Happy belated new year from our Beehive family! Welcome to our Easter news. In Kenya it is customary that the first time you meet someone in a new year (even as late as March) you are supposed to wish them a Happy New Year.
We had a wonderful Christmas here. During December the girls had lots of fun, including a special fun day. We hired a children’s entertainer from Nairobi. The day was spent playing many team games. Our son was here visiting at the time and his partener joined in with the fun, painting all the little ones’ faces.
For Christmas Day the girls and the little ones were invited to the Nakuru Governor’s home, along with around 1500 others from homes throughout the country! They had a wonderful day. So we celebrated Christmas Day as a Beehive family on Christmas Eve. Lots of games were played, we danced, we sang and we ate lots of lovely Kenyan Fare. Alan and I gave out Christmas gifts to everyone and even recieved a lovely gift from our staff. We all felt so blessed, it was a really wonderful time.
Hello’s and Goodbye’s
Just before christmas we wlcomed two new oung girls who brought with them two new little ones.
We said cheerio to R* and her little boy after being with them for eight years. She finished High school at the end of the year and now is waiting to join a further education course.
we also said cheerio to I* shortly after Christmas, who very sadly lost her premature new born baby in October. She has been reintergrated with her siblings in another home where they have been placed.
School news
Our KCSE (end of Primary exams) girls and our KCSE (end og High School exams) girls all did well when they recieved their results.
Two of our girls had good enough grades to be able to continue onto University in September which is brilliant news.
However, the grading system here in Kenya is very difficult to understand, and unfortunately there are often other things at play. This means pupils do not always get their own marks or are marked unfairly. This is something we have learnt to accept, despite being extremely frustrating. One of our girls was deffinately not given her correct pass grade. Therefore she is not now able to go onto University, which she deserves so much. Instead, she has returned to School to repeat her 4th year.
After that was all over, it was time to settle down to the buisness of getting everyone ready for the new school year. We had two little ones joining Nursery School, two girls joining Junior High and five girls joining High School. We have also had four girls joining sewing school on a six-month programme.
In other news
Sadly, a few of the girls were involved in a road incident at the end of January. On their way home from school on Thursday, F* was hit by a slow-moving vehicle, which had swerved to avoid a motorbike.
Often the custom here in such circumstances is that the driver must take the person they hit to the hospital. With no one at The Beehive being yet aware of what had happened, the three girls got into his car.
The driver panicked and dumped them somewhere else in the dark. He forcibly pushed them out of his vehicle, and one of the girls slipped and he ran over her foot.
As soon as we became aware of the issue, we managed to locate them and take them all to hospital. Thankfully, F* only sustained some deep tissue bruising. N* had a dislocated foot which needed to be set in plaster. All three girls involved were understandably very traumatised.
This year seems to be going by very fast! The girls and little ones are all going well, having recently recovered from a nasty stomach bug. They greatly enjoy coming together on Sunday mornings, gathering together for church at Alps house. The girls lead the worship, and a couple of them are on the ‘speaking team’, along with Alan and three of our ladies. We continue to see the hand of God throughout the work, bringing favour and blessing.
Check our blogs page as we will have more updates on the Beehive, the girls and life here in Nakuru!
