Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sorry

I apologize for no updating, but don't worry I've been writing out the days on my computer and will upload all the days events when I return. We are currently without internet. Apparently it has something to do with some cables that need repaired in the ocean! You could pray that they get fixed quickly as it would be nice for us all to be able to use wireless again!
To give you a little bit of info, God is doing amazing things here and really teaching me a lot about the people, the culture, and who He really is!
Thanks for the prayers.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Day 6



Today, we got up and walked down to the IDP Camp, and school. Rachel walks down every Tuesday and Thursday to help at the school, so she offered to take us with her today! It took us about and hour and 45 mins to get there. We were greeted at the school by all of the children as they were on break. Doreen did not have a class today, because she had to do profiles or something like that. She had us grade a lot of the kiddos school notebooks. After school, we walked to Doreen's tent in the IDP camp. She cooked us rice and beans, and we hung out with her until the rest of the crew came down to kill chickens. While we waited for the men to clean the chicken etc. Pastor Jeffery told all of the children the story of David and Goliath, and they sang many songs. Soon it was time to go and we headed back up the mountain. Let me just say some of the best times are driving! Yesterday, we had 9 people in the 8 passenger vehicle and today we had 10 people! Some of the best moments are spent in the car :D When we got back, we showered and headed to the Mendonsa's for dinner. Tonight it was some Asian chicken that Dan made, spring rolls, and Korean pancakes. It was wonderful!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Days 4-5



Yesterday was Sunday, so we went to the RVA church. RVA (Rift Valley Academy) is the missionary boarding school. It was pretty neat because it was a baptismal service. After church Aly and I came back to our house to get a few things before going to spend the afternoon at the Mendonsa’s. We pretty much just hung out all afternoon. Emily taught us a new game called blokus, it was fun but somehow she managed to win every time! We then ate dinner with all of them.
Today, we went to the Mendonsa’s and Aly had a Swahili lesson while I took a nice warm shower for once! When Julie got home from school, we all went down the Naomi’s Village to check on the guys and see how things were going. Then we made our way over to the IDP camp.
Julie brought a big parachute and balloons to let the kids play with. She also brought fingernail polish and we painted the mother’s fingers. The children had a blast with the balloons; however, when they popped many of them cried.
We returned about an hour ago, and are now going to go for a walk before we head back over to the Mendonsa’s for dinner.
Our walk was quite delightful! Aly and I had a great talk as we walked and explored! Now we are getting ready for supper, which is Mexican spaghetti!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

A day with Ernie (Day 2)




Today we got up around 6:45am so we could leave with Ernie (the builder for Naomi’s Village) at 7:45. I took a very cold shower this morning. Ernie picked us up by the Moffat Bible College sign and we headed to Nairobi. We first stopped in a little town at a lumber yard. Then when we made it to Nairobi we went to the Market (a shopping mall) so Aly could get her phone fixed and Ernie could get some banking figured out. While there we had some doorman’s coffee.
Around 11:30am we headed back down the mountain to Maai Mahiu where we stopped at to Comfort God’s Children, which is where many disable children get help and their mothers are given a job of sewing. There I met a lady who is actually from Hastings, NE.
After visiting there for a bit, we went to Naomi’s Village and picked up Mary who was going to help us get chickens to cook for supper. We headed down to the IDP Camp to get the chickens from Joseph and Doreen who have started a poultry project. While there Stacy wanted to be held for quite some time. I soon became tired of holding her and set her down and she went to Aly. Then another little girl came and sat on the ground by me and began doing a hand clap game with me, which lead to counting to 120 and saying ABC’s. Soon 2 more girls came and joined, there was also another little guy who wouldn't let go of my knee. All of us girls began playing another hand clap game that seemed similar to “down by the banks” but with numbers and letters in it. Hopefully, I can learn the song that goes with it soon! After a few games of this, it was time to go. I can’t explain leaving these children; it is just so very hard.
We headed back to the camp, where Mary told us we had to wait for the water to boil before we could slaughter the chickens. It didn’t take too long for the water to begin to boil and David and Mary and 2 other women began to chop the heads of the chickens. Once this was done the chickens were dipped in the boiling water so it was easier to pluck their feathers. Mary, after dipping a chicken told us to “come, come” and so we began plucking the feathers. It didn’t take long and all the chickens were slaughtered and plucked. Then David began to clean out all the insides and cut up the chickens. After this was done Mary brought Aly and I the knives (they only had two very large, very dull knives) and we began peeling potatoes. They soon told us we were too slow and took the knives back and finished. Everything was put back into the pot and cooked, yes it was the same pot we dipped the chickens in but with different water, not clean by any means. Oh yes, the chicken legs, feet and all were cooked in the pot. After cooking for some time it was finally time to eat. We had to wait because there weren’t any plates left and we didn’t eat from a clean plate either. The food was pretty good, the chicken was a lot tougher and definitely not my favorite, but the potatoes were excellent.
After dinner while the women were cleaning up, Terri came over and talked with us. She said we were being too quite, I told her we were taking it all in. She told us her story of how she was from El doret but had to move down here 3 years ago because of the clashes. Her father is no longer living and she lives with her mother at the IDP Camp. She is considered the breadwinner of the family because she is the only one able to work. She shared her dreams with us to be married and hopefully someday got to school to study nutrition and work in a hospital.
While cooking we met Monica, who is almost done with her degree and will soon work for Cure. The phrased that are heard down here most often are “life is hard, but God is good.” God has already begun to work here and I can’t wait for him to do more in these people’s lives.
Please pray that I would find what God is calling me to do here, and that I am able to recover quickly from jet lag. Also pray that God would continue to fill me up as it is getting a bit difficult to be away from my family.

First 24hrs. in Kenya

Let’s just say it I’m definitely in Africa. Crazy Matatu Drivers, red dirt that stains everything, bumpy roads, children chasing tires down the hills with beautiful smiles and bare feet.
I woke up at 7:00am because my alarm accidentally went off and there were many loud noises outside my window; however, I did fall back asleep for a little while. I then got up at 8:00am and washed my hair the sink in cold water as there was no hot water in out room. Aly and I waited and waited for our taxi to come, which was supposed to be there at 9, but didn’t show up until around 10-10:30. I guess he went to the wrong place. He (Elisha) took us to the supermarket to buy food. By this time I again was not feeling well at all, and we still had to get Aly a cell phone and we needed to exchange more money. We got to the mall and exchanged our money, then I went and bought water while Aly got her phone. When we got ready to leave the mall I was still feeling pretty horrible ( I thought the water would help, oh I also ate some crackers that we had bought-neither helped). So we drove to Kijabe, an hour from Niarobi, I was absolutely miserable the entire way. We got to the Mendonsa’s and met Julie, she then took us to where we are staying where we met Leah (lay-uh). After a bit of talk with her we went back to Julie’s. She made me so chicken noodle soup, which was hard to get down, but didn’t seem to bad on the stomach. We then walked back to our house, because another bed was supposed to be arriving, but Leah wasn’t there and hadn’t come, so we waited. Kenya time is much like Trinidad time, “they may say 9am but really if they show up before noon, they are on time.” So Julie called Leah, and we found out she couldn’t get to the bed because the people weren’t home. So we went to IDP camp to pick up some other guests, and one of the builders wife and son. Oh by this time I was feeling much better.
On our drive out of Kijabe, some of the children began to follow our car. The road was incredibly bumpy and well used. We made our way down the mountain to the Rift Valley where the IDP camp was located. As soon as we got out of the car we were greeted by a few children. We then went to find Rachel, Dee Dee, and Bryant and found many children along the way who just wanted to hold your hand and give you hugs. We didn’t stay long as we had to pick up Tim who was at Naomi’s Village. We stopped there long enough to pick him up and see where Naomi’s Village was located. We then drove back and were dropped at our road. Julie is going to come pick us up for supper in a little while.

Travel Day (6/29/10-6/30-10)

Well, since I have some time to waste on this 7 hour and 44 min flight, I thought I’d take a moment to update everyone.
My frist flight went well. Take off was great and the flight was smooth. I sat next to a young girl who was on her way to see her grandma and stay at a cabin they own on a lake. She told me she was from Utah and that she and her twin sister and younger brother were traveling like they always did every summer. She told me how her mom was a flight attendant for Delta so they got to fly a lot.
So my flight landed in Minneapolis at 4:15. My next flight was to take off at 5:05. I got off my plane and asked for directions. I learned that I had to go to the opposite end of the airport. If the Minneapolis Airport is familiar, I got off my plane in concourse A and my next gate was in concourse G. I had to walk a bit and then get on a tram and then walk quite a bit further. When I got to my gate, I was one of the last people to board, but I made it! While I was making my way to my gate, I was able to talk to my sister and mom.
I got on my plane, found my seat and soon met my next seat buddy. It was an older gentleman from the Netherlands-he spoke English but it was a bit hard to understand him at times. This flight was from Minneapolis to Amsterdam which was 4,166 miles. I watched two movies on this flight “When in Rome” and “Tooth Fairy.” I then took a nap and when I woke up didn’t feel very well. My flight landed and I was very glad to get on the airplane. Amsterdam was a very unusually airport. We landed one place and then taxied over two major highways. We unloaded the plane and I thought the two hours before my next flight would settle my stomach. It didn’t seem to be getting better so to I took some pepto. It was then time to board and I still wasn’t feeling any better.
Well I made it into the air and thing began to get much worse. I soon found myself asking the flight attendant if I could vomit in the bathroom and she offer me her seat which was next to the bathroom. For the next 5 hours of the 8 hr flight I spent my time between the flight attendant’s seat and the bathroom. (She took very good care of me!) The remaining 3 hours I was able to go back to my seat and sleep for awhile. We finally landed and Barbara Pinkly (who was sitting in front of me) took me through the visa getting process and down to the baggage claim. Customs was very easy to clear and I soon found the cafĂ© where I was to meet Aly. By this time my stomach was filling a bit better.
Aly arrived and we found our taxi driver who took us to the AACC guesthouse. I was able to call and talk to my mom for a bit but not long as I was tired and we needed to figure out what time our taxi was coming in the morning.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

A Day with the Mendonsas (day 3)

Today, I got to sleep in which was excellent after the day I had yesterday! Aly and I went over to the Mendonsas probably around 12pm. Julie made a cake for me yesterday for my birthday, but we were too busy that we didn't get a chance to eat any of it. When we got there, Julie, who had already taken a bite out of my cake, found a candle and her, Bob, and Aly all sang happy birthday to me.
We then headed back down to Naomi's Village and spent the rest of the afternoon there. There we watched them cut and place a cross stone in the gable of the girl's wing. It looks beautiful! (pictures to come soon)
I used a choo (pronounced with a long "o") today. It's somewhat equivalent to an outhouse, except the hole is in the ground, not raised. Its really quite awkward, but when you got to go, you got to go. After a few more hours just sitting around the fire pit chatting with Julie and Aly, we headed back up to Kijabe.
The Mendonsas then took us up to the McMillan's who are close friends of there's. We watched the Argentina vs. Germany soccer game. We just got back to the Mendonsa's and are getting ready to eat dinner. Today was a great day! Not as much done, but still quite exhausting.
**Hopefully I will be able to post the previous 2 days soon!