Daffodils and Tulips

The forecast for rain prompted me to visit Filoli Estates before the daffodils were gone.  As always, the daffodils were magnificent.  A few tulips were out as well as camellias and clematis.

Rafiki Village Mamas

Each Rafiki Village mama lives in a 4 bedroom cottage with 10 boys or 10 girls.  The ages range from 5 to 12.  These native Kenyan women love the children, nurture and discipline them, and care for the cottage as if it were their own home.  The mamas meet each week for Bible Study and a parent-training seminar led by Julie, the Rafiki staff missionary. The mamas are on duty 24/7 for their Rafiki children, but every two weeks, they get 2 days off.  Most mamas go and visit their own biological families nearby.  Each evening at Rafiki Village, the mama gathers her children in the living room for singing hymns and reading out of student Bibles.  They pray for each other and also for needs of the entire village.  Howard and I have visited several cottages for evening devotions and have been moved to tears by these kids and their mamas!  Their hearts are full and so tender!

Right now, in Kenya, there are 6 cottages.  The older students--junior high and senior high age--live in residence halls.  There are 20 boys who live with a married couple and their own 2 sons.  The 13 girls live in a residence hall with 2 matrons.  In the residence halls, the students are learning to be more independent, in preparation for their graduation from secondary school.

I have had the privilege of conducting a Book Club with these ladies every Wednesday during the time I have been here.  It has been great getting to know them better by reading together.

Karen Blixen and Out of Africa

Our Saturday outing began at the Nairobi National Museum.  We saw prehistoric skulls found in northwest Kenya, birds, mammals, and butterflies, and history displays.  Then we visited the Snake Park!

The snakes in Kenya either constrict you to death or poison you to death with venom.  Very few on display were "harmless"!

Then we drove to the Karen Blixen Museum where we learned her life story and toured her house.  The movie rights to Out of Africa restricted me from taking any photos of the interior.

Did you know she wrote 9 books?  She loved Kenya, and Kenyans loved her! She gave large parties, but she could not grow coffee on her large coffee estate.  If only she had know that her acidic soil needed lime, she would have been successful at coffee farming.  She painted some of the Kenyan natives who worked for her, entertained the Prince of Wales (Edward), and wrote books in 3 languages!

the only remaining coffee plant--the beans should be plump and red, not dried and black.

Phaustine was our personal tour guide--she was lots of fun!  This is a replica of the coffee roasting machine on the estate.  The coffee was then sent to Europe for more processing and then sent back to Kenya to be sold.