Tuesday 8th April 2008

Lazy start to the day, then Jimmy (our driver) took us to the Nakumatt Junction. We made a bee line for the bookshop as Elijah had devoured the Roald Dahl book that Pete bought for him yesterday and bought a couple of Enid Blyton Secret Seven books so he’s off on a new reading adventure. After lunch we went to see another movie, 10,000BC. We were the only people in the cinema so ‘Lijy decided it was a good time to practice his air guitar so he played to an audience of 4 to a music video that was playing before the flick. We stood for the Kenyan National Anthem and prayed for Africa. We all enjoyed the movie. Kaz

Monday 7th April 2008
Pastor Daniel came in to Nairobi this morning and gave us some beautiful African carvings from his local town, Nyeri. 2 giraffes, an elephant, a water buffalo, a lion and a rhino. He said they were to remind us of our time with him and Mama Mwenge (as if we could ever forget!). He then took us to see the orphaned baby elephants being fed at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust which is part of the Nairobi National Park. There were some pretty sad stories about the baby elephants. One elephant was rescued from a hole by some farmers but then they cut a big bit of his ear off to show that they now owned it like they do with their cows, but he couldn’t stop bleeding and nearly died. Another elephant was found suckling off his dead mother after poachers had taken her tusks. They found a one month old baby in a water pipe man-hole completely submerged with only it’s trunk showing. A passer-by heard it crying and called the orphanage. Feeding time was cool. They rolled around in the muddy water hole, climbed all over each other, and each one drank 6 litres of human baby formula (they do this every 3 hours). They release them back into the wild when they are about 2 years old. On the way back to the car park we saw a huge rhino in a pen. It was 5 years old and was also found as a baby suckling off its dead mother, another victim of poachers. We were so close we could touch its horn, awesome! Kaz had her hair done in the arvo while Pete drove around Nairobi with Pastor Dan looking for an ATM.

Sunday 6th April 2008
We went to Nairobi Pentecostal Church (NPC) this morning. It was a great experience to sing in a different language even though we were not the best at it. On the other hand it was a great sermon about pre-determined, non-negotiable values. He was very profound. After the service I got my hair braided and plaited by Mumbi and Jessica. Then we went to the movies at “Nakumatt Junction” and saw “Horton hears a Who” a really good Dr Seuss movie. Highly recommended for all you atheists out there. The Italian restaurant we went to after the movie served the yummiest lasagne in Kenya! Mahalia. I’m beginning to be able to walk upright now. Pete

Saturday 5th April 2008
Woke up feeling itchy from mozzies DANG! After breakfast we went to the Kenyatta market. The market had little ally-ways going in all different directions and a small gutter of dirty, smelly water ran through the centre of each one. A lady came rushing up to us and asked us to go to her salon. It was very small but ‘jane’, the lady was nice, I ended up having a manicure and pedicure. Mum and I actually booked for our hair to be done on Tuesday. Mean while Dad and Elijah explored the rest of the markets. On the way out we bought some fresh fruit, there were avocadoes and Mangos the size of a pawpaw! I’m not exaggerating. We then went to a big shopping centre and bought all the bedding we will need for our safari. Walked out with 5 sleeping bags, 5 mattresses and 5 pillows. We finished the afternoon relaxing and doing home work then finding out the reason for the mozzies last night, was the glass for the window is smaller than the frame and there’s a huge gap that we can’t fix! It was a good day. Maddi Still sore. Pete

Friday 4th April 2008
Today was a lazy day. We just did homework and learned all about the oceans. We also broke a 2 month long drought of TV by watching Dunstan checks in on our 14 inch fuzzy TV. Elijah. PS My body is still in pain. I think it’s worse today. Pete

Thursday 3rd April 2008
We checked out of the hotel this morning, then off to baby Watoto for our final fare-wells. We were welcomed by little Peter who’s 2yrs old, blowing us kisses and clapping his hands, very cute. We were also given lots of cards from the nannies to thank us for coming. They were very sad to see us leave at the end of the day!

After lunch we went to the airport to fly back to Kenya. Just before boarding the plane a guy had put his mobile through the bag x-ray and walked off forgetting it. Meanwhile some other lady was trying to claim it as her own and Mum and Dad the crime busters, tackled her to the ground, screaming “Thief, thief”. When the guy returned looking for his phone she handed it to him all sweetly and he thanked her before walking off, needless to say she avoided us like the plague. THEN on the plane she was asked to sit next to us and she was totally against the idea, so, pushing past the air hostess she made her way up the front, as far away from us as possible! When we arrived in Kenya Ps. Daniel picked us up and took us back to the A.C.K guest house where we stayed last time, nice end to the day and then it was bed. Maddi PS My back, legs and neck hurt a lot! Pete.

Wednesday 2nd April 2008
While we all love the little bubs, Elijah was feeling the need to do something a bit more “blokey” so we decided to join a visiting team of Aussies who are here to build a house in Watoto’s “Bbira” children’s village. Like all good builders, we were up before the sun in our “work clothes” and keen to get into it.

Us “Mzungus” (whities) were basically labourers for the Ugandans so we started the day with a demonstration of how to lay bricks. (The Ugandan builders lay the corners 7 courses high and shoot levels, we fill in the rest – with their supervision). Then it was off to collect bricks and put them on a truck. Now you need to understand, these bricks are handmade from cement and dirt, are about 3 times the size of a regular house brick and weigh as much as a besser block and we had to THROW them up to the Ugandan guys who graciously offered to climb into the truck and do the catching. Several hundred bricks later and I can’t walk, stand up straight, or breathe, and it’s only 8am!! The unloading was done by human conveyor belt and was infinitely easier except they put them in a pile, then moved them again, sometimes twice, when they could easily have put them in the right place the first time. Never mind, we definitely had a sense of doing something pretty cool for orphans which more than made up for the lactic acid that was increasing in my muscles with every brick I laid.

The rest of the family were like a well oiled machine! Elijah was throwing mortar around like a pro, filling gaps and laying bricks, Maddi also proved handy with a trowel and Kaz wins the prize for lifting heavy objects without objecting. Mahalia made herself busy cleaning toilets in one of the recently completed houses and before we knew it, our 7 courses of bricks were up. Meanwhile we ran out of bricks so the supervisor called out: “Pete, we need more bricks, let’s go!” I, in a moment of absent-mindedness said OK and found myself hurling more blocks up to the smirking faces of the Ugandan builders who had once again jumped up into the back of the truck before you could say “clever Ugandans” to do the receiving. I swear I could hear the giggling of my family in the distance, and after about 150 bricks I gazed up into the big brown eyes of my receiver and asked politely if he wouldn’t mind swapping with me (pleaded is more like it). He reluctantly climbed down while I dragged myself up, barely making it, and all my suspicions were confirmed instantly. HOW EASY IS THIS! You mongrels! My excruciating back ache was somewhat relieved by the look on the face of my ex-receiver as he got some of his own medicine back and I could smugly say “it’s harder than it looks isn’t it brother?” I limped, literally, back to the van as we headed back for a quick shower, all of us feeling really glad for the experience but looking forward to a slightly less physically demanding day tomorrow back at Baby Watoto. Our evening was spent relaxing with our new friends, Matt & Tanya Cross and their kids at “Cafe Pap”. A perfect way to end this very full day. Pete. PS I ordered soup, something I could suck through a straw without having to lift my arms. Kaz.

Tuesday 1st April 2008
You’ll never guess what happened today... BABIES AGAIN! Today we gave the staff a love bundle to thank them for welcoming us and having us. Pretty much did cuddling, feeding & cleaning babies all day! They’re so cute. Maddi

Maddi & Esther
Maddi & Peter