Dear Family & Friends,
We're unpacked and sorting through our memories. We thank all of you for enthusiasticly following our trip and responding with such support that we felt loved all the way across the ocean! Here are our notes on the last week of our trip for those of you who are die hards and wish to "read to the end."
Tanzania: After almost eight hours of bone rattling, dusty rough roads which skirted the north, west & south sides of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Dr. Elaine Tan and us arrived in Moshi. The director of the Rafiki Moshi village, Deb, was there to greet us. We made a quick stop to get some groceries in a tiny market and pulled up to a "drive through" banana market. In 15 minutes,we were settling into a vacant ROS home. The Mamas and kids waited with huge smiles to eat some delicious plantain stew & visit with us. We watched the sunset over Mt. K, showered, slept well and were up the next day to watch the sunrise over Mt. K. It was Majestic. Rog headed out with Tim, ROS (long term missionaries), to do maintenance and repair jobs. Jane was quickly put to work in the library & cutting out felt board Bible story characters...sure wish Rog's mom was there...she'd love doing that! As soon as the kids arrived at school, Jane was back to teaching. This village is a bud about to blossom. It's buildings were just finished within the last year and now they are rounding up the Mamas & orphans to fill them. It is time consuming as first they must gain the trust of the locals, then verify the death of both parents, and do a complete physical on the child before they bring him/her home to the village. They now have 7 adorable cherubs and 3 more "hopefuls." All the staff are eager to open their arms and hearts to many more! Seventeen girls, ages 17-22, attend a day school there working toward their 8th grade certificate. They also spend an hour a day making cards & weaving both using banana tree leaves...an income earning skill. They were a delightful and curious bunch who hammered us with questions. The snail question came up again so we did an internet search & found out the French eat about 5 lbs.of boiled snails a year. The girls were shocked especially when we told them many northern Africans eat them, too! Twelve of the girls live together in a house close by and we could hear them singing hymns beautifully each night. Mabel, ROS, just recently took over the child care position which included medical care. She was thrilled to have Dr. E there as she has no medical background and very few meds. Dr. E went straight to work doing completephysicals on all the kids, mamas & day students. She emptied a suitcase full of meds she'd brought & made 2 trips to town to get more & check out the local hospital--which was the one Dr. Bob Jensen founded. Jane subbed for Mabel's four year old class so she could spend time learning from Dr.E. Jane also helped organize & label the meds...everything from asprin to HIV test. She saved the list because you never know when or where it'll be valuable info!! Rog & Tim worked on the water pump, lights, fans, moving furniture & measuring for future needs. One of the national teachers, Mr. Kwaker agreed to escort Jane to the neighboring government school. He had taught there years ago and proudly told me it was the first school around and was started by missionaries inthe 1890's.It had educated some of the first free government officials! The children were at recess when we arrived & some of the teachers were checking out the goods a local boy had for sale and other teachers were working their shamba--garden plot provided for their use. (They would take what they harvested home for dinner.) The head master warmly welcomed me and paraded me around his school saying, "Take pictures!" Then he took me into his office which was piled high with papers. We discussed assessments and retention...so similar to the states. Then he told me to stay there while he assembled the students. After just a few minutes, he came for me and introduced me to his 250+ k-8 students. Mr.Kwaker translated as I told them a bit about me & USA schools. Again I was encouraged to "Take pictures" of the students & then the staff. After the kids went back to class, we visited a first grade and another class where a nun was teaching religion. As the head master, Mr. K & I exited the school and walked down the lane the head master talked to me about bridging Africa to America. What a thrilling dream we both shared. The five days in Tanzania filled up quickly. We dined in town on Chinese food & the ROS fried hamburgers & fries & served choc. chip cookies for us so we felt at home. Dr. E spent the extra $ to fly back to Nairobi...but we rode the bus to fill our memory banks with views of Africa: Maasi villages & herds, small town markets, huge dust devils, termite mountains, acacia tress, stick & scrap metal homes, unfinished"retirement" home, busses (one advertising: Arrive Alive!), pick-ups loaded with people and hundreds of walkers who smiled and waved to us.
Kimanthi: It pains us to write about Kimanthi but he has been a big part of this trip. He is almost five and is one of Mama Rose's sons (Kenya RafikiVillage). He had his first seizure in Aug & was taken to the best hospital in Nairobi. Many tests showed nothing & drs said probably it was a reaction to some bacterial infection. About 4 months later, another seizure and more tests. 3rd one was about 1 month later around the firstof March. They became more frequent and lasted longer. Four times in one week, he was examined by a top neurosurgeon... twice with Dr. E with him. Finally they admitted him. He wasn't swallowing & was barely concious. His diagnosis was slow growing encephalitis. His prognosis is poor. Decisions will be very tough. Bring him back to the village or to a care facilty? How long? What will his future needs be and can the village meet them? We have several pictures of Kimanthi smiling and playing. We also carried his limp body to bed and tried to get liquids down him several times. My mind says why...my heart relies on faith.
Home to Kenya: We came "home" to the Wageni (Swahili for guest house). Funny how quickly you can claim a spot. Yeen again treated us to dinner after we'd showered the red dust off. We then went to mingle with the kids: Jane read aloud stories and Rog orienting kids using maps. At 7, we joined the ROS, Hegels & Dr. E for desserts. We were overwhelmed with the heartfelt thank you we heard from each person. We were humbled to say the least. We felt the thanks totally belonged to those who were thanking us. These Godly committed people who we were leaving behind to continue pouring their energies and love into raising the 80+ orgphans and 30+ day students and all the nationals who were employed there. It was an evening we will not forget. Sunday we caught the bus with Mama Naomi & sons to the Anglican Church of East Africa right down town Mwiki. The boys went to Sunday School in a metal shed that used to be the church. We went to the "new" church-entering as two entusiastic members were both shouting their own personal praises into microphones...simultaneously. Then the real singing began. Many songs were the same as DUMC...but with African soul and dance. Our feet were tapping the dirt floors as the next 30+ minutes we sang with our whole bodies. Mama Naomi's boys sang, then another children's choir performed. We were pleased to recognize Mrs. Minea, teacher for the 4 yr old Rafiki kids, as she took the podium. Her husband is the paster & since it was Mothering Union Sunday, she preached about the impact mothers have on their families. We left after 2 hours though church was still going. We packed up our suitcases & then went to spend the last few hours with the kids. As they gathered at their dining tables, we said good bye to each...and yes Jane was crying. We were leaving behind much, taking lots and so looking forward to our grandbabies. Emotions were swirling in our minds as a group gathered again to pray for us and ask for a safe journey.We have been so blessed.
Mission Diet: On the lighter side...literally. Many of you have heard Jane talk about advertising a new diet she describes as "The Mission Diet: just go to a third world country to help, you'll lose weight!" Now she can say, "It works!!" The scales verify that she lost 9 lbs. in 7 weeks! (Rog refuses to be a part of this experiment.) That's not bad for having had many choc. chip cookies & popcorn. She was also delighted to have Coke Light readily available!! She encourages all of you to save the money you'd spend on "diet food &/or programs" and try the "Mission Diet" instead!!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
We're back!
What an experience! The trip was everything we dreamed of, and more!
We are back in Michigan... but not for long! We're headed to Pittsburgh to see Jake, Sarah, Elin and "new-grandbaby-bump". Then to Florida to see Bekah, Jacob and Reagan. Then to Redbird Missions with the church.
April is going to be a busy month for us!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
African Inland Church
We rode the bus with Mama Mary's family of girls to church in Mwiki on Sunday. The church was started in fi
eld in the 1990s and now is in a nice building at the same location. The service was almost entirely in Kiswahili so it was difficult to follow what was going on but we were able to follow along in the hymnal and actually sing some of the words even though we didn't know what those words meant. Probably the best part forus was the choir. They started moving as soon as the music began and their movements reminded us of the Supremes. Their voices blended well together, we enjoyed that! When the kids were dismissed to go to Sunday School we went with them and got to be the honored guests for all of the kids. We told them a bit about ourselves then answered their questions for about 45 minutes. Some interesting questions included: "Who puts presents under the Christmas tree on Jesus' birthday?" , "How long did it take Noah to build the Ark?", and "Do you eat snails in the U.S.?" Ahhh...kids!
Mt. Kilmanjaro
We are now (Tuesday) at Rafiki Village in Tanzania. We are staying in a beautiful new home that is intended for lon
g term missionaries-- its great with us that we get to stay here. Dr. Elaine Tan (70 years young) traveled with us from Kenya today by bus. She is a good sport and weathered the trip well even though the road was rough and it took longer than expected to get here. She is here to set up a pharmacy and check the health of the orphans and community students here in Tanzania. The view to the north is Mt. Kilmanjaro. Amazing. It extends into the clouds and is 19,300 ft. The power went out for a bit and we could see stars really well for a while. Almost was a shame that power came back on again because security lights spoil the sight. We had plantain stew for dinner and met the Mamas and their families. Also met the ROS, the cooks, and even a couple of guards. The plantain tasted much like potatoes!
We rode the bus with Mama Mary's family of girls to church in Mwiki on Sunday. The church was started in fi
eld in the 1990s and now is in a nice building at the same location. The service was almost entirely in Kiswahili so it was difficult to follow what was going on but we were able to follow along in the hymnal and actually sing some of the words even though we didn't know what those words meant. Probably the best part forus was the choir. They started moving as soon as the music began and their movements reminded us of the Supremes. Their voices blended well together, we enjoyed that! When the kids were dismissed to go to Sunday School we went with them and got to be the honored guests for all of the kids. We told them a bit about ourselves then answered their questions for about 45 minutes. Some interesting questions included: "Who puts presents under the Christmas tree on Jesus' birthday?" , "How long did it take Noah to build the Ark?", and "Do you eat snails in the U.S.?" Ahhh...kids!Mt. Kilmanjaro
We are now (Tuesday) at Rafiki Village in Tanzania. We are staying in a beautiful new home that is intended for lon
g term missionaries-- its great with us that we get to stay here. Dr. Elaine Tan (70 years young) traveled with us from Kenya today by bus. She is a good sport and weathered the trip well even though the road was rough and it took longer than expected to get here. She is here to set up a pharmacy and check the health of the orphans and community students here in Tanzania. The view to the north is Mt. Kilmanjaro. Amazing. It extends into the clouds and is 19,300 ft. The power went out for a bit and we could see stars really well for a while. Almost was a shame that power came back on again because security lights spoil the sight. We had plantain stew for dinner and met the Mamas and their families. Also met the ROS, the cooks, and even a couple of guards. The plantain tasted much like potatoes!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Last Update...
Jambo All!
Hope this finds all of you well and Spring on it's way! With just one week left--and a full one--this may be the last email many of you get from us while we are in Africa. We'll be leaving Kenya on Tuesday morning headed for the Rafiki village in Moshi, Tanzania. It's about a 12 hour trip mostly due to the fact that we have to go around Mt. Kilmanjaro. We'll be traveling by bus with Dr. Elaine and who knows what we'll be doing there. I'm sure we'll spend some time admiring the mountains & maybe even do a little hiking. So we'll just wrap up the last ten days happenings:
Home Office Visit: Last weekend was filled as a team from the Rafiki Florida home office washere for three days. They come about every 6 months or so to check on everyone and give recommendations as well as learn needs. We were especially honored to visit with Rosemary Jensen, the founder of Rafiki, and her husband, Dr. Bob. Rosemary, almost 80 yrs old. They had many meetings with the Kenya church heads so she could show them the bible lessons that Rafiki has developed and encourage them to use the plans, free of charge,in their many (about 800?) church schools. She also offered free teacher training to them. What an exciting concept to think these lesson plans could reach millions of children! Rosemary also visited with Her Excellency Mama Kenyatta (who has leased this land to them--it use to be one of her homes--her husband was the first president of Kenya). Jane was busy serving tea and homemade the cookies (about 12 doz. chocolatechip/raisin/oatmeal) which we made for all the guest as they arrived. We also worked on preparing and serving several meals to the home staff. Rog got to use the homemade charcoal and homemade grill to cook chicken, sausage & hamburgers. We also prepared meatloaf, lettuce salad, applecrisp, spaghetti pie, Waldorf salad, corn on the cob, watermelon & pineapple...besides washing dishes. Thank goodness for Jackie who was hired to help us. We were very busy but much appreciated--especially by Yeen-lan who delivered 18 beautiful roses to us.
High Standards: We look around here and can't help but compare the higher quality and standards that Rafiki village has compared to the neighboring areas. At first you think, why not lower the standards and be able to take in moreorphans? But then you listen as those who work here tell us that the rest of Kenya's standards can not hope to improve if not given an example. Won't the Kenyans learn most by example things like clean water, proper nutrition, solid education besides strong faith, will improve their lives? We saw this concept working at the orphanage we visited a couple weeks ago. Because of the good care they get there, 80% of there orphans are adopted by Kenyans--that's up from 1% when they started!! We noted that this same concept is applied in Habitat for Humanity philosophy --build a new but modest home in a run down area--and soon the neighbors start noticing ways they can fix up and improve their homes. We visited a home we helped Habitat build ten years earlier in a terribly run down part of Ypsilanti and were thrilled to see not only the Habitat home still looking great,but also most of the neighborhood too!! The children raised here will hopefully be the leaders who will help improve the lives of many Kenyans. That is the dream of Rafiki and why home office keeps looking for ways to improve the village. The mustard seed concept at work.
Cooking & Learning from Jackie: Jackie is a Kenyan who lives up country (a term they use for place they were raised) about an 8 hrs drive from here. Her sister, Bevin lives close and works here all the time. She was thrilled to have a job for two weeks to help with all the prep and clean up of the home office visit. About 70% don't have jobs. As we worked, we talked. She told me though she was 26 years old, she could not think about marriage because she could not support herself let alone children and she could not count on a husband to support them. She said, "Those who cook in Kenya, are usually hungry." It would also be hard to find a man willing to take a test to check for diseases. While my heart was breaking for her, she spoke of herstrong faith in God saying these troubles would only make her stronger andhelp her become more pure--like steel becomes after it's been heated.
Subbing in the 2 & 3 year old class: Three mornings found us subbing with the nine youngest children here. Though we did have lesson plans, just soothing the tears, toilet runs and listening to their stories filled lots of the time. We did manage to get the bible lesson, read a short story, have them "color", have a bit of activity time and end each day with a prayer--(their
prayer of thanks for us!) We did love how they sang and recited their verses. We think it was in English. It was also a hoot watching each one individually show us how they danced. There was lots of hopping, jumping and clapping. Rog especially got a kick out of when Jane tried to show them how to move. Should an American show an African how to dance??? Atleast not Jane!
Museums: We "skipped school" and went to the National Museum and the National Archives-both in Nairobi. What great places to learn about and appreciate not only Kenya but all of Africa. The Archives was mostly the private collection of a former Ambassador which was donated to Kenya after his death. He had collected most of the items right after the Europeans colonized several countries and were destroying many items/customs they considered uncivilized. Most items were very rare. A personal guide walked us around explaining and answering our questions. We also had a personal guide for the National Museum. It had a large collection of the Leaky finds--all found in Africa--one 18 million years old! Many animals of Africa were on display. Over 25 large cases of birds alone found in Kenya! We especially liked the exhibit comparing items from long ago to items today. Baby bottles made of gourds! We ate lunch and shopped at Amani ya Juu (higher peace) which was a training project in sewing & marketing for African women affected by wars and ethnic conflicts. Again, Yeen-lan had steered us to a wonderful ministry!
British: After seeing some of what the British destroyed, we asked our Kenyan guide how the Kenyans felt about the British. He said most realize Kenya would not have the education system, roads or railroads if not for them. He thought Kenya was more modern and had a higher standard of living than most African countries because of the British. So the good came with the bad. We asked our Kenyan driver the same question and he said most Kenyans have a short memory and feel the British are their friends. He also explained that Kenyans are quite easy going, don't hold grudges and it takes a lot to get them mad. That sure is true when it comes to driving! American's would be blaring their horns and swearing lots if they had to drive around here!!
Kiswahili Lesson: While teaching the Primary 2 class last week Rog had a 45 minute session to teach Kiswahili. Knowing nothing about the language he turned the table on the kids and invited them to teach him some words. They were very patient and pronounced carefully then spelled the words for him. Henow knows a few kiswahili words: kaka (boy), kiti (chair), baba (father),kitabu (book), mama (mother), wanafunzi (student), mwanimu (teacher),simba(lion),dawati (desk), dirisha (dirisha), yatima (orphan), chakula (food), gari (car), paka (cat), mtoto (baby) and lala (sleep).
Weather: It continues to be in the low 80's most days with just two nights of short rains. At night it may get down in the low 70's so the Mama's make sure the kids wear warm P.J.'s. We had to chuckle when David hugged us goodnight wearing fleece footy PJ's with a turtle neck fleece sweatshirt under it. Sleep warmly! And have we mentioned how the guards wear full mask beanie caps at night? Add the bow and arrow they carry and it gives you quite a scare when you see one in the dark!
Wow! Until we sit down and write, we often don't think about how much happens but we want to store the memories so this long update is the way we are keeping the memories in a much safer place than our brains! As I said, who knows if we'll get another email out so until we see or talk to you... Thanks for all the support and emails. We are so much richer for it.
Roger and Jane
Hope this finds all of you well and Spring on it's way! With just one week left--and a full one--this may be the last email many of you get from us while we are in Africa. We'll be leaving Kenya on Tuesday morning headed for the Rafiki village in Moshi, Tanzania. It's about a 12 hour trip mostly due to the fact that we have to go around Mt. Kilmanjaro. We'll be traveling by bus with Dr. Elaine and who knows what we'll be doing there. I'm sure we'll spend some time admiring the mountains & maybe even do a little hiking. So we'll just wrap up the last ten days happenings:
Home Office Visit: Last weekend was filled as a team from the Rafiki Florida home office washere for three days. They come about every 6 months or so to check on everyone and give recommendations as well as learn needs. We were especially honored to visit with Rosemary Jensen, the founder of Rafiki, and her husband, Dr. Bob. Rosemary, almost 80 yrs old. They had many meetings with the Kenya church heads so she could show them the bible lessons that Rafiki has developed and encourage them to use the plans, free of charge,in their many (about 800?) church schools. She also offered free teacher training to them. What an exciting concept to think these lesson plans could reach millions of children! Rosemary also visited with Her Excellency Mama Kenyatta (who has leased this land to them--it use to be one of her homes--her husband was the first president of Kenya). Jane was busy serving tea and homemade the cookies (about 12 doz. chocolatechip/raisin/oatmeal) which we made for all the guest as they arrived. We also worked on preparing and serving several meals to the home staff. Rog got to use the homemade charcoal and homemade grill to cook chicken, sausage & hamburgers. We also prepared meatloaf, lettuce salad, applecrisp, spaghetti pie, Waldorf salad, corn on the cob, watermelon & pineapple...besides washing dishes. Thank goodness for Jackie who was hired to help us. We were very busy but much appreciated--especially by Yeen-lan who delivered 18 beautiful roses to us.
High Standards: We look around here and can't help but compare the higher quality and standards that Rafiki village has compared to the neighboring areas. At first you think, why not lower the standards and be able to take in moreorphans? But then you listen as those who work here tell us that the rest of Kenya's standards can not hope to improve if not given an example. Won't the Kenyans learn most by example things like clean water, proper nutrition, solid education besides strong faith, will improve their lives? We saw this concept working at the orphanage we visited a couple weeks ago. Because of the good care they get there, 80% of there orphans are adopted by Kenyans--that's up from 1% when they started!! We noted that this same concept is applied in Habitat for Humanity philosophy --build a new but modest home in a run down area--and soon the neighbors start noticing ways they can fix up and improve their homes. We visited a home we helped Habitat build ten years earlier in a terribly run down part of Ypsilanti and were thrilled to see not only the Habitat home still looking great,but also most of the neighborhood too!! The children raised here will hopefully be the leaders who will help improve the lives of many Kenyans. That is the dream of Rafiki and why home office keeps looking for ways to improve the village. The mustard seed concept at work.
Cooking & Learning from Jackie: Jackie is a Kenyan who lives up country (a term they use for place they were raised) about an 8 hrs drive from here. Her sister, Bevin lives close and works here all the time. She was thrilled to have a job for two weeks to help with all the prep and clean up of the home office visit. About 70% don't have jobs. As we worked, we talked. She told me though she was 26 years old, she could not think about marriage because she could not support herself let alone children and she could not count on a husband to support them. She said, "Those who cook in Kenya, are usually hungry." It would also be hard to find a man willing to take a test to check for diseases. While my heart was breaking for her, she spoke of herstrong faith in God saying these troubles would only make her stronger andhelp her become more pure--like steel becomes after it's been heated.
Subbing in the 2 & 3 year old class: Three mornings found us subbing with the nine youngest children here. Though we did have lesson plans, just soothing the tears, toilet runs and listening to their stories filled lots of the time. We did manage to get the bible lesson, read a short story, have them "color", have a bit of activity time and end each day with a prayer--(their
prayer of thanks for us!) We did love how they sang and recited their verses. We think it was in English. It was also a hoot watching each one individually show us how they danced. There was lots of hopping, jumping and clapping. Rog especially got a kick out of when Jane tried to show them how to move. Should an American show an African how to dance??? Atleast not Jane!Museums: We "skipped school" and went to the National Museum and the National Archives-both in Nairobi. What great places to learn about and appreciate not only Kenya but all of Africa. The Archives was mostly the private collection of a former Ambassador which was donated to Kenya after his death. He had collected most of the items right after the Europeans colonized several countries and were destroying many items/customs they considered uncivilized. Most items were very rare. A personal guide walked us around explaining and answering our questions. We also had a personal guide for the National Museum. It had a large collection of the Leaky finds--all found in Africa--one 18 million years old! Many animals of Africa were on display. Over 25 large cases of birds alone found in Kenya! We especially liked the exhibit comparing items from long ago to items today. Baby bottles made of gourds! We ate lunch and shopped at Amani ya Juu (higher peace) which was a training project in sewing & marketing for African women affected by wars and ethnic conflicts. Again, Yeen-lan had steered us to a wonderful ministry!
British: After seeing some of what the British destroyed, we asked our Kenyan guide how the Kenyans felt about the British. He said most realize Kenya would not have the education system, roads or railroads if not for them. He thought Kenya was more modern and had a higher standard of living than most African countries because of the British. So the good came with the bad. We asked our Kenyan driver the same question and he said most Kenyans have a short memory and feel the British are their friends. He also explained that Kenyans are quite easy going, don't hold grudges and it takes a lot to get them mad. That sure is true when it comes to driving! American's would be blaring their horns and swearing lots if they had to drive around here!!
Kiswahili Lesson: While teaching the Primary 2 class last week Rog had a 45 minute session to teach Kiswahili. Knowing nothing about the language he turned the table on the kids and invited them to teach him some words. They were very patient and pronounced carefully then spelled the words for him. Henow knows a few kiswahili words: kaka (boy), kiti (chair), baba (father),kitabu (book), mama (mother), wanafunzi (student), mwanimu (teacher),simba(lion),dawati (desk), dirisha (dirisha), yatima (orphan), chakula (food), gari (car), paka (cat), mtoto (baby) and lala (sleep).
Weather: It continues to be in the low 80's most days with just two nights of short rains. At night it may get down in the low 70's so the Mama's make sure the kids wear warm P.J.'s. We had to chuckle when David hugged us goodnight wearing fleece footy PJ's with a turtle neck fleece sweatshirt under it. Sleep warmly! And have we mentioned how the guards wear full mask beanie caps at night? Add the bow and arrow they carry and it gives you quite a scare when you see one in the dark!
Wow! Until we sit down and write, we often don't think about how much happens but we want to store the memories so this long update is the way we are keeping the memories in a much safer place than our brains! As I said, who knows if we'll get another email out so until we see or talk to you... Thanks for all the support and emails. We are so much richer for it.
Roger and Jane
Friday, March 6, 2009
Update, March 6th
Hi All,
Today is a special day --our granddaughter, Reagan's first birthday!
We sure have thought about her lots today.
Another week has flown by and though we didn't do any traveling around--there's always something happening around here! Here's just a few things that made us smile:
Listening to 2 1/2 year old Hannah pray "God Bless all the babies." (she's the youngest baby here!)
Being awaken most mornings by our daily visiting black, ibis squawking and dancing. We've named them Jeckel and Heckel.
Learning how to make charcoal by starting an old tree stump on fire then covering it with a mound of dirt and occasionally watering it. Its moldered for several days. Uncover and presto, you have charcoal.
Eating white scrabbled eggs. . . yolks are white
Making kids crack up when we call them honey . . .
Listening to the way the kids pronounce words and put sentences together which incorporates their kiswahili language with a British accent
Learning the difference between black hair (can't be braided) and brown hair (can be braided)--and to think we thought they were the same
After reading a story aloud to the first graders, they say in unison, Thank you and May God Bless You Mrs. Boyce
Having our own 'Erkle' (Andrew) who loves to get us laughing. We even showed him how to wear his pants hiked up to truly fit the role.
Noting Roger's appetite, Mama Mary told us that in her tribe there's a saying--He who eats a lot knows how to find food.
Having picked out my watermelon seeds and left them in my dish, the young girl next to me asked me, "Are you going to eat them?" When I said no, her eyes lit up. I asked if she wanted them and her quick reply was "Yes, they are so sweet." She quickly dumped them on top of her ugali and gobbled them down.
And finally--here's the recipe (as best as I understood) for what's called"African Food" and is the staple for some tribes located in central Kenya: Boil potatoes and mash them. Cook in vegetable oil: green corn (similar to field corn before its dried), peas (about twice the size of USA peas) and pumpkin leaves. Stir into mashed potatoes and cooked a bit longer. Stores for 3 - 4 days without refrigeration. Good for breakfast-even without heating--especially good if milk is poured on top.(Maybe we'll be able to sell pumpkins and their leaves next fall if we can convince the local restaurants to add African Food to their menus!)
Well, closing shop for the night. Hope all is well with you and keep intouch. We feel a long ways from home!
God Bless,Roger and Jane
Today is a special day --our granddaughter, Reagan's first birthday!
Another week has flown by and though we didn't do any traveling around--there's always something happening around here! Here's just a few things that made us smile:
Listening to 2 1/2 year old Hannah pray "God Bless all the babies." (she's the youngest baby here!)
Being awaken most mornings by our daily visiting black, ibis squawking and dancing. We've named them Jeckel and Heckel.
Learning how to make charcoal by starting an old tree stump on fire then covering it with a mound of dirt and occasionally watering it. Its moldered for several days. Uncover and presto, you have charcoal.
Eating white scrabbled eggs. . . yolks are white
Making kids crack up when we call them honey . . .
Listening to the way the kids pronounce words and put sentences together which incorporates their kiswahili language with a British accent
Learning the difference between black hair (can't be braided) and brown hair (can be braided)--and to think we thought they were the same
After reading a story aloud to the first graders, they say in unison, Thank you and May God Bless You Mrs. Boyce
Having our own 'Erkle' (Andrew) who loves to get us laughing. We even showed him how to wear his pants hiked up to truly fit the role.
Noting Roger's appetite, Mama Mary told us that in her tribe there's a saying--He who eats a lot knows how to find food.
Having picked out my watermelon seeds and left them in my dish, the young girl next to me asked me, "Are you going to eat them?" When I said no, her eyes lit up. I asked if she wanted them and her quick reply was "Yes, they are so sweet." She quickly dumped them on top of her ugali and gobbled them down.
And finally--here's the recipe (as best as I understood) for what's called"African Food" and is the staple for some tribes located in central Kenya: Boil potatoes and mash them. Cook in vegetable oil: green corn (similar to field corn before its dried), peas (about twice the size of USA peas) and pumpkin leaves. Stir into mashed potatoes and cooked a bit longer. Stores for 3 - 4 days without refrigeration. Good for breakfast-even without heating--especially good if milk is poured on top.(Maybe we'll be able to sell pumpkins and their leaves next fall if we can convince the local restaurants to add African Food to their menus!)
Well, closing shop for the night. Hope all is well with you and keep intouch. We feel a long ways from home!
God Bless,Roger and Jane
Monday, March 2, 2009
More photos are up!
Our Safari Photos and Maasai Village Photos are up.... here's just a few, go to http://www.rogerandjane.shutterfly.com/ to see the rest!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Eventful Weekend
Sunday
Kibera Slums of Nairobi
From rags to riches. Never has that been more true to us than from our Saturday experience at the lush tea farm where we feasted on rich foods to our Sunday experience, where we picked our way through sticky, slimy, smelly trash where over one million live in one acre. Our guides were Reagan and Bossman each about 18 years old and both had grown up in this slum. They now attend the same church as Yeen-lan and she had set up this most heart wrenching experience for us.
How can one describe this slum? Bits and pieces of sticks, cement, metal, mud and plastic piled together to make so many tiny huts--each home to several adults and many children or a store front selling whatever they could scrounge up. A long ditch dug along the sides of the alleys filled with crud. Small charcoal fires in the middle where pots boiled and food--what little we saw--was
being cooked. Lines of people standing in line with plastic cooking oil containers--waiting to pay for some water. On top of a large mound of plastic bags and other trash sat two small buildings--the bathrooms for those who got a key when they paid their rent. Since it was too dangerous to go out at night, if you needed to relieve yourself, you went in a plastic bag and added it to the mound in the morning. That explained the mound of plastic bags. Yes, I said rent. Each hut paid between $12 to $30 a month to live there. That did include electricity for some and for those who pirated electricity, they could expect to have their homes torched. Reagan took us into his mother's home. She was ill with malaria so only peeked around a curtain from her bed to say "Karibu"--welcome. Three small couches lined the walls each covered with very clean, white sheets that his mother had embroidered flowers on. The only bedroom & this livingroom was about 12' x 6'. The walls were made of sticks covered with mud but curtains covered most of it. 
No windows only a door that you needed to crouch down in order to enter. In one corner sat a small TV and a single light bulb hung from a wire. I asked if most homes had a TV and Bossman said yes. It made me sad to think that the TV showed them a world so different than theirs. And every where there were children--laughing, playing, running to touch us and say "How are you?" "How are you?" How ironic that they wanted to know how we were? Mud piles, empty bottles, broken glass, pieces of string, plastic bags and sticks were their toys. So many children. I saw the faces of some of the orphans here at Rafiki in some of their faces and knew that this is where they'd lived if not for Rafiki Orphange. Reagan told us that most families here could not afford the $700 a year that it cost to send a child to school. And so the cycle will continue. It amazed me to see how clean most the adults looked. They also smiled many greeting our guides. I asked Bossman how many children most women had and he smiled and said, "If they are working, two or three. If they are not they have more time for love making and have very many." He also told me birth control pills we available free but most feel having babies made them more of desirable woman. Both boys talked about their family tribe in what they called the 'upcountry'. I asked why they and other didn't move back there. They said, no jobs and there you would get old very fast. When they got old, about 40 or so, they would go to the up country to live. They explained that most people who live in Kibera would not want to move away. They were close to shops, Nairobi and family and many friends. It was home to them. Reagan joked with Rog asking if he would like to trade homes with him--then he could go to school at U of M. He and Bossman were lucky ones. They had found sponsors to help them pay for schooling--though right now they'd run out of money so were trying to find more sponsors. Bossman said either the youth go to school or became thieves. Those who turn bad bullied others into joining them so their gang was stronger. We did hear church hymns being sung, the salvation army marched through and also they were holding an outside service and Reagan proudly showed us the medical center that was run by his church, the Baptist Church of Nairobi. We thanked our guides and then went to the Baptist Church meeting up with Yeen-lan.
I'm sure you know what we prayed for.
Saturday
Kiambethu Tea Farm
We went to a tea farm on Saturday. We weren't sure why but everyone told us it was a great trip and we should go. So we just took their advice. We were surprised how quickly the city changed to rural country side just to the north and we passed through several small towns along the way. Small towns and rural scenery was a welcome change from the urban crowds of Nairobi. The road was good as we gained altitude to about 7200' above sea level. We had been advised to bring a jacket as it can be chilly there but it was sunny and very nice there. The owner of the tea farm and his wife met us in the yard and invited us to take a walk around their garden (it was beautiful with lots of huge blossoms), then we stopped by their porch for a drink. Soon we were inside the house sipping tea and listening to stories about the history of the family and the tea
farm. Fiona's grandfather had come to this very place and started growing coffee in 1906. He had 350 wooded acres that he eventually cleared. The coffee did not do well because it is too cool there due to the altitude she started growing tea for the local Indian population (they had come to build railroads and were big tea drinkers). The fields looked like huge patchwork quilts laid out on the 
hillsides with many shades of green alternating across the field in fairly regular patterns. We next went on a short walk through a wooded area that had never been cleared for growing tea. Our guide told about the native plants there and he said that the vine growing in spirals around a tree would be spiraling the opposite way if we were north of the equator. I would like to ask Barry if that sounds like accurate information. Soon we were walking past geese,calves, donkeys, and ducks in their farm yard. Lunchtime! A great meal followed with homemade butter, rolls, and soup.Then salad, maize (white corn) and cheese, potatoes, green beans,carrots,swiss steak, followed by fruit and homemade ice cream. Back out to the porch to watch colobus monkeys climb around on the roof of the out buildings and visit with two other couples (from Maryland and Minnesota). It was so pretty there that we hated to go.
Friday
Baseball in Kenya
On Friday I had the 6th grade class for PE class. Their teacher had asked me to teach them baseball. It was a small class and all of them are from Mwiki (the community outside our compound). The oldest orphans here arein 5th grade. I started by asking them if anyone had ever heard of baseball. Not one student raised his hand. So I just started at the beginning...they were very attentive and somewhat interested so with a whiffle bat and a hard sponge ball and old tires for bases (home plate was set up under an acacia tree for shade) we played. Everyone including their teacher ran the bases and swung the bat several times at pitches I threw to them. Surprisingly there were many hits and we all had a good time. They asked if I could come back and show them some more. It was a treat to hear them cheer for their teacher when she came across home plate!
My Wife is a Slave Driver
Actually she has a way with putting her foot in her mouth at times (don't we all?) Jane was apologizing to one of the National(Kenyan) teachers for returning a student to class later than planned and she said "what can I say? I guess I'm just a slave driver!" After thinking about that reply she felt like crawling into a hole.
Kibera Slums of Nairobi
From rags to riches. Never has that been more true to us than from our Saturday experience at the lush tea farm where we feasted on rich foods to our Sunday experience, where we picked our way through sticky, slimy, smelly trash where over one million live in one acre. Our guides were Reagan and Bossman each about 18 years old and both had grown up in this slum. They now attend the same church as Yeen-lan and she had set up this most heart wrenching experience for us.
How can one describe this slum? Bits and pieces of sticks, cement, metal, mud and plastic piled together to make so many tiny huts--each home to several adults and many children or a store front selling whatever they could scrounge up. A long ditch dug along the sides of the alleys filled with crud. Small charcoal fires in the middle where pots boiled and food--what little we saw--was
being cooked. Lines of people standing in line with plastic cooking oil containers--waiting to pay for some water. On top of a large mound of plastic bags and other trash sat two small buildings--the bathrooms for those who got a key when they paid their rent. Since it was too dangerous to go out at night, if you needed to relieve yourself, you went in a plastic bag and added it to the mound in the morning. That explained the mound of plastic bags. Yes, I said rent. Each hut paid between $12 to $30 a month to live there. That did include electricity for some and for those who pirated electricity, they could expect to have their homes torched. Reagan took us into his mother's home. She was ill with malaria so only peeked around a curtain from her bed to say "Karibu"--welcome. Three small couches lined the walls each covered with very clean, white sheets that his mother had embroidered flowers on. The only bedroom & this livingroom was about 12' x 6'. The walls were made of sticks covered with mud but curtains covered most of it. No windows only a door that you needed to crouch down in order to enter. In one corner sat a small TV and a single light bulb hung from a wire. I asked if most homes had a TV and Bossman said yes. It made me sad to think that the TV showed them a world so different than theirs. And every where there were children--laughing, playing, running to touch us and say "How are you?" "How are you?" How ironic that they wanted to know how we were? Mud piles, empty bottles, broken glass, pieces of string, plastic bags and sticks were their toys. So many children. I saw the faces of some of the orphans here at Rafiki in some of their faces and knew that this is where they'd lived if not for Rafiki Orphange. Reagan told us that most families here could not afford the $700 a year that it cost to send a child to school. And so the cycle will continue. It amazed me to see how clean most the adults looked. They also smiled many greeting our guides. I asked Bossman how many children most women had and he smiled and said, "If they are working, two or three. If they are not they have more time for love making and have very many." He also told me birth control pills we available free but most feel having babies made them more of desirable woman. Both boys talked about their family tribe in what they called the 'upcountry'. I asked why they and other didn't move back there. They said, no jobs and there you would get old very fast. When they got old, about 40 or so, they would go to the up country to live. They explained that most people who live in Kibera would not want to move away. They were close to shops, Nairobi and family and many friends. It was home to them. Reagan joked with Rog asking if he would like to trade homes with him--then he could go to school at U of M. He and Bossman were lucky ones. They had found sponsors to help them pay for schooling--though right now they'd run out of money so were trying to find more sponsors. Bossman said either the youth go to school or became thieves. Those who turn bad bullied others into joining them so their gang was stronger. We did hear church hymns being sung, the salvation army marched through and also they were holding an outside service and Reagan proudly showed us the medical center that was run by his church, the Baptist Church of Nairobi. We thanked our guides and then went to the Baptist Church meeting up with Yeen-lan.I'm sure you know what we prayed for.
Saturday
Kiambethu Tea Farm
We went to a tea farm on Saturday. We weren't sure why but everyone told us it was a great trip and we should go. So we just took their advice. We were surprised how quickly the city changed to rural country side just to the north and we passed through several small towns along the way. Small towns and rural scenery was a welcome change from the urban crowds of Nairobi. The road was good as we gained altitude to about 7200' above sea level. We had been advised to bring a jacket as it can be chilly there but it was sunny and very nice there. The owner of the tea farm and his wife met us in the yard and invited us to take a walk around their garden (it was beautiful with lots of huge blossoms), then we stopped by their porch for a drink. Soon we were inside the house sipping tea and listening to stories about the history of the family and the tea
Friday
Baseball in Kenya
On Friday I had the 6th grade class for PE class. Their teacher had asked me to teach them baseball. It was a small class and all of them are from Mwiki (the community outside our compound). The oldest orphans here arein 5th grade. I started by asking them if anyone had ever heard of baseball. Not one student raised his hand. So I just started at the beginning...they were very attentive and somewhat interested so with a whiffle bat and a hard sponge ball and old tires for bases (home plate was set up under an acacia tree for shade) we played. Everyone including their teacher ran the bases and swung the bat several times at pitches I threw to them. Surprisingly there were many hits and we all had a good time. They asked if I could come back and show them some more. It was a treat to hear them cheer for their teacher when she came across home plate!
My Wife is a Slave Driver
Actually she has a way with putting her foot in her mouth at times (don't we all?) Jane was apologizing to one of the National(Kenyan) teachers for returning a student to class later than planned and she said "what can I say? I guess I'm just a slave driver!" After thinking about that reply she felt like crawling into a hole.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Quick trip to Njiru
Quick trip to Njiru
I just got back from an emergency trip to assist our purchasing crew. They had been out shopping and their SUV broke down. They push started it several times then were stranded when that no longer worked. Doug (Rafiki over seas and mechanic from Abilene) and I made a quick trip to take them another battery and follow them back to the village. Everyone was relieved when we got home with no problems. It is generally a very good idea to be off the road before dark and we managed to make it by about 20 minutes. The workers that had been shopping however were not starting their walk home until it was already dark.
The road has not seen a road grader in at least six months and much of it has had some pavement in the distant past but the remains of that cause more problems. The potholes make Dancer Rd. look like a freeway. Most traffic runs on the shoulder(because it is a bit better than the middle) unless someone decides to pass. There was a constant flow of pedestrians on both sides of the road and hundreds of small businesses set up along the sides. Beds, couches, shoes, fruit, mints, etc. There were also fruit and candy vendors along the way withthings for sale to people driving along the road-no need to park or even stop in order to buy their goods, they just run up to your window to make the sale. Surprisingly it all seems to work better than "Mr. Cautious" (Rog) would ever imagine it could. Although many vehicles have scrapes and dents, we have seen only a couple of accidents and only one ambulance since we have been here.
Getting water in dry areas
We flew over the Rift Valley on the way to Masai Mara and looked down onmasai villages located in such dry areas that I couldn't imagine how anyone could survive there. All brown-no apparent vegetation-no source of water. While in the Masai Mara I read a book about David Livingstone, the famous missionary/explorer that spent 32 years in Africa traveling over 40,000 miles by foot, boat, and ox cart attempting to convert the native populations and save souls. The story tells of him traveling in a very dry area and sending scouts ahead to find water so that when they arrived with the ox cart(12 oxen to one cart) there would be water for the stock. They would find a depression and start digging-often finding water about four to five feet below the surface.
I have been teaching the students about where water comes from this week so did some research on how people in dry areas get their water. I thought it was pretty interesting: Nature provides for the formation of "pans" of water in many spectacular ways of which two are particularly fascinating, dust devils and ants. The Karoo, in South Africa, is a semi desert region and has a pan belt. There are hollows in the plains and during the rainy season, they keep filling up with water and this water eventually soaks into the ground and becomes mud. The mud dries into dust at the bottom of the hollow in the dry season and appears very white as it has concentrated minerals in it. The air above this whitened area becomes extremely hot and starts to rise, forming a spiral and picking up the dust then moving off across the plainas dust devils do. When it loses its strength and collapses, the dust falls back onto the plain, away from the hollow. With repetition, over the years, a pan is born due to the deepening and widening of the hollow through removal of dust. So nature gives birth to a dust devil in order to assist in the creation of a pan, truly amazing!
All animals love salt and lime and wherever these appear on the surface, browsers, especially such as elephant, eland, oryx, kudu, giraffe and rhino, are attracted to these salt "licks". Ants play a very important part in bringing these salt deposits up to the surface because they create ant-heaps with the soil they bring up from far below. The animals are attracted to the ant-heaps and eat the soil in order to get the lime. The area surrounding the ant-heap gets trampled to dust, which in turn gets blown away by the wind and a hollow is formed. When it rains, the hollow that has formed fills with water and lime from the surrounding surface, becoming a pool. The animals drink the water and by tramping the floor of the pool, they firm it into a leak-proof seal. So from a hollow to a small pool which heavy rains swell into larger pans and even become small shallow lakes in some places, all engineered by industrious ants. These pans are enlarged in the following amazing way: When the water level is low an elephant drinking 250 liters of water would be carrying away in its stomach, at least 25 kg of soil and in one year, one elephant might remove 5 tons of soil just by drinking and then there is still the mud it carries out on its feet and body when it has finished wallowing. The more lime in the water the greater the attraction for animals and a herd of several hundred buffalo, after just one visit to a pan, significantly change the size of a pan.
Just one more thing to be thankful for in the U.S.-clean water!
I just got back from an emergency trip to assist our purchasing crew. They had been out shopping and their SUV broke down. They push started it several times then were stranded when that no longer worked. Doug (Rafiki over seas and mechanic from Abilene) and I made a quick trip to take them another battery and follow them back to the village. Everyone was relieved when we got home with no problems. It is generally a very good idea to be off the road before dark and we managed to make it by about 20 minutes. The workers that had been shopping however were not starting their walk home until it was already dark.
The road has not seen a road grader in at least six months and much of it has had some pavement in the distant past but the remains of that cause more problems. The potholes make Dancer Rd. look like a freeway. Most traffic runs on the shoulder(because it is a bit better than the middle) unless someone decides to pass. There was a constant flow of pedestrians on both sides of the road and hundreds of small businesses set up along the sides. Beds, couches, shoes, fruit, mints, etc. There were also fruit and candy vendors along the way withthings for sale to people driving along the road-no need to park or even stop in order to buy their goods, they just run up to your window to make the sale. Surprisingly it all seems to work better than "Mr. Cautious" (Rog) would ever imagine it could. Although many vehicles have scrapes and dents, we have seen only a couple of accidents and only one ambulance since we have been here.
Getting water in dry areas
We flew over the Rift Valley on the way to Masai Mara and looked down onmasai villages located in such dry areas that I couldn't imagine how anyone could survive there. All brown-no apparent vegetation-no source of water. While in the Masai Mara I read a book about David Livingstone, the famous missionary/explorer that spent 32 years in Africa traveling over 40,000 miles by foot, boat, and ox cart attempting to convert the native populations and save souls. The story tells of him traveling in a very dry area and sending scouts ahead to find water so that when they arrived with the ox cart(12 oxen to one cart) there would be water for the stock. They would find a depression and start digging-often finding water about four to five feet below the surface.
I have been teaching the students about where water comes from this week so did some research on how people in dry areas get their water. I thought it was pretty interesting: Nature provides for the formation of "pans" of water in many spectacular ways of which two are particularly fascinating, dust devils and ants. The Karoo, in South Africa, is a semi desert region and has a pan belt. There are hollows in the plains and during the rainy season, they keep filling up with water and this water eventually soaks into the ground and becomes mud. The mud dries into dust at the bottom of the hollow in the dry season and appears very white as it has concentrated minerals in it. The air above this whitened area becomes extremely hot and starts to rise, forming a spiral and picking up the dust then moving off across the plainas dust devils do. When it loses its strength and collapses, the dust falls back onto the plain, away from the hollow. With repetition, over the years, a pan is born due to the deepening and widening of the hollow through removal of dust. So nature gives birth to a dust devil in order to assist in the creation of a pan, truly amazing!
All animals love salt and lime and wherever these appear on the surface, browsers, especially such as elephant, eland, oryx, kudu, giraffe and rhino, are attracted to these salt "licks". Ants play a very important part in bringing these salt deposits up to the surface because they create ant-heaps with the soil they bring up from far below. The animals are attracted to the ant-heaps and eat the soil in order to get the lime. The area surrounding the ant-heap gets trampled to dust, which in turn gets blown away by the wind and a hollow is formed. When it rains, the hollow that has formed fills with water and lime from the surrounding surface, becoming a pool. The animals drink the water and by tramping the floor of the pool, they firm it into a leak-proof seal. So from a hollow to a small pool which heavy rains swell into larger pans and even become small shallow lakes in some places, all engineered by industrious ants. These pans are enlarged in the following amazing way: When the water level is low an elephant drinking 250 liters of water would be carrying away in its stomach, at least 25 kg of soil and in one year, one elephant might remove 5 tons of soil just by drinking and then there is still the mud it carries out on its feet and body when it has finished wallowing. The more lime in the water the greater the attraction for animals and a herd of several hundred buffalo, after just one visit to a pan, significantly change the size of a pan.
Just one more thing to be thankful for in the U.S.-clean water!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Update, Feb 24th
Hi to all,
Each day gets more crammed with things we want to remember and also share with you.
Here's the latest: We have been getting around more. Jane spent a day visiting a Christian school. They had an assembly and as she was introduced as a visiting muzungu (white person) from the USA,the students shouted, "Land of Obama!!"
One day, our director arranged for a cab to take us to the Giraffe Park where we could feed and pet giraffes and to visit the Karen Blixen home(Out of Africa story). We'll have to watch that movie again! We also went to a bead factory that employs only single moms and provides them with day care and health care. Next we went to the Boma's--kind of like a Greenfield village--that replicates many of the local tribes villages including the Luo Tribe (Obama's). There was also a show that featured many of the tribes' traditional dances. All was enjoyable but I think we both felt that the information the local taxi driver, Alex, provided was as interesting. We asked about all the half built homes and learned that it was their "retirement plan." Here if you have any money and someone asks you for some, you are expected to give it to them so ...as soon as they get some money, they purchase a few more blocks to add to their "retirement home" thus avoiding having to give away your money! To refuse money to a friend that asks for it is unthinkable in their culture. They would rather be poor than selfish.
How can we ever put our safari in words?? We were dumbfounded by the number of animals we saw!! And it wasn't just a few of each kind--it was herds!! We flew there over the Great Rift Valley & many Maasai villages landing on a rough dirt strip complete with welcoming giraffes and two Maasai guides who knew our names. In the hour drive to our camp, we saw more animals than we expected to see the whole time! The camp was in the bush (surrounded by shrubs) and our tent had all teak furniture, a flush toilet and even a hot water shower. (Water was heated by charcoal under two 55 gal barrels). Our porch overlooked a nearly dried up river bank and on the other side each night and morning, a herd of cows made music with their bells as they went to and from their pasture. We ate delicious meals under the trees and were waited on hand and foot. But the best part was the game drives. Our Maasai guides eagerly drove over and through any terrain in search of the rarest cats as we passed by herds of other animals. Here's the list of animals we got up close to (within 2 ft to 100ft depending on the animal): elephant, thompson gazelle, ostrich, hyena, cape buffalo, leather face vulture, guinea fowl, impala, topi, zebra,warthog, glossy starling, dik dik, vervet monkey, jackal, cheetah,leopard, lion, giraffe, bat eared fox, antelope, baboon, plover, brownsnake eagle, ruff, secretary bird, supreme starling, weaver bird, blackbelly bustard, donkey, hammerhead bird, hippo and probably others we didn't write down. We can't describe the numbers and the endless land they call home, the Maasai Mara. Our guides also took us to one of their home villages where we sat in their dung smeared 12'x 12' hut that housed about 7 adults who slept on a double bed made of wood & cow hide as well as about 20 calves & goats (to protect them and keep them from drinking all their mother's milk). A tribesman showed us how they can light a fire in one minute using two pieces of wood and their sword. Rog can't wait to try it at home. They told us the Maasai tribe is growing (over 100,000)and most do not leave even though most know how the other people live. They also let us dance with them, wearing the lion mane hat. Jumping high gets them girlfriends so they demonstrated their skill and we proved to them "white men can't jump." In all, we went on five game drives standing up most of the way looking out the sunroof. Heard of sealegs? We had safari legs! A California born guy who now lives in Cambodia, Jimwas, also riding with us and loving it. A few other highlights included being awakened up by a baboon shortly before hot choc & coffee was delivered to our tent and learning that a Maasai,armed with his sword, stood guard over us while we slept both nights. For good reason as a lion and hyenas were in our camp the last night. We tried hard to soak in the beauty and wonder of the Maasai Mara. We were picked up at the airport by Alex and taken to the YaYa market--locals selling every imaginable souvenir. We haggled--which we hate to do--and purchased all the souvenirs we expect to buy! Yeen-Lanmet us there and brought us back to Rafiki.
Monday, we were back in the classrooms. The fourth grade teacher took another job (She'll have 75 students fifth graders) so Jane is now teaching reading, grammar & bible and Roger is teaching science, social studies and math until next week when the new teacher arrives. Jane continues to work on sponsor thank you cards and Rog is putting names on Tshirts for the kids. We still love going to devotions and listening to the Mama's teach their kids how the bible relates to them. One compared Rahab (who helped the Israelites) to the USA saying we were helping them. We later talked about how the fact that Rahab was a prostitute kind of compares to the many problems in the USA.) We continue to be humbled by the sincerity we hear in the Mamas'and childrens' prayers. So that's it for now--finally. We think of you many times and appreciate your many emails!
Jane and Roger
Each day gets more crammed with things we want to remember and also share with you.
Here's the latest: We have been getting around more. Jane spent a day visiting a Christian school. They had an assembly and as she was introduced as a visiting muzungu (white person) from the USA,the students shouted, "Land of Obama!!"
One day, our director arranged for a cab to take us to the Giraffe Park where we could feed and pet giraffes and to visit the Karen Blixen home(Out of Africa story). We'll have to watch that movie again! We also went to a bead factory that employs only single moms and provides them with day care and health care. Next we went to the Boma's--kind of like a Greenfield village--that replicates many of the local tribes villages including the Luo Tribe (Obama's). There was also a show that featured many of the tribes' traditional dances. All was enjoyable but I think we both felt that the information the local taxi driver, Alex, provided was as interesting. We asked about all the half built homes and learned that it was their "retirement plan." Here if you have any money and someone asks you for some, you are expected to give it to them so ...as soon as they get some money, they purchase a few more blocks to add to their "retirement home" thus avoiding having to give away your money! To refuse money to a friend that asks for it is unthinkable in their culture. They would rather be poor than selfish.
How can we ever put our safari in words?? We were dumbfounded by the number of animals we saw!! And it wasn't just a few of each kind--it was herds!! We flew there over the Great Rift Valley & many Maasai villages landing on a rough dirt strip complete with welcoming giraffes and two Maasai guides who knew our names. In the hour drive to our camp, we saw more animals than we expected to see the whole time! The camp was in the bush (surrounded by shrubs) and our tent had all teak furniture, a flush toilet and even a hot water shower. (Water was heated by charcoal under two 55 gal barrels). Our porch overlooked a nearly dried up river bank and on the other side each night and morning, a herd of cows made music with their bells as they went to and from their pasture. We ate delicious meals under the trees and were waited on hand and foot. But the best part was the game drives. Our Maasai guides eagerly drove over and through any terrain in search of the rarest cats as we passed by herds of other animals. Here's the list of animals we got up close to (within 2 ft to 100ft depending on the animal): elephant, thompson gazelle, ostrich, hyena, cape buffalo, leather face vulture, guinea fowl, impala, topi, zebra,warthog, glossy starling, dik dik, vervet monkey, jackal, cheetah,leopard, lion, giraffe, bat eared fox, antelope, baboon, plover, brownsnake eagle, ruff, secretary bird, supreme starling, weaver bird, blackbelly bustard, donkey, hammerhead bird, hippo and probably others we didn't write down. We can't describe the numbers and the endless land they call home, the Maasai Mara. Our guides also took us to one of their home villages where we sat in their dung smeared 12'x 12' hut that housed about 7 adults who slept on a double bed made of wood & cow hide as well as about 20 calves & goats (to protect them and keep them from drinking all their mother's milk). A tribesman showed us how they can light a fire in one minute using two pieces of wood and their sword. Rog can't wait to try it at home. They told us the Maasai tribe is growing (over 100,000)and most do not leave even though most know how the other people live. They also let us dance with them, wearing the lion mane hat. Jumping high gets them girlfriends so they demonstrated their skill and we proved to them "white men can't jump." In all, we went on five game drives standing up most of the way looking out the sunroof. Heard of sealegs? We had safari legs! A California born guy who now lives in Cambodia, Jimwas, also riding with us and loving it. A few other highlights included being awakened up by a baboon shortly before hot choc & coffee was delivered to our tent and learning that a Maasai,armed with his sword, stood guard over us while we slept both nights. For good reason as a lion and hyenas were in our camp the last night. We tried hard to soak in the beauty and wonder of the Maasai Mara. We were picked up at the airport by Alex and taken to the YaYa market--locals selling every imaginable souvenir. We haggled--which we hate to do--and purchased all the souvenirs we expect to buy! Yeen-Lanmet us there and brought us back to Rafiki.
Monday, we were back in the classrooms. The fourth grade teacher took another job (She'll have 75 students fifth graders) so Jane is now teaching reading, grammar & bible and Roger is teaching science, social studies and math until next week when the new teacher arrives. Jane continues to work on sponsor thank you cards and Rog is putting names on Tshirts for the kids. We still love going to devotions and listening to the Mama's teach their kids how the bible relates to them. One compared Rahab (who helped the Israelites) to the USA saying we were helping them. We later talked about how the fact that Rahab was a prostitute kind of compares to the many problems in the USA.) We continue to be humbled by the sincerity we hear in the Mamas'and childrens' prayers. So that's it for now--finally. We think of you many times and appreciate your many emails!
Jane and Roger
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Rog Dances with Masai Tribe
Roger was invited to dance with the Masai Men. In their culture, the boys go out and kill a lion to prove they are ready to be a man. They then wear the lion's mane during dances. While dancing they jump straight into the air. Rog was told, in their culture, "the higher you jump, the more girlfriends you get."
They got a good laugh out of Rog's attempt to jump!!
(Again, this is not our footage, but footage similar to our experience.)
They got a good laugh out of Rog's attempt to jump!!
(Again, this is not our footage, but footage similar to our experience.)
Safari Video
This past weekend we went on our Safari... wow... what an experience!!
This isn't our footage, but footage from a similar experience as ours...
This isn't our footage, but footage from a similar experience as ours...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Bomas of Africa, The Karen Blixen museum & a Giraffe Park in Nairobi
Hi Kids,
We just got back from devotions with "Ebenezer" cottage. Ten girls and their "mama". They sang and sat quietly while their mama told them stories/lessons of the Bible and lovingly told them how important it was to be good and obedient, etc. I felt like I could have taken some lessons on how to raise a family. They were all very attentive (even the three year old). They were very appreciative to have us as visitors and sang goodnight to us before hugging us goodbye. We know many of the girls from working with them at the school. They are confident and have dreams of becoming teachers, pastors, missionaries and nurses. Tomorrow we go to The Bomas of Africa, the Karen Blixen museum and a giraffe park in Nairobi. We have a driver and he and the car will be with us for the day.
Love,
Dad
We just got back from devotions with "Ebenezer" cottage. Ten girls and their "mama". They sang and sat quietly while their mama told them stories/lessons of the Bible and lovingly told them how important it was to be good and obedient, etc. I felt like I could have taken some lessons on how to raise a family. They were all very attentive (even the three year old). They were very appreciative to have us as visitors and sang goodnight to us before hugging us goodbye. We know many of the girls from working with them at the school. They are confident and have dreams of becoming teachers, pastors, missionaries and nurses. Tomorrow we go to The Bomas of Africa, the Karen Blixen museum and a giraffe park in Nairobi. We have a driver and he and the car will be with us for the day.
Love,
Dad
Giraffe Park:
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
What more can you ask for??
Each morning before we start class, one student prays and s/he always prays that they will obey the teacher and the teacher will have a nice day.
What more can you ask for??
Snakes! Feb 16th
Lucky to be alive!My students were outside using their rulers to measure sticks when they told me that they were not allowed in the garden because a snake had been seen there (Mom and I like to go through the garden when we have time for a walk). Then they said that there was a black mambo behind one of the cottages....I asked if it was dangerous and they told me, "it isn't dangerous for you. It just eats children. We really don't have much to worry about because the guards have a bow and arrow and the head of maintenance has an air rifle." During lunch the teachers assured me that the story about the snake was probably just that.
However Doug reportedly saw a king cobra on a path here over the weekend. A mongoose was about to attack it but got scared off when he came along. Just two more days until we get to go see some real wildlife! I'm getting excited about the safari this Friday-Sunday.
Love, Dad
Monday, February 16, 2009
Snake Attack! Feb 16
Lucky to be alive! My students were outside using their rulers to measure sticks when they told me that they were not allowed in the garden because a snake had been seen there (Mom and I like to go through the garden when we have time for a walk). Then they said that there was a black mambo behind one of the cottages....I asked if it was dangerous and they told me that it wasn't dangerous for me. It just eats children. We really don't have much to worry about because the guards have a bow and arrow and the head ofmaintenance has an air rifle. During lunch the teachers assured me thatthe story about the snake was probably just that. However Dougreportedly saw a king cobra on a path here over the weekend. A mongoosewas about to attack it but got scared off when he came along.Just two more days until we get to go see some real wildlife! I'm gettingexcited about the safari this Friday-Sunday. Love, Dad
Saturday, February 14, 2009
General Update- Feb 14th- Some of this is review
Hi all,
We apologize for the length of this update but we've decided this is also our diary so hope you enjoy what you want and skip the rest!!
We apologize for the length of this update but we've decided this is also our diary so hope you enjoy what you want and skip the rest!!
Dinner & Devotions
We eat at 5 in the dining hall with different families from the cottages each evening. It is nice for the Mamas to have some adult conversation and it encourages good behavior among their children. We will be done about 5:30 then again on Mon & Wed at 6:30 we will visit one of the cottages for enrichment (usually books or games) then stay for devotions which start at 7:15 and last until about 8. For example: In one cottage, Mama Lydia, who is paid by Rafiki and her 10 boys were all ready when we got there. It was very clean and neat. We read books and played games while their Mama got them ready for bed. Then they sang--like a choir with harmonized & solo section and repeated scripture verses. Mama Lydia read from the Bible and taught a lesson on Joshua that came straight from her heart. She said that Joshua was a leader and he had to be wise and sometimes firm/courageous. She said that as the leader of their house she also has to be wise and firm with them because she loves them. She told them that she hopes they will also be wise and firm with their loved ones. After training to be a Rafiki Mama she had a wait 8 months before getting an opportunity for employment. She calls her house Canaan as it is the Promised Land. She never had children until she came to rafiki in 2003.
School
Rog's fifth grade class is now working on Multiplication. Jane subs a lot in first and fourth grade besides working in the library. The teachers have high expectations for paying attention and behavior. This is very much reinforced throughout the village. Students take their turn willingly to sweep the floor, clean the bathrooms, mop the classroom floors and clean the chalkboards. They also spend time each week working in the community garden (which they all enjoy when the food turns up onthe table). Saturday morning is reserved for additional cleaning in their cottages.
People
We love the other missionaries and meeting locals who work here and other visitors who are staying here to learn about how to run similar orphanages in Kenya. They treat us very well (laundry done and folded, rooms cleaned and fridge stocked food, special treats on the table at our house, invites to dinner at the director's house, invites to church/ soccer/movies..Peter Turuthi is staying in the wageni (guest house) this week and training for his job as administrator of a satellite village that The Rafiki staff here is encouraging. Peter told us last night that the funding for his village has failed and the future of the satellite village is uncertain. He is determined and we sure hope the situation will soon improve for them.
Food
The portions are always more than we really want to eat so we usually ask for a smaller serving or give some of our food to the kids at our tables. We eat with the students for lunch. It helps them with speaking English and they are expected to learn from the example we provide. The meal is often rice with beans (cooked in different ways with spices and Rog thinks is very good but you can guess what Jane thinks} or ugali (like unsweetened cream-of-wheat though it's cornmeal) with cooked spinach orkale. Also there is often an slice of orange or mango or another type of fruit. Everyone gets the same thing and there never seems to be any complaining. On a few occasion I have seen a kid that had to eat on the floor because they had not been sitting properly in their seat. The Mamas & teachers make the kids behave! At lunch today I talked with my table about Oceans, equator, hibernation and migration. Most of the information was new to them.
Interesting note:When it is 10:35 PM here it is 2:35 PM in Michigan. We are 8 hours ahead of you.
Baby Orphanage in Nairobi
We went to a baby orphanage in Nairobi Saturday morning. Some of the kids here had lived there as infants and today was a reunion for them and their caregivers and other kids that lived there before being adopted. Two Mamas and eight kids went along, too. They have a very nice orphanage that is clean and bright with plenty of staff. There were activities for the kids such as face painting, balloons, coloring, entertainment (futbol player doing tricks with a soccer ball) trampoline, and a bouncing castle. They also served lunch (sandwiches and something very like empenadas called sabousas, donuts, and cake.) Rog poured somecoke into cups for Clint and Kyle (the two boys that were with me). They didn't know what it was. They wanted more, though. It was a moving day as we watched so many orphans who would have died running and playing...all the while they played "You raised me to more than I could be."
Traveling
We have traveled both in a bus & cars. It is always interesting to see the people along the way and their tiny businesses that line the road seemingly for miles. Unemployment is about 60-70% here and there are always lots of people moving from place to place. Beside every road there is a well worn path crowded with walkers. Traffic is pretty heavy with few rules that we recognize. People cross the street at any and all places and expect drivers to avoid them. We noticed just one traffic light today on our journey to downtown Nairobi and back again. We have seen very few accidents so I give the drivers high grades here. I'm glad I'm not driving.
Plans
A safari trip is planned for next weekend. We will be out and about on Thursday through Sunday. Later we may also be traveling to Tanzania with a doctor from the US (she looks forward to having some company).
Time to quit. We did hear the good news about Andy (Rog's nephew) &Karra's new baby daughter born yesterday. Hope all is well with anyone still reading this!! We do miss all of you.
Roger and Jane
School
Rog's fifth grade class is now working on Multiplication. Jane subs a lot in first and fourth grade besides working in the library. The teachers have high expectations for paying attention and behavior. This is very much reinforced throughout the village. Students take their turn willingly to sweep the floor, clean the bathrooms, mop the classroom floors and clean the chalkboards. They also spend time each week working in the community garden (which they all enjoy when the food turns up onthe table). Saturday morning is reserved for additional cleaning in their cottages.People
We love the other missionaries and meeting locals who work here and other visitors who are staying here to learn about how to run similar orphanages in Kenya. They treat us very well (laundry done and folded, rooms cleaned and fridge stocked food, special treats on the table at our house, invites to dinner at the director's house, invites to church/ soccer/movies..Peter Turuthi is staying in the wageni (guest house) this week and training for his job as administrator of a satellite village that The Rafiki staff here is encouraging. Peter told us last night that the funding for his village has failed and the future of the satellite village is uncertain. He is determined and we sure hope the situation will soon improve for them.
Food
The portions are always more than we really want to eat so we usually ask for a smaller serving or give some of our food to the kids at our tables. We eat with the students for lunch. It helps them with speaking English and they are expected to learn from the example we provide. The meal is often rice with beans (cooked in different ways with spices and Rog thinks is very good but you can guess what Jane thinks} or ugali (like unsweetened cream-of-wheat though it's cornmeal) with cooked spinach orkale. Also there is often an slice of orange or mango or another type of fruit. Everyone gets the same thing and there never seems to be any complaining. On a few occasion I have seen a kid that had to eat on the floor because they had not been sitting properly in their seat. The Mamas & teachers make the kids behave! At lunch today I talked with my table about Oceans, equator, hibernation and migration. Most of the information was new to them.
Interesting note:When it is 10:35 PM here it is 2:35 PM in Michigan. We are 8 hours ahead of you.
Baby Orphanage in Nairobi
We went to a baby orphanage in Nairobi Saturday morning. Some of the kids here had lived there as infants and today was a reunion for them and their caregivers and other kids that lived there before being adopted. Two Mamas and eight kids went along, too. They have a very nice orphanage that is clean and bright with plenty of staff. There were activities for the kids such as face painting, balloons, coloring, entertainment (futbol player doing tricks with a soccer ball) trampoline, and a bouncing castle. They also served lunch (sandwiches and something very like empenadas called sabousas, donuts, and cake.) Rog poured somecoke into cups for Clint and Kyle (the two boys that were with me). They didn't know what it was. They wanted more, though. It was a moving day as we watched so many orphans who would have died running and playing...all the while they played "You raised me to more than I could be."
Traveling
We have traveled both in a bus & cars. It is always interesting to see the people along the way and their tiny businesses that line the road seemingly for miles. Unemployment is about 60-70% here and there are always lots of people moving from place to place. Beside every road there is a well worn path crowded with walkers. Traffic is pretty heavy with few rules that we recognize. People cross the street at any and all places and expect drivers to avoid them. We noticed just one traffic light today on our journey to downtown Nairobi and back again. We have seen very few accidents so I give the drivers high grades here. I'm glad I'm not driving.
Plans
A safari trip is planned for next weekend. We will be out and about on Thursday through Sunday. Later we may also be traveling to Tanzania with a doctor from the US (she looks forward to having some company).
Time to quit. We did hear the good news about Andy (Rog's nephew) &Karra's new baby daughter born yesterday. Hope all is well with anyone still reading this!! We do miss all of you.
Roger and Jane
Thursday, February 12, 2009
I have been enjoying looking at the beautiful birds and flowers. Such vibrant colors. Even the sky seems to glow.
Dad and I feel very useful around here. We do lots of tutoring one on one and also small groups. I have been used as a sub lots. The children are very disciplined--standing often when I call on them or enter the room.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Monday, Feb 8th
Dear Friends and Family,
We had a very interesting day as it was our first day to leave the compound. The church service was surprisingly similar to DUMC--with big screen lyrics for all hymns and a choir leader! Everyone was dressed up for the service-all the kids looked great. Everyone here in Kenya has been very friendly and accepting of us. They are all good hosts.
We rode to church in a small bus with five mamas and their ten children each. We sat in the third row on the bus-there were 12 children, the bus driver and a mama in the two rows in front of us. None were complaining a bit. We rode through busy, rough roads with many walking along side the road (too close for comfort). The drivers here must be very skilled or we would be seeing lots of accidents. Since I was the last to get on the bus I thought I might stand on the step just inside the closed door. One of the mamas told me that I should sit down or the police would see me. The kids were sitting four to a seat wearing no seat belts and I was breaking the rules!
Last week I was the goalie for a game of futbol (soccer).I started out alright but before it was over one of the opposing players was scoring on me at will. Needless to say my team did not win the game, but they sure ran like crazy and burned off a lot of energy. We are eight hours ahead of you so at 3:30 pm your time it is 11:30 pm here.We have been getting used to their way of conserving energy. Because the electricity bill has been high in this area they now turn off the electricity during peak use times. So there is no power from 6:30-8:30AM, 11:30AM-12:30PM, 3:30 PM-4:30PM, and 5:30-6:30PM. All other times are good! It is most convenient to have coffee made and up and dressed before power goes out at 6:30am. Sunrise is about 6:40am so there is some outside light as we finish preparing for the day.
Today (Monday) we are scheduled to go into Mwiki to tour the town/area for a couple of hours. There are many businesses so we might do some shopping. An employee that works on the maintenance crew here (Joyce) will be our guide. She is nice and always friendly whenever we see her. S he volunteers to do this for us because she knows we would like to learn about the area. When we were out Yesterday we noticed many houses that were partially complete. Jane asked about them and we were told that building is a way to invest money that that the people might otherwise have to give away. Apparently the custom is that you are expected to give money to your friends if they ask for it. To do otherwise would be selfish and no one would want to have others think they are selfish. So they give it. However if the money is already spent constructing something they don't have it to give. When they get some money again the building will get a bit closer to completion.
There are usually three guards at the front gate 24 hours a day. They unlock the gate for us whenever we want to leave or enter but do not allow in anyone who would harm or steal from the Village. Everyone appreciates them for doing their job. Usually one is holding a spear or a bow and arrow. We went to devotions with Bethany cottage tonight. As we walked to the cottage we heard music coming from the dining hall. Kids and Mama Lydiawere singing so we went in and watched them rehearse for a presentation coming up in March. They were having fun and seemed to be enjoying every minute. We played (soap bubbles) with the kids for awhile then it was time for them to get ready for bed. The kids sang songs and prayed, then I read the story of Abraham. We shared pictures of our families then took some pictures of their family. Mama told them that we (their visitors) had listened to God's call and had not been afraid to come to a foreign land just as Abraham had done. It was very humbling to be compared with Abraham... Love from Africa,
Roger & Jane (Dad & Mom, Grandpa & Grandma)
We had a very interesting day as it was our first day to leave the compound. The church service was surprisingly similar to DUMC--with big screen lyrics for all hymns and a choir leader! Everyone was dressed up for the service-all the kids looked great. Everyone here in Kenya has been very friendly and accepting of us. They are all good hosts.
We rode to church in a small bus with five mamas and their ten children each. We sat in the third row on the bus-there were 12 children, the bus driver and a mama in the two rows in front of us. None were complaining a bit. We rode through busy, rough roads with many walking along side the road (too close for comfort). The drivers here must be very skilled or we would be seeing lots of accidents. Since I was the last to get on the bus I thought I might stand on the step just inside the closed door. One of the mamas told me that I should sit down or the police would see me. The kids were sitting four to a seat wearing no seat belts and I was breaking the rules!Last week I was the goalie for a game of futbol (soccer).I started out alright but before it was over one of the opposing players was scoring on me at will. Needless to say my team did not win the game, but they sure ran like crazy and burned off a lot of energy. We are eight hours ahead of you so at 3:30 pm your time it is 11:30 pm here.We have been getting used to their way of conserving energy. Because the electricity bill has been high in this area they now turn off the electricity during peak use times. So there is no power from 6:30-8:30AM, 11:30AM-12:30PM, 3:30 PM-4:30PM, and 5:30-6:30PM. All other times are good! It is most convenient to have coffee made and up and dressed before power goes out at 6:30am. Sunrise is about 6:40am so there is some outside light as we finish preparing for the day.
Today (Monday) we are scheduled to go into Mwiki to tour the town/area for a couple of hours. There are many businesses so we might do some shopping. An employee that works on the maintenance crew here (Joyce) will be our guide. She is nice and always friendly whenever we see her. S he volunteers to do this for us because she knows we would like to learn about the area. When we were out Yesterday we noticed many houses that were partially complete. Jane asked about them and we were told that building is a way to invest money that that the people might otherwise have to give away. Apparently the custom is that you are expected to give money to your friends if they ask for it. To do otherwise would be selfish and no one would want to have others think they are selfish. So they give it. However if the money is already spent constructing something they don't have it to give. When they get some money again the building will get a bit closer to completion.
There are usually three guards at the front gate 24 hours a day. They unlock the gate for us whenever we want to leave or enter but do not allow in anyone who would harm or steal from the Village. Everyone appreciates them for doing their job. Usually one is holding a spear or a bow and arrow. We went to devotions with Bethany cottage tonight. As we walked to the cottage we heard music coming from the dining hall. Kids and Mama Lydiawere singing so we went in and watched them rehearse for a presentation coming up in March. They were having fun and seemed to be enjoying every minute. We played (soap bubbles) with the kids for awhile then it was time for them to get ready for bed. The kids sang songs and prayed, then I read the story of Abraham. We shared pictures of our families then took some pictures of their family. Mama told them that we (their visitors) had listened to God's call and had not been afraid to come to a foreign land just as Abraham had done. It was very humbling to be compared with Abraham... Love from Africa,
Roger & Jane (Dad & Mom, Grandpa & Grandma)
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Video About Rafiki
Click here to see a Video about Rafiki
Scroll down until you see the small video box, click on "Watch Rafiki Video"
It's about 4 minutes long
Scroll down until you see the small video box, click on "Watch Rafiki Video"
It's about 4 minutes long
Update, Feb 8th
Good morning Kids!
Sorry we haven't written more but we keep very busy with jobs and the power is off at various times several times everyday--so it's hard to write often. But we think of you very often and wish you were all here with us!! You'd love the weather, the vegetation (flora) and the children. I am so glad to hear that you are keeping in touch with each other--warms my heart. We must admit, we have it nice. The plumbing and electricity is rough but very functional. We have a warm shower, clean towels and the laundry comes back folded --even the underwear. We are sleeping well on kind of hard beds with mosquito nets but neither have had back aches. Our frig is stocked with --yes, light coke! It's not the same as diet but close enough. We also have lots of fresh fruit mostly grown right here: tinysweet bananas, avocados and some type of clementine. We have sandwich meat, cheese, bread and even chips. Usually we eat with and what the children are eating but last night and today we won't. So I'm not sure if this mission diet is working. Somehow, I almost feel guilty about how nice it is!! But--they do keep us very busy. We both have projects and we both are teaching most the day. We play with the kids in the evening and walk around lots.
Our safari is planned for Feb 20 - 22 and Yeenlan (the lady in chargearound here) made all the arrangements. She was able to get us a flying safari which is suppose to be the nicest for less than we had thought we'd pay for a road safari. Flying safari means we fly to the Masai Mara, stayin a camp and then take road trips out at dawn and in evening. We haven't checked into the balloon ride yet.
Well our bus will be here shortly. We're going to church with 30 kids and their mama. Also two of the Americans are going and we'll stay in town with them and just check it out. We're glad to see what's on the other side of the wall. We love you all and really miss those babies so keep sending pictures and we'll plan a skype time soon.
Update, Feb 5th
Hi All,
Our days are busy and flying by! We are both in classrooms most the day. Jane subbed in today and will sub tomorrow & Monday too. They have mostly local teachers and no subs so I think the word is out that we're available. They are a delight to teach as discipline is strict and classroom sizes are low. Supplies are minimal so oral recitation is used a lot. Though many have learned to read--they often don't know what the words mean. Tomorrow, Jane has to teach Swahili so the shoe will be on the other foot! The teacher is with the kids all day which means she's librarian, lunch lady, PE teacher, and even supervises the students sweeping & mopping at the end of the day. No one has to clean the library because the students take their shoes off before coming in because there is a small rug in the center.
The children are so entertaining. Roger was a magnet when he started up a "futbol" game with a ball that was half flat. They played with gusto. They also love just rolling tires around or climbing trees. Jane asked Johnson (about 4 yrs old) who made the big holes (about 4") that are all over. She expected the name of an animal but Johnson quickly and confidently answered, "God made those holes and puts bad people in them!" I suggested asking and learned they were termite holes with the top mound knocked off. They eat like horses and no piece of rice goes to waste. Mama Susan tonight told one of her boys to only eat until he was full and then share his left overs with his brothers which they quickly devoured. She was given two eggs as she had been fasting because she had had things to pray for. She ate one and then asked who wanted the other. All ten did so she chose the youngest four and divided it equally. They were ecstatic and savored it by only licking their 1/4 egg for several minutes.
The update of the little boy who is afraid of Rog's hairy arms--each day he has gotten closer and today, he touched his fingers!! And it's time to tell a story about Jane: one little boy came over while I was sitting down and touched my cheeks saying "big cheeks" and felt my hair saying "Christmas hair". Gotta love em! Rog talked to some students during lunch today and asked them their favorite season (if there are seasons at about 1 1/2 degrees S. Latitude).They responded with Summer! So he asked them when is Summer because we have heard that the temperature doesn't vary more than a few degrees all year. They said February, March, and April!
We could tell much more but we're tired. Thanks for all your responses to our last email. We'll write more later.
Rog and Jane
Our days are busy and flying by! We are both in classrooms most the day. Jane subbed in today and will sub tomorrow & Monday too. They have mostly local teachers and no subs so I think the word is out that we're available. They are a delight to teach as discipline is strict and classroom sizes are low. Supplies are minimal so oral recitation is used a lot. Though many have learned to read--they often don't know what the words mean. Tomorrow, Jane has to teach Swahili so the shoe will be on the other foot! The teacher is with the kids all day which means she's librarian, lunch lady, PE teacher, and even supervises the students sweeping & mopping at the end of the day. No one has to clean the library because the students take their shoes off before coming in because there is a small rug in the center.
The children are so entertaining. Roger was a magnet when he started up a "futbol" game with a ball that was half flat. They played with gusto. They also love just rolling tires around or climbing trees. Jane asked Johnson (about 4 yrs old) who made the big holes (about 4") that are all over. She expected the name of an animal but Johnson quickly and confidently answered, "God made those holes and puts bad people in them!" I suggested asking and learned they were termite holes with the top mound knocked off. They eat like horses and no piece of rice goes to waste. Mama Susan tonight told one of her boys to only eat until he was full and then share his left overs with his brothers which they quickly devoured. She was given two eggs as she had been fasting because she had had things to pray for. She ate one and then asked who wanted the other. All ten did so she chose the youngest four and divided it equally. They were ecstatic and savored it by only licking their 1/4 egg for several minutes.
The update of the little boy who is afraid of Rog's hairy arms--each day he has gotten closer and today, he touched his fingers!! And it's time to tell a story about Jane: one little boy came over while I was sitting down and touched my cheeks saying "big cheeks" and felt my hair saying "Christmas hair". Gotta love em! Rog talked to some students during lunch today and asked them their favorite season (if there are seasons at about 1 1/2 degrees S. Latitude).They responded with Summer! So he asked them when is Summer because we have heard that the temperature doesn't vary more than a few degrees all year. They said February, March, and April!
We could tell much more but we're tired. Thanks for all your responses to our last email. We'll write more later.
Rog and Jane
Recruiting Bekah
I have already signed Bekah up for mission work here!! Really!! The American long term teachers are begging to find websites where they can find worksheets and also the best website to find the benchmarks. I proudly said, "My daughter is a reading specialist and would be a great resource!!" So Bekah... they are looking for benchmarks & websites for 1-2 and 3rd grade in both reading and math. The students are almost at the same level as the states thanks to the small classes & strict discipline though their vocab understanding & comprehension is much lower. Perhaps Bekah's ESL background could help also.
Love,
Mom
Love,
Mom
Quiet Nights
The nights here have been very quiet.
We hear some birds around 6am and there are bush babies that live in the trees. Mom heard one last night and said it sounded like a baby. They are about the size of a cat but I haven't seen one. More later... Love, DAD
We Have Arrived! Feb 3rd
We have arrived and all is well. All our luggage arrived also!! We are astounded by the beauty of the children, the Rafiki village, the flowers and feel blessed to be here. We feel that we have come to an oasis of shade and cooling breezes with very nice accomodations that will be very comfortable for us. Just outside the wall of this compound are many whoare scrambling to survive by their wits alone as there are few jobs to befound and there is no shade because most of the trees are gone. It is no wonder that when the locals come through the Rafiki gate they say "This must be Heaven!"
Today we met all the other volunteers, many of the children and their mamas. The mamas (local women hired to live with tenorphans) are very loving at the same time they demand best behavior. We also toured the school and already have a teaching schedule. Besides tutoring , we've been asked to teach small groups for reading and wholegroups for math. Many of the teachers here live locally and will appreciate our input and also some time off.
Tonight we were invited to one of the homes where Mama Ruth and her ten children were having evening devotions. The children sang with gusto several hymns before listening and answering questions about a bible reading. Then Mama Ruth asked Rogerto read them the story of Noah--how ironic! It was inspirational to listen to their evening prayers as they prayed for us and our visit here. Finally, we showed them pictures of our grandbabies, family, home and Dexter. I wanted to kiss them all good night!
Funniest part of day--Roger was surrounded by children who wanted to touch the hair on his arms and one little guy who was so afraid of Rog's hair that he ran to getaway! It's bed time and we're ready!
Roger and Jane
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