Londiani and Chesyliot

We arrived at Londiani Orphanage about the time the kids were getting home from school.  After a late lunch, we toured the place with David Koech, the director here.  Londiani was built in late 2008 and opened in 2009.  This was one of the first places I visited on my first trip to Kenya.  John DeFore negotiated the site for the orphanage and we met the church and the beautiful orphans that they were feeding there.  As we walked up the hill, the orphans and widows were standing on the ridge looking down at us.  I raised my hands in a thumbs up sign, and they all did the same.  I snapped a picture of that scene and it has  become one of my all time favorites.  The KWO logo features the shadow of that image as it's main symbol.

We had a great discussion with David about some operational issues, nothing major but a good conversation nonetheless.  As we greeted the kids, I could feel the love that they have for each other and for me and Susie.  We sat in on their evening devotional, which is one of my favorite things to do on the world.  Imagine, sitting with your (really large) family every night and singing praises to God and hearing a word of encouragement from one of your brothers.  The 13 year old boy that spoke was really good; he brought me to the edge of tears.

After devotional, we had dinner and settled in for the night at David's house.  We could hear the orphans singing as we drifted off, practicing for their big recording session the next morning.  One of my goals for this trip is to get some good recording of the kids singing at each location.  I brought a good microphone and software for my Mac and practiced getting a good result.  This morning we recorded three songs at Londiani and they sound fantastic.  I'll try to post a sample later in the trip.  Here is a link to the Facebook album for pictures from Londiani:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151545664020809.554465.792145808&type=1&l=4af571fee4 

After the recording session we said our goodbyes and drove the short distance to visit our feeding station at the Chesyliot Church of Christ.

David's brother Richard Koech is the director of Chesyliot.  His kids were all assembled and were so excited to see us.  The church elders were also there and we had a great session with them in the dining hall.  We recorded some more songs and a couple of poems that the kids performed.  After lunch we spent some good time just hanging out with the kids and getting some great pictures.  You can see them on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151545785690809.554482.792145808&type=1&l=5198faa43c 

We are now resting at the Tea Hotel in Kericho.  Tomorrow we will worship with the church at the Kericho Feeding Station before returning here.  I'll write about that visit tomorrow.  Thanks for checking in with us!