Bedtime~My Favorite Time

Bedtime has always been one of my favorite times here at Karim. I loved tucking my children in when they were little and I miss it so maybe that's why it is a special time for me. At bedtime, I would tuck my children in and they would say "I love you Mom" and I would say "I love you more" and they would always respond with "I love you up to the moon!" I miss that so much. EVERY night, ALL the children here get a 'busu' ~swahili for kiss~ on the cheek from Mama Linda and an "I love you". Then, I get a kiss on the cheek back and an "I love you Mama Linda". One night while tucking the children into bed, I told them what my children would say to me. I am so glad I told that story because now it is a 'bedtime tradition' here for me and the Karim Children "Goodnight Mama Linda, I love you up to the Moon" and a big kiss on the cheek I get! I LOVE IT!! It really makes me miss my children while I am here and I think of them every night! I hope one day they can all come and experience this with me. Last night, while tucking them in and saying my good nights, my favorite little guy, Ibra, whose is only 2 years old, sits up in bed and says "Mama Linda, I love you to the moon" All the kids started giggling because it was the first time he said it and it sounded so damn cute! I held back the tears until I got to my room and I sat on my bed and had a cry. I am the luckiest MOM in the world! I have 16 beautiful children here in Africa that love me and 5 wonderful children in Canada that love me! I miss my children very much! And of course "I love them to the moon and back".

MUD~MUD~MUD

~Our muddy road~enough rain already!

~Stuck again? Really?

A Day of Beauty

All of us had a day of beauty including Mama Linda, Aunty Heather and Dada Joy! It was saturday and no school so it was play day for sure. Heather had some makeup so we decided to do up the girls faces but the boys were feeling a little left out so, what the heck lets put a little lipstick on them too. We hired a lady to come by the house to do our hair. She was good, very fast and very cheap but OMG was she rough! It was more painful the dentist! Seriously! It reminded me when I was little and my mother was doing my hair..this lady just slapped my head around like a beach ball! I was making faces and gritting my teeth and the kids were laughing and asking "is it pain, Mama?" Heather and Joy's hair went quick and easy cause they have long hair...I have short hair so she tried a second time trying to get it tighter!! TIGHTER!! She was already ripping out my hair trying to get it tight so all the little hairs would stay in in. Now we are on the third try...and the scissors come out! What the heck do we need scissors for? This is getting a little scary now. All I wanted was my hair braided! I said if it is too short, lets just forget it and I was in enough pain already. Heather said "oh know, you are not backing out now, I did it and now you are too" So the lady starts cutting pieces of her hair to add into my hair!! Haha I have real african extentions! Heather was killing herself laughing. Anyway, us three got our hair braided and the kids had their makeup done. We had glow sticks, popcorn and we danced the night away to 'Mama Mia' , a little Michael Jackson and some Black Eyed Peas...their favorite dancing song "Tonite's going to be a good good night" and that it was for sure!!

Progress of Rafiki House

Well, I must say, I am very impressed with the progress of the 'Rafiki House'. Especially considering the rain we have had. The rain has stopped and the sun is finally here. Yeeaahh. The 'fundi's', contractors, are working so hard. And so they should! Besides paying them well, they get coca cola & popcorn as a snack and today Heather bought pizza for everyone! What a treat! They took a 15 minute break, gobbled down their pizza and coca cola and back to work. Love these guys. They are quite funny. Everyday I go out and check on things, make sure everything is going the way planned and take pictures. They always have this worried face on when 'Mama Linda" comes around. They stop working while I walk around and when I give them the 2 thumbs up, there's a big smile and a sigh of relief! And back to work they go.

Ice Cream Day

Babu & his chocolate ice cream.

Saumu loving her ice cream!

"Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite"

Well. I must say, there is some truth in the saying "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"! Last night, after tucking all the children into bed at 8pm, we went off to bed ourselves. We go to bed very early every night as the days are very long when you get up at 5am! Anyway, I thought I would check out some emails and download some pictures. Heather and Joy fell asleep instantly so I turned out the lights and took my laptop to bed with me. Tucked my mosquito net in tightly, like I do every night, and started up the laptop. Well, after a short time, the light from my laptop started to attract a few bugs. First, a couple flies! Very annoying and how they got inside my tightly tucked net, I will never know! Quietly chased them out without turning on the lights and waking Heather & Joy. All tucked in again, now I hear a buzzing in my ear! A MOSQUITO! Really! Don't want to get bit by this thing so I am swinging away under my net cussing. All was quiet, thought I got it...nope...more buzzing! Can't find the stupid thing, but I can sure hear it. So I grab my flashlight, turn it on and I shine it on the white mosquito net trying to find it. OMG~a HUGE, BIG, black thing...some kind of african beetle crawling on the outside of my net! I turn the flash light to the other side so I could get out...OMG...another one, and another one! Frickin huge bugs, 2 inches long crawling on my net! What do I do? Scream and scare the crap out of Heather and Joy? What if they fall on me when I move the net and try to get out? OK deep breath...slowly I sneak out of my bed, run for the lights and the broom. Thought for sure Heather and Joy would wake up but nope still sawing logs. Now, how the hell do I get these things off my net and kill them? I start swinging and cussing..got one down, grap a shoe..SMACK! Now Heather wakes up..."what the hell are you doing"? "ummm killing giant bugs in my bed" She sits up, looks at the thing I just killed, looks at me "OMG, are you kidding me" ? One got away & I couldn't find the stupid critter. Shut off the computer, got back into bed and tucked in my net even tighter. All was quiet for one minute, then the cat started screaming like it ran into something bigger than itself! Hope it wasn't a rat. Heather and I at the same time "OMG" what is going on? The cat stopped and we could hear it run down the hall, then silence for maybe...one minute. The dogs started howling outside. We both burst out laughing and said "I think we are going to have a long night" It was only 930 at this time. Joy never did wake up and Heather and I never did sleep. Good Night, sleep tight..don't let the bed bugs bite!

A new retaining wall & walkway

I have given Juma, Rehema's brother, and our neighbor, Ernest a few jobs to do around the yard to clean things up and make it look a little neater. Also, these two need the money and are extremely hard workers. The contractor has enough work to do without trying to get these side jobs done for me. One job was to put a retaining wall around the entire house and pour some gravel to make a nice walkway so we can get to the backyard & the garden without going through all the mud. They got this done in 3 days and it looks fantastic. I LOVE these guys~maybe I could bring them home to take care of my yard!

THIS is....

~this is a baby helping a baby to drink out of a cup.

~this is Dr Heather helping Juma with a sliver in his foot~toothpick size!

~this is Me inspecting the work with the water well guy!

~this is Juma, Rehema's cute brother, and Babu, the oldest boy, wash all the boys clothes!

~This is Neema, Lucy and Saumu polishing all the school shoes with a tooth brush & black polish!

~this is Joy helping with the wash.

Jump Shots!

Bath Time!

~Hasani enjoying his bath!

The Start of the 'Rafiki House'

For those of you who don't know swahili~'Rafiki' means 'Friend'! So instead of calling our new house the volunteer house, I decided the "Rafiki House" was much more fitting & a fun name. This is where the 'friends' of Karim Orphanage will stay when they come and visit. In spite of the horrible weather we are having here, rain every day and down pours at night, the workers showed up the day after I got here and have shown up every day since. The road is so bad the have to walk and getting the materials here was almost impossible but they made it happen for Mama Linda. I must be a tough boss! or they just love me! It is a good thing I am here to inspect everything, everyday because they like to cut corners or just do it their way and not my way. After all, I am an "Mzungu" swahili for white person and what the heck do I know. They also know, I do not like to be called 'mzungu'! Every worker around here calls me "Mama"! Yes , Mama; No Mama; OK Mama; Good morning Mama; See you tomorrow Mama! I quite like it. Anyway, I was checking out the progress the other day and noticed the washroom looked a bit small and not the size I had it on the drawings. So I got out my tape measure, from Canadian Tire, and started measuring. All 12 workers immediately stopped working and watched me. Do I dare tell them that this bathroom is half the size I wanted it? That it only has room for a single sink and a toilet? where is the shower? I dont want to get anyone of them angry because I could end up at the bottom of the water well I am standing beside. So, I looked at the contractor, Asheelli, and called him " Fundi njo, tafadahli." Swahili for "Contractor come here please". Took a deep breath and pointed out the problem. He said "hakuna matata, Mama" ! No problem, Mama! "I will fix". Well, that was pretty easy, I didn't get thrown down the hole, no yelling & screaming and now we will have a shower. I thanked him, took a few pictures and went on my way. As I was walking away, I was wondering if they were all shaking their heads or fists at me saying "Stupid Mzungu Mama"!

TIA (This Is Africa)

Mama Linda

Water Well Video

Here is one of the guys digging the well~he is singing and stops to 'grunt' in between words!

The New Water Well

Well, I must say, I am blown away by the way they do things around here! The labor is 'real labor'! And I must add, they always do it with a smile or a song. There are two guys, and they are not 'spring chickens', that are digging the new water well. This well will be dug by hand about 40 feet deep~1 hammer, 1 chisel, 1 broken off shovel, 1 bucket with a rope attached and 2 guys! They start when the sun comes up and quit when it goes down. It has also been raining every day since we got here so the road is so bad they have to walk here. They take turns working~one goes down the hole for an hour to hammer the rock away, the other will drop the bucket and pull it back up when filled. UNBELIEVABLE! I bought all the 'fundi's' , swahili for workers, a coca-cola and Heather made a whole bag of popcorn! WOW were the excited! They are always very appreciative. ALways trying to speak english with me & I am always doing my best to speak swahili. They get quite the laugh but also comment "Mama, you talk swahili good". I saw the first water well being dug but it still amazes me and Heather is totally speechless and just shakes her head. No one should ever complain about work~until you see these guys work!

Mama Linda

Some Very Happy Faces

~ 'red hair day' Heather brought red hair spray & they loved it!

~Hawa

~Ibra

~Antonia

~Maggie

~Lucy

~Juma, Rehema's brother with Babu & Samuel

~Babu & Oneismo


~Sabrina




~Samuel, Oneismo and Mwana



~Sisters, Mwana & Hawa



~Hasani and Eli

~Eli

Walking to School