My first week in Meru

Hi there! Meru is great! My family is a little different from what I was told before I came here. The family just has one cat and she stays in the entryway part of the house. One of my host sisters is working in Nairobi and I have 2 host brothers, but they live in a separate house that is literally right next to the main house, but I never see them. So it is just me, my host parents,the househelp, my 26 year old host sister, Susan, and her 2 year old daughter, Zahura. Zahura is so cute! She always has a lot of hugs for me and she recites poems and sings songs for me. She's almost 3 and talks a lot, but she doesn't know much english, so all I have to go on is the little Swahili that I know. I am really enjoying Zahura, but she could use a visit from that Nanny 911 Lady! When she doesn't get her way, she screams and cries until they give in to her. My family has been really welcoming and I am feeling very comfortable in their home already. Although Meru is an urban area, it doesn't really feel like it because their house is tucked away on the outskirts of the city and is surrounded by small farms with tall banana trees everywhere. It's really green here and the view is beautiful. In the distance you can see mountains and rolling hills. For my internship, I am working at Ripple International's Tumaini Center which offers counseling, schooling, legal services, and housing for young girls, up to 17, who have been abused. There are 12 girls living at the house with 3 babies, 3 of the girls are now mothers and one of them is pregnant. The girls are great mothers, you can tell that they really love their children. It just doesn't seem possible to me that a 12 or 13 year old can be a mother, then reality kicks in when I see them breastfeeding their babies. It's hard to think about what their lives and the lives of their kids is going to be like. It's great that they are able to get support from Ripples International, but I know that there are many other girls just like them that aren't recieving any kind of support for the abuses that they have endured. There are also 8 girls that come to the center during the day to be trained in how to sew and do beadwork so that they can earn an income. The girls are so full of joy despite what they have gone through in their young lives. They teach me songs and games and are even teaching me a little bit of the Meru language. There isn't really a lot of toys to play with, but they are very creative! Yesterday, we reenacted the birth of Jesus...I got to be Joseph! Tea time is highly valued here, I am now averaging about 6 cups of tea a day. I have also gotten used to eating sugar cane. The texture is like what I would imagine eating a piece of wood would be like and it tastes sweet like sugar water. I think that's about it for now!