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!!!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
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!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Anatomy of a distribution
Our day begins at 7:30 AM when we pick up 3 - 90 Kg bags of maize, a case of cooking oil and 1 - 90 kg bag of beans from well wishers who are providing the food to the Toroso primary School for 6 months as a contribution to the school’s lunch program. The school is very primitive, has over 1200 students, approximately 300 of whom are IDP’s (internally displaced persons) as a result of the conflict in Mount Elgon. While this is not part of our CRWRC project, we are going to the school which is the site of today’s food relief distribution, so we will provide the transport.
Climbing into our 4x4 Toyota Prado we head for the site over challenging dirt roads ascending the mountain. We pass by one delivery truck which is returning from dropping off one of the loads. This is a good sign……we’ve heard that one of the trucks got stuck on the road. The weather is dry and overcast – blessings for the distribution.
As we approach, we first see donkeys – lots of them and then the throngs of people. They are mostly queued up tightly – chest to back waiting … today’s distribution is for 800 households …. There are many people lined up and others waiting to assist in transporting the loads home.
There is a police presence complete with camouflage clothing and impressive guns. They are important to keep order as there are always additional needy people who are not receiving food.
The queues are forming outside the school gate. Groups of about 25 are let in at a time to retrieve their beneficiary cards in order to get 50 kg maize, 4 kg beans and 500gm of iodized salt.
The lorries are being unloaded and the food stacked in piles in the school yard.
Once the beneficiaries are inside the school yard, lthey receive their cards and join the third queue – they then turn in their cards in groups of five – after picking up their maize and salt and one bag of beans to share they go outside the gate to begin splitting their beans – all have brought something in which to carry the beans and someone has a bucket with which to measure - if not they still find a way to split them fairly.
So how would you move a 50 kg bag of maze?? We are blown away by the women – some of whom are carrying a baby on their back, a bag for their salt and beans in one hand and still manage to put the maize on their heads and carry it all away.
Ron and I are invited to address the crowd of people waiting outside the gate – Chris Shiundu – our wonderful colleague (CWRC National Relief Manager) translates for us. We tell them a little about ourselves (that we are parents and grandparents like them and that we are honored to be in their country). We also tell them about the Canada Food Grains Bank, the many Christians who show Jesus love by donating money, fields and time ; we explain that the food is not from us but is a gift from God because he loves them … it is very emotional and we hear many Amen-s and Praise God-s both in English and Swahili . We thank them for their patience knowing that many would be waiting 6 hours or more ……
We now proceed to speak to and shake hands with as many people as possible --- there are many Asante-s and Asante sana-s (thank you very much)…….Kenyan handshakes – ‘shake grip shake’ … and exuberant slapping of hands before the shake. For those of you at Christ Community Church Carol and Betty can give you a great demo!
Beautiful people who have fallen on extremely difficult times - people made in the image of God.
We also hear some of the individual stories –
• Kaos – an articulate young famer whose family of 12 had their house burned down in the troubles on Mount Elgon – they moved to a second house only to be burned out again. Now the family is scattered – he and his younger brother and his parents are living with good Samaritans. They had to leave their crops rotting in the fields but he is very grateful that his family is still alive and that they now have food to share with their host family. Kaos now gets jobs weeding for local farmers.
• Mary – mother of six who has been out of her home since August when their house was burned. They were farmers as well but now depend on good Samaritans for shelter and food.
• Grace – a widow and mother of 8 – she is very relieved to get food today for the first time – up until now she has gone door to door asking for food. Grace looks so very weary and sad.
• Salome – age 31 and mother of 7 whose older brother was killed in the fighting. She had a baby just one month ago but still must work to feed the family and pay rent on the house they occupy. She weeds for farmers from 7 Am to 1 PM and makes 50 Kenyan Schillings (about 83 cents) for the day’s work. She feels blessed to have a landlord who allows her to pay off the rent as she is able. Her children are not going to school as all they clothes were burned in the fire.
We stop to talk to a man who is upset about not being on the beneficiary list. We sympathize and explain through the help of an interpreter that the food goes to the most needy of the displaced persons as chosen by the local village committee. We acknowledge that there are many more needy people but that we can only give to 800 households. He understands.
Back to the line ups… we watch a woman who had been in line for 5 hours skip barefoot with great joy as she held her beneficiary card in her hand …. We see a little handicapped girl whose prosthetic was literally a table leg…..and see many people with no shoes and worn clothes praising God for the gift of food. … time to visit the school …
The children are having their lunch break and the teachers are marking papers. Paper is obviously scarce as is everything else – there are no amenities or teaching tools of any sort. We are asked to sign the guest book in the headmasters office – two old tables – one with a ragged cloth on top in an empty stone room with faded old charts on the wall … there are 1227 students at least 300 of whom are IDP’s – they are easy to pick out as they either have no uniforms or wear a different uniform. The staff takes us to the ‘kitchen’ where the cooks are working and the children are lined up outside for a dish of boiled beans and maize. This will be the first meal of the day for most of the children and for many it will be the only meal…
The staff are enjoying some photos which the previous IRM’s had prepared for them - the staff and children alike ask that we take photos….silver hair is a great source of amusement … and definitely worth a touch. We all laugh a lot. They are very gracious.
We ask to go into a classroom – sparse……old……dark……austere.
We are introduced to a 12 year old girl who is a runner - #3 in Kenya for her age – running the 5000 an the 3000 meter races. She will be training here in Eldoret in November……perhaps we can visit her …. Many world titles are won by Kenyans from this area. She will have to train hard if she wants to compete.
Back to the line ups – we are marveling at these people still standing strong – the sun is out and the heat is full on and we go to the car for a banana and some water. Their endurance is amazing.
It is down to the last 50 bags – the beneficiaries are still smiling and lively waiting for their food. The children are all excited to look in the rear view mirror at their reflection and we play ‘making faces’ with the children. We visit two ladies from the village committee who are sitting on the remaining bags of maize - they are definitely pleased……we take photos. We did not understand each other’s words but we all understood each other’s hearts.
The lineups are gone and the soldiers are resting. There seems to be some confusion …there are 20 bags of maize and salt and 4 bags of beans remaining. Chris, the National Relief Manager and Moses, our capable coordinator for this distribution, are sorting things out…. we pray for peace and wisdom, and for those who are lingering … still waiting … still hoping.
A nearby group is carefully sharing their allotment of beans – some have spilled and each bean is carefully picked up – beans are precious….
The confusion is sorted out and the last five people pick up the last of the food…… Moses did an amazing job at managing the distribution …all 800 beneficiaries received the food allotted to them.
One more thing – about those donkeys… we watched as they were loaded – hold them by the ears – tie two bags together … two bags of maize per donkey …. they wander toward town …. Towards town? Why not distribute in town?...the school is safer.
We watch the donkey handlers who know just what to do to coax an uncooperative donkey to move in the right direction. Much of the food is transported on people’s heads, some on bicycles, one on a motorcycle (likely in exchange for a share of the food), but mostly it is all about the donkeys! The bags pass by us……CRWRC- Canadian Food Grains Bank….. donkey after donkey…..this is very emotional for us.
We drive back to Eldoret exhausted, thankful and amazed . It is raining heavily now and the muddy roads have rivers running down both sides… Chris is a good driver. God is good!. We heard those words many times today from grateful recipients. God Is indeed good!
Climbing into our 4x4 Toyota Prado we head for the site over challenging dirt roads ascending the mountain. We pass by one delivery truck which is returning from dropping off one of the loads. This is a good sign……we’ve heard that one of the trucks got stuck on the road. The weather is dry and overcast – blessings for the distribution.
As we approach, we first see donkeys – lots of them and then the throngs of people. They are mostly queued up tightly – chest to back waiting … today’s distribution is for 800 households …. There are many people lined up and others waiting to assist in transporting the loads home.
There is a police presence complete with camouflage clothing and impressive guns. They are important to keep order as there are always additional needy people who are not receiving food.
The queues are forming outside the school gate. Groups of about 25 are let in at a time to retrieve their beneficiary cards in order to get 50 kg maize, 4 kg beans and 500gm of iodized salt.
The lorries are being unloaded and the food stacked in piles in the school yard.
Once the beneficiaries are inside the school yard, lthey receive their cards and join the third queue – they then turn in their cards in groups of five – after picking up their maize and salt and one bag of beans to share they go outside the gate to begin splitting their beans – all have brought something in which to carry the beans and someone has a bucket with which to measure - if not they still find a way to split them fairly.
So how would you move a 50 kg bag of maze?? We are blown away by the women – some of whom are carrying a baby on their back, a bag for their salt and beans in one hand and still manage to put the maize on their heads and carry it all away.
Ron and I are invited to address the crowd of people waiting outside the gate – Chris Shiundu – our wonderful colleague (CWRC National Relief Manager) translates for us. We tell them a little about ourselves (that we are parents and grandparents like them and that we are honored to be in their country). We also tell them about the Canada Food Grains Bank, the many Christians who show Jesus love by donating money, fields and time ; we explain that the food is not from us but is a gift from God because he loves them … it is very emotional and we hear many Amen-s and Praise God-s both in English and Swahili . We thank them for their patience knowing that many would be waiting 6 hours or more ……
We now proceed to speak to and shake hands with as many people as possible --- there are many Asante-s and Asante sana-s (thank you very much)…….Kenyan handshakes – ‘shake grip shake’ … and exuberant slapping of hands before the shake. For those of you at Christ Community Church Carol and Betty can give you a great demo!
Beautiful people who have fallen on extremely difficult times - people made in the image of God.
We also hear some of the individual stories –
• Kaos – an articulate young famer whose family of 12 had their house burned down in the troubles on Mount Elgon – they moved to a second house only to be burned out again. Now the family is scattered – he and his younger brother and his parents are living with good Samaritans. They had to leave their crops rotting in the fields but he is very grateful that his family is still alive and that they now have food to share with their host family. Kaos now gets jobs weeding for local farmers.
• Mary – mother of six who has been out of her home since August when their house was burned. They were farmers as well but now depend on good Samaritans for shelter and food.
• Grace – a widow and mother of 8 – she is very relieved to get food today for the first time – up until now she has gone door to door asking for food. Grace looks so very weary and sad.
• Salome – age 31 and mother of 7 whose older brother was killed in the fighting. She had a baby just one month ago but still must work to feed the family and pay rent on the house they occupy. She weeds for farmers from 7 Am to 1 PM and makes 50 Kenyan Schillings (about 83 cents) for the day’s work. She feels blessed to have a landlord who allows her to pay off the rent as she is able. Her children are not going to school as all they clothes were burned in the fire.
We stop to talk to a man who is upset about not being on the beneficiary list. We sympathize and explain through the help of an interpreter that the food goes to the most needy of the displaced persons as chosen by the local village committee. We acknowledge that there are many more needy people but that we can only give to 800 households. He understands.
Back to the line ups… we watch a woman who had been in line for 5 hours skip barefoot with great joy as she held her beneficiary card in her hand …. We see a little handicapped girl whose prosthetic was literally a table leg…..and see many people with no shoes and worn clothes praising God for the gift of food. … time to visit the school …
The children are having their lunch break and the teachers are marking papers. Paper is obviously scarce as is everything else – there are no amenities or teaching tools of any sort. We are asked to sign the guest book in the headmasters office – two old tables – one with a ragged cloth on top in an empty stone room with faded old charts on the wall … there are 1227 students at least 300 of whom are IDP’s – they are easy to pick out as they either have no uniforms or wear a different uniform. The staff takes us to the ‘kitchen’ where the cooks are working and the children are lined up outside for a dish of boiled beans and maize. This will be the first meal of the day for most of the children and for many it will be the only meal…
The staff are enjoying some photos which the previous IRM’s had prepared for them - the staff and children alike ask that we take photos….silver hair is a great source of amusement … and definitely worth a touch. We all laugh a lot. They are very gracious.
We ask to go into a classroom – sparse……old……dark……austere.
We are introduced to a 12 year old girl who is a runner - #3 in Kenya for her age – running the 5000 an the 3000 meter races. She will be training here in Eldoret in November……perhaps we can visit her …. Many world titles are won by Kenyans from this area. She will have to train hard if she wants to compete.
Back to the line ups – we are marveling at these people still standing strong – the sun is out and the heat is full on and we go to the car for a banana and some water. Their endurance is amazing.
It is down to the last 50 bags – the beneficiaries are still smiling and lively waiting for their food. The children are all excited to look in the rear view mirror at their reflection and we play ‘making faces’ with the children. We visit two ladies from the village committee who are sitting on the remaining bags of maize - they are definitely pleased……we take photos. We did not understand each other’s words but we all understood each other’s hearts.
The lineups are gone and the soldiers are resting. There seems to be some confusion …there are 20 bags of maize and salt and 4 bags of beans remaining. Chris, the National Relief Manager and Moses, our capable coordinator for this distribution, are sorting things out…. we pray for peace and wisdom, and for those who are lingering … still waiting … still hoping.
A nearby group is carefully sharing their allotment of beans – some have spilled and each bean is carefully picked up – beans are precious….
The confusion is sorted out and the last five people pick up the last of the food…… Moses did an amazing job at managing the distribution …all 800 beneficiaries received the food allotted to them.
One more thing – about those donkeys… we watched as they were loaded – hold them by the ears – tie two bags together … two bags of maize per donkey …. they wander toward town …. Towards town? Why not distribute in town?...the school is safer.
We watch the donkey handlers who know just what to do to coax an uncooperative donkey to move in the right direction. Much of the food is transported on people’s heads, some on bicycles, one on a motorcycle (likely in exchange for a share of the food), but mostly it is all about the donkeys! The bags pass by us……CRWRC- Canadian Food Grains Bank….. donkey after donkey…..this is very emotional for us.
We drive back to Eldoret exhausted, thankful and amazed . It is raining heavily now and the muddy roads have rivers running down both sides… Chris is a good driver. God is good!. We heard those words many times today from grateful recipients. God Is indeed good!
KENYA IS
Adorable children
Crossing the equator (and yes there are people selling souvenirs!)
Zebras grazing beside the highway
Compounds and security guards
An ongoing traffic derby with drivers jockeying for position
Hearing ‘Karibu” which means ‘welcome’ when we would say hello
Roadside car washers – wherever there is a source of water – not necessarily clean!
A constant stream of humanity along the roadside
Lots of enormous heavy loads carried on bus roofs, people’s heads, push carts, and bicycles
Dogs barking – a lot – especially at night
Big beautiful smiles and tons of hand shakes
A hand raised in the Canadian stop position which means pass by or hello/goodbye
A hand raised above the head palm out means stop
Adorable children
Maize spread out to dry
The Nakamatt store open 24 hours - this is new and has many people excited. Nakamatt is a shop with groceries and house wares
Parking chaos
Animals herded through residential areas
Safaricom outlets everywhere – sellers of cell phone cards
Used shoe vendors on the streets
School uniforms and small children walking alone
Fluid driving habits
Safari outback type vehicles with big roof racks - loaded to the max
Funky small planes from the safari companies with interesting paint jobs loading up on supplies
Adorable children
Lush green valleys and mountains in Western Kenya
Dramatic volcanic mountains
More fruits than vegetables
Someone selling something everywhere
Boda boda (bicycle taxies) waiting, transporting people, sheep – whatever, being washed in the ditch
Matatu drivers overtaking you only to stop right in front of you moments later
Carts pulled by people, donkeys, cows
And more adorable children
Crossing the equator (and yes there are people selling souvenirs!)
Zebras grazing beside the highway
Compounds and security guards
An ongoing traffic derby with drivers jockeying for position
Hearing ‘Karibu” which means ‘welcome’ when we would say hello
Roadside car washers – wherever there is a source of water – not necessarily clean!
A constant stream of humanity along the roadside
Lots of enormous heavy loads carried on bus roofs, people’s heads, push carts, and bicycles
Dogs barking – a lot – especially at night
Big beautiful smiles and tons of hand shakes
A hand raised in the Canadian stop position which means pass by or hello/goodbye
A hand raised above the head palm out means stop
Adorable children
Maize spread out to dry
The Nakamatt store open 24 hours - this is new and has many people excited. Nakamatt is a shop with groceries and house wares
Parking chaos
Animals herded through residential areas
Safaricom outlets everywhere – sellers of cell phone cards
Used shoe vendors on the streets
School uniforms and small children walking alone
Fluid driving habits
Safari outback type vehicles with big roof racks - loaded to the max
Funky small planes from the safari companies with interesting paint jobs loading up on supplies
Adorable children
Lush green valleys and mountains in Western Kenya
Dramatic volcanic mountains
More fruits than vegetables
Someone selling something everywhere
Boda boda (bicycle taxies) waiting, transporting people, sheep – whatever, being washed in the ditch
Matatu drivers overtaking you only to stop right in front of you moments later
Carts pulled by people, donkeys, cows
And more adorable children
Saturday, September 22, 2007
AFRICA IT IS
Greetings from Nairobi Kenya
It feels a little like being 'beamed up' in that we went from 'anticipating a relaxing island autumn' to 'arriving in Kenya' is a matter of 2 weeks.
We will move to Eldoret next week sometime and settle int our home away from home.
We are blessed to use the CRWRC office Internet today. We hear that power outages are very common in Eldoret but will do our best to keep up the blog.
We find the Kenyan people to be very friendly and relational. There is an addition being made to our accommodation right next door using lots of man power and heavy labour.
Impressions of Nairobi:
It feels a little like being 'beamed up' in that we went from 'anticipating a relaxing island autumn' to 'arriving in Kenya' is a matter of 2 weeks.
We will move to Eldoret next week sometime and settle int our home away from home.
We are blessed to use the CRWRC office Internet today. We hear that power outages are very common in Eldoret but will do our best to keep up the blog.
We find the Kenyan people to be very friendly and relational. There is an addition being made to our accommodation right next door using lots of man power and heavy labour.
Impressions of Nairobi:
- chaotic traffic with lots of pot holes and abrupt edges to the roads
- lots of interesting sites of people doing everything from driving Mercedes to selling firewood at the side of the road
- friendly Kenyans with beautiful smiles
- had our first taste of negotiating prices - we were not buying anyway
- learning lots from experienced folks at CRWRC
- adorable children
- lots of ex pats in the area we visited today
We have been warmly welcomed and really appreciate the accommodation arranged for us.
Our 2 days in Burlington were wonderful - many great and passionate people sharing their knowledge and experience with us. One fun piece was watching a volunteer hanging up photos of Mali which Nanci B with CCC shared after her Discovery Tour.
Ron just spotted an enormous bird on the roof of the building next door - it looks like a cross between a pelican and a heron and it looks about 1 M tall.
Tomorrow we have made a plan to go to church with Henny and Hans whom we have just met. They are a lovely hospitable couple for Ottawa.
Cheers for now.
Monday, September 10, 2007
WHERE IN THE WORLD?
WHERE and WHAT is next ?!?!?!?
After an amazing month of kayaking, boating and camping, we have just celebrated the 25th anniversary of Christ Community Church with an amazing service at the Port Theatre. What a joy it was to have our three consecutive pastors there to celebrate what God has done and to look expectantly to what is next….. we do love our church family!
In the midst of all this we have been called to Kenya for 3 months of volunteering with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee as International Relief Managers. We leave on September 17th. We will be back early in the new year. The condo will have friends keeping it warm for or return in early January.
In the meantime we are enjoying a visit from Annika, Marty’s lovely wife. Marty has been in Athens with his work. Our friends Dave and Laura leave tomorrow for 10 months – see you in Kona!
On the sad side of life, we are very concerned for our dear Thomas’ health as he is hospitalized in Thailand with pneumonia. One day at a time … trusting for God’s healing touch. Stay tuned for good news very soon …..
After an amazing month of kayaking, boating and camping, we have just celebrated the 25th anniversary of Christ Community Church with an amazing service at the Port Theatre. What a joy it was to have our three consecutive pastors there to celebrate what God has done and to look expectantly to what is next….. we do love our church family!
In the midst of all this we have been called to Kenya for 3 months of volunteering with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee as International Relief Managers. We leave on September 17th. We will be back early in the new year. The condo will have friends keeping it warm for or return in early January.
In the meantime we are enjoying a visit from Annika, Marty’s lovely wife. Marty has been in Athens with his work. Our friends Dave and Laura leave tomorrow for 10 months – see you in Kona!
On the sad side of life, we are very concerned for our dear Thomas’ health as he is hospitalized in Thailand with pneumonia. One day at a time … trusting for God’s healing touch. Stay tuned for good news very soon …..
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