Taking Anna to school, etc.

This is what's been going on with the Wright family. The following are excerpts from Martha's facebook page. Continue to pray for them as they adjust to life without two of the girls.

August 16:
Helping Anna Wright get packed to go to Rift Valley Academy - so excited for her to get to go, but sad to think of her not being here. Cheering ourselves up with Bruce Springsteen while Mary & Kipsy get checked for brucellosis at the clinic. Just another swinging day in Nakaale.

Kipsy, Mary, Anna, & Bobby with a bunch of their mates with the KIC youth group at the Hairy Lemon.

August 18:
Getting close to packing up for Kenya. Of course still not actually packed, although we've had two months to get ready. No news on what route we'll take to Mbale yet.

August 20:
It was good to see so many people gathered at the home of our neighbor & worker, Lucy, yesterday, to comfort her & her family as her husband passed away after a lengthy illness. Also good to visit with Anna, Mary, & Kipsy at Rose's home & play with many little kids and little goats! Nothing quite like a knobby-headed little goat on your lap. Hoping the bridge will hold and that we can head to Mbale tomorrow. Anna's last day in Nakaale for awhile!

August 21:
And the road was even worse than we could've imagined...Thankfully, the Warden at Amaler Prison had the prisoners clear a path through the marram & construction so thatBob was at least 6 inches away from the edge of the precipice. A little too scary. Then more incredible pits of mud, like ponds & lakes across most of K'ja, Kween, & Kapchorwa Districts. On the bright side - it didn't rain the whole way down, and there wasn't much traffic. Looking forward to great Indian food in Mbale!

August 22:

As you can see, we have taken to walking to Mbale. This was one of a dozen such spots along the way. However, at the time we were ecstatic because the kindly prison warden had allowed us to teeter through the culvert reconstruction.

The path over the culvert at Amaler yesterday. Just about wide enough for a Land Cruiser pickup, apparently.

After getting out of the quicksand off to the side, Bob ventured into the middle of the road to see how deep it got. This is when he started to worry about his new phone in his pocket.

August 25:

Our Anna is just moving into her dorm here at Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, Kenya. Pray she will get over her case of malaria! Thanks to all the wonderful RVA folks for the welcome & introduction to the school!

August 27:

Back in good old Mbale. Wonderful trip to Kijabe, got Anna settled in at RVA once the Coartem worked & she mostly recovered from malaria. What an extraordinary community! We are deeply thankful for so many caring teachers, dorm parents, counsellors, and a friendly student body. Thanks also to all our RVA alumni who urged us to check it out!

Dad sends Anna off to her first day of school at RVA! — at Rift Valley Academy, Kijabe, Kenya.

In the lovely home of Anna's dorm parents, Lisa & Doug Orner, with Bob in the back and Anna's roommate, Eunice, in the foreground.

Great dinner at Delicious Dishes in bustling downtown Mbale! Rachel even called from Houghton College, where she's doing a pre-semester InterConnect program with other international students. The world is full of great providential coincidences. Pretty strange having our two "big girls" off living in dorms on different continents.

August 28, 2012

If you'd like to be in touch with our girls at their new school addresses, here they are:
Rachel Wright, 
CPO 1608
Houghton College
One Willard Avenue PO Box 128
Houghton, NY 14744-0128

and Anna Wright - Rift Valley Academy, Kijabe, Kenya, East Africa. or you can say hi to them on Facebook, too, of course!

Thanks, Derek & Julie Johnson, for inviting me to the Drs. Friesen's  wonderful seminar on marriage, the chance to meet so many Mbale pastors & their wives, and even chicken & chips for lunch! Hoping our lads & friends made it to Nakaale, or close - great to spend a day in such uplifting company in good old Mbale. Webale nnyo!

Looking out the door of Anna's room in Suswa Dorm at RVA. Isn't it lovely?

Anna's dorm at RVA, on a chilly August afternoon!

This is what I get when I ask for a nice family picture. Honestly. At least you get to see what an awesome lunch they serve on Sundays at RVA. In East Africa, we care a lot about lunch.

The gang made it to Nakaale in only about 5 1/2 hours. Hoping this will be the worst they'll find on the way down tomorrow to bring Jon R. and David Landow to the airport - and pick up Erika Bulthuis and Emily Pihl! Pray for safe travel for everybody this week!