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