Day 5- Painting, Exercise/Teethbrushing, and Home Visits

Today was a lot like yesterday. We woke up at the Heart Lodge, ate breakfast and headed to the Center. Yesterday, we finished the inside of all the classrooms so today we moved to the outside of the building to paint. We painted the building, the inside gate, the outside gate, the guard house and outside corrugated metal. It was a full day of painting but our team is incredible and knocked it all out. 

Instead of doing a chapel service for the kids, we divided the kids into two groups and did a couple of different things. The first was a time with Amanda leading exercises. She's an instructor in the US so she brought her skills and talents with her. Using a Bluetooth speaker, she did a whole routine with the kids and wore them out. One of the unique blessings of this trip is to see each team member use their gifts in some fun ways. God assembled the right team for this trip. So many times, we see God utilize something in someone to bring Himself glory. 

While that was going on, a small team took time to teach the kids how to brush their teeth. Part of the daily routine of the school will be for the kids to brush their teeth each morning. We brought about 280 toothbrushes and toothbrush holders with us from the US. Scott said this was a huge need in their kids lives right now. When we get back, just ask Collin about his teeth brushing song!

While the kids were with those groups, the teachers asked us to do a training time with them. Melissa is a teacher at PCA North. She took an hour and forty-five minutes with Gracie and Rachel and did a Q & A with all the teachers at the school. It was very beneficial time for the teachers as many of them don't have a formal education so having our team pour into them was very well received. 

Today, the third and fourth group of team members headed out to visit homes. We visited the first house which belonged to Josephine. She is the grandmother of two kids in the Project Lucas sponsorship program. One of her daughters passed away several years ago of an unknown sickness. Her other daughter lives in South Africa and send money back to support her and her kids. These visits have been SO eye-opening when it comes to seeing how the kids in the program live. 

Another house visit took us to Cynthia's house. She lives with her mom, two sisters, and one brother. Her brother is sponsored by another family in another program. However, the other sister is 6 years old and not in school because they can't afford it. Cynthia's mom washes clothes for a living but suffers from a skin condition that only allows her to work a couple of days a week. This makes it hard for her to provide for her kids. The family lives about two miles from the Center which usually takes about 45 minutes to walk one way.

We headed back to Heart Lodge after an incredible day! Most of the painting is done at the Center so all we have to do on Saturday is paint the floors in the entire place. We head to Safari tomorrow morning for a quick 48 hour break to experience a once in a lifetime trip for most of our team! More to come about that. Much love from Magical Kenya!



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