On Saturday I got a letter from Victor in Kenya. He is just the sweetest thing. My Kenya kids write their letters in English, which means they have more room to write!
27 July 2013
Dear Jessi,
How are you? I hope you're doing well with your family. On my side I am doing well and God has protected me with our family. I receive the letter you send to me, and I was glad for it. Imagine it made me to learn a lot about your country and your family as well. I want to tell you that in my schooling I am doing as I can and hoping that at the end I will achieve something good.
Beside that I want you to know that the subject I like the most and that is mathematics. In every exams I do I must make sure that I get above 65% and it make me know the career I would be in the future that is engineering. Imagine in the course of next week we will start our term exams and I know I will come out with good marks.
I also want to tell you that last three months we elected our 4th president and he is trying his best to make our country one of the best country in the world. Here in our country, in this month where I live is hot while other parts is cold. I would also like to know about your country and soon I hope I will receive a letter from you. May God be with you. Goodbye!
Your beloved child,
Victor Otieno
I just love Victor's letters! He is a hard worker, very ambitious and sweet.
Then this morning I got a nice long letter from Mary, who also lives in Kenya. Mary has very neat, tiny handwriting, so her letters are usually pretty long- and I love that!
15 August 2013
Dear Jessi
I greet you in the name of our Provider. I hope you are fine. I am great and fine. My family is also doing good. We honour fathers on 11th June and also not forgetting the mothers on 9th June. It is fun honouring them because they are special gifts from God. At school I am doing well. I am now in form 3 (grade 11) hoping that next year I will be in form 4 (grade 12.) In the music festivals we went to provincials and we became number 2 then we proceeded to nationals.
At church we are all great. We praise the living God so that he cannot be angry and let the stones to praise Him. When I am in need I usually read this verse- Psalms 121: 1-2. It says I lift my eyes to the hills, where will my help come from? My help will come from the Lord who made heaven and earth. I am spending my August holiday at home. I want to be obedient to my parents because obedience is better than sacrifice.
The country is fine and cool. Peace is around each and every person. The weather is cool and only a little rain is falling and also the land is green. My mother's name is Rahab Njari and she is loving. We do not grow crops but we go to up-country to help my grandparents. My parents are doing well.
On November 25th, I will be 18 years old and have an identity card. I have lots of cousins and we like joking when we are together. The babies are blessings. We buy gifts for them and they are taken to the church to be dedicated. I enjoy being in school because it is a privilege. I learn English, Kiswahili, Biology, History, Agriculture, Maths, and CRE (Christian Religious Education.) Thank you for the book, photos, and stickers. I appreciate them.
I pray for you and I am great having you as my friend.
Yours faithful,
Mary Mbari
Wow! Mary packed a lot of info in her letter! I was very happy to read that her singing competition went so well- Mary loves to sing and has told me so in just about every letter she's sent! I was glad to read about mother's day and father's day in Kenya.
Victor's letter arrived on Saturday, which is when an upscale mall in Nairobi was seized by terrorists. The hostage situation and shootings continued through the weekend. It's kind of complicated, but here's a basic explanation: a little while back, the African Union sent troops into Somalia to deal with some extremist rebels there (Somalia has problems like that kind of often, it seems.) Kenya played a part in that. So this group in Somalia got mad about the other countries interfering in their business, and decided to strike back. This whole thing was very strategic- they went in to a mall in Nairobi, where diplomats, tourists, and Kenya's wealthy and important people hang out. Allegedly, they announced that Muslims should leave the mall, as this particular group is fanatically based. Then they started shooting. The last I heard, 30 hostages were still being held, and the death toll was creeping up toward 60. The president lost family in the attack- his nephew and the nephew's fiancee were killed. Military personnel and police have been working very hard over the weekend to get the situation under control and end the violence. It's all very heartbreaking. Please keep Kenya in your prayers as they strive to end this horrible situation.
It's so terrible what's been happening in Kenya, my boy isn't from that area but I still hope he and all his family are all safe. On a side note, great letters! I enjoyed reading what Mary is learning in school; I suppose my boy Mbula Timothy must studying the same subjects. (He's 18 as well.)
ReplyDeleteI hope that your Kenyan kids stay safe throughout all the chaos there. What a great letter form Victor!! I love how he updated you on how he's doing in math. And he's going to love the letter where you shared about our president!! And what an informative letter from Mary!!! She sounds like an amazing young woman!! I'm so glad that she's able to have you to write to!
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