day 4.5 - 5

good morning ☕️ y'all are sleeping, and we are starting the day. i think writing in the morning is better because my brain is still foggy dealing with adjusting to a different time (7 hours ahead).

i am drinking coffee and listening to all the sounds... men chipping the large stones that are being used to build the perimeter wall just chatting away.

and i hear a chainsaw running as they are downing trees now inside the goat area (to clear for perimeter wall). the goats are tied for safety and they'd much prefer their days of roaming the grounds. 

but i get ahead of myself.... back to saturday night when we arrive in kisii at the rescue center! the sun had set by then, but the rescue center is well lit. like a beacon in this village. we were greeted by 23 very excited teen girls 💕!!! 

a few we knew from previous trips, but so many new faces! these girls were recommended to in his hands from various sources, all constituting destitute, impoverished, and/or traumatized. on the surface, it doesn't show. this is pretty universal. we hide our pain until we feel safe enough to share our story. the future is bright for these girls thanks to everyone of you who have contributed in small and big ways. it all matters. without you, none of this is possible. 

sunday! we wake up in our apartment that has become a second home 🤗. the morning consisted of easy conversations with staff as they made their way upstairs to see (what feels like) old friends! lydia and i (and stephen) interviewed and hired them last june. they are incredibly friendly, and we just fall quickly back to when we said goodbyes at the end of november. 

we spent the next bunch of hours with bella in the bedrooms of the rescue center brainstorming ways to create storage space and privacy areas. we came up with some good ideas 💡 that we hope stephen agrees with 😁

bella and i then discuss the life skills we want to teach during the next month -- baristas, nail technicians, seamstresses, beaders, potholder weavers, and diamond art girls. we brought all the things 🥹. we put 3-4 girls in each group and monday afternoon we start classes 👩‍🏫. 

stephen scoops us up for a trip to naivas, the awesome grocery store! the diet here is primarily carbs, and we were hoping to get items for peanut butter banana smoothies 😋. score! we had a flat tire, got home late, and vegged until time for beautiful needed sleep 😴