testing

This and that:

This and that:


Gas costs $3.75 per gallon.

An oil change costs $175.00 – we had it done last week on the truck

Driving in Kenya is an altogether different experience. It works in a very different way. Nairobi has an estimated population of 4,000,000 people. There are only a very few traffic lights and no road signs (stop or yield) in all of Nairobi. It is almost unusual to hear people blowing horns. Main roads have right of way over smaller roads and you watch how fast vehicles are coming. Basically the first person to an intersection has the right-of-way. If you want to merge onto a road that has bumper to bumper traffic you just ease the corner of your bumper between cars and go. Everybody assumes that who ever has his vehicle, even just a corner of his vehicle, in front of you then you have the right-of-way. It works surprisingly well. People also let people through when you have to turn across lanes. People are very polite drivers in ways that would never happen in the USA. Space is also very different. Instead of cars being a few feet away from each other the space here is in inches. It can be a little un-nerving when you first start to drive but it all works because everyone understands the un-written “code of the road” when driving.

People are much more patient here. Chris, the Kenyan man that we work with, has a good way of saying things. He said “North Americans may come with the Fruit-of-the-Spirit called Patience but it does not truly mature until they have been in Africa for a while”.

In America we know that we have problems, especially now. But people in Kenya have a tendency to think that everything in America is very good. A teenager approached me and said “take me to America”. Kenyans view of America comes from Hollywood. They think we have lots of material things but that we all have broken homes and don’t have close relationships in our families. They say that they are surprised when American talk about their families because they assume that we don’t put much value on families. Families are very important to Kenyans. If a member of your family; parents, siblings, nephews or nieces are having difficult times then it is assumed other family members will help out. It is expected. Brothers and sisters help out other siblings when one of them needs money to go to college. It is expected to be the norm. If God blesses you then it is expected that you are required to be a blessing to others. Parents expect that when they grow old that their children will take care of them if they need it. This is one of the reasons that there are very few rest homes for the elderly in Kenya.

I asked one woman that received grain at a distribution what the grain meant to her. She said “It is life to me”. She meant that with out the grain we were distributing she and her four children would not be able to eat.

I ask what people eat each day. One woman said that in the morning her family eats a thin soup of corn flour in water. She doesn’t eat any lunch. Her children eat lunch at school which we were told comes from the USA for school lunches, it is a whole corn soup with some onions in it. At night she eats a thicker soup of corn flour and water.

There are probably thousands of different perspectives and my impressions will probably change with time.

Part 1 Food Distribution

 

Where ever we traveled in Turkana we had soldiers or policemen ride with us. There have been many rumors of vehicles being stopped and robbed. WE WERE NEVER STOPPED. We do know people who were robbed. The soldiers were always very helpful and friendly. The soldiers wore heavy long sleeved shirts and heavy jackets while we sweated in short sleeves.

 

The Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA) has many churches in Turkana. We worked very closely with the RCEA, we used their churches for warehouses and distribution points. The grain would arrive the day before distribution. Before the distribution would begin the whole group of people receiving rations would gather under a large tree. There would be prayer, singing, always led by women, and announcements.

 

We were amazed to find how industrious the people in the camps were. They built stick "kiosks" to sell food and other goods, repaired shoes, sewed, butchered goats and sold the meat, made hand made brooms from nearby reeds. They tried to make life as normal as possible.

 

There are numerous stories of tradegies. This women fled with six children after her husband was killed. Two are old enough to attend school where they are fed from grain donated by the USA or Canada.

Part 5 Distribution

 

This picture was taken to show how clean and neat the people try to keep them selves in spite of conditions. I also liked the little boys shirt that says "USA Army".

 

As if standing in the blazing sun in 100 degree temperatues isn't enough, sandstorms blew and made things even more unbearable. No one left the line or complained. Then just endure it.

 

There were a lot of infants on mothers backs, rarely did we hear crying even when they were in the sun all day. We wondered how the mothers could handle the extra heat from the babies.

 

Above the pile of grain bags reads "In God We Trust". I wondered if people questioned whether God truly loved them when they were in these conditions. And yet they sang with enthusiasm and prayed as with as much conviction as any congregation does in their American air-conditioned comfortable cushioned benches.

Part 3 Distribution

 

People hold up their cards as they approach the place where they will get their finger print inked on it.

 

The finger printing on the card indicating that they are receiving their ration of grain.

Note the man in the dark blue shirt. He was elected to be the leader of the camp of about 800 families. I was amazed that the camp had organized it self very democratically with many different committees; sanitation, health, education, security, water,

 

This picture and the next picture are of ladies dragging away their 50kg (110 pounds) bag of grain. Some carry the bag on their head.

 

Part 2 Distribution

 

This is the woman with six children again. I asked to see her shelter. It is about six feet in diameter and six feet high.

 

As I got close to her house I could see that the ceiling had as many things as she could hang from it to make room on the floor to sleep and maybe for security so people passing by wouldn't see the things that she has.

 

Butchering a goat. Note the round disk that she uses for a knife.

 

People patiently standing in a long line waiting for their name to be called to the church for distribution. They had been given cards with their name and number of people in their household. The stand in the order that their names have been called. People helping with the distribution have a sheet with the names in the same order. The lines are very orderly, no complaining. Some people stand in the blazing hot sun, over 100 degrees, from 8:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the evening with nothing to eat or drink. Many ladies have infant children carried on their backs with a cloth.

March 12, 2009

Dear Family and friends:
Dwayne and I have been here about three weeks and I finally have time to sit and write a letter. Pol-e- sana (sorry in Swahili) it has taken so long. We have been very busy and when we had time to write we had no email service.
Where do I start? We had a safe flight and were so happy to see 5 smiling faces from the CRWRC office in Nairobi greeting us at the airport. We were delighted to learn that joy-of-all-joys all of the luggage arrived with our flight!
After resting for one day, we met with Ron and Lauris Fuller who have been in charge of this food distribution project since Oct 2008. They had so many things to teach us by the end of the day our heads were swimming. We met with them from February 23-26, it was so great to have someone teach us the details of the project which to us was very overwhelming but to them it was so clear in their heads, it was easier to learn from them. It is quite daunting to think of relieving people who are so obviously doing a great job.
On Feb 27 we drove with Chris to Eldoret, Chris is the National Relief Manager for CRWRC and also very helpful in teaching us. Chris is a Kenyan, his wife’s name is Terri and they have two small children. Tomorrow night we are going to their house for dinner and will meet the children, we are very excited to get to enjoy the Kenyan culture.
We have a nice home in Eldoret, three bedrooms, living area and small kitchen. This house in Eldoret also serves as an office for any meetings that need to be held with other project managers. Two of the bedrooms are used by area managers when they come to Eldoret for a meeting and sleep in our house. Dwayne and I have a big bedroom with a bathroom directly off the bedroom, so we have privacy when other people are sleeping in the house.
We worshiped at the Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA) on Sunday morning and enjoyed it very much.
On Monday March 2, Dwayne, Darlene, Chris, and Abram, who is the RCEA CARE COORDINATOR and lives in Eldoret, started driving to our first distribution. We left Eldoret at 7 a.m. and drove to Northern Kenya to the town of Lodwar. This trip is very difficult. The roads (really paths) are terrible and your body gets thrown around for 12 hours. At two villages on the way we had to pick up armed guards carrying guns to drive in the car with us because of bandits along the way who like to rob and shoot people. So in the back seat sits Dwayne, Darlene, and a guard with an AK47 in one hand and a hand grenade in the other. In the front seat is a guard with a gun, but no hand grenade (Darlene felt special to have a hand grenade next to her) Abram in the middle and Chris driving. We prayed a lot along that route and God was gracious and spared us from any incidents along the way. This whole procedure happened again on the way home.
When we arrive in Lodwar we meet Musa who is the Project Officer for the Turkana Relief Project. What a neat man! Musa and Abram work very well together and are wonderful Christian men whose hearts and soul are for the Kenyan people. Musa lives in Turkana so he knows the language, it is a different language than Chris and Abram speak, there were many times when we needed a translator from Turkana to Swahili to English.
When we arrived in Lodwar the temperature was about 100 to 105, and it COOLED off to about 90 during the night. No air conditioning or a fan, just hot dry air.
On Tuesday morning we started our distribution in Lodwar. It was an experience Dwayne and I will never forget. I realize I have been throwing out lots of names and places and it’s hard to keep up but these people and places will be a vital part of our lives for the next four months so I will introduce them to you today so you know what and whom I’m talking about in the future.
So we went to Lodwar, the place where our first distribution took place. This is the fourth month of food distribution so things ran very smoothly and were well organized. We have been told that wasn’t always the case in the first months of distribution. The system for who receives food is a very fair and very thought out process. When the elections of 2008 happened many Kenyans were forced from their homes because of the violence. There was also ethnic fighting between tribes and this caused many people to flee to the North. These people are called IDP (internal displaced person) because they fled in such a hurry they didn’t have time to take any belongings with them. Many of them lost children and spouses, especially men) so have many heartbreaking stories.
So of the people who receive food, most of them are IDP’s, they get food according to their family size. We start distribution to small families and go up to large families. They receive corn, split peas and a small amount of cooking oil. The food they receive is less than what their family needs for the month. We want them to still try and find ways to feed their families without always relying on food from other sources. We have interviewed people who are waiting for food and many of them have not eaten for a day or more because they have run out of food. When your mother or grandmother tells you to eat all the food on your plate, (because there at people in Kenya who are starving) this is a very true statement.
We did this same procedure for four days, some villages took all day and some were small enough we could travel and do two in one day. Needless to say by the end of the week were exhausted because of the heat, traveling, and the stress of doing a good job for these very needy people. We always took some food along for ourselves for lunch but never ate it in front of others, and even feeling guilty that we had plenty to eat and they had nothing.
We came back to Nairobi on Saturday March 7 to do book work and to rest. We have seen Ryan and Dawn and grandchildren. We got to spend time Wednesday March 11, with their family to celebrate Dawn’s 40th birthday. This was a treat because we never are here for any birthday parties for Ryan or Dawn or the grandchildren.
The people in the CRWRC office are so helpful and very welcoming to Dwayne and me. We have spent most of the week in this office because of excess to email and internet.
Please continue to pray for us to stay healthy and safe. Also pray for us to be able to do the huge task God has sent us here to do. We both have been healthy and are thankful for that blessing.
We hope this gives you a little idea of our work here and I promise to not wait so long to share with you again.
You have our permission to send and forward this email to whomever you please
Thank you for your prayers and support, we can definitely feel them every day.

Darlene

It is Saturday night March 7

We spent 13 hours on the road today but finally arrived in Nairobi at 7:00 PM. For the next week we will be working out of the Nairobi office. This week we did our first distribution of grain to the suffering Turkana people. We've seen suffering and misery this week like we've never seen before. It has been a good week and we have much that we will be talking about on future blogs, but for right now we feel great after taking wonderful showers and are now going to bed.

Babu