Christmas Hamper Delivery

Christmas Eve morning dawned bright and sunny . . . and warm! RVA Titchies raised money to provide Christmas hampers for families in the area. The local church picked the neediest families and we drove off to the deliver the gifts. My family delivered to 5 widows who were taking care of their grandchildren.

We headed down the bumpy road to Kijabetown, which lies a little lower than RVA at the base of the hills. The area is beautiful, but it was obvious that the village was lacking in rain as shambas (gardens) are dry and the soil dusty.

a shosho (grandmother) carrying up wood and water.

Most of the shoshos that we visited only spoke Kikuyu, not Swahili or English. Henry, who works in the Science department at RVA and lives in the village, was our guide and translated for us. We dropped off the baskets, sang a song, and showed the women how to use the solar flashlights that were included. Then the ladies prayed for us.

(hmm, solar torch?)

The kids were so cute and loved being videotaped by my brother. Ryan got some really great footage - excited to see what he does with it!