Our Final Weekend - The Event

We are leaving Kenya this coming week, and are taking a memory of this weekend that we will never forget…

WARNING! This post is not suitable for young children, women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant or anyone adverse to large quantities of blood!

Last week, we had the five girls and their mother (Lucy) over to our apartment for dinner and a movie.  Everything went really well and we all had a fabulous time eating chicken and noodles and watching Beauty and the Beast.  After the movie, Lucy said that she wanted to invite us to a Masai party on Saturday.  While Lucy is not Masai, her husband (Moses) is.  I checked with Sandy, and she said that we were not doing anything on Saturday, so I told Lucy that we would be able to go.  Thinking it was just an ordinary celebration like we have in America, I asked what kind of party it was, and she said that her nephew was getting circumcised!  My mind instantly when to the Seinfeld episode of the Jewish brisk.  Remember that one?  But my vision was soon shattered when I learned the boy getting the procedure was 16 years old!  Well, it was too late to back out now, so the next best thing is to take someone else with you, so we invited Joyce and Loy to go with us.              

Now not knowing what was actually going to happen at the event, we were quite apprehensive in the days leading up to Saturday.  We told quite a few Kenyans that we were going, and all were very surprised that we were invited since the Masai never invite outsiders to their ceremonies.  This, of course, made us even more apprehensive, but also very curious about what was going to take place. 

Well, Saturday came, and the ANU transport SUV took everyone except Moses and me to the Masai village that was only 20 minutes from campus.  The SUV was not big enough for all of us, so Moses and I took a matatu.  It was interesting since he speaks about as much English as I speak Swahili, but it worked out fine.  We had to walk the last 2-3km past all of the modern houses back by the edge of a forest where the village was located.  

As we approached, I could see the village was comprised of a dozen or so mud/manure huts with several pens where they kept goats and cattle.  There were many men standing around in traditional Masai wear.  In addition to being strong warriors, the Masai are also occupationally herdsmen.  Part of the rational for waiting until 16 for the circumcision is for boys to show they are men and able to withstand the pain without showing any emotion.  When we approached, all of the men came forward to greet and welcome me.  Although most spoke only Masai, they were all very nice and as curious about me as I was of them.  Thankfully, we did find a couple of folks that spoke English quite well and could explain to us what was going to happen. 

I learned that at Masai ceremonies like this one, there is a clear separation of men and women.  So, Sandy went to help prepare the meal by peeling potatoes and I hung out when the men (sounds like Thanksgiving in America doesn’t it!).   

The men were responsible for slaughtering and cooking the meat, so I went back with the other men and saw a bunch of meat spread out on the ground with the heads of a sheep and goat lying nearby.  Not the most sanitary conditions (flies were all over the meat), but they were boiling the meat in a pot over an open fire.  Loy was getting on pretty well with the men, so I went and played with Maddy and the girls for a while and the girls took us on a tour of the village and introduced us to their relatives.  After about an hour, some men came to get me because the show was about to begin…

We learned that the boy to be circumcised was out in the fields with the cattle, and that he would lead them back into their village to begin the ceremony.  As they came in, several of the other herdsmen threw themselves on the ground, prostrated themselves, and let out cries of empathy that Loy commented sounded like an animal in pain.   

The boy was then led to a place where his mother shaved his head (including his eyebrows) with a razor blade.   

They then took him into one of the pens where the cattle were and placed him on cattle skin where the procedure was to take place.  All of the men gathered around.  The women were not allowed into the pen.  I was surprised that the man who did the procedure actually wore surgical gloves, cleaned the area with alcohol, used sanitary equipment and anesthetized the area before beginning.  The procedure only took about 5 minutes, and at the end, one of the men poured milk over the area to clear the blood.  Needless to say, it was painful to watch!  After it was all over, they carried him into his house and the festivities continued back in the cattle pen.  Moses took me back in and directed me to where I should go while he took all of the pictures.  

The first thing we did was go meet the mother and father of the boy and the rest of his family.  They all seemed quite happy and were very nice.  We then went over to where some men were starting a fire using just wood (another tradition that the Masai hold onto).  It took them awhile, but they finally got it started and celebrated with their homemade wine when it started blazing.

Moses then took me over to where a cow was to be slaughtered.  Add this to the list of firsts for me for the day!  Now I’m not sure how this is done in America, but I’m pretty sure it is not in the same manner that I witnessed.  While one man held the head of the cow and another held the body of the cow, a third took a bow and arrow and shot it at the juggler vein on the cow’s neck.  The arrow failed to puncture the cow the first two tries, but the third was a success and the blood started to flow.  They captured the blood in a skin pouch, and after the sack was filled, they plugged the whole on the neck with a finger until it was emptied and returned.  They did this several times and then just let the cow finish draining until it died.  They then took the saved blood, and drank it.  It is supposed to give you vitality (which sounded appealing), but I passed! 

The food was finally ready, so the men joined back up with the women, and they brought us rice, potatoes, and meat (the goat and sheep I saw earlier).  Sandy and I did our part and ate, but Joyce and Loy passed.   It was actually VERY good even though the meat was a little tough.  As we were finishing eating, our driver arrived.  We thanked all of the people that so graciously invited us into their festivities, and felt honored to have witnessed such a sacred Masai tradition that has been going on for thousands of years. 

 

As we were leaving, Lucy and Moses asked if we would come back tomorrow for the big celebration.  Thankfully, we had guests planned for the next day since we had learned earlier that on Sunday they would be circumcising one of the girls in the village.  Neither Sandy nor I felt like we could handle that very well! 

Of all of our experiences in Kenya over these past four months, this one will stick in our memories for the rest of our lives.  The girls have told me in the past that I am Kenyan since I have lived in Kenya and do things that Kenyans do.  After today, I feel even more Kenyan now than I ever have before!

Public Primary Schools

A couple of weeks ago, an American couple (Loy and Joyce) came to ANU from Independence, MO to teach teachers during the next semester.  They are both retired educators, and newlyweds even though they are in their 70’s. Loy was here last year, and this is Joyce’s first time.  They are a delightful couple and much more adventurous than most their age.  They decided to come to ANU a little prior to the beginning of the semester so that they could experience more of Kenya.  We have already introduced them to tuk-tuks, matatus, and even a birthday party in a Kenyan family’s home.  Since they are educators, they also wanted to visit a local public primary school. As I have become friends with many of the local kids during my runs, and most of these attend public schools, I suggested that we should visit the primary school over in Twala (a village that I run through frequently around 3km from campus).  As I have written about in the past, I am friends with a family of 5 little girls that all go to this school, and I asked them if it was alright for us to visit.  All of them said “Welcome!” and were excited for us to visit.  So, on a dry afternoon last week, we walked along dirt paths and roads until we made it to the school. 


Clara (on the left) and her friend

When we were almost there, we heard a small voice from quite a distance calling my name.  When we turned around, we saw that it was Clara (the youngest of the five girls – age 5) running toward us.  We later learned that the young kids get out earlier than the older kids, and she typically just hangs around the town of Twala until her older sisters get out of class so that they can all walk home together (a distance of around 5km or 3 miles).  She walked with us to the school and showed us where to get through the barbed wire fence.

Oloosirkon Primary School

Once we got inside, we quickly found the office of the “Head Teacher”, and were warmly welcomed by him.  Loy had quite a chuckle when the Head Teacher asked another teacher to bring Loy a chair and she returned with a chair that was missing a leg!  Once they found proper chairs for them, Loy and Joyce had quite a discussion with him comparing the American school system to that in Kenya.  I played with the kids in the yard, but did manage to hear that each class is around 20-30 pupils, and the whole school had around 220 kids.  They also have year round school (something I know is often debated in America). 

Standard 6 - Which one is not like the others?

He then took us to meet the students.  He started us with Standard 8 (i.e. 8^th Grade).  In America, kids in a certain grade are all within a year or two of each other.  However, in Kenya, it is much more difficult to say how old kids are in a certain Standard.  This is because kids start at different ages, and they must pass certain exams before they can begin Standard 1.  If they don’t pass the exams, they just stay at the same level for another year and take the exams again.  So, the kids in Standard 8 ranged from around 10-15.  Standard 8 is also the last level before they take exams to see if they can make it into secondary school.  If they do not pass the exams, and most do not, they are finished with school and enter the workforce.  However, if they do pass the exams, they enter secondary school where they must pay substantially more for schooling.  Hence, many poor families that have bright children still can’t send them to get an education beyond Standard 8.  The government is supposed to be helping with this problem, but like many other things in Kenya’s government, corruption is a real issue, and funds do not always end up where they are supposed to. 

Standard 8

Anyway, when we entered the Standard 8 classroom, I was surprised by its simplicity.  Now I probably shouldn’t have been since the school itself and the Head Teacher’s office were nothing more than cinderblocks, but I was.  There was little on the walls except a blackboard at the front of the room (no chalk or erasers could be found), and there were rows of benches with attached desks.  No electricity.  No running water.  There was no teacher and the kids were working quietly at their desks.  When we entered and the Head Teacher said “Good afternoon, children”, they all stood up and in unison said “Good afternoon, Sir”. 

Joyce's string tricks were a hit!

Loy, Joyce, and I just stood there waiting for an introduction or something when the Head Teacher leaned over to me and said they were waiting for me to say hello.  So, after I said “Hello, children”, they all said (in unison again), “Good afternoon, Sir.  Welcome to our school!”  Loy and Joyce did the same and we each explained who we were and what we are doing in Kenya.  They all smiled and laughed as Joyce did some silly string tricks that made it look like she was cutting her head off with a piece of string! We then went to 3 or 4 lower Standard classes where we repeated the same stories. 

I enjoyed being able to see the other 4 sisters that I am friends with in their classrooms, and had a lot of fun playing with them in the front yard after school let out.  We played in this well looking thing that no one knew what it was for.  Probably a project that was started by a group, but never completed.  Once all the girls were out, we started walking home with them. 

The fruit stand

On the way, we purchased some mangos for the girls to eat at a fruit stand.  I had seen them stop here before to get mangos and they had told me that it was a real treat for them when their mom had money (each mango was around $0.05), but that it did not happen very often. 





On the way back, a little boy (Lanto) also joined us on our walk.  He was probably no more than 3 years old, and really took a liking to Loy.  Although he did not say a word (he only spoke Swahili), he held Loy’s hand the whole way home until he left us to finish his walk home. 

Loy and Lanto

The three of us were amazed that a child that young had to walk to and from school all by himself a distance of 4 miles each way!  We finally made it back and said goodbye to the girls and Lanto.  We were filthy from all of the dirt, and the kids looked much better than we did!

The differences in resources between American and Kenyan public schools that we saw was dramatic, and made the complaints that we often make about our system seem so petty.    After our visit, we are all much more appreciative of what we have in America public schools.  While we were there, we were invited back.  So, we’ll be returning April 11 to help plant some trees in the front of the school.  Should be a lot of fun, especially now that the rainy season has finally begun!

Top 10 Lists

When we talk to people back home, the first question we always get is what we miss most about American. Since our time is also quickly coming to an end in Kenya, we thought we would do a top 10 list of things that we miss about American and a top 10 list of things that we will miss about Kenya when we leave. We put these together as a family, so here it goes…

Top 10 Things We Miss About America

1. Family and Friends – This one probably goes without saying. Technology (when it works – see #2 below) has definitely helped, but it can’t compare to being close to family and friends!
2. Reliable Internet Service – This is one of those things that we take for granted in America. If the internet is down (even for an instant) we get really annoyed. In Kenya, you’re lucky if the internet is up half the time (probably more like one quarter). When it is up, the speed is comparable to modems that we had 10 years ago in America! It’s very difficult to get work done when the internet comes and goes. It was out nearly all last week, and no one really seemed to care much.
3. Modern Conveniences – There is a lot I could list here that we miss, but here are a couple: dish washers, garbage disposals, twist-and-ties on bread (they use tape in Kenya which you can’t use to reclose it!), the serrated edge on plastic wrap boxes (I guess they expect you to use a knife or scissors, but it never works right), air conditioners (there have been a couple of days we certainly could have used it)
4. Restaurants – When in America, I forget what a melting pot we really are! This is reflected in all of the great ethic variety we have in our restaurants. In Nairobi, the vast majority of people are Kenyans and like Kenyan food. So, there is little variety in restaurants. We really miss Mexican, Chinese, and even Panera! Maddy misses Sweet Tomatoes (her favorite restaurant in America).
5. Infrastructure – City planning is a beautiful thing that you don’t even realize until it is missing. There is very little (if any) city planning in Kenya. There are no sidewalks outside of downtown, and the roads are poorly designed and maintained. Roads that could use 3 lanes in each direction have only 1. Cars break down regularly and congest traffic for kilometers since the broken down cars have nowhere to go.
6. Regulation – Next time you want to complain about regulation in the states, try living where there is none! I certainly understand over regulation, but really miss regulation on pollutants (the majority of the cars & trucks smoke like crazy), building construction (every other night you hear a story on the news about a building collapsing due to poor construction), seat belts (there are none), nutritional information on foods (there are no requirements on foods that you purchase), and all the laws in place to prevent corruption in business and government (corruption is a HUGE problem in Kenya).
7. Safety – As I have mentioned in a prior post, the Kenyan’s view of a safe distance is much different than ours. So, when we are walking or running on the street, cars pass dangerously close (in our view) to us. Since there are no sidewalks, you have no choice but to walk on the street. I miss sidewalks!
8. Consistency – Going to a store and knowing that what you need will actually be there week after week. In Kenya, you just never really know…
9. Western Public Toilets – In Kenya, most are squat toilets and few (if any) have toilet paper since people steal it. I never thought a toilet (or toilet paper) would make our top 10 list!
10. Focus on Children – In America, we do a lot for our kids, and there are endless activities, stores, playgrounds, etc. for them. These types of things are very difficult to find in Kenya (in fact, there are no playgrounds that we have found). When the locals see us interacting with Maddy or other children, they are always surprised that we pay so much attention to children. In Kenya, you don’t even see parents playing with their kids or even supervising them at play.

Top 10 Things We Will Miss About Kenya

1. The People – By far, the best thing about Kenya is the people. I have written about the friendliness of the kids and adults many times in prior postings, but it is worth reiterating. Compared to American culture, Kenya is much more social and values community more. Even business conversations always begin with cordial conversations, and they think it rude to jump straight into business without exchanging pleasantries first. The people are also very generous with what little they have. It seems like the less they have, the more generous they are willing to be.
2. Running – Again, I have written about this in the past, but running on the dirt roads in Kenya is a beautiful thing. Since my last posting about running, I have started training for running a half-marathon (which is April 1), and have changed my route to pass by the game park. I have encountered several heard of giraffe, a heard of zebra, countless baboons, packs of gazelle and impala, and last week, even a rhinoceros! We’re talking close encounters here, around 50-100 feet (except for the rhino which was more like 100 yards). One time it occurred to me that there could be more than just herbivores out there, so I stopped wearing headphones when I run! The people too that I pass are also really great. All of them stop, look at me, smile, wave and say “Jambo!” (i.e. Hello). As I have mentioned, the kids love to run alongside of me, and I’ll miss their smiling faces when I am gone. They really keep me going, even on difficult runs.
3. The Pace of Life – African culture is much slower paced than America. Things rarely (if ever) start and end on time, and you just have to learn to go with the flow. If you show up on time, they ask why you are early. Sandy went to a meeting at Maddy’s school that was supposed to start at 10am with a guest speaker. She showed up at 10:10 and was the first one there! The lady that organized it said, “Sweetie, this is Africa, we won’t start until at least 11:30”, and they didn’t. Without all the modern conveniences of America, efficiency and productivity in their work is also much less. As I said earlier, things like electricity and the internet go out almost daily, and they just live with it and don’t complain.
4. Hour Long Recess – This one is from Maddy (obviously), and compared to the 30 minutes she gets back in America, who wouldn’t miss this!
5. Public Transportation – Maddy and I really enjoy riding the matatus. Yes, the music is pretty loud in some of them. Yes, some of them do drive pretty dangerously. But, they are a lot of fun to ride!
6. Scenery – Kenya is a beautiful place, and there are some views that are on my running paths that are breathtaking. From the wide expanse of the game park to the back drop of the Ngong Hills, the tropical climate is perfect for beautiful flowers, trees, and birds. Much different than anything you can see in America, so it is hard to describe it without seeing it!
7. Chapel / Church Services – Worship services are much more energetic than we are used to in the states. In America, we pretty much stand in one place and don’t move much. Here, Maddy dances in the aisles and really enjoys being part of the service. It will probably take us some time to readjust when we get back home, so if you see us swaying or dancing in church, kindly tells us to stop!
8. Food Court at the Mall – This is similar to the food courts in malls back in America. The nice difference is that you just sit at a table, and all of the restaurants bring you their menus and you can order a little from one a little from another. They bring the food to you, and you don’t even tip! In fact, you don’t tip at any restaurants unless they are the really nice ones that tourists frequent.
9. Coffee – Remember the movie “Out of Africa” about Karen Blixen who owned a coffee farm in Kenya? Well, her farm and homestead are within running distance of where we live. While coffee is not as popular as tea in Kenya, they still have a lot of coffee farms, and they produce some wonderful coffee. Consequently, the majority of the coffee gets exported. But, there is still plenty you can buy in the grocery, and at the malls, there is a restaurant called “Java House” (owned by an American lady) that serves a great cup. It’s cheap too!
10. Fruits and Vegetables – Since Kenya has a tropical climate, pretty much everything you can image will grow here. However, we will really miss the wonderful pineapples, mangoes, avocados, and watermelons that are so prolific here. You can get a pineapple for around $1 and a mango for around $0.20. We’ve certainly have eaten our share, and enjoy shopping at the same fruit stand at the junction where they even know our names!

Shop Kenyan Style!

We’ve had some people ask us about shopping in Nairobi, so we’ll tell you about it!  Obviously, in a world without Wal-Mart (thankfully!) or Target, shopping can be quite different in Nairobi than it is in America.  To us, there are two types of shopping, and which you use typically depends on your income.   

 

The Galleria

At one end of the spectrum are very Western malls like you would find in America (just smaller), and most have an anchor store called Nakumatt which is quite a bit like Target or Wal-Mart.  Nakumatt has everything from food, clothes, liquor, luggage, furniture, etc.  The only odd thing is that you never know if a product you bought last week will be there next week!  This is especially true for import items (e.g. Oreos, Ritz).  They have very little in the way of frozen foods or canned goods, so we have to rely on fresh vegetables & meat.  We occasionally do our grocery shopping at the Nakumatt that is located at the Galleria mall.  At the mall, they also have a KFC!  It is just about the only fast food here, and the only chain from America that we have found.  We tried it, and it is quite good.  Taste just like we are in America!  When we go to the Western malls, we see very few Kenyans there, but mainly Europeans.  We are told that only the wealth Kenyans shop at malls like the Galleria.  There are no department stores like Dillard’s or Nordstrom’s. 

   

Shops in Rongai

More Shops in Rongai

The next type of shopping is where the average Kenyan shops, and is typified by many of the shops in Rongai.  Rongai is a suburb of Nairobi, and the closest shopping for us (only a 3-4 min tuk-tuk ride from campus).  Here you will find retail stores in strip malls, but don’t think of them like those in America!  The stores are generally smaller, and the selection is really limited.  They also focus on one type of good, so you have to visit several shops to get what you need.  There are, however, a couple of larger stores like Tuskey’s or Tumaini (Peace in Swahili) that have groceries, clothes, furniture, etc.  It is similar to Nakumatt, but the selection is much less and you won’t find as many imported goods.  While these stores are cheaper than Nakumatt, you lose the ambiance.   It is pretty barebones.  Kind of like the trade off in Target and Wal-Mart!  

 

Tumaini Supermarket in Rongai

Why not stay in a hotel/butcher?  Nothing wrong with that!

One type of store that I find shocking in Kenya is the butcher.  Each morning, the butcher will slaughter a cow and a goat and hang the carcasses in the front window (in the hot sun!) of their store without any refrigeration.  

People will just come by throughout the day, order some meat, and the butcher will go over and cut it right off.  Now that’s fresh!  I’m not sure how sanitary it is, but that’s fresh!  I don’t think we’ll ever get our meat from this type of butcher!

Central Park

We went downtown to shop over the weekend, and spent some time at “Central Park”.  Maddy really liked playing on the monkey bars and walking around the pond, but asked why we kept telling people that we didn’t want to buy anything when they offered to sell us something (which happened like every 20 feet!).   








On the way back to campus, we took the university bus.  We usually have a driver drop up off and pick us up at a set time, but since we were going to be near the bus stop, we decided to save them the trip and take the bus.  There was a lot of traffic, so we took a bit of a scenic route.  Actually, the bus driver was driving the bus like it was an SUV, and took us off road through a soccer field, a ditch, a forest (which we barely fit through), and finally through the largest slum in Nairobi (Kibera).  

Kibera

Kibera

Kibera

Kibera is also the second largest in Africa, and the third largest in the world.  We had seen Kibera from a distance while driving into town, but nothing like driving right through the heart of it!  Believe me, it was shocking.  There are nearly a million people living in what amounts to shacks built in a garbage dump.  The smell was atrocious; likely due to the open sewage system and the trash that was everywhere.  This was definitely a different level of poverty than I have written about in the past.  We will not soon forget (if ever) the despair that we witnessed that day.

Life Outside of Nairobi

Without a near competitor, last weekend was the most adventurous of our trip to Kenya, and probably my life. Actually, Sandy and Maddy stayed behind at the university in Nairobi since we were warned that children don’t adapt well to where I was going. In retrospect, I don’t think Sandy would have adjusted well either, so I’m glad she stayed behind…

A couple of weeks ago, Daryll and Verna Stanton invited our family to attend a District Assembly for the Eastern Kenya District for the Church of the Nazarene. For you non-Nazarenes, a District Assembly is a gathering of representatives from all of the Nazarene churches in a geographic region where business is conducted and reports from the churches are given. A District Assembly was nothing unique. Where it was being held was. The Stantons had been to the village of Kiatine many times, and recommended that it would probably be best to go alone since it was a pretty long trip to a pretty remote village. It was good advice.

The drive there was the first adventure. Unlike America, Kenya does not have what we would call highways or interstates. However, they are building what they are calling a “super highway” between Nairobi and Thika (a city to the NE of Nairobi). So far, it is nothing like our highways, and I’m not sure it ever will be. Remember one of my blogs where I asked you to take your American experience and subtract a bunch of things? Well do the same thing here. Take an American highway that you know with three lanes going each way, remove the lines from the road, remove any signs (e.g. construction, exits), remove all the rules of the road (including speed limits), add speed bumps every half mile or so, and there you have it. There are people (and animals) walking everywhere – both along the sides of the highway and walking across it. There were people driving the wrong way on the wrong side of the highway. There were matatus and busses stopping periodically to pick people up and drop them off. Add to all of this Daryll driving 120 kph (75 mph), and I was gripping the arm rest for a good portion of the journey! I think it will take quite a while for Kenyans to establish “rules of the road” and get used to living by them for everyone’s safety on a highway.

Once we made it to Thika and left the super highway, things became pretty deserted. There were several small villages that we passed through and many farms (coffee, banana, pineapple, etc.), but not a lot for the remaining 2 hours of the journey. However, I have to say that eastern Kenya is a very beautiful place. There were a lot of mountain ranges, and a good portion of it must be quite fertile since there was a lot of vegetation and farms (even though we are in the dry season). As we got closer to our destination, things started to dry out quite a bit and farms became more sparse. The road also turned to rough dirt and rock, so we slowed down quite a bit until we pulled into the town of Kiatine around 10am. Honestly, there was not much in the town. There was a small corner for a market, a couple of small buildings with 2-3 shops in them, and the church where we were having our meetings.

The Church

 After we parked the car at the church, a group of 50-100 high school aged runners came down the dirt road in a race. Most of them were barefoot, but a couple had socks on. No shoes allowed in this race apparently! I quickly learned that the church was more than just a church to the community. It was also the main primary school (for boarding students and orphans), the only medical clinic in the region (Rustin, I picked you up a job application), and the eventual source of water for the community.

The Water Tower

I say eventually since I found out that the community has no running water and had to either fetch their water from wells or rely on donkeys to deliver their water in jugs. The church is building a well that will provide the entire community with running water, but they are still raising money for it (they are around $50K short). I also found out that the community only recently (within the last year) got electricity. They are making progress!











After tea, the meeting began around 10:30. The meeting was held in a mixture of English, Swahili, and another local language that I did not understand either. So, I understood <33% of what was going on (probably more like <10%). What I did enjoy was the enthusiasm of the people during the singing. They really get into it! There was a lot of loud singing, swaying, and dancing in the isles. I almost thought I was in a Pentecostal service! Since there is a school on the property, there were around 100 kids present and around 200 adults. The kids were the best part of the whole experience. Have I mentioned how I love interacting with Kenyan kids?? Of course, they were fascinated with us (rarely seeing white people), and stared at us for the longest time. Actually, they kept looking back at Verna and me throughout the whole meeting, and when I made faces at them, they would just smile and laugh. It was quite cute, and I was surprised how well behaved the kids were without any adult supervision. They sat still (outside of the couple of singing and dancing performances they put on) from around 10am until the meeting ended at 3pm. American kids would have been going bonkers! Verna said that it is because American kids are over stimulated. Probably true.

Lunch at the Church

 At the conclusion of the meeting (3pm), I was starving for lunch. Apparently, they wanted to finish everything before lunch, and this probably gave the ladies additional time to prepare the goat they had slaughtered that morning. On one of my trips out behind the church to the “bathrooms” (remember no running water!), I saw the ladies working over the fire behind the church. It smelled really good and made me even hungrier. Anyway, when it was time to eat, they invited us up on the stage to eat at the head table. The food was really good, and I ate like a pig (or goat).


 

The $3 a Night Hotel

We then walked across the street to check in at the “hotel” (I’m using that word loosely). The room was more like a cell then what I am used to. It was only an 8x6 cement room with a bed. The metal door and bars on the window made me think of prison. The two geckos on the wall didn’t help either. Daryll had stayed here many times before since it is the only place to stay within miles of the church, so he showed me where the bathrooms (here again, a loose use of the word) were and the stall where we would take a bath/shower in the morning with a bucket of water they would provide. OK, so I admit it, it felt A LOT like prison!

My Room

Amenities - 12 squares of TP and Soap

The "Bathrooms".  The first red door is the "Shower"

Verna then took me on a tour of the school. I was really looking forward to seeing it since it was somewhat sheltered from the church, and I did not know what to expect. 

The School

When we got there, we looked through several of the classrooms which were open rooms (no doors or windows) not much bigger than my hotel room (probably 10x10). Each class had around 15-20 students (we could tell from the lists on the walls). There were short benches with attached tables, a small chalk board, and various hand written charts on the walls for English, science, and multiplication tables. 

A Classroom

Very primitive, but when the kids saw us, they came over and showed us their classrooms very proudly. We then went and visited the girls’ dorm where they were all outside washing their clothes by hand in tubs with bar soap. They were very glad to see us and invited us to look around. I didn’t feel comfortable asking to go inside, but when we went over to the boys’ dorm, I did ask if I could go in. It was quite large with a lot of bunk beds along the walls. They too were ecstatic to see us and kept stroking my arms (Kenyans don’t have hair on their arms like I do). They also really enjoyed it when I took out my IPhone (which they were fascinated with) and showed them pictures of Maddy. They kept saying how beautiful she was and how they were going to marry her someday! We had several laughs together about that!  

Sleeping that night was difficult (due to the surroundings – I kept thinking about the geckos and the ants), but I finally went to sleep around 11pm. The bath/shower thing the next morning was better than I expected, and I was surprised at how little water you actually need to bathe! I actually felt pretty good after it. We had told everyone that we needed to leave around 2:00pm, so when we headed over to the church for services around 9am, I thought it would be no problem. However, the service lasted until 1:30pm, and was still going strong when someone came to get us and said lunch was ready for us! I don’t know if it was a special service or not, but it was great to see each of the classes from the school get up and do a performance, especially since we had just interacted with them the prior day. They were all really talented! When we got back to campus, the first thing I did was take a shower. OK, I didn’t feel that clean! While I was in the shower I told Sandy that I almost came back with an orphan. She laughed and said that Maddy would have a difficult time adapting. For sure. It was a great weekend, and I’m glad that I was able to get outside of Nairobi and experience some more of Kenya. The people just continue to amaze me. Under very difficult circumstances, they are so kind and generous. A lesson I hope to take back from Africa.

Poverty

It probably goes without saying, but the majority of Kenyans are living in poverty. We have been surprised by the distribution of wealth in the country, with very few having the vast majority of the wealth. Several Kenyans have told us that <1% of the population have >90% of the wealth. While this might not be completely accurate, you get the idea. Unlike America where there is a large middle class, in Kenya, there is a very small upper and middle class, while the majority is in the lower class. There are also very few public resources to aid the poor, and this role is being carried out primarily by NGOs (Non-Government Organization). Actually, there are very few public resources…period. You see very few (if any) police officers, firefighters, street crews, garbage workers etc. in comparison to America. In fact, most of these functions are carried out by private firms. If, for example, your apartment catches fire, the fire is put out by the security firm that is in charge of monitoring your property, not the fire department. Typically, I am told, the fire department is not even notified!

As I have mentioned earlier, I think that running through the towns and villages is one of the best way to see how typical Kenyans live. On one of my running paths that goes through the town of Twala, I have had the opportunity to get to know a family of 5 girls (ranging in age from 5-14) quite well. They like to join me on my run. One day a couple of weeks ago while I was running, they introduced me to their mom, Lucy.

I was quite surprised, and didn’t really know how to respond when Lucy pointed out their home to me. Honestly, I had seen it before, but thought it was a shed or something; not someone’s house. It is a tin structure no more than 8x12 with no windows and a curtain for a door (see picture). Several chickens were running around it. Like her children, Lucy was very nice, and invited me to have tea at their house. While she made the tea outside on a wood fire, I sat with the kids in the house. There were two sofas and a chair in one room, and a twin bed behind a sheet that separated the house in two. Dirt floor. No kitchen. No bathroom. No electricity. No running water. As soon as I sat down, throngs of other kids and adults from the town paraded through to meet me. While I was there, I told Lucy and her kids about Maddy and invited them to come to the church on campus and come to our apartment afterwards to play, which they did.

While our apartment is not much by American standards, they were all really impressed by it and loved playing with Maddy once she warmed up to them. While you might not be able to tell from the photos, they all have their heads shaved due to the public school requirements. I'm sure some schools back in America would like to mandate something like this!

Last week while I was out running, Lucy stopped me and asked if our family would come to their house for Sunday dinner. I accepted, but later found out that Sandy had scheduled a review session for her class during the time we agreed to meet. So, when the time came, Maddy and I grabbed our football (i.e. soccer ball) and went to their home. On the way I explained as best as I could to Maddy that some people live in very different homes than we do, but that does not make them bad people. I think she got the message since she didn’t say anything about it while we were there. When we got there, we were warmly greeted, and I got to meet the girls’ father, Moses. He is Massai with very long earlobes (nearly to his shoulders), and doesn’t speak a word of English. The meal consisted of boiled hen (the toughest bird I have ever had!), mashed potatoes mixed with corn, and ugali (the dense cornmeal mush that I mentioned prior). After I ate (Maddy wouldn’t try any of it), all of the kids and I went outside and played with the football. Maddy REALLY liked playing with them, and they taught us some of their traditional games and songs. After a couple of hours of playing, dark clouds started rolling in and we decided it was time to head home. Three of the girls walked us home, and it started raining on us about half way home. Maddy thought it was great fun to get stuck in the rain, and danced and danced (singing the Swahili songs we had just learned) until it started pouring and she ran to me to pick her up. Thankfully, it only rained for a couple of minutes and the sun came back out.

After we got back to the university we thanked the girls and they walked home. After they left, Maddy asked me how they kept their food cold without a refrigerator, how they warmed up leftovers without a microwave, and where they went to the bathroom. All great questions that I don’t know the answers to. However, I suspect that the chicken we ate died shortly before we arrived!

Reflecting on these experiences, I am much more thankful for all that we have. I also continue to learn how joyful, kind, and generous people can be even when living in deepest poverty. Obviously, wealth does not bring these gifts to us.

Finally, on a lighter note, here is a picture I thought my sister would get a kick out of. I had no idea that Home Depot was branching out to Nairobi! I just love the two ladies carrying the case of Coke. Yes, those are bottles of Coke and still the primary way to drink Coke in Kenya.