Thursday, April 17, 2008
March/April Update
Hey everyone
It has been awhile since we last updated I think it has been due to our month of illness with the girls and trying to emotionally recover from all the political mayhem. Things have quieted down mostly, the government has decided on a sharing of power and are now in the midst of a battle to choose a cabinet. This last week was yet again another stalemate regarding who is on the cabinet and if the existing government is actually doing things legally. We have a tribal gang called the Mungiki and they are now causing problems. Just this morning they shut down public transport going into town and several riots were thankfully resolved along our kids bus routes in the early morning. So needless to say we are still living in some unrest. Many thousands of people are still living at camps set up by the red cross. We don’t know how long they will stay there as there hasn’t been mention of any aid coming in to help these people rebuild their homes. Last week we were able to send money with our friend Peter to help rebuild another house upcountry for his family. It has been a long journey for him as he only makes about 40$ a month and has been supporting at least 10 people for food and shelter. Family is a major priority here even when you have nothing. There is value placed on taking care of each other.
A month ago the girls started with a cold and then recovered just in time for school to let out for the month of April and then Kayla came down with a bladder infection. We had three really great months with her and we felt like we could take a breath and then this infection came. It has completely upset her little world. We weren’t aware she had it as she didn’t say anything was bothering her but we noticed a rapid decline in how well she had been doing. We are hoping that after the infection and antibiotics are over that she will return to doing so well. We are meeting a new speech therapist this week as our previous one didn’t jell well with Kayla. She will be traveling to our home and then hopefully will be able to see Kayla at school. We unfortunately found out from insurance that none of OT will be covered as they say therapy for Autism and Kayla’s disorder is currently experimental. Obviously whoever stated this doesn’t live with kids like Kayla. We have seen so much growth this year and are pleased with it however she does continue to dominate many aspects of our family. Eric and I continue to work through the stages of grief as we process how she affects our family dynamics and how she will affect our future.
Emma continues to grow so quickly. She is now successfully living without diapers and as of this weekend sleeps in a big girl bed. We were taking down her crib this weekend, as we sold it to another missionary family, and she just kept watching us saying “ hey guys watcha doin with my stuff , where you taking my bed”. She has slept fine so far so it doesn’t seem to have traumatized her too much. Most of the time she is skipping around singing or dancing and holding her babies in a blanket. The Lord knew we needed a sweet girl like her in our family. It’s rainy season here and so this morning the girls were out front in our driveway running around with rain jackets and boots dancing in the puddles. They are continuing to grow as friends. We are praying the Lord gives Emma a special understanding for Kayla’s needs. She seems to be sensitive so far.
Last month we were able to take the 10th grade bowling and then back to our house for a movie marathon all night long. Unfortunately we hadn’t gotten any water into our tanks the previous several days and so our house was dry of water with 14 teenagers. You know what is funny though these kids just adapt they didn’t complain at all and just poured the buckets of water into the toilet to flush it without a single word. You would have laughed if you saw us pulling small buckets of water from our underground tank, it felt like we lived on a farm. We were just thankful we had enough water in the tank to get buckets to flush the toilets. This month we have a donut making party as we have our annual bizarre at school. The 10th grade will come over and make several hundred donuts to sell at school to make money for their senior trip. Many times this year we have been thanked over and over for our willingness to stay at the school for more than two years. The trend in missions now especially at our school is short term. We want to thank you for helping us to stay here long term. We have most of our new teacher spots filled thankfully as how can you really advertise for people to come teach here in the midst of civil unrest.
We know the recession has hit many hard in the states and we know even more now it is a continued sacrifice for you. Thank you for your continued part in what God has called us to. The recession affects us as well as the dollar continues to drop against the shilling and because of the recent political problems inflation is happening here. We are currently paying about 6$ a gallon for gas. So no complaining those of you who live in California J The Lord continues to provide for us and living here it is always easy to be thankful for what we have as there are so many in need near us every day.
We have family coming in June so that should be a fun time of reconnecting. We will be showing them around town and hopefully going to the coast for a few days. We hope you are all doing well and thriving we would love to hear from you.
Blessings on your week
Kara for the Gibsons
It has been awhile since we last updated I think it has been due to our month of illness with the girls and trying to emotionally recover from all the political mayhem. Things have quieted down mostly, the government has decided on a sharing of power and are now in the midst of a battle to choose a cabinet. This last week was yet again another stalemate regarding who is on the cabinet and if the existing government is actually doing things legally. We have a tribal gang called the Mungiki and they are now causing problems. Just this morning they shut down public transport going into town and several riots were thankfully resolved along our kids bus routes in the early morning. So needless to say we are still living in some unrest. Many thousands of people are still living at camps set up by the red cross. We don’t know how long they will stay there as there hasn’t been mention of any aid coming in to help these people rebuild their homes. Last week we were able to send money with our friend Peter to help rebuild another house upcountry for his family. It has been a long journey for him as he only makes about 40$ a month and has been supporting at least 10 people for food and shelter. Family is a major priority here even when you have nothing. There is value placed on taking care of each other.
A month ago the girls started with a cold and then recovered just in time for school to let out for the month of April and then Kayla came down with a bladder infection. We had three really great months with her and we felt like we could take a breath and then this infection came. It has completely upset her little world. We weren’t aware she had it as she didn’t say anything was bothering her but we noticed a rapid decline in how well she had been doing. We are hoping that after the infection and antibiotics are over that she will return to doing so well. We are meeting a new speech therapist this week as our previous one didn’t jell well with Kayla. She will be traveling to our home and then hopefully will be able to see Kayla at school. We unfortunately found out from insurance that none of OT will be covered as they say therapy for Autism and Kayla’s disorder is currently experimental. Obviously whoever stated this doesn’t live with kids like Kayla. We have seen so much growth this year and are pleased with it however she does continue to dominate many aspects of our family. Eric and I continue to work through the stages of grief as we process how she affects our family dynamics and how she will affect our future.
Emma continues to grow so quickly. She is now successfully living without diapers and as of this weekend sleeps in a big girl bed. We were taking down her crib this weekend, as we sold it to another missionary family, and she just kept watching us saying “ hey guys watcha doin with my stuff , where you taking my bed”. She has slept fine so far so it doesn’t seem to have traumatized her too much. Most of the time she is skipping around singing or dancing and holding her babies in a blanket. The Lord knew we needed a sweet girl like her in our family. It’s rainy season here and so this morning the girls were out front in our driveway running around with rain jackets and boots dancing in the puddles. They are continuing to grow as friends. We are praying the Lord gives Emma a special understanding for Kayla’s needs. She seems to be sensitive so far.
Last month we were able to take the 10th grade bowling and then back to our house for a movie marathon all night long. Unfortunately we hadn’t gotten any water into our tanks the previous several days and so our house was dry of water with 14 teenagers. You know what is funny though these kids just adapt they didn’t complain at all and just poured the buckets of water into the toilet to flush it without a single word. You would have laughed if you saw us pulling small buckets of water from our underground tank, it felt like we lived on a farm. We were just thankful we had enough water in the tank to get buckets to flush the toilets. This month we have a donut making party as we have our annual bizarre at school. The 10th grade will come over and make several hundred donuts to sell at school to make money for their senior trip. Many times this year we have been thanked over and over for our willingness to stay at the school for more than two years. The trend in missions now especially at our school is short term. We want to thank you for helping us to stay here long term. We have most of our new teacher spots filled thankfully as how can you really advertise for people to come teach here in the midst of civil unrest.
We know the recession has hit many hard in the states and we know even more now it is a continued sacrifice for you. Thank you for your continued part in what God has called us to. The recession affects us as well as the dollar continues to drop against the shilling and because of the recent political problems inflation is happening here. We are currently paying about 6$ a gallon for gas. So no complaining those of you who live in California J The Lord continues to provide for us and living here it is always easy to be thankful for what we have as there are so many in need near us every day.
We have family coming in June so that should be a fun time of reconnecting. We will be showing them around town and hopefully going to the coast for a few days. We hope you are all doing well and thriving we would love to hear from you.
Blessings on your week
Kara for the Gibsons
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)