June 30, 2011
Maasai Mara, Kenya

Up at 5:30, in a matatu by 6am. It's pitch black - I'm up before the sun! It's weird because back in California the sun is up at this time. But I'm in a different hemisphere and it's winter! There are hot air balloons filling up with a lot of Asian tourists who are paying over $400/person for a ride.

Wow - what a day! My matatu was driven by Paul. We had myself, Wendy, John, Katie and Brita. The other matatu had Richelle, Scott, Abbey, Torie, Steve and Dave. Melissa and Tammy decided to sleep in and catch the next safari later in the day. There are paths to stay on while driving and the drivers are in constant communication with other drivers. When someone reports wildlife, everyone takes off. We saw giraffes, elephants, antelopes, zebras. And then the call came in- there were lions near a creek. Then there were rhinos grazing near some bushes. And then our matatu got stuck in a ravine. Wendy, Katie, Brita and myself jumped out while John and Paul tried to drive/push it out. While they were working, we all noticed there were lions in the distance. Okay - they were probably 100 yards from us but "lion candy" came to mind! Andrew and Paul got some rope and figured out how to pull our matatu out, only to cause the other matatu to perch vicariously over another ravine! When all 8 tires were on the ground, we proceeded to tour the plains until around 9am. Then back to The Fig Tree for breakfast.


After a divine breakfast of omelet and fruit, I spent some time touring the place, reading on my iPad, journaling. It was nice to have some private time to collect my thoughts and digest my experiences. Time passed so quickly because soon it was time for our 3pm afternoon safari! The plains look so different in the afternoon light. The tall grasses rippled in the wind which reminded me of waves. The breezes came up and it was very Pacific Ocean minus the salt. I know that sounds odd.

We saw so many animals! And then we heard that there were cheetahs on the prowl! We dashed over to see a pack of three cheetahs. They actually used the matatus as cover while stalking a huge herd of zebras. They walked within a few feet of our matatu. We were downwind of the herd and these cheetahs got within 20 feet of the herd. And then the attack! One cheetah struck quickly but missed. The other two joined and they parted the herd. And the first cheetah took down a baby zebra. The zebra cried for a few moments and then was silent. The herd didn't really move too far away - perhaps 50 yards. And then a few of them started crying. In our minds, it was the parents who were crying at the loss of their child. It was difficult to witness but it is nature. What our matatu did not realize was when the cheetahs began their strike, the other matatu moved quickly to get a better view. They hit a huge hole and Scott lost his cell phone out of the vehicle. Dave, who was perched on the top of the vehicle, got launched into the matatu. People were thrown about. When the two vehiclesmet up after the kill, we were shocked to see Tammy in pain from her shoulder, Scott's chest hit the roof, Richelle's side hit the vehicle, Abbey and Tori struck their heads. We decided to slowly drive back to The Fig Tree. While driving back, Wendy and I stood in front looking out. We both commented that this was heaven-like, surreal. The sun was going down, there were incredible shadows on the waving grasses, the breezes were up and felt ocean-like. The plains were dotted with groups of animals. All Wendy and I could say was "God is good".

The sun was going down and everything had a glow. It left everyone speechless. Our drive back to The Fig Tree was in silence, reverence and wonder.

Back at the lodge, the doctor was summoned. Tammy was in the worst pain, fearing a dislocated shoulder. Abbey and Torey were checked out and sent to rest with possible minor concussions. Melissa, a nursing student, spent the evening in their tent monitoring them. Everyone else checked out with just minor bruising.

June 29, 2011 Maasai Mara, Kenya
It took about 3 hours from Kisii to get to the outskirts of Maasai Mara. It was an additional 2-3 hours of hard driving in our matatu. We really needed a four wheel drive vehicle! The scenery kept changing. There was a vastness of flat land spotted with nettle and acacias which hills in the background. Then there would be a blur of color in the distance. It would be Maasai shepherds, sometimes on cell phones! There were cows and cows............and then there would be an occasional antelope. And then a wildebeest! And then there were herds! We arrived at The Fig Tree in Maasai Mara - a settlement along a river in the middle of the Kenyan side of the Serengeti Desert!

The Fig Tree is aptly named - there is a huge ancient fig tree in the main foyer. This place is lush thanks to the river. Bougainvilleas abound! There is an entrance bridge over the river which opens up the the courtyard with the fig tree. Each cabin is a military-style tent erected on a stone slab foundation facing the river. There is hardwood floor in the tent and the bathroom is tiled. There are two single beds with mosquito netting, a desk, sporadic internet and a closet. The first thing our team did was to hit the showers!!!! After two days of dung work, we all needed to be cleaned off. There was hot water for a few hours in the morning and a few hours at night. There was electricity during specified hours as well as internet. Since we arrived near dinner time, we were showered, rested and ready for a late night dinner!

The dining room was set up buffet style. The food was excellent. The disappointment was the desserts. The Kenyans can cook but they do not have the American sweet tooth mastered yet. Off to bed early as we have a 6am safari!!! The moon did not shine this night. It was dark as pitch in the tent! And it was loud and noisy! I woke up to hear what I had originally thought was a dolphin jumping in the ocean! Now that I think about it, it must have been a hippo in the river! I also heard so many birds. I didn't know they were nocturnal! This is truly an amazing place - such sharp contrasts! Sitting in the Serengeti Desert in a tent, under mosquito netting over hardwood floors on the internet sipping on chilled bottled water. Whoa!

June 29, 2011
Kisii, Kenya

Woke up to the church sermon on the radio at 4:45am. It's pitch black outside - how can these people be working? After breakfast, we packed up. On the way down the hill to the bus, we stopped off at an adjacent property. The Israelis have donated numerous high tech greenhouses to local projects. The only criteria is that a landowner must donate the land to erect the greenhouse and the entire community must be involved in erecting and maintaining the plants. The greenhouse we visited was going to be a tomato hothouse.

Our next stop was James' house. Tammy brought some of the dresses and passed them out at the gathering. The team brought out new mattresses, pillows, blankets for James and his family. Food donations were made as well. We took James and his family into his new home. The floors were still not leveled but that would be done after we left. And the mud would take a few days to dry. I made the sign of the cross on one wall in each room. His entire family were so quiet, so humbled and so in awe. Everyone just sang Hallelujah! Since the new house is next door to the old home, the old home would continue to remain in the family. It would be used for storage and shelter for the goat.

A lady named Lydia befriended me. We worked side by side and she told me about her family. She has two children. Her teenage son scored 17 points too low to qualify for free tuition for Form 2 school (high school). She needed several hundred American dollars to put her son through high school. I wanted to give her the money. She had been serving for the past two days. It was difficult, but it was recommended that I allow the Kenyan system to work and to not interfere. Knowing how things work in Kenya (TIK: this is Kenya so don't hold your breath), I have a hard time believing funds would get to Lydia. However if I handed cash to Lydia, it may not have been used for education or she could be in danger if neighbors knew she had cash. I have regrets.

It was sad to leave Kisii. We were saying good bye to Huma and Isaac, two HEART workers who had been with us since the beginning of our trip. They needed to return to Nairobi and we would continue to Maasai Mara for 2.5 days.

June 28, 2011
Kisii, Kenya

"Karen....Karen.....flashlight...rat...rat...rat!" I woke up to Wendy's frantic whispers. I turned on my cell and the sounds of the rodent quieted. It sounded like a five pound rat was trying to claw its way out of a plastic bag. Where was this plastic bag? Without getting out of bed, Wendy and I racked our brains trying to figure out where this bag was. We had no bags. So was this sound coming from the room that Torie, Melissa and Abbey were in? Wow - must be a ten pound rat then.

I woke up again around 3am. I heard a door knob being rattled. I tried to remember if Katie and Brita (who were staying in another building) had a bathroom or if they needed to come down to the main house. I thought of taking my cell phone as a light and going to the front door to see. And then I remembered that the generator was off so the electric fence surrounding the property would be off. Opening the front door might not be the smartest thing to do. So sitting up in bed, I whispered loudly, "Hello?" I expected Katie or Brita to respond, "Can you let me in to use the bathroom?" But no one answered and I stayed in bed.

At 4:30am I woke up again. This time to the radio. It was in Swahili, but it sounded like a preacher with a choir. There was a lot of static and tinniness. And then I heard human voices singing along with the choir. I assumed these were the farm workers. The music played on until nearly 6am. Okay - we're all up. It was sunny so I decided to take a walk around the property.

This is a beautiful area! Any fears or doubts I had were washed away! Armed with a cup of chai and my camera, I explored the area. I ran into Dr.Meshack's mother who runs the compound. I saw why my chai tasted so good - fresh milk from the cow! And the avocados we had been eating - well the 75' tree was right there. There was a vegetable garden that had grown corn, tomatoes and peppers. What I thought was odd was the lack of pineapple plants. We had been eating a constant diet of delicious pineapple at every meal - where were they? Everyone said Kisii grew the best pineapple too!

After a breakfast of fresh fruit, hot chai and mandazi, we hiked down the hill to our bus. The people of that area had laid down leaves and gotten the bus out of the muddy rut! We began our trek down to the school to pick up some of the community leaders and then on to James Laiti's old house. James is 12 years old, orphaned for several years due to AIDS. His older sister was 12 when she was given to an older man in marriage. After three children, her marriage was going badly and she fled to come back home to live with James.

James is a quiet boy and a loving uncle to kids not that much younger than him. He takes pride in caring for his goat. We took a tour of his existing old home. There were countless holes in the thatched roof. James's bed - a wooden plank with a burlap bag filled with sand for a pillow. His sister and nephews and niece slept in another room in similar state. The kitchen was a bowl on the floor and a semi-rotten tomato. But the views out the door were breathtakingly beautiful - such a contrast. There is a tropical feel here despite the poverty.

As leader of the Bayside team, John performed the honorary duty of excavating the first shovelful of soil. And then the masses descended upon the area. Men used machetes to carve shovels out of bluegum. The men used these shovel sticks to loosen the soil for the postholes. People like me got to lay down on the soil and scoop out the loosen soil. I had my acrylic nails on and they sure came in handy. I was like a scooping machine - clawing out the soil like crazy! The men were impressed - thinking I had really strong natural nails!

With the posts in place, next we began to hammer slender bluegum branches between the posts as lateral supports for the walls. Then the fun began! Mixing soil, dung and liquids together, the men and women took their shoes off and began stomping and singing. The mixture began to become shiny, smooth and "soft". We took this mud and began shoving it in between the bluegum frames.

The atmosphere was electric and exciting - so much so that we all forgot we had our hands in dung and there was that special aroma. The walls went up quickly and the skilled "fundi" laborer - machete man - was getting the roof installed. The roof was barely up when the storm hit again. Thunder, lightning and rain. Again, everyone said Bayside brought the blessings of rain. Most people took shelter under the new roof but I went to take some photos of the tea fields nearby. I saw a beautiful plant with quite remarkable fruit and started to take photos. A man, worried I was going to take a bite, shoved me aside and said "BAD, BAD - you die." I found out that fruit is highly poisonous - a few bites will kill a cow! I asked why this plant hadn't been removed since there were kids around here. Their answer was simple: everyone knows it's poisonous so they don't eat it. Survival of the fittest and obedient?

During a break, our team wanted to wash our hands. John tells us to use the yellow bucket. The Kenyan ladies were amused watching all of us rinse our hands off in it. When we were all done, one lady picks up the bucket and adds it to the mud/dung pile. She shook her head at us and asked us why we wanted to wash our hands in cow urine. Then she promptly put the bucket back under the cow. All the girls looked at John who just smiled at us! Then we were told it was okay to use urine to cleanse - the ammonia in it was a natural disinfectant. Yeah, right.

Well the skies opened up again and we had to leave. We needed to get back to the compound before the already muddy road became undriveable. Bernard and his crew said they would continue to finish the roof and get the windows and door installed. He wanted us back there in the morning.

Back at the compound: we all were wet, muddy, dungy, tired and hungry. We hadn't eaten since breakfast. We got back, took our shoes off at the door and went into a dark house. No water to wash off, no electricity, no food. The women dug out baby wipes and attempted to clean off. Then we joined everyone in the living room in the dark. The day had been so rewarding that none of us felt bad about being so hungry and smelling. We played cards and chatted until 9pm when dinner was ready. Again another good meal and then off to bed.

June 27, 2011
Nairobi, Kenya
I  had to say goodbye to Richard. He is the head gardener at HEART. We took several tours of the gardens together. I learned about the huge fig tree in the front area and why their kale grows tall and skinny (unlike our kale which grows like lettuce or cabbage). Sukumo wiki: a tall kale variety that grows tall with a skinny main stem. Chickens, who love kale, cannot jump high enough to reach the kale leaves, which start growing about 3' above the ground! Ingenious!
Our team is looking forward to our trip up to Kisii. Kisii is about 5 hours northwest of Nairobi near Lake Victoria. It is known as the pineapple capital of Kenya and its main cash crops are tea and pineapple. Coffee is grown here as well, but is more prevalent in the higher plateau areas. Our team has several tasks to complete in Kisii. First, Tammy Francabandera, HEART's children ministry director, will be teaching classes on Shaken Baby Syndrome to the community leaders. She also will be distributing dresses made through the Dress a Girl program. Our team will be joining forces with the local churches there to help build a home for 12 year old orphaned boy who is part of a KFS (kids for school) program. "Kids" keeps orphaned kids in school by providing them a kid goat to sell its milk for school uniforms and food. We will be staying at the summer home of Dr. Meshack Ong'uti. He is a local boy who nows runs the Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi. He is a cleft-palate specialist who also serves as a principal surgeon on a non-profit medical team.
We will be in the district of Manga, city of Kisii and province of Nyanza.

Kisii, Kenya It rained off and on throughout our trip to Kisii. The elevation is noticeably higher as our ears are popping. The landscape is lush green, filled with tea and coffee plants. Unfortunately there are too many idle young men hanging around in the towns. We passed areas where children were on the side of the road digging. They were digging up sand and packaging it up for sale (to be used to make brick). There were kids sitting atop stacks of bricks for sale. Women were out in the fields working.
We arrived at a school/community center. The rain had let up but the trek down a muddy path to the school was a bit treacherous - slippery! The center's officials served us some of the best chai tea! We all sat in a large dark room (lit only by the fading daylight through the windows and doors) sipping this savory beverage and nibbling on bread. Tammy taught her lesson on shaken baby syndrome and everyone was disturbed seeing how much damage can be done to a developing brain using such little force. After the lesson, we got back into our bus to go to Dr. Meshack's place for a late dinner. We had to be back here very early in the morning to begin working on James' house.
The rain began to resume its fury. Yes the rain was a blessing, but it made our bus ride uphill in mud very dangerous. We kept sliding. Fortunately we had a hill on one side of us and a drop off on the other side - and we were on the hill side! Unfortunately our bus hit a particularly slippery deep muddy area and we slammed into the hillside. We were stuck. The men tried to push the bus but to no avail. Suddenly men appeared out of the forest. They all attempted to help push but we were so stuck. The women grabbed what we could carry and we began to walk carefully in the mud up to the house - which was perhaps a half mile away. We arrived at the large compound, kicked off our muddy shoes and sat down in the living room. This house is run on a generator and it was not on yet. We were a bit uneasy sitting in a darkening room with the guys still down at the bus, working in the dark. Scott finally came up and said the guys wanted to spend the night in the bus to ensure the bus would be there in its entirety in the morning.
I think that was one of my low points of the trip. I was sitting in a dark room in muddy socks and a muddy skirt worried about our guys down at the bus in the dark. A rodent ran over my feet. We were all hungry and our snacks were down in the bus. I had gone into the "kitchen" there to speak with the two men who were beginning to cook dinner for us but it would be hours. It was about 8pm and I was beginning to be uncomfortable and unhappy. I was not alone. Some of us turned our cell phones on to get some light but also to open our bible app. While reading some scripture, the generator finally turned on and there was one fluorescent light that began to glow. Next, we received a call that Dr. Meshack was sending some guards to spend the night in the bus to protect it. Our guys were able to carry what they could of our supplies and return to the compound. And then - we had the best dinner!! Typically Kenyans eat a late dinner so we were famished by 9:30. But the food was amazing! Truly a gourmet meal!!!  Cilantro chipati, a wonderful cucumber/tomato/avocado/red onion/jalapeno saald, chicken stew, fresh fruit, rice. Thank you God! With the lights on we could wash up in the sink, we could dine with our team and new friends and just enjoy the wonderful food. Everyone was together under the same roof!

June 26, 2011
Namuncha, Kenya

Over the years, our leader John Johnson has developed a relationship with the people of Namuncha through his repeated mission trips. Simon is the pastor and he invited John to preach at today's service. Simon's good friend Solomon is graduating form college next week and then will be attending medical school. Solomon invited all of us to lunch to celebrate his upcoming graduation. So we piled into the van at 6am for the long drive to Namuncha.

Once we turned off the road after 3 hours in the van, the road stopped and we were driving over sand. We followed a single transmission line for about 30 minutes until it ended. Then we were lost. There were no landmarks and the land was flat. After another 30 minutes are driving aimlessly, John's cell phone rang. It was Solomon! He could see dust from our vehicle in the distance. We stopped and waited for Solomon to run to the van and direct us to the church. When we approached the church, we could already hear singing. The parishioners had been singing for an hour, waiting for us! We quickly entered the dung and mud building and took seats on small wooden benches. What I noticed first was how dressed up everyone was! The men wore suits or native dress. The women wore nice dresses or native dresses. But everyone wore long sleeves. It was warm in this building.

I realized for the first time since I arrived that I was in Africa. I was sitting on a hard bench in a dung hut with more flies than people singing and dancing to unfamiliar music. It was hot, humid and little air movement. And I was enjoying these new experiences! I looked up to see writing on exposed rafters. "Read to Lead", "The Strength of the Lord", "Christopher was born to be a teacher" were scratched into the wood. A young boy behind me tapped my shoulder and pointed to my bible. I handed it to him and he marveled over the tabs. I chuckled thinking he was thinking, "silly American woman doesn't know where the books of the bible are!" And then the music started to become more "lively". The woman behind me put her hands on my hips and pushed them, signifying that I needed to be dancing with them. It was a lot of fun. After awhile, I didn't mind the flies, the heat or the smell. It was great!

After church, we went through a receiving line where we all shook hands with everyone. Pastor Simon then took us for a little walk to show us the Namuncha Literacy Center. It's a building that has been built over the past few years in part by Bayside. They decided not to make it part of the church as many in the community are not Christian. This community center will give free literacy classes and be a gathering place where needs can be met. This center is barren inside, in great need of furniture. Our mission team's fees were used in part to buy 100 chairs. While we were taking the tour, dark clouds rolled in. And the winds picked up and there was lightning! Everyone there said that if it rained, we were the blessing that brought it. They desperately need rain. The air reminded me of living in Chicago right before a tornado! There was energy in the air, the skies were an odd color, and it was sunny and not sunny. Thunder and lightning continued and then there was RAIN!

We all ran to our bus and fit as many people as possible for the drive over to Solomon's hut for lunch. His hut has no electricity so we used our cell phones. The food was good but most of us were a little worried about flash flooding. The rain was coming down in torrents. We ate quickly and unfortunately had to leave early. Our bus driver was concerned we would get stuck in mud. As we left, we hugged our hosts. When I hugged Solomon, I congratulated him on his impending graduation and gave him my cross ring as an early present.

The drive back to Nairobi was long and slow due to the rain.Wendy and I sat out on our lanai watching the rain trying to grasp the concept that people thought we were blessings sent by God.

June 25, 2011
Limuru, Kenya

HEART felt we had been working hard this week so today, being Saturday, was going to be an easy day. We had a leisurely drive up to Limuru, which is beautiful country! We drove past plantation after plantation of tea plants. The dark shiny Camellia leaves were in sharp contrast to the large floppy lighter green banana leaves. The elevation here is higher than Nairobi - over 6000 feet.

In Limuru, we worked at the Harvest Field Bible College. We were there to help paint rooms for church, bible study and conferences. Harvest Field is run out of Sharon Cranford's home. She is a missionary and long time friend of Vickie Winkler, HEART founder. Her 2 story 3 car garage had been used as the sanctuary for church and there were dormitory and classroom buildings on this large site. There were about 25 male students living on campus. My job was to help paint the "garage". That room was nearly 20' tall and we were given key lime green paint! I like green, but key lime? Well this room also had a lot of white tile on the wall. As I painted, I had visions of Key West, Florida. Somehow it just didn't seem to go with the Kenyan surroundings. How wrong could I be??? When we finished I was stunned how alive and vibrant the sanctuary looked! We were told that a married couples convention was going to be conducted in this room this summer. And church services were to be conducted in here the next day. While my group was painting the sanctuary, the other group painted classrooms the same key lime green. No one will fall asleep in those classrooms!

We finished our project just after lunchtime, so we drove back to Nairobi and dined at Nairobi Java House! This place is run by American ex-patriots and has food reminiscent of Denny's. My mushroom burger was terrific, in spite of the "mushroom" part of the burger being cream of mushroom soup! We spent our lunch in fellowship and sharing, drinking Diet Cokes and eating burgers. It was a much appreciated change in menu.

Our last stop was to go souvenir shopping downtown. Vickie's good friend Babu owns a trinket shop near the Kenyatta International Convention Center. We all went shopping and bought great handicrafted items at such reasonable prices. We had to turn in early that night as we had to get up very early the next day to drive deep into Maasai country for church!

June 24, 2011
Ol Donyo Nyokie School
Ol Donyo Nyokie, Kenya (Maasai country)

Today was a long drive upcountry. The drive along the highway proved to be boring, amusing and surreal. The scenery changed from green hills to flat desert. The highway did not have a speed limit, rather the speed was limited by the occasional speed bump. Heaven help the car who didn't see the bumps - they'd be airborne! And then the views became surreal. Every so often, we'd see monkeys hanging out of the occasional acacia tree. Then a herd of camels walked by. And were those orangutangs that marched by with the herd of cows?

We arrived at the school in Ol Donyo Nyokie. There are nearly 350 children who attend this school. We brought bottled water, bread, maize and other supplies that were so appreciated. Our main purpose besides bringing the supplies was to teach health classes to the boys and girls. Katie, representing Freedom for Girls, lead us in a health class for the girls. Maasai girls face female circumcision and do not attend class when they are menstruating, resulting in girls falling so far behind in school that they quit out of frustration. We gave lessons on feminine hygiene, general health and sex education. Hopefully through continued education Maasai girls will be graduating high school in the same numbers as the boys. While we were teaching the girls, John, Dave, Steve and Scott taught the boys.

This school was able to raise funds to build a girls dormitory. We took a tour of a building that will ultimately house 64 girls. The children in this area walk anywhere from 1-5 miles to get to school. Many of them get up at 4am to walk for water for their family and then walk to school. Class begins at 6am and dismisses at 4pm. By the time the kids get home, it is after 6pm. The school wanted a safe place for the children to stay where they would have more time to spend on homework and be supervised. The girls dormitory will be usable by the end of the year. Hopefully they will be able to build a boys dormitory within the next year.

During their lunch recess, we were able to play sports with them. Double dutch jump rope, soccer, volleyball - we played them all. We sweated, we fatigued. They wore sweaters, they ran circles around us, they didn't breath hard. Since water is more precious than gold, none of us drank water despite our desperate need! Wendy and I took a break from jump rope and went to socialize with the teenage boys. They were anxious to ask questions! "How do you compare Kenyan's parliament to your House of Representatives?" "What was Obama's role in the assassination of Osama?" "Would Canada, Mexico and Central America want to join the USA in a common currency like the Euro?" Okay - they take their studies seriously!

Wendy and I left the boys pondering our answers and socialized with the elder women of the community. Rebecca, Dorcas, Emily and Bettina (?). After handling a delicate issue on their behalf, Wendy and I had endeared ourselves with them. Their English was better than our Swahili and thank goodness there were students around us but our communication went well. We answered a lot of their questions concerning family structure, faith, men. Hopefully soon the Maasai women will be able to walk through the equality door side by side with the men.

The older students entertained us with a preview of their dance competition routine. That weekend they would be competing in a district level competition, one that they won the previous year. Their beadwork was beautiful, their movement was graceful. I was in awe that they could perform such complicated footwork without shoes on such uneven ground.

This school is like an oasis in the desert. You can see for miles. As we drove away, I realized why Maasai shepherds wear such bright colors - to be seen over great distances! This is amazing yet harsh country. Ant hills are like large sculptures and portions of distant hills have been hand carved to be rain holding tanks.

June 23, 2011

Lydia Mbithe Muthini - Compassion International
Nthingini, Kenya

This is one of my sponsored kids! She lives in Nthingini, Kenya - outside of Nairobi. Compassion International was able to arrange a sponsor visit for me. They sent Martin, a CI-Nairobi worker who served as my translator, driver and guide. We drove for several hours watching the landscape change from chaotic traffic jams to open savannas strewn with shacks and vendors to red sands and cacti. If one was to blot out the poverty, Nthingini is a gorgeous area! Mountains in the distance, red soil, cactus - it almost has the feel of Red Rock Canyon in Nevada.

The CI center in Nthingini is new - only 3 years old. I was one of the first sponsors to adopt a child at this center and I am the first sponsor to visit. I was greeted by the pastor of the church hosting the center. He has a staff of 5 plus the teachers. He told me that Lydia had been put at the top of the sponsorship list because she had been flagged the most at-risk in that area. I was then introduced to the school children - they thought I was a rock star!! They all wanted to touch my skin, hold my hands and pay attention to them!

"How are YOU?"I am fine"

"Are you white?"

"You have happy eyes"

"Jesus loves you"

"You are from America? Is it nice?"

And then I saw Lydia! She is 7 years old and very shy. We went on a tour of the facility together and she held my hand as if she was afraid of hurting me. Then we went to the o ffice for chai, avocado sandwiches and hard-b

oiled eggs. (on a side note - those were the larg est avocados I have ever seen! I even had to question if they were avocados! They were larger t han our pineapples. One of those avocados would make enough guacamole for a half dozen people!). While we ate, I was given all of Lydia's records to review. They had notes of every site visit to her home. There were notes that she did not have a bed and had been sleeping in a hole in the dirt without blankets. They felt her extreme "poverty-induced" absentee-ism from class was due partly to being ill from her sleeping conditions. They used a portion of my monthly dues to bu

y her a cot, blanket and pillow. According to their records, over the next 6 months, her absentee-ism dropped by over 50%.

Of the 175 kids at this site, over 145 of them are sponsored. I was shown food purchases broken down per week showing how the sponsorship of the 145 could feed 175.

Another note in Lydia's file indicated that my sponsorship purchased her school uniform. But once at home, Lydia takes off her uniform to keep it nice and wore sacks. CI used some of my sponsorship funds to buy her a play outfit. I was thoroughly impressed. I feel every dollar I send to her is used wisely.

While I was reading her files, Lydia sat next to me. She loved my hands - especially my nails. And she kept rubbing my skin as if to see what color it was underneath the yellow! Her eyes were glowing! I helped her crack and shell a hard-boiled egg. The pastor asked if she wanted salt and handed her the salt shaker. Lydia took the shaker and sat her peeled egg on top of it. She had never had salt. I sprinkled a little on her egg and it was like tasting chocolate for the first time! She wanted more and more salt!

We then all got into Martin's car to drive to Lydia's home. She had never been in a vehicle before. It was like Great America and Six Flags for her!!!! Her home is a few miles from the center. I tried to imagine letting my 7 year old walk that distance on her own - and she had been doing that for 3 years! They live in a brick structure - about 10x10. There is no roof. Her parents are very slight and carry themselves as if defeated. I met one of Lydia's brothers. He has that same look. Lydia ran into her house while I met neighbors and some extended family. She came running out wearing her play outfit that my sponsorship bought her. We sat under a tree in her back area and she opened a backpa

ck filled with items from us. Her brothers got a soccer ball and pump; her parents got towels; she got bubbles, a jump rope, a bouncy ball and a Barbie-type doll (an African/Asian Tinkerbell). She loved the doll! I said my daughter Melissa looked a bit like the doll. The pastor's wife said Lydia wanted to name the doll "Meli" for Melissa.

Lydia's family are Catholic and attend a small church nearby. Lydia's father's mother is also a Lydia who is the sister-in-law of the CI pastor. Lydia sr. has one blue eye and one brown eye and is so spunky! She kept raising her hands to the sky saying "hallelujah" when she looked at me. Lydia sr. said she really enjoyed the book of Romans.

Knowing there was a 2-3 hour drive back to Nairobi, we had to leave Lydia's house after about an hour. As we were walking to the car, I remembered my bracelet had a line from the book of Romans 10:15 with "feet" charms. "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

I gave Lydia sr. my bracelet and she cried. She said she would pray for me and all my children. Hallelujah!

June 22, 2011

Ngong WEEP Center
Ngong, Kenya

After spending two days in Kibera, we drove to Ngong. Along the way, we drove through the town of Karen. It was pretty funny driving past Karen's Hospital, Karen's Police Department, Karen's Nakumatt!

Ngong is a semi-rural area - a complete change from Kibera slum. Instead of muddy hills, there are flat roads. Instead of sticky mud, there is grass. Instead of half-dead dogs, there are cows.
The ladies of Ngong are different from the ladies of Kibera. They are very mentally very strong but they have a "softness" about them. I think living in the slums hardens women.

Mary is the director of WEEP. She's affectionately called "mom" by the ladies. Since each of the women has been displaced from her family due to the virus, the love felt when they say "mom" is undeniable.

One of our projects at WEEP (besides delivering food for each woman) was to paint the meeting room and sewing machine room. The men in our group did the painting while each WEEP woman partnered with a Team Kenya woman and worked on a bead project. I was partnered with Tabitha. Tabitha is a beautiful woman with two young children. By American standards, she could be a model. And yet, she stunned us when she said, "I wish I could be fatter." It dawned on our group that to be overweight meant to be healthy and virus-free. Tabitha explained her antiretroviral medication routine. Nevirapene was part of her regiment. She said her counts were vastly improved over the past year but she was having difficulties gaining weight.
Tabitha made a beaded ring for me. Then she saw my foot and was astounded I wore a toe ring. She asked its significance. Wearing sandals is unheard of there so they all laughed when I said we painted our toenails and wore toerings when we wore sandals to show off our feet!
We had a great lunch there of stew, rice, chipati and mokimo. Their chai tea was a little different than Kibera but just as good.

After lunch, we shopped in their gift area and just spent time with these ladies. Then it was time to celebrate the completion of the painting. The women broke into song and dance and encouraged us to join in. The women particularly loved Dave. And when he volunteered to have a dance solo while they sang - it brought true tears to their eyes! And those true tears of love quickly turned into tears of song and laughter! We were all laughing and crying and clapping and dancing! In the movie The Bucket List, Morgan Freeman's character says he wants to experience true laughter - the kind that brings tears to your eyes and you feel down to your soul. We all experienced a Bucket List laugh that afternoon.


And then the ladies shared their stories of bravery, abuse and struggles. Paris, a Maasai woman, was attached with machetes by her own father and brothers. They called her a prostitute and said she gave the virus to her husband, who died of AIDS. Paris' 10 year old son ran and got help and saved her life. Paris and her children were kicked out of the tribe and she found her way to WEEP. She is a gifted seamstress. There were so many other stories but there was a common denominator - being blamed for giving the virus to their husbands.

We left Ngong in such an upbeat mood. We all chatted about these ladies all the way back to Nairobi. It was a good day. God is good.

June 21, 2011

More Kibera Slum

These are amusing signage in Kibera. Ghetto Ambulance? I never saw an ambulance in Kenya.

The second day in Kibera was spent on home visits. The WEEP ladies split into two groups and Team Kenya split as well.

Lillian, Beatrice and Jane of WEEP escorted myself, Wendy, Melissa and Dave through Kibera into an area known as Makina. Throughout our mile plus walk through the slums, the WEEP ladies managed us by blocking us from view as much as possible, walking interference and throwing threatening glares at certain people. Despite their care, a would-be thief attempted to steal Melissa's handbag. Lillian stepped in between them and pushed the guy off. He ran off screaming at us and then the mob stared him down. The WEEP ladies did something that was so interesting - they surrounded us completely and said "show no tears. We will not resume walking until there are no tears. Melissa you must not show fear."

I was arguing with God during my walk. The poverty, the young men drunk or with bottles of glue stuck on their lips, the stench............and the stares! Rich Americans walking through their slums! What was I doing there? Did the residents think we were there because we had pity on them? That we felt better ourselves by being there? Or did they think we actually wanted to help? Why were the able-bodied young men idle? Where were the women - at work? Of all the men we saw, how many were HIV+ and hadn't been tested? The first thing I thought when I saw the idle men - wasted manpower.

The walk was intense. The trash mounds got bigger, the terrain rougher and the streets turned into unmarked paths. We finally arrived at Zakina's "home" after ducking through broken fences. She was born a Muslim. Her husband died of AIDS and his family kicked her and her sons out of the house and family. She was labeled a murderer. She returned to her mother's family's "home", where she lives now. She became very ill and got tested. She is HIV+. Her sons are clean. Her blood counts were so low, she was near death last year. Jane heard of Zakina and started making twice daily visits. She brought her meds and food. She bathed her, comforted her, nursed her back to health. Today Zakina's blood count is nearly back to normal. She is reminded of her previous life every time the Muslim call to prayer is heard - she lives near the mosque. Zakina is on a waiting list to be accepted into the WEEP Program. In the meantime, she is grateful to Jane and WEEP.

June 20, 2011

Kibera Slums, Nairobi, Kenya

Intense, thick, muddy, sweaty. Those were my first thoughts when I stepped off the bus at the top of the street in Kibera. We parked in front of a butcher shop. In the window hung the full carcass of a cow. There were smaller carcasses hanging along side it. Flies and a bloody knife - that's what I saw. Then I was hugged and greeted by several petite women with bright eyes from the WEEP Center. They eagerly grabbed our elbows and guided us down the slippery muddy "street". Both sides of the street were filled with shacks. In front of the shacks sat vendors selling things from white rocks, to charcoal, to pieces of fruit. The children ran along side of us waving and singing "Hi! How are YOU?" We'd wave back and they would giggle! The poverty here is intense. It makes Mexicali look upper middle class.

The mud is thick and sticky and smells. It's difficult to know where to step. There is a running creek along one side of the road. It appears to be a drainage "canal" but the kids are playing in it and it is obvious that there is more than runoff water in it.

After walking/slipping about 4-5 blocks, we come to Kibera WEEP. It is smaller and dirtier than I had expected. And it is not just one building. It is 5 rooms but they are not all connected. And there are squatters living in 5x5' "sheds" in between these rooms.

We gathered in the meeting room and soon the room was filled with singing and dancing women! Beatrice, Gladys, Evelyn, Helen, Lillian, Mary - they all broke out in praise songs. They attempted to teach us their dance moves - it was difficult for them to continue singing while laughing at us! We spent time with them, heard their stories, saw their work stations (sewing machines in a room) and bonded. These women are strong.

It takes a lot of courage to get HIV tested in Africa. All of these women had husbands who either died of AIDS or have AIDS. All of these women were blamed for giving the disease to their husbands and were kicked out of the family. Being homeless and then sick, they got tested for the virus. They were brave to get tested and even braver to search out programs like WEEP. The Kenyan government gives out free antiretroviral medication to HIV patients. The catch is that these meds must be taken on a full stomach. A health worker said that "taking these meds on an empty stomach is equivalent to digesting razor blades - it is extremely painful". Homeless women do not take their meds.

The WEEP center not only provides a training program to teach women a marketable trade, they also provide health services. WEEP's main goal is orphan prevention. Keep the woman healthy and then there will be healthy children. Nutrition is key.

Our first day was spent learning exactly what WEEP was all about. We painted the sewing machine room, we played with the children in the preschool there. We had lunch there. Part of our team fees paid for lunch for the center. These little women were eating as much as a high school football player! No exaggeration! I loved chipati - a tortilla or nan bread. Mokimo was a great salad made of pumpkin leaves and maize. Of course there was rice and a stew. The meat in the stew was very gamey and strong so I let others eat it. I ate the potatoes and onions.

The people in Kibera are amazingly strong and proud. No photography is allowed in the slums - it is considered an invasion of their privacy. They are considered to be an organized slum with mob justice. I learned that "necklacing" was a form a capital punishment - a tire is slipped around a person's torso and set on fire. While walking back to the van, my mind snapped a lot of photos! The children appeared to be happy and healthy. The dogs seemed to be sickly and lethargic. Most men were idle and most women were cooking/selling/watching the children.

There wasn't a lot of immediate conversation once back on the bus. Most of us just stared out the windows.