Hotel La-Kairo Mwanza

So we are in Mwanza now and it is a beautiful city. I am totally enjoying myself and learning more everyday. Safari was great, but I am happy to be walking around and not sitting in a safari vehicle all day. We stayed at a beautiful place on lake ...

... Saturday morning. I felt a little guilty to see the children's extra chores, but also knew that Gloria and Joel had forbidden parties at our house despite the additional work a party at their house required.

I spent the morning at our house with Jackie and Leah as the other volunteers had gone grocery shopping in town. We exercised and were quite tickled as Ema, dressed in this horrible mesh shirt, joined in. I then packed my bag in preparation for Sunday’s ...

... recently got caught stealing food. Carrying the heavy scale we found a truck to rent and then revisited the stores with a porter to collect our goods. As the back of the tuck became piled with goods, I too sat and watched over the items as Gloria continued to fetch the rest. When the porter finished he and Gloria climbed up on the pile to protect the goods from thieves until we pulled away from the crowded market area. Gloria also offered the porter ~$4 to ...

... had rejected this stick as she believes it was once used to unclog a sewage pipe. Jackie had ventured out to see what we were doing and we sent her back inside to get rubber gloves. Carly pulled on the rubber gloves, in case the stick was covered in invisible waste, and attempted to tie the original stick to the new one. I remembered I had duct tape in the house which I grabbed to securely fasten the sticks together. I quickly bound the duct tape around the sticks and declared it ...

... say that our friendship has progressed to the level of seventh grade. One of our favorite topics of discussion is asking Ema about a neighbor that likes him. "Ema, you na Anna to shaky shaky?" we ask him. Premarital sex is highly frowned upon in the Maasai culture and Ema doesn't seem to really like Anna at all, so he tends to get a little upset as we laugh and tease him about this. However, if we tease Joseph, our second askari, about his girlfriend back ...

... I have found myself questioning how happy I could be permanently dealing with these situations. In addition, I think I have been a bit disappointed as I had anticipated feeling an overwhelming sense of bliss immediately upon my return. The ongoing trials at Hands of Mercy have obviously diminished my chance to relish in true joy. Luckily during the first two weeks, the children reinforced my first impression of happy-go-lucky individuals and allowed me to maintain ...

... together. Thanks to my wonderful family and friends enough money has been raised to take care of children for at least another month. I and all the volunteers are truly grateful for this and until a Board is in place I will personally manage these donations. Although this lessons the current dilemma, it does not resolve the issue of a long-term plan for Hands of Mercy and its orphans, Joel’s response to any ...

... youngest *t H*nds of Mercy. This *lmost three-ye*r- old is *lso the most disgusting. Snot continuously flows from his nostrils. Di*pers *re non-existent *nd no one h*s *ttempted to toilet-tr*in him resulting in multiple *ccidents e*ch d*y. From * dist*nce he *ppe*rs to be cute, but looks c*n be deceiving. Honestly, the other cle*ns *re f*r from cle*n, but Angelo is the only one I *void touching. One of the children's new f*vorite hiding pl*ces is in * l*rge wooden cr*te th*t sits in the ...

... it Sese). When I first arrived last year, Ceci, Mary and Joseph had been at the orphanage for less than three weeks. Ceci (then three of four) and Mary ( probably between five and seven) were probably a little shell-shocked causing them to be very clingy. We nicknamed Ceci, Motorboat, as she was always running up to us, wrapping her arms around us, burying her head in the taller volunteers ******es (luckily her head came up a bit higher on me) and then making various ...

... Nairobi looking for work. Perhaps this may result in increased earnings or more likely will contribute to decreasing funds.

Leah confessed that Hands of Mercy was basically broke. Food supplies were dwindling and serving sizes drastically reduced. Basic items such as soap were practically non-existent. Most of the staff (women who washed clothes, cooked and cleaned) had been let go and the children took over the main responsibility ...