running amok with Paul and Jackson

Before I finish off the week in Masii, I need to write some about a few of the people who work and volunteer for Tumaini.

Paul Mutendwa is a fairly recent addition to the staff and is now the in-Kenya director of Tumaini. He is a crackerjack accountant and knows exactly where all the money for the children is, all the time! He has a wife and two little boys and is devoted to them but is also devoted to the children of Tumaini. He also has a great sense of humor -- the running joke during the entire week we were there was that when things were kind of up in the air we were "running amok", then when things settled down, we were "back on track"...this was an on-going thing, that has continued even in emails after we returned!

Jackson (never heard his last name) is one of the most indefatigably cheerful people I have EVER met in my entire life. He is the chaplain for Tumaini, and originally kept track of all the children. Now he supervises the volunteers who do this work in several regions around Masii. Jackson was always full of laughs, songs (he would break into a song at the least provocation -- including "Shut de door" -- a song that Laureen and I knew from way back) and jokes, but was also very intensely interested in the welfare of all the children. He knew where every one of them lived, and knew everyone's story. This is really amazing when you consider that Tumaini has over 500 sponsored children now. He also is the pastor of a church in the outskirts of Masii, and told me that his church is what keeps him going. He is truly a man of God.

Esther was another amazing person we met. She was the director of the VBS, along with James (I do not know last names). They were also extremely well organized and I was surprised to find out that she knew where every child was in the VBS and could run down any kid that anyone needed to see. Remarkable.

I have already written about Ellen and Agnes.

I have mentioned Joseph -- our driver. I have never seen someone who was so "one" with his vehicle. He knew exactly where he could go with that thing -- we only got stuck twice during the whole time we were there. One of the best moments of the trip was on the way back to Nairobi from Masii, when Joseph took us on a "short cut" through a town to avoid a terrible traffic jam. The pot holes could have held a Volkswagen and were full of water but we bounced on through and made it out the other side. In this little town, there were some people having a Sunday evening church service by the side of this muddy road, with several of them up on a platform, singing and dancing, and we started to wave at them with both hands as we went by -- they all became very happy and waved back -- it was a great feeling of connection with these Christians we didn't even know or have time to meet.

There were many other wonderful people we met, including the young men who cooked for us and the others who brought us a bucket of warm water every morning at the hotel. In general, the Kenyans we met were gracious and cheerful.

I felt very at home and welcomed everywhere we went.