tumaini

News of Late

We've been busy plugging away here with nothing particularly exciting to report. We have been digging through old records the past few days looking for old receipts for water pipes and installations. Looking for old receipts is hard! 

The children seem to be doing better with homework. We had another session last night with Science about "Cleanliness of Water" and the kids did MUCH better than they did during last week's report I made. I was thrilled that they seemed to understand what they were reading and writing about. Thanks for praying for us - please continue!

I'm having trouble with my internet modem. I'm not really sure what the issue is but it seems to be with my computer and not the modem program itself. So I don't really know how to fix it. I'll try to keep up with posts as I can but without regular internet, I may get behind. Just an FYI. 

Homework Can Be Exhausting

This week has been a re-entry week for me - mostly re-entry into homework each night. Ever since my family headed back to the States, I've been going up in the evenings again to help the children with their homework. Livingstone has been there and Ferdinand, unless it falls on his day off. Jeni hasn't been around for a while because two months ago, she and Livingstone welcomed their first-born son, Yeremiah, into the world. We rejoice  with them over this welcome addition to their home but sure are feeling her absence on homework nights!

The past three days, Livingstone has been absent and Ferdinand has been in and out with other tasks. Mama Nursi has been helping quite a bit but even with her help, she and I are hard-pressed to see all the kids get their homework done and understand what they are doing. Tonight was a particularly exhausting session. The Standard 2 children had a science homework assignment requiring them to list off various symptoms of HIV/AIDS as well as other lists of preventative  techniques, etc. They were really struggling to understand what they needed to write down. I couldn't help comparing them to the Standard 2 class from last year - who didn't struggle quite so much. 

Ferdinand and I kind of tag-teamed to help the final 12 students get the homework completed. We had the science book that they use at school so we were able to show them the lists of answers to choose from and write down. Ferdinand did a stellar job of walking through each sentence in the book (it's a short chapter!) and thoroughly explaining each word in Swahili and then in English to make sure they understood. It was very disheartening to still observe the "vacant" expressions on many faces after all of Ferdinand's hard work. 

We stopped part-way through the explanations to check and see that everyone was writing the homework correctly so we could contine on together to the last few questions. To our dismay, all of them had erred on what Ferdinand had so carefully and painstakingly explained. One by one - with 12 children - we had to go through the lists again telling them and showing them what to write. The children were very tired - as were we!

We finally finished - feeling scarred and weary. You may imagine that I am exaggerating, but I am not!!! I'm thankful that we could stick it through with the kids and that they could hang with us to finish the job but it also makes me concerned about how much they are understanding - or not, in this case. Please pray for us (the tutors), their teachers at school and for the children that we would all have wisdom and patience.

I hope for the rest of the week we will have all of our tutors back....

Last Saturday in Sengerema

Last Saturday many members of our five churches gathered in Sengerema to commemorate the opening of the new church building there. It was my first opportunity to go to Sengerema since the church plant was begun a few years ago. It was wonderful to see the church members there as well as some old friends from the other churches, whom we don't get to see very often. Four of our Tumaini children went to sing with the Shadi church choir at the event. They rode in the car with the Eads, the pastor of Shadi and his wife as well as me. I was able to keep my eye on our kids - though there really wasn't a need as they behaved themselves very well. (Felister, Winifrida, Neema and Michael). I'll include some pics below:

                        

A Nice Surprise

Yesterday was my birthday and I spent some of the day relaxing and some of the day organizing my stuff and cleaning up my house! I didn't end up going into my office until this afternoon. When I did, I was met with a nice surprise! My co-workers, the Eads, left early yesterday morning to drive to Nairobi but the night prior to their trip, the snuck up to my office and decorated it. It was a blessing to be surprised. J 

 

Last Sunday at Tumaini

My family and I spent a little time up at Tumaini last Sunday afternoon. Josie and Mattie, my nieces, had spent the past year collecting little toys and items in preparation for their trip here to visit. They brought some jump ropes, bubbles and balloons, among other things. The kids had a great time playing together as you can see from the pictures below.

                               

Prayer Request

We had some sad news announced in church this morning. The husband of one of our caregivers, Melesiana, passed away last night. She has at least five children still in the home. Please pray for her and her family during this time.

A group of people from the church went by after the morning service to offer condolences and see what they could help do for the family. I also went to offer my condolences (I've been to several weddings but never to a funeral) - such a sad situation. Melesiana is a very sweet lady  and a very hard working one. Many of the church members have pitched in to help with food and water for the next several days. Tumaini will also help with some of that as well since Melesiana is one of our staff - not to mention a faithful and hard worker.

Last Friday

My niece, Josie, wrote about the Tea Party we had for the girls last Friday here. I thought I would post some pictures from the party. Enjoy!

                                         

The Roark Family Serengeti Safari

    On Monday and Tuesday we went to the Serengeti on a safari! It was a great experience for the whole family! We saw wildebeest, giraffes, termite towers, elephants, hippos, leopards, cheetahs, impalas, birds, lions, warthogs, crocodiles, zebras, dikdik (similar to deer), thomson's gazelles, grant gazelle, vultures, cape buffalo, topi, hyena, baboons, heron, bustards, African pied wagtail, guinea fowl, ostrich, secretary bird, and pied kingfisher. We even saw 5 hunts, 1 kill, 1 steal, and 1 meal! We watched a cheetah mother teaching her cubs how to hunt when a gazelle ran by! The cubs were able to catch the gazelle but just as they started to eat it, a hyena came by and stole it! It was a very cool experience!!! We saw some lionesses and their cubs sleeping when 2 gazelles ran by and got away! It was funny! The whole family enjoyed the safari :)

Josie's Experience at Church

This morning we went to church in Shadi. It was much different than an American service. For one, it was in Swahili, so I couldn't understand anything they were saying or singing. The order of service was prayer, announcements & special offering, introducing of guests, testimony, singing, choir, sermon, offering & choir, and greetings outside. My sister and I were very interested in the dancing and clapping while we sang. She actually practiced the dancing when we got back to the orphanage!!! We enjoyed having church in Africa :) 

Post From Josie

Hi! I am Beth's niece, Josie. I am going to tell you about the tea party that my mom, sister, grandmother, Aunt Beth, and I set up for the girls at the orphanage. We fixed chai, cucumber sandwiches, and chicken pasta salad. The girls got flower hair clips & bands, and got to color their placemats! They were really excited! We also gave the boys peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, toys, and candy. They loved it too! We all had a great day!