TANZANIA - Day 5

Today was very busy. We left after breakfast and headed to the house. For the ladies there was lots of cleaning to be done and curtains to make; for the men there was a deck to take down and rebuild.

We were in need of some cleaning supplies when we arrived so Sonya and Elisabeth walked to a local store. It was a very small building with four walls and a roof with a window in the front for us to talk to Maxi. Maxi runs the store and helps Sonya with her Swahili when she comes to shop. It was quite a process explaining that we needed soap and rags and scouring pads. The soap was no problem, Sonya knew that word, but rags and scouring pads were new to her. So the 10 minute game of charades began until Max finally figured out what was being asked for. He was so patient with her and kept guessing and correcting the Swahili she was speaking. It turned out he didn't have any, haha.

Back at the Small Steps home the ladies were busy measuring and preparing for the curtains. Upon Sonya and Elisabeth's return the cleaning began. Buckets were filled with water by dropping another bucket on a string into the shallow well and pulling it up. It took several attempts to get it filled, but when it was full, several of the girls began cleaning the wood framing on the house. It had not been done in a long time so it was quite a process.

The men were outside taking down a portion of deck that had rotted. They had specially treated boards cut by a carpenter that went back on the newly reinforced frame work. It looks much better, and more importantly is safer. It will be stained and sealed before we leave. In the future a roof will be added.

God had some surprises for us today. Corrinne has been very interested in the possibility of Small Steps getting a cow. There had been talk of possibly getting two. The cows could help maintain the grass and give milk for us to use. Today that idea started to grow. A neighbor who has cattle stopped by, and we were able to ask some questions. It turns out that we can get some calves for only $67!!! Several in the group walked over to the neighbor's house to look at his cows and to see what type of structure will be needed for them. After walking ALL our land today, it was recommended that we get up to 20 cows! While we are working on getting our larger Orphan homes built there will be plenty of land that needs mowing and the cows will do it for us! The cows will need care and medicine that needs to be administered periodically, but we told our neighbor that we would buy for his cows and ours if he will administer it. He was very happy with the offer. He told us that he helps other families in the area who cannot afford milk by giving them his extra. We told him we would love to do the same!!!! We are so excited to have another opportunity to help our community! First we can give them clean water from the well, and now we can also provide them with milk! When the land is all developed and there is less grounds to maintain we will be able to sell some of them for a large profit! This will be such a blessing for everyone! A few of us in the group will be going tomorrow to purchase some cows!

The last part of the day was spent with the babies at Cradle of Love, which is filled with beautiful babies all wanting to be held and loved on. We sat outside with about 25 little ones under the age of three. We pushed them on swings and played with and bounced them on our knees.

Then it was dinner time! Apparently an alarm went off in their heads, because they all started walking or crawling into the house and making their way to the dining room. Those who couldn't move themselves began crying to go in! After many trips back and forth with armfuls of babies, everyone was finally seated in the high-chairs. Then mouths began to open like baby birds waiting for their worms. All of us were feeding at least one baby, some were doing two or more. It was crazy! As the babies finished eating they were carried to the room next door where there were rows of changing tables. Each baby had their diaper changed and then were put into their cozy pajamas. It was very reluctantly that we left when Ron told us it was time to go.

Tomorrow we will be heading to the Masai market, it should be some fun bargaining!