24 hours

My tolerance for spending long amounts of time at Mercy Home is increasing.  The first time I spent the night there, I was so tired by morning, that all I wanted to do was go home, but I still had to sit through a 3 hour church service!  It was thoroughly overwhelming. 

            Since then though, I think that I have spent the night there around 7 or 8 times, and it has become more enjoyable every time. 

            I stayed there again on Friday night, and I think that with the combination of my time spent there on Friday, and my time spent on Saturday, I have set myself a new record of consecutive hours at Mercy Home.  

            I arrived at around 2pm on Friday afternoon, and ‘games day’ was in full swing.  The school from up the road (Baraton) was there for exhibition games in volleyball, handball, net ball, and football (soccer).  The scores of the games didn’t really count, but the best players from each team were chosen to advance to the next level of competition.  When they go up to Dekko school next week for the first round of official games, they will compete as a Mercy Home/Baraton team. 

            The most entertaining event by far was the boys’ football.  Half of them wear shoes, and half just play barefoot.  I saw one guy playing in cleats, and the thought of those stamping down on a shoeless foot made me cringe.  They go all out, and no one ever backs down from a tackle.  It was an intense game, and our boys ended up winning 1-0 after an amazing free kick Vincent took from about 35yards went soaring into the top corner of the net.  The celebration over that goal was incredible.  Every inch of the sidelines was covered with Baraton and Mercy Home children, and when he scored, the field was immediately covered in a sea of screaming navy blue and red bodies. 

            That night, the kids were wired.  The girls dorm was alive with talk and

re-inactions of the day’s events.  It had the same atmosphere of a locker room full of excited players after winning a big cup game. 

            That night, I slept in the same bed as usual, but I didn’t sleep well at all.  All of the other times I’ve slept there, the lack of a mosquito net hasn’t been a problem, but this time, the little buzzies wouldn’t leave me alone.  (Most of the girls do have mosquito nets, but the guest bed on the side does not.)  Thankfully I had my trusty earplugs, but unfortunately, I had no bug spray.  I tried my best to stay as covered by the wool blanket as possible, but eventually I would get so hot that I would have to throw it off.  Whenever I was covered, I was sweltering, and whenever I was uncovered, I got bit.  Pick your poison I suppose. 

            Anyways, morning eventually came, and though I didn’t feel rested, it was welcome. 

            Usually students from standard 4 and up have school until lunch on Saturdays, but because of the excitement of the day before, they were given the day off.  It started slowly, with laundry and cleaning, then chai break.  At around 11am, we started doing a dress rehearsal for the afternoon ‘Jamboree,’ that Dane and Trudy had suggested because it is their last weekend here.  I didn’t actually realize that it was the rehearsal, so I sat through an hour and a half of it. 

            Then we took a break for lunch, Githeri as usual.  Githeri is a mixture of maize (corn) and beans, which I don’t exactly enjoy, but I don’t dread either.  I think I would dread it if I had to eat it everyday like they do though. 

            After lunch, the real show started.  It was so entertaining!  The kids did songs, traditional dances (which are unbelievable!) poems, and dramas.  The dramas were hilarious.  Armstrong, Lochina, and Alice Hawa managed to get me to join them in singing “Above All,” by Michael W. Smith, and we made up some actions for the chorus. 

            The show probably lasted a little over 2 hours, and then we gave out jam sandwiches and candies.  

            Then, after over 24 hours spent at Mercy Home, I went back home for some much needed rest!