Malaha
We head to Malaha - home of the Luiahs - perhaps as in Hallelujah!! We bump our way along and just when we think we have seen the last of the small side roads we find another and another and another … we cause a stir because a vehicle has come – and our national relief manager, Chris, is like a celebrity son – one who has done well but has not forgotten his home, his mother, his roots…. He is a humble man of great integrity and he is honoring us by taking us to meet his mother…
Some of the kids are nervous of the white people – most giggle a lot … they love the truck and want to climb all over it … we go into the house and we can hear them – very jolly … playing in the truck. We are happy the truck has four wheels all attached and functioning and they see it as an amazing vehicle …. Puts things in perspective.
We tour the village and hear the story of each home – who lives where and why … most want us to pray over their homes and pray into their lives… what an honor.
As if that was not enough – they have cooked for us and given us plenty from their meager resources …. And as if that were not enough some give us gifts!! A broom and a basket.
The farm land is very productive and we see the crops – pumpkins, amaranth, maize, sugar cane and he list goes on.
We visit Pastor Augustine whose family treats us like royalty. We see their home, their church, they share their dreams … build a new church building – send their eldest daughter to the USA to study medicine. We take photos of the family – photos are precious here - we must find a god place for prints … really nicely done to send to them as a gift. Photos are precious here.
It is interesting to go into a mud hut in the heat of the day and find it cool and comfortable… one begins owning a small round hut – additional huts or add ons come later ..
Chris’ mom is so lovely despite a hard life - she is truly a woman of grace. She was the first of 5 wives so Chris has 4 stepmothers. We talk about polygamy and its effects. Most old men have many wives – they encourage the younger men to have only one.
The people are voting today on nominees for local government and we stop to greet people – what a patient group waiting for 9 hours to vote – they are a peaceful people and it is s pleasure to meet them. 9 hours!!!
Goibei
This a place high in the hills where Carol and Betty taught some years back. We are pleasantly received and enjoy a tour of the facilities … No wonder they speak of it with such fondness. The road to get there is a crazy mix of humps and bumps punctuated with very short stretched of tarmac or the remains of tarmac. The students are completing exams and heading home for the month of December, we enjoy our visit and the beautiful grounds. In a God ordained moment - the very first person we speak with had been a student of both Betty and Carol! You just can’t plan such things! We visit the mission side extensively – what a beautiful place! We take lots of photos which we look forward to sharing with Betty and Carol.
Kisumu
Located on the shores of Lake Victoria – this is the second largest lake in the world (second to Lake Superior). Kisumu is a great place to eat fish so we eat tilapia for dinner – fresh and tasty! The highlight of our visit is yet to come – early next morning we take a boat onto the Lake for a hippo watching (Nile hippos), bird watching, fisherman watching extravaganza! The largest hippos weigh 4.5 tons!! That’s a lot of hippo!! We enjoy it all - the boats and fishing styles fascinate us and our guide Daniel does a good job of narrating, although all Lauris could hear was the motor!! This a good thing really because we have no oars. Only a stick but he lake is shallow. It is full of water hyacinths which float about with the wind. By the time we head back toward our starting point, we are hyacinth-ed out! We land rather precariously nearby
We head back for breakfast and depart for Eldoret through the tea growing areas on more crazy roads - tea as far as the eye could see in some areas…. We find a little spot where tea is for sale so we are now drink Nandi Hills Tea for breakfast.
Anyone for a picture show?? I so wish I could upload photos to this blog or even to Picassa web album but so far no luck. Come and see us for a picture show!!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
JUST WONDERING
Just wondering ….
If sleeping without a mosquito net will ever seem normal
If we will ever be able to throw out a twist tie again - we have wanted one so often in Africa
If we will ever be able to believe we have the much of the real story about world events when we watch BBC, CNN , CBC etc,,,,
If we will be able to handle the shift in driving habits – we have learned some new sides to drive on – the right side, the left side, the best side, the Beside, and one more - the Coke side – the Beside refers when the road is so bad that we bounce along on the ‘shoulder’ on the left, the oncoming traffic is similarly bouncing on the ‘shoulder’ on the right and the pedestrians are walking down the middle – and this is a the highway…. Crazzzzzzyyyyyy! The Coke side is an advertisement – luring us to the Coke side whatever that is supposed to mean … Coca-Cola is every where and to be honored is to receive a soda pop….
If we will wonder who is slacking off when our vehicle is not automatically washed while we are asleep at a hotel
What it will feel like to push the button on the parking lot gate instead of seeing the smiling face of the gatekeeper
Just wondering ……if we will be able to return to Kenya again one day
Just wondering
Just hoping
If sleeping without a mosquito net will ever seem normal
If we will ever be able to throw out a twist tie again - we have wanted one so often in Africa
If we will ever be able to believe we have the much of the real story about world events when we watch BBC, CNN , CBC etc,,,,
If we will be able to handle the shift in driving habits – we have learned some new sides to drive on – the right side, the left side, the best side, the Beside, and one more - the Coke side – the Beside refers when the road is so bad that we bounce along on the ‘shoulder’ on the left, the oncoming traffic is similarly bouncing on the ‘shoulder’ on the right and the pedestrians are walking down the middle – and this is a the highway…. Crazzzzzzyyyyyy! The Coke side is an advertisement – luring us to the Coke side whatever that is supposed to mean … Coca-Cola is every where and to be honored is to receive a soda pop….
If we will wonder who is slacking off when our vehicle is not automatically washed while we are asleep at a hotel
What it will feel like to push the button on the parking lot gate instead of seeing the smiling face of the gatekeeper
Just wondering ……if we will be able to return to Kenya again one day
Just wondering
Just hoping
IRMing in Kenya
Being past the midway point in our time as International Relief Managers in Kenya, perhaps it is a good time to write some thoughts about this opportunity.
We truly marvel at this chance to serve and to rub shoulders with so many amazing people both within CRWC, at the guest house where we stay and in the communities where we have worked and visited.
Add to that the absolute madness of killings, burning of homes and schools & lootings and then factor in 155,000 victims of the same.. so … put it together and what have you got?? Well you have a beautiful country full of resourceful people whose leaders could well model dishonesty and corruption and yet still you meet the most wonderful people… I can’t imagine anyone not learning to love these people …
Politics are brutal here to say the least and we in Canada do not always acknowledge just how blessed we are… the Kenyan people need to be empowered to manage their villages and regions, they are intelligent and capable … Unfortunately Aids and other diseases take a terrible toll and medical treatment is often not a option… it is a heartbreak to hear from a mom with a six month old hydrocephalic child or a mom whose baby is having trouble breathing…an old woman in pain …to see the extreme poverty of many , the traumatized, the fearful, ----- the problems are many but we have come to bring one thing – food!! …. And that matters very much. The 6000 households who receive the food are very grateful and it is the lifeline that many need to survive this time in history. We focus on the goal
Our distributions are well managed and people are treated with dignity – if you are on the list you get the food whether you are number 1 or number 800. The food comes monthly and reliably – we take no credit for this but have been blessed b the work hat was done before us through our competent team and the previous IRMs.
It is interesting to meet people who just want and need to be heard – sad to meet people who are afraid to talk (‘I might get shot’) – delightful to see the joy on the faces of people the fist time they get food – humbling to be welcomed into a simple home as an honored guest.
We hope this will not be our last opportunity to serve as IRM’s - working here with our excellent National Relief Manager, we have been mainly responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the project, finances and reporting back to the home office n Burlington and to the regional coordinator who is based in Uganda. There are other things to work on as well and one never knows what the day will bring. NEVER!
We have certainly grown closer to God through all of this and give thanks for His hand of grace and protection upon us… we will not forget our colleagues, our fabulous coordinators and facilitators, some dedicated pastors whose deep love for Jesus is so evident, the green hills and valleys of western Kenya, the crazy walks through the markets, drinking Stoney (a very gingery ginger ale), and the roads – the crazy roads!!!
But there is still time to enjoy all these things and more and there is still time to make sure that 600 households get food I December… focus on the goal!! God has written much about such things - and we are encouraged. God is good!!!
We truly marvel at this chance to serve and to rub shoulders with so many amazing people both within CRWC, at the guest house where we stay and in the communities where we have worked and visited.
Add to that the absolute madness of killings, burning of homes and schools & lootings and then factor in 155,000 victims of the same.. so … put it together and what have you got?? Well you have a beautiful country full of resourceful people whose leaders could well model dishonesty and corruption and yet still you meet the most wonderful people… I can’t imagine anyone not learning to love these people …
Politics are brutal here to say the least and we in Canada do not always acknowledge just how blessed we are… the Kenyan people need to be empowered to manage their villages and regions, they are intelligent and capable … Unfortunately Aids and other diseases take a terrible toll and medical treatment is often not a option… it is a heartbreak to hear from a mom with a six month old hydrocephalic child or a mom whose baby is having trouble breathing…an old woman in pain …to see the extreme poverty of many , the traumatized, the fearful, ----- the problems are many but we have come to bring one thing – food!! …. And that matters very much. The 6000 households who receive the food are very grateful and it is the lifeline that many need to survive this time in history. We focus on the goal
Our distributions are well managed and people are treated with dignity – if you are on the list you get the food whether you are number 1 or number 800. The food comes monthly and reliably – we take no credit for this but have been blessed b the work hat was done before us through our competent team and the previous IRMs.
It is interesting to meet people who just want and need to be heard – sad to meet people who are afraid to talk (‘I might get shot’) – delightful to see the joy on the faces of people the fist time they get food – humbling to be welcomed into a simple home as an honored guest.
We hope this will not be our last opportunity to serve as IRM’s - working here with our excellent National Relief Manager, we have been mainly responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the project, finances and reporting back to the home office n Burlington and to the regional coordinator who is based in Uganda. There are other things to work on as well and one never knows what the day will bring. NEVER!
We have certainly grown closer to God through all of this and give thanks for His hand of grace and protection upon us… we will not forget our colleagues, our fabulous coordinators and facilitators, some dedicated pastors whose deep love for Jesus is so evident, the green hills and valleys of western Kenya, the crazy walks through the markets, drinking Stoney (a very gingery ginger ale), and the roads – the crazy roads!!!
But there is still time to enjoy all these things and more and there is still time to make sure that 600 households get food I December… focus on the goal!! God has written much about such things - and we are encouraged. God is good!!!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
QUESTIONS
Experiencing Kenya
What goes munch outside your cabin door at 4:30 AM? A hippo! An enormous hippo!
What do you do when you are walking on a beautiful savannah full of tons of gazelles, wildebeest, zebras and other amazing creatures? You take photographs – lots and lots of photographs!!
What do you say when you have a few chores to do and they take 10 hours? You say ‘this is Kenya’.
What happens when you have vehicle problems in Kenya? You get a swarm of people all very willing to help – not necessarily with any expertise but willing to work for a few shillings.
What do you say when you get a lukewarm shower in the morning? You say – wow I had a hot shower!
What do you say when your spouse decides to have a shower in the evening? You say good luck! Keep hoping!
What happens when you go to church in Kenya? You are very blessed.
What goes munch outside your cabin door at 4:30 AM? A hippo! An enormous hippo!
What do you do when you are walking on a beautiful savannah full of tons of gazelles, wildebeest, zebras and other amazing creatures? You take photographs – lots and lots of photographs!!
What do you say when you have a few chores to do and they take 10 hours? You say ‘this is Kenya’.
What happens when you have vehicle problems in Kenya? You get a swarm of people all very willing to help – not necessarily with any expertise but willing to work for a few shillings.
What do you say when you get a lukewarm shower in the morning? You say – wow I had a hot shower!
What do you say when your spouse decides to have a shower in the evening? You say good luck! Keep hoping!
What happens when you go to church in Kenya? You are very blessed.
HIPPOS ANYONE?
Lake Naivasha in the beautiful Rift Valley
CRWRC had a staff retreat to Lake Naivasha. We were blessed to be invited for a time of connecting, spiritual refreshment and many delights to the eye and the stomach! We enjoyed the times of worship and prayer and devotions focusing on maturity and servant hood.
Getting there: an hour and a half drive on basically good roads with the exception of one short stretch. We were the last to leave the office due to vehicle complications.
Arrival: The ‘resort’ (Elesmere) belonged to the people whose story was partially documented in the film Born Free. It is now used as a resort conservation centre and teaching centre for students.
Food: wow – that about sums it up – the food was amazing. There was even tea time at 4 PM with a full selection of sweets. Ron was in his glory! Lauris was happy she could not eat wheat – that kept her consumption low!
Our room: very nice with 3 particularly notable features: an air horn (you can decide why!), a sign saying ‘Please be careful. There are hippos after dark. They can be dangerous.’, and an information booklet stating that after dark, you must be escorted at al times by a night watchman. The latter was strongly reinforced at an orientation meeting – ‘do not walk to or from the dining room or your car after dark unless accompanied by a night watchman. Never stand between a hippo and the water – NEVER…. The animals roam freely after dark. Never approach in the papyrus area around the lake shore – there are hippos hiding there’…. So as you can imagine we are excited to see a hippo!!
Sights sounds and smells – the grass is very short and clearly not mowed but rather it is pulled up by the roots by animals . Sitting on the front lawn there is an odor of animal droppings. Birds flash about with exotic sounds – we are drawn to the bright blue starlings with breasts like robins. They are everywhere. We hear monkeys. Any rustling bushes get your immediate attention. The whoo whoo whoo of the monkeys reminds me of teaching our kids animal sounds when they were young – there monkeys really did sound like that!
Nature walk – we head off on a nature walk with Anthony – our expert guide. He takes is to see the Colobus monkeys with their beautiful black and white coats and amazing tails. The alpha male seems quite happy to show off. As we are walking we hear from a neighbor that 20 minutes prior a waterbuck had passed by. There are numerous fresh droppings around….
Night time events: the first night we see an eland on the lawn – it is very dark and we can just make out his shape. After we have gone to bed, we look out our window about 10 times throughout the night hoping to see hippos. The night watchman awakens us at 5 – we think he sees a hippo since we have requested a wake up call should one pass by – he unfortunately misunderstood and thought we wanted a prayer time wake up call. We crawl back into bed (sorry Lord) and pray from between the sheets since we had been awake so many times throughout the night. Over breakfast we hear that a hippo had passed by and had been heard by Chris.
The second night, most of our party of 12 requested a wake up call to see a hippo should one pass by. The time is 4:40 Am and Ron pokes Lauris and says – ‘Listen – I think there is a hippo munching outside.’ Lauris hears it too - loud crunchy munch sounds like a small engine operating in spurts. We are up and outside in a flash. He is absolutely right! This is one hungry hippo. We stand on the porch the enormous hippo is there just in front of our room …. It moves over to the side and Lauris start thinking about how the grass is chewed short right up to our steps. The hippo keeps its distance and we hear others people coming out of their rooms and the guard escorts a group to the safety of our porch for a good view. Some of our party get nervous and go inside our room to watch.
The hippo eats and eats and eats – there is a small pond where it drinks noisily - a thought occurs – the ripped up grass is what we have seen the birds delighting in – building enormous soft nests. So Mr Hippo is also preparing the next days work for the starlings… This is a wow experience.…
Next morning: The light is firmly established and we move freely about the property. For the first time since our arrival I am not carrying my camera and wouldn’t you know it – a hippo – late on its return to the lake walks right across the law in front of the dining room. It looks even bigger in the daylight – I am wondering where the rest of the group is as some had gone to the lake to try and purchase fish – thankfully we see them in a safe spot.
Outing: We all went together to crescent Island which is actually a peninsula. We parked in the designated area, paid our fees and embarked on a two hour guided walk in the savannah. It was so amazing – God has created so much of wonder and variety. We saw many creatures – giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, gazelles, dik dik, and a python home (he was inside resting)….. I loved when the guide said – lets walk over there – and pointed to an area loaded with wildebeest. And so we did. This area was used for filing parts of Out of Africa (the main place was in Masai Mara) and there is an airstrip, a hut and a small rundown airplane hanger still remaining. The airstrip had been recently used. It was pretty crazy to stand on that airstrip. The animals are shy and many – the sky was beautiful with rays of sunlight shining through….
Movies we will watch ASAP – Born Free and Out of Africa! we have seen them both in eh past but will watch with renewed interst.
Weavers – we stopped at the local weavers shop (Elementitia Weavers) on our return – beautiful work – a treat to behold. AND they had a flush toilet – that was an unexpected treat!
We are constantly challenged by the internet server so I will sign this off and try to post it!
CRWRC had a staff retreat to Lake Naivasha. We were blessed to be invited for a time of connecting, spiritual refreshment and many delights to the eye and the stomach! We enjoyed the times of worship and prayer and devotions focusing on maturity and servant hood.
Getting there: an hour and a half drive on basically good roads with the exception of one short stretch. We were the last to leave the office due to vehicle complications.
Arrival: The ‘resort’ (Elesmere) belonged to the people whose story was partially documented in the film Born Free. It is now used as a resort conservation centre and teaching centre for students.
Food: wow – that about sums it up – the food was amazing. There was even tea time at 4 PM with a full selection of sweets. Ron was in his glory! Lauris was happy she could not eat wheat – that kept her consumption low!
Our room: very nice with 3 particularly notable features: an air horn (you can decide why!), a sign saying ‘Please be careful. There are hippos after dark. They can be dangerous.’, and an information booklet stating that after dark, you must be escorted at al times by a night watchman. The latter was strongly reinforced at an orientation meeting – ‘do not walk to or from the dining room or your car after dark unless accompanied by a night watchman. Never stand between a hippo and the water – NEVER…. The animals roam freely after dark. Never approach in the papyrus area around the lake shore – there are hippos hiding there’…. So as you can imagine we are excited to see a hippo!!
Sights sounds and smells – the grass is very short and clearly not mowed but rather it is pulled up by the roots by animals . Sitting on the front lawn there is an odor of animal droppings. Birds flash about with exotic sounds – we are drawn to the bright blue starlings with breasts like robins. They are everywhere. We hear monkeys. Any rustling bushes get your immediate attention. The whoo whoo whoo of the monkeys reminds me of teaching our kids animal sounds when they were young – there monkeys really did sound like that!
Nature walk – we head off on a nature walk with Anthony – our expert guide. He takes is to see the Colobus monkeys with their beautiful black and white coats and amazing tails. The alpha male seems quite happy to show off. As we are walking we hear from a neighbor that 20 minutes prior a waterbuck had passed by. There are numerous fresh droppings around….
Night time events: the first night we see an eland on the lawn – it is very dark and we can just make out his shape. After we have gone to bed, we look out our window about 10 times throughout the night hoping to see hippos. The night watchman awakens us at 5 – we think he sees a hippo since we have requested a wake up call should one pass by – he unfortunately misunderstood and thought we wanted a prayer time wake up call. We crawl back into bed (sorry Lord) and pray from between the sheets since we had been awake so many times throughout the night. Over breakfast we hear that a hippo had passed by and had been heard by Chris.
The second night, most of our party of 12 requested a wake up call to see a hippo should one pass by. The time is 4:40 Am and Ron pokes Lauris and says – ‘Listen – I think there is a hippo munching outside.’ Lauris hears it too - loud crunchy munch sounds like a small engine operating in spurts. We are up and outside in a flash. He is absolutely right! This is one hungry hippo. We stand on the porch the enormous hippo is there just in front of our room …. It moves over to the side and Lauris start thinking about how the grass is chewed short right up to our steps. The hippo keeps its distance and we hear others people coming out of their rooms and the guard escorts a group to the safety of our porch for a good view. Some of our party get nervous and go inside our room to watch.
The hippo eats and eats and eats – there is a small pond where it drinks noisily - a thought occurs – the ripped up grass is what we have seen the birds delighting in – building enormous soft nests. So Mr Hippo is also preparing the next days work for the starlings… This is a wow experience.…
Next morning: The light is firmly established and we move freely about the property. For the first time since our arrival I am not carrying my camera and wouldn’t you know it – a hippo – late on its return to the lake walks right across the law in front of the dining room. It looks even bigger in the daylight – I am wondering where the rest of the group is as some had gone to the lake to try and purchase fish – thankfully we see them in a safe spot.
Outing: We all went together to crescent Island which is actually a peninsula. We parked in the designated area, paid our fees and embarked on a two hour guided walk in the savannah. It was so amazing – God has created so much of wonder and variety. We saw many creatures – giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, gazelles, dik dik, and a python home (he was inside resting)….. I loved when the guide said – lets walk over there – and pointed to an area loaded with wildebeest. And so we did. This area was used for filing parts of Out of Africa (the main place was in Masai Mara) and there is an airstrip, a hut and a small rundown airplane hanger still remaining. The airstrip had been recently used. It was pretty crazy to stand on that airstrip. The animals are shy and many – the sky was beautiful with rays of sunlight shining through….
Movies we will watch ASAP – Born Free and Out of Africa! we have seen them both in eh past but will watch with renewed interst.
Weavers – we stopped at the local weavers shop (Elementitia Weavers) on our return – beautiful work – a treat to behold. AND they had a flush toilet – that was an unexpected treat!
We are constantly challenged by the internet server so I will sign this off and try to post it!
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