Christmas?!?

It is still 90 degrees every day, there is no crazy holiday shopping, no holiday music, no snow, no santa and no Christmas baking! Not quite the same as home... The last week I have just been catching up on everything from when I was on vacation. The organizations I'm working with are closing for the holidays and people will start to travel tomorrow, mostly to the rural areas to be with family during the holidays.

I am currently sitting in the only coffee shop in Kisumu that offers FREE wireless internet. It's so bizarre. It's really nicely decorated on the inside and almost feels like Starbucks. I'm drinking a white chocolate mocha and eating a chocolate croissant... where am I again?!? Yet, on Thursday this week I went for a pre-home visit with one of the counselors from Pandipieri. One of the boys at the center, who is 8, they are trying to place him back in his rural home. So we took public transportation for two hours to the place where the boy says he is from. It's past a town called Bondo which is west of here. So we get off the van in the absolute middle of nowhere near this tiny town and the guy I'm with starts asking people if they know the boy (he has a picture). Someone recognizes the boy and they call the man who is the supposed guardian of the boy. We get this man's phone number and tell the people we will contact him soon to discuss plans for the boy to be reintegrated. After being there for maybe 20 minutes, we turn around and get back into a van to come home... successful trip, sorta... On the way back, the door falls off the van, the lady next to me is holding a box of rotten tomatoes and the man in front of me is carrying live chickens. At that point, I REALLY wished I had the white chocolate mocha.

The football team I am supporting is doing so well! They are practicing almost daily, all the kids have quit sniffing glue and they are really focused on working hard so maybe they can go back to school sometime soon. My friend Elizabeth and I are also helping the organization (HOVIC) to start planning to set up a drop in center for street girls. It will be a temporary shelter where the can sleep at night and also be a place where they will receive vocational training. Right now, we are still working on funding and planning, but I'm really excited about the project.

So basically, I have a lot of projects going on here, but I really feel like I am contributing to all of them. I'm excited for the next two weeks of holiday celebrations and seeing my family!