Dan is in the bathroom taking a shower and informs me that there is no hot water. My first challenge of the day has arrived. No wait. The first challenge was sleeping through the prayers of the next door Mosque at 5:30 this morning. The prayers blasted through a loudspeaker. They lasted for 5 minutes.

The food from last night passed the test, no digestive events of note.

I’m in a vortex, one where I have no idea what time or day it is. I looked at the clock on my computer and it’s 12:07 a.m. on Saturday in Atlanta. It’s 7 a.m. here. Weird.

Pt. 2.

Back from an exhausting day, but a day that will be forever etched in my mind. Our group had breakfast and a devotion time. We climbed 5 flights of stairs to the top of our hotel roof. We looked out on Nairobi as kids went to school on a Saturday morning.

I saw a few trash fires from the roof. Trash fires burn everywhere, the smell of these fires is omnipresent in Nairobi. This is how they get rid of their trash.

We drove through town to The Havilla Family home. As we drove in the children greeted us with song. We walked off the bus and were greeted with hugs and smiles. They were so happy to see us. We met the children and Joseph, who runs the home with his wife. Joseph greeted us and encouraged us to look around everywhere

The children showed us their rooms. They were so humble and proud at the same time. The rooms were dirt floors with at least 6 kids to a room. A single bulb lights each room showing bunk beds and not much else, a radio in some. The roofs are made of corrugated steel sheets.

We broke up into several groups and worked on the home. Some of the women did laundry and cleaned while others tilled the land. Some of the guys helped Joseph build a new chicken coop. Not bragging but our group had the most physically strenuous job. We cut the grass that feeds cows. We fed long stalks of grass into two blades attached to a wheel. We gathered many stalks and kept cutting. We put the chopped cabbage in a bucket and fed the 8 cows that belong to the home. We each took turns at the wheel since it was so exhausting. Still, the kids put us to shame on that thing. Maybe it’s the endurance athlete DNA but they could work the wheel faster and longer than we could.

After a few hours of grass cutting we broke for lunch. Once that was done we did more work. The rest of the guys helped Joseph with the new chicken coup. We nailed wire and corrugated steel to the posts.

While we did this the kids set up a radio. The women danced with the kids. Not much longer and we were out of the supplies Joseph had for the coup.

While we worked the children set up some chairs for us. What happened next was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The children sang and danced for us. I teared up as I watched these children sing and worship God. The younger kids seemed to go through the motions but the older ones, you could tell, sang from the heart. Words cannot describe the beauty of that moment.

Joseph spoke to us afterward talking about the power of God to reach these kids. These kids have absolutely nothing. He talked about how God provided for them. Before coming to Havilla these kids barely got 1 meal a day. Joseph told them God could provide 3 meals a day for them. They did not believe him. Then when it happened the kids saw the power of God.

Joseph prayed and we said goodbye to the kids. We are going back tomorrow to do more work and spend more time with them.

As we drive through the city were are stared at as if we are celebrities. People wave and smile to us. At one point a bus pulled up to our bus. The Kenyans greeted us and gave us high-fives through the window.

Dan and I each got a shower when we got back to the room. I asked him if he saw any showers or bathrooms for the kids. There aren’t any. They have outhouses.

My laptop works! It was only the power supply. So each day I will share memories and journals from my time in Kenya. Here’s day 1.

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My roommate Dan stands on the bed and kills mosquitoes in our room.

“There’s one there, there’s one there, there’s one there,” he says jumping and clapping the bugs between his hands.

This is Kenya. We’re at the P.C.E.A. Guest House. We’ve made it after two, eight hour flights. We flew on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The service was outstanding. The entertainment system gives plenty of options to keep you entertained with movies, TV shows, games and trivia.

At the airport in Nairobi a young girl came up to our group. She was only 3 or 4 years old. The notable action was she felt comfortable coming up to us. Her family was sitting on a bench outside the Port Health Department. She did not speak English but with her eyes and smile she communicated pure love and curiosity.

Our hotel was only a 15 minute drive from the airport. Covered in darkness I couldn’t make out much detail of the city as we rode. However one thing is certain, Kenya has a vintage vibe. What I mean by that is everything has a 60’s or 70’s feel. There are modern touches, car dealerships, billboard advertising and cell phones.

Just being here a few hours the mood of the Kenyans is already infecting me. They give off nothing but good vibes and big smiles. They also look at us a little weird, but not with suspect, more curiosity than anything.

Nothing has happened yet. Laura almost got hit by a gate in the parking lot at the Nairobi airport. Other than that it’s been a smooth first day.

We just ate some Kenyan food in the restaurant here at the hotel. Time will tell if we’ll survive.