The Williams in Africa: February 2012

Hi Everybody,

We’ve been in our new home, in a new location, doing a new ministry at a new school for about six weeks.

New School for my kids
Rift Valley Academy (RVA)is suiting us just fine. My kids love the freedom of living inside a big fence with 450 other kids. RVA has 70 houses for the staff families to live in; it’s a big place. Each kid is adjusting to new friends and teachers. They love the after-school activities. Often at dinner time, we can’t eat because someone is missing. But it gets dark at 6:45 so they come home eventually, tired, happy and hungry.

New Ministry for me
I’m working full time as a school nurse at Student Health. So far, a bad head cold and a stomach bug have gone through the dorms and the families. To keep such illnesses from spreading, Student Health has guidelines for the dorms. Each dorm has dorm parents, kind of like an RD in college. If a kid has a fever over 100 degrees or other various symptoms, they can’t stay in the dorm. Student Health has room for 20 kids to sleep when they are sick. Often kids will come in for a few hours to get cold medicine and a nap, like missing a day of school in the States. Other times kids get sick in the middle of the night and need to come over to Student Health for the rest of the night. The nurses each have nights and weekends to be on-call for after hour illnesses.

That’s a brief explanation, but what I want you to know is that I like my new job. It’s challenging and very different than being a nurse in the states. I am getting to know kids as they come in to see a nurse. The staff are excellent and a great resource as I learn this new position. I don’t mind going into work and I like coming home.

New Location
RVA is an hour outside of Nairobi. It’s high elevation of 7500 feet. And the school is built on the escarpment of the Rift Valley. We have an amazing view of the valley from our perch. The air is fresh and it’s quiet. Those are the biggest differences for me. I don’t need a fan on at night to block out noises because it’s so quiet. Living in a capital city for seven years was very noisy and not fresh. Right now everything is green and blooming, very pretty.

New Home
Some paint color and new curtains make a huge difference in making a house feel like home. Bringing all of our furniture from Nairobi also helped. While we lived in Zeeland, the kids missed their African quilts on their beds, fresh home-made tortillas, and carrot sticks that taste like a carrot should taste. I missed fresh smoothies made from mango, pineapple, banana, and strawberries. This is living. We have a nice home that is big enough for us and has a private covered back porch. Last week I came down with a stomach bug and slept the whole afternoon on my outside couch. We have a love-bird cage that needs love-birds, a fish tank in need of fish, and a yard in need of a puppy. It’s going to be a good year.

Thanks for staying with us on this journey. My financial support of one time gifts was good the month of December. THANK YOU! I continue to hope that God will bring more supporters who commit to give monthly. But I don’t think I worry about money near as much as I used to. I am accountable for my finances, but since my loss of Ryan, money isn’t what matters.

Please pray for us and praise the Lord for all He has done,

Dawn and 4 amazing kids