10 Snippets of uhm, well, my life

1)"Pandora requires 64kbps to run properly. You are currently streaming 16kbps." Curses on Kenyan internet.
2)student about another student: "T____ is like my grandma, she moans a lot." perfect description.
3)(me)"Make sure you label all these little islands." (student)"Miss Jones do we have to label all these tiny islands?" (me)"I just answered that question." (student)"Oh, I don't think I was here." (me)"I answered it about two seconds ago." (student) "Oh." dear oh dear
4)"Miss Jones, can you please get me out of detention?! Just say you need me to do some work or help me become a better Christian or something!" so creative with their excuses
5)I gave a student the task of erasing some dry erase maps....(me) "You just have to rub with a lot of elbow grease." (student) "But I thought we couldn't put cleaner on the erasers?" (me)"Elbow grease is just an expression for rubbing really hard." (student)"Oh"
6)When two of student were caught by the rest of the class walking as slow as possible back to class, they all accused them of "skiving." I had no idea what this meant, but they were sure yelling it out! I soon figured out that it meant skipping class.
7)So, I have this one student who I caught one day, putting her books and belongings in my lost and found basket. I asked her what she was doing and she said she would come and get them later. I had to inform her that she could not use my lost and found as her own personal locker. I've had to remind her practically every day since.
8)"Miss Jones, I think you're so smart that the information just slips out of your head."
9)I don't know why, but every afternoon when the students have left and I'm just working in my classroom, there's this bird that always trots into my class! Ya see, our classrooms open to the outside, not an actually enclosed hallway, and there's a huge tree right outside my door. So, this one bird just loves coming in! He's not really scared of me either! It's bit of a battle, keeping the bird out.
10)(student)"Miss Jones, I have a big problem. I think I've broken about a dozen school rules." (me)"What did you do?!" (student)"Well, ya know how stuff ferments after a long time? Well, I think I made alcohol in my locker."

Serving His Children Ministries

We jumped off the bus and were immediately accosted by boda boda drivers, frantically trying to the collect the five white girls and their bags. Even though the normal form of public transportation was sitting on the back of a moped, or boda, I preferred a taxi for this first trip. I was visiting Uganda for the first time with four friends from Nairobi. We had just rode the bus all night long and arrived in Jinja around 9am. I needed to find someone who could get me to Renee, the director of Serving His Children ministry. That was my plan for my first Kenyan spring break...visit Ugandan babies and of course, raft the Nile River. We finally managed to peel ourselves away from the boda drivers while I called Renee on the phone. She would come pick us up, brilliant. We parked our bags and ourselves on the other side of the petrol station where we were dropped off. I had only read a few pages in my book when she arrived, we loaded up, and off we went to Masese, the right outside Jinja where Renee lived. The views of Lake Victoria along the route were beautiful!

We found the house full of Ugandan mothers, babies, and older siblings. The two other American volunteers were quite welcoming as we made ourselves at home with chai and cinnamon buns. Over the next three days we each grew to love the sisters in this house. Renee had moved into the house three years earlier to start a feeding program for the children in the local community. It evolved into a malnutrition rehabilitation center for an average of 14 children at a time. The children we held, played with, and fed range from a few months old to a few years old, yet almost all look about the same age. Extreme poverty has shown it's horrors in the lives of these precious little ones. They come to the house just skin and bones, most not able to sit up, walk, crawl, speak, or really even eat. With God's help, they are nurished back to health while their mothers are taught how to properly care for their children. It was humbling to sit on the porch holding a baby listless in my arms, knowing the child was actually two years old, and could not yet walk or talk. What kind of future is in store for this child of God? It is heart-wrenching to think how many children are out there just like these, yet don't even have the chance to get well. How many of them will die of malnutrition? Hugging them a little tighter, I prayed God would give them a "hope and a future." It was exactly the kind of spring break I wanted. Spending time with some awesome missionaries and loving on the babies they care for so diligently. I don't understand the poverty and malnutrition, but I do understand God's call on His people to serve them and take care of them. What a great way to show God's love! If you understand God's command to care like these missionaries do, please visit their website to see how you can help. And always, say a pray. http://www.servinghischildren.org/