Last day at Tenwek

This is our last night at Tenwek. It has been a hard day. We lost 2 babies in the nursery. The moms are here all by themselves, their husbands either taking care of the other children or working usually an hour or two away. The chaplains do a great job, but it is very lonely. It is also hard on the nurses and doctors who give so much of themselves to nurture these tiny ones.

It is difficult to say goodbye to people with whom you have spent so much time. It is a close community. Right now Marv is playing cards with the medical students who are here for a month or two. Simple pleasures in life take on new meaning.

Today we had lunch with the Meidemas who are here for 3 months....she was Christie Sweetman and he(Ed) grew up in GR. The Rupkes were also here....she is Mary Smedes Rupke and he (Stu) is the son of Lenore and Ed Rupke who were shirt tail relation(through Aunt True) of ours in Ann Arbor. It is amazing the number of Calvin alums who have passed through here this month. Must say that am proud that so many of them are serving internationally. Who says that you can't play Dutch bingo no matter where you are! No comments please.

We will go to Nairobi tomorrow morning and spend the next day and a half visiting the orphanage that John's church from Mt. Pleasant is going to work at in June. We will also do some shopping. Marv is really looking forward to it!:) We leave for Amsterdam early Friday morning and will spend about 4 days there touring the "motherland". I am sure that we will have culture shock. I will be fun to see family when we get to RDU next week!

I have kept this blog as a journal of some of my memories. I don't know if anyone has read it as there have not been many comments. If you have, thanks for sharing this experience with us.
God bless you all and we will see you soon.
xoxoxo
micki and marv
nana and poppy