The kids with their new shoes!
8 am came quickly. Very tired.
Off for breakfast then back to Toto Love, quick stop at the ATM for more $$$$. Finding out I can only take 20,000 ksh out at a time, not 40,000 ksh for some reason. May have to start using my Visa too.
Went straight into painting but the news crew came to interview us. We were going to be on Kenyan TV!!!! Denise did the talking, we just stayed in the background (which was ok with me). Trying to get some awareness about the orphanage because it is a smaller one. But so deserving since the kids have HIV. He interviewed Ruth and one of the kids as well.
Able to finish all 3 bedrooms, bathroom, hall and shower room and start the kitchen and sitting area!!!!! Very tired.
Denise took the kids shoe shopping while we painted. We were able to buy shoes for all the kids and some groceries too. They were so excited. She had to take them in two lots, the younger ones first and the older ones later.
Left Toto around 7pm. I was completely exhausted. I could barely move from all the painting in the last few days. Denise and I fell asleep while Hillie got ready. Too tired to go out so Hillie and the teenagers, Rhoda and Edna, left to go get dinner with Paul.
Finally showered. But went right back to bed.
Weather was good today. Not as much rain, just a sprinkle.
Smells are very different here. Alot of BO! because of lack of showering. Even the soap smells different. I thought the garbage would smell worse but it doesn't seem to smell for some reason. They litter every where. I remember the first time I saw the kids eating some packaged cookies and they just threw the wrapper on the ground...yikes!
Also every night on road from Embu to the hotel the police have a spike belt so cars have to slow down and weave through it so you don't pop your tires. This is to stop criminals from fleeing town after committing a crime.
Alot of people are also staring at us because we are white. Not so much in a bad way, but a curious way. Many think we are rich tourists.
Lots of spiders here and a funny bug with long wings, tons fly to the lights after the rain. some of the spiders were down right scary. Big and I had to get one of the guys to kill one for me when I was painting.
I also noticed people look much younger than they are. Hard to guess their ages. The orphans are very small and look really young too.
The children of Toto Love all have many stories that we hope Ruth will share with us. We plan to go for lunch on Monday after shopping so perhaps she can let us know then.
Bansy for instance couldn't walk until she was 9. She would have to crawl outside to beg for food. Then she would cook for her mom and feed her because her mom was so sick from AIDs. Her mother died in front of her while Bansy was feeding her. She ended up living with her aunts for a while but they were making the local brew illegally. They somehow got her a wheel chair and they would literally park her in front of the door to slow down the police in case they raided the house. But sometime they would kick her out of the wheelchair to rent it out to people that might need it, leaving Bansy to crawl around. She was finally rescued and had an operation and can walk now. She doesn't read or write but goes to school now. She is just learning English and doing well.
Some typical groceries
10 L H2O 180 ksh ( $2.50 cdn)
5 L pineapple juice 319 ksh ($4.25 cdn)
25 kg rice 2,875 ksh ($30 cdn)
24 sodas 600 ksh ($8.32 cdn)
10 pairs of shoes 15,203 ksh ($211 cdn, or $21 a pair)
Ext paint and primer for the whole outside of the house 9570 ksh ($133)
Paint for the whole inside 27,890 ksh ($386 cdn)
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