Nyumba ya Wazee

This week we visited the "Little Sister's of the Poor - Nyumba ya Wazee." This is a home for the elderly located off Thika Road opposite Kasarani/Moi International Stadium. Mother Helen (an Irish missionary) and all the sisters at the home have devoted their lives to giving about 100 elderly people peace, comfort and happiness in their dotage.

We took a rose for all the old folks. We also gave them a day full of joy, smiles and excitement.

Little Joy:

Melody and Naomi getting some help on their puzzle:

Karanja didn't get any help, but I think she enjoyed just having him there while she drank her tea:

Maureen, Gitau, Karanja and Eric had a little difficulty with this puzzle:

But everyone chipped in to finish it:

We did a little sing-song for them:

This old lady still had all the moves:

Not everyone was as energetic.
All the excitement was obviously too much for this old man:

Cartoons, Dinner and Balloons

We had a small group today, so had a fairly quiet evening. The kids came over to my house and we watched cartoons for a while before going to the Village Market for dinner.

They love swinging and hanging out with my dad:

This is my lovely mum, resting her feet after a long hard day:We had dinner at the Village Market. Prime Cuts does an amazing Mongolian barbecue over the weekends:

This lovely gentleman, Abbas, is at the Village Market all the time giving away balloons to children and those who are young at heart:
He is a really sweet and kind person who wants nothing in return except to bring happiness and joy to the children around him.

Art Day and Church Concert

For Halloween, we worked on some crafty masks. We then went to the Parklands Baptist Church for a concert hosted by the United Church of Gujarat. The kids had a long, but enjoyable day.

It was dark by the time we had all finished making our masks:

Eric and Melody:

Eric, Karanja and Ken:

The church had put up some beautiful, big tents outside where the concert was held. My friend Paul Murage told me about this concert, and I knew the children would have a great time.

Levi dancing to the Gujarati gospels:

Alice and Joy:

The train:

Nairobi National Park

This week, we went to the Nairobi National Park. We have visited the animal orphanage before, but never took a a drive inside the Park itself. Despite the rain, the children had a great time spotting and naming all the animals we saw.

As soon as you drive into the park, you are greeted by these obnoxious baboons:

Chomping on Acacia:

There are two female ostriches here if you look carefully:

Gitau, Karanja and sleepy Mungai:

I swear there's a herd a buffalo in this picture:

And a giraffe in this one...

The kids were very quiet as we saw a pride of 6 lionesses walk right by us to surround a herd of zebra.

Then it began to rain and the herd of zebras caught on that the throng of 4-Wheel Drives that had gathered weren't hanging around to see them eat grass!

Mungai, king of the shot-gun crying fits:

Heading back home after a long day in the rain: