Still stuck in Nairobi

Bill left yesterday because we are just gone tooo long from our daughter - with a heavy heart we missed Christmas with her and our families but did spend it together here in nairobi wuth Elijah. It was a bittersweet Christmas. Christmas eve was special though, with people from Several nations sharing Christmas traditions. The Danish did a traditional " conga line" the mAasai treated us to a traditional song and dance ,, and the Australians ended with fireworks. It was a memorable night bur we would have liked to spend our first Christmas as a full family.
So status for Now

Trapped in Nairobi

Well no good news on our visa. We heard from our awesome friend Leta at the state PA adoption clearance center that we apparently passed the Adam walsh screen! We took the letter to the consular today who said that is not tha Adam WALsh screen we need. It's something from the stAte dept. It's an entirely helpless process. We are trying to keep our spirits up but I looks like we will be spending Christmas here alone with Elijah, but we do have a christmas invite to go to a friends village, or spend here at the hotel with friends. So I will have surrogate family. If I could complain to someone here I would, but it's all nameless faceless databases. I DO NOT RECCOMEND NAIROBI FOR ADOPTIONS. I think addis abba must be better than here. They do so many adoptions and everyone who went there is home already. RWanda adoptive families will have to figure out how to get a Ethiopian point of entry visa or visa in advance then go to addis. Nairobi consular crowded, long lines, impersonal, unsympathetic, and to top it all off took my son's toy lobster everytimex we went through security. ReAlly? A toy lobster! ?
I cannot leave Kenya. We are trapped. On the bright side we upgraded our tent today and now have a shower and toilet in our tent. We're movin' on up at the Wildebeest lodge...

photos from Kigali and Nairobi

THE FIRST PICTURE IS KIDS STANDING ON THE BROKEN WATER TANK AT THE ROCAS SCHOOL FOR ORPHANS (and also non-orphans- about 50% each) IT IS $1,800 USD for A NEW TANK -- THEY NEED 2 as they have no access to water. ANYONE WHO WANTS TO HELP I WILL GIVE YOU THE DIRECTORS EMAIL. THE SECOND PICTURE -- THIS IS THE DORBAND AND US AT THE GIRAFFE CENTER GETTING A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH THESE MAJESTIC CREATURES!! WE ALL GOT "KISSED" TOO!

Stuck in Nairobi

(PHOTO IS OF US AT ROCAS AID SCHOOL IN KIGALI SUBURBS -- A school we have been helping sponsor)
Well, granted there are much worse places to be stuck than in the heart of Africa, but with Christmas fast approaching and our daughter being 8,000 miles away at home, we are getting anxious to go home. We were told on friday -after 2 days of unreturned phone calls, emails, and even an in-person refusal to be admitted to the visa office, that we can check in "tuesday for an update". Our flight leave monday night. So we plan to camp out in the visa office at 7am monday and just pray for a small miracle.
For now, we have no idea what the hold up is or what the ETA of the visa may be.
But on a lighter note, we met up with the dorbands today and their Rwandan sons Levi and Judah and did a game drive in Nairobi national park, where we say lionesses stalking zebras, monkeys who took a banana from us, and beautiful giraffes tower over the savanah. It was a great day! Then bill and I went to the on -site animal orphange, where we "tipped" the guide in order to be allowed in with 2 adult female cheetahs- who let us pet them and they purred! That was five of the best minuites we've ever spent! Amazing!
Please join us in praying for a monday visa ! love from Nairobi.

In Nairobi kenya

Hi everyone! We are in Kenya now since Monday to process our visa. We had to sit at a health clinic for 9 hours at oim agency which was awful but Elijah was a trooper! The next day ( tuesady) we went to drop off our visa papers which took a mere 3 hours. Lol. Hopefully we get visa tomorrow or Monday- but it better be Monday cause that's when we leave!!
Elijah is coming out ochoa shell day by Day and doing well bur his cough and diarrhea are persisting despite antibitocs. I think I got him to say juice today! And he says oh! For uh- oh when he drips something. He also smiled at me this morning for the first time when he woke up. From a tourist standpoint, Nairobi is awesome. We went to a baby elephant orphanage today where they rear abandonded baby elephants. The young ones are only as big as a big dog!!! Sooo cute. A family of wart hogs ran out and rolled in the elephants mud during the bottle feeding session. It was sheldrick animal orphanage. Really fun. We also went to a croc farm and could touch a 15 footer thruogh the wire fencing. I also held a baby croc.
The trip highlight today was driving in nairobi national park, and seeing a dew vans stopped. We drove up to the vans and saw what they were looking at-- SIMBA! Swahili for -- lion king fans know thus- lion! A male lion within 10 feet of our car. I muttered an explicit because my window was down - we quickly roller up the window and sat in awe of the King of Beasts for about 10 mins. We also saw the elusive Cheetah in the thicket!!! An amazing morning. The only problem was Elijah got car sick from the bumpy roads and projectile vomited lal
over me several times. Luckily we had e tea clothes. U know it's a good day when u don't mind letting baby vomit air dry on you. Gods creation Is breathtaking and it's been a pleasure to see it up close and personal!! We find out to
orrow if we get his visa. Please pray for us!!
With love from nairobi-- jen bill Elijah

Day 4 thurdasy in Kigali

We were supossed to get Elijah,s Rwandan passport today bit it wasn't ready. They told us tomorrow by 2pm, but bill very politely asked for8am and they told us 9 am. We hope and pray it happens! Tomorrow is supposed to be our last day in Kigali but I think we may change the flight to go to Peter our POA's church on Sunday. And maybe some more tourist things on Saturday . We did see the genocide museum today which was sobering, horrifying, and undescribable evil. To hear events described by our friends was so upsetting I had to try hard to hold back tears. One friend said simply- the devil entered everyone. They were no longer men. Our friend described how, as a 14 yr old boy, he wAtched as members of his family were hauled away and murdered. He was not saved at the time but prayed anyway to God who protected him and his family. He then went on to describe a road littered in corpses for miles on the way to a refugee camp. They were duing of thirst and the only alternative was to drink water so fouled by corpses it was salty. He prayed for God to protect him after drinking the water and he didn't get sick. This story wad so disturbu
ing I felt I had to share it, but I left names out in case the friends of ours didn't want it told. I think fir me one of the hardest sights was a childs outfit and superman sheet stained in blood, and a Cornell university sweatshirt from the dead. It makes you realize Rwandans are exactly like us. They are not an exotic far away society, they are our neighbors. I was so ashamed when I asked Peter what the united states did to help, and he was quiet for a second and said " I think, nothing". The conversation grew silent and I wished I hadn't been a 16 yr old girl while a million people were murdered, maybe I could have helped somehow. It certainly seemed like a chapter from Revelations. Watch and Pray folks, watch and pray.

Travel letter and lunch with friends

We got our travel/ "to whom it may concern" letter today! That means Mugisha never has to go back to the orphanage again, he has a family. He Is a sweet boy, and he had a fin day and long nap today. He was a little lethargic though., and not eating well, with terrible foul watery diarrhea and a distended abdomen, and a cough/ snotty nose. So we took him to a 7th day Adventist health clinic. It was very simple. My husband and I marveled at the amount of money that childrens hospital wastes in a day, and how much good even a little bit could do here. The doctor was very nice and thorough, a french speaker but we co
municayed well with his English. It's amazing to realizeoat people here don't speak one or even 2 languages, but most speak 4 or 5! We did not have a stool sample so we have to go back tomorrow. The dr said he was negative for malaria abs his white blood cells were normal. The dr thought his lungs were clear but the abdominal distemsion cuold be from malnutrition. He gave us a multivitamin and oral rehydration salts. We want to make and appt at childrens hospital as soon as we get back. But I will look at their fancy building and expensive finishes with some dismay at the inequities in healthcare in this world.



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