Mogogosiek Baby Home

“Welcome to the Garden of Eden.” Those were Crystal’s words as the gates to Mogogosiek Baby Home opened almost 2 weeks ago to let us in. She wasn’t kidding…I’m not even sure she was exaggerating. This place is BEAUTIFUL. I wish I could describe view here but you will have to wait for pictures. The home is up in the mountains in the ‘tea country’ part of Kenya. The home is very picturesque and I am enjoying all the different plants and flowers that are here. Driving here 2 weeks ago was an amazing reminder of God’s creativity. We’ve been singing a song with the kids that says God’s “fingerprints are everywhere” and it’s so true. Between seeing the landscapes and the wide variety of plants and birds around, God’s artistic ability is overwhelmingly on my mind.
Tomorrow we leave this home and move north to Ogada, a Children’s home near Kisumu (you can check out the map again if you want to see where we are heading). Leaving is going to be much harder than I originally expected coming into this home. Coming here, I was excited about the type of loving we would do—we can’t communicate through conversation with these kids (they are all 6 years and under) so we were all excited to love them through actions and in a simple, physical way. I didn’t realize how involved my heart would become and how attached I would get to some of the kids. It’s amazing to me to love that much when words cannot even be exchanged. I think I also finally understand how parents’ love multiplies with each new child instead of divides. It’s weird because in some ways I feel like a mom to some of these kids—I don’t know how the nursemaids do it (as in how they can watch these kids grow up and then have to let them go. I’m already struggling with letting go and it’s only been 2 weeks). The nursemaids are awesome girls (all about 18-23 years old) who work like crazy. There are 9 of them and 45 kids. These girls are saints—the work they do cannot be matched and the love they have for the kids is so evident. Most of them do not speak much English but we were still able to have fun and joke around with them. I feel like 2 weeks gives us just enough time to really get into things and start to build friendships…and then we leave. The girls really enjoyed laughing at us—especially when we try to put the cloth diapers on the kids. After 2 weeks, success! If you can call it that…I usually get it on them and then put the plastic over-diaper things on immediately so it doesn’t have the chance to come undone.
While here, our lives have been pretty routine. And usually routine and I don’t get along…I get bored with repetition. But here, I haven’t gotten restless. Something about these kids is just so enjoyable and relaxing. I mean, it’s exhausting (and we even take 2 chai breaks a day that the nursemaids don’t get) and sometimes overwhelming but it’s just different. So a typical day looked like this: we would get up and have breakfast at 7:30 (the nursemaids are up at 5:30) and then head down and start working at 8:30. In the mornings, we did different tasks depending on the day. Sometimes we stayed together and other times we all split up. It was a lot of fun—a few of the days we went to the preschool on the property and worked teaching letters and numbers in the 2 classes there. I have discovered that I’m not cut out to be a teacher. Especially to preschoolers. I don’t think I have the patience to teach “small letters” for an entire week and not really have the kids pick it up. They’re cute though and for 2 days, I enjoyed it. I also worked in the kitchen 2 mornings, which I really enjoyed. I got to see how they make some of their traditional dishes. Ashley and I worked in the shamba (farm) 2 other mornings. We helped them weed…it took a bit to get used to…I think we may have uprooted some of their vegetables. Another morning we helped do the laundry…imagine what the laundry looks like for 45 little kids…the skin on our fingers didn’t fair too well after all that scrubbing. And finally, I also was able to go down and help with the little kids in the morning with bathing, changing diapers, and dressing. At around 10:15 am, we would take a chai break and then head back to work. At 11, the babies are fed. And around 12, the 2 and unders are fed. Then the kids from the school come home at 12:30 and eat before heading back. From 1-3 the kids nap and that’s when we would take lunch and get some stuff done. Then we would head down and help feed the kids porridge. At around 4:15 we would take another chai break and then we would hang out and help with the kids until around 7:30 at night. Then dinner and relaxing for the evening. Which is kind of nice and different from the other homes where there’s activity until at least 10 pm.
I’ve spent most of my time with the kids that are around 2 and under. The older kids are great and I really enjoy hanging out with them when the weather is nice and we can be outside, but when you put me in a room with 28 3-6 year olds, I get a bit overwhelmed. So I tried that out a few times but learned to avoid it in excess. There are a few kids here who have really grabbed my heart. One in particular I know is going to be extremely difficult to leave…and it’s weird because she’s only 6 months old. But for some reason I am crazy about her. She just has the most beautiful little smile and she provides the perfect refreshment if I’m feeling overwhelmed with the others. I kind of want to sneak her home with me…
I should explain briefly what kids are here and how they come to be here. Many of the kids have lost a parent (usually the mother), arefrom a family that is too poor to care for them, or have been abandoned and brought to the home by the police. That is a brief summary…their stories are all different but I think those are some of the main points. These kids are great and so fun to love.
It has been an awesome 2 weeks and I wish we didn’t have to leave quite yet. The staff here, although few, does an amazing job. They have a lot on their plates so keep them in your prayers—along with the kids! Also continue to pray for the team as we head to Ogada tomorrow. Ogada will be a whole different feel as there are only about 40 kids (and only 8 are girls!). I hope you all are doing well, thank you for the emails and encouragement, and be checking for another update after our next home!