It's a girls party

April 30th 2009






Well we are back in the city and the journey was uneventful and quick. Just what we had hoped for. It was sad to pack up and leave our home and dogs for 2 months.
We celebrated 5 birthdays of the ladies here. It was a fun day as we visited one of our favorite restaurants Le Rustique. It was good to see everyone and catch up on their lives. Drew and I also went to the Dr. again this morning to have a check up. Noah is doing fine and growing. My belly measure a cm bigger than I am in weeks. We also were able to tour the Labor and Delivery and Recovery rooms, meet the anesthesiologist, and set up another scan for next week. Noah's heart rate was 138 bpm and the Dr. commented on how active he was. She said his head was fixed but had not dropped yet. All good news.

Mosquito repelant

April 26, 2009





Making mosquito screens for the windows proved to be a day's work. It is nice to have the windows open at night to take advantage of the breeze. But the mosquito/malaria factor really puts a damper on that plan. These screens help this situation tremendously. Plus I think guys just like to tinker around with cool power tools.

Camel tracks

April 25, 2009







Shelby got to practice driving the BAD roads out to the village to check on the Arsenic Filters on Saturday. Mary rode along with the group also. They did a little camel herding with their vehicle and were able to spend time with new friends once they arrived. They were just in time to try rice and green grams (english pea type vegetables) and eat Mandazis (doughnut type pastry). The verdict was good they liked the food. Later the spent much time visiting and sharing stories. The group was so exhausted when they got back home.

George's Village

April 22, 2009







Drew took Shelby and Mary to meet George's family. This is the place we have been introducing Chujio Filters. They got to meet his little brother Galgallo. And see the traditional homes. They also walked through the fields to see the cash crop that is so popular here. Hopefully this place will be open to more filters and visits from our NGO.

Soko na Mboga

April 22, 2009








Market and Veggies. We took Shelby and Mary to town today and let them meet some of the vendors who sell vegetables, fabrics, and also showed them where to buy hardware supplies, get a tire fixed, buy canned goods, the butcher, the bank, gas station, post office...... All important things to know here. Mary bought fabric to get sown into a dress buy my friend Gabriella, and we got to meet her sweet baby Elizabeth again. We even ran into our young friend Fabiano. He helped us translate at a clinic we had not far from town. It was an exciting trip but I was even a bit tired after shopping and talking to all the locals. And we all were a bit dirty from all the dust and dirt flying around. Learning Kiswahili will definitely help the new guys get around.

Rodgers' Birthday

April 21, 2009






Our house helper Judy, and her son Rodgers' let us help them celebrate his 5th birthday. It was actually the week before but they were traveling from visiting home. I made cupcakes from scratch (somehow they turned out) and we invited all the little boys from the neighbors to come and share in the sugar. They were so cute their mouths full of chocolate icing and cupcake. It was a lot of fun and we were amazed at how polite and well mannered they all were. Saying thank you a millions times. Either they really like the cupcakes or were just scared of us. Rodgers got a truck and absolutely loved it. He makes all the noises and everything when he is driving it. It was a fun afternoon.

Eagles have landed

April 21, 2009





We picked up our co workers at the airstrip to welcome them to the Mountain. We are thrilled that they are here to visit before they start school for language. We were even more thrilled to learn that they had had a good flight on the big plane. No air sickness. We plan to show them around and spend as much time with them as possible. Drew and Shelby are headed out on some work trips for a couple of days and Mary and I will find something to do I am sure. SHOP!!!!! SLEEP IN!!!!!! But who knows.

When your expecting

April 17, 2009

We welcomed our friends Gabriel and Talaso over for dinner. We of course had to take an updated picture of our bellies and I am pretty much in denial about how big my Noah looks in this picture. It seems I can not possibly stretch any more. Talaso and I talked about the babies kicking, our Sciatica Nerve causing us trouble, how much the babies should be weighing at this point, and she mentioned that I was looking better. "Much healthier". It is always fun to let them read the "What to expect when your expecting" book. They got a kick out of the fact that the baby swallows and urinates the amniotic fluid. Noah also got the hiccups while they were visiting. So Talaso got to feel my stomach and all the hiccups. She had no idea that could happen. They said I was a miniture Dr. (since I had all this knowledge about babies). Later Drew and I listened to Noah's heart and all the swishing of him kicking around.

Water Check up

April 15, 2009

Happy Birthday Ali!!!!! Big 18!!!!!!


We went to a nearby village to check up on the Chujio filters that were installed a couple of weeks ago. The community was very pleased and all families had the filters clean, full of water, and usable. They all stated that no questions lingered about how to use, clean, or maintain the unit. And that pleased us, to know that we did an adequate job of explaining. We of course wanted to visit anyway to start and build relationships. Some people even said they usually did not drink the water where they lived (instead drinking chai tea, or other liquids) because the water was not clean and or had a bad taste. Now they are drinking and enjoying having filtered water. We received many requests about being the first to receive a filter when we got more in stock. "I will be the first to buy one." was the overall statement. This community lives off cash crops, some maize crop, they have goats, and cattle. In one picture a "Mama" is teaching a young girl how to grind maize. The little boy Galgallo, pictured with me is 5 years old. He is absolutely precious. He follows us around when we visit and giggles. The baby pictured is probably 7 months old and is sitting in just a shirt on the ground. They do not put diapers or pants on them because they are not poddy trained. And I can imagine that diapers are too expensive, and cloth diapers are not economical because of lack of water. So they just go on the ground. Very different than what I am use to seeing but I imagine it works. It certainly tests or strengthens the immune system I suppose. I was cute to see that little bottom sitting on a dirt ground. The mom was gone collecting water and a young girl about 9 years was left to watch the house and baby.

They community all concluded that they needed rain. The lack of rain really affects the whole country. They said that it looks like it will rain all day. There are so many clouds, and then at night (when it usually showers) there is not a cloud in the sky. The thunderhead clouds really are amazing to see, but they just blow right on by. There is not much thunderstorm activity (thunder, lighting) when it does rain here. I really miss hearing the sound of thunder. It has certainly been strange this year. April is usually the time of the rainy season, and it is raining in other parts of Kenya but not here. In the desert but not on our mountain. We are just hoping that the clouds will build up over time and that the rains are just late. But that they still come.

Muddy Bunny

April 11, 2009

Although they do not celebrate Easter with all the bunnies, easter eggs, chocolate, and baby chicks here in Africa; it is the season when the rains return to the area. We were blessed to have strong showers for two days. Well it rained in the morning times. As a result we curled up on the couch and craved hot cocoa, stayed inside mostly, and watched some movies. The water tanks were slowly filling from the gutter overflow of the roofs. Which we were really excited about. And of course our new puppy, not having seen much rain ran wild rolling and splashing about in the mud puddles. And since he hates baths we waited until he was sufficiently done playing and thoroughly exhausted before we gave him a bath. That way he would not fight as much. He is getting bigger by the hour it seems and Mkulu and he are becoming better and better friends.

Squash

Tuesday April 7, 2009


Well today I am 32 weeks and counting. Noah is not having as much room to move around these days as there is all the amniotic fluid there will be until delivery. All that needs to happen now is growing on my part and his. My pulse has been quite high lately but BP is fine and I kinda attribute it to anxiety. Relaxing and planning has been high on my priorities lately. I have been checking out the garden and the squash seeds my mom brought me are finally mature plants and ready to eat. I am so proud to have grown something that I have been craving. They do not have yellow squash here and I really miss my mom's fried squash and butterbeans.

Chujio filters

Monday April, 6 2009


We also went out to a small grouping of homes about 30 minutes away from our house yesterday to give out another type of filters. These filters are made of clay and saw dust and remove bacteria from the water. The clay pot is fired in a kiln and the sawdust burns away creating pores for the water to filter through. The people seemed excited and were happy to see us. We gave an overview on how to take care of these filters and what is involved in keeping them clean and usable. We have used one of these filters while here in country. These filters could become popular here in town and could help a lot of people if they are used properly.

Changes

April 2, 2009

Changes

- I can not stand too close to the stove when cooking or my belly gets hot
- My belly button is finally sticking out
- While brushing my teeth, toothpaste falls on my belly right before I spit,
I ruin more shirts.
- Feeling Noah have hiccups has been fun to let Drew feel and marvel at.
- Turning over in bed takes two or three movements of readjusting pillow and
covers, and telling Drew to move over.
- I have been having vivid dreams everynight. It usually depends on whatever
show I have been watching on TV or something I have read that day.
- I think that I get stared at more here in Kenya for being the big pregnant
lady that I would if I were in the states.
- I have to eat smaller meals more often or I get too full.
- I do get a lot more foot and back rubs from my wonderful husband.

Village Trip

March 31, 2009

Drew here:
I recently revisited the village to install more arsenic filters. Plans were changed quickly after arriving however. When I went to check on filters we put in several weeks ago there was a complaint about the water and sand smelling. After confirming the complaint the decision was made to change the type of sand we would use for the filter. The sand which caused the water to smell was due to tiny black lava rock that was dissolving in the water and giving off an odor. A local guy named Jaffrey and I found another area to collect sand absent of black rock. We installed two filters to be used for two to three weeks before making any more decisions. If the sand works then we will continue with installations if not another source for sand will again have to be found.