March 13

---

Hello from Vihiga, Kenya!

Saturday (March 13)

We arrived yesterday. After 36 hours of travel, we made the 30 minute flight from Nairobi to Kissumu. After the short flight and our feet were on the ground, we counted suitcases. Miracle -- they all arrived! Is this a good omen for our trip? We had each brought extra suitcases filled with books, clothing, vitamins and special gifts for our children at the Vihiga Children's Home. We were met by our van driver, Moses. Our first stop was the grocery where we stocked up on bottled water and other supplies. The children have developed a love of peanut butter so we bought jars of it along with jelly and loaves of bread. PB&J -- a special treat for the kids!

Next stop, MBale High School were we pulled D. (note, I will only use initials for the children's names to protect their privacy) out of his classes. He has just arrived in secondary school and our fellow traveler, Ellen, has just agreed to send him to school. She wanted to say hello, reassure him that he is sponsored, and ask if he has the supplies he needs. He came out of class and was met by 10 friendly by strange mazungas !! I was impressed byhis poise and yes grace in light of this surprise visit. The look on his face when he learned that he's being sponsored was worth the 36 hour trip....a beautiful grin complete with dimples. Dr. Ellen departs tomorrow for her infectious disease class in Tanzania. We'll miss her indeed, she does keep us organized!

We've spent this morning organizing the things we brought and refining our to-do list for our time here. A major priority is to refine the children's diet. Chris on our Steering Committee has research the nutritional needs of growing children and the availablity of ingredients, as well as the traditional African diet. Having nurse Nancy has certainly improved the overall health of the children though -- many fewer cases of malaria.

Our home away from home is Sosa Cottages. It's a vast improvement over the MBale hotel, where we stayed 4 years ago. It's clean, quiet -- a little oasis.

We made a brief visit to the Vihiga Children's Home on Friday night. It was exciting to see with my own eyes the nearly completed 3-story dorm . Curtains on the girls' windows and bright coverlets on the beds. Perhaps my daughter Danica who is with us on the trip can brighten the walls with murals while we are here.

---