Thanks Alabama

Thank you for all the quick and long email messages I've been receiving from the team. They make me smile and laugh. Yall are wonderful!

No school - harvest day

On this Wednesday there was no school. All the kids were helping to harvest the maze. I arrived late because of my Kiswahili lesson. As soon as I was able, I jumped right in on the action. Anytime there is something happening that I have not yet tried, I get excited about the new experience. I never would have imagined that harvesting could be fun.

Trip to Runno

On Saturday, Paul took six Americas including myself to North Pokot. This area is where he has many building projects finished, some in progress, and some on paper. Samuel, a Kenyan who runs a school Paul built in Runno, invited us to the village where he grew up. It seemed as though we drove forever to get to the village. The area was right by the mountains and covered with Acacia trees. The land was beautiful. It was my first time to see what life is like in the bush. The school that is held for village children takes place right under the largest tree in the village (take note as you look at the pictures). The children performed two songs they had prepared and then the elders stepped up to do their performance. You will see that they had all dressed in matching outfits for the presentation.

After two song and dance routines, they grabbed up all of us muzugus to join in the fun. The constant jumping exhausted me quickly, but they didn’t allow us to stop. Paul commented that they could jump all day long if needed. Luckily we did not have all day. Everyone was very kind and generous. They passed out the most delicious mangos I’ve ever eaten. To close our time together, many villagers gave their own trinkets as gifts. I received a gourd, bracelet, and necklace. It was very touching that they were willing to share their own possessions. I will cherish each item that I received as well as the memories of this extraordinary African experience.

Farm Life

I’ve grown up in Dallas from the day I was born so farm life has always been very foreign to me. I find it so fun to be sitting in a classroom and look out the window at the cows grazing 10 feet away.

At 9:30 every day the students and staff have a Chi break. Chi is tea made with lots of milk and sugar. The milk is straight from our cows! This just amazes me.

During a break on Wednesday, I asked Sammy, who tends the farm, if I could have a pumpkin. I really want to make some pumpkin bread this weekend. He told me that he would have to grab it later. After 40 minutes, the littlest student, Selina, came walking to my office carrying a long green fruit. She barely speaks English but she could understand pumpkin and apparently that was what she brought me. It looks nothing like ours in the States, but I’m going to try to make the bread anyway.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

I began my trek to work this morning at 7:20. I was not sure how long it would take me so I began my stopwatch when I walked out the door. Halfway down the driveway I realized I didn’t have the keys to the office. Once arriving at one matatu spot, I was recognized by Charles. He works at the corner selling cookies and other things. (Once he tired to get Ashley to buy him cookies. These were the same cookies he was selling.) When the bus comes to this spot it stops and waits for a little bit. During the waiting time another gentleman came up to the van and expressed to me in front of the other passengers that he wanted to marry an American and could he have my phone number. Flattering as it was, I did not give out my number. The only problem I have with riding the bus is that I don’t know the signal to tell them of my stop. The other is that I never recognize where my stop is located. Luckily a man got off at my stop and I quickly jumped off. Everyone was looking at me with a strange stare. I had a 10 minute walk to school which had me arriving at 8:10. So I found out that the entire journey takes me 50 minutes. The school day went really well. I sat in on some more classes and memorized even more names. When I left this afternoon I got about 10 minutes down the street and realized that this time I had left the keys to my house in the office. During my second attempt at leaving school, I encountered many little school children leaving an elementary school down the road. They came to Challenge Farm one day when the team was here with medical care and we’d give them Tootsie pops. When the kids saw me, they came running to shake my hand. Precious!

Off to work

Today is my first official work day at Challenge Farm. This means that I have been sitting in on classes and taking notes about the kids. I drove today because I had a lot to bring to the farm, but my current plan is to walk to the main street and then ride a matatu (mini bus). Driving here is very expensive and a little dangerous at times.

One of the highlights of sitting in on classes was watching them find their writing utensils. One boy had hid his on the wood scaffolding above the room. He stood on the table to reach up and grab his pencil. I was trying my hardest not to chuckle at his great hiding place. So far, one could say that the classroom setting is quite different than in the States. Students were lying on the tables, dancing and singing at any given time during class.

I have made and brought my lunch today, which consists of zucchini, some unusual tomatoes, and some fresh mozzarella mixed with olive oil, pepper, and salt. This was quite tasty with the exception of the tart tomatoes. I didn’t know how to tell if they were ripe.

Saying Bye to the last group for a while

I rode with Paul to Eldorat airport to drop off Ashley, Cheri, and Ian. It was very sad to see them all leave. I knew the moment would arrive when I would say in astonishment, “I live in Africa!”

I had to move from the Brittany House after arriving back home, which added to the sadness. After unpacking most of my belongings at my new home, I sat down on my bed and didn’t know what to do. I quickly became stir crazy and had to leave. I drove to town to check my internet and do some small grocery shopping. Not too much later I received an invite for dinner and I quickly jumped at the opportunity. Much to my surprise and happiness, the dinner that some friends (they are also from Texas) had prepared was soft tacos! I could not begin to express the joy I was feeling. It’s the little things that can really turn a day around. I ended up having a wonderful night and was even excited to come back to my new home. I enjoy seeing how God works in times when I’m down. I can almost feel him pick me back up to my feet and set me to running.

Rondo

Paul wanted to take Ashley and Mr. Sing to his favorite place in Kenya. Even though we've just met, he invited me to come along. I was very happy to take advantage of this opportunity. We left early in the morning and drove an hour and a half to Kakamega Rain Forest. We had tea then went for a nice walk through the forest. At 1:00, we sat down for a nice lunch together then spent the rest of the afternoon reading or napping. It was quite nice to have the rest because that night Ashley and I stayed at the Challenge Farm dorm with the girls. We did NOT get much sleep but it was an experience.

The day of the picnic

This past Sunday, Ashley and I began the day with a morning walk. We passed people walking to church in addition to cows, goats, and lambs. At times during the day I forget that I am in Africa, but when I encounter 30 animals in my path, I quickly remember and chuckle to myself. Later in the afternoon, Paul (who runs the Brittany guest house where I’m staying) took Ashley, Karen and Opp (founders of Seeds Ministry) and me on a picnic about 40 minutes from Kitale. None of us had any idea it was going to be such a magnificent spot. The pictures don’t begin to do it justice. We carried with us camping chairs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and other snacks. Luckily, I packed my jacket because it turned out to be quite cold. We laughed about how people in the States imagine Africa to be hot. In this part of Africa anyway, we can't ever seem to get warm. We were about 8,000ft up so the wind was a big factor that day. This country is far more beautiful than I ever imagined!

PB&J at the best picnic spot ever!

I have also included two pictures of the how we are protected at night while sleeping at Brittany House.

a glance at the Alabama team hard at work

To Smile or not to Smile

Kitale is such a quaint town. The streets are filled with people walking, riding, biking, and selling everything and anything you can imagine. The Kenyans tend to stare at all mazungus. I feel like I must have something on my face or some part of my clothing inside out because they rarely take their eyes off me, but when I flash a smile, they light up. Their smiles are so big that it makes mine pale in comparison. Making everyone on the street smile has become a kind of game for us mazungus.

Some more pictures around the farm

A tribute to Alabama

This last week has been very busy. On Saturday 19 people from Alabama arrived to work at Challenge Farm. There were four groups within the team: medical, VBS camp, marriage, and building. So much happened that I wish I could have blogged about each day, but time and internet speed does not allow. God moved in tremendous ways throughout the week; it was awsome to see the changes in team members as well as in the staff and children at Challenge Farm. I worked with the VBS team; our days usually went from 9:30 to about 4:00. We began with singing and dancing then flowed right into a Bible story. Afterwards we played a game outside. After lunch at 12:40, we reconvenved around 2:00 for crafts and more games. The kids were truly amazing during every part.

I am blessed to see that the positive influence of the Alabama team is ongoing. At chapel yesterday, the whole message revolved around what was taught during the marriage seminar. Paul, the preacher that day, lit up with joy from all he had learned last week. Later that day at staff meeting many reiterated what a great gift the team had been to them and the children. I have never been part of a business staff meeting in the States. It was so much fun to see Challenge Farm in action. My favorite part was discussion of what to do with the 10 liter surplus of milk we have per week. You see, we just bought two more cows; therefore, we have more milk. The discussion lasted at least 15 minutes. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

Paul's Place

Here are three pictures of where I am currently saying in Kitale. It starts from outside the gate and slowly up the drive getting closer to the house. Enjoy!

Praise and worship by lantern light

Last night Ashley and I ventured down the street to a birthday party. A group of Muzungu's (white people) were gathing and cooking out goat. Yumm! We did not know a sole but figured we should go anyway. I will try and give you a mental picture of the best part of the evening. It was very dark outside and about 15 people gathered under a tiki hut lit by four lanterns. Two Americans and one German were playing guitars, one Kenyan was on the bongo, and another Kenyan was dancing and singing back up. The rest of us were just worshiping and singing along with what they were playing. What a perfect night here in Kitale. It was very nice to meet people around my age; two were even from my home city, Dallas. We found out that they lead a church on Sunday at 3:00 that reaches out to the youth of Kitale. We are very excited to attend this service Sunday.

Introduction to Challenge Farm

My first introduction to Challenge Farm was at 5:00 the day I arrived in Kitale. It was already getting dark, but once we drove through the gate everyone came running. They were so excited to see us. Even though no one knows me, each staff member and some kids walked right up, introduced themselves, and welcomed me, some with huge smiles and even bear hugs. Grace, the Kenyan director, spoke a few words and then everyone sang a welcoming song. The whole experience brought tears to my eyes.

I have been to Challenge Farm each day. I'm trying to learn everyone's name, but it will take some time. My goal is to have most of the names memorized by the end of next week. I will be helping out with World Family Kids Camp, which kicks off on Monday. There is no better way to get to know a group of people than through camp.

Yesderday was a day to try new things. I got to ride a bota bota to town in the morning. A bota bota is a bike driven by a Kenyan with a seat on the back for a passenger. That was very fun and scary at the same time. The cyclist really cruises on the narrow road! I kept asking myself, as very large trucks passed, how I could protect my laptop if we crashed. Later that day Ashley(the director for World Family Kids Camp) and I took a matatu back to the guest house where we are staying. A matatu is a small bus about 1/3 the size of DART; it is fully packed, sometimes with people hanging out the door. In the evening I had the priviledge of driving a car;I have driven twice now - once to town this morning and around the neighborhood last night. It's quite different driving a standard on the opposite side of the road.

catching up

I arrived in Africa on September 30th, stayed in Nairobi for two nights then drove to Kitale on October 2. Below I have posted a slide show. The picture of a few buildings was a guest house in Nairobi where I stayed. There are two pictures of how we packed the car for the seven hour journey to Kitale. In the car was Cheri, who started Challenge Farm, Ashley, who will be here for three weeks, our driver Frances and me. The rest of the pictures are views from the drive. The terrain changed a few times during the drive. At times it would be very rough and dusty, then it would change to being smooth and a little flat. My favorite part was when the air was clear and we were driving through hills. It looked very similar to Colorado. Everything was breathtaking and beautiful. I did get to see some zebra's and baboons a few times as they were just grazing on the side of the road.

Arrival to Kitale