Our First Goodbyes

This week has been the best and most difficult week since we left home. MCDC closed school for August Holiday on Wednesday. We spent full days at MCDC Monday-Wednesday getting every last possible minute with our students. The relationships we have been able to build have been amazing, and the Lord has allowed a lot of healing to take place since we arrived in June.

On Monday a few of our students invited us to visit their homes and families. The first home we visited was Hillary’s home. He lives in his corrugated metal house with his Aunt and two younger sisters. We left MCDC and walked to his house. The walk was about 10 minutes and his home was directly next to a metal working factory that emits black pollution 24 hours a day.

          

As far as slums go, he had very nice living arrangements. He lived in a small fenced community with about 10 homes. This community houses roughly 30 people that all share one common toilet and shower. The home was split into two rooms about 8 foot square and was built with 2 x 4 and corrugated metal. It had two wooden benches and a small counter to prepare food. They cook all of their food on a small coal stove.

We were greeted by Hillary’s Aunt, Jane. As soon as we came into the home and sat down she handed Hillary 110 Ksh and told him to go and buy 2 L of soda. 110 Ksh is approximately 1.25 USD, but it is enough to feed a small family for one day in Kenya. When Hillary returned with the soda, Jane poured all of us a small glass while she was nursing her symptoms of Malaria. We had an opportunity to visit about where Jane was from and how she came to raising Hillary and his sisters. We were so thankful for the soda and the opportunity to visit with such a kind family.

After Hillary’s home we headed to Eric Ochieng’s home. His home is located directly across the street from MCDC and in a small apartment complex. It is a one room apartment that he shares with his two older brothers. The room was about 10’ x 6’. They had a bed and a little cabinet with some dishes and cooking utensils. As soon as we arrived Eric pulled out 2 L of soda from the cabinet and served us as well. In African culture they assume that you want a drink and never ask what you would like. It is also rude to refuse the offering, even if you really don’t want anything to drink.

Eric’s brothers were extremely kind and welcoming, and having an opportunity to walk in their shoes really opened our eyes to what their everyday life is like. After we had seen the students’ homes we wanted to see what mass slums looked like. On Tuesday we met up with Peter Njoki, he is one of the first students to ever graduate from MCDC. He started in the program in 1995 when Jane Nuthu started the program by bringing in street children and feeding them and preaching to them on Saturdays. He showed us the New Methare Kenya Assemblies of God church and the primary MCDC campus.

  

Following the tour of the church we headed from the church into the slums by foot. The slums in Nairobi began popping up in the 80’s and 90’s when there was mass urbanization in Kenya. Everyone was flooding the cities looking for work. When none was to be found people just started squatting on the outskirts of town and building shanty towns. Eventually, they became established with roads, bus stops, markets, and barren apartment complexes. Most of the occupants still live in 8’ square shanties that just butt up next to each other for miles. These shanties form little alley ways that double as a walking paths and sewage drains. The homes have no cooking or bathing facilities so all of that happens just outside the home, on top of or next to the sewage run off. When the homes were first built there was no electricity run to them. Since that time, people have tried to run electricity to the homes. They do this by stringing wire from house to house. Most of the times the wire isn’t even covered by any plastic or rubber insulation, simply bare wire feeding electricity.

 

The most surprising thing about this shanty town was the children. We saw children as young as 2-3 wandering around these alley ways alone. No parents, no shoes, some with barely any clothing. Peter took us to the home he grew up in. He said he was born in that home and stayed there until he went to the boarding high school at MCDC. He navigated the alley ways the way someone navigates any city they have known for years. He knew all of the neighbors and was happy to trade smiles and handshakes as we traveled through.

 

Having the opportunity to travel through the slums answered a lot of questions for us. We began to understand a lot of the cultural differences. We now see why cramming 15 people into a matatu is just a regular thing and the kitchens at MCDC are pristine and the cleanest food the students will eat. To them, there is nothing wrong with having to sit on a 5 gallon bucket all day at school because, at least, they have a seat. It also drastically changed my definition of poverty. “Poverty in America” is something my generation has never truly known.

The slums also left us with a lot of questions. Why don’t these people travel back to their homeland, where their parents were raised? Why haven’t these slums been cleaned up, they have been present for 30 years? How can the corruption of police and politicians be ended in Africa? How can this change? How is it that two children can be born on the same day, in two different locations, and their lives look so drastically different?

We left MCDC today with sad hearts and many hugs. Our time in Africa is quickly slipping away and it is the most bittersweet feeling Jen or I have ever felt. When you are here every day you are reminded of how fortunate we really are. This experience has changed us for the better, and we are left wondering if our normal lives in Springfield are going to bring us the same fulfillment and satisfaction we feel every day here in Kenya. 

Links to full size videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UgpNq-WAK8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtxYs1n_EPY

Daily Duties

The past two weeks have been amazing, but routine. I decided that since I don’t have many new experiences to share I would try to describe the day to day events in our Kenya house. We have all learned to do things that we didn’t anticipate doing:

Cooking- The grocery store that we shop at has a great variety of food. The one significant difference is that they have very few processed foods available. Meals in a box are not an option here. Everything you make starts with its original contents. For example, we were really craving Hamburger Helper. Well that is unheard of here so we created our own with noodles, minced meat, random spices, and fresh cheese. It turned out great but I guess I had just never considered doing that at home.

Baking- Baking has become my newest hobby. During my free time I try new recipes from scratch: chocolate cake, strawberry muffins, mango muffins, apple and brown sugar muffins, banana bread, snicker doodle cookies, peanut butter cookies, and anything else I can think of. Ryan has really been enjoying this new hobby but it is starting to but a kink in my summer diet.

Sleeping- This is something that I’m going to miss so much. In Nairobi there is exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. It gets dark around 6:30 here so our daily activities end early. Since we can’t drive and public transportation is unsafe at night, we are restricted to our small houses from 6:30 on. Preparing and eating dinner takes about an hour, so from about 7:30 on we are free to do whatever we please. With no TV, speratic internet connections, and unpredictable electricity we find ourselves going to bed early. For a couple of hours each night, the three of us usually spend time visiting, playing cards, or obsessing over the game “Super Jewel Quest” on our $15 phones.

Sewing-This is something that I wasn’t good at before coming here and won’t be good at after coming here, but it is something we are forced to do to get by. Chrissy and I both had the straps to our dressed rip. So instead of calling Mom or taking it back to the store, we found a needle and thread and fixed them as best as we could.

Walking-As mentioned in earlier posts we do a lot of walking each day, a total of about 5 miles. All I have to say is that my idea of “walking distance” has significantly changed. When we leave, we know we won’t be back for several house so we carry everything with us, like pack horses.

Reading-The Kindle was a purchase that has definitely paid off. Ryan and I have both read several books since we left the states. For me personally, I have leisurely read more in the last 2 months that I have in the past 2 years combined.

As much as these things feel like an inconvenience while we are experiencing them, they have really made this experience as memorable as it has been. We have spent so much more quality time together and gotten to hear stories that would not have otherwise been shared. Each time we start to complain about something we just look out and see what the majority of the population lives like in Nairobi and we immediately thank God for what he has blessed us with here and back at home.

Blessing or Curse…….That's All a Matter of Perspective

While it is still a full month before we arrive back in Springfield, Missouri, it feels as though things are on the downward slide here. MCDC closes for August Holiday on July 31^st so we only have two more weeks to work with those students. We are taking a long layover in Paris on the way home and travel eats two days. So we will be leaving Africa in 3 weeks. Our thoughts are starting to turn to how home plays into how we have grown here.

Today we made our journey to MCDC as usual. We walked 1.5 miles to the bus stop. We crammed in the bus as usual with 4 more people than seats. At the first stop we bought our morning chipati(African tortilla), fried right on the side of the road. Then we went to our next bus and arrived at MCDC no worse for wear and ready for the day to begin.

Shortly after arrival we made a realization. None of us had commented on the length of the walk, the herd of goats that impeded traffic, or the hogs and homeless men rummaging through the trash. We realized that our two hour journey has become normal. The things we see, the people we interact with, and riding in clown cars has become normal. Then we started to think about what it will be like when we go home; people obeying traffic laws, no one walking on the road, driving in our cars and traveling ALONE.

All of this made me think. Our biggest concern coming to Kenya was transportation. We didn’t know how to get anywhere or how long it would take. When we thought of riding matatus and walking we thought about how inconvenient it was to not have our own car. Then I thought about how lonely my car will be when I’m driving home from work down Chestnut expressway with no one to share the thoughts of my day with.

What we thought was going to be our biggest inconvenience has turned into our biggest blessing. Sure it would be easier and more “convenient” to jump in our car, pull out of our “garage” and drive to MCDC every day. It would take 25 minutes and we wouldn’t have to rub elbows with anyone. But the most exciting, enjoyable and cultural experiences on this trip have come while we were walking or riding matatus. This time allows us to share what happens with our interactions with kids, brain storm and give suggestions on possible strategies on how to approach those kids the next day. We get to discuss cultural differences with Kate and the other Kenyans that travel with us. We get to interact with the locals by buying their homemade goods. I wouldn't ever want to travel in Nairobi any other way!

We still don’t have the answer to the question, “How does this trip play into our everyday lives in Springfield, Missouri,” but we do know that part of our heart will always be In Kenya!

“The dust of Africa will never leave the soles of your feet.”

-Dusty Feet

Too much Culture for one evening…..

Saturday, July 9^th was my 24^th birthday. Since we are here in Kenya, and we have no car of our own we are always at the mercy of our friends. One of our good friends, Maina, was throwing a surprise graduation party for his father who was graduating with a BA in Theology. Our initial feelings were of hesitation, we didn’t know what graduation parties were like here, and we didn’t know what kind of food would be served, and so on. Maina told us he would pick us up 4 and we would go to the party that started at 6.

Well true to Kenyan form, Maina arrived to pick us up at 5:15 pm for the 6 pm party where he was scheduled to be the MC for the evening. We were not the only guests he was carrying either. We rushed to his aunt’s house to pick up his aunt and two cousins and by this time it was nearly six. Then came Maina’s famous last words, “Lord willing if there are no accidents and no traffic we will make it on time.”

As we were driving through an open market type area Maina was driving slow and was carrying a conversation with Jen, who was sitting in the back seat. He continued to drive while he turned around and visited with Jen. I was riding in the passenger seat; I have become accustomed to close calls in the car by this point and didn’t think to warn Maina about the middle age woman directly in his path until she was jumping up on the hood of the car! By that point I yelled, “Maina!” and pointed at the woman, he stopped immediately then rolled down the window to apologize. No one was hurt, but that was the first time I had ever seen that happen.

Following hitting a woman, Maina was determined to get there on time. We came to one of the infamous Nairobi roundabouts and he was passing a large city bus on the left. In Nairobi the driver sits on the right, we were in a little Toyota car, and long story short, the bus tried to push us out of the intersection, wrecking the rear right quarter panel and pushing us into the curb. The accident happened at 5:55 pm.

The main sources of Nairobi traffic jams are car accidents, and last night we found out why. At the time of the accident both vehicles were moving about 10 miles per hour, they hit, then stopped immediately directly in the entrance into the roundabout. No one was injured, the accident was obviously the busses fault, but they didn’t move. In Nairobi, you are not allowed to move the vehicles after an accident until the police come to write their report. On the weekends the police aren’t in any hurry, so it could take them almost 3 hours before they report to the scene. We continued to sit blocking the intersection and causing a major jam behind us for nearly 45 minutes. Finally someone else from the party came to pick us up while Maina waited for the police.

Arriving at the party only added to our cultural immersion. All of Maina’s family was attending, there were to be food and speeches and fellowship. Our only connection to the party was Maina, we had not been introduced to any of the rest of his family, and Maina was still tied up with the accident. So now we are three foreigners walking into a graduation party for someone we haven’t even met. Luckily, we had met Maina’s girlfriend who was already present at the party, but this was her opportunity to become acquainted with the family as well. We were directed to sit down, then to go and get our food as the party started without Maina.

Traditional Kenyan staples were served. They had rice, vegetables, boiled greens, chipati, ugali, roasted chicken, beef stew, roasted goat, mashed potatoes mixed with maize, and fruits. By now we know not to expect anything to taste like home. The meat all tastes different as the animals don’t have the similar diet to those in the states, similarly, ugali, chipati, and maize can’t be compared to things in America either, but all in all the food was delicious and filling. Shortly after the meal was finished Maina arrived to the party and informed us that the accident was the other guys fault and that insurance would take care of it from there.

After Maina arrived we began the ceremony, this ceremony consisted of all of the family members coming to the front to speak, everyone presented a gift in front of all of the guests, and a vocal worship time led by Maina’s sister, Ann, in three different languages: English, Swahili, and Kikuyu (a Kenyan tribal language). By the time the ceremony was complete and we made our journey back home, it was almost midnight.

The experiences of frustration and awkwardness were overshadowed by the love that was shown from everyone that was at the party. Everyone had amazing things to say about Maina’s father and family. The events of the evening made it one I will never forget. 

True to Kenyan Form

The past week at MCDC has truly been wonderful! We started our group sessions on Monday. We all three went in anticipating that the first week would be a challenge, yet once again they have proven us wrong.  The organization was slightly chaotic but that’s how things tend to be here in Kenya. Once the students arrived, about 20 minutes late, the sessions went very well. I had a group of students that had lost both their mother and their father. No one in the group knew the topic of discussion or that they all shared this commonality. One of the most powerful moments thus far was when I asked everyone who has lost their mother to stand up. All at once, the entire group of 15 students stood from their chairs. Then I said if you have lost your father please remain standing, no one moved. I wish I could have captured the looks on each students face. As they looked around at their friends and classmates that they have know for months and years, they began to realize that they weren’t alone in this challenging world. I had one student tell be he was very surprised and that he felt encouragement and comfort for the first time since his mother died.

Ryan and I have both already made strong connections with the students. We have had many students ask to speak with us one on one, and many try to show up for the group session every day, when they are only assigned to once a week. Ryan has amazed me at his way with the kids. I knew that he was a WONDERFUL teacher but he has blown me away with his mentorship and counseling skills. God has been working in both of us so much and we have found skills that we didn’t realize we had.

Our Fourth of July holiday was much different than what we normally have in the states. We spent the day working at MCDC and it didn’t sink in that it was Independence Day until later that night. It was sad knowing that all of our family and friends were together and that we were not a part of it. We enjoyed Skyping with everyone but it just made us miss home that much more. That morning we spent 2 hours traveling to MCDC and 2 hours counseling at MCDC. Some of our Kenyan friends knew that we needed to buy butter on our way home to make cookies for a fourth of July party we were having with the local Missionaries. They offered to take us into town to pick up butter and then take us right home. “We have plenty of time to make it back before the party.” Yea those were our famous last words! The ride into town took an hour and then Maina took us to his uncle’s butcher shop, Kate took us to her brother’s jewelry store, they wanted to stop for us to buy a fruit salad, and 2 hours later we made it to the store to buy the butter. Well that put us right at rush hour, trying to find a matatu. We waited for 45 minutes to catch a ride and then sat in traffic for an hour to get to the matatu stop closest to our home. We still had a 30 minute walk from there. The cookies were not yet made and we were already 3 hours late for the party. Our friends told us that being late for a party is no problem in Kenya. It wasn’t until we told them that it was an American party that they understood why we were feeling so rushed. Everything worked out and all of the missionaries understood why we were late when we told them we were with two locals. We were served hamburgers, salads, chips, pie, and ice cream. The food was a great taste from home and the firework show really made the holiday feel official. We are so thankful for the missionaries that have welcomed us into their homes and have become our families away from home.   

We spent some time this week attempting to document our travels to MCDC. It is impossible to fully document the experience but we gave it our best attempt through the video that is attached. Every morning and every afternoon we walk approximately 1 hour each way. The total travel time is about 2 hours and we are located only 7 miles away from the school. We won’t know what to think when we get back to the states and can jump in our car to be somewhere 7 miles away in 10 minutes. View the full size video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zSn40PWz6M

 We have been told that we are officially Kenyan because we eat their food, travel by Matatu, and show up late to everything.       

Home Sweet Kenya

Here are a few video tours of our compound and our home! If you would like to see the videos full screen search "abumandafish" on youtube.

"Africa Time"

Friday morning we went to the teen challenge center. The center is less than a mile from our compound and its establishment was headed by John and Annie Martin, Kenya Assemblies of God missionaries. Teen Challenge is a worldwide initiative to open drug rehabilitation centers. This particular center is a men’s center that services men from age 20 and up who live in the Nairobi area. We were invited to be the keynote speakers at their weekly chapel service. Chrissy Young stepped forward and shared a moving message from her life proving the power of prayer and forgiveness. The men took a particular liking to message as they feel as though they have burned many bridges and hurt many of the people that they love. It gave them hope that those relationships can be restored and that Jesus is powerful to mend all hearts.

“Africa Time,” what does it mean?

We were scheduled to be picked up to go to Teen Challenge at 8 am and to speak at 8:30. Well our ride showed up at 8:20 and we spoke at 8:40. We were scheduled to leave teen challenge at 10 am and we left at 11:30 am. Our next ride was scheduled to arrive at 10:30, he showed at 11:45, and our lunch date met up with us at approximately 2:30.  Nothing stays on schedule!

I am not sure if the time moves faster, or if people aren’t really hung up on the time in Kenya. Part of the problem is every time you leave the house the length of your trip is different. For example, on our matatu rides to MCDC when we leave the house we have a 1.5 mile walk to the bus stop. That walk could be altered by traffic, masses of people, or cattle. When we arrive to the bus stop, there is no  bus schedule, the matatus are privately owned so the drivers stick to the routes that have the most customers. You could wait 5 minutes, or 45; your wait time simply depends on:

• Number of people waiting with you
• Number of people on the previous stops
• The weather
• The time of day
• The temperament of the driver
• Peak hours
• Off hours
• Traffic

And all of those factors come into play each and every time you change between matatus. Our journey from home to MCDC requires 3 exchanges, each route costs a different amount and has its own unique qualities. All in our entire journey from home to MCDC, on average, requires 2 hours each way. The distance of our journey to MCDC is roughly 10 miles.

In addition to extra transport time everything seems to take longer. I don’t know if we are just starting to adjust to “Africa Time,” but anything you try to do seems to take all day. After Teen Challenge today we planned to meet a friend for lunch then pick up a few things at the market; two very simple endeavors. We arrived at Village Market (A shopping complex with a food court, specialty shops, and Nakumat) at 12:30. Our friend arrived around 2:30 and we didn’t get to Nakumat to shop until 4:00! It took us 2 hours to shop and we didn’t arrive home until 6:30. Kenya is directly on the equator so we get exactly 12 hours of sunlight. It is not safe to be out after dark so your day ends at 6:45 with night fall. So what would take a few hours of your afternoon in America takes nearly a full day in Africa.

“Africa Time” is just one of the cultural differences we are attempting to adapt to. It is one that allows for more personal relationships and a relatively less stressful life style. It is easy to get into the groove and pace of things here. We hope to continue to learn and adapt to our new environment for the next 6 weeks! And when we get home we will have to be allowed a little bit of slack as we adjust back to our two job, full time lives!