Emma Hadassah 2 years 1 month

Emma is now forming more and more sentences that actually make sense. Her vocabulary is expanding daily in both English and Swahili. She very much enjoys playing with her friends at church and loves when they come over to play at the house. Emma is very curious about life and loves learning new things. Here are a few fun things from this month J

I don’t have to worry about telling people I am pregnant anymore because Emma is doing a great job at it for me. She puts her hands on my belly and says really loud where everyone can hear ‘momma, the baby is in there!’ Then tries to explain that there is a baby in her belly too…

Emma has started to sing along to some of her favorite TV shows like Peppa Pig and Daniel Tiger. It’s super cute.

When we go on family walks she prefers to not be held anymore but to walk herself. She will say “Emma can carry herself” or “Emma can walk”

She is in love with muffins.

Emma let me braid her hair for the first time!

Her lamb and two puppy stuffed animals are her favorite.

If you ask her how old she is she says three.

She loves giving us hugs and telling us she loves us. I hope she never out-grows this.

Emma will wrap her arms around my belly and then say she is hugging the baby then gives it kisses and say “oh baby, I love you!”

Her favorite time of day is bath time…little fish.

When she wakes up from her nap and we ask her if she had a good nap she responds with “Yes, I have good nap with my animals in my bed.”

Emma always has a song in her heart and sings all the time.

We tried potty training this month….Emma went potty on the big girl toilet once and we all celebrated by eating some chocolate.

Emma loves corn….like really loves corn.

Emma is now using the word ‘maybe.’ I asked her if her lamb was in her bed after her nap and she responded ‘maybe.’

She loves to sing prayers before we eat a meal :)

Fun Things We Did This Month:

Our pastor’s daughter has started coming down to watch Emma a few afternoons a week so Mark and I can get some work done. Emma is still warming up to having Sharleen around but is adjusting pretty well.

We visited a village school about an hour away from where we live and while there Emma thought it was so funny to wave at the kids and see their reaction. However, if they got too close and touched her she would freak out J

Our friends Beatrice Williamson and her cousin Velma came to visit this month.  Emma loved having Velma around to play with her for 3 whole days.

Tot School June/July:

We are working back into a routine of Tot School.  We have been doing small things lately with crafts, exploring in the Kitchen, and outside activities. We are focusing on her learning her colors now. She can match them well but still mixes up the names.  Emma painted her first picture on a canvas. She LOVED it. Since she is getting more interested in butterflies we did a little lesson and craft about how caterpillars turn into butterflies. She enjoyed the craft but I am pretty sure she still thinks it’s how the caterpillar makes itself a little home then comes out with wings J

Some Pics from this Month:

 

 

Shine Your Light Jesus

We are currently visiting different communities to see where the Lord may be leading us to work, help empower and invest in for His glory.  Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit a school in a town called Rumuruti. It is about 30-ish minutes away from where we live.  The school is located just outside of town close to a few villages.  We visited a nursery school which has nursery classes (starting around age 3) up to class eight (about 14-15 years old). The school had students primarily from the Turkana tribe but also had kids from the Kalenjin Tribe, and a few from the Kikuyu Tribe.

One of our pastor friends who works at the school during the week as a class seven teacher showed us around and introduced us to the head master. They informed us there are just under 500 students at the school and only 9 regular teachers. I am sure you can do the math to figure out the ratio of teachers to students. There is a lack of teachers throughout the country which makes it hard for public schools to spread out all the work and make sure each student is learning the best they can. Many of the teachers teach multiple classes and subjects.

The nursery class was the fullest and had students ages 3-5. There were just under 50 kids in the nursery class and only one teacher.  She divided the class in half and while she was teaching one half the others would wait outside until they could come in for their chance to learn.

While there we noticed most of the kids did not have a uniform. Most of the families in the villages are not able to afford school uniforms. This school has graciously allowed the kids to come to school without their uniforms because they know they would not come to school otherwise.

We were surprised to see the school had a feeding program. All of the teachers made a decision to use some of the money the government gives the school to help feed the kids lunch. This money does not come around all the time.  On days there is no food, a large amount of students do not show up for class. While we were there, the kids got to enjoy maze and beans for their lunch. This is what they have on a normal basis but some days there are no beans so the kids only eat the maze. We noticed that many were carrying their lunch home. The head masters informed us that the kids will take their lunch home so their siblings can eat some too as this is generally the only meal they will get all day.

After we visited the school we took a drive to a few villages where the kids live. We saw how far some of them will walk to school and observed that most of them walk barefoot. We saw where they collect their water at the school and how the whole community uses it, the mommas wash clothes in it, the people bath in it, and everyone including the cows drink from it.

Every time we go out to visit a community I am reminded of how much need there is just in this town of Rumiruti.  The need is great and resources are few. People so badly want to have hope that something better will come but they are too busy worrying about surviving today. My heart breaks every time we visit these places. I find myself asking Jesus to show up in mighty ways.  I ask Him to come and help these people and shine a light in a community where it has been dimmed for so long.

Please join us in prayer for this community and school and for discernment as we seek the Lord’s confirmation as to where He is calling us to join Him.