My Photo Book Kenya 2013

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The Ministry of Presence

Ministry of Presence

Miriam often tells us that one of our main ministries in Kenya is simply the "ministry of presence."  Sometimes just being there is all it takes.  At Jamii one morning this was true for me.  

Instead of going to the playing field with the students and the rest of our education team, I felt the need to simply stay and check out the scene at the medical clinic to see if I could help in some way. After our chai break, I walked toward the clinic. 

Our medical team was in full swing, crowded lines were formed in various directions, Sanna and Colin were huddled around small groups doing intake, Ginger was shuttling back and forth helping our pharmacist Lisa fill a myriad of orders, and our doctors were intently examining patients. Just as I entered the gate to the clinic, two people holding up a very sick woman between them, passed right in front of me. She was shaking, feverish, barely able to stand on her own, ...and she had no papers.  Her friends carefully found her a place to sit under the umbrella, and then walked away. 

With no papers in hand, I wondered whether she had even been through intake.  I pointed her out to Ginger and to Sanna, neither of them had seen her come through.  After describing how sick she seemed to be, Sanna alerted Dr. Bob and she was moved up the line.  After a quick assessment it was determined her need for IV fluids was critical.  With Kizimani funds in hand, our Eldoret support man Kigo drove her to the hospital and stayed with her as she was seen.  Bob later reported to us that she would have died without fluids and the immediate medical intervention she received that day.  In the crush of waiting patients and intense attention to the tasks at hand, her presence under the umbrella may have gone unnoticed for quite some time...perhaps too much time.  

Sometimes just being there is all it takes.  I am thankful to God for the opportunity to be present, to just be there to notice just one person, and to make a difference. 

At New Dawn High School in the Huruma slum outside Nairobi, I was able to reconnect with Kasey, who the year before, had shared with me her tragic story.  Her father died when she was very young, and his family shunned her and her mother.  During the election violence of 2007 in Eldoret, Kasey's mother was shot and killed before her eyes. Thankfully her aunt who lives in Nairobi took her in and she later found her way to New Dawn, for which she is very grateful. Kasey recognized me from the art classes the year before, and when I gave her a hug, she simply would not let go.  It brought tears to my eyes that the little bit of listening from last year would have had such an impact. 

Kasey is a remarkably resilient young woman with an incredible gift of writing poetry. Although she is smiling above, her deep sense of loss, grief, and anger mixed with seeking God's redemption, love, and forgiveness come through every line of her verses.  I encouraged her to keep writing and to use her gift as a way to bring healing for herself.  In just one sitting while we were there, Kasey wrote two poems and gave them to me.  They are powerful and profound.  As we said our farewells again this year, the hugs were again long and tear filled, and she simply said, "Thank you for being my friend."   

Some might ask, what difference can you possibly make over there?  What is it that you can offer when faced with so much pain and suffering, so many needs that go unmet,  Sometimes it is just the ministry of presence that we offer. Sometimes, just being there is all it takes.  

Thank you friends and family for helping Kizimani make a difference, once community at a time, and one person at a time.  Thank you for supporting our 2013 Kenya Team with donations, books, supplies, and especially prayers.  They were felt and much needed.  

Asante Sana

Construction everywhere

We were shocked at how much new construction was going on around Nairobi.  So much has been done since last year.

This is a brand new road that made our trip around town easier.  There are new traffic roundabouts in several places with traffic lights, though not paying attention to those continues to be the norm. 

Sidewalks and new drainage systems! No more walking in the mud!!

Even the road to Kangundo was repaved. Taking about an hour off our trips last year!

First ever set of highway signs.  These were not here last year! All courtesy of China, Japan, and even Sweden I hear.  

Amboseli

The last 24 hours brought some much needed R&R for the team. We were able to go to Amboseli Serena which is found inside the Amboseli National Park and wildlife preserve.  It is a stunningly beautiful place which we were able to afford due to a significant deal that our local travel agent arranged for us.  I will let the pictures tell the story.  

Mt. Kilimanjaro at dawn. 

Lots of smiles in our van with Tim and Robin and Judy.  

Teaching, it's what I do.

Here are a few more snapshots of our teacher training in Eldoret. Ann Gerson presented classroom management techniques our first day and I presented a review of math fact strategies along with some addition and subtraction problem solving.  Our second day was all about place value, multi digit adding and subtracting, and how to use an open number line as an additional problem solving strategy.  

Our third day and first half of our last day was all about early geometry lessons.  The teachers really enjoyed having all the manioulatives that I brought along and wanted more time to play with the pattern blocks, geoblocks, geoboards, and polydrons I received from the Math Learning Center.  Thank you MLC!  I really wish we had more time with the teachers.  It's a little like drinking from a fire hose.  

Ann finished up our time together with a presentation on supporting children in crisis. From the discussion that ensued we realized we were just seeing the tip of the iceberg.  It was evident it is not just the the students who are dealing with the trauma of food scarcity, abandonment, and violence, but the teachers as well.  They were all in Eldoret during the horrific ethnic violence of the 2007 elections and many of them are not from the "right" tribe.  Some lost several family members then.  Ann and I already thinking about next year and how to further the discussion to better support these dear teachers.  

Judy was a tremendous help to me, providing technical support and running the power points for both Ann and me.   

Each day we ask teachers to write feedback and suggestions on index cards.  On the third day a suggestion came up that we present the teachers with certificates of completion for the training.  Long story short we scrambled to create, print, and sign certificates to have ready at the closing of our last day together.  It was a huge success and the teachers were so appreciative.  

Later in Kangundo, the one day I was there, I was able to meet briefly with one of the teachers for the special needs student club.  I gave her some of the early education math supplies and introduced a few games for them.  They were thrilled and so was I.  

I am so thankful for the opportunity to share with these teachers and provide them with a few materials to help ease their lives and encourage them in the great work they are already doing.  

Drama in New Dawn

Today, Thursday, was the day Ann Gerson and I joined Judy at New Dawn High School for her drama workshop.  If I haven't said it before, which I know I have, these students are amazing. Judy was amazing. Her Kenyan theater friends who came along to help with the drama games were amazing.  It was inspiring to see Jude in her element and to see the students actively participating and having so much fun. Hans was happy to have some company for lunch.  He was gracious enough to move his class of teachers upstairs so we could have the large meeting space which was perfect for the games Judy was leading.  Here are a few pics from our activities. 

The highlight for me was seeing Casey again.  She was the student from last year that I really connected with who had shared her tragic story with me.  When I greeted her she remembered me and when I gave her a hug she just just wouldn't let go.  9 am in the morning and I was already in tears.  

Kangundo

Driving up the bumpy dusty dirt road to Isaac and Monica's farm is one of my favorite experiences.  The mamas welcome us with such exuberant singing and dancing that touches each of us so deeply.  This little village surrounding Isaac's farm has been hard hit with Aids and frequent drought. Isaac and Monica (Miriam's parents) have slowly but surely helped bring healing and sustainability to these dear women and their families.

Our main task here was to interact with the families, bring them bags of clothes, and provide them with about three weeks of food.  We set up several stations, each with a different food item, and helped them fill bags with one of everything: milk, oil, rice, sugar, flour, salt, margarine, seasoning, bread, toothpaste, and toothbrushes.  This system was way more efficient than last year, allowing us more time to greet the families.  

Next it was time for the medical team to set up at the grounds of the community church and begin seeing the first group of patients.  People who wanted to see the doctors were given numbers ahead of time letting them know which day they could attend.  This also was way more efficient and Bob reported that the first day was much calmer.  We are learning!

Those of us not on the medical team went to help build a garden for a family in the village. The man named Nicholas, who has been helping the community learn more sustainable gardening practices, had looked a bit concerned when Miriam said it was mostly women coming to help him.  Those of you who know me can figure out where this story is going....he came back to Miriam afterward and said, "Boy those women can work!" Uh...yeah. 

Nicholas has been helping these families build raised garden beds with a drip irrigation system attached to a small water tower next to the garden bed. when we got there the walls of the garden were in place, so we laid down landscape fabric inside, then spread a thin layer of ash around the perimeter for pest control, then gathered up dried leaves and spread them out, then shoveled dirt into buckets and carried them to the bed, poured them in, then shoveled composite top soil on top. Tim and Jamrick, one of our rescue boys from Nairobi, did most of the shoveling, while the rest of us carried and dumped buckets of dirt. 

Nicholas was working with a few village men to finish building the support structure for the water tower. He then showed us how to connect the drip irrigation line and we laid those out on top of the garden.  Connecting pipes and a spigot were added, leading from the water tower to the drip lines in the garden.  Voila!  Too bad I will miss the actual planting of the vegetables on Friday, as I will be at New Dawn with Judy. 

Some of the neighboring mamas came to watch with their grandchildren. It was hot and tiring work, but only this little boy got to take a nap under some shade!  

R&R

The trip back to Nairobi from Eldoret is about 4 hours. A long ride in a van, but not without it's diversions like stopping at the equator line or buying Masai blankets at he Rift Valley overlook. The scenery is always beautiful with eucalyptus, jacaranda, and acacia trees.  It was definitely rainy in spots and more overcast than last years trip through here.  We will miss our friends in Eldoret and the beautiful grounds at the Noble House conference center where we stayed.

The next day we had a little more R&R. After packing more medical supplies with Dr.Bob for our Kangundo clinic, we went to the large Westgate shopping mall to have lunch at the Java House and find some gifts at the Masai Market. Miriam arranged for some Kenyan friends to help us "haggle" at the market to avoid our being "gouged" by the venders.  I got to be pretty good at haggling myself, because I remembered what I paid last year for things and always started with that. 

These young men are basically orphans trying to get by without begging or stealing. They were from a rescue effort that Miriam's sister Nellie knew of.   We paid them a stipend and bus fare For helping us with our shopping.  Our time at the market was much more enjoyable because of them.