Anna's Volunteer Opportunities

We wanted to share some of the service work that Anna has been doing here in Kenya. Of course, she continues to be a wonderful big sister to her brother. She reads to Leo often and plays countless games of Matching and Uno with him. But she also has had time to help others.

The other day I needed to teach Preschool class at the last minute. Anna stepped up and was very involved helping the kids with crafts and reading to them.

From left: Elise C., Hannah B., Anna, Anna F., and Leo

She has had the opportunity to color pictures and take them to the hospital for sick children. She and her friend Anna F. recently visited a child in the ICU who was scared and not doing well. When he improved and was transferred from the ICU, we were told the pictures they colored for him were above his new bed and he had a great recovery.

Anna has visited the nursery to hold and love on the babies. It was neat to see her holding some of the small babies that we delivered. She was all smiles when she returned from this trip to the hospital.

Watching our kids make us realize that there are so many ways to serve and have a positive impact on the lives of those around us. We are very proud of her - our Anna is growing up.

Happy Thanksgiving

We will be having a Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday. Since Kenyans do not celebrate this holiday, Thursday is a regular work day for us. On Saturday, all of the Tenwek missionaries will gather for a potluck lunch. On the menu is turkey and most of the traditional sides (sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn pudding, cranberry sauce, and various pies). Apparently we will also be watching football - someone must have a satellite dish!

It is hard to be away from family during this holiday time, but we feel very fortunate to have new friends to share the day with. We have so many things to be thankful for...our health, family, friends, and faith. We wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sweet Leo- A Mosquito's Best Friend

If we had to come up with one downside of living in Kenya, it's the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are probably not even as bad as they are in the Michigan humid summers, but it is the potentialof getting malaria from one of those pesky buggers. Fortunately, at Tenwek, we are at slightly lower risk of getting malaria because we are at an altitude of 6800 ft. Even so, we do take precautions. We sprayed all of our clothes with permethrin. We sleep under mosquito nets every night. Anna and Leo also take malaria prophylaxis orally every two weeks. We also have bug spray if we are ever out at night for an extended period of time.

Anna and Leo in their nets.

Unfortunately for Leo, mosquitoes are especially attracted to him. On Thursday morning, I went to get Leo out of his bed and saw a mosquito inside his net. I killed it and subsequently had blood smeared all over my hand. Apparently, this mosquito feasted on Leo all night. Poor guy, we counted 29 mosquito bites just on his face and arms. If you need a good bug repellant, just stand next to Leo. Mosquitoes are sure to bypass you and flock to Leo.

29 mosquito bites and counting...

Bosto Orphanage

On Saturday, Bryan, Anna, and I had the privilege of spending the day at Bosto Orphanage which is about a 90 minute bumpy car ride away from Tenwek Hospital. We accompanied Dr. Chuck Bemm and his three oldest kids; Leo stayed home to play with Hannah-the Bemm's youngest. In addition to working as a pediatrician at Tenwek (and having many administrative duties involving the medical interns), Chuck and his wife, Amy, make supporting nearby orphanages part of their ministry.

The children at Bosto ranged from ages 7-15. According to Chuck, some of the children were orphans and others actually had families who could not afford to feed and clothe them. These kids will most likely not be adopted because they are older. These children are again a shining example of how resilient Kenyans are. The children were waiting outside for us when we arrived. We were greeted with smiles and giggles by the most beautiful children. Though they have so little in their lives (according to our standards), these children are filled with faith.

Chuck and his children brought over 350 pounds of corn and a large bag filled with balls, jump ropes, hula hoops, and frisbees. For the next several hours, we played outside with all the children. I'm not sure who had more fun, us or the children at Bosto. Anna, who is prone to getting car sick, looked a little green when we got to Bosto. She made me smile when she whispered in my ear, "this was worth the car ride."

Doing the limbo.

What a small world...He's wearing an Indianapolis Indians shirt - our hometown.

There is much fascination with my Asian hair.

This is where all the meals are prepared.

We finished our time with the children by sharing in some worship time. We wish you could hear their sweet voices and feel their wonderful spirit, but alas, downloading our video clip is nearly impossible...

As we said goodbye and gave hugs, our hearts were filled with their warm spirits. Our minds, however, were filled with questions of how we could do more. In the Bible, Psalm 82:3-4 states, "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy..."

Nairobi Run for Sight

The last weekend of October was a busy but exciting time for us. Along with the Halloween festivities on Friday, we also had the Nairobi Marathon. On Saturday, we loaded up the Tenwek Eye bus and the McCropder van (lovingly called the “Jolly Green Giant”). Over 20 people signed up to run, including many of the eye unit staff. As we mentioned previously, all the proceeds from the race (which included a marathon, 10 K, and Family Fun Run) support pediatric eye surgeries at various eye centers throughout Kenya, including Tenwek.

Three and a half hours later we arrived safely in Nairobi, where the girls proceeded to do some marathon grocery shopping! We then got up bright and early Sunday morning to have breakfast- our only option…two dozen donuts and cinnamon rolls. Not exactly a power breakfast, but you just have to make do with what you have.

Getting to the marathon and finding a place to park was an adventure in itself, as you can tell by the picture. Jason Fader did a fine job of driving with John Cropsey navigating.

We were all impressed by how well attended and well organized the race was. This is us at the starting line of the 10K. It was so exhilarating to see part of the marathon race and witness some amazing Kenyan runners.

The girls stayed together and encouraged each other into running the whole 10K. Even First Lady Michelle Obama cheered us on.

Can you find Bryan and John in this picture (Hint: Bryan has his arms up and John is in red)?

We found the guys cheering us on at the finish line. Here we are…tired but happy. From left: Bryan, Toanh, John, Jessica, Meredith, Jason, Jason, Heather, and Todd.

Once we got cleaned up and had lunch, we loaded the kiddos up and headed back to Tenwek. We feel so blessed for the opportunity to participate with friends in such a fun philanthropic event. Over 15,000 people participated in the marathon. According to the Cropseys, the final numbers aren't in yet, but Standard Charter Bank who sponsored the event has already committed to fund 150 pediatric surgeries at Tenwek for next year.

Happy Halloween

We had an enjoyable Halloween weekend here at Tenwek. This is not a custom followed by the Kenyans, but the missionary families made the most of it. We were happy to find out that pumpkins grow abundantly here. We have already been enjoying pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin pies, but we found use for the whole pumpkin with our annual pumpkin carvings.

This year we had to use our imaginations for costumes. Anna decided on Pipi Longstockings and never waivered.

Leo initially wanted to be a pirate, but was not happy wearing a bandana or an eye patch. So we made the decision for him and convinced him to shave his head! Leo was an MK-"missionary kid." There have been a wave of mohawks on the missionary boys lately, thus Leo joined the club. He looks very cute with his new do.

All the younger kids enjoyed an afternoon of activities and games. Here is the whole group. (From left to right - Leo, Hannah, Abi, Elise, Anna F., Anna P., and Micah in front. Maggie was napping during the photo shoot.)

Anna works on decorating her pumpkin cookies with the help of the older kids.

Pumpkin races in front of the school house.

Pin the nose on the pumpkin - or on the wall!

After games the kids had a scavenger hunt around the compound with clues leading them to their next home.

Even in Africa there was plenty of candy for all.

That evening, the older kids had their own scavenger hunt which ended up at our porch. The kids made s'mores, drank Kool-Aid, and listened to a spooky story by Dr. John Cropsey. The only thing missing was the crunch of fall leaves under our feet during the trick-or-treating.