The following is the fourth in a series of journals written by members of the SRU Athletes for Forgotten Angels service group chronicling their trip to the Hekima Place orphanage in Kenya. All entries in the journal can be viewed at the Forgotten Angels page.

Day 4 (Written by Izabel Scott and Brooke Edwards)  |  Photo Gallery coming soon

Today we started our day by going to the Galleria in Karen. We had lunch at the Art-Galleria café and we had wifi, so we emailed and talked to some of our friends and family to update them on the trip.  We ordered a variety of food from pizzas to sandwiches and some of us got milkshakes too. It was all very tasty and we would definitely go back again. After our lunch, we browsed through the mall and went to the various stores in the mall. This included gift shops, jewelry stores, clothing stores and there was also a grocery store so some of us got some items there. On the way back from the Galleria, the beautiful scenery that was surrounding us took us away. It was a really cool Kodak moment to say the least.

After we got back from the mall, we did some work around the area. Some of us helped clean quail eggs, and some of us helped with watering the plants because there are a lot of plants!  We also helped the Moms in each house do some work before the girls got home from school. Once the girls got home from school, they have a routine to clean their shoes, fold their clothes that were hanging up outside and put them away, and shower before dinner. They also were served tea when they got home from school.

Once they were done, we played with the girls and helped some of them wash their clothes if they needed help. At dinner we said our blessing before we sat down and then enjoyed a bean dish with cooked carrots and potatoes. After we finished our dinner we had mangos which were chopped in quarters and they were absolutely delicious. Once dinner was finished, the girls do their homework so we split up among the houses and helped them with their homework. After they finished their homework we signed off on it and then read to the girls or had the girls read to us. At 8:30 p.m. the little girls had to go to bed but after we sat in a circle in said our blessings before they went to bed. Once they went off to bed all of us went back to our house and had some snacks, hung around and talked.

After we got back to the house, there was a little fiasco in Dana, Shannon and Molly's room when there appeared a spider the size of a small clementine (maybe a little bit of an exaggeration). Since the Irish myth says, "killing a spider brings bad luck," Noreen pleaded for the girls not to kill the spider. After screams and hollers and some furniture moving Noreen finally got the spider in a cup and put it outside (and left the cup outside!). Overall, it was a great day and we are living the dream!


Shoutout goes to: Jon Holtz for helping us with all of our journals and keeping everyone updated with the trip, and Happy Birthday to Nancy Scott and Happy belated birthday to coach Casey Derkacz!