Balance - Mizani

Many of you may have learned to drive a stick shift a long time ago, but I didn't really learn until I came to Mombasa. So it was when I was re-learning how to drive that Coralis told me something I needed to learn: Balancing.

I think I've figured out the balancing it takes to get through a jammed roundabout and secondly, into our driveway, which up the little hump and through the gate with narrow clearance. These both take some coordinated footwork, a feel for the clutch and a good eye for the right moment to go or to stop.

I am finding that balancing isn't just about driving, it's also:

• Balancing the time for greeting and welcoming with the time for getting into what might be deeper and need more attention.
  
• Balancing the reality of people's needs being greater than what our project can offer them with the possibilities of hope.
  
• Balancing being quick enough to ask the right questions when the moment arises and taking enough time to reflect on what is being said.

These types of balancing, I am still working out. Perhaps I will always be working on them. One moment this week that sticks with me was a time of speaking with a mother who has chosen to send her daughter upcountry (the term for "back home" or in the rural areas) since she thinks her daughter will do better in school there. She was worried about the friends her daughter had in the local area and saw the influence they were having on her. Although I had to tell her that the project couldn't pay the school fees for a school 1000 km away, I realized as we were talking the solution might not be to bring the girl back to where we could support her school fees. I told the mother that I was glad she was so interested in her daughter's education and caring enough for her to make such a difficult decision.

I work with so many women that are working so hard to give their children - or their nieces and nephews, siblings, grandchildren, or cousins an education. They hope that the young ones can have a brighter future. This mother told me that her two children ARE her future. They will care for her in the later years of her life - possibly even soon, as she is infected with HIV/AIDS.

One of the project donors contributed funds for blankets for the children. This time of year is the coldest in Mombasa. Some of our children sleep on the floor so a thick blanket is really valued & can be used as a mat, too.

A few photos from the blanket delivery:

Smiles that make me smile.

A family member of one of the orphans at home.

Most of our children live in a more densely-populated setting.
A few live on the edge of this valley, overlooking Tudor Creek, which runs to the Indian Ocean.

One of my new friends

Today I'm ending with the Swahili word for the day:

mizani /mee zah nee/
1. weighing scales, balance 2. mental serenity

Wishing you all a good sense of balance and serenity,
Mary