Baby Steve

Nowadays, the joy in my heart comes from my little brothers and sisters at Exodus. I spent Sunday evening and Monday at the Home this past weekend. On Sunday, there was a lot of rain, but when I finally reached the centre the kids were so excited to see me. I came in the gate and saw Baraka. He grabbed me by the arm led me inside where all the kids were quietly studying. He stuck his head in the door and said in a soft voice, “Lora’s here.” Immediately all the kids screamed and ran over to mob me! We spent some time around home and then all 25 of us trekked through the mud about 2 kilometers to the “kinyozi” or salon. Can you imagine what we looked like walking down the dirt road? Quite a lively crew… twenty-three kids between ages 4 and 15. It was a fun time though. I am so impressed with the discipline and good manners of each and every child at the Home. There is something about those kids that gives me the driving desire to give them all of my heart and all of the love and affection I could ever offer. Somehow at the end of the day when I think my heart is empty because I gave away everything, I find that it is still full and overflowing with love and satisfaction. As I get to know the kids and their stories, I am moved. Many of them are traumatized and have a lot of pain that requires more healing time; yet they are able to love others, work hard, and carry hope for the future. They are an amazing group of kids and they’re probably all that I’ll be blogging about from now on.

Some news from my OTHER family (the Arogo's): Syprose delivered her seventh child last night, a baby boy. She named him Steve after my dad! Martin sent me a text last night saying that if they have a girl, she'll be named Lora, and if a boy then he'll be named after my father. What a blessing! I didn't know what to say, but I didn't feel worthy to be named after! So, congrats, dad... Martin and Syprose don't even know you, but they respect you so much to name their child after you! I'll head home to Kisumu to visit in about a week and a half.

photos above: my friends at Exodus and the view from my dorm room window (in the self catering dorm I moved into)