"Far Away There in the Sunshine Are My Highest Aspirations. I May Not Reach Them But I Can Look up and See Their Beauty, Believe in Them, and Try to Follow Them." ~Louisa May Alcott

As of this morning, I'm on my way to Kenya.  Normally I wouldn't post that here, but for two reasons: 1.) I've also sent out my fundraising letters for working at Pomona Hope this morning, prompting people to come here to find out what's going on, and 2.) Kenya is actually the reason I ever started going to Pomona Hope.

That first trip to Kenya changed my life in ways that I cannot explain.  Before I went, before I even considered going, I was far less patient, far more selfish, and far more likely to get sucked into petty arguments.  I had never really thought about leaving the country, and I definitely had no intentions of going to any third world countries.  But when Stephen Githumbi stood up in front of our church and told us he was leading a team of people to his homeland of Kenya to help out at the orphanage that our church had helped establish, I couldn't resist the call.

Going to Kenya, meeting those girls, seeing that kind of poverty, and in some cases, hopelessness, that changed my life.  And when I got back home, all I wanted to do was return to Kenya and spend more time with our kids out there.  But I also knew it wasn't feasible.  It wasn't (and still isn't) safe for them or for me if I did that.  Nevertheless, I still had this urge to do something for someone, no longer just to remain in my same circle of friends that was pretty much made up of people just like me.

And that's when my old Sunday School teacher told me about Pomona Hope and asked if I wanted to volunteer.  I had quit my job to go to Kenya and was entering my last year of college, so I didn't have a whole lot keep me from saying yes.  And once I got there, and learned about those kids, I couldn't believe what kids so physically close to me were going through!  I drove home almost every week crying because of what some of the kids told me they were going through.

The program has changed a lot since then, and I've gotten to know more kids and their families and I love them all and am endlessly excited at the prospect of doing it every day and doing what I can to make a difference in their lives.  But I also like going back to where it all started, and remembering how that change came about. 

So I'll be back from Kenya by July 1.  And I'll still have something to tell you about Pomona Hope because I'm setting up a video postcard lesson between the girls in Kenya and the middle schoolers at Pomona Hope so that they can learn about and from each other.  This is going to be awesome!

"In All Pleasure, Hope is a Considerable Part." ~Samuel Johnson

Several months ago, back when it was raining, I was working with the kids in the Green group (middle school aged), when it somehow came out that Peter* had never learned to swim.  After the initial shock of this, it was decided that once it got warm enough out, we would have a pool party at my apartment complex, and only the Green group would be invited.  This would give us a chance to give Peter swimming lessons.

Months later, when it started to warm up, the kids remembered that and started asking about the pool party.  I had fully intended to follow through, I was just impressed that they remembered for that long.  I figured they must have been really excited about it.

I sent out invitations last week that said that they should call me if they needed a ride, and I would find some way to pick them up.  I also convinced one of the Board members to help me chaperone, in case some kids showed up while I was picking kids up.

The only kids who ended up coming were the ones to whom I gave the rides.  But we had a great time!  We got in a good 4 hours of swimming.  I spent a good amount of time trying to teach Peter how to float, and then how to tread water, and how to swim.  He can't really do any of them on his own yet, but he came a long way.  Especially considering how worried he was about going in (he spent the first half hour wearing my life vest I got for kayaking).  He's still not comfortable in the deep end, but he was really excited about learning.

I also taught them how to play Marco Polo.  Of course it's a lot harder to play when not everyone is shouting "Polo" after "Marco" is called, but they found the sneaky excuses of being underwater when it was called, or that they whispered it.

When it was over, they didn't want to come out, but they did because I told them it was time to go.  Even the Board member commented on how well behaved they were.  Why are people always so surprised?

After they got out, they helped me pack up all the food I'd brought out for them and bring it back to my apartment, where we played a few rounds of Just Dance 3 and they called their parents to see if they could come with me to dinner at Miss Barb's house.  We, of course, also asked Miss Barb, who was happy to have them over.

On the way to her home in La Verne, as we passed the Lutheran High School, Mora* commented on how nice that area is (comparing it to her area of Pomona).  It was like she didn't even realize how close it was until that moment.

As we pulled up to Miss Barb's house, the kids said, "You can tell she's a gardener" before I even pointed out which house was hers.  They just knew. :-)  They quickly made friends with her dog and 3 bunnies and I took a break while she told them all about rabbits and dogs and the pictures she had hanging on her walls, and the fact that the seashells she uses to decorate her home are all real, and what's for dinner, etc.  (How are these kids so full of energy?!  They've been swimming all day!)

We had dinner and watched some Wheel of Fortune and had a grand old time.  They definitely were doing everything they could to stay longer.

*Names have been changed.

"All Kids Need is a Little Help, a Little Hope and Somebody Who Believes in Them." ~Earvin Johnson

Well, the after school program is over for the school year, but strangely, I'm still being kept busy!  The summer program is supposed to start in a couple weeks, and two of the three interns have been helping to prepare for it all last week.  Here's a recap of the week for me:

Sunday, May 27: (Pentecost!) After years of trying to remember to wear red on Pentecost, and remembering the week before, and sometimes the day before, and ultimately choosing yellow or blue in the last minute crunch to get ready, I *FINALLY* remembered to wear red!  Totally by accident!  And then I didn't go to my regular church.  I was asked to attend the service at 1st Presbyterian Church of Pomona, because they wanted to pray for Jeff (the other new employee) and myself as we fundraise our own salaries to work at Pomona Hope.  The church actually owns the property that Pomona Hope works out of, so we have a close relationship with them.  It was a very nice service and a very nice congregation, and I'll probably go back to visit a lot (nice to have a backup church for when I just can't get there even close to on time).  I'm usually super nervous when speaking publicly, but it didn't seem that bad this time.  Probably because it's also a really small congregation.  If you're looking for an active church family that will adopt you very quickly, and is very involved in the welfare of their community, I would recommend this place.

Anyway, the prayers went well.  The sermon was good.  It was a much less formal, more personal service than I'm used to, simply because of the size of the congregation.  And then after the service ended, I spoke with several people and found that even if I didn't know them, I knew people that they knew... it always amuses me to find out how small the world really is.

After church, I was also asked to be a mentor to one of the interns for the summer program this year.  To which I said, of course!

Wednesday, May 30:  I got a call from Peter* (actually, about 6 missed calls and then I finally picked up) asking me if I could go to his 6th grade graduation on Friday.  It was both a touching and hilarious conversation (he doesn't call people much I guess, so awkwardness ensued).  I told him of course I would go!

Thursday, May 31: First meeting with my mentee!  (The internet says it's a word!)  We went to lunch at Taco Jalisco (a first for both of us... very delicious and inexpensive) and had a grand, old time.  I think she's going to be just fine.

I also spent the entire day splitting my time between updating the handbook for the summer program, editing and printing my fundraising letter and the pledge cards, posting summer program volunteer opportunities on the job board at church under the heading "resume builders" (which I totally made up) and several other little things I can't remember right now.

Friday, June 1:  Peter's graduation was at Lincoln Elementary School at 11:30am.  It was very cute and a lot quicker than I expected.  But I got pictures!  YAY!

After the ceremony, I found his parents (well, his mom found me...) and followed them to his classroom.  I love his family, they're so sweet!  I only wish I could speak Spanish, so I could have real conversations with them.  They speak a little English, and I understand a little Spanish, but we do seem to get to where we need to be.

I picked up his older sister, Jewel*, from school about an hour later and took her to Ganesha Park, where several of the families of graduating 6th graders were having a celebratory picnic.  I spent the rest of the day hanging out with Jewel, and even took her to see "Snow White and the Huntsman" (don't worry, she's going into her senior year of high school and I had parental permission).  FYI: That movie is terrible.  Or hilarious.  Depends on how you want to look at it.

Saturday, June 2: Morning ministry group meeting to plan the fundraiser dinner in November (we're looking at November 3, so keep your calendar clear!), our ministry group month at the church, and Mission Sunday (next week).

From 2 to 5pm I took the kids from the after school program who improved the most over the school year (Yvonne, Donnie, Maddy, Jimmy, and Ally)* to Boomers!  With the AMAZING help of awesome volunteer, and close, personal friend, Barbara.  She had just gotten off of a plane and pretty much came straight to us.  We wouldn't have been able to go without her.

The kids had a great time!  After the kids used up all their game tokens, the two older kids, Yvonne and Ally, went with Barbara to go rock climbing or bumper-boating, or what-have-you, while I took the younger kids to play a game of miniature golf.  After mini-golf, Jimmy, Maddy, and I rode the bumper boats.  Jimmy got completely soaked and loved it, and as we were pulling into the dock, Maddy told me, "This is the best day ever!"

The kids and Barb!

Jimmy won A LOT of candy in one of the games.

Yvonne's prize!

Maddy's prize

I was there too!

After bumper boats

Donnie finished out the day on the plane ride.

I'm glad she thought so.  Since her older sister, Ally, was told "no" once and that apparently shot the whole day for her.  Can't win them all.  Adventures in growing up.

*Names of kids were changed... and after this is posted, I'll be going back through old posts to use changed names to be consistent with real kids.