Friday, August 12, 2016

Final Days

We always end our trips with a short safari at one of the beautiful Kenyan park lodges. This year we were at Amboseli, next to the Tanzanian border and got to see some amazing animals.

Some shots from the van on our way there:
A small peek at the Kibera slum where about 1 million people live. It's the largest slum in Africa.

Furniture store.


This doesn't begin to capture the huge numbers of trucks on the Mombasa road which is THE road from Nairobi to Mombasa on the coast. A railway is being built which may decrease truck traffic - we'll see.


Typical cinder block construction with scaffolding make of wood.

Now we're in Amboseli Park. I love their direction signposts.

Wildebeest.

One of our other vans with Lindsay and Everett in the front seat.

We saw hundreds of zebras and many were pregnant - the one on the right is probably one of those.


We all loved, loved, loved the elephants, especially when we came upon this grouping that had a baby with it. Hopefully I'll get a video posted later in this blog.

Elephant resting her trunk on her tusk. Our driver said she's probably old.







This is as close as we could get to hundreds and hundreds of flamingos. Look for the pink line between the water and the sky.









Today we'll be doing some shopping, I'll get to see my friend Julisa one more time, and then it's off to the airport for the long plane flights home.









Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Last Official Ministry Day


This was our second (and last) day at the high school (and the last day for the medical team in the village). Both halves of our team were glad to meet up again late this afternoon at the Nairobi guesthouse, and tomorrow we head off for our safari day!

Kay did a super job of leading devotions.


Becci and a new friend. Unfortunately, the baby is the daughter of one of the high school students.


A view into part of the slum from the third floor of the school.


Many  vegetables are grown on the school property to feed the kids. The leaves on stalks are a variety of kale that's very common here. We had a conversation amongst ourselves yesterday about the fact that their school lunches beat out a lot of U.S. school lunches by a mile.

Maggie always designs a great art project for the students. Each student drew an outline of their hands; one represented the past and one the future.

Baby Harrison was a big hit!

Some more of his fans. He's enjoying the key ring they gave him to play with.

Here's a few photos from some of our folks working at the clinic...







A great photo, showing the dust on the road to the village, as well as a local transportation vehicle.

Ann and Ingrid did several great sewing projects with some of the "mamas" we support. We'll be selling their creations in the States and giving the money to them.





Tuesday, August 9, 2016

High School in Nairobi slum

This was Day One of only two days, instead of three, of the healing arts camp this year. I didn't take many pictures of the kids because I was leading the poetry workshop, and I didn't want to make them feel more uncomfortable than they already were about writing poetry. When I asked them to introduce themselves and tell me what they thought about poetry, several were honest enough to say they hated it but they all tried the simple poetic structures I suggested and some poems were quite good. Tomorrow we'll have a presentation time when the students will be able to share some of what they've worked on.

A peek into the slum where most of these kids live.

I liked the contrast of the antenna on the bamboo pole with the huge light pole in the background. We found out today that the power company recently agreed to get power to the slum and the residents only have to pay about $7.50 per month for it.

Mother and daughter, Tina and Hannah, enjoy a laugh.

My mother, the librarian, would probably be appalled that kids can't take books out of the library. But at least they have a library.

The field across from the school with trash fire behind it. By the end of the day, the flames were quite high but I suppose it was under control.

Some of the local kids playing in the parking area of the school.

Tina's in her element.


 Judah loves playing with any kids he encounters.

I'm spending the night with my friend Julisa, and we've been chatting almost nonstop - it's good to catch up!



Monday, August 8, 2016

Good Times and Hard Times

This will be quite short. We've only had internet for awhile this evening and it's been very dicey.

Essentially the work is going well and the team is strong. Some colds and sniffles; dust is thick on the road to the village so coughs could be colds or dust.

Maggie will be writing a blogpost concerning "Stories of the S. hotel" - our very frustrating hotel where the poor medical team has to spend many nights. We won't be staying there again. Let's just say that getting an electrical shock in your shower and dining in almost complete darkness are just a few of the hazards.

Kay bringing gear to the Special Olympics.

One of the hard things was that there was a miscommunication about our Special Olympics day so only a handful of kids finally showed up. But we had a good time with the ones who did, and left the equipment we brought with the coaches.


Ann and Ingrid are introducing several sewing projects to the "mamas" of the village.

Signing off to see if I can get this posted. Hopefully more tomorrow...



Saturday, August 6, 2016

Day with the high school seniors

It's getting late and we have an early morning so I'll probably just load a bunch of photos without a lot of explanation. And we won't have internet tomorrow night, so I'll have lots more to post when we're back in Nairobi Monday night. Add to that the fact that half the country had power problems today, either blackouts or brownouts. Fun, fun!

Each year we do an excursion and lunch with the seniors from the high school we partner with. We had a great time together today, going to the Nairobi National Museum, and then having lunch together in the parking lot at our guest house (that doesn't sound great, does it? but check out the photos).

Road work - some of the guys are breaking rocks by hand to make gravel.

A glimpse of downtown Nairobi.

One of the little kids in the slum, just outside the gates of the high school. I hope they will be able to go to that school someday...



Manure (and the buckets used to haul it) courtesy of...

...three cows, one of whom is named for Miriam, our leader :-)


Leaving the slum.


Our van for the day. WiFi on board? Hmm, somehow I doubt it.


Since I'm a Cougar by marriage, I thought I'd better take this photo opportunity with Rueben. We're Cougin' it!




Model of the HIV virus - nasty looking!




Our "parking lot" dining room.







Seconds were popular.



The two students I brought gifts for (we all did for all the students) were both named James.

And here they are again, along with their friend John. Lots of "Js."

Nighty night............