How I make Chapati

Just so we're clear, this is not "How to make Chapati" this is How I make Chapati. =) These are photos from my second time making chapati. We have chapati (also known as "chapos" in Kenyan slang) on Tuesdays and  Fridays. Rolling out a batch of 60+ chapatis (enough for ONE family) is time consuming work! They usually make the dough in the morning and start the cooking process around 3pm, Chapos are done by 5 and kept warm until dinner at 6:30. Yum!

I usually miss the first few steps of making the dough, letting it rest, and preparing it for rolling. The initial dough is rolled out and cut into strips which are then rolled into a little "cinnamon roll". This is how it looks when I arrive! All 60 piles are neatly lined up on the table, ready to be flattened.

 The first time I helped, I only rolled about 10. Last time, I rolled about half. Today - I rolled the whole batch! They graciously applaud my rolling skills. Usually my chapos are fairly round but occasionally they are a bit heart shaped. And sometimes I get carried away and roll them so thin they can't fit on the pan. (Those get re-cinnamon rolled and flattened a second time!)

They are then cooked in hot oil over the "bucket of fire". This bucket is so handy, I think I will miss it when I get back to America! It's used for a whole host of Kenyan cooking activities. The chapati griddle fits it perfectly and the only utensil is a spoon for the oil- all the turning and flipping of the chapatis is done with bare hands! So far, they haven't let me near the hot oil and fire just yet. Probably a good idea! 

As they are finished they are stacked into a pan to rest until dinner. I've been told I am not Kenyan until I can eat 3 chapati with dinner. Tonight I ate two! 

The Small Gulls

In the children's homes, the rooms are separated into "small girls, small boys, big girls, big boys". They roll their "R's" here though, and with the Kenyan accent, small girls sounds more like "small gulls." Makes me laugh every time I hear it! While I laugh at some of their English words, they have way more opportunities to laugh at my pronunciation of Swahili words. I am learning Swahili "pole pole" (poll-eh poll-eh, means slowly slowly!) Here's some pictures of the small girls from Tumaini:

Mary - being silly! She ran up to me and said "take my picture" and this was the face I got! Sometimes Mary is really shy, but in small groups, especially when we are home at Tumaini, that is not the case! 

Deborah and Gracie (biological daughters of Tumaini house parents Tom and Emmy). They are both very sweet girls. They are usually the first to greet me in the mornings and we have started a bedtime ritual also - it mostly involves me laying them on their beds and saying "lala salama" (sleep well!). They pretend to sleep for about 10 seconds and then are jumping up ready to "go to bed" again! I have also learned how to say "close your eyes!" (funga macho). You can imagine how quiet, calming, and relaxing this bedtime ritual is...but somehow I haven't been thrown out of the house just yet!

Beaty is NOT shy. She is the wildest, craziest, spunkiest of them all. She constantly amazes me with how strong she is. She will run at me, leap into the air and latch on with her arms and legs and hang there without me holding her at all. Sitting on me lap, she can lean backwards until her head touches the floor and then sit back up again with hardly any help from me. I am also in love with her loud raspy singing voice.
The four of them together make for some fun times in Tumaini house!!

Day of the African Child

 The Day of the African Child has been celebrated since 1991. It was created to raise awareness for the plight of African children and their struggle for education and basic rights. This year's theme focuses on the estimated 30 million street children in Africa. It's usually celebrated on June 16th, but Kenya celebrated it on June 11. 

Open Arms attended with 26 kids from the village and another 20 or so from the Kambi Teso feeding program. 

 To start the event, there was a ceremonial march of people that came from the center of town to the Tumaini Rescue Center - which is a housing/rehab center for street kids. 

This year's theme: "All together for urgent actions in favor of street children."

There was a tree planting ceremony and over 100 trees were planted around the rescue center. 

 

This little girl was so cute looking for an empty hole to place her tree! =)

The kids' shirts sporting this year's theme. The street kids all got a free shirt also. =)

 They had so many speakers and performers that they actually ran out of time for everyone to perform! 

There were performances by kids from all the represented children's homes (the Open Arms kids danced - see their practice video in my earlier post!) as well as a few speeches by some ex-street children who were helped by homes/organizations and are now going to college. Their testimonies were amazing, but a lot of it was also in Swahili so some of it I didn't understand.

Standing in line for lunch! All the kids got a free hot lunch and their own soda. 

And one more random photo that I liked:

The Village Live!

The kids here love to sing and dance! Here is a short video of their talent (the best I can do with my little camera...=)

We also have Aggie in the baby home, who is constantly singing and dancing. She can dance to anything, including the songs in her head! Baby Benson shows off some of his dancing skills too!

Just a quick note. =)

Me and Beatie

Happy Sunday! Thought I would just write you a quick note to say hi. I have some free time to sit and type and relax the rest of the day. Yesterday we went to the Day of the African Child celebration, which took up the day so today was my cleaning and laundry day. The house parents surprised me with my own (new, and clean!) mop this week, so this week my floors got really cleaned. I did a load of laundry in the washing machine to hang on the line, then did my hand laundry (the delicates that aren't allowed to be paraded outside on the line, and anything that didn't come clean in the machine) and swept and mopped my room and bathroom before church. Church was inside because our church tent got pretty muddy at the celebration yesterday, so we had church in the office until the tent can be cleaned.  

Now I am catching up on some blogging (I'm writing extra so you'll have something to read all week!) and listening to the rain slam against the house. The roof is metal, so the rain sounds amazing!

I hope you are doing well and I want you to know how much I love reading your comments and e-mails from the blog! I am so blessed to be this far away from home but still able to keep in touch. Thanks for reading!

-Ok, seriously, the rain just started coming down even harder! Wish I could take a picture of it (yeah, i tried, no luck). I'm not sure I've ever seen rain like this! Maybe tomorrow we can go boating in the village! =) 

Bikes!

Sometimes there are organized group activities on Sunday afternoons - this week was bike riding! The kids all took turns riding bikes up and down the road that runs through the village.

Joseph

Pumping the tires on the little kids' bike - a group effort!

A little extra manpower to help him down the hill!

Isaac

Rachael

At least it's not uphill both ways!

Ruth

In town, this is called a "boda boda" and you can charge your rider a fee! 

My Kenya Home

My bed.

This is what it looks like at night with my mosquito net over it. (...except it's dark outside!)

My wardrobe. And...suitcase storage: which makes for a handy coat rack! =)

A little home decor from my Spokane home..=)

More decorations from home - a card from a friend and flowers that will never die! 

The other bedside table...

I even have my own attached bathroom!

Maralie:

<---- this is going up as soon as I can find/make a frame for it! =) I'll post a photo when it's done. Can't wait to hang it!

Meet The Babies!

We have four babies in the baby home: Agnus, Benson, Grace, and Mark. Benson was the first baby in the baby home. He is about 11 months old, and is learning how to walk. He's very sweet and social and loves everyone who will give him attention

 Benson showing you he's number one!

The flash is too bright!

Agnus came in April, and she is about two years old. She loves to sing and dance, and she babbles constantly!

Grace and Mark came one day before I arrived. They were both abandoned babies being cared for at the hospital. Grace is about 9 months old, but she only just learned how to sit up. She is making progress every day! She can roll herself to her tummy and try to push herself up on her hands, and she loves to stand up when you hold her. 

Such a happy girl!

  

 Mark is only two months old, and he is a very content little guy. He stares at everything with wide eyes no matter what he's looking at - his new brother and sisters, his mobile, the curtains....

Everyone loves meal time!

Some have more stamina than others...

Agnus can feed herself with a spoon!