Hawaii

October 9, 2003

The theme song from Hawaii Five O keeps running through my head. I don’t know if it is coincidence or not, but my college, Northern Illinois University, is now FIVE wins and ZERO loses and is ranked 16^th in the United States, beating Maryland and Alabama in the process. And if you think THIS is obnoxious, just WAIT until the Cubs beat the EVIL Marlins.

We all have changes, but few like Matthew experienced this week. He got braces and glasses. He looks cute in his glasses and he only has to wear his braces for a year, but that is a lot for a sixth grade guy to handle. I know his father, and when he got glasses and braces, he turned into a CRABBY guy. Matthew is taking it all in stride. He is such a cool kid.

I went down to Kijabetown School to help with lunch last week. There were two parents who were using the kitchen to prepare the food

The school has about 400 children, and they spend much of the morning getting the food ready.

The children were thanking you for the food. I asked a teacher how the food had affected her students. When I ask a teacher, I usually hear something like `They are better able to concentrate.’

This teacher said `When they hold their stomachs and cry because they are hungry, I lose hope and do not teach well. It is good when they eat.’

In every small community, there are the favorites. In ours, it is the Kings. Matt and Jan are so bright and so funny and so caring that, in the words of a co-worker, everyone thinks they are their best friends.

They were five months pregnant and lost their baby yesterday. When you are in a small place, things like that hit you harder than they might when people aren’t as close. There was a just such a somber spirit here today.

I was walking through campus, and a senior guy, who has always been a fairly sullen kid, stopped to talk for a moment. I asked him how he was doing, and he said `I’m just sad’ and there were tears in his eyes.

I’m not sure I can explain why, but I found great comfort in those tears.

Your pal,

Steve

Steve and Nancy Peifer

Kenya Address: PO Box 80 Kijabe Kenya 00220

Stateside Address: PO Box 178 Pearl River, NY 10965

Phone: 011-254-20-32046-252

peifer@kijabe.net

http://peifer.kijabe.org