3 Excited Boys and One Lucky Uncle Joseph!

They even have visas!!! (Sorry I couldn't rotate the picture!) George on the left, John in the middle and Brian

The USA Through Other Eyes.

Here's the trip report for Nicholas. He arrived at O'Hare Airport in Chicago the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The first thing he said when I saw him was "thank you." He really couldn't believe that this long time dream had come true. The Customs Officers were welcoming and friendly to him- he said it was just a great start to his adventure. What a difference hospitality makes!

I met him with a winter coat and walked out into cold windy Chicago. That night it snowed, I woke him up and took him outside at 4:30 in the morning and we walked around the block while the snow fell. He really thought it was the oddest thing he had ever seen. After his month here and about 50" of snow he thought it was the most annoying thing he had ever seen!

He did lots of presentations, met lots of people, got to sit in Obama's seat in Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting room, walk through Times Square at 2:30 in the morning, see the Statue of Liberty. He sat down to Thanksgiving dinner with my family, played with Jack and Emma, discussed politics with Tim. He shopped for his family and even ate at McDonalds.

Things he found amazing: how accurate our weather forecasts are. "They say it's going to start snowing at 10 and it does!." The I pass, how good our roads are and how big the expressways are, computers in every exam room in the clinic where I work, rooms in our houses that we don't use, no internet cafes because everyone has access either at home, work or the library. Coming from a place where if the rains don't come people starve to death he was totally floored that we spray our vegetables in the produce section of the grocery store. Everything is on time.. in the Dc metro it even tells you that the next train will arrive in 2 minutes and it does! He found Americans friendly, welcoming, and pretty much clueless about Africa. He found the kids just like Kenyan kids, and loved spending time with them. Wake up in the morning and the newspaper is on your porch! (though who knows how long that will last!)

So fun to see my world through his eyes, as I saw his world.

More details next week about the kids' trip.

Finally, Some News

I know it has been a very very long time since there was an update. My only excuse was that there was nothing good to say. There are no plans for me to go back, it seems lost in the bureaucracy. I'm working on writing the paper that details the project and the results. Once that is done and sent out perhaps it will fire it up again. I love being here with my family, but when I think about the work it makes me so sad that nobody is carrying it on. I'd love to go back for a quick 3 months and get it off the ground. You never know what life is going to bring so who knows, it may still happen.

Now the good news (hopefully there are still some readers out there!) Three of the boys from Cottage D, John George, and Brian got their visas, I raised enough money(thank you again to all who contributed) for their airfare, and they and one of the uncles from the cottages, Joseph, are coming for a visit!!!! They arrive in Chicago on April 11th. We will be in Madison for a few days, they will have physical exams at UW Children's Hospital, head to Sumner Iowa for 2 days to visit Jim Cross. He's another volunteer who loves those boys as much as I do. Then to Chicago to visit the kids at St. Christina school (my elementary school alma mater) who also contributed to the trip. Then we drive out to DC, to visit the Nyumbani American Board members and maybe even an Obama! Really, no kidding! .

I promise to keep you updated on the plans.

A few other things: I'm hopefully starting a new job in the HIV clinic at UW. A much better fit for me.

My niece sent 4 more blankets over to the daycare, where they were so happy to get them.

The day care is now up to 90 children and they have applied for US AID funding. We're hopeful.

Nicholas Makau from Lea Toto and the Village was here for one month, arrived late November, left the Sunday before Christmas. We pretty much buried him in snow and froze him to death! Here's a picture and I will post more info about his trip and the boys' next week. Really.