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.

We are in Kisumu!!

It's taken a couple of days to get here, but here we are! Kisumu, Kenya.

Most of the team is asleep as I write this. This is Dan writing from Dave's user name, by the way. Here is an update on the happenings with the team. Wednesday night we drove to L.A. and spent the night with Sarah's parents and got up Thursday morning to depart for L.A.X. There we boarded a flight to San Francisco and from there we took off to London. Everything started off with great excitement and enthusiasm!



After a LONG time on the plane we arrived in London quite weary and ready to stretch our legs for a bit. Fortunately the flight from London to Nairobi was a much nicer experience, even though we got stuck on the runway due to a rainstorm in London.



After arriving in Nairobi after 26 hours of plane travel we were ready to get our bags and get out of the airport!

Little did Tom know it would be his bag that got left behind in London!



This morning, (Saturday) we got up and took a drive to Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi. There are about 1.4 million residents in the slum about 5 square miles large. The city's total population is only about 4 million, so over 25% of Nairobi lives in this village full of poverty. We met a pastor named Edward who has set up a kindergarten and vocational school in Kibera to help educate and train the people there and help improve the conditions. We went to the school and met about half of the children. We had a blast playing, singing and praying with them!













After leaving Kibera we ate lunch and took a drive around Nairobi and took in some of the sights.




After this we got our bags and got on another plane to come to Kisumu! This also gave us the opportunity to pick up Tom's bag that had arrived from London. As soon as we arrived we ate dinner, met as a team for a bit and most everyone is asleep now. We look forward to church in the morning and getting to see a little more of the city! We hope to post again soon but internet is slow here, so we will as we are able. Keep checking back for more updates and pictures. We don't have any pictures of Kisumu yet since we arrived at night, but here we are in front of the guest house we stayed in while in Nairobi.



Dan

Only in Kenya

where can you see lions?
only in kenya
come to kenya we've got lions
where can you see tigers?
only in kenya
got lions and tigers only in kenya
forget norway
kenyaaaaa
oh kenyaaaa
where the giraffes are
and the zebra
kenya kenya kenya kenyaaaaa
kenya we're going to kenya
can ya believe it

Here we go!!

7/19/07

Depart LAX 10:00 AM
Arrive at London/Heathrow 7:10 AM on 7/20
One stop and plane change in San Francisco

7/20/07

Depart London/Heathrow 10:20 AM
Arrive at Nairobi 8:50 PM
Non-Stop

8/3/07

Depart Nairobi 11:35 AM
Arrive at London/Heathrow 6:30 PM
Forced over-night in London

8/4/07

Deapart London/Heathrow 6:25 AM
Arrive at Frankfurt 8:55 AM
Depart Frankfurt 10:05 AM
Arrive LAX 12:35 PM