I think I am now going to get my hair done in the village every month or so. Hair is a big part of this culture. From the the time a girl has any hair it gets braised into a wide variety of styles. Righteous and I have such a good time going t the village. Everybody is always telling me that Rightous will growing up speaking two languages fluently. It is a given that she will know english because we speak that in our home and are with the Bethanay students a lot of times. I realize she only will know swahili if I make a conscience effort to be around the Kenyan children. It is so beautiful when I see her break away from my side and go and introduce herself to another kid. Here handshaking is a must when greeting a person or when saying goodbye. Sometimes you can greet a person, still handshaking them, several times a day. Righteous has just started doing this although it is not perfected yet. She sometimes offers her left hand while that is a cultural nono (that is the wiping hand). Righteous watches the other kids run around with no shoes and is always removing hers. At first I was always fighting her about this because you can get worms from walking aorind in the dirt but time and again I have learn to give my kids lives to God and trust Him. We praise God that we have all been malaria free for 4 months now!
This is my hair stylist, Elizabeth. She has graduated from the christian school that we help out at. She is a dwarf and has a hard because of it getting made fun of by the Somalis. I am very impressed with how Elizabeth does my hair because our mazungu (white person) hair is very different from a Kenyans. When I get my hair doen I notice a tremendous different with feeling the air cool my scalp. One thing I have to remember is now my scalp is exposed when I am walking around in the hot sun. I get myhair done sitting on a mat outside in the shade in the middle of the village. There are many passerbys that stop to watch. Slowly I am building several friendships in the village and look foward to going each time.
1 comment:
Just love to read about your work in Kenya. Rarely do I leave you a comment though. I guess I need to comment now and then... I usually get done reading and I am utterly speechless at your stories. I get wrapped up in the awesomeness of it all and I just don't know what to say! God is doing amazing things through his servants. You all look healthy and happy - and your girls are growing up too fast!
Happy Mother's Day, Bekah!
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