Kenya in chaos

It's Sunday night, just had dinner with great friends. Went to church this morning met Officer Tim and Liz for breakfast, enjoyed time with them in their apartment. It's snowing here, which it seems to have done almost every day since I got home! All is peaceful here, it's hard to believe that Kenya seems like it's imploding. The presidential elections were on Thursday and they had a record turn out. Everyone was so proud, it was democracy at it's best. Then when it appeared that the incumbent, President Kibaki, was losing, suddenly the results were late in coming. People quickly decided that the election was being stolen, (who knows the truth) and all hell broke loose. I have been receiving phone calls and texts from friends there, there are riots everywhere, killings, fires. Today they declared Kibaki the winner and he was sworn in, that escalated everything. There is talk about evacuating Americans. This is the text I received from my friend Warren in Kericho: This has been total war. I've been putting our fires, carrying babies to safety. It's so sad. I don't know what to say Kenya is up in flames.
As usual my heart is in two places. I don't want to be in danger but it's so hard to be away from my friends there and the kids. Many of the Nyumbani kids are out of Nyumbani staying with extended family, I pray they are safe. All over they are running out of water and food. Many people have been killed. The violence is all over, heavy in Nairobi.
This is a country and a people I came to love. A part of me is home there. This is why things are so hard and complicated in Africa, the rampant corruption, the lack of leadership, the peoples' lack of hope and confidence. As I struggle to find the latest news I see too the world's indifference, it's what we expect so we don't find it too newsworthy. But for me it will never be the same because for me there are faces and names.
No matter what you might think of George Bush we should all be grateful that come Inauguration Day he will get on a plane and fly away. And we don't have to be afraid.

Merry Christmas!

I hope that some of you are still reading! Lots of news to tell you. First, the Nyumbani news. The kids all had a good Christmas. President Kibaki and First Lady Lucy came and spent time, of course they were late and the kids had to wait all day. Some things never change!

John in Cottage D had surgery on his leg 2 days after I left. Neither he nor I had any idea it was going to happen. A visiting surgeon from Italy arranged for it. It went well but he is confined to a wheel chair and the cottage for 5 weeks. Not easy for a very active boy. We called him Christmas night and all got to say hello. It was so good to hear his voice and I know he loved the sense of a family to call and talk with. I miss all of the kids so much, and being back with y family makes it even more clear to me how painful it is for all of them to not have family.

My niece had sent me fleece blankets for the new kids, Paul, Eunice and Fidelis. They loved them, those blankets have made a huge difference in the lives of the kids. It's not just that they keep them warm, it's that they are theirs. They can point to something and say mine, they don't have to share. And it's proof that someone in the world cares about them. If you would like to get some for yourselves or family the website is

my2grandmas.com Best blankets ever!~

Other family news: Elizabeth is pregnant with baby number 2!!!!!!!! She is due June 17th, 11 days before Tim and Liz's wedding. Ali was accepted at George Washington University Medical School! She is living proof that if you want something enough you can find a way to make it happen, dream big and never give up.

My news is that I might be heading back to Kenya in a few months! PEPFAR (the president's emergency plan for aids relief) has asked me to come back and set up my project as an organization that we will turn over to the Kenyans in January 2009!! It is a huge honor and a hard decision, hardest ever. But, it's a way to see that my work goes on. I will post more details soon I promise! I know you've heard that before I guess I am turning Kenyan!

Being home

Sorry it has taken so long to do this, it's been busy and hard. I needed time to let things settle down here and there and figure out what I thought about everything. So, I'm sitting here with my really FAST computer, listening to Christmas carols, eating a morning bun, drinking hot real coffee, life is good! To the beginning:
Leaving Nyumbani was so hard. The last few days were a whirlwind of goodbyes, Sunday morning was the 1 year memorial mass for Fr. D'Ag. Protus asked me to speak, got through it without tears. Spent the day packing, how did I get so much stuff? My favorite taxi driver, Mike, came to say goodbye, bringing gifts and his girlfriend, he said that I was his most favorite mzungu customer, but I was very serious about time! We both cried. Leaving the kids was heart wrenching, we gathered in the cottage, tears flowing, I gave each a hug and a kiss in their hand to keep forever and use if they needed it. The boys, all crying, John, Sammy, Brian and George walked me to the pick up truck, John holding on tight. George said he couldn't sleep without a back rub, I told him I'd left instructions for the new volunteer, Sammy wanted to know what would happen if he got sick again, I reassured him that his new medicine was working, Brian was so quiet, John looked up and whispered "Susan please don't go" My heart was breaking. I promised over and over I would be back.
And I was gone.
I cried when the plane took off and flew over Nyumbani. Slept for awhile, woke up feeling sad but excited to be heading home and seeing my family. The Amsterdam airport was overwhelming, lots of white people and of all things Christmas decorations! Every leg of the trip I felt a little better and felt my head turning towards home.
Got to fly first class from Minneapolis to Madison, the 45" leg, where were they for the 9 hour legs! and was so happy to look down the stairs and see my family and friends waiting for me. The biggest surprise was Ali was there! She had flown in from DC so we were actually all together, it was wonderful. They all said I looked like a dirty hippie, which I admit I did. Jack looked and looked at me then took my hand and walked to baggage claim with me. I really think he remembered me. He's such a little boy! Officer Tim was there safe and sound. But it was so cold! I've been shivering since I got off the plane.
Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful, especially because Liz and Brandon announced that baby #2 is due in June! They've known for a while but wanted to wait until I got home, a wonderful homecoming gift.
Then I got the news about the boys in the village..... it had rained, which it only does a few times a year there and a group of kids had gone, unbeknown to the adults, to swim in a sand dam. One of the boys got in trouble, nobody knows how to swim, the other boy jumped in to save him and they both drowned. Their names are Mutisya and Mwoki, it's important to me that these kids always have a name for the rest of the world.
I'm back at work, now working in the allergy clinic. The staff has been incredibly welcoming and gracious to me. I told them they could tell me to cut the Kenya whenever! It's a lot of new to learn but it's good for me. A fresh start, but lots of changes in my life these past few weeks.
What I love: I see my family and friends all the time, I'm clean! all the time! I walk on sidewalks, I drive my car on the right side of the road, I watch the news on TV, I feel safe all the time, even when I'm out after dark. amazing bathrooms everywhere, snow almost everyday! we have 15" here. the newspaper and coffee in the morning.
What I miss: all the kids and my friends, the sun! voice of America and the global news, the work I did there, the sense that time is a suggestion not an absolute, how nobody whines-no matter how desperate their situation is, the sound of Swahili and African music. and yes, the matatus.
What is hard to deal with here: There are a lot of white people here! you have to be on time, you have to move fast, you have to listen to people complain about the most insignificant things like they really matter, the houses are so big and the cars so fancy, the lack of gratitude and the constant need for more, that Kenya is so so far away. That 10 months could go by so quickly.
I will keep up the blog with news of the kids etc. It's good to be home.