Friday in Jail

It is now Saturday evening here in Kisumu. Yesterday was a new experience for all of us. Cameron, Suzy and I, (Dan) went into Dunga to do some work with the Care and Compassion ministry there. We first met with Beverlyn, a three-year-old orphan who is infected with AIDS. She is cared for mostly by an older cousin but he was not around that day because he was looking for a new job. We then met with Grace, a mother of six who is also HIV positive as well as her oldest daughter. She is in a dire situation because she can no longer go to work where she was. There was a rumored outbreak of Cholera there so they are not allowing any workers back where she was. She also has a newborn baby to care for in addition to her other 5 children.

After meeting with Grace, Suzy came back to the house and Monica went with Cameron and I to see Allan, a 6-year-old orphan who lives with his grandparents. They live in Nyalanda, the village across the street for Christ's Hope's headquarters. They are strong Christians and are working hard to do everything they can for their grandson but they struggle because they can not afford to pay for both the medicine they need and for his school fees and so he is not able to attend school. We spent time with each of these families and their struggle gives a face to the true voracity of this epidemic. I spoke with Jisca afterwards and found out that in Dunga somewhere between 50-75% of the population is HIV positive. Grace is also a perfect example of how some of the customs, (in her case, wife inheritance), only aid in spreading the disease more quickly. Her worry also is that many of the children who are infected live with their grandparents. Because this disease came up in the 80's it has affected their generation much less, but when the next generation comes, all of their parents will be dead, (the children now) and will have no grandparents to take care of them. This also underscores why the Choose to Wait ministry is so important. God's perfect plan for sex can and will eliminate the problem if people will only follow it.

In the afternoon the entire team went to the Children's Jail in Kisumu. The jail is for street children that have been picked up by the police, some for real crimes, some simply because they are living on the street. No cameras are allowed inside the jail, so we do not have any pictures from the time there. It was a time that I think most of us were a bit apprehensive about because we didn't really know what to expect. We had heard many warnings about how rambunctious they might be, that they may try to steal some of our things, etc. but the time there was such a blessing to all of us! We began by singing, as always, and then we acted out the story of David and Goliath with the kids, which they loved. We followed that by teaching them "Deep and Wide" and then performed our skit. After the skit there was a craft to color pictures of David and Goliath and glue them on Popsicle sticks to make puppets. When that was finished we went outside and had a good time playing with the kids for quite a while - Tom and I played soccer, Monica and Cameron played some sort of keep-away game and David played volleyball. Each person rotated the groups they were playing with during that time, and the entire team was busy bonding and playing with the kids even though I can't say right now what each person was up to specifically. After playing we sang again and asked if we could pray for them before we left. Two of the students shared, and we prayed for them. One of them, Peter said that he asked we continue to pray for each of them there. He said "it is not our will that we are here. Please pray that we will be able to get out, and that we would have good behavior to please God and so that we don't end up here again," so please remember all of the children that are there in your prayers.

That night we went out to an all-you-can-eat Indian restaurant, which was quite a treat. The food was amazing, and we thank Joe for taking us to all of the best eateries that Kisumu has to offer! After dinner there was an incredible home-made ice cream for desert, so for those that are wondering, the embarrassing picture of Monica was one that was snapped while eating ice cream at dinner last night! We don't really have much in the way of pictures because we don't take cameras on Care and Compassion and we weren't allowed in the jail, so our apologies for that. Today was a bit of a free day - we went shopping in town and this afternoon Shelley got her hair braided and the rest of us hung out around the house, went for walks, etc. This evening we went to see the sunset over Lake Victoria and eat dinner at a resort here in Kisumu. It was an amazing night, and we will probably post some pictures of that tomorrow since we have yet to load them on the computer from the cameras.

Thank you for continuing to remember us in your prayers and check the blog for updates. We only have a few days of work left here in Kisumu, which is met with mixed emotions. In many ways it feels like we have been her for such a long time, but when faced with leaving so soon, realizing we have only been here a week makes us realize how short our time here is. Please pray that we continue on well next week as there is still much work to be done. Thanks.

Dan

Can it be Thursday?

Thursday morning we were surprised by a new teammate. Monica, a friend of Joe's from Canada arrived on a flight from Nairobi. She will be with us for the rest of our time here. She is traveling through Kenya and will be joined by a friend next week in Nairobi for safari, etc.

It had rained on Wednesday night/Thursday morning, so the village we were going to was not accessible in the early morning so we waited until after Monica arrived to set out. As you can see, we really didn't wait long enough. Going down the road to the village was a little like a ride at Disneyland, except of course for the getting out of the van to push part... The mud is very sticky, a composition of clay and manure mixed with copious amounts of water. Our shoes are still recovering. We were excited to get back to work with the kids, though, so we weren't deterred by a little mud!

We were greeted, as usual by the faces of many beautiful children. This was the village of one of the volunteers - Ruth, whom you met earlier. Her mother and father still live in the village with her "daughter" who is her sisters child. The concept of nieces and nephews doesn't seem to be the same here in Kisumu as George (pictured with Suzy on the left, who is 26 is the "father" of Solomon, who is 43 because Solomon's grandfather was the brother of George's father... some things here are hard to grasp.

We did part of our program outside at each of the two schools we taught at. Starting with our skit, which has become a highlight at each of the schools - we will have to perform it for the church when we get back, you may also get a chuckle from it. All of the activities that we do with the children are related to the choose to wait program, and the skit (written by Ashley) shows that the creator of some toys that others in the skit have gotten knows how to use them best, and that if used the way the creator made them to be used they can be great! Of course I (Dave) play the part of the creator - with booming voice and all! All of our team has parts and the skit ends up being fun, funny and instructive.

Following our skit we have one or two testimonies - this time it was Ashely telling her story and that of one of her friends. The children learn best here with stories, skits and other interactive activities. We try to stay away from anything that is like a straight lecture.

The classrooms in the village are square rooms built of brick with open windows and doors. The floors are made from dried cow manure. The manure makes a hard surface that resists chiggers - small insects that live in dirt and can irritate the feet. Of course that means when the weather is humid (pretty much all the time in Kisumu) the rooms have an interesting aroma to them. In each of these two schools we broke up into boys and girls groups for separate teaching times.

We taught the beginning introductory lessons for choose to wait in these classes. God is the creator and He knows how best to use sex. In the picture to the right we are doing an activity that shows that someone that draws a picture of the thing they like best, can best explain what the picture is of and why they like it the best. We then go on to do an exercise talking about what the culture says about sex vs what God says about sex. It is very interesting the reactions we get. Most of the students are good at figuring out who says what about sex, but this may be the first time for many of them that they understand what God expects of them - to choose to wait.

All in all, Thursday was another incredible day in Kenya. Please pray especially for the boys of Mosogo, that they would choose to wait from this point on. This is a prayer asked for specifically by some of the boys in the class.

Playing Catch-Up

We are a couple of days behind in blogging, but between being busy, problems with the internet, and lots of people sharing the computer, here we are! First, an update about the rest of Wednesday. Then we will update you about Thursday and Friday as soon as we can.

While Dave, Tom, Ashley and Shelley all went out on Care and Compassion, Cameron, Suzy and Joe went to go talk with a school that we were wanting to work with that afternoon. While they were out, Ruth, Anneke and I (Dan) all rode the boda boda to downtown Kisumu in order to run some errands. The boda boda is a bicycle taxi. There is a driver on a bike that has been modified with a second seat on the back that the passenger sits on. Downtown Kisumu is a short boda ride from the CHI house/office that we are staying in. However, it is a new world compared to the village or even the part of town that we stay in. Of course it is a bit more developed, but there are so many people out and about on their business all in the same place. There are many shops and vendors all competing for business and there is a lot to see while you are walking the streets in downtown Kisumu. For those who don't know, riding the boda boda is something that Dave has been wanting to do since we arrived in Kisumu, so he's a little jealous, but he will have his chance soon!

After we all arrived back at the house from our various tasks in the morning we ate lunch and prepared to go to Agape school for the afternoon. For those of you that remember Dave's post from Sunday about the street children, Agape school is one that is specially focused on reaching the street children. The school provides education for both boys and girls and also provides housing for some of the boys as well. The population of the school is about 110 boys and about 20 girls. We started with the entire group together and performed a skit, gave testimonies, and sang songs. We then went outside and played three rather large games of Simon Says. When we arrived to the school, a few of the boys pointed at Dave and said "Chuck Norris," so when we introduced ourselves he said his name was Chuck Norris and they all found that fairly amusing. Because the group was so large we played Simon Says in three different circles, but Dave's group was able to play "Chuck Says."

After the games we divided into three groups - two groups of boys and the girls. At that time we presented the Choose to Wait lesson that was prepared to each of the groups. When we preform our skit, give our testimonies and sing songs, all of these are incorporated into the lesson. The same message is presented in a variety of fashions, and explained in the teaching. Taking part in the lessons is a very important part of the student's learning experience here, so the teaching is very interactive and is designed to allow the students to participate as much as possible. Even in the classroom we begin with an activity that involves their creativity and leads into the point of what we are teaching.

After Agape school we all returned home, ate dinner and spent the evening together. When we arrived home, Solomon and George were here with a boy they had brought from one of the villages. His name is Isaac and he has open sores all over his body. They mostly infect his legs and feet but are also on his arms. His stomach is also infected with some sort of disease that is causing it to bulge quite largely. Jisca gave him some treatments for his legs and some medication, but at the end of the day the boy must go back to the village where there is nothing really there to help him. Please pray for Isaac. He is a sweet boy but is suffering immensely. You can see in his eyes that he knows he is being kept from a normal childhood and he would love to be able to play with the other children.

While we were all gathered, Anneke grabbed a bow-and-arrow and played with him shooting at a tree for a while and he loved that quite a bit. After that Jisca gave some care instructions and the boy went on his way. However, after seeing the bow-and-arrow a few of us had to give it a try as well! I didn't hit the tree once, but Ashley got it on the third try! Cameron gave it one shot before dinner, but missed, so I guess the girls just have better aim than us!

After dinner was completed, we had a special treat. David and I were able to gather some Sugar Cane to bring home from Ombeyi, so we all gathered and ate that for dessert. It was a treat, and quite the experience for everyone to get a taste of the sugar fresh off the stalk.

Care and Compassion

Today was the first day we got a peek at the Care and Compassion side of Christ's Hope International. Four of us on the team got to go out with C&C local volunteers to deliver food, Christ's love and hope to several victims of HIV AIDS in Kisumu. Tom and I went with Sheila to three women that are within walking distance (if you are Kenyan...) from the base. Just the walk was educational as we saw various types of housing, from beautiful painted stucco houses to stick and mud huts that predominate in the area.

Each of the women we visited are doing quite well since C&C started helping them. When C&C gets a new patient they are taken to a hospital for evaluation, blood tests and the first round of drugs. As they continue on the program they are re-evaluated monthly to determine how they are doing on the program. Between the drugs that are available and a healthy diet that is at least partly provided by C&C many get healthy enough to start working and providing for themselves again. The three women we visited locally are in that category. They are all very healthy now and are being cut back from the program as they start to bring in income from their small businesses. They all have children, some of which are also HIV positive, so they will continue to be monitored even if they are taken off the program. The individuals that have been taken off the program meet weekly in a support group led by a CHI volunteer so any issues can be dealt with quickly.

I was very impressed by the hospitality of the women, but I am finding that that seems to be a Kenyan trait. No matter what their house was like, from one who was in a cement block house with several rooms to one who was had a 12' x 8' mud hut they kept their places neat and ready to receive guests. All of them have money issues - from monthly school fees of $5 for one to being behind on the rent of $6 for another. To us these look like little things, but to them it is everything. Kenya provides education from 1st grade through high school, but not before that, so in order to prepare their children for primary grades Kenyans pride themselves on sending their children to Nursery school, which costs $4.50 to $5 per month, plus the children are not released at lunch, so they must purchase their lunch from the school or go hungry until dinner.

The needs individually look very small, but there are tens of thousands of people in Kisumu with the same problems. The HIV AIDS rate in this area of Kenya is very high with figures of 40% of the population in some parts to 60% of the population in the village we visited, so widows and orphans are in every direction you look. As each person tells us their story we understand better the strain that CHI feels in meeting the needs of only the few they can help.

Ombeyi

Hi there! It is Dan again. Today we traveled to Ombeyi, a village outside of Kisumu. The cities here are a bit different from in the states. You can think if Kisumu like the main part of the city and the other areas like districts within the city, like Dunga. Ombeyi, however is further outside of the city, kind of like a suburb. However, the villages are like the slums on the outskirts of the city. The conditions there are much worse than in the city, with quite a bit fewer amenities. However, there is a unique feel in the village. It is a place that is very welcoming - it is a place that seems to pull you in and makes you want to go back or not leave at all.

There are several volunteers here at Christ's Hope that work alongside Joe. One of them is named Anneke - she came from Holland and spent a year here, then went home for a year and is back again for 2 months. She has been working with our team, and was so excited to go to the village. Knowing it was even less developed than here in Kisumu it seemed like a strange thing to be excited about, but after having been there, her comments of "I just love the village" make a lot more sense.


We arrived to the school we were to work with and were greeted by a class of beautiful children singing for us. After their songs were done Solomon introduced us to the staff of the school and had Joe introduce our team to the children. When Joe first came to Kenya he lived in Ombeyi for a year before moving into the city and Solomon is someone he met there who runs this school. He even says that "Joe is a Luo." After the long introductions we performed a skit for the children, sang some songs and then went outside for some games. The children love "Deep and Wide" as well as "God is so Good." They know the latter both in English and Luo and the older kids that have also learned Swahili also know it in that language as well.

Once outside we played a game of bubbles, where Tom, Cameron and I all blew bubbles and the kids ran around trying to "catch" them. They had a lot of fun with that, and then we played "over-under" followed by a relay race.

We then went back inside and Ashley taught the parable of the lost sheep to the children. After that we had a craft for the kids where they were able to glue cotton onto pictures of sheep and then color. We then played some more games outside. After that we went back inside, sang songs and prepared to leave...

When we walked out of the classroom we thought we were going to be leaving, but it didn't quite work out that way. As we headed out for our matatu it turned out that the school we were going to be headed to next was not prepared for us, so we went back inside where we then filled the next 45 minutes on the spot with games, songs and a re-enactment of David and Goliath. We couldn't have pulled it off on our own, but thanks to Ashley for thinking quickly on her feet! To quote Joe, this is the "practical side" of her education for her Christian Education degree.

After the children were dismissed we ate lunch there in the village which was an experience in itself. We ate chicken that was killed that morning. Everything, including the head, was included in the pot we were served from. Then we also ate rice and chapatas. Chapatas are the Kenyan version of flat bread. They are made from corn flour and fried over the fire and are DELICIOUS. After lunch we found out that even though we were not going to the other school, we had until 4 pm to stay because Anneke was teaching a class to midwives in the village that ended at that time so we stayed and played with the children for the rest of the afternoon.

Tom, Cameron and I played soccer for a while with some of the teachers and older children in the village while the girls and Dave played with the other children. The girls learned a new phrase, "mazungu dina." Mazungu simply means "white person" and "dina" means "carry me." They all wanted to be held and spend time with/on us. After the soccer game disbanded, the three of us sat down rather exhausted and after talking for a few minutes we decided to sing "Deep and Wide" in the deepest voices the three of us could muster, but that must have been some sort of beacon to the children we didn't know about since at that moment it seemed like every single one of them decided it would be a good idea to sit on our laps. They also brought the girls with them, but we ended up the entertainment and toys for quite a while after that.

As the afternoon came to an end we made our leave of Ombeyi to head back home to Kisumu for dinner and the rest of the evening. I don't know about the rest of the team, but today was the day that I finally feel at home here in Kenya. I have been enjoying my time here quite a bit, but it doesn't feel so foreign after today. That and the children make it really easy to fall in love with this place. Ashley keeps asking how many she can take home and Suzy keeps picking out different ones to "take back in her carry-on."

Please continue to keep praying for us. There are still some nagging health issues; they seem to be mostly allergies at this point, but both Suzy and Shelley are suffering a fair amount of discomfort and are having trouble keeping up their energy through to the end of the day as a result. Tomorrow we are going to have our first taste of Care and Compassion. Half of the team will be heading out for that and then we will have more time teaching Choose to Wait in the afternoon. Thursday we are going back to the village and then on Friday we will be working at the Children's jail. On Monday we will be back at Dunga school. There is so much ahead of us so please keep us in your prayers as each day brings a whole new set of opportunities and challenges!

Dan

First Working Day!

Monday was our first real work day. We went to a local school in the Dunga area of Kisumu. It was a short drive, but on some really rough roads. The roads in the area, other than the main roads are all dirt, but they are not well cared for and so they are littered with rocks. Our transportation while we are here when we are going to the schools is a local "matata" which is kind of like a taxi/bus. It is about the size of a minivan, but seats 14! The one we are using is highly decorated - painted pink and adorned with pictures (on the outside) of the concorde (I guess to indicate how fast it goes) and on the inside by pictures of rap stars. Very interesting.

The school is a small compound. There are three main buildings each about 20' by 40' masonry with metal roofs. Two buildings are split into two classrooms each and one is one large room. The rooms have windows on either side which are just openings with bars over them. The weather in Kisumu is such that you don't have to enclose buildings completely. I didn't see anything electrical that I recall, so there probably is not any electricity at the school. Bathrooms are "squatters" if you know what I mean...

We met with the 12-17 year old classes which was about 100 students, in the building that was all one room. In the morning we sang songs, played games and had teaching. Most of these students understand English fairly well, but we still had translators so that some of the difficult concepts could be understood. We took some questions in the morning, and they posed some interesting ones! How about - if a girl's parents send a girl through an area that is known to be rough and she gets raped are the parents at fault or the girl?


In the afternoon we broke up into smaller groups and did some activities with the students. Then had question/answer sessions. This was also interesting, and we could see by the questions what some of the students had been studying. Is our president the leader over all of North and South America? What minerals does America export? What is the weather like in California? If you are here to help us will you be paying school fees for us to go to college?


As we broke up after that for individual prayer with the students some other interesting things came up - one thing we discussed a bit later... It seems that one area that Americans and Kenyans are really opposite is in receiving help. Where Americans are proud and have a hard time accepting help (or blessings) from God and others, Kenyans expect to receive help, both from God and others. Think of the homeless in America - LA Mission and Orange County Mission serve many people, but many more refuse there help. Here if there is help available like that it is over utilized. Christ's Hope International can only serve so many AIDS patients at any time, so they have a waiting list and now have started "graduating" some patients from their care. Many of the patients they serve when they first start are unable to walk or do anything productive as the disease has weakened them so much, but when CHI gets them the medical help they need, combined with a healthy diet, many of them recover to the point of being able to fend for themselves again. At that point CHI moves on to assist another patient. They may be a drop in the ocean, but they are taking God's love to these people one at a time.


At the end of the day it was had to leave the Dunga school, but we will return again next Monday and will see the kids one more time before we leave. I have a list of four of the kids that I will be praying for specifically and I am anticipating God giving me a word of encouragement for each of them by then. Please pray for Eliud, Felix, and Frederick for God's provision - they are all orphans, but would love the opportunity to further their education beyond Dunga school; and pray for Evarlyn that she would be strong and continue to choose to wait until marriage. All the kids also want prayer that they will do well on their exams this week, as if they don't pass exams they will not be able to continue in the school.

Continue to pray for the health of the team, we are doing very well, but there are still some minor irritating health problems to deal with. We miss you all, but are incredibly blessed to be here.

Sunday in Kisumu

So our first full day in Kisumu was a Sunday! Ashley and I (Dave) decided to get a jump on the day and rose early to go to a Sunday service in downtown Kisumu held for street kids. In Kisumu there are many homeless children, generally orphans or outcasts from the age of 4 and up that steal to provide for themselves. Some of these children end up in the children's jail (which we are going to visit on Friday), but many are left wandering the streets. There is a fairly high incidence of glue sniffing (check the pics) as they look for answers.

We spent our time interacting with the kids. Some spoke English, but the predominant language is Luo - the tribal language in the area and Swahili. We tossed Frisbees and played jacks with the kids while the team we were with cleaned and bandaged wounds received by the kids during the week. The service was entirely in Swahili, so a little difficult to understand, so I spent the time praying for the kids, coming against the demons that plague them. We felt privileged to be able to share a little of God's love with them.

This boy is explaining why he needs glue.

The street team we went with has an orphanage where they have taken in many street children, as well as a ranch that they have kids at as well. Please pray for their efforts.

After the time with the street kids we returned to the house to pick up the rest of the team and walked to church.

Church was in a large green striped tent. The service was in English, so this one we could understand except for the occasional bursts of Swahili. Afterwards we met the pastor who is getting married in a couple of weeks - the day after we leave to return to the states! Everyone we met there is very welcoming and it seems that they all want us to come visit whatever it is they have going on. On Saturday we may go to a group-home type set-up that one of the church members runs out of his home.

Please continue to pray for us and the people of Kisumu. Tomorrow we start the Choose to Wait ministry in a school in an area of Kisumu called Dunga. We will be there twice this week. On Tuesday we'll also start with the Care and Compassion ministry. We expect God to move while we are doing this work, but mostly we want to be used by God, so please pray that we are sensitive to his movement and we can be witnesses for Him and His love to the people we will be meeting over the next week.