Sikukuu Njema (Merry Christmas in Swahili)

As I write this blog Christmas is over in Kenya and in the continental US (it is still Christmas in Hawaii, and I believe in some parts of Alaska). We spent Christmas eve in Eldoret doing some last minute shopping and errands for the children at the village as we prepared Christmas stockings for all of them. We finally did see the Christmas Eve rush in Eldoret as last minute shoppers prepared to purchase gifts in the local Nakumat, cramming the aisles, and barely leaving any room for us to get to the checkstands. We knew that all was well in the universe as we walked by the large robotic Saint Nicholas and heard him singing Jingle Bells on Christmas Eve (please read our previous blog to understand this). We finally got back to the Open Arms office/home in Eldoret in time to eat a quick dinner and make final preparations for the stockings.

We were hoping to get the stockings done in time to send them to the village on Christmas Eve so the children could wake up with the stockings in front of the fireplace, but it was already too late in the evening for us to travel out to the village so we opted to get up early on Christmas Day and hopefully catch the children waking up. We made our best effort by getting up at 5AM on Christmas Day, but getting two babies fed, diapers changed, babies clothed, and getting us clothed and showered, in addition to loading up the stockings, babies, and other assorted presents took their toll as we arrived at the village at 8AM expecting to find impatient little ones eagerly waiting for their presents.

However, I suppose this is importing Western culture and expectations onto African understandings of Christmas. Here there seem to be very little expectation of the children eagerly waiting to open presents under the Christmas tree although they do give gifts to the children, especially new clothing. Christmas Day seems to be centered around a Christmas Day church service and a Christmas Day feast. We celebrated the church service at the village, and Matt was the surprise guest speaker even though he didn't know this until he was asked to come to the front and speak to the children. Many of the children came up and led songs, even two year old Beatrice did a wonderful job of leading the congregation in a great rendition of "Our God is Able".

However, as Matt and Cheryl arrived at 8AM with two babies, we didn't think the village knew what to do with us other than to give us some tea. The children were busy doing chores, taking showers, and getting dressed for church, but Matt and Cheryl wondered when they would be able to present their carefully prepared Christmas stockings to the children. They had communicated to the house parents that they wanted to give the children Christmas stockings on Christmas morning, but the house parents and the children seemed too preoccupied with chores, showering, preparations for church, and preparations for the afternoon feast. Finally at 11:30am Matt and Cheryl were able to get the attention of the children and the house parents in Upendo Home long enough to lay out the Christmas stockings on the fireplace and explain the tradition of Christmas stockings. The expression on their faces changed from one of nonchalance to one of eager excitement as they began to realize that their were actually presents in these stockings, even new Christmas clothes! We figured that somewhere in our communication to the house parents and the children, something was lost in translation (we theorized that the house parents actually thought all that we were going to give the children for Christmas was a new pair of socks - Christmas stockings).

As we sat in front of the fireplace, we explained how the Christmas tradition of stockings began. For those of you who don't know, this is likely the closest traditional explanation to the historical truth. In about 250 A.D., a baby named Nicholas was born into a small community in what is now modern day Turkey. He was born into a wealthy family, but as a young man he became a Christian and decided to give away all of his wealth to the poor and needy in his community. However, he decided to do this in a unique way that would insure that the proud impoverished people of his community would receive his gifts since many, if not most of them refused charity. When he found about a family in need, he would take some gold coins and stuff them in a stocking. Then he would proceed to quietly climb on the roof of that home and drop the stocking down the chimney. For his acts of charity and his Christian leadership he was eventually appointed as the Bishop of Smyrna in Turkey, and after his death, he was eventually nominated as Saint Nicholas (or jolly old St. Nick as some of us in Western culture have added on our very nicknames and cultural traditions to this story). For those of you who are interested and still want to take the Christmas quiz in my previous blog, I have just given you two answers as a freebie.

We also gave another gift to each house, a Nativity set, crafted in Nairobi, but nevertheless a rare site in Kenya as most houses don't use Nativity sets or even recognize them. However, as we began to explain the Nativity set, the children began to instantly state the characters in the Christmas story as their knowledge of the Biblical story far exceeded any recitation of Western Christmas traditions or decorations. The children also decorated a simple Christmas tree which consisted of a freshly cut fir bough planted in a pot and decorated with tinsel (a tradition they inherited from the West and is honored in some Kenyan households).

The children had lined up patiently listening to this story, but also eyeing these stockings closely, and finally they began to open up the stockings as they pulled out candy, toys, stuffed animals, books, oranges, puzzles, coloring books, and a new Christmas shirt which they all wore to the church service. There was also a new one dollar coin in each stocking in tribute to the origins of Christmas stockings. The children played with their new toys, and gobbled down their new candy, as the house parents profusely thanked Matt and Cheryl for filling these young children with lots of sugar.

After the church service was over, the family prepared to eat a meal of boiled potatoes, sausage, a roasted ram, cole slaw, and sodas. The children were served first as the family began to feast and celebrate. The carefully cooked ram was a little tough, but tasty as a local health inspector came to the village and inspected the meat before it was cooked for the safety of the village. That poor ram had just sired two twin ewes as the newest addition to the Open Arms Village, and what was his reward, but becoming dinner on the Christmas table.

After the feast was over, we gathered back at the Upendo House for some Christmas cookies that Cheryl had baked on Christmas Eve, a tradition which the children quickly embraced and consumed. While the children consumed their cookies, Matt set up his computer to watch a movie with the children, a rare treat for them. Since movie selections here are scarce, and Christmas movies are almost non-existent, Matt selected the movie "Because of Winn Dixie". The other choice was likely "Little Mermaid" but since Matt and Cheryl had already watched this movie with Diana for the 100th time (it's her favorite movie), they opted for this wonderful children's movie.

After the movie and more Christmas cookies, Cheryl and Matt left the children in their sugar induced state and made a hasty departure back to Eldoret with two weary babies and two weary adults. They sat by the small "Charlie Brown" size artificial Christmas tree in the Open Arms office, holding the two babies, drinking chai tea, and eating more Christmas cookies as they reminisced on the activities of their first Christmas in Kenya (and their first Christmas outside of the US).

From Kenya we want to wish you a Sikukuu Njema and a blessed New Year!!

Matt and Cheryl