Team Two’s Last Days in Country

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

We enjoyed breakfast together and said our goodbyes before setting out on the road for Ewaso Ng’iro, our next stop for this leg of the race . . . . just kidding. It is our next stop, but we are not racing. A piece of our hearts was left with the widows, orphans and families we met while in Kisumu. As we headed down the road, our thoughts were with them.

We arrived in dusty, dry Ewaso Ng’iro in Maasai land about 12:30 p.m.

We met the Bells at the Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF) compound. As we drive in we see many children and brightly clad adults waiting for us. Included in CMF’s compound is a clinic. The clinic serves the neighboring families, of which the HIV-positive are an unusually high percentage of the population. We are meeting the children. There are about 120 in the care of the clinic, receiving ARVs and other medical care. Many of the children are orphans under the care of a guardian or family member.

While waiting for lunch to be ready, we divided the children into two groups and did an Art for the Nations art project with the children.

Communication was a bit challenging as these children know Maasai and a bit of Kiswahili, and we know English and a very small bit of Kiswahili! So translators were a blessing. The art project involves writing each child’s name in block or bubble letters. Older children can do their own. We help the small ones. They color in the letters of their name and then we outline the letters with glue which is then sprinkled with glitter. By the end of the lesson, the papers are not the only thing sprinkled with glitter. It’s on faces, in hair, on arms and hands. They love it! The message given is that they are special and unique. God knows them by name and He loves them. We abandon the papers to dry and head off to wash hands for lunch.

About 70 children (each one HIV-positive) and approximately 40 guardians have come to eat the meal that “we” (that includes you, our supporters) have paid for, which has been prepared by the community. ARVs require good nutrition, which is difficult to find among orphans. Lunch includes a carton of milk, rice, meat, lentils, chapatti (similar to a tortilla), half a banana and an orange slice.

I sat with one child who seemed to be alone, though his guardian appeared later. His name was Josephat and he was about four years old. He was a bit small to stand and reach his food on the table and the bench was affixed too far away from the table for him to reach it sitting down either. So I sat down and put him on my lap. He seemed very hungry as I had a difficult time maneuvering the spoon away from him long enough to cut his food into smaller bites. As I held him I realized his belly was pretty distended and as I continued to watch and help him eat, it became pretty apparent that he was starving. I looked around the room and saw everyone eating and enjoying their meal and kept trying to grasp the fact that all the children were positive. It is strange to feel the joy to be able to provide a meal for all these and at the same time be asking God, “How can this be?”

We cleared the dishes and joined the children for some outdoor fun. There was a good breeze and Dave had his kite soaring 500 yards up – the kids and adults were loving that. There were songs being sung and the ever-favorite bubbles being blown with the small ones in the shade of the building.

Some of the older children were playing football (we know it as soccer) and skipping rope. Others were enjoying a slide and swing set at the far side of the compound. Many of the children needed to leave about 4:30 and begin walking home, which for some could be a long walk, up to 5 kilometers.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Today we taught the Choose to Wait abstinence curriculum at nearby Enkare Nairowua Girls Secondary School. There were about 180 girls and a few staff present for our teaching, which involved skits, Bible verses and some direct teaching. We provided each student with a pen and notebook. We spoke in English without a translator and the girls seemed to understand the material.

This material is so contrary to everything teens hear about sex from the media, in school and from their peers (in America too, for that matter) that it just seems so foreign to them. Many of the Maasai girls this age have already been circumcised. We call this Female Genital Mutilation or FGM. It is a tragic custom and rite of passage for girls in many tribes of Kenya and Africa. The girls usually do not have a choice and it is often performed with rustic instruments (sharpened metal or glass) by an older woman. The girl is not anaesthetized and instruments are not sterilized prior to the procedure and in between girls as several are often done at once. The “wound” is then packed with cloth and the girls legs tied together for a week or so. Many girls die from infection. Those who live face a lifetime of painful sex. HIV is also spread this way. Looking at these young, innocent faces, it was hard to believe the horror many of them had already faced.

Our teaching focuses on the Bible and goes against what the culture says. Difficult for some to hear and many are hearing the truth for the first time. Please continue to pray for these girls as God brings them to mind. We know over the next several weeks they will be processing and thing about the material and ideas that we shared.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Today we traveled from Ewaso Ng’iro back to the Bells’ home in Kitengela. We ate lunch at Java House, a favorite hangout for many, but especially those who miss an occasional Starbucks. Java House not only has great coffee and specialty coffee drinks, but also pretty good food. After finishing lunch, we headed into downtown Nairobi for a little shopping. Downtown is always an adventure and you definitely want to get in and get out as soon as possible as you do not want to be there when rush hour starts. We made it “home” in good time.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Today we visited Machakos School for the Deaf and it was quite the experience. Some of the team had been practicing their signing to try and communicate with the kids, and it proved pretty beneficial. We were there to continue teaching the Choose to Wait program. Teams go to the school every two weeks to teach a portion of the program and ideally in a year or so the program is complete. For our teaching the children were divided in to two groups, younger ages 8-11, and older ages 12-14. Jen, Joyce, Scott, Spencer, and Amber led the younger group, while Gloria, John, and Dave taught the older kids. The lessons were similar, however, the younger kids had some skits and activities to keep them focused.

Scott and Amber have been there in the past so the kids had already given them sign names (a name the children give which is usually shorter than finger spelling your name each time, though they want to know your “real” name as well), which a few of them remembered. It was fun looking out into the crowd and seeing the kids signing to each other what it was. We introduced ourselves. We had practiced, “Hi. My name is …”  the night before so we all had that down. It was Gloria and Spencer’s first time, so they each stood in front of the kids and they gave them sign names.

After introductions we went into teaching where Joyce and John did a review of the previous lesson, followed by the new material. Overall, it was an awesome experience. Spending time with these kids was truly special and such a blessing.

Independence Day in Kenya

Saturday, July 3

Today, we saw some of the most difficult of living situations, and yet experienced incredible joy in the midst. When Team Moja (One) made home visits two weeks ago with the Salem Home Based Care group, they identified two families who were sleeping on the floor and so had ordered two bunk beds to be made before they left. We were notified that the beds were ready for pick up, and so we arranged our day to deliver beds to these families, which turned out to be an all-day event.

Just picking up the beds was an event! The furniture maker was located in the midst of the open market. The bunk beds were set up in his stall for our inspection, which were then dismantled as each of us made several trips traipsing through the market carrying out the various headboards and boards for the beds. It was quite a spectacle to see the wazungus (white strangers) managing their loads through the narrow aisles of the marketplace…and another sight to see the top of the vehicle loaded with the frames for four beds.

The first home we went to was that of Mikail, who had five small children – her husband had left to find work. It was situated next to a fish processing area, which essentially means that it was an open place where fish were hung to dry. We parked the car on the road and proceeded to take the bed parts through narrow passageways of mud homes, often with rivulets of sludge in between, all the while watching our heads to avoid the overhanging tin roofs. Rounding corners we were often met with curious children, open cooking fires, and wash basins. Again we attracted attention throughout the neighborhood as we weaved in and out of the maze.

After quite a walk, we arrived at a one-room mud home, about 10’ x 10’ in size, with one 15” x 15” window to light the room, that was often obstructed by the grazing cow outside or the heads of curious children peering in. Other than a small table, there was no other furniture in the room; a straw mat lay on one side of the room, which served as the family’s eating area and bed. We delivered the other bunk bed to a home in a more rural area and found similar conditions; this widowed mother of four buys and sells sawdust to try to feed her family.

After delivering the beds and getting them set up, we then went to the Nakumatt (Wal-Mart with machetes) to buy four mattresses, sheets, and pillows. We repeated the delivery process and the parade of white people filing through the village, where the children were jumping up and down in excitement and the mothers were shedding tears of gratitude as we completed their new beds.

While it was difficult to see the difficult living circumstances of these families, it was also good to know that the children would no longer be sleeping on a dirt floor.

After delivering the beds, we drove to St. Elizabeth Children’s Centre in a beautiful setting on a hill, where a primary school and church are also located. About 30 children live there, ranging in ages from three to thirteen. We enjoyed playing with the children, who were clearly well loved and brought up – we all commented on how well behaved they were. We brought jump ropes, soccer balls, and horseshoes, but the definite hit with the kids was the bubbles. This home has a nice dining hall; however it is void of all furniture. During the violence two years ago, all of the furniture was taken, and they haven’t been able to replace it, so the children must sit on the floor to eat. The home has a borehole (well), but it has dried up so they must buy their water for drinking and washing.  We left food and first aid supplies.

Sunday, July 4

While America celebrated Independence Day, we worshipped God African style at Pastor Bentah Moses’ church. Herself a widow, she pastors a church of mostly young widows as well as runs a small home for orphans. Her exuberant spirit was infectious, and three hours in a hot corrugated tin-walled and roofed church seemed to fly by. We rode home in a tuk-tuk – a three-passenger, three-wheeled golfcart of sorts and run by a lawn-mower type engine – which is Kisumu’s version of a taxi. We spent the rest of the day doing laundry, packing, resting, and visiting with our hosts.

As we prepare to leave Kisumu, just a word about the area and where Jack lives. As most of you know, Jack Mila is the Kenyan national we work with in Kisumu. He  is working with over 30 children’s homes and schools, not to mention the many village communities, which accounts for over 11,000 children, as he strives to empower the communities to take care of their own orphan population. After seeing that the children are fed, safe, and healthy, he strives to keep them in school.

Jack lives in the slums of Nyalenda. Leaving the main road, the vehicle winds around mud houses on a rocky dirt road, where the passage is often so narrow that one could reach out of the car window to knock on a front door or be scratched by a border hedge. It’s not uncommon for someone to set up a road stand in the middle of the road so that they must pick up their goods to allow us to pass. The air smells of kerosene, sewage, wood fires, and cooking. In the midst of this, Jack lives in a relatively nice structure, which is essentially a fourplex. His family (eight people) lives in one unit of four rooms while we stay in another unit. He is well known and respected throughout the community. He has his own school across from his home, which he operates for the neighborhood orphans.

Living in the slums, where people live in relatively close proximity to one another creates its own challenges. Although our alarm clocks may have been set for 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning, the rooster usually has other ideas. He insists that the wake-up time is around 4:30, and there is no pushing the snooze button! He crows non-stop until the sun comes up at 7:00. Trying to find a quiet moment at any time is difficult at best. It is impossible to sit by the window or on the front stoop without many children crowding around to get your attention. Evenings under mosquito nets, on warm sultry nights, brings out the sounds of the evening – blaring music, barking dogs, cheering from World Cup fans, the occasional domestic quarrel or crying baby.  And just about the time you get to sleep, the rooster starts in again. But in spite of this, staying with Jack is a memorable and wonderful experience. Jack’s wife, Evelyn, feeds us well and is a gracious hostess. We get a sense of Kenyan life that most never experience.

Sunset over Lake Victoria

Thank you for your continued prayers! We appreciate you!

Mungu Akubariki! (God Bless You in Kiswahili)

Team Mbili

Amazing Survival Stories

July 1, 2010

Today we visited Ring Road Orphans Day School and Migosi Orphanage Home. Ring Road is a project with many ambitions and dreams. It is a primary school, a clinic, church, has an orphanage home and leads a significant amount of community outreach. The primary school caters to 388 children, along with supporting 118 kids in high school, and 102 in vocational school. They go to school Monday through Saturday. Monday-Thursday is mainly for class, and Fridays serve for extracurricular activities, such as food, health and wellness meetings, and study time if need be. Saturdays homework is due, but students primarily go to get a meal. On holidays when school is out the kids can still come and get food if they need it.

Farewell to Edward, Christina, and Audrey

Monday, June 28, 2010

We had a changing of the guard last night as we bid farewell and good travels to Edward, Christina, and Audrey, and welcomed Gloria at the airport. Today, we officially start Team Mbili (two) with Scott Olivett, Spencer Davis, Gloria Scharton, and Amber Browning. Amber, who hails from Bowling Green, Kentucky, has been in Kenya for several weeks working with the Bells and will be joining our team for the next two weeks.

Lala Salama

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

We departed Nairobi for Kisumu which is in Nyanza Province, located north and west of Nairobi.

Pizza Party!

Hakuna matata!

Monday – 6/21/10

On to Salem Secondary School

Saturday – 6/19/10

Today we went to go help out at the Salem Secondary School. Here their water tank was putting too much pressure on the platform causing it to collapse. So we showed up to make a better platform. We had to pump out 10,000 liters of water from the tank into the well so that we would be able to move the tank while working on the platform. While we were waiting for the water to pump out we went across the street to Salem Children’s Home. We spent lunch time with the kids and we helped feed the babies. These kids were so cute!

Audrey feeding a baby

Once the tank was drained we went back over to continue making a platform. We dug a huge hole so we would be able to fill it with cement to make the platform more stable. We had to empty two trucks full of rock and sand to make the cement with:

Audrey and Ed emptying the truck

It was a long day full of hard work but ultimately great because it will give the school a better foundation for their water tank.

Scott, Edward, Christina, Spencer, and Audrey

Sunday – 6/20/10

Today we went to a church that Jack (whom we are staying with) is familiar with. The worship was fabulous and God was truly present in the building. About an hour before church started we were informed that one of us would be responsible for delivering the message. Fortunately Scott was prepared and gave a lovely message about hope. The rest of us got up and gave some words of encouragement and read a passage for them (they loved Audrey’s verse!).

Christina

Scott dedicating a baby

We also dedicated babies while at church and Scott took part in the ceremony and prayed with the families. After church we joined in some fellowship and ate some food with our new friends.

After that we went for a drive with Pastor Seline to look at their facility for the elderly and orphans. They have five acres and big dreams. While we were there, we met a woman who was 105 years old. She was unable to walk, see, or hear, but she was happy to see us and was thankful for the prayers we said over her. There are a lot of opportunities and potential for development of new buildings and expansion on the plots. Their plan is to take half the land and dedicate it to the elderly and the other half for orphans, crops, and chickens.

Next we stopped at the Nakumatt and bought 120 kilos of rice and 120 kilos of beans along with sugar and soap. Then took a ride to Kit-Mikayi, which means stone of the first wife, and is about a 45-minute drive north from Kisumu. Here we delivered the supplies, the girls danced with the women and we got to tour the beautiful rock formation. It was a lot of fun and the rocks where so cool, it was truly a blessing to see them.

Audrey and Christina

Overall it was a brilliant day, we got back late and had another fabulous dinner at Jack’s, and now I am off to bed!

On the Road to Kisumu

Thursday – 6/17/10

Today we traveled to Kisumu. The drive was supposed to take four hours or so, but it actually took about seven and a half hours. The drive was really nice, though. It was great seeing more of the beautiful country of Kenya. We traveled up through the mountains, which brought us by tea country. Along the way, we also saw many remnants of the

violence that broke out during the post-election violence in 2008. There was definitely beauty amidst the ashes. It was encouraging to see life carry on despite the hardship that was faced in 2008. We stopped occasionally to buy some produce (see the photo of Pastor Jack, below) and maize (see the photo of Spencer, below) before finally arriving in Kisumu. We are staying in a slum called Nyalenda next door to Pastor Jack. Our place is nice, with three rooms, a bathroom (plus a shower!) and a spare room with a sink. The people here are very friendly and very excited that we are staying among them.

Pastor Jack buying produce

Spencer eating maize

Friday – 6/18/10

Today we visited Phoebe in the Salem Primary School. Once we met up with her, we visited the slums Kotur and Obunga, which were homes to many students at Salem.

Spencer, Audrey and Christina

We visited 15 families. The time we spent with families was dedicated to understanding their stories and encouraging them through uplifting words and prayers. We even joined in song with some families to praise God for His goodness. It was great to see the hope in these families’ eyes. As we left each household, we left a bag of provisions, which included soap, rice, sugar, salt, cooking fat, and maize flour. Each family was very grateful for the contribution.

The stories we heard of each family were pretty amazing. It was incredible to see what it looks like to truly rely on God for every single thing. Most of the families we visited were widows who were doing everything possible to support their family. The impact their faith has had on their own family and their community was inspiring.

When we got home, we were looking forward to a quick rest. However, our time was demanded by the orphans that live next door to us. We ran outside to play games with them:

Play time

Even though we were tired and dizzy from playing, it was fun to spend time with such a lively bunch.  There is so much joy amidst the children! We look forward to seeing them every day we spend here.

Audrey with neighborhood kids

Brydges Children’s Home Projects

The slideshow photos posted yesterday correspond with today’s post.

Tuesday – 6/15/10

Today the entire team (extended CSI team included), went to the new Brydges Children’s Home building site.  We spent the majority of the day preparing the produce field.  We planted seeds, placing mulch beds on the new seeds and then watering the seeds.  Although this seems like an easy process, it’s a little different here in Kenya than at home.  Ed, Christina, and Audrey were busy fetching water in the truck, while the rest of the team used up all the water we had just fetched.  Rosemary, the executive director of Brydges, also came out to help us plant .

We also began work on the greenhouse that, once completed, is going to cover about 1/3 of the field.  We dug two-and-a-half-feet deep holes in which we placed the support beams for the greenhouse.  We then had to help/watch the workers mix concrete and set the poles.

The borehole that was dug in April is completed and in working order.  They are just waiting on the electricity company to bring power to the site.  Rosemary says she is trying very hard to persuade the electric company to come and get the power installed as soon as possible.  Audrey spent some time getting the platform ready for one of the water tanks that will be installed once the borehole is up and pumping.

Wednesday – 6/16/10

Today, Spencer and Scott went to the building site again to finish up the greenhouse.  Ed, Christina, and Audrey went to the Brydges Preschool to work and play with the kids. There were about seventeen kids at Brydges.  To ensure time spent with each of them, we split into four groups, each with different activities. The first group did a Bible study with the kids. The second group read with kids. The third group, which Ed headed up, did an arts and crafts project that involved decorating each kid’s name. The fourth group, which Audrey and Christina were in charge of  Christina, Audrey), spent time going over colors and numbers with the kids. Kids who were as young as five knew their addition and subtraction incredibly well. A few even knew their multiplication tables!

Spencer and Scott joined the other half of the team that was working on finishing the greenhouse from yesterday. After a long, hard-working day, the greenhouse is almost complete.  The roof still needs to be put on the greenhouse, which will be the finishing touch.

Tomorrow we will be traveling north to Kisumu, which should be about a five-hour drive. Pastor Jack will be hosting us while we visit numerous children’s homes and schools.