Yesterday, Agape did a community service project for the Municipality of Kisumu, volunteering to clean up the park across from Town Hall. Here are a few photos!
George carries a load of rubbish after raking.
The boys cut grass, raked, and picked up litter.
Using a jembe to till up the soil.
Eliud takes a break after working hard.
Ian & a curious street boy
A slasher is used to cut grass in Kenya. Lawn mowers are rare!
Shadrach takes a swing with the slasher.
Mama Benta lends a hand in front of the Kenyan Flag statue.
To celebrate Christmas at Agape, we served the boys a big lunch of fried chicken, chapatis, cabbage, and cupcakes. We also invited Agape Girls to join us us for lunch, the first time that we've had Agape's boys and girls together at the same time.
Chapatis, Fried Chicken, and Gravy, Yum!
Agape Boys & Girls together for the first time . . .
And they ignored each other completely!
Seth & Lyla build a fort with Brian & Wycliffe.
As guests . . . Agape Girls get to eat first!
Assembly line for lunch.
Mohammed gets ready to chow down!
Christmas Lunch in the Agape Dining Hall
Chris hangs out with Solomon; his parents, John & Lisa
nervously looks on. :o)
The Agape Girls lead the Boys in a Praise Song.
Video: An Agape Boys welcome for the Agape Girls
The kids play Bottle Cap Checkers.
Jonathan with 3-year old Lucy,
the youngest girl at Agape Girls
Tuffi (pronounced Toughy) came to Agape in November but has really struggled with staying at home and at Agape. Thus far, he has run away from home once and from Agape four times. He showed up from the streets one afternoon and asked that we take him home the next day.
Winfred and I meet with Tuffi after returning from the
streets for the fourth time.
Kisumu to Gwasi
The trip to Tuffi's home in Nyandiwa is not an easy one. When Agape's social worker, Olgah, took Tuffi home for the first time earlier in December, it took her 18 hours using public transportation. Two-thirds of the trip has good roads, but the last third of the trip is made up of brutal, rough Kenyan roads. Because of the length of the trip, I volunteered to drive my truck, cutting the time of the trip to 8 hours. Round trip it is only 412 kilometers (256 miles), so I averaged 32 mph. Olgah, on her first trip using only public transportation averaged 14 mph. Yikes!!!
The intrepid explorers, Connor, Justo, Tuffi, Olgah, & Sutton,
prepare for their journey.
You'd be amazed what you can see on a motorcycle or bicycle!
A view of Lake Victoria in the distance
Because of the mountainous terrain near Tuffi's home,
many people use donkeys to transport items like water.
The town of Nyandiwa in the distance. Beautiful!
Boys gather firewood to sell in town.
Brave souls - we were going about 60 mph.
Sutton, Daddy, and Connor at Nyakach Canyon.
Connor, Sutton, & Olgah in the canyon
looking for Indiana Jones.
A video of Nyakach Canyon
The downstream path of the canyon headed
towards Lake Victoria.
Last week, we held the first annual Agape Olympics complete with Blindfold Soccer, Dizzy Lizzy-Balloon Pop Race, Egg & Spoon Relay, Water Balloon Toss, and many, many more!
Michael, Shadrach, Nack, Willis, Mohammed, & Alex
patiently await the Opening Ceremonies.
Joshua, Eric, Ian, Brian, & Justo get ready for
Blindfold Soccer.
Kerry & Thomas goofing around!
Preparing for Blindfold Soccer.
A video of Blindfold Soccer
Shadrach with his slipper-elbow pads.
Joseph, Meshack, Jason, Safan, Alex, and Nurse Margaret
wait for the next event.
Emmanuel tries to pop a ballon in the Dizzy Lizzy Relay!
A video of Dizzy Lizzy Relay
Tammy passes out ammunition for the water balloon toss.
A video of the sponge race
Chris & Benta read the Bible verse from the coloring sheet.
As we continue to teach the Agape Boys about Christian service, we took them to visit New Life Home to spend time with the orphaned babies, toddlers, and special needs children. I am so proud of them; they did so well!
One of the babies is excited to see his friend, Connor!
Ian, Connor, and Joseph love on a baby boy.
Jason helps a baby scoot around the room.
Willis plays with helps keep a little boy happy.
Kevin carefully feeds a baby ugali and cabbage. Yum!
