled to the thousands with carvings of animals and other more typical tribal figures.

I love it because it reminds me of Miriam. In the Kamba tribe, the women don't carry their loads directly on their heads, but they strap them to their heads and carry them on their backs. So this is similar to how Miriam looks when she fetches water--imagine a huge plastic water container instead of the sticks. I love it.

One of the most important life lessons I've learned out here I've learned from the Kenyan women. Kenyan women take great pride in the work they do for their homes. They make great sacrifices and feel great joy from serving their families. Miriam used to tell me her favorite chore was laundry. And that it made her feel so happy when after she swept the floor, she could step down and not feel any dirt on her feet. I watched her day after day, feed her son first, who was always seated upon her lap, and make sure he was eating well before she'd take her first bite. She's just so unselfish. I love her and will miss her.

YSA Activity

The young single adults in our branch wanted to learn American football, so Hunter told them that if they organized an activity, he'd teach them at the beach near our house. I prepared some food for everyone, and he had an awesome time teaching them football.

What we didn't know was that this was their first activity of the year!!! And it was a huge opportunity for missionary work! Four people were there who were investigating the church! It was such a fun activity. Afterward, one investigator named Abel, said, "I have really had a good time today. Is it always like this in the church?" I told him that one thing that's good about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that they really don't need things like beer to have a good time--they just enjoy doing fun activities with each other. 

There was a really good feeling at the activity, and Abel felt it. It made me happy to see how happy he was. He said that he was certain he would be baptized one day and that he would continue to work to prepare for his baptism.

I love this church.

Andre's 6th Birthday

What a weird 4th of July we had! I've really grown to appreciate our country being away from it.

My sweet Andre is 6 years old! Sometimes I look at him and I can't believe what a big, cool, funny, intelligent and responsible boy he's turning out to be.

Here he is in his barong Tagalog which Hunter bought in the Philippines during his deployment 11 years ago and has been saving for his sons to wear when they turn 6.

One thing you may not know about Andre is that he's a morning person. And as soon as he wakes up, he likes to eat a yummy breakfast--immediately! So our tradition of breakfast in bed is especially meaningful for my Andre-boy.

After school that day, we planned a small superhero/spiderman party at our house. Andre had invited a few friends from his class and his teacher, but unfortunately only one child showed up. I'm not sure if it's because it's Ramadan, or if it's because it's the end of the school year that people didn't come, but thankfully, Andre is a pretty easy-going, happy-go-lucky kind of kid. He was thrilled that his buddy, Mansoor came and dubbed him his "best friend".

For the activity, they played ninja and practiced different moves. That's what Andre wanted. 

My cake this time was kind of sad. I got way too rushed in decorating the cake, so that was all I had time for. Andre loved it though, because he specifically told me he likes chocolate sprinkles. Cool sparkler candles, though! Appropriate for Independence Day. 

Happy Birthday, Andre!!!

Piki Piki

You know Bill Cosby's comedy routine called "The Same Thing Happens Every Night"? Well, this same thing happens every morning. After the boys have gone to school, Reyna and I say goodbye to Hunter as he drives away on the piki piki. Fun memory.