A Bedroom fit for a 'Princess'

*THIS was the small '8x8 bedroom' with 2 mouldy foam beds, that 11 children shared in a 2-room building, that they called home, when I met them 4 years ago. THIS is what made me believe I could make a change in someone's life!

Up until now, all the children of Karim, have been sharing one of the two bedrooms and the other bedroom has been used for visitors. So, our last couple of days at Karim, Heather, Joy and I prepared the room, that we were staying in, for the girls to move into. We cleaned, scrubbed floors, took beds apart, killed bugs, moved beds, washed sheets, cleaned mattresses, killed more bugs, moved all the girls clothes, organized all the clothes, killed bugs, and organized the boys rooms. Oh, and did I forget to tell you, we killed bugs! We set up 5 bunk beds in the new room for the girls complete with new sheets, new pillow cases & new mosquito nets. All their clothes were organized on shelves that were labelled with their names. All their school uniforms were dry cleaned and hung in a closet! A shelf was hung for their hats and coats and pictures were hung. Dada will stay in the room with the 9 girls and Juma, Rehema's brother, will stay in the other bedroom with the 5 boys. Locker's are being built, as we speak, in the girl's washroom! Thank's to Auntie Heather, each girl will have their very own locker that will be labelled with their name and will fit their shoes, dresses & school uniforms. How organized will they be now? This will make getting ready at 5am for school, MUCH easier. And how happy are the girls to have NO boys in their bedroom and in their bathroom?? You have no idea how happy!! And the sign I put up on the girls door "NO BOYS ALLOWED" got a few giggles from the girls too. The oldest boy, Godfrey, tried to come into the girls room one night and was chased out very quickly and told "we are going to tell Mama Linda, if you don't get out". Haha so cute and all so worth all the hard work. On my last day, I was given a letter, all folded up, from one of the girls, Saumu. After she gave it to me she quickly walked away and sat on the grass under a tree and started crying. Heather was also given a letter but I am not sure what hers read. My letter read "I am sad to say goodbye to you Mama Linda. I hope God will keep you safe when you go home. Thank you for my new bedroom. I love you, Mama." WOW~a bedroom made this young 11 year old girl write me this beautiful letter. Well, these girls have a 'bedroom fit for a Princess' and they SO deserve it! Because each one of these girls is a 'Princess' in my eyes! Looking back at the old picture from 3 years ago, when I first went to Africa, makes me cry and smile at the same time. Seeing how they used to live when I met them 3 short years ago and seeing what they have now, makes me realize how I have been a part of changing these children's lives...what a GREAT feeling!!