Dec 22, 2008 – Last week we all took a 4 day trip to Nairobi from Thursday, Dec 18th to Sunday, Dec 21. It even though Nairobi is only about 200 miles away I think, it is a full day to travel each way, so we really only had 2 days in Nairobi. But it was good. This is the story as I remember it. I’m sure I’ll get most of the highlights, but may be brief in areas as I want to make sure I get this completed before my battery dies. Usually this does not matter much but I’m writing this in the dark as the power went off sometime this afternoon and has not yet returned, so there is not the chance to plug in to complete this one.
Anyway, this first day was a travel day. Father Charles had arranged for private transport for us from Mbita to Kisii, where many coaches and matatus are available to Nairobi. (I just applied a little Deet around my screen to see if it helps to keep the bugs away as it is the only light source around due to the power outage. I also turned off my headlamp to keep them from swarming around my head.) Father Charles said we could get a cockroach for 5,000 shillings to take us to Kisii. This was supposed to be a good deal, but I missed the discussion on this, but from what I got, if we took public transport we’d have to pay 500 shillings each. For the 7 of us (Eli was coming with us), this comes to 3,500 so I’m must have missed the new math portion of this comparison. But it was arranged and I figured it would save some time so why not.
The first driver and vehicle that showed up was not acceptable to Father C, so he had the driver take him to town. He then selected the best vehicle and a different driver. The car did look better, but I thought a friend of his was part of the reason for the transaction. So we were off, all 9 of us (10 if you count the driver). Father C was coming part way with us as he didn’t want to take his car. I’m not sure who number 9 was. Number 9 exited not to far down the road, but we picked up a new number 9 shortly after that, who was accompanying Father C to his event. Both #9 and Father C got out shortly thereafter. Joyce and Travis took the back boot (this is a Corolla station wagon) and I got the front seat to myself. So that left 4 in the back seat. They figured this was more comfortable then 2 in the front bucket seat, and no one wanted to be sweated on by me.
For the most part the trip to Kisii was uneventful. Of course when we got to the stage area in Kisii for the next leg of our journey we were surrounded my many people offering us great transportation. We finally settled on one for just 600 shillings each. This being cheaper than the first, shorter part of our journey. They driver was nice enough to lead us over to the local grocery store so we could get a few snacks to serve as lunch before we departed. Then after a pit stop at the pay to pee restroom we were off. All in our own seat for the first 10 feet, then the fee collector jumped in and squeezed Morgan, Nick and Ashley into a 2 + seats. Morgan did a good job preventing the guy from taking any more room then necessary. Every time he rearranged himself to get a bit more room, she rearrange to get it, and sometimes a little more, back. Morgan was fighting a stiff neck, so needless to say sitting on the hump between the seats did by feel real good and she was a little testy with the guy, and rightly so, when he inquired about getting a little more space. I even asked him once about having 15 passengers in a 14 passenger vehicle and he assured me it was not a problem. But at the first police stop, which are quite common to check for license, insurance, etc, he closed the curtain that was next to him to make it difficult for the police to see there was extra people in the van. So this was 2 of the things we learned in our trip – never sit in the first row of seats, and knowing something is up when the curtains close at a police stop. Ashley has several other things we learned along the way, which she may share sometime.
There was a rest stop in Narok, about half way from Kisii to Nairobi. This turned into about an hour as our vehicle developed a problem and we needed to switch to a new one. Then some minutes later, back to the first one, then back a forth a couple more times as the driver argues over something. Probably something about the fee for using the other van. Finally the owner of the first van arrived and after another 10 or more minutes settled the problem and we finally got moving again. Unfortunately this new van had music available which never is really any good, usually to load and not a great experience. I had tried a couple times to turn the volume way down during the van changes but the driver always turned it back up. Bu the speakers would cut out on the bumpy roads, so that was a plus as most of the roads were in bad shape on this leg of the journey. Overall, I’d go for bad, load music and smooth roads over bumps and no music simply because the trip is much faster with smooth roads.
We have not been to Nairobi much and know nothing of the layout of areas, landmarks or streets. We had gotten what we thought were sufficient directions on where we needed to get to to meet the people we were visiting. We even had discussions one of the passengers in the front seat and the driver if they knew the place we needed to be dropped off, Nakumatt Junction. We were assured several times they did and it was not a problem. About all we really knew was that once in town we needed Ngong road. We spotted it we think but the van didn’t turn. After a few frantic phone calls to our friends and them even talking with the driver and passenger who assured us earlier we finally figured out we were not close, would not be dropped off where we needed to be, it was dark and Nairobi is not the place to be after dark (due to crime) we’d have to catch a taxi and make our way to our meet up destination.
Well the battery is about gone and we have only arrived in Nairobi, but not yet even to our meet up point, so I’ll need to change my mind about doing this on one charge of the battery and continue, hopefully tomorrow, when the power is back on.
Dec 23 2008 – The power is finally back on after more than 24 hours of being out. I just got back from the sunset on Lake V. A beautiful red globe descending slowly into the edge of the lake. Pictures do not do the experience justice. They can’t capture the warm breeze blowing from the east, as if the sun is the mouth blowing, cooling one nicely after a day of warm weather and little breeze. It whistles in the ears along with the sound of the mini waves running onto the beach. The watching of the constant randomness of the waves sliding across the expanse of the lake. Or the smell, not entirely pleasant, but slightly odd, like dead vegetation rotting under a hot sun mixed with a warm water breeze.
The Deet didn’t really fend off the insects last night, so I tried another approach DOOM insecticide. After I sprayed it in the bedroom into the air over the area I was working Morgan yelled the warning “The can says not to spray it in the air”. Too late, I wonder why not. It help some I think anyway. Also remembering the annoyance of the bugs within the ‘squitoer net the night before, I sprayed a little on the top of my net to repel them. I have to admit they were not as thick when I went to bed, but not because they flew away. Rather because they died and of course being inside the net laid all over my sheets. A little shaking and brushing and most of the carcasses were gone. Mark that one down to the don’t try again category.
Anyway, enough detour, now back to the Nairobi trip. Made our way through the backed up traffic. Sort of like most big cities but few if any stop signs or lights and many traffic circles, no pollution standards so you suck a lot of diesel and gas exhaust that comes in various shades of blue and black that rolls in to is directly blown from the tail pipes directly into your window. You might say just shut the window, but the windows supply the only A/C and cross breeze you are going to get. Anyway we finally stop and the driver goes to fetch a taxi for us. Shortly the taxi shows up and says for 7 we need a second taxi, we say that’s okay, we can fit, no problem, that car is plenty big. The driver points to something legal looking on his windshield and says he can only carry 4. Okay, whatever, go get another. But before he goes we tell the first driver where we want to go and ask if he knows the place and what the price will be. Of course he knows the place and it’ll be 1000 shillings. Joyce balks some, he goes to 800. She still thinks this is high, I don’t as I assumed that Nairobi would be much more expensive. We finally settle on 700 and he heads off to get a second cab for us.
While he’s gone the van driver tries to back the cab out of the middle of the street into a space that is at least a foot shorter than the car and bumps the car behind it leading to a few choice word from the owner of that vehicle that was standing right their.
With both taxis had we verify what the price will be. He says the second wants 800, won’t go down to 700. Okay, whatever, I want to get moving. We are informed that the second guy also knows where the place is so we split up and head out. One cab with 3 and the phone, the other with 4 including Eli. Since we only had one phone, we figure it’s best the have the phone in the cab that doesn’t have the native Kenya in case problems arise and we need to talk with someone. One cab can call the friends, the other has Eli to explain to who ever.
Not a bad ride, a little slow with traffic and of course we don’t stay together. From what we know it seems we are headed in the right general direction, but do they really know the destination we wanted. Fortunately just as we are approaching Nakumatt Prestige mall Heather calls to see how we are doing. I tell her we are almost there, she says, you’re on the right road, but you still have about 10 minutes to go. Seems there are several Nakumatt malls in Nairobi. Great timing Heather as I was going to have the driver drop us at the Prestige, not the Junction. Great timing on that call. We pull up to the correct mall in a few minutes, find the Java House restaurant we are meeting at and see the other party just making intro to Brian and kids. All is well in the world.
They have a place to sit outside for the 13 of us. The wind is blowing and I actually feel cool for the first time in about 50 days. Turns out Nairobi get much cooler than the region around the lake, even into the 40’s (F) part of the year. Wish I had brought at least a long sleeve shirt along.
We all make introductions, chatting and finding out about our new friends. As I mentioned, we really only met once 2 years ago on the plane while they were coming to start their mission work. Both Brian and Heather were a bit shell-shocked at the time having just sold all their worldly goods and had everything they owned in 8 fifty pound piece of checked luggage and a couple carry-ons. At that time their kids were 10 (Noah) and 4 (Gabriel).
We looked at the menu and were in awe. Burgers, sandwiches, milkshakes, Mexican food, lattes, and more. Yum, yum. And everything we had was all pretty good. Eli loved his burger. And the bathrooms had running water and commodes. I used more water just washing my hands then I usually bathe with (which is about 2 quarts). We chatted and chatted. Brian and Heather were great hosts, very friendly and open to all our questions and listened eagerly to our stories as well.
Heather had booked us into the Mayfield hotel, a place by the African Inland Missions organization. Nice place, particularly by our current standards. They had showers, real showers with really hot water. The water was so plentiful I had to turn down the taps to not drown myself and adjust the hot water down as well so I would not scold myself. We had three rooms and Joyce and I actually got a real double bed. The food provided was okay too as we took both breakfast and dinner at the hotel.
Brian picked us up the next morning, Friday, about 8:30am. We went off to see the work of First Love Kenya in and around the Kibera slums. First at Riala Primary school on the edge of the slums. Dinner time, see you later.
Christmas Eve, 2008 – A few of us are not feeling up to par. Joyce has been down and out for the last day or two. Morgan is the worst off, having a bronchial infection and stiff neck. She has tried 2 different antibiotics for the infection and all they have seemed to do is make her stomach feel like crap. I’m just sort of wiped out and not feeling like eating much.
Anyway, on with the trip. By the way their website is www.FirstLoveKenya.org. At Riala School they are doing a couple of things. The main project there is feeding all 800 or so students both breakfast and lunch. Due to the size of the cafeteria and number of students they have to run in shifts at a very fast pace. These are the only meals some of the kids get during the day. Since it only goes on the days school is in session, they don’t get fed on weekends, holidays or the month between terms. So, like the holiday that Kenya got for Obama being elected, no school was held, so no meals for the kids. They do assist some of the worst cases they know of for the 4 weeks or so between terms, but it’s not many of the kids.
Also on the school grounds they have a house that is currently holding 9 orphan girls. These are moving to the First Love compound at the end of January. They the home will be used as short term housing for emergency situations that arise.
They have their main office on at the school. This is the home base for the work they do within the slums. The items that they do varies a lot as do how they come about the people they help. Sometimes during home visits they meet people that need help. They’ve also asked teachers to help identify some of the worst cases so they can try to follow-up on and assist as needed. Heather is also starting to try and help mothers earn a living by leveraging talents they already have. One example is a lady that makes paper from paper waste from the bank, and turns them into greeting cards. The hope is to teach many women this skill so they can support themselves and dependents. Her estimate is that it cost about 1,000 shillings ($13 – 14 US) per month per person excluding housing costs. So the number of cards the lady needs to sell is not all that great. The biggest challenge is finding outlets for the cards. I’m sure you’ll see us hawking these to a number of you in the future.
They also do ‘Kids Club’ at the school with the volunteers that come through. This is like a mini Vacation Bible School. In the past each grade gets to participate for part of the school day. Unfortunately the new principle is not as open as past ones and have said they need to do it when the kids are not in school. Not a great solution as the kid’s days are already very long and this would leave very little time while the sun is still up.
We then headed to the compound on the edge of Nairobi, in the Karen (Blixen) district. They have 5 acres. The over all plan is to have a school, housing for orphans, a large cafeteria that can be used and rented out for large community events, a building for teaching some vocational skills, an administration office and a guest house for the volunteers that come through. Their home is also on the compound. The plans for some of the buildings are still being kicked around, so the final setup for housing the orphans is not determined. There is also a garden on site. They have been able to drill a 5000 foot deep water bore hole. This is a major item as lots of water will be used once the compound is up and running. We were told that the hole gushes like an oil well once the water is struck.
Heather prepared all us lunch and again we were in food heaven. Grilled Cheese sandwiches were the main course and we were all excited. We have not had cheese since we arrived. This was rounded out with popcorn, one of my favorite snack food. While it didn’t have nearly the butter I like to put on, it was still a treat and I definitely had more then my share.
After lunch was just sitting back relaxing and talking mostly about their life and mission in Kenya. We did spend some time playing with the kids and one of the highlights of this was playing with the blow gun that Noah had constructed for himself. With the proper aim one could easily stick it in a tree. On the way back to our hotel they took us by the Kazuri bead factory. This factory was started many years ago by a lady and two local ladies to help support themselves. There are now over 300 women working at it and the beads are shipped around the world. They seem to treat their employees very well, offering childcare and running shuttles for transportation to and from work.
That night we spent a relaxing night at the Mayfield Hotel. It was interesting to talk with the other people staying there and most were missionaries of some sort from around Kenya and other parts of Africa. Quite a mix of missions and personalities.
The next day, Friday, we headed back off to the Karen compound. We volunteered to do some work around the place. Since we were so highly trained in the construction, not, we needed something that didn’t take much skill or supervision. We first cleaned up some of the inside of the construction site, so it was a little easier to move without tripping. Joyce ducked out early to accompany Heather to a dentist visit for Gab. Poor kid needs quite a bit done. Even this morning he got sent by the first dentist to a more specialized one. Then it was on to the fun work of picking up the building block pieces around the site. So with a couple wheelbarrows and some elbow grease we started hauling them and piling them by the septic tanks drainage hole. Fortunately there was a steady breeze to keep us cool. We lasted maybe 4 hours of this and finally had to call it quits on that project.
Then we had lunch, again prepared my Heather. The highlight this time was chocolate brownies with lots of frosting. We all tried to temper our taste buds a little as to not upset our stomachs with ‘exotic’ foods. Again the rest of the afternoon was spent talking and sharing stories.
News flash – My kids just gave me my Christmas present a little early since the power just went off so the freezer is no longer freezing. 4.5 liters of Strawberry / Vanilla combo ice cream!!! Yum, Yum, Yum. I hope I didn’t eat so much as to get a stomach ache.
Heather and Brian have lot to do over the next 6 weeks. I must say they both look a bit tired, particularly Brian. Following a quick vacation trip to Cairo right after Christmas they are running flat out with family visitors and a 35 person mission group. They have a lot they need to do by the end of January to have parts of the compound ready for the 21 girls that are going to be living there. The logistics of the Kids Club also need to be finalized and hopefully the principle will allow it to happen during the day as in the past. The mission group is the largest they have had and another hurdle is how to move them all around since they don’t have enough vehicles to move them all at once.
On top of this all they also need to decide by the beginning of January if they will be staying on past June of 2009. Their original commitment is up and they’ve been asked to stay on for a couple more years. So much to consider for them, such as the status of the project, who would replace them, how tired they are after the two years already put in, the kids and what they would come back to in the States if they did leave. Our prayers are with them in this tough and important decision.
This time our trip back to our hotel took us through a Nakumatt store so we could pick up a few items that are not readily, or at all, in Mbita. Big finds were the soup mix and the cheese sauce mix. Back to the hotel and the last chance for baths and showers. Wonderful.
The next morning we were headed back to Mbita. We arranged for the hotel van to take us to the shuttle service we wanted – Premium Shuttle. When we arrived the van driver checked it out and verified that it was in fact in the same place and had not moved. We grabbed our stuff and he took off. We went in to book ourselves and discovered the first available slot was 2 pm. It was now 8am. It was also 1,000 shillings – it had cost 600 to get here. Christmas travel not much easier in Kenya at the last minute. Se we headed out to the streets to find other transport. Headed one way and saw vans to Elderot – not going to help us. Eli talked to someone and told him where other buses could be found. We headed off for a 15 minute walk to the bus stage, with only a brief detour down the road with the potato venders, we hit the area. They were all over us trying to get us to go with them to find the bus we needed. It was packed with people and buses. We found one and Eli verified that 7 seats were available. But it was 1,300 shillings. More than the shuttle. After a brief discussion we opted to look else where. We didn’t like the scene and with 40 buses lined up before the one we needed, we figured that it would take hours for ours to make it out onto the streets.
We headed back the way we came and happened on a shuttle just pulling up to the corner to take people to Kisii, our destination. It was also a 1,000 so we jumped at it and claimed our seats – not any in the first row. A wise decision as an extra passenger did indeed join us and crowd into that row of seats. This van had a high ceiling so no bumped heads over the potholes.
We whipped out of town as traffic was practically non-existent this morning. This along saved us 45 minutes over the inbound travel time. We had a couple of police stop and the driver had to explain a couple things both times. This driver was very conservation and kept a reasonable, safe speed and didn’t do any aggressive passing, for the first 2 hours anyway, then he became like all the rest. About this time the driver also decided that police stops were optional. This didn’t work out real well as one set of cops chased us down and gave the driver a rough time by taking his license and his insurance sticker and then making him follow them into Narok. At this point we think they shook him down and got a few extra bucks because he had disregarded their stop.
For this reason, or another, this driver did not stop in Narok for the usual rest stop – yes another hour saved. Only other interesting thing on this portion of the trip was another police stop and the extra rider being harassed by the police. After sliding open Nick’s window and telling him to get his seat belt on, they made the extra rider get out, spoke to him sternly, closed the door and told the driver to get moving without him, but his coat was still in the van. We took off with the guy running after us. The driver pulled over about 200 meters up the road so the guy could catch up and re-board for the trip.
At Kisii we hooked up with our original driver who we had made taken us from Mbita. Hignlights on this portion of the trip was the large herd of cattle of which he ran up the back legs of 2 of them. No permanent damage.
After the trip is was strange to feel like we had arrived home. Even more strange was I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed – the flatten mattress, with cross boards poking through, a little short and bugs flying. Wow, I wonder what I’ll feel like when I actually get to sleep in by bed back in Beaverton?
So ends the trip.
Merry Christmas all,
Paul
Father is 9 years old…no wait; he is 8 (he says). He is the brother of Uncle and his real name is Antony Owuor. He lives in a small house with his mother, 24 year old sister, his sister’s baby Whitney, (who is 3 years old and has hydrocephalus) and 4 others. Uncle’s other sister, Lydia has just finished class 8 and is waiting to have an invitation letter to join secondary school. Her class 8th test results placed her number one in her school so she will be invited to attend a good school. She will still have to pay for her education. Father’s father died a few years ago and he left 6 children. His mother sells vegetables at a street side kiosk. We were invited to their house the other day and we were served sodas and “bisquits”. It was very nice, but I felt badly that they spent the little money they had to buy us those things. His family is very nice and loving. Father attends a school called Christ’s Gift. He is ranked number 6 in his class. This is a private school where every child has a sponsor from the United States. He is a lucky one because his class only has 28 kids and he has a nice uniform and a good pair of shoes. The students also get to eat lunch at school every day. Father likes to play football; he likes to eat and always seems to be hungry. He says “I like to eat, very much”! He and Junior have been washing our dishes in the lake this week and they do a very good job! He likes to play “Go Fish” or in Luo “Go Lupo” with our cards. We have colored pencils that we let the kids use and Father likes to draw airplanes. He drew some airplanes and we sent them to Adam. When he grows up, Father would like to be a pilot just like Adam. Father likes to swing in our tree from a rope and an old tire. He also loves to swim in Lake Victoria. He would like to come to America with us and I will be very sad when I have to leave him.
Uncle is 11 years old and his real name is Maurice. (Some people call him a space cowboy…sorry, I couldn’t resist). His brother is Father. He does not attend the same school as Father because there were no openings for him. He and Father have huge smiles that light up a room. They are really sweet and kind boys who are always keeping us informed about what is going on with the other kids. Their English is very good. Uncle is very funny and told me that he was going to bring a knife and fork over tomorrow to eat the extra flesh that is hanging down from my upper arms!
Junior is 12 (a.k.a. Erik) and has a huge smile that is indescribable. Junior should be in the Olympics with all of his gymnastic moves. He is always doing back bends and flips in the air especially when we are swimming at the lake. Junior wants to be a pilot and likes to draw airplane pictures. He loves school and is fortunate to be sponsored by mzungus from the USA so he attends a private school down the road. He is so sweet and very bright.
Collinse is a small, quiet boy who we don’t see as much as we would like to, but he is so adorable. As you can see from his picture, his smile is amazing. He tends not to be able to come to play as often as the other kids, but I think his mother requires him to be at home to help with the chores. He works hard for his family. We recently heard that his mother made his father move out of the house. We have seen his father sail by in a fishing boat on the lake. Collinse had to go down to the lake to fetch part of his father’s sails (?) and had to carry it up a big hill with Morgan’s help. He is not a very big boy! Collinse loves to be thrown into the lake when we are swimming and loves to play fake fighting with Nick. They throw air punches at each other and their heads go backwards in slow motion, just like in the movies.
The first time we met Mavine was down at the shores of Lake Victoria. He greeted us with a fabulous Chuck Norris karate high-kick followed by a series of other moves. Did I mention that he was naked??? He is 8 years old and absolutely hilarious. Our favorite clothing of his is a pair of tight blue pajama bottoms with dinosaurs on it and a blue short sleeve t-shirt. He is in his own little world of karate, climbing poles, climbing trees, selling scrap metals in town and collecting pop bottles that he returns for Kenyan shillings. They actually recycle bottles here! Mavine is very moody but when he is happy there is no one happier. He likes to pout and go away, but he usually returns the next day and everything is forgiven. We are never really sure what he is upset about but what can you do?
Michael (12) and Mavine (8) are brothers and they have a sister named Eunice (10). Their parents both died and the sister of their mother is caring for them. Paul and I were invited to their house two nights ago but their “mother” was not home yet. They live in one room with mud walls, two chairs and a bed. The children sleep on the floor. I went to a fundi (a tailor/dressmaker) yesterday with all three kids to order new school uniforms for them because when we asked the kids if they needed any of their clothes mended, Eunice’s dress almost had to be remade. I collected the kids and met their Headmistress (she happens to be on our school board committee) who helped me get set up with the tailor. They seemed pretty happy to be getting new uniforms and we are taking them to town on Thursday for new school shoes. The three uniforms are custom made for them and cost me a total of 1250 KS (about $13). All of the kids love school even though they go to Mbita Primary Public School that has about 500 kids and about 9 teachers.
Eunice is a very quiet girl and within the first few days we were here, she decided that she was going to live with us. I think I mentioned this in an earlier blog…we had to have Elly talk to her and explain that we could not take her to the USA with us. It was all quite sad, bud I think she was the most sad. She always wants to help us sweep and she does our dishes a lot. She said she wanted to help me wash my sheets in the lake today and she is so much better at hand washing than I am. Eunice has a big gap-tooth smile and tries very hard to talk to us in English, but she is not quite as good at English as her brothers. She is not around as much as the boys are so we try to pay a lot of attention to her when she is here.
We also have Magdeline and Byron. (That's Marvine, not Byron in the picture) I wrote a story about Magdeline on our blog, so if you want to know more about her, you can read that. Unfortunately, she is missing again. This is the 3rd time she has left her grandmother since we have been here. Magdeline’s sister is a prostitute and I have only met her once. She appears to be about 15 years old but I don’t know much about her. I don’t have a lot of hope for Magdeline. She is a very troubled 11 (?) year old and her grandmother is very old. 
Byron is 3 and Father Charles says that he will be a gangster when he grows up. He has a stare that would scare anyone. Apparently, he and another 3 year old had a stare down out on the road when Morgan, Travis & Ashley were walking to town. The 3-year-olds both came out to greet M, T & A when the incident occurred. They both reached out to shake hands at the same time (everyone shakes hands here) and locked eyes. After the unknown kid shook hands he ran off instantly because Byron gave him the death glare. He is so funny and he just loves Morgan and Ashley. Byron likes to wear girl’s clothes. Actually, I don’t think he cares as he is lucky just to have some clothes…most of them are in tatters. Byron has huge dimples and a big belly. He is soooooooo black! He has learned a handshake that is hilarious. It is a 5 step process. You slap the front of your hands (instead of a handshake) then the back of your hands. You pound your fists together, pound your chest then raise your fist in the air. On Byron’s first day of nursery school he taught it to the old nun, Sister Adrian (just picture a tiny little wrinkled African woman with huge Mr. Owl glasses) who runs the school. That is quite a sight to see the two of them together doing this handshake. Byron told Sister Adrian that they must greet each other that way every day. We will try to get a video!
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