I'm really encouraged!
The last two days we had meetings with the legal guardians of the kids at AMCC. Thursday was for the kids in High School (aka Secondary School) and yesterday was for 1-8th grade (aka Primary School).
Thursdays meeting was mostly John talking, which, thankfully, was translated from Kikuyu into English by Nancy the teacher/secretary/matron/mom/cook/janitor/rocket scientist. It was so cool hearing John speak, because he shared a lot of his heart and his methods for what he's doing and it's just beautiful stuff to hear. Cool also, because even though it's translated into English it is still done in Kenyan style. That means that there are lots of illustrations, analogies, and questioning used to make a point. i.e. "Would you have your children getting involved in all kinds of destructive actitivites while they are here? Then you can see why we have this rule about when they are allowed to leave the home, etc..." It works really well in this culture, and Nick and I are learning to adopt it as well when we are talking with others.
A few reflections on these meetings:
1. Only half of the guardians came. That's a bummer, for a number of reasons. I don't know how to interpret their truency though; it may be for lack of concern, or for lack of funds...
2. The most that any of these guardians makes per month is $38.00. That's the MOST that any of them made. All of them had jobs, which were: casual labor on coffee or tea farms ($1.00-$1.25 per day), house help ($1.00-$1.25 per day) or selling fruits in the market. They all shared what they did and how much they earned, and it was pretty sobering to me.
I did some math, and figured out how difficult that would be to live on. For example, two pounds of rice costs here costs about 55 cents. That would be great for me if I earned US pay, but here it's over half of my daily wage! What if two pounds of rice cost me $45! Or what if one tortilla cost me $20! That's the kind of equivalent wages that people here are earning. It's true that, aside from specialty items (like mozzarella!) food here costs less than in the states, but since people earn comparatively less most people don't benefit from it. Pretty crazy for me to think about. The monthly rent at AMCC is about $65, which is just under DOUBLE what these adults earn in one month. So I guess it's true that the kids at AMCC need assistance...
But, they don't need sponsorship! We have been talking with John a lot about how to partner, and we've kind of honed in on the word relationship. It is a much more involved interaction than sponsorship, and we're excited about where God will go with this new model for partnership.
John told the parents that AMCC is not trying to create a parasitic relationship for them, where one party benefits and the other simply gives and gives. This isn't healthy for anybody in the long run (at least not when people are involved, though it does seem to work for the mosquito population). So John is wanting the guardians to become more involved in the provision for these children. Most of these guardians, by the way, still have more children at their home whom they are caring for. They talked about it with the Secondary school guardians, and each agreed to bring the equivalent of about $18 to the fund-raiser we're holding on April 26th!!!
--- News Flash ---
AMCC is hosting a fund-raiser for itself on April 26th! Please pray for us about this! We're inviting people in Kenya, the guardians, friends, officials, just different people we know somehow. Our food will run out right around this time (actually, a week or two beforehand it looks like) and so we're doing to this to try to get some money to buy food again.
I can't tell you how happy I am about this!
1. It was John's idea.
2. It's in Kenya, with primarily Kenyans as guests!
3. The guardians will be contributing funds to it as well!
It seems very much like a step in the right direction, or rather, a step in lots of the right directions for AMCC. Please be praying for God to bring people, and for Him to provide for AMCC. We'll need money to pay for the dinner that we're serving to our guests (which may cost about $40 total) and we'll need the Lord to move in people to give gladly.
I'm stoked about this, and very encouraged to see where AMCC is headed. We're also still researching how to start having food for ourselves on a sustainable basis (i.e. keeping chickens, or growing food, maybe paying for a rice patty to be kept and then reaping and selling the harvest for profit).
I'm also happy to report that today, for the first time in four weeks, the children will be eating ugali (the staple in Kenya). Bwana asifiwe! (praise the Lord)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Big Post
Q: What do you do when your star pupil doesn't come home from school?
A: Call the area chief, assistant chief, counsellor, boy's father (who lives 300 km away), principal, send out two groups to walk around the area looking for he boy and asking around, and pray.
This question (and others) have been some of what Nick and I have been learning to answer since I last wrote.
Turns out that the most effective part of the answer that I gave above was pray. No one had heard of Jeffrey, seen him, or knew anything about where he might have gone or why he might have left. Academically, he's #1 in all of 7th grade in school, and Nick and I have really enjoyed him because he's been an excellent swahili teacher for us!
Still, on Wednesday afternoon Jeffrey didn't come home from school. After a fair amount of searching and calling, Nick and I prayed some. We're both reeeeeally inexerienced and new to anything that could be called "spiritual warfare", but we've figured that we'd better learn some and quick. We prayed, and God did just what we asked for: he kept Jeffrey safe from physical harm, spiritual harm, and from bad ideas. Jeffrey also ended up in safe hands (a pastor and his wife, of all people!). After walking about 3-4 miles on his own, through two villages, Jeffrey asked someone if he could borrow their phone to call his dad. This person asked a few questions, and eventually gave Jeffrey to a local pastor, who called Jeffrey's dad, who then called us here at AMCC. Whoo-hoo!!
The following morning John was to go pick Jeffrey up, but he develop a terrible, bronchitus-like cough overnight and was pretty beat. So Nick and I walked 2 miles to go pick up Jeffrey from this man we'd never met before. Turns out, this dude's wife runs a Chemist (aka drug store), so we bought some cough medicine for John as an indirect way of saying thank-you for taking care of Jeffrey. Though we could have taken a matatu back to AMCC, we figured that 2 miles would give us plenty of time to talk with Jeffrey, so we walked back as well (answering another prayer of ours, that Jeffrey would recieve both love and discipline when he returned). Nick and I spent a while talking, listening to Jeffrey, and then talking again. Turns out that he's spoken Kikuyu (aka mothertongue) in school, which is not allowed there. Beyond that the details get fuzzy, but suffice it to say that he was afraid of coming back to AMCC because he thought he'd get sent home... so he decided to just go home by himself first (there are plenty of inconsistencies in logic in his plan, but that's not pertinent, he's in 7th grade, so his thinking's not always going to be stellar, nor his desire to accept appropriate discipline for knowingly breaking rules).
In the end, Jeffrey is back with us- praise the Lord!! I'm sure it's hard on him to be back, because this is a shame-based culture and he brought shame on AMCC by both speaking kikuyu in school and also by not coming back. The kids will give him a harder time than I would like, but Nick and I aren't really sure yet how to speak into that.
So praise God that Jeffrey's safe, and back with us!!! Pray for him to be accepted back here by the kids (John and Nancy have fullen accepted him back and aren't holding any grudges), and to continue to do well in school. He's got a really bright future if he stays here, but returning home would be the end of his education.
Food and Money.
We've got lots of both of those in the states. Turns out that here in Kenya... not so much. People in the upper class have plenty of money, and thusly they've got plenty of food. But there is a WHOLE LOT of corruption in Kenya, so the poor generally stay poor. AND, since there's been a huge shift in weather here in the last ten years (everyone will tell you about it, whether or not they've heard the term "global warming" or could say it in english or swahili), the rains don't come as much, and the resulting drought means that people are also struggling to grow their own food to eat.
From the conversations I've had with people in the community, this part of Kenya is actually pretty fertile, as long as there's enough water. Infrastructure is not so hot around here, though, so there are few wells, and even fewer small farms with enough water to irrigate them (many of the wells are used by the community, and thusly do not contain enough water for people to take care of immediate needs (drinking, cooking, cleaning/bathing) and future ones (irrigation) because the well simply runs out of water).
So these are some of the factors which are working against the kids at AMCC. Most of the farms around here (maybe an acre or so in size) have either nothing planted (because the rains are 3 weeks late and people have lost their crop due to early planting the last few years) or a cash crop (tea of coffee) which is currently bringing in a meager amount of profit (case study #1: in the 70's the price of coffee was about $1 for 2 pounds, today it is 10 cents or less). Word on the street is that this change is due to corruption and middle men, since coffee costs more to buy today than it ever has. Speaking of, anybody know how to start a business that sells free-trade coffee/tea??? Seems that this community could benefit hugely.
Case study #2: John's dad currently grows about one acre of tea leaves. After paying his employees his monthly profit is about $25. He could earn more if we could get a well (so that he could irrigate), but thus far has been unable to get $60 at one time to pay someone to dig one. This boggles my mind.
That's all a backdrop for AMCC, and our struggles with food and money. The aforementioned forces (especially corruption by high-level government officials) are strong conitributing factors to why poverty persists in Kenya, but more recently we're struggle because of two things: Nick and I.
The perception here, pretty universally, is that when a white person comes to a place then that place his basically won the lottary. The white person will pay for any needs that exist, and more, and all of one's troubles and worries will be gone... so the thought goes. This myth exists because it has happened in many places in Kenya/sub-saharan African/the 2/3's world. Anyway, Nick and I came with open hands to help, but also comparatively empty pockets. We brought some money to make a contribution toward sustainable food efforts (i.e. to buy stuff to grow our own food), but even if we took that money and spent it all toward immediate food needs it would be gone in about 7 weeks (that's why we want it to go toward sustainable food efforts, so that they're not perpetually in need of donations).
So when Nick and I came, the community saw that "your wazungu have come" (aka your white people have come) and figured that they didn't need to support AMCC anymore. It makes sense to me, if I were poor already and thought that a need was getting taken care of by someone else, then I'd be stoked to sell the bananas I would have given to those kids at the market, or give them to my sister's family who are in need of food. But Nick and I came to get to know AMCC, and to help with menial daily tasks (cooking, going to trade out cell phones, delivering the payment for school fees, etc...), not to throw money at this place.
That's made kind of a perfect storm of difficulty for us here, since the community thinks we're going to be providing, but we were counting on the community for that. So Nick and I have eaten githeri (a mixture of maize and beans) for every dinner here for the last two weeks. It's also what the kids eat every day for lunch. It's also what I eat for breakfast most days, and have taken for lunch whenever I'm here for the last week or so. Thankfully, it's a wonderful source of protein (two parts maize + one part corn = 3 bits of protein, so says my Appropriate Technology Manual), so still, the variation and other vitamins and minerals are missed.
Nick and I now make it a conscious effort to try to tell people when we meet them that we love it here but are having a bit of a difficult time at AMCC because the community has stopped supporting them. We're also praying that God will pretty much tell people to give us food/money for supplies/rent/school fees, etc... because it'll be a good while before AMCC will be self-sustaining and/or Nick and I will feel comfortable and be able to raise funds for them on a regular basis. Pray with us please!
In order to combat the current situation of want, John has suggested that we get down and dirty (prayer without bathing... jk about not bathing). Yesterday we spent about 30 min. compiling a list of stuff that we're going to pray for every day. John anticipates it will take about 2 hours every day (yikes!!!), you can pray for us about that. ;-)
Here's the list of what we're going to praying for:
1. House Rent ($70 a month)
2. $ to pay for a neighbor's saucepans (which are now broken anyway)
3. $ to Buy bigger saucepans.
4. Food, regular provision and healthy variation
5. $ for exams
6. $ for cutting hair (would anyone like to send hair-clippers??? Email me!)
7. $ for cell phone bill (about $60 a month)
8. Firewood ($38 a month)
9. Propane for pressure lamp ($13 a month)
10. Parafin ($3 a month)
11. Patroleum Jelly for Lotion
12. Toothpaste
13. Laundry Soap
14. Toilet paper
15. Shoe polish (a necessity here!)
16. Spices
17. Unity/love all here, Staff And Children (SAC)
18. Patience for SAC
19. Increase our faith
20. God to bless our partners, for them to give only with cheerful hearts.
21. Our own land.
22. An income generating project.
23. For self-sustainabing food (growing our own food, planting or rearing).
24. Wisdom, how to spend $ and handle issues.
25. Self-Sustainability
26. Another worker for AMCC
27. John's family is far away, that's not so great.
28. John's back to be healed.
29. For the enemies of AMCC, that God would bless them and we would also.
30. Protection from Satan's attacks.
31. SAC would become closer to God.
32. Children's schooling, that they'd work hard, do well.
33. School fees (secondary school, university, vocational school).
34. School fund
35. For more friends and partners for AMCC
36. $ for transportation
37. A vehicle of our own. Fuel for it.
38. Community to be involved, even though wazungu are here.
39. Encouragement for Nancy, and all of us to keep going.
PRAISE GOD FOR SWITCHFOOT!!!
I'm listening to my least favorite album of their's right now and it's still just incredible!!! I'm just psyched up!! "We are slaves of what we want" So true.
Maybe it's because I haven't listened to a song I know in 2 weeks... On a positive note, I do enjoy the music here in Kenya a lot. The rap is cool, and since I can't understand the words it's pretty fun. The Congalese style music here is also pretty fun, I think I'm really going to get into it. :-)
A: Call the area chief, assistant chief, counsellor, boy's father (who lives 300 km away), principal, send out two groups to walk around the area looking for he boy and asking around, and pray.
This question (and others) have been some of what Nick and I have been learning to answer since I last wrote.
Turns out that the most effective part of the answer that I gave above was pray. No one had heard of Jeffrey, seen him, or knew anything about where he might have gone or why he might have left. Academically, he's #1 in all of 7th grade in school, and Nick and I have really enjoyed him because he's been an excellent swahili teacher for us!
Still, on Wednesday afternoon Jeffrey didn't come home from school. After a fair amount of searching and calling, Nick and I prayed some. We're both reeeeeally inexerienced and new to anything that could be called "spiritual warfare", but we've figured that we'd better learn some and quick. We prayed, and God did just what we asked for: he kept Jeffrey safe from physical harm, spiritual harm, and from bad ideas. Jeffrey also ended up in safe hands (a pastor and his wife, of all people!). After walking about 3-4 miles on his own, through two villages, Jeffrey asked someone if he could borrow their phone to call his dad. This person asked a few questions, and eventually gave Jeffrey to a local pastor, who called Jeffrey's dad, who then called us here at AMCC. Whoo-hoo!!
The following morning John was to go pick Jeffrey up, but he develop a terrible, bronchitus-like cough overnight and was pretty beat. So Nick and I walked 2 miles to go pick up Jeffrey from this man we'd never met before. Turns out, this dude's wife runs a Chemist (aka drug store), so we bought some cough medicine for John as an indirect way of saying thank-you for taking care of Jeffrey. Though we could have taken a matatu back to AMCC, we figured that 2 miles would give us plenty of time to talk with Jeffrey, so we walked back as well (answering another prayer of ours, that Jeffrey would recieve both love and discipline when he returned). Nick and I spent a while talking, listening to Jeffrey, and then talking again. Turns out that he's spoken Kikuyu (aka mothertongue) in school, which is not allowed there. Beyond that the details get fuzzy, but suffice it to say that he was afraid of coming back to AMCC because he thought he'd get sent home... so he decided to just go home by himself first (there are plenty of inconsistencies in logic in his plan, but that's not pertinent, he's in 7th grade, so his thinking's not always going to be stellar, nor his desire to accept appropriate discipline for knowingly breaking rules).
In the end, Jeffrey is back with us- praise the Lord!! I'm sure it's hard on him to be back, because this is a shame-based culture and he brought shame on AMCC by both speaking kikuyu in school and also by not coming back. The kids will give him a harder time than I would like, but Nick and I aren't really sure yet how to speak into that.
So praise God that Jeffrey's safe, and back with us!!! Pray for him to be accepted back here by the kids (John and Nancy have fullen accepted him back and aren't holding any grudges), and to continue to do well in school. He's got a really bright future if he stays here, but returning home would be the end of his education.
Food and Money.
We've got lots of both of those in the states. Turns out that here in Kenya... not so much. People in the upper class have plenty of money, and thusly they've got plenty of food. But there is a WHOLE LOT of corruption in Kenya, so the poor generally stay poor. AND, since there's been a huge shift in weather here in the last ten years (everyone will tell you about it, whether or not they've heard the term "global warming" or could say it in english or swahili), the rains don't come as much, and the resulting drought means that people are also struggling to grow their own food to eat.
From the conversations I've had with people in the community, this part of Kenya is actually pretty fertile, as long as there's enough water. Infrastructure is not so hot around here, though, so there are few wells, and even fewer small farms with enough water to irrigate them (many of the wells are used by the community, and thusly do not contain enough water for people to take care of immediate needs (drinking, cooking, cleaning/bathing) and future ones (irrigation) because the well simply runs out of water).
So these are some of the factors which are working against the kids at AMCC. Most of the farms around here (maybe an acre or so in size) have either nothing planted (because the rains are 3 weeks late and people have lost their crop due to early planting the last few years) or a cash crop (tea of coffee) which is currently bringing in a meager amount of profit (case study #1: in the 70's the price of coffee was about $1 for 2 pounds, today it is 10 cents or less). Word on the street is that this change is due to corruption and middle men, since coffee costs more to buy today than it ever has. Speaking of, anybody know how to start a business that sells free-trade coffee/tea??? Seems that this community could benefit hugely.
Case study #2: John's dad currently grows about one acre of tea leaves. After paying his employees his monthly profit is about $25. He could earn more if we could get a well (so that he could irrigate), but thus far has been unable to get $60 at one time to pay someone to dig one. This boggles my mind.
That's all a backdrop for AMCC, and our struggles with food and money. The aforementioned forces (especially corruption by high-level government officials) are strong conitributing factors to why poverty persists in Kenya, but more recently we're struggle because of two things: Nick and I.
The perception here, pretty universally, is that when a white person comes to a place then that place his basically won the lottary. The white person will pay for any needs that exist, and more, and all of one's troubles and worries will be gone... so the thought goes. This myth exists because it has happened in many places in Kenya/sub-saharan African/the 2/3's world. Anyway, Nick and I came with open hands to help, but also comparatively empty pockets. We brought some money to make a contribution toward sustainable food efforts (i.e. to buy stuff to grow our own food), but even if we took that money and spent it all toward immediate food needs it would be gone in about 7 weeks (that's why we want it to go toward sustainable food efforts, so that they're not perpetually in need of donations).
So when Nick and I came, the community saw that "your wazungu have come" (aka your white people have come) and figured that they didn't need to support AMCC anymore. It makes sense to me, if I were poor already and thought that a need was getting taken care of by someone else, then I'd be stoked to sell the bananas I would have given to those kids at the market, or give them to my sister's family who are in need of food. But Nick and I came to get to know AMCC, and to help with menial daily tasks (cooking, going to trade out cell phones, delivering the payment for school fees, etc...), not to throw money at this place.
That's made kind of a perfect storm of difficulty for us here, since the community thinks we're going to be providing, but we were counting on the community for that. So Nick and I have eaten githeri (a mixture of maize and beans) for every dinner here for the last two weeks. It's also what the kids eat every day for lunch. It's also what I eat for breakfast most days, and have taken for lunch whenever I'm here for the last week or so. Thankfully, it's a wonderful source of protein (two parts maize + one part corn = 3 bits of protein, so says my Appropriate Technology Manual), so still, the variation and other vitamins and minerals are missed.
Nick and I now make it a conscious effort to try to tell people when we meet them that we love it here but are having a bit of a difficult time at AMCC because the community has stopped supporting them. We're also praying that God will pretty much tell people to give us food/money for supplies/rent/school fees, etc... because it'll be a good while before AMCC will be self-sustaining and/or Nick and I will feel comfortable and be able to raise funds for them on a regular basis. Pray with us please!
In order to combat the current situation of want, John has suggested that we get down and dirty (prayer without bathing... jk about not bathing). Yesterday we spent about 30 min. compiling a list of stuff that we're going to pray for every day. John anticipates it will take about 2 hours every day (yikes!!!), you can pray for us about that. ;-)
Here's the list of what we're going to praying for:
1. House Rent ($70 a month)
2. $ to pay for a neighbor's saucepans (which are now broken anyway)
3. $ to Buy bigger saucepans.
4. Food, regular provision and healthy variation
5. $ for exams
6. $ for cutting hair (would anyone like to send hair-clippers??? Email me!)
7. $ for cell phone bill (about $60 a month)
8. Firewood ($38 a month)
9. Propane for pressure lamp ($13 a month)
10. Parafin ($3 a month)
11. Patroleum Jelly for Lotion
12. Toothpaste
13. Laundry Soap
14. Toilet paper
15. Shoe polish (a necessity here!)
16. Spices
17. Unity/love all here, Staff And Children (SAC)
18. Patience for SAC
19. Increase our faith
20. God to bless our partners, for them to give only with cheerful hearts.
21. Our own land.
22. An income generating project.
23. For self-sustainabing food (growing our own food, planting or rearing).
24. Wisdom, how to spend $ and handle issues.
25. Self-Sustainability
26. Another worker for AMCC
27. John's family is far away, that's not so great.
28. John's back to be healed.
29. For the enemies of AMCC, that God would bless them and we would also.
30. Protection from Satan's attacks.
31. SAC would become closer to God.
32. Children's schooling, that they'd work hard, do well.
33. School fees (secondary school, university, vocational school).
34. School fund
35. For more friends and partners for AMCC
36. $ for transportation
37. A vehicle of our own. Fuel for it.
38. Community to be involved, even though wazungu are here.
39. Encouragement for Nancy, and all of us to keep going.
PRAISE GOD FOR SWITCHFOOT!!!
I'm listening to my least favorite album of their's right now and it's still just incredible!!! I'm just psyched up!! "We are slaves of what we want" So true.
Maybe it's because I haven't listened to a song I know in 2 weeks... On a positive note, I do enjoy the music here in Kenya a lot. The rap is cool, and since I can't understand the words it's pretty fun. The Congalese style music here is also pretty fun, I think I'm really going to get into it. :-)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
AMCC online!
Hey! Check out AMCC on this company's website! We're praying that this company will sponsor AMCC with food on a regular basis. www.bidco-oil.com It's the article about visiting a children's centre.
Week too!
Habari jioni!
Good evening to you! How are you doing lately? Have you been enjoying your electrical sockets, or running water? I hope so, because they can be marvelous things. Nick and I are now about to enter our second week without such modern amenities, but actually aren't missing them all that much. We can't charge our laptop, but other than that we're really doing just fine.
So, as you may have heard, two people were lynched in the town nearest to where Nick and I are staying. That's right, a mob of people came together and lynched two men last Thursday in the town of Thika, Kenya. Kinda crazy. Nick and I were nowhere near it, and now the town has settled down again (in fact, Nick and I were dropped off in the matatu at the establishment where the deed happened).
I like it here. A LOT.
This last week has been (of course) a mixture of stuff. Our meals are becoming more regular (that is, we eat beans and maize for dinner every night, and skip the maize porridge for breakfast every day), and our schedule has also evened out (we spend the days talking with John and Nancy, walking to nearby places to meet people, or assisting in preparing the meal for the evening (which mostly consists of picking out the bad beans from the good, which takes about two hours each day).
I also want to take this time to say that I now drink tea every day! It is Kenyan chai, and I love it!! Even more than the Aveda tea which Tap room taught me to appreicate (thanks dacia!).
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS PRAYED FOR US AND/OR EVEN SENT US AN EMAIL!! I've been surprised at how many of you are contacting me, and I think it freaking rocks.
This last week has been pretty cool. We've started learning swahili more intensely (thanks to the training that Nick took at Missionary Training International) and have also become more familiar with our surroundings! Today we came to Thika completely by ourselves, which is awesome because John was thinking that the earlier we might do that would be May!
We met the local schools that the kids go to, and are assisting in the normal duties of the day. Ex: Nick and I have each spent about 6 total hours picking through beans this week, sorting the good from the bad. We can also go with the kids to get water from the well (they need to be supervised), or help to even cook the food. The responsibilities here are great, and even though it's Kenya there is plenty to do.
JOHN PASSED OUT ON SUNDAY!! So his bad back/nerve problems got him and we awoke to find John, unresponsive, on the cement kitchen floor. He was breathing and had a pulse, and so I began working through the Wilderness First Responder training I've had on what to do in a situation like this. After about 20 minutes we realized that could hear us and could signal with his eyebrows. We communicated with this hair-raising (ha!) feat for the next 45 minutes while the rest of his faculties slowly came back. The next was his right hand (he wrote us a message on a peice of paper, which was just crazy!), then his left, then his jaw, etc... He eventually got up and Nick and I walked him back to his room where he stayed for the rest of the day, resting on his bed. This has happened to him at least five times, and the paralysis has sometimes lasted up to 8 hours.
Also, we're 3 days from running out of food. This is their constant situation. We've had a number of very good talks Nick and I are very hopeful for AMCC. John and teacher-Nancy do seem to be very genuine and trustworthy people. Time will tell, may the Lord guide us. They want to start an income generating project so that they're not dependent on donors anymore- woohoo!!!! They even have some contacts who may be able to help them host a fund-raiser here in Kenya to raise money for it!
So please pray for:
- John's back. We want it to be completely better!!
- Provision of food for AMCC. It is an awkward situation, because the community assumes that they don't need to help AMCC with food anymore since Nick and I are here. John was thinking that Nick and I could just write to our friends any time that they needed money, but for now that is the kind of relationship we are trying to avoid with AMCC.
- Pray for wisdom about how to handle money with AMCC. We just want to listen to the Lord and do what He directs. We don't want them unhealthily depending on us.
- An income generating project to be settled on by John and for him to move forward confidently with this. And for provision of funds for it.
- We MAY get hooked up with a regular food distribution program run by a large business (Bidco oil). Pray that this would happen!!! It would be AWESOME and would take much stress off of everyone. It may take 2-3 months for us to get onto it, so let's begin now!
- Praise God, some of the kids at AMCC scored very high on their recent tests. Jeffrey (who also happens to be our swahili teacher) is first in his class (7th grade) at school!
- Praise God, it has rained the last two nights! Rainy season was supposed to start 3 weeks ago, and there has been a drought here for the last 3 years. It is another compounding influence on the food situation here.
Good evening to you! How are you doing lately? Have you been enjoying your electrical sockets, or running water? I hope so, because they can be marvelous things. Nick and I are now about to enter our second week without such modern amenities, but actually aren't missing them all that much. We can't charge our laptop, but other than that we're really doing just fine.
So, as you may have heard, two people were lynched in the town nearest to where Nick and I are staying. That's right, a mob of people came together and lynched two men last Thursday in the town of Thika, Kenya. Kinda crazy. Nick and I were nowhere near it, and now the town has settled down again (in fact, Nick and I were dropped off in the matatu at the establishment where the deed happened).
I like it here. A LOT.
This last week has been (of course) a mixture of stuff. Our meals are becoming more regular (that is, we eat beans and maize for dinner every night, and skip the maize porridge for breakfast every day), and our schedule has also evened out (we spend the days talking with John and Nancy, walking to nearby places to meet people, or assisting in preparing the meal for the evening (which mostly consists of picking out the bad beans from the good, which takes about two hours each day).
I also want to take this time to say that I now drink tea every day! It is Kenyan chai, and I love it!! Even more than the Aveda tea which Tap room taught me to appreicate (thanks dacia!).
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS PRAYED FOR US AND/OR EVEN SENT US AN EMAIL!! I've been surprised at how many of you are contacting me, and I think it freaking rocks.
This last week has been pretty cool. We've started learning swahili more intensely (thanks to the training that Nick took at Missionary Training International) and have also become more familiar with our surroundings! Today we came to Thika completely by ourselves, which is awesome because John was thinking that the earlier we might do that would be May!
We met the local schools that the kids go to, and are assisting in the normal duties of the day. Ex: Nick and I have each spent about 6 total hours picking through beans this week, sorting the good from the bad. We can also go with the kids to get water from the well (they need to be supervised), or help to even cook the food. The responsibilities here are great, and even though it's Kenya there is plenty to do.
JOHN PASSED OUT ON SUNDAY!! So his bad back/nerve problems got him and we awoke to find John, unresponsive, on the cement kitchen floor. He was breathing and had a pulse, and so I began working through the Wilderness First Responder training I've had on what to do in a situation like this. After about 20 minutes we realized that could hear us and could signal with his eyebrows. We communicated with this hair-raising (ha!) feat for the next 45 minutes while the rest of his faculties slowly came back. The next was his right hand (he wrote us a message on a peice of paper, which was just crazy!), then his left, then his jaw, etc... He eventually got up and Nick and I walked him back to his room where he stayed for the rest of the day, resting on his bed. This has happened to him at least five times, and the paralysis has sometimes lasted up to 8 hours.
Also, we're 3 days from running out of food. This is their constant situation. We've had a number of very good talks Nick and I are very hopeful for AMCC. John and teacher-Nancy do seem to be very genuine and trustworthy people. Time will tell, may the Lord guide us. They want to start an income generating project so that they're not dependent on donors anymore- woohoo!!!! They even have some contacts who may be able to help them host a fund-raiser here in Kenya to raise money for it!
So please pray for:
- John's back. We want it to be completely better!!
- Provision of food for AMCC. It is an awkward situation, because the community assumes that they don't need to help AMCC with food anymore since Nick and I are here. John was thinking that Nick and I could just write to our friends any time that they needed money, but for now that is the kind of relationship we are trying to avoid with AMCC.
- Pray for wisdom about how to handle money with AMCC. We just want to listen to the Lord and do what He directs. We don't want them unhealthily depending on us.
- An income generating project to be settled on by John and for him to move forward confidently with this. And for provision of funds for it.
- We MAY get hooked up with a regular food distribution program run by a large business (Bidco oil). Pray that this would happen!!! It would be AWESOME and would take much stress off of everyone. It may take 2-3 months for us to get onto it, so let's begin now!
- Praise God, some of the kids at AMCC scored very high on their recent tests. Jeffrey (who also happens to be our swahili teacher) is first in his class (7th grade) at school!
- Praise God, it has rained the last two nights! Rainy season was supposed to start 3 weeks ago, and there has been a drought here for the last 3 years. It is another compounding influence on the food situation here.
Care Package!
Anybody who wants to me mail me something (or even better, 41 somethings so that I can heartily share) can send mail to:
Mark Dawson c/o AMCC Kenya
P.O.Box 3946 Madaraka
01002 Thika
KE.
Currently, I am personally in need of a baseball cap (to keep the sun off my face), sunscreen spf 30 or higher (because it might as well be made of gold it's so expensive here), and a few big things of Lawry's seasoning salt. Anything else you want to send me will surely be appreciated!
Mark Dawson c/o AMCC Kenya
P.O.Box 3946 Madaraka
01002 Thika
KE.
Currently, I am personally in need of a baseball cap (to keep the sun off my face), sunscreen spf 30 or higher (because it might as well be made of gold it's so expensive here), and a few big things of Lawry's seasoning salt. Anything else you want to send me will surely be appreciated!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Financial Update
Hey!
I finally did the math on my current financial situation. With the last info I had, I am still in need of $1510 to reach my goal for this trip. Any checks can be made out(tax deductable!) to:
Heart of the Bride Ministries
Mailed to:
Heart of the Bride Ministries
P.O. Box 786
Niceville, FL 32588
I finally did the math on my current financial situation. With the last info I had, I am still in need of $1510 to reach my goal for this trip. Any checks can be made out(tax deductable!) to:
Heart of the Bride Ministries
Mailed to:
Heart of the Bride Ministries
P.O. Box 786
Niceville, FL 32588
Friday, March 6, 2009
Other friends
Hey! Check out Nick's blog for a different taste of our time here in Kenya: www.nicknkenya.blogspot.com
And go to Karen Hartman's blog for some of what's happening in Zambia: www.zambiakaren.com
And don't be bashful about posting on my blog. ;-)
And go to Karen Hartman's blog for some of what's happening in Zambia: www.zambiakaren.com
And don't be bashful about posting on my blog. ;-)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Lynching and unrest
So there were two people lynched by a mob in Thika (the closest town to AMCC). Nick and I were in Nairobi, and it's possible that we won't be able to go back to AMCC tomorrow because of the unrest. There's a big controvery over this organization called "mungiki". I don't know much about them
Wanna come?!?
By the way, YOU are officially invited to come visit us at AMCC!! Please email me (markjadawson@gmail.com) and we'll see if it would be a good fit, I'd love for you to come.
Also, I think that my phone number is more accurately dialed:
+02540716927086
Also, I think that my phone number is more accurately dialed:
+02540716927086
Mimi ningependa sema na wewe!
"I would like to talk with you", friend who's reading this email. Just a bit of swahili for you there, the acquisition of which has occupied Nick and I about 10% of the time. It has been encouraging for me to see that this language learning is not as overwhelming as it has sometimes felt in the past. Also, it has been a sweet ride learning with Nick, who is even more stoked than I am to learn swahili. Speaking of Nick, he just shot all of the kids here below grade 9... with a camera! Lord willing we will be able to post more pictures on my blog this time (www.markdawsoninafrica.blogspot.com) and send some to other supporters. Our time here has been FULL! Since my last email we have...
- Riden down the side of the Rift Valley in a car.
- Stopped by IDP camps (Internally Displaced Persons, still refugees after the December 2007 elections!!)
- Riden mountain bikes across the plains with antelope, buffaloe, warthogs, and tigers (jk about the tigers).
- Visited a house-church-ish gathering in Kenya
- Met another Kenyan man who respectably runs a small orphanage
- Recovered my lost large bag (woohoo for my pepper grinder!)
- Met most of AMCC's Board members
- Heard beautiful singing by the kids at AMCC
- Met the local chief, Member of Parliament, and two other government somebodies.
- Ridden in a mutatu (which is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than a taxi!!)
- Taken bucket showers (here at AMCC they boil the water beforehand, so it's hot. :-)
- Walked 30 min through beautifully planted and rolling hills to the mutatu stop.
- Talked with John for at least 4 hours.
- Been asked for money by strangers.
- Heard some cool stories about God's moving here.
- Put up our mosquito net.
- Joined with 40 kids in (what will become a regular) hour-long prayer meeting before bed.
- Learned more swahili
- Fed birds with worms which we held on our tongues.
- Gotten calls from dear friends abroad (congrats to David Okada, first caller).
- Felt confirmation and peace about God's leading us here.
- Eaten rice and beans (lunch), rice and beef (lunch and dinner yesterday) , and two bananas (breakfast)
- I've enjoyed chai a lot, but the caffeine and sugar doesn't go so well with Nick's body.
Praise God for all of these things! He has taken wonderful care of Nick and I, and we have been very encouraged by some of the things that we have seen here thus far (good relationships with some neighbors in the community, with government officials, and wonderful conversation with John and the other staff here at AMCC, Nancy the Teacher, "teacher Nancy").
Thank you so much for your prayers for Nick and I! Our meeting and first day here at AMCC has been very nice. And my bag has been found, ptl. Neither Nick nor I have gotten sick, and we both have been in pretty good spirits throughout our journey thusfar.
Please pray for:
- Wisdom in relationships here, between ourselves, AMCC, and others.
- Regular and healthy food for the children at AMCC.
- God to raise up Kenyan Partners for AMCC- keep praying for this! We have been very encouraged by some seeds we're seen since we arrived! May the seeds become sequioas!
- John's neck and back to be healed and not in pain anymore.
- Wisdom for all in leadership at AMCC (John, board members, teacher Nancy, Nick and myself)
- God to raise up others to visit AMCC while we are here. We have recently received news that some who were hoping/planning to come may not be able to. :-(
Thank you so much for your prayers and emails and encouragement!! They mean a whole lot to us! We're currently without running water and electricity, and it is about an hour's journey (walking and riding a mutatu) to get to the internet cafe. We've been fed plenty, though without as much variation as would be normal in an american home. We are happy and well and enjoying our time here. "Slowly by slowly" friendships will arise, our eyes will be opened, and our tongues will learn swahili- we are feeling patient. ;-)
Also in an attempt to make my emails a bit shorter, I'll be posting all of my detail-ridden stories as a PS to these emails. So you don't have to read them! Also, I'm planning on posting other stuff on my blog, which now has 5 great pictures from my time in Kenya on it!!
Most sinceriously,
Mark, on behalf of Nick and myself.
P.S. Cool story so far...
Our first day at AMCC was AWESOME. Nick and I share a room at the orphanage with the director, John Muhika. Nick sleeps in a bed, John sleeps in a mattress on the floor because it's better for his back, and I sleep under Nick's bed. It's pretty tight (i.e. I can't roll over on my side without a bit of maneuvering).
Anyway, my day started when I was woken up by a bunch of kids... singing... at 4:45 a.m.
The kids at AMCC all gather for a time of singing and prayer twice a day. Waaaay early in the morning (since a lot of them have to be at school at 6:30) and before dinner for about an hour. It's pretty inspiring and cool, especially to see them all dancing and singing, and 40 year old John gingerly dancing right with them.
Since Nick and I were feeling like it, we slept in quite a bit. By the time we woke up all the kids were gone to school, so we had breakfast (2 bananas and a cup of delicious chai!), took warm bucket baths, and got dressed to go meet our local member of parliament! John told us to make sure that we weren't late, but we left about 5 minutes late anyway (c'mon, it's the 2/3'rds world!) and started our beautiful walk. It goes past the local private secondary school (where 13 kids now go to school thanks to money that people donated!) and the public primary school (which has teacher student ratios such as 1:60), past a bunch of coffee plans, down a beautiful hillside, across a sweet bridge which has more gap than planks, and then up the deep red dirt hillside to the local butchery- were we charge our cell phones!
So there's no electricity at AMCC, or running water. All of the water the kids get out of a bore hole that a gracious local woman allows us access to (I think for free, which is really nice), and everything gets cooked over a fire. Everyone in Kenya (probably the whole of Africa) has a cell phone now, whether or not they have electricity. Since they're so vital to life though, people get creative. AMCC's solution for what to do is pretty cool: they have an extra cell phone or two, and they always keep one charging with their friend at the butchery 25 minutes away. So when one gets low they just go to the butchery, grab the newly charged one, switch out the sim card (which is home to the specific phone number and contact list, etc...) and leave the dead phone for charging- pretty cool! I've already gotten to take advantage of this cool system, though I must admit that I'm partial to the phone I bought in Zambia (mostly because my sweet girlfriend put a little personal message on it when it turns on. :-)
So we go to the butchery, I switch out my sim card, and then walk to the road to board a matatu which will take us to the M.P. For those of you who haven't yet chilled in East Africa, a matatu is the main form of public transportation around here. They're cheap, plentiful, and all shaped like the 80's style toyota vans that my family got when I was in elementary school (the cockroach, it was affectionately called ). I like matatu's a lot. They're slower than taking my own car, and 95% of the time there's at least one more person in it than would be legal in the states, but they're just so cheap and fun and I just love 'em! They've got the same set up in Ukraine and Russia, which is where I first fell in love with public transport. We get in the matatu and ride to the local gov't office. Upon arrival we get told that we're late (which we were, but I figured it wouldn't be a big deal), and subsequently join the crowd of waiters outside, where various people try to strike up conversation (about half of them would like us to give them some money for something... we declined)
The M.P. was a big shot dude. Really nice though, so that was pretty cool. John does seem to have good relationships with a lot of people in local gov't, which is good I think? After meeting Mr. Peter Kenneth (shout out to my brother Ken, the only other person I know with the name Kenneth) we went across the parking lot and met another high-up dude, who was wearing a sweet purple shirt and assured us, like everyone else that we met in the gov't, that we were most welcome in Kenya. The M.P. told us that if anybody gave us trouble then we should call him. So I will. I've got his number.
After those meetings we rode back with another Board member from AMCC (who thankfully got Nick and I some clean water!) and spent the rest of the afternoon talking with John. Conversations with him have been really nice. In his words he seems to be so honest and real. He says that he often encounters people in the gov't who want bribes, but since he doesn't give them stuff goes a lot slower for him. That makes me frustrated and also very happy at the same time. Talking with John can be really inspiring for me, especially when I consider the reality that he has been scraping out life for these kids for a few years now.
Nick took new pictures of all of the kids at AMCC, which we'll be post, Lord willing, sometime in the next month. Our internet is slower than I anticipated, so sending pics might take a while. I took some nice pics of outside, journaled some, and learned some more swahili. Oh, and the rope (which holds the bucket that gets water) broke in the afternoon, so we were kinda low on water. Oh, Lord help us all.
After the evening prayer/singing session (which I really enjoy!!) we "took" rice and beans for dinner- then we started study time! All the kids got out a book to read from school and we just read in silence for about an hour. Nick and I joined in, reading swahili stuff. John said that he's going to assign two of the kids to help teach us swahili when we get back, which we're both stoked about!!
After dinner I brushed my teeth and enjoyed the views of the night sky from the courtyard. The nights there are so nice!! It's cool, with a slight breeze blowing through the banana trees in the farm just outside our back door, and the stars are so bright!! If there's no clouds I can see the milky way every night, and from this place on the globe there are news stars to see!
So that was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. My apologies. I'm tired and out of practice. I vow to make these better in time ;-)
"I would like to talk with you", friend who's reading this email. Just a bit of swahili for you there, the acquisition of which has occupied Nick and I about 10% of the time. It has been encouraging for me to see that this language learning is not as overwhelming as it has sometimes felt in the past. Also, it has been a sweet ride learning with Nick, who is even more stoked than I am to learn swahili. Speaking of Nick, he just shot all of the kids here below grade 9... with a camera! Lord willing we will be able to post more pictures on my blog this time (www.markdawsoninafrica.blogspot.com) and send some to other supporters. Our time here has been FULL! Since my last email we have...
- Riden down the side of the Rift Valley in a car.
- Stopped by IDP camps (Internally Displaced Persons, still refugees after the December 2007 elections!!)
- Riden mountain bikes across the plains with antelope, buffaloe, warthogs, and tigers (jk about the tigers).
- Visited a house-church-ish gathering in Kenya
- Met another Kenyan man who respectably runs a small orphanage
- Recovered my lost large bag (woohoo for my pepper grinder!)
- Met most of AMCC's Board members
- Heard beautiful singing by the kids at AMCC
- Met the local chief, Member of Parliament, and two other government somebodies.
- Ridden in a mutatu (which is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than a taxi!!)
- Taken bucket showers (here at AMCC they boil the water beforehand, so it's hot. :-)
- Walked 30 min through beautifully planted and rolling hills to the mutatu stop.
- Talked with John for at least 4 hours.
- Been asked for money by strangers.
- Heard some cool stories about God's moving here.
- Put up our mosquito net.
- Joined with 40 kids in (what will become a regular) hour-long prayer meeting before bed.
- Learned more swahili
- Fed birds with worms which we held on our tongues.
- Gotten calls from dear friends abroad (congrats to David Okada, first caller).
- Felt confirmation and peace about God's leading us here.
- Eaten rice and beans (lunch), rice and beef (lunch and dinner yesterday) , and two bananas (breakfast)
- I've enjoyed chai a lot, but the caffeine and sugar doesn't go so well with Nick's body.
Praise God for all of these things! He has taken wonderful care of Nick and I, and we have been very encouraged by some of the things that we have seen here thus far (good relationships with some neighbors in the community, with government officials, and wonderful conversation with John and the other staff here at AMCC, Nancy the Teacher, "teacher Nancy").
Thank you so much for your prayers for Nick and I! Our meeting and first day here at AMCC has been very nice. And my bag has been found, ptl. Neither Nick nor I have gotten sick, and we both have been in pretty good spirits throughout our journey thusfar.
Please pray for:
- Wisdom in relationships here, between ourselves, AMCC, and others.
- Regular and healthy food for the children at AMCC.
- God to raise up Kenyan Partners for AMCC- keep praying for this! We have been very encouraged by some seeds we're seen since we arrived! May the seeds become sequioas!
- John's neck and back to be healed and not in pain anymore.
- Wisdom for all in leadership at AMCC (John, board members, teacher Nancy, Nick and myself)
- God to raise up others to visit AMCC while we are here. We have recently received news that some who were hoping/planning to come may not be able to. :-(
Thank you so much for your prayers and emails and encouragement!! They mean a whole lot to us! We're currently without running water and electricity, and it is about an hour's journey (walking and riding a mutatu) to get to the internet cafe. We've been fed plenty, though without as much variation as would be normal in an american home. We are happy and well and enjoying our time here. "Slowly by slowly" friendships will arise, our eyes will be opened, and our tongues will learn swahili- we are feeling patient. ;-)
Also in an attempt to make my emails a bit shorter, I'll be posting all of my detail-ridden stories as a PS to these emails. So you don't have to read them! Also, I'm planning on posting other stuff on my blog, which now has 5 great pictures from my time in Kenya on it!!
Most sinceriously,
Mark, on behalf of Nick and myself.
P.S. Cool story so far...
Our first day at AMCC was AWESOME. Nick and I share a room at the orphanage with the director, John Muhika. Nick sleeps in a bed, John sleeps in a mattress on the floor because it's better for his back, and I sleep under Nick's bed. It's pretty tight (i.e. I can't roll over on my side without a bit of maneuvering).
Anyway, my day started when I was woken up by a bunch of kids... singing... at 4:45 a.m.
The kids at AMCC all gather for a time of singing and prayer twice a day. Waaaay early in the morning (since a lot of them have to be at school at 6:30) and before dinner for about an hour. It's pretty inspiring and cool, especially to see them all dancing and singing, and 40 year old John gingerly dancing right with them.
Since Nick and I were feeling like it, we slept in quite a bit. By the time we woke up all the kids were gone to school, so we had breakfast (2 bananas and a cup of delicious chai!), took warm bucket baths, and got dressed to go meet our local member of parliament! John told us to make sure that we weren't late, but we left about 5 minutes late anyway (c'mon, it's the 2/3'rds world!) and started our beautiful walk. It goes past the local private secondary school (where 13 kids now go to school thanks to money that people donated!) and the public primary school (which has teacher student ratios such as 1:60), past a bunch of coffee plans, down a beautiful hillside, across a sweet bridge which has more gap than planks, and then up the deep red dirt hillside to the local butchery- were we charge our cell phones!
So there's no electricity at AMCC, or running water. All of the water the kids get out of a bore hole that a gracious local woman allows us access to (I think for free, which is really nice), and everything gets cooked over a fire. Everyone in Kenya (probably the whole of Africa) has a cell phone now, whether or not they have electricity. Since they're so vital to life though, people get creative. AMCC's solution for what to do is pretty cool: they have an extra cell phone or two, and they always keep one charging with their friend at the butchery 25 minutes away. So when one gets low they just go to the butchery, grab the newly charged one, switch out the sim card (which is home to the specific phone number and contact list, etc...) and leave the dead phone for charging- pretty cool! I've already gotten to take advantage of this cool system, though I must admit that I'm partial to the phone I bought in Zambia (mostly because my sweet girlfriend put a little personal message on it when it turns on. :-)
So we go to the butchery, I switch out my sim card, and then walk to the road to board a matatu which will take us to the M.P. For those of you who haven't yet chilled in East Africa, a matatu is the main form of public transportation around here. They're cheap, plentiful, and all shaped like the 80's style toyota vans that my family got when I was in elementary school (the cockroach, it was affectionately called ). I like matatu's a lot. They're slower than taking my own car, and 95% of the time there's at least one more person in it than would be legal in the states, but they're just so cheap and fun and I just love 'em! They've got the same set up in Ukraine and Russia, which is where I first fell in love with public transport. We get in the matatu and ride to the local gov't office. Upon arrival we get told that we're late (which we were, but I figured it wouldn't be a big deal), and subsequently join the crowd of waiters outside, where various people try to strike up conversation (about half of them would like us to give them some money for something... we declined)
The M.P. was a big shot dude. Really nice though, so that was pretty cool. John does seem to have good relationships with a lot of people in local gov't, which is good I think? After meeting Mr. Peter Kenneth (shout out to my brother Ken, the only other person I know with the name Kenneth) we went across the parking lot and met another high-up dude, who was wearing a sweet purple shirt and assured us, like everyone else that we met in the gov't, that we were most welcome in Kenya. The M.P. told us that if anybody gave us trouble then we should call him. So I will. I've got his number.
After those meetings we rode back with another Board member from AMCC (who thankfully got Nick and I some clean water!) and spent the rest of the afternoon talking with John. Conversations with him have been really nice. In his words he seems to be so honest and real. He says that he often encounters people in the gov't who want bribes, but since he doesn't give them stuff goes a lot slower for him. That makes me frustrated and also very happy at the same time. Talking with John can be really inspiring for me, especially when I consider the reality that he has been scraping out life for these kids for a few years now.
Nick took new pictures of all of the kids at AMCC, which we'll be post, Lord willing, sometime in the next month. Our internet is slower than I anticipated, so sending pics might take a while. I took some nice pics of outside, journaled some, and learned some more swahili. Oh, and the rope (which holds the bucket that gets water) broke in the afternoon, so we were kinda low on water. Oh, Lord help us all.
After the evening prayer/singing session (which I really enjoy!!) we "took" rice and beans for dinner- then we started study time! All the kids got out a book to read from school and we just read in silence for about an hour. Nick and I joined in, reading swahili stuff. John said that he's going to assign two of the kids to help teach us swahili when we get back, which we're both stoked about!!
After dinner I brushed my teeth and enjoyed the views of the night sky from the courtyard. The nights there are so nice!! It's cool, with a slight breeze blowing through the banana trees in the farm just outside our back door, and the stars are so bright!! If there's no clouds I can see the milky way every night, and from this place on the globe there are news stars to see!
So that was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. My apologies. I'm tired and out of practice. I vow to make these better in time ;-)
Description of the pictures below:
1. This is AMCC!!! Actually, AMCC is the portion of building on the far left, which has the blue doors. That's it!! 40 people sleep, eat, study, play, wash, and live in this place! Everything else is other stuff, and the whole place is owned by somebody else. Their rent was due today... and surprise, they didn't have the money for it!
2. People in leadership at AMCC. The two taller people standing in the back are the staff at AMCC: John Muhika Kameru, and Teacher-Nancy (whose last name I've never learned). Everyone else is on the board of AMCC. Two people local to the community, and John's parents (on the left).
3. Here's me and a bunch of the kids from AMCC! That metal contraption in the back is a hoist that they use to get water from 100 ft. down in the well. A bucket goes down there, not the kids. ;-)
4. I'm chasin' some zebras. I caught one and rode it, but the Kenyan gov't said we weren't allowed to take pictures because no human has ever tamed a zebra before. This is in Naivasha, 100 miles away from AMCC. VERY different terrain/animal population.
5. I'm holding custard apples!! These were my 2nd favorite fruit from Fiji, and I haven't seen them since I left Fiji 2.5 years ago. They were delicious, and I've eaten three of them now. Delicious.
1. This is AMCC!!! Actually, AMCC is the portion of building on the far left, which has the blue doors. That's it!! 40 people sleep, eat, study, play, wash, and live in this place! Everything else is other stuff, and the whole place is owned by somebody else. Their rent was due today... and surprise, they didn't have the money for it!
2. People in leadership at AMCC. The two taller people standing in the back are the staff at AMCC: John Muhika Kameru, and Teacher-Nancy (whose last name I've never learned). Everyone else is on the board of AMCC. Two people local to the community, and John's parents (on the left).
3. Here's me and a bunch of the kids from AMCC! That metal contraption in the back is a hoist that they use to get water from 100 ft. down in the well. A bucket goes down there, not the kids. ;-)
4. I'm chasin' some zebras. I caught one and rode it, but the Kenyan gov't said we weren't allowed to take pictures because no human has ever tamed a zebra before. This is in Naivasha, 100 miles away from AMCC. VERY different terrain/animal population.
5. I'm holding custard apples!! These were my 2nd favorite fruit from Fiji, and I haven't seen them since I left Fiji 2.5 years ago. They were delicious, and I've eaten three of them now. Delicious.
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