Week One

Work week one is all finished. It has been so good to spend some time with the kids again. Starting on Monday morning I returned to work to find Faraja doing very well and since then I have been working to help keep it that way. 

Kepha in his school uniform

Right now the other mzungu volunteers at Faraja come from an organization called Longonot Education Initiative. Liana (who I am working with) is actually the co-founder of the organization and hopefully I will also meet Ben (the other co-founder) before my time in Kenya is up. LEI has a mission of developing sustainable education opportunities for kids in Kenya. I really like this group because they take a very holistic approach to education, meaning they understand that if a child is going to bed hungry each night then his studies will be lacking. Since LEI has come into Faraja's world a lot of change has been made for the better. If anyone is interested in making donations through LEI I have seen first hand the care they go through to make sure the money is put to the best possible product and I have no qualms endorsing their cause. **

This week Liana and Andy decided they wanted to work on the aesthetic side of Faraja. Since they will be leaving at the end of next week they gifted Faraja with some new plants and vases for the property. For most of the week we have been working on making a nice flower bed for the home. We also had to move some piles of rocks so we can hopefully fill in the low lying areas of the ground with soil soon. All in all, this week consisted of a lot of manual labor. 

Little Helper

While working on the yard I have been privileged to watch the children play. Their happiness with the simplest of toys (read: sticks and ropes) will never cease to amaze me. When we were moving rocks from the front yard the toddlers ran to help us by grabbing rocks that weighed nearly as much as themselves and wandering around the yard with them. Even though they were completely unorganizing our piles we couldn't be mad as they tottered around the yard top-heavy trying to be helpful.  The home has a lot of work to be done, as it always will, but I am excited to implement some new projects in the upcoming months to help out while I can. 

Toys the boys made from clay

I know this is just a short update, but it is nearly 11pm here and that is staying up way past my bedtime. I am so tired my eyes are crossing and I need rest. I hope everyone has a pleasant weekend!

Laleni Salama

**For any donations made through LEI please include a note in the comments section saying you would like your donations to go towards Faraja!! Thanks.