Final thoughts...

Living positively. That’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot in Kenya but am only now starting to really understand. To me, that phrase could be a catch phrase for living the good life or the latest advertising slogan promising happiness and fulfillment. In Kenya, however, this phrase has a very specific meaning. It refers to people who are HIV+ but who are still approaching life in a positive way and in addition to taking care of themselves, they are making an impact in their local communities. In Kibera, we met an older woman who is HIV + and who lost several family members to AIDS. Her daughters were both HIV+ (contracted through prostitution) and one had lost her husband and child to the disease. The old woman was making a life for herself and had adopted a little boy who had been abandoned (he is also HIV+). In Kenya, there is still such a significant stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. People don’t understand how it’s contracted and many believe it is a curse or punishment. Those who admit that they are HIV+ are often shunned in their communities – even their churches – and lose their jobs and often their families. We have met so many people who are “living positively” with AIDS here and who are maintaining their health while making a difference in their communities. Many are vocal about AIDS – how it is spread and how it can be avoided, even though that often means discussing topics that are still taboo here in Africa. My friend, Rachel, is passionate about the AIDS epidemic that is sweeping this continent. She participated in an award-winning AIDS documentary called “Window of Hope” (look for it on youtube). When she was an education professor, she trained future teachers in how to teach about AIDS awareness, prevention, and treatment, and now children in classrooms across Kenya are learning about HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves and their families. The other part of living positively is that these people still possess tremendous faith, in spite of their death sentence. It would be so easy to blame God and turn away from him in circumstances like these, but somehow, they draw even closer to Him and use their circumstances to spread the Gospel of Christ’s love and grace.

In the US, our lives are often unaffected by HIV/AIDS, but there are other tragedies that befall us, and when I think of the phrase “living positively,” I think of people I know personally who, when faced with tremendous challenge and desperate situations, choose to maintain a positive outlook and use their challenges to show Christ to the world. Jill and Ben gave birth to a micro-preemie. While the outlook was bleak, they chose to live positively, to put their faith in Christ, and to share their journey with the world around them. Today, their daughter Whitney is almost two years old and has beaten the odds placed against her. Her story, and her parents’ willingness to approach challenge in a positive way, have served to strengthen the faith of so many people and to inspire others to “live positively.” The same is true for Callie, a young woman diagnosed with brain cancer. Even in her darkest moments, she placed her faith in Christ and chose to share her journey in a positive way, inspiring and motivating others. These stories have impacted my life and so many others. The same is true for those living positively with HIV/AIDS in Kenya. They are changing the world through their faith – one person at a time.

In Kenya, we see so much that shocks and despairs us. It often feels like the problems are so huge, that nothing can be done. But I have also met people who believe that planting seeds – one life at a time – is the only answer to solving the challenges of this country and our world as a whole. That inspires and motivates me to live positively.

Getting ready to leave...

Here's John making his "I really love being hugged but have to pretend that I don't" face :) We saw a lot of that expression on this trip!

The trip is wrapping up, but we’ve had a great few days. On Monday, we went to Nairobi to meet a friend, Reagan, for lunch in the downtown area of the city – somewhere we’d never been. It was surprisingly similar to downtown areas of American cities. We enjoyed catching up with Reagan and had a great buffet lunch of Kenyan food – which was delicious. After that, we went to get pictures printed to leave with some of our friends here as well as the kids at the Centre and then spent the remainder of the day at the Centre playing with the kids. On Tuesday, we got up early and went to Karen, a suburb of Nairobi, (and named after Karen Blixsen who the film Out of Africa was based on – her home is in Karen) back to the Serare School to visit with my friend Rachel. We had breakfast together and then drove up to the Ngong Hills for a great little hike and spectacular views of Nairobi and the Rift Valley. It was a wonderful way to spend a morning. We returned to the school, and Lauren spent an hour visiting with about 20 of the girls who attend the private boarding school about college and life in America. She then went to lunch in the dining hall with the girls, and Rachel and I enjoyed lunch at her house where I met her son who is a biomedical researcher working with a tree that has the potential to help/cure more than 300 diseases. It was fascinating to hear about his work. Once again, we spent the afternoon/evening at the Centre with the kids and the moms. Rachel’s school is called “Serare School”. Serare means “imprint” and Rachel talked about what an imprint education leaves on the minds and lives of people. She makes me proud to be a teacher!

I had a wonderful time with John Monday night. When I arrived, he was crying with a headache, so after a spoonful of ibuprofen, he curled up in my lap and went to sleep. I held him for 2 ½ hours while he slept and then was able to tuck him into bed for the night. He puts on a really tough act and reminds me so much of Phillip at that age. Sometimes I would forget with Phillip that he still needed cuddling because he was always so tough. The same was true with John. As I held John, I couldn’t help but think that while these kids are so incredibly fortunate to have their basic needs met by the Centre (otherwise, they may be going hungry, stealing, or prostituting) there are other things that they really miss out on. One being the opportunity to be held when they are sad or don’t feel good. With 41 children and so many responsibilities, the moms at the Centre can’t possibly give much individual attention to each child.

The rest of the team returned from Safari yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) and leaves for home tonight. Lauren and I have one more day, but it will likely be spent relaxing because Lauren is sick. She came down with what I think was probably the flu Sunday night. On Tuesday, she still wasn’t better so I took her to the doctor at the clinic here at Brackenhurst. He put her on antibiotics thinking it may now be a bacterial infection. The total for the visit plus the antibiotics?? $440 shillings which is about $5.50!!! I could so get used to living in Kenya!! She’s been sleeping most of the day and plans to go to the Centre in a couple of hours to see the kids again. We’ll stop by on our way to the airport tomorrow for one last visit. We are pretty well packed. Have a few people to visit with and to share our leftover groceries with, but otherwise, we’re set to come home.

Hope to have time to do a final entry tomorrow before we leave for the airport. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel home Thursday and Friday. In Kenya, instead of “safe travels” they say “journey mercies”… I like that phrase. Sounds like something to live your life by…

P.S. I couldn’t post this this afternoon because the internet was down. We are home now from the Centre. The rest of the team is in Nairobi getting ready to fly home. Lauren got off the couch to spend 2 hours with the children and is now writing each one a letter to leave tomorrow. She is feeling a little better but still has no voice and a lot of congestion. We had a great time with the kids. We brought each one a chocolate bar, and they really enjoyed that rare treat. We’re planning to enjoy a fire (it’s really cold here today!) and an early night.

The last several days have been wonderful!

Louise painting the nails of a woman who survived leprosy.
My boy John.

John and Peter in one of their cool distorted pictures..

Our "Family Portrait" from dinner last night. Mama Joan is on the far left. Geoffrey is the tall man beside me.
Just the Kenyan Families. Mama Joan on the far left. Geoffrey on the far right.
Tearing up the dance floor at the Cheshire Retirement Center outside Nairobi. What a blessing these people were to us!

Lauren, John, and Peter at the cottage figuring out the computer.

What an amazing few days. I am just now finding the time to write because we have been so busy – early mornings, late nights, and full days in between. Here’s an overview of the past few days…

Friday we visited another Cheshire Home (apparently there are more than 200 of them in the world). This one was for the elderly. There were 38 living there full time – If I understood correctly, they do not have any living family members, so will live out their lives at Cheshire and Cheshire will handle burial arrangements. Many were in wheel chairs, and all appeared to be disabled in one way or another. When we arrived they were in the courtyard enjoying some sunshine. It was very awkward at first (as it usually is when visiting a new rest home in the US). We offered to paint fingernails for the ladies – and had a few takers. Once they saw the others’ nails, though , even more wanted to have their nails done. They kept asking us to do their hair – if we go again, it would be a real blessing to the ladies there to bring a stylist with us to do their hair. After a tour and a few more awkward minutes, we decided to sing for them. We did a bunch of children’s songs with motions that go along with them. They just looked at us like we were crazy – even the worker looked like she was pitying us. Then, we sang the one song we know in Swahili (God is so Good), and things really livened up then. They taught us a new verse in Kikuyu (a local tribal language) and then they began to sing songs to us. At some point, one of the staff members brought out an ipod on speaker and then the real fun started… DANCING! These disabled women (one completely blind, others using canes) began to dance in their tribal styles – it was beautiful! They danced for probably 30 minutes… some of our team members even learned a few moves J

Saturday we visited our friend Pat Dixson in the morning (she runs the feeding program we worked with on Wednesday) at her home. She has beautiful gardens that have been cultivated for years and years (she inherited her home from her parents). There are paths everywhere, and we went on a long walk with her dogs and cats (yes, even her cats go on walks with her!). At times it felt like we were in a rainforest in the middle of nowhere…. Hard to believe that there were other houses nearby. We also saw two different types of monkeys that live in her trees. Beautiful.

After that, we picked up Mama Joan and her 2 kids (our housekeeper from last year and dear friend) and headed to the LCC. The moms at the LCC had asked if we could bring Mama Joan there to teach them how to make zucchini bread (she made it for us last year and we shared it with them – they loved it!). Mama Joan was so sweet to help. We had a great time visiting with the moms while making 3 batches of bread. At the LCC, the oven is heated by wood and doesn’t have any kind of thermostat, so it’s impossible to control temperature. The bread turned out a little black on the top and bottom, but absolutely delicious in the middle. The moms are experts at working that oven, so next time they’ll know to get the oven a little cooler and to just cook it longer. After the bread baking, it was time to celebrate Grace’s 16^th birthday. We brought 2 huge cakes and punch to the Centre. It became a birthday party for everyone (the kids don’t really get to celebrate their birthdays), so after singing “Happy Birthday” to Grace, we sang “Happy Birthday to Me” and then ate and ate and ate the wonderful cake. Again, I couldn’t believe how much these kids could eat – especially something as rich as cake (something they never get to eat). And then it was time for birthday presents. Global Connections has a “godparent” program where people can sponsor one of the orphans and become the child’s godparent. The godparents and children exchange letters each month and get to know one another. The godparents also provide guidance and spiritual support such as prayer for the children. This year, godparents had the opportunity to send a small gift to their children and we packed them in trunks and brought them with us. At the birthday party, each child received his/her godparent gift. The kids loved it, and we got lots of pictures to share with the godparents.

Saturday ended with a great dinner party at the Global Connections Farm for Grace’s birthday. We had spaghetti and pizza (her two favorite foods) as well as chocolate cake. What a beautiful day!

Sunday… what a wonderful day. It began with church at Tigoni Fellowship with the kids from the Centre. Then Lauren and I were able to take John (our godchild) and Peter (Lauren’s special friend) with us for the day. We returned to Brackenhurst and took the boys to lunch at Mike’s – the restaurant here where they once again ate and ate and ate. Then, the plan was to hike, explore, play outside, etc… but once they saw the computer, it was all over. I have a new Mac for work and it has a built-in camera and some pretty cool photo programs where you can distort pictures and do all kinds of crazy things. I was so impressed with these 2 boys from rural Kenya figured out how to use things that I don’t even know how to use on this computer. We have tons of HILARIOUS pictures from the day. They also learned out how to create and play music using the Garage Band program. At one point, they did go with Lauren to run errands on the compound. I gave them each 200 shillings (about $2.50) to choose something from the gift shop. Lauren said it was a hilarious process, but they were able to each get a toy and a bar of chocolate and still have 5 shillings left. Last night (still Sunday), we had some of our Kenyan friends over for dinner. Mama Joan, her husband and two kids came as well as Geoffrey (our guard from last year), his wife, and his two kids. We had a full house (12 people) with Lauren, Peter, John, and me. We had a wonderful Kenyan meal (mukimo – green mashed potatoes with corn and green peas, chepati – Kenyan bread… like a thick tortilla, beef stew, ugali – something like hardened grits, kuku – chicken on a stick, zucchini, and fruit). It was all delicious. Mama Joan also taught me how to make Kenyan Chai which is how they drink their hot tea here – with lots of steamed milk, a little tea, and a little sugar. When it was time to go home, we were still visiting, so David (our driver) came in and ate as well. It was a wonderful night – one that I will continue to remember for a long time. The main reason I continue to return to Kenya is the people – we have made so many special friendships here, and I cannot imagine not seeing these people who are like family to me now.

The rest of the team left yesterday morning early for safari in the Masai Mara, so Lauren and I are keeping busy doing some things that we really want to do (like yesterday’s day with the boys and dinner with friends). Today, we’re headed to Nairobi to have lunch with Reagan (we met him in 2007 when he was one of our translators and have continued to see him each year). He’s taking us to a Kenyan buffet, so we’re looking forward to trying some new things. Then, we’re visiting Amani Aju – a place that employs refugee women to sew. I visited it last year, but Lauren has never been. After that, we’ll head to the mall for an hour to get some pictures printed to leave with some of our friends. This afternoon and evening we’ll spend at the Children’s Centre. It will be good to spend some time with the kids and with the moms.

As you can see, we’ve been busy! We have just a few days left before leaving Thursday to return to the US. The time has flown by, especially since we spent 6 weeks last year and were able to do so much more. It has been a great trip!

Kibera...

Crossing the sewage river (seriously - the bridge washed out during the heavy rain season, and we literally had to cross a river of raw sewage using stepping stones. luckily - no one fell in!)The larger building to the left in the picture is the school we visited. It's located on the edge of Kibera Slum near Nairobi.

The view from the 2nd floor of one of the buildings at the school (the blue building in the picture above). The first building you see here is also part of the school.
My friend, Rachel, outside one of the classrooms in Kibera. I believe that God brought Rachel and me together... we met briefly at a church service last year and she asked for my email address. We've been communicating by email all year, and I was so glad to get to spend time with her and especially to see the projects she's working with in Kibera.
This looks like something out of a horror film to me... unfortunately, it's for real. There was a similar door marked "Library."
Lauren with Winnie (left) and Elizabeth (center). Both girls are just 17 years old (almost Lauren's age). It's been hard this afternoon to wrap my mind around how fortunate Lauren (and all of the rest of us) were to be born in the US instead of into conditions like where these two girls live. What a tremendous responsibility we have to the rest of the world. And what an opportunity.

Where to begin… Kibera. Every time I visit this place, I think it hits me even harder as I see more and more and understand less and less. Today has been the most challenging, but yet my favorite, day of the trip. This morning, we met Rachel, a principal of a private school near Nairobi and visited the projects she is working with in Kibera. Rachel is such an inspiration. She had a long career as a teacher in public education and then went on to be a lecturer at a teacher’s college before ending up in administration at a private boarding school. Her school was wonderful – we enjoyed our tour and hearing about her school (which is for primarily middle and upper income students – not the poor). But, Rachel spends her days off in Kibera, about 30 minutes away and hopes for the day when she can quit working and volunteer full time in Kibera.

As I’ve mentioned before, Kibera is a huge slum. There is simply no way for me to describe it accurately for you. For the first time, I was able to take pictures, so I’m sharing those with you. But to be there in person and walk the narrow paths, cross the rivers of raw sewage, and see the impossible living conditions – is really indescribable. There is so much pain and misery but also great beauty in the pride of the people and in the hearts of those who choose to serve there.

Our first stop was a school that serves about 800 students. It is an “informal” school which means that it bypasses a lot of the restrictions of “formal” public schools in Kenya – class size, teacher qualifications, playgrounds, hygienic conditions, etc… It has 22 classrooms and 16 teachers (you figured right – some classes don’t have teachers) covering grades Kindergarten through 12^th grade. We had the opportunity to meet a few of the students and to hear their stories – heartbreaking. Elizabeth is a double orphan, having lost both her parents and has no on willing to care for her. She is currently in the 10^th grade and wants to be a journalist one day. She has a friend who is letting her sleep at her house but isn’t able to feed her. It’s very common in Kibera for girls and women to turn to prostitution to meet their basic needs of food and shelter. I believe this is part of Elizabeth’s story. Rachel is working with girls like Elizabeth on issues of sexuality, self-esteem, and empowerment – helping them to value themselves and set goals for their lives during the crucial teen years. The school has no feeding program for the high school students, so girls like Elizabeth and her friend, Winnie, don’t have access to food. Lauren gave them our packed lunch to share (wonder what they thought of white fudge covered oreos!!). We won’t soon forget them or their stories.

The neat thing about this school is the dedication and success of its students. The teachers arrive at 6:00 and school starts at 6:45 and ends at 6 at night! That’s Monday through Saturday! We were told that these kids earn strong scores on the national exam – some even outscoring privileged kids from private schools. What a miracle – and what a great way to break the cycle of poverty through education.

After the school, we visited a grandmother in her home in another part of Kibera. It was our first time to be in the home of someone in Kibera, so that was a special experience. We enjoyed visiting and learning her story. Rachel is hoping to find some kind of handiwork – beadwork, crocheting, sewing, etc… that this lady and others can do in their homes to create a sustainable income to support their families.

Rachel also works to supply sanitary pads and underwear for a large number of teen girls at the school we visited (I think about 300 girls). As in other third world countries, girls often have to stay home from school when they have their periods. Underwear are about 25 cents per pair. Some of our team members found directions for making washable/reusable sanitary pads, and brought patterns and samples for Rachel – she was thrilled!

If any of you feel led to make a contribution to Rachel’s work in Kibera or any other ministry I’ve described in this blog, please do so. Global Connections is very unique in that it doesn’t take a penny of your donation out for overhead costs… 100% of what you give goes directly to the ministry you designate, and small amounts of money go a long way here in Kenya. For more information on Global Connections or for their mailing address, visit: www.globalconnectionsonline.org

Tonight we are hosting David (the teacher at the K-Branch of the Children’s Centre) and his family for dinner. Tomorrow, we’re visiting the market in Nairobi and visiting a different Cheshire Home that serves elderly disabled people. I wasn't able to get all of my pictures from today into this one post, so please look at the next two posts (below) to see the rest of the pictures.

More Kibera

Children in one of the classrooms (where the only light was coming through a tiny piece of plastic in the tin roof - it was very dark!). The children were happy to see us and sang a song of welcome.
We called this the "catacombs" - my flash lit up the whole hall - in reality it was dark and tight with rough stick and mud/concrete walls. These halls connected one classroom to another and I guess offer some protection from the elements.
Another of the passageways...

Kibera...

Kibera... so hard to put into words. In four trips to Kenya, these are the first pictures I've been able to take of Kibera. These scenes go on and on. Shack upon shack. Open sewage running through the hard-packed dirt streets. Homes made of tin with dirt floors. Just heartbreaking.

I'm having to post only 3 pictures at a time so there will be several entries today...

A couple of pictures from today

Handing out pillowcases at Cheshire. This year at Governor's School, Lauren organized a time where scholars could decorate pillowcases for kids in Kenya. They made 46 wonderful pillowcases. Today, we handed out 28 of them to the girls at Cheshire. On Saturday, the rest will go to pre-school students at the Children's Centre. These girls were thrilled to receive them!
This photo is from Pat's Feeding Program. I could have included pictures of the plastic bags of rice, beans/corn, corn meal, etc... that they receive, but I was most moved by the pile of empty bottles and containers. These are all things we would normally throw away in the US, but to the desperately poor in Kenya, these become treasures. There were even old prescription bottles. Each person was able to choose one, and believe me - they chose carefully. In the end, there weren't even enough to go around and I immediately thought of things I'd been throwing away over the past 2 weeks and how someone would have used and valued those objects.