Easter at Tenwek

Easter Events. Many have asked how we celebrated Easter here at Tenwek. Believe it or not, our Easter was pretty traditional, from the Good Friday evening service to the Easter egg hunt on Saturday, icing cut-out cookies, and the ham dinner on Sunday. Our sunrise service was the most memorable in my mind. First, we woke up extra early, and as we were trying to get the kids out of bed, one of the missionaries played “Up From the Grave He Arose” on the trumpet, so all on campus could hear. Then we all gathered quietly in an open yard where we could watch the sky grow lighter and the sun rise above the surrounding hills. It was a bit cloudy, but beautiful in any case. There was music, scripture readings and a short meditation as we enjoyed the start of a new day, one representing the most important day for us as Christians. Our Sunday afternoon was spent indulging in a carry-in with a group of our best friends from years past.

Homeschooling. This is an area that I feel has almost run its course. The kids are doing great with the worksheets and activities we do. I, on the other hand, recognize my limits as a teacher and am anxious to just be Mom. I don’t want to seem negative about it though, I know it’s a great thing for many families. I have enjoyed listening to them sound out new words, as they learn to read. I have enjoyed watching them write about their new friends (people and animals) in their journals with a whimsical picture. I have enjoyed watching and listening to them play make believe with the neighbor kids, as they climb trees, chase after each other and build forts out of branches, flowers and egg shells (Nathan’s idea). And I have especially enjoyed seeing just how much they already know and comprehend, not only academically, but socially and personally as well. They are like little sponges with constant recorders, so I’m learning about them as well as myself!

Current Events. Julia has a loose tooth. She is still unsure if the tooth fairy will be able to find her in Africa. Nathan, we are excited to share, now holds the record for falling asleep the fastest every night, sometimes even before we leave the room, and can snore like no other during a church service (Easter Sunday actually). Both of them have become more social, especially when it comes to meeting new people. At times they have expressed feeling like they are being stared at or being made fun of – as the local children do tend to pay an extra amount of attention to us. But it’s gotten better over the last few weeks.

Observations. What are we seeing/learning here? The kids have asked many questions about poverty. On our walk today, they were pointing to various houses asking “are they poor?” Explaining some of this to them has been an interesting task. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves of how we first felt when we came in 2001 – how we had questions and how we viewed things at that point. We have changed over the past 10 years, and many things have changed here at Tenwek. It’s easy to get caught up in our daily school/work routine. But we want to continue to look at things here and around the world through a critical lens, so we don’t become complacent. This is where the kids’ points of views always tend to teach us a lesson. They ask some great questions!

One last lesson – don’t mess with pincher ants! These ants are patient and fierce. They will unknowingly crawl onto you if you are in their path. When they feel threatened, they will all pinch at the same moment in time. For an adult, this is pretty annoying, but they can easily be removed. For a kid, though, it’s downright terrifying. In 2008 Nathan had pincher ants and had to be stripped down, screaming to get them off! He remembers it quite well. Julia and Nathan both had one this week, but luckily got to keep their clothes on as we removed the ants from their feet. Those little guys are sneaky and can really pinch! But fortunately, they are not dangerous.