It was a joy to show the teacher’s college students attending the “finished” library because when they left at 1 p.m. on Thursday books were still in large piles on the floor and cataloging was going forward. (A miracle had transpired in their absence. Most benches and chairs had been removed, tables had been rearranged, floors had been mopped, cataloged books had been shelved in minimal order, and attractive books were displayed. They were impressed by the transformation. It was even more gratifying to see, after the ceremony, deaf and hearing students in the library checking out all the books!

After a suitable time, Fridah took us to the Makema Textile Workshop where we were shown how unclean sheep wool was washed, dyed, spun into yarn, and woven into attractive rugs by HIV/AIDS women. Also, there were lovely tie dyed fabrics and small stuffed dolls and toys--all for sale! We could not restrain ourselves. After this stop, we wended our way over really rough roads (Fridah says she has to change auto tires every three months.) to the center of town where we stopped at a market. Here, we stocked up on coffee, writing materials and other items. Then it was to the White Star Hotel where the Mubichis joined up for an evening meal. Afterward, very tired VIM members collapsed on their beds, assured of a job well done.

Saturday, February 9, 2007

After a later breakfast, the men folk left with Stephen on a “45 minute” (our team joke was that everything in Kenya is 45 minutes away) trip to Maua. Here they saw two of Stephen’s buildings: a flour mill and one of his two restaurants. They visited the Maua Methodist Hospital, which has regular hospital facilities spread across a number of buildings. They have changed some financial processes so all who are able to pay do so. They met doctors, nurses and various administrators, and saw the nursing school where Florence was previous director. The hospital complex receives funding from many countries, and the hospital relies on this support. They plan to further expand as present needs cannot be met.
After this, they went up a mountain over rough road to a tea factory where they witnessed the entire process from green tea leaves arriving in sacks from farers’ trucks to the finished black tea, ready for market. Wilting of the leaves takes 16 hours, but after that, in 90 minutes, it goes from being torn or chapped to being fermented dried and sent out via a separating machine that divides it into seven different grades of bulk packaged tea. Their next stop was a coffee factory in Meru. Here they saw coffee beans arrive in sacks. Women, sitting on concrete flooring lined with burlap, were picking out bad beans. Green coffee has an extended life of four or five years, but, once roasted, the shelf life in short as far as connoisseurs are concerned. The green beans are tossed about by machine to remove the shells and interior skin. They are then divided by size and shape into five categories. The green coffee can then be sold. Farmers only get $1/lb. where users pay $5/lb. If an expresso coffee is desired, the beans are sun-dried and the result is a strong bitter coffee. Coffee does not go through many middle men. Neal was most interested in improving the lot of the coffee growers.

Meanwhile, the women visited the Kaaga Methodist Church were the Compassion Program was in progress. Youngsters were scattered across the church ground, drinking porridge after being served from a large pot cooked over a nearby open fire. After photos, we wandered on to the almost completed manse. Once finished, the church will get a regular pastor, but until then, lay ministers and the district church leader are filling as ministers at this church. We also visited three unfinished classrooms. Since last year, concrete flooring has been installed as a tentative step. Finished concrete will come later. Rock walls and roof are in place and they can be used as temporary classrooms as blackboards are up. Stucco finish on the inside, doors and windows will finish the building. Classes on vocational skills (machine embroidery, cooking, hair styling, etc.) and religious education are given. Student participants are chosen by welfare workers as being the most needy of children. The church sponsors this Saturday program within the guidelines of Compassion International, which supplies food for breakfast and lunch, social workers, and part-time teachers. The program pays partial school fees and supplies uniforms so that, hopefully, students will remain in school, get an education and improve their lot.

Visit at P.E.M.A.

We next visited the PEMA Counseling and Training Centre, which is directed by Gladys Gitonga, Florence Mubichi’s sister, from her home. PEMA is an acronym for Peacemaker or in Kiswahili, it means “a good place.” It works with HIV/AIDS orphans or children who have lost one or both parents, their guardians and people with HIV/AIDS. Begun in 2003 by Gladys, a music teacher and counselor at the high school, it offers emotional and financial support to 30 families of 200 people. All are offered counseling. Food is offered each month. The 60 children presently involved are each provided with a sturdy backpack containing a complete school uniform, plus an extra shirt, and includes new shoes. Their school fees are also taken care of. Economic empowerment comes through bead makings, mats, crocheting, knitting of sweaters, for which materials are provided. Gladys then endeavors to market these items, which are all created on site. The group bought items. The center operates out of three small rooms. So more support is needed to provide for more families.

Saturday Lunch at Kentrout

After this we drove an hour or so outside Meru to a quiet, Eden-like area called Ken Trout, where the men joined the group. Beautiful flower and shrub plantings surrounded benches and picnic tables adjacent to a palm-thatched building whee freshly cooked chicken and trout dinners were available. Calla lilies grew wild. A friendly lizard eyed us from a table top. A band of monkeys cornered Nicole and Ravena in the ladies‘ toilets for a bit. After a most tasty luncheon, we wandered about the beautiful grounds, spied an albino baby monkey clinging to his mom‘s front, and fed trout which jumped up in appreciation..

Saturday Dinner in Church Members' Homes

On returning to the hotel, we caught the 7 p.m. National Television news which showed a good segment on our library! There was even a brief picture of our VIM team!
We then were divided into small groups and were taken to three different church families’ homes for dinner. One family home had a good quarter mile of the most intensely deeply bumpy road that ever a motorized vehicle traversed. But the food and fellowship was great!

Sunday, February 10, 2007

The group attended the Methodist Church of Kenya Kaaga Church’s 9 a.m. English language worship service. A keyboard singer led is some rousing hymns of praise, accompanied by a guitarist and a bass guitarist. The superintendent minister’s wife sang a lovely solo. A group of six teenagers contributed a song of praise, and our own Bob Macemon played his guitar and sang two hymns. Neal Baumwort preached on God’s grace and love as told in I Corinthian 13. This grace and love are gifts meant to be shared. Further faith, hope and love abide, but the greatest of these is love. Love is the gift. Faith and hope is the response. This was followed by a morning tea served in their fellowship hall, which was prepared by and shared with some members of the church.

Organizing the church library

Meanwhile, a second church service was in progress. At one point, the choir marched out of the church, across a small area to the Superintendent minister’s office building where Neal and Charity K., the librarian, had worked to establish a library of donated materials to serve the religious community, especially the pastors and lay pastors.

Dedicating the Church Library

There we had our third dedication of the week in a joyful but quietly impressive ceremony. Dr. Neal Baumwart's hard work showed in the wonderfully organized church library!

Final Look at the Library

A tranquil afternoon at the Mubichis home that included one last look at the library. That evening we enjoyed a festive dinner at the Mubichi's home that encompassed many folks from church, the school, library volunteers, family, a publisher representative, other visiting VIM team members and ourselves! What a gathering! It was a great sharing time!

Going Away Dinner at Mubichi's Home

Lunch Hour Adventures In Meru Area

On Tuesday, February 6, 2007, the mission team had lunch and a tour at the nearby MCK Bio-Intensive Agricultural Training Centre which is a Methodist church project designed to enhance the capacity of small holder farmers while conserving and restoring the environment. This center was established in 1992 on the site of a former Methodist complex. The largest building, where we had lunch, served as a school for girls. Built in the early 1900’s, it served to give girls an education as they had not previously been provided for. The long row building served as a girls dorm. A small nearby house served as the minister’s home. Now the previous school is a ding room, kitchen and bath. The former dorms have been divided into four-beds, one bath suites, with a larger end section serving as a meeting room for seminars and short courses. It’s good that 25 farmers can be boarded here while taking short courses in bio-intensive agriculture, soil fertility, composting, beekeeping, zero-grazing of livestock, poultry and rabbits, pest management, various technologies of vetiver systems, charcoal ovens, water pups and drip irrigation and HIV/AIDS awareness. John Mwalimu, a former Methodist missionary to the Philippines and government agriculture extension worker, is coordinator for the center. He graciously gave us a tour showing how animals could be healthily housed in small quarters and fed on fast growing grasses. The latter are also helpful in controlling soil erosion. The double-digging of soil two feet deep supports intensive planting while retaining moisture.

Our Wednesday, February 7th, lunch time adventure involved a tour of the Meru Kaaga Elementary School. Here teachers were doing an outstanding job in truly adverse circumstances. Most classroom floors were dirt. Mortar on the walls was disintegrating allowing snakes and other critters to enter. Windows were usually bars only. If there was glass, it was often cracked, partially or wholly broken out. Plastic bags from dry cleaner shops was put over the spaces to cut the cold wind. How the teachers remain dedicated, dressing professionally, was a tribute to their characters.

(Click to enlarge pictures.)

Guess who made the National news in Kenya? #3

Guess who made the National news in Kenya????
Yup you got it right we are now celebs.
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15

“Every time I come here my eyes open a little more.”
~Jean Warner (this is her 3rd time in Kenya)

Our week of safari has come to an end and we are now back in Nairobi in preparation for our flight home tomorrow (is it over already?). We plan to visit the Karen Blixen (author of “Out of Africa”) museum tomorrow morning, and then we will shop until we drop before heading to the airport at 8pm for our 10pm (1pm OKC time) flight home.

It’s nice to have wireless internet here in Nairobi! Unlike the slow slow slow dial-up we had in Meru.

We had a great safari. The most exciting part was this morning when we drove up to 5 lions sitting in the grass only 3 feet from the road! After days of unsuccessful, intense searching for kitty cats this caught us all by surprise. We also saw gazelle, giraffe, baboons, zebras, impalas, hundreds of flamingos (from afar they looked like a line of pink along the horizon), rhinos, ostrich, hyena, and a glimpse of a cheetah from afar.

We ate at The Carnivore for dinner this evening, where we ate every kind of meat you can imagine. The most exotic meats we tried were ostrich & crocodile.

FUN FACTS:

• Kenya has-not one- but TWO official languages: English & Kiswahili.
• Most Kenyans speak at least 3 languages: English, Kiswahili, and at least 1 regional language.
• There are over 42 tribes, or ethnic groups, in Kenya. Each has its own language and within each language there are different dialects.
• Christianity is the main religion here.
• Kenya still practices dowry. The man pays the woman’s family according to her tribe’s traditions. In Meru culture the man is expected to pay 5 cows (among other things like sugar, honey & chickens..) plus one bull if the girl is the first daughter in the family to marry. Stephen Mubichi says if he is offered 10 cows he will give me away. He’s joking. I think.
• Everyone here has a cell phone. To quote Fridah: “You know what’s funny? Kenyans can be poor as church mice, not even have a house, but they’ll have a cell phone.” The only phone plans here are pay-as-you-go.
• Kenya only has 2 seasons: the rainy season (Where it rains for most of 2 months. This usually falls in April/May) & the dry season (Where the temperature stays in the 70s and the sun is always shining… perfect weather.)
• Most vehicles here have governors on their engines that don’t allow them to go faster than 80 kilometers per hour (for safety). That’s only 48 miles per hour!
• There’s a brand of beer here called “The Senator.” You can go into a Kenyan bar and ask for one “Obama” and they’ll know what you mean. (Though Barrack Obama is an American, his father was Kenyan. I’ve had several Kenyans ask me if I like “the Kenyan who is running for president.” I also watched the local news one evening and the only non-local story they covered was Obama’s announcement to run for president. The newscaster described him as “the son of a Kenyan farmer…[who] spoke with the zeal of a wounded lion.”)
• Elections take place every 5 years (this year is an election year!). Kenya is on their 3rd president since they got their independence from the British in 1963.
• There are 3 speed bumps in front of every school in Meru. This is a school zone.
• Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, has a population of about 3 million. It’s estimated 800,000 of these people live in the slums.
• Population of Kenya: about 30 million. (this is a rough number)
• Women don’t talk about weight here, having a full-figure here is okay. Don’t see anyone counting calories: everyone eats their meals and drinks their tea with milk and sugar and a biscuit if they want to, and I haven’t seen a single advertisement for a gym. One of the waiters at our hotel complimented Nicole by saying, “You look healthy and well-fed. Your husband must be a good provider.”
  

Please keep checking the blog, we’ll be updating from home to fill in parts of the trip we haven’t had time to write about from here!!

Wednesday - Jambo, friends! #2

It’s 9:30 pm here, which means it’s only lunchtime for those of you in OKC (9 hour time difference).

I am so pleased to be writing to you from Kenya for the 2nd year in a row! I came the first year without enough knowledge about this country to even have expectations of what I might find here. Every sight and experience was so exotic and foreign; it was too much to take in. This year, as I stepped out of the airport and felt the air and saw the jungle-like greenery mixed in with the city roads & buildings, it was all so familiar it felt like returning home after a long absence.

It ‘makes my heart sing’ (to quote Fridah) to see the evolution the library has made in only one year’s time. It’s beautifully painted, inside and out, and *best* of all: it is now FULL OF BOOKS! With the 20 foot container of books our church sent last year and the generous donation from a publisher here in Kenya, we estimate that we have around 10,000 books and another 10,000 textbooks. We’ve catalogued nearly half of the books but have not begun to put them on their shelves yet. Thank goodness (or should I thank Fridah?) for all the student & teacher volunteers who have been working with us.

We can tell whenever the children at the neighboring Kaaga School for the Deaf have a break in classes because we can see their heads pop up in all the library’s windows. They also try to sneak in the door at least a dozen times a day. It is a blessing to have children on the receiving end of our mission because gratitude is shown openly, without inhibition, and it is never false. I let 3 children look at one book once & it kept them totally quiet and engrossed for almost 10 full minutes. We all can’t wait to get the library up & functioning.

As you sit there shivering in the cold, I’d like to take this opportunity to kick you when you’re down: everyday we enjoy sunshine, perfect 70-something degree weather, and no humidity. Everything is so green here. Nothing is brown or dying & it seems like they must have every type of plant, bush, flower & tree that is in existence. There is so much variety (palm trees, banana trees, poinsettia bushes, tall grasses, cacti, trees with flat tops, trees that look like they came out of Dr. Seuss books, trees that are-no exaggeration- 50 feet tall, coffee bushes, weeping willows…) and everything is flourishing. Every shade of green is represented everywhere you look, and the backdrop of blue sky & strikingly white & enormous clouds make them look all the richer.

Until next time,

Katie McLain

Greetings from Kenya! #1

Greetings from Kenya! Our mission team members are all working very hard sorting and cataloging books for the library at the school for hearing impaired children. We have had as many as 45 volunteers each day working with us including students and faculty from Kaaga Methodist Church, Kenya Methodist University, Meru Teachers College, Meru Technical Institute, Mbaya Karichu Institute and teachers at the Kaaga School for Hearing Impaired Children.

We have enjoyed lunches and dinners with Kenyan colleagues both at our hotel and at the Mubichi family’s home. Yesterday we had lunch and a tour at the Bio-Intensive Agricultural Training Center. This afternoon, we will attend a dedication ceremony at the Meru School for the Mentally Challenged Children where Rev Neal Baumwart will speak.

We are all well and having a great time interacting with caring, hardworking Kenyans. More soon.

Submitted by Jean Warner Feb 7, 2007