It will be better for them

February 8, 2004

Mind you, I get up around 5:30 am during the week, and around 6:30 on the weekend. It’s just that there is something about Sunday morning that just begs to sleep in until 7. This, of course, is an outrage to the dynamic duo, who can spend twelve minutes happily playing together. After that, they come into our bedroom. It is there that I learned the first rule of twins: It doesn’t COUNT if you said it to the other twin. Each twin needs their own answer:

Ben: Daddy, you read a book?

Me: In a little while; not now.

Katie: Daddy, you read a book?

Me: In a little while, not now.

I know that I should say `Didn’t I just answer that?’ But I promise you, it just doesn’t work. They NEED their individual answers to the same question. It’s a twin thing.

After I take a pass on reading, Ben always volunteers to read to me. No matter what book he is reading, the following will happen in each story:

Someone will eat a poison mushroom and die. (Source: Babar)
Everyone will get on the bus. (Source: Magic School bus)
Someone will be too curious. (Source: Curious George)

Every story ends with `Daddy, you read a book?’

If you have to be woken up at 6 on a Sunday, I recommend this method highly.

***

Friday is the only day that the flag is flown in Kenya. There are various explanations for this; one says that flags last longer if they are only flown once a week, some say it is more special if it is a rare occasion. For whatever reason, flag raising on Fridays is unique.

The first verse of the Kenyan National Anthem is in Swahili, and the second verse is in English:

Oh God of all Creation

Bless this our land and nation

Justice be our shield and defender

May we dwell in unity

Peace and Liberty

Plenty be found within our borders.

The song always moves me, but it is especially poignant to watch the seniors sing it. The reality that this time of life is ending for them can be seen on their faces, and I find myself being reminded that time stops for no one, not even invincible 18 year olds.

***

Nancy is still struggling with her health. She has had so much coughing from the pneumonia she had last month that she has cracked a rib. She is in lots of pain, and the twins don’t understand why momma won’t hold them. Nancy is always is doing something, and it has been frustrating for her to try to remain still.

When your wife is suffering, it is easy to get down. We have had struggles with the feeding program this term; because of prices and misunderstanding, we are out of money with not all the beans purchased. I was visiting a school, and a neighboring tribe had stolen all the wood that had housed their kitchen.

I was angry and depressed, because the kids at this school weren’t getting fed, until I saw him.

He was a father of the one of the children, and he was a Masai, and he asked me to not take a picture, because some of the Masai believe that you lose part of your soul when your picture is taken.

But he was building a new kitchen. And he was using stone, so it couldn’t be stolen.

I talked with him, although his English was as good as my Swahili, so I’m sure I missed some of it. He worked all night as a guard, but he was determined to build a new kitchen so the children could eat.

There are so many single parents due to AIDS in his area, and so there is not a lot of time for extra work, but he was working to build the kitchen when he would normally be sleeping.

I asked him about it, and he told me that he had not gotten past second grade when he was forced to drop out because his family couldn’t afford to send him anymore. His life has been one struggle after another. I asked him why he was doing this.

He said, `If I do this, it will be better for my children.’

You would be amazed at how long a word like that can carry you.

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://www.yourpal-steve.org/

http://peifer.kijabe.org