Kenya News

It's Saturday morning. I'm back at the Internet cafe down the road from the hostel where I spent the night after the team left. I'm flying home today. I'm uploading some photos to Flickr and will post them to the blog soon.

It's rather funny. I've been at this spot for 90 minutes now, and like in many Kenyan shops, they play Christian radio. What's funny, though, is that they have regular news etc and then--this morning, at least--they play VeggieTunes. So for the past hour and a half, I've heard everything from The Bellybutton Song to Oh Where Is My Hairbrush? But as far as I know, you can't get VeggieTales in Kenya, so I'm not sure anyone who's listening has any idea what the songs are about...

In the news today: There was a fire in Kibera (the slums of Nairobi). Several homes burned down, but there were no casualties. Keep in mind that this is an area where about 2 million people live in shacks with no electricity, running water, or sanitation. People make fires inside their homes to cook.

Soon, I'll be heading for the airport and will fly to South Africa. The flight should take me over Tanzania (if it's clear out like it is right now, I should be able to see Mt. Kilimanjaro), then Malawi. I'll be flying over Lake Malawi for a while, and then over Mozambique. It'll be early evening when we touch down in Johannesburg. I'll spend the night at my sister's home, and then fly to Jeffreys Bay tomorrow morning to visit my parents and older siblings.

It's summer here now, and Jeffreys Bay is one of South Africa's most popular beach towns. During the summer, the population grows from 10,000 to more than 100,000. I'll be spending some time on the beach with my nieces and nephew, picking up shells early in the morning and hopefully seeing lots of dolphins. They often come and surf--literally. Jeffreys Bay (or J Bay) is very popular for surfing, and surfing contests have had to be interrupted so the dolphins could finish surfing first. J Bay is also a safe haven for whales to spend the winter raising their calfs, but by this time, they have all usually returned to Antarctica for the summer.

After 5 days in J Bay, I will return to Pretoria, and I'll fly home to Kenya on December 27th. I really do miss the children at the Empowering Lives Children's Home. I catch myself thinking of them several times a day and praying for their growth and safety.

I'll finish uploading photos now so you can see picutres of our adventures.