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Oh!! I am so excited!! Our eggs are starting to hatch!!! One actualy already has. This morning Starlight told me that she and mom heard piping in the eggs. She was so excited. Then Mom suggested that we go get one more from the nest and put it in the incubator. Breeze and Starlight went to get one. So much for one more they just came in with yet another one. Well, on with my story. A few seconds after they left they flew back into the house. " She has a chick come see. " I put my sandels and was out the door. Mom followed not far behind. The chick was healthy and strong and so cute!! We were still concerned about the cats and dogs bothering the, to say it nicely. So, I started to prepare one of our cages for the new family. It was made to be a rabbit hutch. It has wire mesh on the bottom. So after trying to lay several things on the bottom of the cage, I finally put gip rock in it. We went back to the house. Mom told us not to put The nesting box with the eggs and the hen, in the cage, yet. Back in the house we started hearing the peeps louder and still louder. Even though the eggs still don't have any cracks, we can hear them peep in another room. Though all this there is still faithful mother hen still siting on the remainder of her eggs, and watching her new chick (we left her with the mother).I got a piece of apple and started feeding her. She was so happy she was talking to me as she ate when ever I stopped feeding her she would make a screech that sounded like "MORE." We also gave her some banana and chicken feed. She ate it all straight from our hands. While I worked, Breeze snuggled the chick. Oh, it is darling just as I predicted. Then I got a pad and put a little bit of water on it then I put some of the chicken feed in it. I mixed it up to make a sort of paste, (my hands were yucky). We put that in the cage; then lifted the nesting box into it too. I took the Mother hen of her nest to check on the rest of the eggs. She started eating from the pan right away. She was very hungry to eat all the food that she did. Poor girl!! Before returning to the house I had to clean up one of her messes.  Our biggest challenge will be to keep the cage clean!! Well thats all for now. Iryssa |
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As I worked in the garden with my family, my sister, Starlight, was begging us to come look in the barn. We finally consented and trooped into the barn behind her. I wasn't expecting to see something unusually exciting. Maybe a cat or something like that. Well, I can't say I was terribly excited over what I saw; though it wasn't our cat laying in some odd position. No, it was one of our chickens, and she was sitting on a nest. Funny, they find some of the strangest places for their nests. This one however, was by Dad's rototiller. She was proudly sitting over as many eggs as she ( a small little hen) could sit on. Mom said we could let her sit on them because we did not know how long she had been sitting. WOW! That was going to be fun. Thoughts of fluffy chicks ran though my mind. What would they look like? They would be darling! Thier mother was one of our favorit hens. Along with the dreams of spring's babies came doubts. What about the cats? Would they leave them alone? If we could only be there when they hatched then we would be able to lock up the cats. Only time can tell us what will happen. Mom and Breeze set up the incubator Breeze put two of the eggs in it. We have to keep the temperature at 101 degrees. We also have to keep the humidity at 65 -70%. We do that by putting more or less water in the trench. Starlight put an 0 on one side of the egg and an X on the other. Mom says we don't actually have to turn the eggs though, because the eggs have matured enough. SO, the mother hen has done most of that work for us. We'll do our best to take care of them. Only time will tell . . . what will happen. |
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I play harp and piano. I enjoy both very much. I play a pedel harp. I play in the Icicle Creeek Youth Symphony here sometimes. I also like to play with my sisters, Starlight and Breezey, and my other friends. They play flute and violin. I sing in the Reflections Choir. My mom is the director. I wrote some music for the next program. I play the piano and harp on some of the songs. The Program we are doing now is called "Ransom" it is about the Sanctuary. In it we sing songs including "Hallelujah Chorus", "Worthy is the lamb," "God so Loved the world" and in the "Holy of Holies." We will soon go to Foutainview Academy in Canada, for a master class work shop. The Orchestra and choir director as well as the voice teacher will be working with us . I can't wait it will be fun, I think. |
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After church on Sabbath, we were invited to someone's house for lunch. They had 5 or 6 kids and they were Arianne's cousins. After lunch they got some foil papers and set them on the table. They had sat on opposite sides on the table and made game out of blowing the small circle of foil across the table and over the other team's side. It was amusing to watch. They were all huffing and puffing! I joined in sometimes when it came my way. Sunday morning just after breakfast we left Kibidula and we drove to Mafinga. At the bust station we waited for our bus with our luggage in a little room big enough to hold the luggage and a couple people. It was very musty! So I stood by the door. Buses were coming and going, honking their horns and of course there were plenty of salesmen selling their food, trinkets and other things. Finally, our bus came. We followed the guys who carried our stuff to the bus and made sure it ALL got put on. Then we boarded. No sooner did we step into the isle it lurched forward. As we made out way to the back we realized we had no seat. They somehow made room for us and after a little while we were able to sit down. As we drove through the National Park I saw giraffs, impalas, zebras, wildabeasts, baboons and elephants. We had a lot of stops dropping and picking up people. Finally we were in Dar es Salaam. We got into a tiny taxi and I had to sit on Papere's lap while we rode to the YMCA Hotel. At the desk they said they had no rooms. Memere insisted that she had made reservations so they were pursuaded to give us a room. This part of the YMCA was much nicer than where we had stayed last time. We enjoyed cold showers as we felt baked and it was still so hot. I crawled under my misquito net. Morning came almost too soon and Memere left to do some business. We stayed and took care of personal business like eating breakfast. It wasn't a particularly pleasant one for me as they served eggs, papaya, and white bread. But Papere and I traded some things and I was full enough with a York to end the meal. |
 On Thursday we went to Mafinga. Memere dropped Papere, Twalisa and I off in the town with a list of things to buy. She had to go to get work done on her car. So Papere were in town and didn't know where many things were. We somehow managed to find a little store that had some of our needed items. Then we went to the food market. It was stinky and I breathed through my mouth. Flies swarmed over the fruit and there were a couple of piles of tiny dead fish. I had seen some in Lupalilo, just not so many! We tried to find the bakery. I was pulling Twalisa along and carrying a bag of groceries. Twalisa said she had to find a bathroom, but where does one find one? We just kept walking. We did find the bakery. We bought some bread wrapped in newspaper. The problem was there were no bags. I carried the bread and Papere carried the bags. Twalisa was hanging onto my skirt and in this condition we walked to Ezekiel's house! It really wasn't too far. We left the stuff there, used their facilities and left again because Papere needed to use the internet cafe. We had been invited for supper at April's house. It was almost time for us to be there and then past time and Memere had not come to pick us up. She was having a hard time at the mechanic shop. Finally Memere got there and we drove to Kibidula. We were late but we ate some very good food. April and I played uno for a little bit, but her brother messed it up so she put him to bed. While she was gone Memere asked me if I wanted to go with her to see what was happening in the delivery room. Mary Beth, April's mom, is a mid-wife. I was excited. They said we could go back to the house and they would blow a whistle when it drew close to the time the baby would be born. We went to the house and got a cup of water for the mother. We also got the game and a flashlight. Back in the room we tried to play the game but found it very hard to concentrate. At 9:10 the baby came and I got to watch. Memere helped. I was really glad I was there. The next day Uncle Jason, a pilot, took us in the airplane. There were no doors on the plane and only two seats. It's called a Zenair. We flew for about 5 to 10 minutes each over Kibidula. I really enjoyed that ride. |
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We went to a restaurant in Mafinga. I had never been to a restaurant like it (not that I have been to very many!). It was like a palace with a reception desk. There was a large dining area with big chairs and coffee tables and a TV. In another room there were regular tables. I had rice and pea sauce. The rest had chips my-eye (okay - your guess is as good as mine on how to spell it, but that is how it sounds). The food was good. After arriving at Uncle Jason's place, we unloaded our things and went to Ariane's house for supper. I had a very nice time with her. Tuesday morning, my toe was hurting! I thought it was because I had dirt under my skin. But when I showed it to Memere, she said I had a funza. This is a sore caused by a flea that goes in your skin and lays its egg there. So she dug with a pin to get it out and it hurt very badly. Later Twalisa found out she also had her first funza. Later, I went with Twalisa to Ariane's house. I had a wonderful time catching frogs with April, Helena, Ariane and Twalisa. We caught over thirty frogs. Then we went for a walk. The next day I went with Pepere to cut and load firewood. When we got home Ariane came and I walked with her to April's house. It was a long walk but we arrived on time for lunch. I went with them to a sign language class. I have learned some sign language so it was fun. We worked on finger spelling. When I arrived home Uncle Jason took me on the motorcyle to where Pepere was cutting down trees. That was quite the ride!
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Monday we left Lupalilo. I was sad we were leaving . Memere was packing last minute things away. We locked windows and bolted doors.The cooking girls had made cake for breakfast. Later that morning I met a girl that had slept on our porch that night. She had run away from home because she hadn't done her work and was afraid her mother would beat or burn her. She doesn't have hair on one side of her head. She has been burned there. I gave her a bouncy ball and she was happy. But soon she discovered I had more in my pockets. So everytime she got near me she would feel my pockets. Memere said she had run away before. She doesn't like going back home. Kids have very few toys. Pop bottle lids are collected. One day we blew up some balloons and later we found some kids chewing on the popped balloons for gum. We took it away and gave them real gum. When we had empty boxes, someone made hats from them. Before we left we said goodbye to Barasa, Miriam, Nye, and Jafina. And then Memere and I walked down to Orupa's sewing school and I paid her for the outfit she had made me. As we got in the car we waved to the kids that had gathered around to see us off. Someday I will go back. We hadn't gone too far when Uncle Jason found a Camelion on the road. He let me hold it for about two hours while we travelled. It was three inches long and was yellow when we first found him. We watched as he turned different colors. His claws were tiny but sharp and he left me with freckle-like dots on my hand. He was cute and friendly! |
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We have had major problems with this blog! A few days after entering quite a bit of my Africa journal we come back to add more, only to find all the previous stuff erased. We have no idea what happend! So it is caught up again, but no further along. |
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On Thursday a school came for clothes. I helped to find the right sizes for the children.
The first time I was watching Memere pull teeth I was okay. But the second time I felt sick and dizzy. I had to sit down in a chair. SO I watched every time since and got a lot better. I even got to help sometimes. At times I shone the flashlight in someone's mouth while Memere pulled teeth. There were other odd jobs I could do. I helped to sterilize tools, helped hold someone down. Maybe someday I will be a dentist like Memere. This is Jafina. She is the first child that Memere has taken in. Her mother died of aids and her father works at night as a security guard at the hospital. She would pretty much be on her own if Memere had not taken her in.
The carpentry school students graduated. It was held in the nursery school. I expected it to be a lot different than it was. We started off by showing a slide show of the carpentry school. Then people got up and talked. Next the students did a play. More talking followed. Uncle Jason left with Twalise. The students received their tools and there was more talking. Sabbath we went to church in Mago. We used a school room. Most of the talking was in Swahili so I did my Young Disciple lesson. When church started Papere asked if he could do the sermon. So he preached and Barasa translated. I think he was preparing the sermon during Sabbath school. There was a lot of singing. As we walked out we formed a line outside the door and shook everyone's hands. Something I have never done. But I tell you, everyone shakes hands here! After church the sewing students came to our house for lunch. It was the rainy season and it rained a lot. This particular night I think it had stopped raining. The sky was not empty though, there were thousands of termites flying in the sky. The African's consider them a delicacy and catch and eat them. Sunday was my last day in Lupalilo. I was sad that it was ending. The morning was not raining. So we went for a walk to the river. There was a tree that almost dead. It had hardly and branches except at the top of the tree. Uncle Jason explained that the Africans think that there will be less knots on the tree if you cut off most of the branches. There is a lot of bamboo around there. The bamboo juice is made into beer. The people tap it out of the stalk. We also saw a baby goat laying beside the road with its mother. It was still very small. The river was muddy because of all the rain we had. But I enjoyed finding rocks that I liked to take home. We could see the clouds building up so we decided to go home. We didn't get rained on very hard. When we arrived home there was a mother and her twin babies and another daughter waiting for us. The babies were two months old but were super, super tiny. They had come to Memere's house for medicine because they had terrible dry skin. They had been going to the clinic but the clinic had said, "No more." Memere gave them cornstarch. She said that it works for this dry skin. The meetings in Mago were ending that night. They were quite different from the meetings in Lupalilo. The building we used was attached to the bar. The music was very loud and it stunk horrible. Memere asked if they would close it while we held our meetings, so they did. And all the drunk people came to the meetings. The people shouted and cheered as Memere introduced us. There were a few sober people though, and more adults than in Lupalilo. The second meeting proved to be better. Finally, our last meeting was to begin. As we watched the Jesus video tears stood in nearly every eye. |
We had all the childre outside in the front. Barasa sang with them and told them a story with a picture roll. Memere had them line up grade wise and we started with the youngest kids and took them 5 at a time in the livingroom. The clothes were on the table, couches and chairs. We gave the boys pants and two sweaters and sometimes a coat. The girls got a dress and a skirt, two sweaters and a coat. Sometimes they got a blanket. As a the smaller children finished bigger girls and boys came. The dresses for the girls were mostly smaller. The first tall girl I got I didn't know what to do with. So I ran outside and got my skirt that I made to wear and leave there . I got it off the clothesline and it was still a little wet. I had washed my dirty clothes by hand with Nye and Memere's help that morning. 
Anyway, I gave it to the girl and I did the same thing for another girl. Papere and Twalisa distributed soap and salt and balls to each child. When we were all through the kids bundled their things together, set them on their heads and headed homeward on foot. They were singing a song as they went. 
One day we looked at property in Mago. Memere is thinking of buying it. She wants to build a church, a school, and an orphanage for children like Jafina. We walked along on trails on the property . 
I saw many beautiful and unusal things there. Mushrooms, grasshoppers two inches long, flowers and pine needles almost a foot long. The river was beautiful. I put my head in it and it felt good, but cold. 
There was also singing. It went for about three hours. Then they had a meal. The students asked if we could show the Jesus video. Some of them had come to our meetings in Lupalilo and they wanted their parents to see it. So Memere showed it and that took another couple of hours. It was 5 hour graduation. The longest I have heard of !
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Well, I'm not done with my story, but I'm going to share what I am going to say tomorrow at our church. This trip has been a really great experience for me. I am so thankful for everyone who helped me get there. This is what I want to do when I grow up; I want to be a missionary. I don't know if God will lead me to
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At lunch I had my first Ugali and jack fruit. The jack fruit is big and green on the outside, but yellow on the inside. It is sticky! You peel a lot away and eat tiny pieces. It takes a lot of icky work and tastes like ripe bananas.
I didn't really like papaya before, but I like it now. I didn't like ripe bananas either, but Idon't mind the short bananas ripe.
Memere took me to the Duka (store) to get gas for our generator. The store is very small but it has everything. It is like a Walmart in one aisle. Our first meeting was interesting. Our hall was packed. There was a little bit of space at the back. People came and left and Papere only did one page of his three page sermon. I took care of Emily and Twalisa during Antionette's health talk so I didn't hear her. I played a song on the keyboard but the keyboard didn't work very well, or just wasn't as good as a piano. The Jesus video atracted everyone's attention. They like the pictures of themselves at the beginning of the meeting, too. The next day we prayed and talked about how we could improve the meetings and we decided to set up earlier and set it up at the back of room to allow more people to come in. That night we were more organized and ready. We were not getting very many adults but tons of kids. On the last night Memere and I went early to arrange the desks. The kids all followed, of course, so we had to chase them out so we could work. But they don't obey very well so two minutes later they were coming back in. We finally finished and left for a bit and soon it was time for the meeting to start. When we got back there were scores of kids we sent them all out and finished setting up. There were so many people and we didn't know why. It was still awhile until our meeting. We prayed together and then Barrasa, Miriam's husband, the Bible worker, led them in singing. Antionette, Uncle Jason and Papere had a hard time talking over the crowd. We were all praying, though and it was kept pretty well under control. The part of the video shown that night was on Jesus dying on the cross. The children were all crying. We bought some things for an orphan family and their grandmother. We bought soap, pencils, pens, oil, paper. school books, toothpaste, salt and toothbrushes from the dentistry and I gave each child a ball. We gave one of the little girls clothes. We took a walk through the village to their house to see what they needed most. They gave us plums.
This a picture of the girl with plums. There are six children that this grandmother is taking care of.
Lots of children come to Memere's house. Usually they come just to hang out. Sometimes I have taken my bouncy balls and let them play with them. They can play very well with them. While bouncing the ball they twirl their leg around it. I was very impressed so I decided to practice it a bit every day. I have gotten better at it but not near as good as they are. I went to the nursery school on Wednesday. I helped them make toilet paper roll cats |
I didn't care for the Ugali at first, but I love it now! The Ugali is that white stuff with the knife stuck in the middle. It is made out of maze, potatoes, or rice. Most people eat it with their fingers and dip it in beans or tomato soup sauce. 
and we said our ABC's !|
Miriam the cook, Nye the nursery school teacher, and Arupa the sewing school teacher, took Emily and held her while they shelled rice. |
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Sunday we drove to Lupalilo. This is where Memere has her orphan program in the mountains. It is about a 4 hour drive from Kibidula. I bought some airwalks at a gas station for $3. I have worn them every day since. I was very excited to get to Lupalilo. Tonight would be the first night of our meetings. When we arrived at Memere's house lots of children welcomed us. They all stood around and sometimes carried things as we unloaded our baggage.
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My first day at Kibidula was enjoyable. After opening our suitcases and giving our presents and gifts to Twalisa and Emily, Uncle Jason and Antionette ( forgive me but have you ever tried to say Aunty Antionette?) I started to get to know my little cousins. We took a walk and looked the buildings that Uncle Jason has designed and is working on. Twalisa really started to warm up to me - or me to her. We had a lot of fun playing in the sewer (brand new and never used) ditches, drawing with sawdust and catching grasshoppers. Twalise often says, "look" and gibbers her story out. She can really talk! Emily can talk, too, except it is nonsense. And Twalisa is a copy-cat doing everything I do, including "writing" beside me. We had homemade pizza for lunch and I will say now Antionette is a good cook. I got very sick the next day! I was sick all night, but in the morning Antionette made me some pretty good orange juice. I slept most of the day. Sabbath was lovely. We had a special breakfast with candles. I like coconut!! At church the choirs were incredible. On the last song they used their feet for rhythm. .. I made friends with a couple of girls my age. April from the USA and Ariane from Switzerland. We spent time checking out their horses and calves and kittens.
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26/11/06 I haven't written for several days. All the luggage came safely to Dar es Salaam. It was very HOT there. Memere (my grandmother) and Uncle Jason were there to meet us at the airport. I am writing this in the car and it is SOOO bumpy! First we got our entry visas and then we went to Memere's car. The steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car from America, and I discovered Uncle Jason can drive vary fast. I sat in the front as there are no seat belts in the back. We stayed at the YMCA. That's a hotel, sort of! We had two rooms upstairs. They were small with two beds, two misquito nets, two small closets and a sink that didn't work. I was still in my longjohns and fleece pants. It was so hot and humid that I was boiling. I was very happy to change into my summer clothes. We did a little shopping. Memere needed to go to the fabric store to get material for dresses for the ophans. I saw the Indian Ocean and lots of guinea fowl. Soon we were on our way to Kibidula. We drove thru a national park that is along the way. We saw a lot of elephants, impala, and baboons. I saw African villages. We bought lots of fruit. There were many people selling food. Uncle Jason is quite a driver and we arrived in Mafinga in no time to join the rest of the family.
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From Washington DC we flew to Ethiopia which was the longest flight of my life. We flew on the Ethiopian airlines and most of the people on the plane were Ethiopian. They are really friendly to each other. At the airport we had to wait in a long line. It was quite amusing to me to watch them hug and greet each other. They do this funny thing while they are hugging! They hug one side then the other, and back and forth. It seems to me that they bow to each other when they are done, too. We each have our own TVs on the plane. There isn't much good to watch except maps. 21/11/06 It is 6 o'clock AM Ethiopian time. At my house it is 4 or 5 in the evening. The whole thing of the time change amazes me. I had a nap after writing yesterday and at midnight we flew over Italy. We landed in Rome for refuelling, but we stayed on the plane. Now we are above Egypt. We crossed over the Mediterranian Sea and the Sarhara Desert. Anyway, I am learning a lot of geography. The maps on the TV show where we are and it is interesting. Now it is 7o'clock and we are crossing over the Nile River. It's like mud. I can also see sand piles in the Sahara Desert.
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I'm back and here are some of my travelling journal entries: 11/20/06 I enjoy airplane rides but I am a bit nervous at first. At least I got to sit by the window. After we took off I looked down and saw the hotel that my family was staying in. It was 11:30 pm and I was really tired. I tried to sleep in the airport but I was not able to keep my eyes shut long enough. On the plane, it took a long time for me to go to sleep. I think I slept a wink, though. I watched a very beautiful sunrise this morning at 2 am home time! I'It was different to see it from the air. Gorgeous colors! |