Catching up

Now that we're back home with consistent internet service, it's finally time to give an update on our Kenya trip. We arrived back at Philadelphia airport around 3:15 on Saturday afternoon, after being up for nearly 42 hours including 17 hours of flights. It was an uneventful trip (no airport fire this year!) with all the luggage arriving with us as desired! We look forward to doing it again next year!

Two of the cottages our team stayed in at Tumaini Cottages and Conference Center. 

Pastor Josh Schaeffer making balloon animals for a small group of the kids at Gituamba. 

Andi and new friend Elizabeth and baby Angel at a water filter distribution at a church in Nakuru. 

Water filter training presentation. 

Happy recipients of water filters. 

Our work team and drivers/translators/friends at the Gituamba camp project

Our completed walls. 

Our field day activities at the school 5km from Gituamba. 

SWOK employees and friends Lino Momo and Happy James with Rufus daughter Joy. 

My special friend Rufus Ngata with daughters Vickie, Faith and Joy and wife Gladys. Gladys makes the best chapati in all of Kenya! 

Our faithful drivers/translators/friends Happy James, Rufus, Steven and Bernard. The trip wouldn't be the same without them!

My friend and SWOK employee Sam Kariuki. He and Rufus Ngata are the only known Kenyan rednecks! I love these guys! 

Bernard and Steven with the only known albino Masi warrior, Tom Wolff!

Finally have Internet access!

We're on our way back to Nairobi to fly home around midnight tonight and stopped at a restaurant on the way. And finally, we have Internet access! It has been a frustrating situation to have so much to share and so many pictures but no way to get them posted. I'll try to get some of it up now in the little time I have and will follow up once home to get a lot of pictures up this next week. 

The first day we mortared-in the first rows of bricks to begin the school classroom walls. 

Enjoying being with the children in Deep Sea slum church/school. 

The walls by the end of the week - about 3000 bricks later! 

We started building our walls on footers that were poured by others. The last day, we poured footers for the next team to do walls for the next two classrooms. 

Our team in front of the school/church building. 

August 3/4

Yesterday was Sunday and a day of worship for the team with the Trinity United Methodist Church in Naivasha. It was their 15th anniversary Sunday, so it was quite a celebration with a lot of praise and worship.  Our group was invited up to sing, and we sang a praise song that we had practiced in both English and Swahili. When we started in English, reaction was normal but when we got to the Swahili, they went immediately into cheering and sang with us.  It was a great 4 hour service and continued after we left! We then stopped at an outdoor barbecue for a late lunch of chicken and roasted goat where we had stopped last year. 

Monday we continued our construction work back at Gituamba IDP camp, with wall construction up as high as we can build before forming up the rebar columns which lock the walls together. Our team worked with the Kenyan workers mixing concrete on the ground and carrying it up to fill the forms for the overhead support beams. A small work team will go back tomorrow to begin forming up the column supports, while the rest of the team will travel to Hell's Gate National Park for sightseeing in the morning and then do a hygiene training and water filter distribution to 50 people who are HIV positive and at more at-risk of other diseases because of their compromised immune systems. SWOK has seen an earlier case where clean water made a tremendous difference in turning around the health issues of an HIV positive woman. 

Musings on life in Kenya

Being in Kenya makes you reflect on your own life and the blessings you experience.  I have purposed to not take life for granted, which is so easy to do. And sometimes it's the little things, not big earth shattering differences. Please don't get me wrong: I don't in any way intend to use this blog to lay a guilt trip on you.  But it's a way for me to journal and get my thoughts in perspective. At home, there are so many distractions, it's often hard to hear God speak. Here in Kenya, it's much easier.

One thing I have never really spent much time thinking about is life expectancy. On Tuesday, I was working with the Kenyan laborers making a ladder for working on the top of the wall, and I got talking with my friend Rufus about age. I asked how old he is, and he told me to guess. He has three daughters , age one and a half to nine, and he is probably close to 40, although he never told me.  One of the Kenyan workers offered that he himself is 45.  He looks nearly old enough to be my father, but not quite! And I'm 62!  Life in Kenya is certainly hard. I don't think that this man is an exception. For the vast majority of Kenyans, every day is an effort to just keep going, and it's not like you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And yet the majority of the people we see and meet are joyful. It's hard to explain. But a few nights ago after dinner, a friend, Chief Francis Kariuki, who is chief over a large area of Kenya, spent time with us. In our group meeting, he addressed the subject I had been typing about just before dinner - he echoed that life in Kenya is hard. But he also gave the answer of how the Kenyan people can be joyful in spite of circumstances: "by the grace of God".  Kenya is largely a Christian nation, as ours once was. I like to think that ours still is, yet it's sometimes difficult to find enough evidence to prove it. Christianity is constantly viewed in a bad light in the press and is the faith that is easiest to pick on without being criticized.  And yet it is their Christian faith that allows them to find joy where others would find none. 

Last night, we had a discussion about the standard of living of the people we see on the street.  You constantly see people trying to earn a living in whatever way they can; many haul hundreds of pounds of dirty water in jerry cans, either on their back, bicycle or motor bike, to sell to others.  Many more carry mountains of sacks of charcoal in the same way, since this is used by everyone to cook their food over small open cookers, and they have a ready market for the charcoal they make from raw wood.  Many more set up whoever they can find to sell fruits and vegetables, whether at a small stand or with their produce spread on the ground at an intersection.  We asked Sam, the Kenyan project manager for SWOK, what people could hope to earn from their endeavors and whether they could earn a decent living.  His answer was hard.  He said their hope is to earn enough to feed their family for THAT DAY.  No planning for tomorrow, no putting away something for a rainy day, just trying to survive for that day for them self and their family.  That's a hard reality.  We are so blessed that we can plan and save and put away for tomorrow.  We actually have something called "retirement" that a lot of Americans look forward to. I wouldn't even be surprised to find out that there isn't a Swahili word for retirement. I'm embarrassed to even ask. 

Another thing I know I take for granted is recreation. The only forms of recreation I have seen in Kenya are playground-type activities for the young kids (home-made hose hoolahoops, soccer ball or jump rope) and a soccer stadium in Nairobi. There is the evidence of some fun activities for the kids, but not much for the adults. Again, I wouldn't be too surprised if there is no Swahili word for "leisure". I cherish my weekends and time off, and it gives me something to look forward to during the work week. I'll try not to take it for granted. 

It's a real rarity to see a Kenya who is overweight.  Food is a precious commodity, and I've never seen it wasted here. I try not to waste it either.  But at home, it's everywhere. If I want a snack between meals, I have a myriad of choices.  I have never wondered where the next meal is coming from. Ever. I've never in my life gone to bed hungry (okay, maybe there was that once when my parents sent me to my room without dinner for acting bad, but you get the point!). I'm a billionaire when it comes to comparison with the average Kenyan, and my food pantry and refrigerator prove it.  I am amazingly blessed, and I don't want to take it for granted. 

Another necessity of life that's easily taken for granted has been emphasized to me both this trip and last year: clean water. We think nothing of drinking water from the tap, swimming in a pond or stream, taking a shower and letting the water run in our mouth. In most of Kenya, you wouldn't think of it. I haven't seen a stream that isn't flowing brown, dirty and nasty. We are fortunate to be staying in a conference center that has an expensive, complex water purification system, so we are able to drink it or shower without concern. But this is an unheard of luxury for the vast majority of Kenyans. Their digestive systems are more accustomed to it than ours would be, but they get typhoid, cholera and dysentery just like we would if we drank it.  And they have no choice. That is, until some organizations like SWOK and others started addressing the problem. There are organizations that have dug wells and put in water purification, but these can only have a limited area of influence, and they must be maintained to keep them running properly. SWOK has chosen to address the problem on a local, personal level.  The filtration kits that they train people to use and give them for free will provide clean water to them and their family for the rest of their life! They will each produce over one million gallons of clean drinking water by gravity with no ongoing cost or effort except daily back flushing with a small amount of the clean water produced.  SWOK has been distributing these for four years, and they have demonstrated significant reduction in waterborne illnesses in communities where they have been given away. They are truly making a difference here in Kenya, one life at a time. 

August 1

Today was our third day of construction work at the Gituamba IDP camp.  A lot of work got done on the interior walls, with most of them now up over 7 feet tall. Window and door openings were left, with the doors hopefully arriving next week so we can install their frame anchors into the concrete columns we hope to be able to pour. The supports for the rebar beams are nearly complete, so we should be able to work with the Kenyan workers on Monday to mix, carry and pour concrete into the forms.

We finished intentionally at 3:00 today to take a ride to the equator. It is a beautiful ride up to 7425 feet, passing through coffee and tea plantations. We finally got some rain when we got back to Tumaini, which hopefully should help to keep the dust down somewhat on the roads, which have been a continuous dust cloud.

Our team has been healthy up to this point, although a few have come down with stomach issues recently.  Prayers for good health for the team would be appreciated.

Tomorrow will be a mixed day for us. We will do a game drive in the morning through Lake Nakuru National Park, have lunch at a restaurant downtown in Nakuru and then do a hygiene training and water filter distribution at a church in one of the slums in Nakuru.

Once again, power has been off and on this evening, so access to the internet has been nearly non-existent. Trying to load a post with pictures just doesn't work. Hoping for a better signal one of these days......

August 2

This was an easier day than the previous four, planned as a day to give the team some fun and not push as hard. We started off very early, leaving the conference center at 6:30 for a game drive through the Lake Nakuru National Park. This is a 73 square mile wildlife sanctuary, and we drove around the entire park in five safari vans, observing an unbelievable amount of wildlife. We were blessed last year to see lots of birds and mammals, but today we saw probably fives times as many, including six lions, at least 30 giraffes, both white and black rhinos, Waterbucks,  probably a thousand each of Cape buffalo and impalas and at least 50 other species of birds and smaller mammals.  The beauty and variability of God's creation is astounding! And it is also very evident He has a great sense of humor to design some very strange animals!

After lunch in downtown Nakuru, we went to the Hope church in a slum on the outskirts of Nakuru, where we did a hygiene training and water filter distribution to 25 women.  These women are among the very poor and neediest, with many of them HIV positive. Most are living in really substandard conditions with little more than a roof over their heads and not sure where the next meal is coming from. It was amazing to see the number of hands that went up when we started the presentation and asked the women how many had previously had Cholera or typhoid. It was probably 40-50%.  These are diseases that we never even hear of anymore in the US. It was obvious when the presentation and training session were completed the value these filters have to them. They clutched their new filtration kits and every one of them had an ear-to-ear smile.  It's obvious these will be treasured possessions that will have a significant impact on them and their families.

Tomorrow will be a day of rest where we join the Methodist Church congregation in Naivasha (about an hour drive south) for their 15th anniversary celebration service.

7/31

July 31

Today was our second day of construction on the "school in the barn" project at Gituamba IDP camp. The five wall building teams finished the first two courses of mortared block on the footings and began dry stacking the levels above that.  These will be the walls that define the classrooms. We got all the walls built up to about 4 feet each, plumbing each block as the wall went up. We will continue building these tomorrow up to a height of approximately 9 feet. The walls will all be tied together by concrete beams and columns that will be formed and poured with rebar frames constructed inside then. We have begun wiring rebar together and wiring it to the short sections of rebar protruding from the footings.  One team drilled holes into the existing stone walls and began wiring rebar supports to tie the new walls into the existing structure. This is probably a lot more construction detail than you really ever wanted to know, but it just want to point out that there a lot more steps than you would think to just "build a wall". I also want to emphasize that our teams that are doing this are everyday men, women and young people who do all sorts of jobs at home on an everyday basis. None of them work in construction as their daily job except myself.  And yet you should see the work they are doing! It just goes to show that the Lord doesn't call the prepared, He prepares the called.  If we give him the chance by saying "here I am, send me", He'll take care of all the rest. It is amazing to me to see teams of all ages and skill levels getting out of their comfort zones and achieving great things.

The other activity that is ongoing is the preparation of the troughs and supports for them to construct the beam across the barn main opening.  A group of Kenyans has been doing this work, lead by our driver/construction engineer/tour guide/energizer bunny, Rufus Ngata. He is truly a jack-of-all trades and invaluable. The forms and supports, made from trees and crude building materials, are nearly complete, and once we put the rebar "trees" in them and complete the troughs tomorrow, they will be ready for the concrete to be mixed (by hand) and carried up 13' ladders and dumped in the forms. Stay tuned for tomorrow.........

July 29/30

Internet access is more of a challenge this year than it was last.  I was not able yesterday to get on long enough to type a report, so this one will be for two days.

Monday was a great first day. We left the Presbyterian Guest House in Nairobi to go to Deep Sea slum. We played with about 100 children, doing crafts, blowing bubbles and just spending time with them and showing them love. It's tough to fathom the joy they have in deplorable conditions with so little to look forward to. When the pastor asked them in Swalihi if they love Jesus, everyone of the  said "Yes!" and they all raised their hands. Their joy is so evident with so little, and yet our joy so often seems to be dependent on our circumstances.  The other most noticeable act was their willingness to share, when they have so little. They take their turn. They don't take what someone else has. We got the opportunity again this year to help serve them a hot lunch.  When we were here last year, the church/school was able to serve 3 hot meals per week to the children, and it was more than likely the only hot meals the children got in a week. Through the contributions and support that has increased for their program due to support from you and others like you, they have been able to increase the program to 7 hot meals per week. PTL! We formed an assembly line to fill and distribute plates of hot rice and gravy with meat and pass the plates to the +/- 75 children assembled patiently on the floor. I did not see one child take a plate and eat it until it was his/her turn and they had passed the plates on to their neighbor.  I saw older children (but still probably 6-7 years old) be sure their younger brother or sister had received theirs before taking a plate for themselves. I saw an older sister assure her younger brother got his because she fed it to him before taking any herself.  I saw not one act of selfishness the entire two+ hours that we interacted with the kids. As described by Leslie Hinderliter, the level of activity with the kids was "like VBS on crack", but it was an awesome morning! We can learn so much from little children, and these children taught us a lot about how we should treat our brothers and sisters, regardless of their age!


When we left the Deep Sea slum, we drove by multiple vans to Amani Ya Juu, the boutique which sells beautifully made items primarily for women made by local women who are learning a trade and becoming self-sufficient. We had our late lunch in their garden restaurant and then headed north for the long (4 hour) 90 mile ride to Nakuru.  100000 trucks later, we were there! I'm sure that's probably an exaggeration, but it seemed like it. It's rough roads and a harrowing ride with fun passing slow trucks with crazy traffic.  We arrived at the wonderful Tumaini Cottages and Conference Center around 7:30 and got settled into our rooms in time for a late dinner. This will be our home for the next 10 days. It's very comfortable and takes the stress out of long hard days working.

Today, July30, was our first day of physical work. After breakfast at Tumaini, we made the hour-plus drive to the Gituamba IDP camp, where we had done several days of construction work last year.  I didn't think it was possible, but the condition of the roads has gotten worse since last year! You could lose a decent size car in some of the pot holes! The road has widened to three lanes, only out of defense so cars/trucks can go further afield to escape the crevasses! We are working on an old stone barn structure that will be converted into a school for the children at the camp, who now have to walk 6 km (3.75 miles) each way to get to school. It will also have multi-purpose rooms that will be used for church for members of the camp. We broke into six+ teams, with each of five teams mortaring bricks on concrete footings that had previously been poured by another team. These five walls will create the first two classrooms, which are planned to be functioning as school in January. Another team worked cutting rebar and wire and constructing the steel support beam that will go in forms and be poured into concrete 12 feet overhead (stay tuned for a later report!)  to be the main overhead support for the building entry.  We worked alongside hired Kenyans to construct wood supports to hold the framing for the concrete to be poured in, and had to build our own ladders out of thin trees to access the top of the walls. Their construction techniques are quite crude by American standards, but they work. It was great for returning team members to see and visit with residents who remembered them and with whom relationships had been built.  It was also great to see and work again alongside Kenyan members of SWOK (Start With One Kenya), the ministry whom we partner with here.  For those who might not know, that's their name and also their philosophy. The needs and opportunities here are so vast, where do you even begin to try to make a difference? You can't do it all at once - you start with one!
Well, I'll end for now, since it will soon be time to get up again if I don't get some sleep. And here's to praying that I have enough internet access to get this posted! I'll try to post again tomorrow but no promises on the technology. At this point, I'm not able to get photos up, but I'll also try again tomorrow.
Jim

We made it!

Well, after a 7 hour flight to London, a 4 hour layover, and a 9 hour second flight, we arrived in Nairobi tonight at around 9:30.  Immigration control went off with no hitch, other that taking over an hour to get all 27 through. And once again, not one piece of lost luggage for all of us! It was great to see the smiling familiar faces of Bill and Chat Coble and Rufus Ngata. We got all the luggage and people packed into vans and over to the Presbyterian Guest House by midnight and got settled in. It's been a long two days! We'll be off at 9:30 tomorrow to visit the Deep Sea Slum in Nairobi and visit with the kids there in the Methodist church and school. After a visit to Amani Ya Juu, we'll head north west on the 90 mile trip (4hours!) to Nakuru. I'll post an update in the evening. Now, I'm going to bed!

Welcome to my blog!

This is a new experience for me, having my own blog.  It has been a harrowing experience for me, trying various complicated steps with Ipage, WordPress, Mojo, etc. over four days to establish it.  And then after talking with daughter Rebekah, she led me through it with none other than GMail, and low and behold, in THREE MINUTES I had my blog up and running! God bless you, Rebekah!

When we went to Kenya in 2013, I got started posting a daily update on the Bethlehem United Methodist Church blog. It was a rewarding experience for me, and it really got me thinking each evening when I typed up the post how blessed each day was. I realized how awesome an experience this trip was, and it gave me an opportunity to hopefully give others a glimpse into what we experienced. Not everyone has the desire or opportunity to go on a trip like this, but many friends have given resources and prayer support that allow us to go.  But we go as your representatives, and it is my desire to bring you feedback on what your support has allowed the team to accomplish.

It's not my MO to be a preacher, and in a lot of cases, I don't know where you are coming from spiritually as individuals.  I hope I don't offend anyone who is coming from a different faith perspective.  But I would be disingenuous if I didn't give the Lord credit for what He did for us and through us.  His hand of blessing was so evident on our trip last year, it was unmistakable.  The experiences we had working and serving in Kenya were remarkable enough by themselves, but just the logistics of our actual trip were no less remarkable.  We had 29 of us on the trip last year, flew from JFK to Amsterdam with a second flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi and returned the same route, no lost luggage coming or going, and the Jomo Kenyata International Airport international terminal burned to the ground two days before we were to fly home and we nearly left on time (only two hours late, as the first international flight after the fire!).  Some may try to explain that as coincidence, but to me, there is no question where the praise belongs!

This year, there are 27 of us going, including 12 newbys and 15 veterans.  We will be flying from Philadelphia to London Heathrow, and on to Nairobi after a 4 hour layover.  We will be in Nairobi for just one night and then moving on to Nakuru for the remainder of the 10 days on the ground in Kenya. As always on missions, the activities are subject to change on a daily basis. At this point, we anticipate that we will again be doing hygiene training associated with our distribution of personal water purification systems, work at the Springs of Hope orphanage, and our major focus is to be construction of a church at the Gituamba IDP camp. For those of you who don't know the history, the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps were formed in about 2008 as squalid tent camps for people who had been uprooted from their homes by ethnic fighting after a contentious presidential election. Those uprooted people have now been permanently settled on

small parcels of land in these camps with their own timber, mud and corrugated metal roofed huts. Last trip, we worked on two of these camp locations, and it looks like this year we will be focusing primarily on work at Gituamba.

Stay tuned, and I'll keep you posted as we get underway.  My first post from Kenya will probably be Monday night when we get to Nairobi, just to let you know we arrived safely.

May God bless you for your interest in what He is doing in Kenya!

Jim