Hi there!

The New Life Home orphange didn't need us until the afternoon today because it is a Saturday so the babies sleep longer, so we started off this morning going to Kazuri beads on the outskirts of Nairobi in Karen. Kazuri beads is an organization that employs 340 women who handmake beads for jewelry and pottery. The neat thing about Kazuri beads is that they employ citizens (mostly women) who cannot be employed elsewhere. In Kenya, it is completely legal to deny a job to a single woman just because she has a child, so many of the women that are raped or have an illegitimate child are unable to find work. This organization was created to employ such citizens and also gives a percentage of its proceeds to the New Life Home where we are working. While there, we toured the factory where all of the workers make the beads and pottery to fire in a kiln. We also got to do a little shopping in the store to buy some neat jewelry and pottery for a great cause.

After our trip to Kazuri beads, we went to the orphange for the remainder of the day. We got there in time to feed the babies lunch and change diapers. We took the toddlers outside to play before it was time for dinner and then they are put to sleep at 5:3o p.m. The schedule each day for the kids is very structured. Depending on which age group we are assigned to that day will determine what we are doing with the kids, how often they are fed/take a nap, etc. The orphanage is incredibly undestaffed so each day brings something new they need us to help out with.

The social worker here is named Rhoda and she has been very helpful in informing us about the adoption process and organization of the orphanage. We have spent some time helping her with paperwork. The Nairobi orphanage is organized into four nurserys: 1)pre-mature/newborns 2)6 months- 18 months 3) 18 months-3 years 4)3-5 years. All but 9 of the 20 five -year- olds were adopted last year which is amazing. All 9 of the kids who were not adopted tested posted for HIV AIDS and are moved into the "Arc" which is the home for kids older than 5. It is hard for the kids testing positive for HIV AIDS to get adopted because many families cannot afford the medical care. Also, the girl-boy ratio here is about 75% boys. Kenyan law says that couples may adopt either sex, single mothers may only adopt girls, and single fathers may only adopt boys. There are a lot of single mothers looking to adopt but hardly any single fathers which is why there are so many boys.

We cooked dinner for the first time tonight after being brave enough to boil the water here. We're having to be very careful with not drinking the water and washing our hands while handling the children.

Tomorrow, we'll head back to the home for another long day of caring after the adorable babies!

If you're interested, be sure to look at some of the pictures on the webshots link I posted in the email I sent you all.

Love you all,
Coty