happiness

today is awesome. just wanted to blog about it. i feel happiness radiating (though, i had a better word earlier, expanding, growing...anyways). i left margarets house and felt soooo happy! i'm feeling SO loved by these women here. these awesome suubi women, and the EPOH staff (who is women and men).

this morning, i checked out "children of grace" (google it if you want) and met a few awesome people who work with them. basically, this org. is the middle ground for children sponsorship for schooling. there are about 700 kids they are currently sponsoring. and all of the kids parents (one, or both) have died from AIDS. i took them also to EPOH and they loved LGH's ideas, necklaces, etc. (so, good job morgan and dave).

then i took elizabeth out to "tea" which ended up being pop. i'm taking all the EPOH staff out to chat with them and get to know them, do a quesionaire, and to help them with their budgeting. i've been feeling a lack of purpose here sometimes, with the natural ups and downs. she said (and gave the the validation i needed), that she loved that i'm spending my time with EPOH, that after i leave, they will always remember me, and that this is showing my love. i looooved this. this "fixed" all my unsure feelings i've been having lately (along with, good friends and fam's encouragement. ha).

then i went to the teachers meeting where the teachers hand out the paper or whatnot to their group members (suubi is broken up into say, "teams" and each team has their lead/teacher. the teacher hands out papers, does other beading projects sometimes/necklaces, and also helps her "group"). so i went to emily's. i love emily. liz and i did a visit to her and her husand and they are lovely. we just sat for a while (EVERYTHING is slow here, i'm learning to relax a lil more, though i'm sitting there like...when is everyone going to come...what are we going to do-this was my first thursday meeting like this i went to- etc. etc.) i just laughed and chatted with the women. they are crazy! and SO JOYFUL!!! and natalia gave me a green necklace she made. then showed me her home and her shop! she has a shop! she gave me bisquits and wanted to have me eat too (ha, i had just eaten lunch). they are so hospitable.

next...i walked over to margarets (emily showed me) to help her learn how to cut paper with her new (and quite amazing) paper cutter. basically, the women go to the market and buy their paper. then they have to decide what kind of paper to make it into (box or triangle shapes). then they take it to a paper cutter person and pay them to cut it. so margaret wanted to do it herself AND to earn a lil extra money by making this part of a job. so yesterday, i learned from amber how to cut paper properly in order to be able to help here. there i quite an art with this. so, i helped her to learn to cut the paper into long triangle strips. emily helped too. then, it started POURING rain. i wanted to go into town and use the internet and get a few things before my friend from kenya comes in this evening (luke is coming again with other people on the way to rwanda! whoo!), so i was kinda bummed, but figured, i'd get to just hang out with her for a while. so margaret and i made necklaces (the white and black ones) with a few kids who were neighbors. it was awesome, the kids were so cute sitting on the floor making their own paper beads. a few boys, and a few girls all just hangin out with us while the rain filled the muddy streets. when it stopped raining, she insisted that i eat before i go. i said, "us mzungu's eat early, dinner will be ready at home" but she said NO! ha. the kids went and got me food (money she could have used other places, she wanted to use on me, her guest) and it just happened to be my favorite!!! chapati and cabbage mixed with a lil skuma! yumm. see...they are so loving!

i left, and got a great boda man! he was nice, and not argumentative or crazy. we chatted about america and the day and how it was wonderful for both of us!!!

i'm so thankful for today. as some of you know, i'm kinda up and down a lot here. everything is not great all the time, but everything is not hard and difficult all the time either. but...today...all ups i'd have to say. so i wanted to blog about it. the good stuff! :)