Glasscock

I’m starting to feel more Kenyan.  Last night we stayed with Kennedy Chandi at his home at the Uriri Orphanage.  At 2:30am, nature called and I had to go outside, in the dark, in Africa, to the cho.  I’m not sure I fully woke up; it seemed to come naturally.  Scary.   OK, that’s probably too much information, but it reflects what a difference experience this trip has been over all of my previous trips.  My goal was to get comfortable moving about in Kenya myself, not as a tourist, staying in the orphanages, getting to know our people.  It. Is. Working.

One of the cool things I am discovering is the interpersonal dynamics between husband and wife in Kenya.  Here, the wife is almost completely silent around visitors.  I hardly got to speak to Eunice at Alfayo’s place and it was the same with Kennedy’s wife.  During dinner, the husband calls for something and it appears immediately.  No conversation.  No, “Get it yourself.” Nothing.  The wife and kids eat in another room.

But later, when we are all in bed, and because there are no ceilings in their houses you can hear the conversations in the other room, it’s different.  I don’t understand the words, but the tone is clear.  Partnership.  Respect. Both of them.  The appearances shown to visitors are because of their customs.  The marriage is the same as ours.  Very interesting, as it reflects an authenticity that we seldom get to see as visitors.

We went to the Glasscock Feeding station this morning.  Faithful readers will remember that this is where we got stuck on our last visit here.  It was the rainy season then, and now it is dry.  I drove on the road that is impassable during the rains, and I understand why.  Very difficult, rocky, mud pits to avoid, but we made it.  I took a picture of where we stopped at Glasscock, about 50 meters short of where we stopped last time!

We looked at the site with a more critical eye than before.  This is a potential orphanage site now, and I asked a lot of questions.  “How far to the schools?”  “What about water?”  “Where are the boundaries of the land?” etc.  We renewed our friendship with the man who donated the land, a committed church member and former WBS student who has carved an acre from his farmland for the support of the orphans. 

Right now, they are carrying water from the river that they said was about 400 meters away.  I asked them to take me there and so we walked it.  GPS says it is 1.25km.  This is normal in Kenya, where they really have no reference points for distance or size.  Most don’t drive so they never get to measure distance accurately.  They were surprised, but believed me, I think.  It means the well that they have started is absolutely critical now.

The kids started to arrive about 10:30am.  This is unusual since they should be in school.  Turns out they were all very disappointed to have missed us last time so they insisted on coming home to greet us.  They sang for us and I gave my now familiar mini-sermon, and then we had lunch. 

Afterwards we departed for Kisii.  We carried Kennedy and another church member to the next town and I dropped my guide for the last three days, Steven Owino, off at Rongo.  Then I drove the last few kilometers to Kisii by myself.  That was weird and a little scary.  But God was with me and I arrived, safe and sound at the Dados where the desk clerk greeted me by saying, “Welcome home, Tim Neale.  Your usual room is ready.”  It’s good to be Kenyan.

Glasscock

Uriri

This morning, Steven and I set out for Uriri.  We stopped at our soapstone friends on the way out of town.  I had a scare because I had locked the keys in the truck, but fortunately, Steven did not know how to lock his door so we were saved!  This was the easiest drive I have had.  It was a pretty good paved (they say tarmac) road almost all of the way, and the dirt road was not bad.

We toured the place and saw all that Kenedy has been working on.  The new girls dorm, built to ease overcrowding is coming along nicely.  It was good to see it in place, near the widows dorm and the first girls dorm.  When we added orphans to this place the girls were very small.  Now that they have grown, they needed the extra space.  Kenedy as almost 100 people here, so they needed it badly.

We saw all of his profit making ventures, including the fish farm, brick making operation, (they are using their own bricks on the girls dorm) and the cane crusher.  The lorry is out on a job.  Kenedy is keen to make improvements and he loves new projects to make money.  He has a real nose for it.  But by far the biggest improvement is in the kitchen. 

Kenedy’s improved flue system for his stoves is working very well.  I watched the widows cook lunch for half an hour and there was hardly any smoke in the place.  I watched the widows cook ugali, and the little dagga fish that they like and it was very enlightening.  I had always thought that cooking ugali took a long time, but really it is very quick.  The longest part is boiling the water, after that it’s just left to add the maize flour to make a thick mass.

Later, during our conversation with the widows, the ladies were all very happy with the improvements.  They only asked if there was any way to speed the cooking process.  I asked them if any of them had ever cooked with gas, and three said they had.  I asked them if they were afraid of it, and they all said no.  We agreed to try a pilot project here to try a propane cooker for them.  They were very happy to try.

We attempted this at another orphanage a couple of years ago and found there that the widows were afraid of the gas and did not want to try it.  This is another example of how having the extra time to have an extended conversation with the widows has paid off.  On a normal visit, there would be little time to discuss such possibilities, but we are staying here tonight so we have time to chat.

This evening we had evening fellowship with the orphans, another great time of singing and teaching.  I’m enjoying getting to do these mini-sermons for the kids, yet another unknown passion that I have discovered.  Weird how things work out…

Uriri

The Grace House

Sunday morning marked the end of my visit to Ndhiwa.  Alfayo and I loaded up and drove the 45 minutes to Nayongo Feeding Station, soon to be The Grace House Orphanage.  We arriced when church had already started.  I found that the Ndhiwa youth choir had come and so had a few church members from Ototo (Manning).  That made for a pretty full house, and some great singing.  They started with the preaching, which was me.  I adapted Tod Brown's sermon from last week on Moses for them because I thought it really made a lot of sense for them.  If you want to see Tod deliver it, check out the GCR website at www.gcrcc.org.  If you want to see me deliver it, you are out of luck, I was the only one with a camera, and I kept it in my pocket.

After worship, we toured the site.  It's under construction, about half way finished.  In six weeks or so they will be done.  The dorms are complete, all that remains is the dining hall, a new kitchen, new latrines, office, clinic and manager's house.  The work looks really good.  They are a little hampered by the roads that lead here, they are only passable in the dry season.  We crossed a very low, concete bridge that completely floods during the rains.  When it's wet, you can drive as close as 1km and then you are afoot.  Here are some pics of the site.

Nayango

Later, we had lunch at Joseph's house.  He is the man who donated the land for the orphanage and lives just beside it.  He stays there all the time and helps care for the kids and some aged widows in the area.  Likely he will be the manager there, once construction is complete.

Soon it was time for mee to bid farewell to Alfayo and his kids from Ndhiwa.  My new guide for a few days in Stephen Owino, a WBS worker from this area.  We helped me get back to Kisii and the Dados where we will refresh and prepare to travel to Uriri Orphanage tomorrow.  Be blessed.

More Like Family

We had a good drive to Manning.  We drove out the short bad road from Ndhiwa to the paved highway and stayed on it for about 100 yards and then turned back down an even worse, longer road to Manning.  This orphanage used to be the Ototo feeding station, and it’s on land donated by Alfayo’s father, who met us on our arrival.  He greeted me with enthusiasm, and we watched the children entertain us with songs of praise.

The sounds of Kenya are every bit as memorable as the pictures, but harder to convey.  When I get back to Kisii tomorrow night, I will try to post an mp3 of one of the songs that I recorded.  Their singing is on one hand very church of Christ and on the other, very African.

Manning is maturing as an orphanage.  The kids look good here and the newness has kind of worn off.  All except for the new widow’s dorm, which replaced their old metal dorm, it’s still shiny and new.  The widows were very happy here, as were the guards and the new manager.

We stayed for several hours, but decided to leave after lunch.  I still had month-end financials for KWO to work on and a sermon to prepare for tomorrow.  On our drive back, Alfayo paid me the highest complement that a Kenyan can give to a driver.  He said that I was a “professional Kenyan driver,” and promptly went to sleep as we bounced down the badly rutted road.  I was able to find my way back to the highway, and as we approached a completely unnecessary speed bump, he woke up and said, “Bump! Slow down!” just like he had been awake the entire time.

Later, after I had exhausted the battery on my Mac, (power was off again) all the Ndhiwa kids came over to his back yard and performed more songs and a traditional Luo dance.  It was amazing; I had never seen that before outside a resort.  They were really good.  Here is a short video, the entire performance was 17 minutes.

During evening fellowship, they sang some more and Alfayo gave a short (for a Kenyan preacher) devotional.  He told the story of the Good Samaritan and finished by saying I was their Good Samaritan.  I blushed and stood up to say a few words.  As I was making a point about how God sends people to do his work on earth, (thanks Tod Brown) I pointed to one of the girls and said, “…and you, too.”  Just then the power came back on.  God has perfect timing. 

I have really warmed to these kids and they to me.  We now share a bond different from just a visitor; they made me feel like I really belonged to their family.  This has been a great visit.

Tomorrow he head out for Nayongo, a feeding station that is under construction to upgrade it to a full orphanage.  We will worship with them, I will preach, and then I will take Stephen Owino, a WBS worker, with me as my guide for the next few days.  We will have one night in Kisii, then it’s off to Uriri for another overnight visit.  Can’t wait to see what God has planned for that.

Manning

Let Your Power Come Down

Yesterday morning, I met Alfayo Bodi, our worker from Ndhiwa, at our hotel.  He and I drove back to his home beside our orphanage at Ndhiwa.  We were able to look over the place, going very slow.  As I expected, I saw a number of things that I had not seen before and I was able to discuss them at length with Alfayo and his manager, Job.  This is the first time I have been able to spend that kind of time at any site, so it was very useful. 

I'm coming to realize that traditions are very important here.  Not ceremony, really but just continuing with the way we have always done things.  Simple daily activities like boiling water without a lid, using the old clay stoves when the new iron ones set idle, these are part of this vast cultural gulf at still separates us.  How to penetrate the traditions in favor of innovation is a major hurdle. We forget how much change and innovation is hard-wired into western culture, and its just not that way with these people.

Later, over lunch I had a long conversation with Alfayo, getting to know him and his thoughts in a new, deeper way. Sometimes we make too many assumptions about a person based on what we know about them, when there is much more to be discovered if we just put in the time.  Alfayo has a beautiful heart for his kids, that much is certain.

In the afternoon, I spent some time with the graduating seniors and we discussed the training center and their future.  I won't say that we learned a lot about each other, they were quite shy about speaking, but it was a good time.  I also had a meeting with Job, and he presented his list of ideas and needs, some were the usual requests but a few were novel.  I agreed to consider some of them.

I got to spend a little time just hanging out with the kids as they returned from school.  They are well behaved and basically self regulating as a group, with the older kids taking care of the younger.  They were willing to talk, but not too deep.  Language issues, I have got to fix that!

The power went out at about 3pm.

At 7pm it was time for evening fellowship, when all the kids gather in the dining hall for singing and praying.  There was only a kerosene lantern and 140 kids and the room absolutely filled with praise.  It was ordinary to them, I think, but absolutely amazing for me.  While they were singing a verse that said, "let the power of the lord come down, oh lord" the electricity came back on and I thought my heart would explode. Alfayo and I shared a wide-eyed look that said,"His power really has come down."  It's not the first time I have felt the presence of the Spirit in Kenya, but it was amazing to feel it here.

We had dinner at Alfayo's house, both of us tired and tender.  He opened up to me in a new way, telling me about their still-born child in 2007 and their struggle to get adequate medical care for his wife.  Not a matter of money, but rather a shortage of qualified doctors.  They now have a new baby, born in December.

I slept well in his spare bedroom, had a "shower" this morning and breakfast and we are about to set off for the Tom Manning orphanage.  More tomorrow.

Ndhiwa

Second Day at the Institute

Yesterday I was somewhat disappointed with the pace of the construction here, but today I spent more time looking around.  I really am quite impressed by this place.  Consider this, the school campus is about 3 US acres (10 acres Kenyan), and has 21 buildings, 17 are complete except some electrical finishing.  We started in April 2011 and they will have it ready for occupancy, though not quite finished by April 1, 2012.  If I told you the cost per square foot you would believe me.

This is really a first rate technical school by Kenyan standards.  My people tell me they have never seen a nicer campus in Kenya.  Our kids are going to get some great training here, and it will serve as the hub for our mission activities as well.  Our medical teams will train Kenyan nurses here this June and the church here will be able to grow and hold meetings and seminars on this campus.  The name of Christ will be made more famous by the existence of this place and the good work that it will do in His name.

Give praise to God and thanks to the GCR elders who had the vision and trust in us to allow us the freedom and funding to do amazing projects like this one.  I am in the process of posting a new album of pictures of the site and all the buildings.  Enjoy!

VTI 23 Feb 2012

I drove again with Mbuvi for the last time today.  He has been a great teacher, and I am grateful for his patience.  Driving here is really different.  Aside from driving on the left side of the road, there a literally thousands of pot holes, some larger than the vehicle itself.  These can be on highways where 80kph is the normal speed.  You have to brake madly and steer violently, sometimes into oncoming traffic, to avoid them.  Kenyans also don't have very many police cars, so they control speeds with speed bumps.  Some of them are large and well slopped and some are small and violent, but none of them are marked.  You just have to be alert and ready to panic-stop at a moments notice.

In town, the pedestrians walk anywhere they want and the pot holes are even worse.  Some roads are just clearings that today might be passable, and tomorrow might be in the center of a market.  Simple intersections are difficult, and complex ones are nearly impossible to move through easily.  And remember, you have to think, "keep left" when 30 years of experience have taught me to "keep right."

Tomorrow Mbuvi catches a bus back to Nairobi, and Alfayo Bodi will join me here and I will drive us to his home at Ndhiwa.  I'll be there two nights and get to worship at Nayongo, our newest orphanage, which is almost complete.  Not sure what the power and internet will be like there, so my next post may not be until Sunday night.  Thanks for keeping up with my journey and please continue to pray for me and all of our Kenyan partners.

Learning how to "Do School"

Monday John Kariuki and I were able to spend some quality time with members of the Made In The Streets staff.  At this orphanage for street kids in their teens, they conduct skills training in many of the areas that we will at the Training Center.  We learned a lot, especially about getting Kenyan Government certificates for our students after finishing their courses (it just takes a test), student schedules, living arrangements for older kids, and other life skills that they teach.  It was a great time, and very helpful.

Tuesday, our goal was only to drive to Kericho so we would be close to the Training Center for wednesday.  John Kariuki asked us to stop off at the Kikitemo IDP camp, where they have been working with the government on a plan to give them a large plot of land for them to settle in.  We saw the proposed site, only an mile or so away from the camp, and discussed the future.  Some amazing things are happening here, I will be making an announcement soon about our new role with that amazing church/community.  Mbuvi drove us skillfully to Kericho, (I'm saving my strength;) an we arrived without incident Tuesday night.

Today we finally made it to the Training Center.  Here, Thomas Alwala has been working diligently to make sure the center is properly constructed and ready on time.  A friend of mine in the construction industry told me one time that when building, you can have it cheap, well made, or fast, but you can only pick two.  In Kenya you can still pick two, but you don't know which two you have picked until you reach the end.  So apparently we are getting it well made and cheap.  This means that while it looks really good and will be an amazing place for our students, it will not be ready on time.  So we spent the day categorizing the progress, reassessing priorities, and adjusting schedules.  It's going to work out fine, and I'm sure God has a great plan for this place.  Our definition of 'late' doesn't always line up with His.

We had planned to stay the night here, but they were not ready for us, (no septic system, no toilets, no running water) so we returned to the Tea Hotel.  I drove.  It was good.  I promise.  I'll take pictures tomorrow and post them for you to see.  Thanks for reading.

First Days

This is my ninth trip to Kenya, and in many ways it's a whole new kind of trip for me. It's a long trip, but I've done that before. It's a solo trip, I've done that too, but never for this long. What makes it different this time is not the circumstances of the trip, but my circumstances. As I have taken on the role of executive director of KWO and put some of my church responsibilities behind me, I have come to realize that there is still so much I do not know about the work I am involved in.
All of my previous trips have followed the model set by John DeFore on his twenty-something trips. It's a model that works well for visiting, but I needed a new model, one that allows me to get to know my workers better, and understand more fully how our orphans and widows really live. So on this trip I will stay longer at orphanages, often overnight. I will stay fewer nights at hotels and I will drive myself as much as possible. I plan to always have a Kenyan with me, for translation and to act as a guide, but this trip will be more about Tim learning what it means to be Kenyan.
There are some practical goals as well, the Vocational Training Institute is almost ready to open and I will need to put on my manager's hat to finish that project. I know that Thomas will have done a great job with construction, but it's hard to know really how much is done until you are there. There are also two new orphanages that need to be seen, and God celebrated for the healing of His world that will happen there. We will have a workers meeting and cover countless details about orphanage operations, so it will be a busy trip for sure.
The flights over this time have been easy, no delays or problems. Its hard to be confined for 17 hours, but in a way its good. It creates a place in time to punctuate just how far from home you are. A container that separates my American life from my Kenyan life. I always feel the anticipation build especially on this last flight; a whole new world awaits on the other side of that aircraft door.
I'll blog as often as I can, but it probably wont be daily. Time and cell phone network coverage will be the limiting factor.

Sunday Afternoon
Yesterday was a lazy day, as I had planned.  My only goal was to get some driving time in with Mbuvi, so I can feel comfortable behind the wheel in Kenya.  He guided me into Nairobi to the Village Market.  I didn't realize we were going there when we left so I forgot to get money from Maureen.  We both had a little, though so we bought some essentials for Maureen and I drove us back to Kamulu.  I think I did great driving, but Mbuvi said I take the bumps too fast.  We had no annoying passengers to complain on this trip, so maybe he's right.  I have to get used to slowing down for potholes.  I tried to explain to him that Americans aren't afraid of holes, but he wasn't buying it.

Shortly after we got home, the power went out for the rest of the day.  We laid around talking, had dinner and went to bed early.

This morning we worshiped at their new church building they call the "octogon".  It's a cool place; sings really well.  I always enjoy their worship, not because it connects with me necessarily, but because it really connects with the Kenyans.  They worship with all their hearts as those who had been redeemed should.  Not very many back-row card-punchers in Kenyan churches.

Tomorrow we will meet with John Kariuki, the new principal at the training institute and the skills teachers here at Made in the Streets.  They have been teaching some of the subjects that we will for quite a while, so I'm eager to get to see their operation in more detail and ask questions.  Be Blessed!

19 Feb 2012