Week 3: Aunty Sofi

This week I think I realized that I've fully acclimated to life here. Mainly because now all of us SMs have our basic weekly schedules down, and I've gotten the chance to experience every part of a typical week at least twice. I realized I forgot to mention one of my favorite parts of working here: my new name! To the girls, I'm Aunty Sofi, and to the small toddlers I'm simply "Mom". All we are really here to do is to help in the nurturing of all the toddlers and girls, and that's one of the most fulfilling things that exists. I can't pretend to understand motherhood just yet, but I have had a greater kind of respect for it now that I get a taste of it first hand. Most of our daily tasks are either changing babies, feeding them, playing with the young ones that don't go to school, and in the evenings helping with study hall for the ones that do. Before getting into the third week, here are some of my favorite "Aunty Sofi" moments from these last few days.

Collins!

This first one is Collins! He still only crawls but he stood up and was using my shins as a back rest so it looked like he was standing (good on him for figuring out that loophole). At first I wasn't sure how long he'd be up but he stood for a few minutes all on his own with his strong little legs.

Triza!

Second is Triza. This was a picture taken on Sabbath while we were coloring with the girls in the afternoon. This picture was taken right before she went to work braiding and styling my hair. A way I see God every day is in how happy these girls are with even the most seemingly simple activities. It reminds me to be grateful for the small gifts God gives throughout the day.

Nemayian!

Third is Nemayian! She's a sweet baby and is always smiling but man she never sleeps. This picture is filled with happiness because of how adorable she is but also relief that she finally fell asleep after having her bottle in the morning.

Mark!

Last is Mark! He is such a happy baby, always doing his own thing and doesn't need too much attention to be content. I got to bond with him a bit more this week. He gets happy when anyone interacts with him, and is okay on his own but still glows when around others. We can all learn a thing or two from him.

Okay, confession. When I realize I've been talking about myself for a long time I get awkward, so now we're shifting to the recap highlights of the week!

• There were dentists here from the UK for the week! The Trust has a dental clinic that offers free cleanings when there are dentists here, so that's what they've been doing this week! They're really sweet, and it's amazing how much the Trust gives to the community.

• The SMs girls take on Narok! On Monday we realized were low on some groceries that we couldn't get at the market, so we had a driver take us to Narok for the morning. Of course, with it being a girls trip, once we were done with our errands we stopped for a lunch and got a few cute matching dresses.

• Vespers with the girls was a fun adventure, we did the story of Paul and we acted it out. The girls had as much fun watching as we did portraying it.

• We gave the girls some cut up watermelon from the market and also some tajin to put on it!

Here's some life lessons I've learned since living here that I thought someone might want to hear :)

• God's plans work better: the way this whole trip was even possible was through God opening a whole lot of doors that I couldn't have done on my own. I'll talk about that in a later entry, but even in being here I've seen that depending on Him isn't just something that I can choose to do. It's what I owe to the One who makes all aspects of my life possible and even flourish.

• Smile more: as mentioned earlier, the girls here find happiness in the simplest thing. And that is true I suspect of most children. Being more present and not skipping over the small things to be grateful for is a recipe for a happier life.

• Slow down: life moves pretty slow around here, and at first that made me uncomfortable because life at home is fast paced. But you tend to miss a lot of it. Slow down, document the parts of life that make you happy or unhappy. I know I'll regret forgetting any part of my experience here (hence the blog), so why would that change for the rest of my life?

• You can't go through life alone: priding yourself on going through life alone doesn't make you stronger. These girls have a family and a group of people that cares about their wellbeing, and that is priceless when going up against the trauma that they have all faced. Community is what we are wired for and what God designed for the human race. Reach out to someone today :)

That's all I got for this week. Bye!