Today it felt like we were in Africa.

Yesterday we drove from Nairobi to Najile. The ride was 3 hours and was endless bumping. It was like the worst pot hole in Winnipeg times million for 3 hours. When we got there we had a yummy meal of goat meat and other things. We went to visit the church and The Najile Primary School and the Najile Boys’ Secondary School. We didn’t go to the girls’school because the girls were on strike. We also got a tour of the area and the green house. We went to bed early.

Today it felt like we were in Africa.

This morning we woke up and had a nice western breakfast of scrambled and toast. We started recording the choir at 10, the first people started showing up at 11. It was great, we all learned 3 songs in the local language, Maa. Then we visited a different primary school. At this place some kids showed us what they are doing to spread aids awareness. The group was called Generations at Risk Peer Educators. This was cool because the money from Kim and Papa’s CD goes to this project. The students had songs and a skit about HIV/Aids and how to prevent it. I got to talk to boys my age. We all got some beaded jewelry as a gift. Then we headed home because it was night -- 6:30.

Just after we got back the Food for Work was delivered. Six trucks came with food. I lifted 50 kilogram bags of beans for a while. I came out completely dusty and all my clothes were covered with dust. Then I went home to our house. We are staying with Matt and Steph who are here with MCC. Now we are sitting in the living room and relaxing after a long day. Everywhere you look there are cows, goats and sheep. They are herded by men and some boys who seem 7 years old. We also saw gazelles and a giraffe but it was very far away.

Joshua

Day One: Wowzers

Greetings all!  It's now 9pm, the end of our first day.  I must admit, my head is spinning a little.  This morning we had breakfast here at the lovely guest house, and then went for a little walk to find a bank to exchange money.  We completely blended in... no one noticed 12 white north americans following a small Maasai man.  After that, Kim, Anne, Meghan, Jesse, Clare and I went with Ron and Martha (MCC Kenya's Country Reps) to visit the town of Lari, which is about an hour's drive away.  

We had just driven past a huge market when we noticed the vehicles ahead of us were stopped; then they were backing up, people were jumping out of their vehicles, people were driving across the ditch to the highway on the other side... because this huge mob of people were running down the highway towards us.  So we drove through the ditch to the other side too, and then drove away a little bit to wait it out.  The crowd turned down a different street, so we then turned around and continued on our way.  We're not sure what was going on... perhaps they were chasing a thief.  It was kinda scary... I had all the worst case scenarios running through my head.  But everything was fine, and so we arrived in Lari without further drama.

The Lari Peace Museum team are incredible.  They are addressing the trauma and hurt that has plagued their community and Kenya through workshops, education, and dialogue.  They are starting a project where they are linking youth from across Kenya through a website... this is to help break down all the stereotypes about other tribes/regions that are transferred from generation to generation... so donate a computer to MCC for this project! :)

We leave for Najile tomorrow morning.  We are so excited to go meet the community!  And Joseph can't stop smiling, so I think he's pretty excited to.  And he's guaranteed us a zebra and gazelle viewing tomorrow.  Awesome!

lots of love to everyone!  

The Gardens at Mennonite Guest House

What a beautiful place to be! An oasis in a busy city.

The garden has palm trees, hibiscus, avocados, bougenvillas and something I don't even recognize a majestic massive tree with lovely purple flowers.

The rooms are great. The showers were refreshing. The breakfast was very tasty and rejuvenating.

We are about to head out for our first adventure in the streets of Nairobi. Take care all


Krista

We made it!

Hi all,

After hours of traveling, and a good night's rest (for most, I think), and a nice breakfast here at the Mennonite Guest House, we are computing and preparing for the day of gathering supplies.

It was almost a completely uneventful trip. (Meghan forgot her jacket on one plane, but it was retrieved.) All the recording equipment appears to have arrived unscathed.

It was great to see Joseph's smiling face at the airport.

Here's a shot of us having breakfast at the Guest House.

Well, only one more sleep before we are off!! We are excited to say the least! Two weekends ago, Foothills Mennonite Church, who really started this project, held a commissioning service, inviting people to pray for us and with us. And this morning Menno Simons Christian School also had a commissioning time for us. Students from each class (grades 1 to 9) presented the friendship bracelets that they made, along with letters and pictures, for us to take and present to students at a primary school in Najile. 350 bracelets or more! Karen Braun, Vice Principal, had students from each class then surround us and pray for us. Each of us was given a beautiful piece of cloth that was wrapped around our shoulders as people prayed. It was very moving. The cloth, for me, represents the support, love, and prayers that we are being sent with from so many people, and I hope that we can share that same support, love and prayers with folks there!

So....Joseph and Najile....here we come!!!

3 more sleeps

Getting more & more excited to head to Kenya...if only there wasn't so much left to do! Lists, packing, planning...oh, well, it will all get done. Henry & I are hardly able to sleep, the anticipation is so great! We are so looking forward to spending time with Joseph & Elizabeth and their family & community. They will become our family for the next three weeks, what a blessing!

water

The word is that Kenya has received some rain... thankfully. It's hard to imagine being hosted by people who don't have enough water to keep their livestock alive. This image has haunted me for a while... it's a picture of Joseph (who's village we are headed to) kayaking on Shoal Lake at my parent's cottage... months earlier, he showed us pictures of his dead cattle at home, and then he's kayaking on more drinking water than most people in his village will ever imagine. How do you do the math on that? I hope we're as good at handling wild disparity as Joseph seemed to be.

We're going to Kenya in 10 sleeps

First post... 10 sleeps before we leave.