Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Latest...

There is nothing new and exciting to report these days. We're a week and a half away from Easter Break (known as Spring Break in the States, but it's not spring here). It's really just been the usual... work, hang out with friends, and enjoy the sunshine.

So here are just some random things happening with me...

* The weather is still as hot as ever, which is unusual. It should be raining by now, but it's just dry, dry, dry and hot, hot, hot!
* My students are doing standardized tests this week, which gives me time to catch up on a billion things at school. I might get two out of a billion things actually done.
* My dear friends, John and Erin, come to visit me in a week and a half!!!!!!
* I'm going to the coast this weekend for a friend's wedding.
* Friends in Nairobi keep tempting me with evenings of fun, so my sleep schedule is a little off. "Winter Kim" and "Summer Kim" are clashing right now!

That's about it. Tutoanana! (See you later!)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

THANK YOU!

I just want to send out a big THANK YOU for all of those who donated to the Chakula Campaign at my church. So many families will be blessed with food during this very dry season because of your donation. Thank you!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A Big Blessed Day!

Today was a blessed day because I had my first visitor from home! Tim, a friend from TFC (Tualatin Foursquare Church), was in Kenya for a service trip, and we were able to get together for dinner tonight. It was wonderful to have encouraging words from my church family pour from Tim's mouth. It was like being in Tualatin, Oregon for a brief moment with all my dear friends at TFC. It made me miss you all more, but it was such fun to visit with Tim. Thank you Tim for taking time in your schedule for me and bringing me CD's of Bill's preaching. Thank you TFC family for sending your love with Tim. I definitely felt all your love in Tim's presence!

Today was also a big day because I drove from one end of Nairobi, through downtown, to the other end of Nairobi to meet with Tim. This might not seem like a big deal to you, but driving by myself, with a map on the seat next to me, during crazy rush hour traffic (think Portland at 5:30 times 20!), never having been to the place before, in a stick-shift, for almost two hours (I did take one wrong turn and got a little lost), and melting with sweat was a big achievement for me! Driving home only took 25 minutes due to less traffic and not getting lost again. But I came home with a buzz because I successfully drove across Nairobi and I saw Tim. IT WAS A BIG BLESSED DAY!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

5th Grade Field Trip

For the last three days I've been on a field trip with 47 fifth graders and 6 adults. It was fun, exhausting, informational, and definitely worth doing again. The kids had awesome attitudes the entire week while they learned about the conservation of Kenya's wildlife. They got to go on game walks and drives to see Africa's animals, use compasses to find their way through camp, and learn to tell time using the sun.On our hike to a waterhole, we saw fish that can breathe air when water levels are low. The fish were swimming on the top of this lake, which is dried up right now due to drought in Kenya. (It was neat for me to see these air-breathing fish because I remember giving a ninth grade speech on this type of fish all those many years ago. :)

In the midst of all the kids' classes, there was definitely time for games too. The kids enjoyed chasing monkeys away from their tents...and singing around the camp fire. Some of them roasted marshmellows for the first time. I pulled out all my camp songs and tools for the week and had a blast. Now I'm tired and thankful for a weekend to recover, but it was definitely a great week with the kids!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Chakula (Food) Campaign

Some of you have asked me about ways you can help or contribute financially to needs in Kenya. If you are interested, read on...

Due to the drought in Kenya, my church, Karura Community Chapel, in Nairobi is targeting local people drastically affected by the food shortage. The church bulletin on Sunday described the Chakula Campaign (chakula means food in Swahili)...

Kenya is in a major food crisis, and we as a church would like to be of help as we serve our God and others. Recognizing that while the pictures of hungry people are coming from far-flung areas, there are extremely needy cases in the communities closest to us - especially the slums. In partnership with churches in the affected areas, we have identified specific families who need support, and our desire is a commitment to help these for 12 weeks (till 1 month after the start of rains). There are many affected, but our target is 500 families. We are working with the local administration and churches, aiming to ensure that we start with the most needy and in a sustainable way, ensure the intervention for specific families which will carry them through the emergency crisis period. We've also identified a small village linked to a church member deep in Udambani (a village outside Nairobi). In the village are approximately 100 families who have at this time run out of all food (even the mangoes they have been depending on are now gone). We hope to take a food gift to this area.

The cost for one family per week is 500 Ksh, which is $7.

I write this to give an avenue for those of you interested in contributing. For the next two weeks I will be collecting money in the States. On Friday, March 20 I will withdraw all funds collected from my U.S. account and put them in the offering plate on Sunday, March 22. If you would like to contribute, please make checks out to Kim Grimes (you have to trust me on this one - I won't keep it for myself :), and send them to:

Kim Grimes
c/o D. Grimes
PO Box 3528
Kenai, AK 99611

Please write "Kenya Food Campaign" on the memo line.

There is no tax write-off for this contribution, but many families who live within five minutes from my house in Nairobi will be very blessed. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment or email me.

Blessings!
Kim

Friday, March 6, 2009

CRAZY BUSY!

Despite the summer-like weather and blooming flowers, it certainly still feels like the crazy months of spring to me. Usually during this time of the year, school gets CRAZY BUSY... One more quarter of school to go, trying to finish the curriculum, field trips, extra papers to grade, getting kids ready to jump to the next grade, and still having a life outside of school. No matter the continent or type of weather, the work load remains the same during the spring (or in this case fall) months - HEAVY!

I have been busy, but the work is still a joy. Last week was Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW) at Rosslyn Academy. SEW is a week devoted to focusing on God and learning about Him. My job for the week (and the month before) was the Drama Team.
My drama team presented a short play each day of the week. It took many hours of preparation, memorizing lines, and practice. I was so proud of each one of them as they did their parts. We knew we were doing a good job when the audience would sigh with sadness as each skit ended. It actually made me laugh to hear the kids in the audience complain that the skit was over. They wanted more!How could you not with scenes like this?! The second grade teacher as a robot and my little actors doing a professional job. It was a great week! One child said, "That was the best week of my life!" Another commented, "I wish every week was Spiritual Emphasis Week." With all the games, skits, and fun, I would expect comments like these, but I think the kids gained spiritually in the process of having fun.

Next up on the to-do list... Cultural Field Studies (CFS) - a three day field trip with 50 fifth graders! Pray for my co-worker, Claude, and me. We'll need it!