Madoya and Bondeni: 11-22

After doing a few sex education classes with girls from different villages I have noticed a few things.  Each village seems to have a different profile based on the questions the girls ask us. There were more questions about sexual abuse at Pangani. There were more questions about drugs and alcohol in Bondeni. We were talking to a younger group of girls in Madoya, so they were adorable and asked us a lot of questions about ourselves.

Today we talked to girls from class 1 through 4 in Madoya. We had such a great time. The teachers were really into it too. They took notes and asked us for a hard copy of the material. Then they invited us to their student’s graduation next weekend.

We did a second session in Bondeni and focused on drugs and alcohol. Again, we had a great time. I just love these busy days where we just get a lot done. It was so good. These girls just love learning. The teachers said that it is nice to have someone else come in to back them up with these issues.

Fire and Fireworks: 11-5

Just another crazy day that started off normally. Julie and I worked all morning on the sex ed project. We finished the abstinence PowerPoint for the girls and whipped up a presentation for the boys too. Around lunchtime we noticed smoke billowing into the air from nearby shanties. We scaled to the top floor in Pangani to get a better view of what was going on. A cluster of shanties were on fire. Men had climbed on top of the sheet metal roofs and were ripping them off. From my view I could see the orange flames dancing on the rooftops and a huge column of black smoke. Occasionally I could hear the sheet metal being twisted by the heat.

It was very frustrating to watch. Feeling totally helpless. As it turns out, there was no water around to put out the fire. A fire truck eventually showed up, but once again, there was a major water shortage. Eventually, I saw some water used. But by that point, many people had lost everything. Some students had their homes burned down.

In the evening Erin, Bethany, and Justine joined us with a visit to the Christmas Bazaar at a mall. It was hilarious and not very Christmas-y.  Afterwards we ate a delicious dinner at a café. I had a guacamole burger and a salad.

Afterwards we went to a Diwali festival. It is a Hindu holiday where they shoot off tons of sweet fireworks. We awkwardly went to a temple and watched some fireworks outside. Eventually we went inside the temple (after taking off our shoes). It was gorgeous. On every side of big open room were their idols. They were kinda creepy. On the ceiling were sweet paintings of things I didn’t understand.

Followers would loudly ring a bell and approach one of the idols. Some would kneel, some bowed, and some fell face first on the ground in prayer. There was an offering box in front of each. The whole room was like a spiritual vacuum of emptiness. Here were people praying to porcelain inanimate unresponsive statues. I wondered what they felt while praying. I would imagine that it felt cold.

I felt guilty that here I was watching people fall face first on the ground for statues and I won’t even do that for the living God.

The Harvest is Plentiful: 10-26 through 11-3

For the past week and a half, I have been working closely with Timothy (who runs the Post Test clubs and HIV/AIDS awareness programs). We have done home visits, delivered food baskets, presented the gospel through evangelism, and worked on our project for the girls and now boys in MOHI schools.

I have learned a lot about the power of the Holy Spirit and the confidence it brings. Last week I accompanied Timothy on home visits for the people in the HIV/AIDS Post Test Club in Area 2. The very first woman we visited had decided to go off her antiretroviral meds. She is battling alcoholism on top of it and has been sick. I prayed for her and her mom. After stumbling through my prayer we continued to the next shanty. As the day went on and I met more people, my confidence grew. By the end of the day I was preachin’ it Kenyan style (although not nearly as epic). We visited about 10 shanties in one morning.

It is very interesting that the more we are in prayer, the more comfortable praying is. Funny how that works. The more you talk to you friend, the more comfortable you are spending time with them.

As Timothy asked each person for their prayer requests, I realized that regardless of where a person lives, human struggles are all similar. The people we prayed for were concerned about their finances, their children’s schooling and health, their alcoholic husbands, their salvation, and the safety of their families. All concerns any American could feel as well, only magnified in Mathare. Here in Mathare people are living in shanties eating ugali for every meal in the dark, their children’s education is probably the only practical way they can get out of slum conditions, there is virtually no healthcare or access to affordable medicine, men can do basically whatever they want (like have two wives, drink all the time, abuse their children and wives, have no job, and then desert their families), many have never heard of the hope and grace offered by Jesus, and their daughters could be raped before they even get to kindergarten. Frustrated much? Yes.  Okay, I will put away my soapbox for a bit now.

Matthew 9:37 – Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”

Never have I seen the truth of this verse until now.

I got to join Timothy in delivering food baskets to two women in Madoya. The first woman was blind and a widow. She has literally no way of making a living. We got to meet with her and pray for her. She was SO appreciative of the food. It was amazing to be a part of it.

The second woman we brought food to had been bed ridden for a long time and was just getting a bit better. She has HIV/AIDS and has three children. Her youngest son was adorable and very happy. He was a few months old. She had an older son and a daughter too. She is the skinniest person I have ever seen. Her legs were the size of my arms. She was so bony and frail. She had a basket full of medicines she has to take every day. We brought porridge for her kids, flour, rice, and toothpaste. There is no man in her life and her children are from two different men. She was very happy to have company and I got to pray for her and her children.

We also visited another 4 shanties that day. At the last shanty we visited we did some sweet spontaneous evangelism. Timothy asked me to explain what it meant to be born again. This time I was ready with my “sermon on reserve.” She decided to give her life to Christ and became a believer that day.

It was an amazing and overwhelming day. I absolutely love praying with all the people we meet. The Holy Spirit is so powerful. It is amazing to see lives being transformed. People are searching so hard for hope and once we present the gospel to them, many want to put their trust in Jesus. It is so beautiful. God’s love for his children is so great.

Yesterday I got to go out and do some evangelism. I used the EvangeCube and Timothy translated. I was explaining who God is and what Jesus has done and the hope he brings for the first time to people. Many are hearing for the first time. Also, in Mathare, I am explaining the gospel for the first time so openly. Why can’t I be so open at home? I love having conversations with people about Jesus, but I need to share the gospel more often. Just straight up explain who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Present his invitation to follow: If we take that first step of faith, he will run to us with open arms and meet us where we are. This can be done without becoming a Bible-thumper. It needs to be done.

It is so exciting to see people put their trust in Jesus. I just want to dance through the muddy, trash covered streets of Mathare every time. The angels truly are rejoicing.

On Saturday Julie and I taught the first part in our series for the girls in Pangani. The topics we covered were: your changing body, life goals, self-esteem, prayer, and wisdom. It was sweet! The first session was with class 4 and 5. About 50 girls joined us in the library for an hour and a half. We all had such a blast. After the first session, the class 1, 2, and 3 girls came in. We had the same talk with them too. My favorite part of the day was the anonymous questions.

We gave each girl a piece of paper and pen to write down any questions they had anonymously and then we collected them. Julie and I went through them all and answered many right then. We saved the ones on sex and pregnancy for next time. A lot of the questions were pretty typical. Some were pretty intense. The girls totally loved getting to ask us whatever they wanted. It was so much fun. I answered the questions on anatomy and Julie answered the questions on relationships. It is awesome to work with Julie because we both have different strengths and together we can rock it.

On Tuesday, Timothy told us that the boys wanted some sort of session too! I guess the girls told the boys how much fun they had and now the boys feel left out. We are working to arrange a lesson for them with Timothy. Also, in the works, is going to Kosovo, Mathare North, and Joska to teach the kids there.

It has been so exciting to really empower these girls through knowledge. I’m sure I will have more to say on that later after we do all three parts of the lesson.

I can’t wait to get to heaven and see my brother and sisters in Christ from Mathare. God is so faithful and his love is unfailing. I get goosebumps just thinking about Jesus saying to these little girls in Mathare, “She is mine. She is my child. I love her.” It is my prayer that these kids can feel that love surrounding them. That they can feel the showers of grace poured out over them. 

What a Day!: 10-22

Today was an insane day for a number of reasons. Number one: Triage at the clinic in Mathare North seemed like total chaos. There were probably around 200 people all clustered around waiting to be seen. Unfortunately we were just holding a morning clinic (from 9:00-12:00). This meant that we stopped taking new patients around 11:00. Since we had to turn people away, people would come up and plead with us to see their loved ones. Heartbreaking.

This was particularly frustrating because we wanted to stay all day and serve everyone in Mathare North because it was the last clinic day there. In fact, I would have been happy to stay all night and serve everyone in Mathare. When we had to start turning people away, I just emotionally shut down. When a woman asked me to see her mom who had fallen down and injured her side, I asked her if she was bleeding. She said no. We received strict instructions from Robert that we weren’t taking anyone else. Therefore, I had to tell her, “Poli sana.” (I’m very sorry).

This caused me to really have a logic/emotion crisis in my mind. The logical side of me loves fairness. We stopped the line off at family number 40. Number 41 was turned away. That lady was essentially number 41. To keep order, we had to say no. If we let number 41 in, number 42 would want to be seen too. The situation wasn’t fair to that mom who had fallen down and hurt herself. But, turning her away was the fair thing for the group as a whole.

And then I wondered what Jesus would have done. I immediately thought of Mark 1:29-34 where Jesus stayed up late into the night healing a whole town. He could have healed number 41. But, then again, he could have healed all of Mathare North. And he could have stayed up all night doing it taking time to talk to each person. However, I realize that Jesus is God. We are merely humans at the clinic. Doing our best with what we've got. After turning people away, I was deeply saddened, but thankful for my ability to logically think through things. I understand the value of keeping order. The medical team had to leave at a certain time. It stinks that we couldn’t help all those people in Mathare North, but we helped quite a number of them. I know the community is very thankful for the medical help that was provided. And God is the ultimate healer anyway. He knows the needs of his people and he is always faithful.

So the first half of my day wasn’t so great. After work, we went to Roselyn so Leann could run and Julie and I could chill/nap/read/talk outside. We all find therapy in our own ways. Afterwards we went to Java for coffee and dinner. We continued our Bible study on Hebrews.

I was reading Hebrews 4 aloud at our table. Two ladies at the booth next to us heard what we were reading and one of them came over. Her name was Naomi and she works at the UN. She said that it was rare to see anyone reading the Bible at Java and she was curious. She told us about her ministry at the UN. She works with legal documents but also evangelizes and holds church services aimed at street kids. Basically, Naomi is a stud. She told us that she was going to be giving a short devotional and prayer at a lunch for the President of Kenya and his big-wigs on Tuesday!

After hearing this, Julie led us in prayer for her. At this point, the other lady at the table came over and told us her name was Jane. We told them what we were doing in Kenya and Jane chimed in that she knows Mary Kamau! They went to school together!

Naomi invited us over to her house for some chai. Naturally, we obliged. It was about 7:00 and pitch black outside. We followed her car down a few streets to a big fancy gate. A guard let us in and we parked in front of a gorgeous house complete with fountain. As we walked inside we passed by a huge winding wooden staircase. We made our way to the sitting room where we ate a second dinner and chatted over chai.

It was so much fun. We discussed our various ministries and encouraged one another.  At the end of our evening we took a picture together and watched Naomi’s son perform “How Great is Our God” at his church (it was recorded). We had to leave at 8:30 to get home by 9:00, but naturally at 8:30 Naomi popped in this video for us to watch. After awkwardly fast forwarding for about 10 min, she called in her son to find the correct spot for us. He found it in about 5 seconds. We watched for another 15 min. At the end of the day we took a picture together. It was fantastic. We made it home by 9:30.

Block Partay!: 10-20

Today was basically my perfect day. We got to join an American short term team and do a cleanup day in Mathare North. It rocked. There was basically a huge block party going down complete with loud music and a dance off for the kids. There was some group there doing AIDS awareness. I know I definitely enjoyed the music while I was shoveling up sludge.

After lunch, I got to shadow a doctor in consultation. It was so much fun. It was neat to listen to his line of questioning with the patients to figure out what was wrong. Since they can’t run any tests, the doctors and nurses have to rely on a physical examination with chief complaints. Basically, all the young boys have ringworms on their heads due to unsanitary razors used on their heads. Luckily it’s an easy fix with some cream. Lots of people had bacterial infections as well.

At the clinic, we saw tons of people. I am always amazed at how many people come for healthcare. But, honestly, I would totally go to a free clinic if I was sick even in America. However, many people in Mathare simply cannot afford medical treatment. And if they can afford the clinic visit, many cannot afford the meds. It really is a blessing to be able to provide free treatment complete with meds. 

Spiritual Oasis: 10-19

This morning we rolled in to Pangani and everyone in the CHE office had already left for the clinic in Mathare North. And the doors to the CHE office were locked. So once again, we were stranded. This was totally fine because we just worked in BDS today with Courtney. I did some sweet data input entering new clients into the system. It was surprisingly fascinating. The form they filled out included info on the amount of education they had, their poverty level, whether they were caring for children other than their own, and what sort of business they had.

It was sad to read that many people only had a primary school education. However, I was more saddened to read that some people living in Mathare have a college education. You know a country is in rough shape when someone can go to college and then end up living in a slum. It is terrifying. It was also odd to read that most people were labeled as “poor” when “desperately poor” and “not poor” were the other two options. In my American brain everyone in Mathare is extremely poor. Like, mind-blowing poor. Some were labeled as desperately poor, but most were just poor. The average daily income of a person in Mathare is between $1-$4. That is extreme poverty. Many people in Mathare are caring for children other than their own as well. This is usually due to the child’s parents dying. So now the couple of dollars they earn are stretched even more.

At lunch I purchased an avocado for 15 shillings at a stand just outside the center. It definitely added to my lunch! It was so delicious and so cheap.

In the afternoon I attended the farewell party for the Kurzs. We danced, sang, and ate cake. It was fantastic. The three of us were joined by Erin and Bethany and we drove to the Sarit Center (it’s a sweet mall). We ate a swift dinner in the food court (I had two delicious tacos) and then we watched Eat, Pray, Love. It was a hoot! The movie was pretty awesome, mostly because I was watching it in Kenya. It would have made me want to travel if I saw it at home.

Bethany drove us home like a pro. (I was thankful for her driving skills because it was definitely dark when we left the mall.) On the way home we rocked out to some epic worship songs. As I was sitting in the back of KBG (the car) belting out songs I got to thinking - this feels right. I feel totally at peace being in Kenya. God is doing great things in me and as a result, I am able to serve Him more completely. I absolutely love being surrounded by godly supportive gals. Even though Mathare is very intense, I feel like everyone I am working with is making Kenya a spiritual oasis. I have never gotten to spend quality time with so many epic Christian girls who are so passionate about serving God. Erin, Bethany, and Justine are so wise and with it and hilarious. I just love them so much. Julie and Leann are such beautiful people. I couldn’t ask for two better girls to live with. It is such a blessing to be working in a Christian organization. MOHI is truly transforming lives (including my own).

Not only are my fellow Americans investing in me, but all the Kenyans are too. Mary and Wallace take time to chat and spend time with us. They truly are our Kenyan parents. They take such good care of us and always have our best interests in mind. Wallace is such a great leader and he takes the time to talk to us about leadership. And then there’s the CHE workers. They are so much fun to work with. Culturally, we are very different, but we are all members of the kingdom and servants of the King. I hope and pray that God will create in me a servant’s heart like the CHE workers. They are an inspiration.

In summary, I love it here even though there are definitely challenges and God is certainly developing patience in me. I am very excited to see what God does over the next month and a half while I am here and in the next few years while I am in the U.S. 

Ringworm and Hernias: 10-18

This week a short term medical team is coming in for a week of clinics in Mathare North. It was a bit chaotic today, but pretty fun. I worked in the pharmacy helping to count meds – particularly chewable vitamins. I bagged so many vitamins, my hands were totally coated in chewable vitamin gunk. It dyed my hands red.

In the afternoon I shadowed a doctor in consultation. Two things stuck out to me. The first being how many cases of ringworm we saw. Ringworm is actually a fungal infection and we spotted it on most of the boy’s scalps. In Mathare, it is easily spread when a kid goes in to the barber shop to get his head shaved and an unclean razor is used. If the barber shaves a kids head who has the fungus and then doesn’t clean off the razor and nicks another kid’s head the new kid will get ringworm too. It is very very common.

The second thing that stood out in the day was meeting a girl with a large abdominal hernia. The bulge stuck out just below her belly button and was a little bigger than a baseball. The doctor told me that it wasn’t immediately life threatening because it was so big. But, he said that it could get larger, especially if she ever gets pregnant. I asked a Kenyan nurse there how much it would cost to have the hernia looked at in the hospital. She said it would be about 25,000 shillings which is a little over $300. The girl’s family will probably never be able to afford it.

Swimming Fiasco: 10-17

This morning we drove over to Pangani to pick up Fred to go to church with him in Babandogo. It was sweet. There were only about 10 adults there (lots of kids though). It was truly humbling to experience how accommodating they Kenyans were for us Mzungus. They translated everything into English/explained the songs for us.

After the service finished I drove us over to Kosovo through the slum. It was sweet. As I was driving down a bumpy pot hole filled dirt road with herds of people and goats around me, I realized that driving here is much more fun. Something crazy always happens, but everyone is always alert and it seems like there are no crashes. It is amazing.

For lunch we decided to hit up Java. Afterwards we went over to Roselyn with the intention of working out. Leann ran and Julie and I took a nap under the gorgeous Kenyan sky. It was fantastic. After an hour passed, we realized that we wanted to swim in the Roselyn pool! So, we drove home to get our swimming suits and towels. We got back to the school at 3:00 thinking that we had an hour to swim before Faith returned (she went to a retreat and we were supposed to pick her up at 4:00). We rolled into the parking lot and there was Faith ready to roll out. We were all awkwardly in our sweet one-pieces completely dry. I’m sure Faith was mortified. It was hilarious. Karibu Kenya.

When we got home, we discovered a huge truck filled with dirt blocking our path into the Kamau’s gate. There were six men just sitting on top. We made Faith talk to them and figure out what was going on. We figured we could squeeze by the truck, but the men left 6 logs in the road and had no intention of moving them. Being the women’s libbers that we are, we decided to move the logs ourselves. Julie and Leann jumped out (in their sweet one-pieces, mind you) and began lifting the logs out of the way. The men just sat there for a while, but then insisted on moving them for us. Finally, with a clear path, we drove into the gate. Another great Kenyan day.

Overeating and Night Driving: 10-16

Today the Bondeni teachers came over for lunch at the Kamau’s. And by lunch I mean 3:00. Basically we were starving. Somehow we survived. I ate an excessive amount of food at 3:00. I mean EXCESSIVE. Tons of veggies, stew, and chapatis (the best tortilla bread things ever), followed by watermelon and pineapple, then chai. Things got a bit out of hand.

But in the mean time, we sang some worship songs, got a short devo from one of the teachers, then Mary gave us a 1.5 hour sermon. This was followed by some words of encouragement from Wallace. It was pretty fantastic.

When the festivities concluded, the three blind Mzungus decided to roll out to Java. We had coffee and a small dinner with our Bible study. Our server was named Victor and he was hilarious. He basically invited the three of us to hang out with him sometime. We graciously and cleverly got around the invitation. The night continued in an awesomely awkward fashion when Victon, the manager, came over to chat. He heard/saw us laughing and wanted in on the joke.  For dessert, the three of us split a piece of pumpkin pie. We also got our picture taken with the pie. (Victor took it for us.) At the end of the night, we prayed – I prayed that God would use us as missionaries all day, even at Java. Immediately after the prayer, one of the guards came up to us and started talking. He noticed that we were praying and asked us about it. We learned that he was Catholic and encouraged him.  

The drive home was absolutely hilarious. I am the night driver. We left Java at 9:15. As we were driving through Runda we spotted a sweet creeper van in front of us. It had the biggest antenna sticking out the back with three tennis balls skewered on it. There is a small overpass that cars have to pass under. As we approached it, the van slowed down, unsure about what to do. Finally, he just went for it and the antenna survived but was definitely rattled. Furthermore, once we turn off the main road, the road we take to get to the Kamau’s is terrifying. Especially at night. When I was driving, I turned on the brights for better light. Well, a man was walking towards us, so out of politeness I went to turn off the brights. I accidently turned off the lights completely and Leann screamed. We drove in the dark for a second or two as I readjusted the lights. It was pretty sweet.

EPA Fail: 10-15

I got to help with another sweet cleanup day today. This time we worked in Area 1 with Daniel and his group there. It was the first cleanup effort in Area 1, so it was totally gross. So gross, in fact that we had to wear face masks. Believe me when I saw that the smell was horrendous. We got the ditches cleaned out and continued clearing the trash down the ditch that flows into the Nairobi River. It was a waterfall of trash as we went. We cleared it all the way down to the river and I was a taken aback when I saw them just shovel the sick trash into the River. There clearly is a problem with garbage in Mathare. However, it is a big problem to tackle. I was just surprised that they just pushed it into the already nasty river. Oh, well. Karibu Kenya.

Furthermore, we discovered piles of literal poop on the river bank. Since there isn’t convenient access to toilets, people just make do. Or if someone is a bit tight on shillings, paying for a toilet may not be high on the priority list. But I must say that it was pretty alarming to discover poop all around me. I was very thankful that I didn’t step in any. (Although, I have no doubt in my mind that there are all sorts of atrocities on my shoes and if I were to take a sample of the bottom of my shoes and culture it I would be terrified beyond all reason.)

At the end of the project, Daniel asked me to pray for the group. I love how Kenyans keep me on my toes. I also love how the Holy Spirit gives me wisdom when I need it most. 

Reality: 10-13

We joined the medical team again today. I am beginning to feel quite comfortable in the clinic setting now that I have done it quite a few times. Today I worked in triage again. A woman came in and she looked like she was about to pass out. She was leaning against the wall looking kind of out of it. I offered her a chair while she waited. As it turns out, she has AIDS and recently stopped taking her meds. Now she has either TB or pneumonia. She received two antibiotic injections and about 5 other meds. The doctor told her that she needed to go to the hospital tomorrow. 

I was amazed at how sick she looked. It is one thing to sit in on a Post Test Club's meeting with HIV positive members. Most of the group looks fairly healthy - they are well enough to attend and start businesses together. It is another thing entirely to see someone literally dying because their immune system is shot due to AIDS. It was a sad reality check.

After work we swung by the Ham’s to drop something off. Kathy invited us in for dinner. I ate three plates full of taco salad, three servings of fruit salad, and two brownies. We got to hang out with an American team, Justine, Erin, Bethany, and the Hams. It was a great night.

Stones and Stomach Aches: 10-12

Today Leann and I joined the medical clinic at Babandogo to help out. In the morning we worked in the pharmacy with two American pharmacists. We counted, poured, and bagged meds. After lunch I got to work in triage.

Triage rocks my world. I love greeting people, taking their height, weight, temp, and blood pressure. I even got to take chief complaints today. It is always quite fascinating. Timothy translated for me. A father brought in his daughter because she had been having seizures. She also faints sometimes. One woman came in and told me that she has had a productive cough since 2006. Another lady was complaining of a stomach ache. I asked her more about it and she told me that she eats stones. I looked at Timothy inquisitively, but said nothing and just wrote it down.

I asked him about it later and he said that there are certain stones that contain calcium that women are taught to eat when they are pregnant. However, the calcium in the rocks cannot be used by the body and the rocks actually deplete the body of calcium. This makes the women crave the stones more because they are craving calcium.

Jam Session: 10-11

Today was great! This morning I helped organize the meds for the clinic in Babandogo. A medical team has just arrived and will be doing a clinic there. I typed a list of the meds available to the team.

In the afternoon Leann and I walked into the CHE office and saw that Timothy was watching a video on his laptop. We sat next to him to watch too. We quickly discovered that it was a health educational video about girls and their changing bodies as they grow up. It was really good, but super awkward because we were just sitting there watching it with Timothy. All three of us chuckled a few times throughout just because of how hilariously awkward it was.

Timothy wants to organize a way to teach the kids here about growing up/ sex ed since many of their parents don’t teach them anything at home. I think it is a great idea and I want to find a way to help him get this program going.

Tonight Erin and Bethany came over for Mexico Monday. Every Monday I tell myself, “Audrey, you are not going to eat as much guacamole this time.” And every Monday I just eat more and more. Basically I am becoming a Kenyan man. After dinner we all had a hymn jam session at the table with Mary. It was so hilarious.

Basically Mary was carrying the team, but she sings really high. Like an octave about the rest of us. So we ended up singing in unison, but in a three octave range. We sang the classic “How Great is Our God,” which is hard to do because it must be sung really low or really high. Naturally we chose the lower range and we all sounded like a bunch of men. We literally sat around that table singing a variety of Christian songs for an hour and a half.  It was a great night!

A Taste of America: 10-10

This morning I woke up at 8:30 and learned that Mary and Wallace had taken David to the hospital because he was sick. Apparently David has a bacterial infection that is causing him to throw up. Wallace is taking a stool sample from David to the hospital tomorrow. Poor David also had to get some blood work done today. But he came home this afternoon and has slept most of the day.

Faith wanted to check out church at Roselyn Academy. The International Christian Fellowship had a service there. We left the house at 9:15 and had no clue what time the service started or where exactly it was on campus.  We rolled in at 9:45 and just followed some people over to where the service was being held. I swiftly spotted coffee and indulged. It felt like I was at home. The service was totally American and it was like an oasis.

The worship was all familiar (and in English) and the sermon was very similar to the ones I hear back home. It was fantastic.

We got home and decided to make salads. It was delicious. We ate our salads while watching The Constant Gardener – parts of it were filmed in the Kibera slum, the biggest slum in Nairobi. They really hit those slum scenes on the head.

Mary and Wallace wanted us all to go out to eat at Java House for dinner. Naturally, we obliged and drove on over. After eating, the three blind Mzungus stayed later to talk, have a Bible study, and pray. We lost track of time discussing our lives, Mathare, our families, our thoughts on the churches we have visited, and our plans when we get home.

Upon reflection, it was extremely comfortable to go to the American worship service this morning. But did I come here for comfortable? No. We all resolved to spend most of our Sundays at Kenyan worship services in Mathare even though we can’t understand everything. Church in the slum is a beautiful thing. People don’t hold back. They totally rely on Jesus to sustain them daily. These people get it. They understand God’s grace, mercy, love, faithfulness, and hope. 

Father Abraham: 10-9

This morning was fantastic, other than the fact that I had to wake up at 7:45. I rolled out of bed and went downstairs for breakfast. I sat down at the table and spotted some cereal and cold milk! Usually the milk is warm and it kinda freaks me out in cereal. While I poured myself a bowl, my ears picked up a familiar sound. SpongeBob! Yes, David was watching some sweet SpongeBob episodes on DVD. Naturally, I took my bowl of cereal into the sitting room and joined. I thoroughly enjoyed watching SpongeBob set up a bubble stand and then teach Squidward how to blow amazing bubbles. It felt like an American Saturday – eating cereal and watching cartoons.

Eventually Keith came to pick us up. Justine was with him and we all piled in for the ride to Joska! I absolutely love Joska. We arrived at the boarding school and ate omelets specially prepared for us. (I feel spoiled with the VIP treatment the Kamau’s get.) The short term teams arrived and we all attended an assembly to welcome our guests. The kids recited scripture. Mary taught us all Psalm 40:8. The kids sang, danced, and performed a play.

I was totally engrossed in the dancing when Justine popped up in front of me. She informed us that Mary had told the man in charge of the assembly that the four of us (Justine, Leann, Julie, and I) had a presentation for everyone. Everyone included Mary, Keith, three short term teams, about 300 students, and their teachers. We literally had 5 minutes to come up with something.

This is one of the reasons that I adore Kenya. The people here just expect you to have a reserve of sermons and performances always ready to go. Being totally put on the spot, we decided to perform the Father Abraham song. Yes.

We were the closing act of this welcoming ceremony. The four of us awkwardly made our way to the front and introduced ourselves. Luckily the students knew Father Abraham, so they sung it while we danced. Keep in mind that this stunning performance followed the beautiful Kenyan dances of the students. Needless to say, we totally raised the roof on that place with our sweet moves.

After lunch, we kicked a soccer ball around with Wallace. Totally random, but totally awesome. Eventually us interns found two kids to kick with. We had a blast!

The kids at Joska have clever names for their living quarters. The younger kids, in 5th and 6th grade, live in dorms made of sheet metal. These are similar in appearance to the slums, except that the dorms are new (not rusty) and very spacious. They call these living quarters Bondeni because Bondeni is one of the poorest villages in Mathare. The kids in 7th and 8th grade live at "The Runda". Runda is that extremely nice neighborhood we drive through on our way to Mathare where all the rich important people live. Not only are these names awesomely clever, but they are also symbolic of the students' journeys out of the slums. Every student at Joska will move from Bondeni to Runda during their stay. 

It is frustrating to drive through  Runda every day on our way to Mathare. There are security guards everywhere with machine guns. I always see guards with machine guns. Even at Nakumat (the Wal-Mart of Nairobi). Can you imagine seeing armed guards outside of Wal-Mart at home? It’s insane.

At the end of our day at Joska we met 5 amazing kids. Maureen Panina, Dennis, Wilson, and Softy. Maureen is an orphan who has been raised by her grandmother. The boys are all great soccer players. In fact, Wilson is the captain of the Joska team. I look forward to seeing them again!

Tonight Julie and I went to bed at 9:00 pm. It was so lovely. 

Burning Cookies: 10-8

Today I chilled with Daniel. We visited the school at Mathare North and attended a new parents meeting. Since the whole thing was in Swahili, I was totally lost for almost 2 hours. I saw two kids sitting off to the side and joined them. The guard at the school told them that I was their teacher for today and that they had to listen to me. The kids were probably 4 years old. They didn’t know any English, so I kept them in line with my sweet Swahili skillz. I used “kuja” (come here), “twende” (let’s go), “Jina lako ni nani?” (what is your name), and “Jina langu ni Audrey” (my name is Audrey). After that awkward meeting, we walked over to the toilet project in Area 4A. I was impressed with the progress.

In the evening, we decided to watch another movie. We chose Spiderman 2 and Faith, Victory, and David joined us. It was so much fun. We decided to bake some cookies. This was a risky endeavor because the oven is crazy. Well, we put the first batch in the oven and went back to our movie. Tobey Maguire’s sweet comb over was interrupted by the smell of smoke coming from the kitchen. We rushed over and removed the pan of melted blackened cookie-like substances. Luckily we were more successful on the second and third batch. 

Jesus Loves the Little Children: 10-7

Today we got to accompany Isabella and Ann to Mabatini for some house calls. We met with families of special needs children. At the first home we met a woman named Maureen and her daughter Susanna.  Susanna was born totally normal. One day Susanna’s mother was carrying her on her back and some sort of violence broke out. She began to run and Susanna fell. She hit her head and it caused her to become paralyzed. The good news is that today, she can walk with the help of the walls and her brain is ok (she doesn’t have any mental disabilities). She is six years old and adorable.

While we were in her home, Maureen told us why she hadn’t taken Susanna to the therapy meetings on Thursday nights. Maureen’s husband has taken a second wife. Through tears, she told us that her husband had the nerve to bring his second wife into their home to live with them and their children. Maureen was deeply saddened. I could tell that she was terribly heartbroken. Eventually, Maureen told her husband that she wouldn’t let him live with his second wife in their home and that they needed to move out. He obliged.

So now her husband doesn’t support his family at all. She is left raising her three children in Mabatini by herself. She said that her husband comes home a few times a month.  Maureen is mocked by her neighbors and has been advised to visit the local witch doctor and have a curse put on her husband. She is at the end of her rope and wanted to leave her children and move away. I think we came just in the nick of time. Isabella comforted her and advised her against going to a witch doctor. She said that peace and comfort can only be found in Jesus. After encouraging Maureen for quite some time, we got to pray for her and Susanna. Isabella also suggested that Susanna should come back to the physical therapy sessions because so much progress has been made. Susanna went from being paralyzed to being able to walk fairly well.

Next we met with Rose and her son Ian. Ian is 5 and has cerebral palsy.  He certainly gives David a run for his money as the cutest kid I have ever met. Ian’s face would light up when we said his name into the most beautiful grin I have ever laid eyes on. I sat next to him and occasionally tickled his feet. He would just crack up. He was absolutely precious.

At the end of our day, we met with a boy named Vincent who had a terribly swollen left leg. It was full of fluid from just below the knee down. It was extremely painful and caused him to limp badly. His leg was so full of fluid that it would “sweat” out. His mom told us that his leg prevented him from being able to walk to school. He has cried because he wants to learn, but can’t get to school. His mom is searching for a shanty closer to the school so he would be able to go. She said that they had visited many doctors, but no one knows what it is. I encouraged him to press on in life with determination and prayer. I reminded him that he is a child of God and he is loved more than we can even comprehend.

We finished watching Out of Africa tonight. There are so many hilarious quotes we shall incorporate into our daily lives now.

Clean Up and Wipe Out: 10-6

Babandogo cleanup day! We joined our guys again to clean the trash out of the ditches. It was a fun experience again. This time, there was a cluster of kids following us around. We eventually found an open area in between some buildings. We began to play Simon Says with them. Eventually these games evolved into giving piggyback rides. I was running around the open area with a kid on my back when I tripped over a rock. Don’t worry the kid was totally fine. (He thought it was part of the ride and proceeded to follow me around wanting to go again for the rest of the day.) I, however, was not totally fine. I scraped up my left hand and bruised my right shin. I took the whole fall one handed because I used my right arm to hold the kid on my back so he didn’t get hurt. It was pretty awesome.

Since we were in the middle of the village, there wasn’t anything I could safely use to clean out the dirty wounds. Furthermore, I had been handling tools all morning – tools that had been in sewage. Given the predicament, I wiped the blood off my hand with the inside of my shirt, and continued on my merry way. As it turned out, I had to wait about 1 and a half hours before I could at least rinse the dirt off my hand. At this point, the dirt was pretty well engrained. I dumped tons of hydrogen peroxide on the wound at Babandogo. When we got back to Pangani, I slathered my hand with triple antibiotic ointment and put some Band-Aids on it. When I got home, I scrubbed the wounds with a towel to try to get the skin opened up. I was mostly successful. Everything looks good except for one scrape. I am praying that it doesn’t get infected, but I think it will heal rather nicely. (And hopefully leave me with a sweet scar.)

Audrey the Chef: 10-5

So today Leann and I went down to the pharmacy in Pangani to help the nurses organize meds. The task was pretty daunting because the room was a disaster. There were boxes stacked upon boxes of random medications. There were bottles of leaking hydrogen peroxide on the floor. There were suitcases full of needles. It was an awesome morning! Medical teams who come to do clinics leave all their extra supplies with Pangani. It was fun to clean and organize. The nurses really appreciated our efforts. 

We rolled out of work early at noon because we had a full afternoon of cooking ahead of us. Leann, Julie, and I cooked quesadillas, Mexican chicken salad, squash, and guacamole for 30 people. It cracks me up that I am learning how to cook now that I'm in Kenya. We slaved away in the kitchen for about 4 hours. It was pretty epic. Everyone loved the meal. 

Creepers and Goat Births: 10-4

Today I joined Ruben in Area 2 for a clinic day with a church from New Hampshire who came on a short term trip. Julie ended up joining me at the clinic. I started with Daniel at the very front and alphabetized all the charts for him. I found it humorous that there were about 100 charts for the children at the Area 2 School and they weren’t alphabetized until after the clinic day started. But luckily I was swift in my organizing.

In the middle of the morning, Daniel asked me if I wanted to take chai. I obliged even though there was lots of stuff to be done. I ended up getting some coffee. I walked back out of the school gate to the dusty ground outside and found my seat. I plopped down and casually sipped my coffee. It really hit me that I was sitting in a plastic chair in a slum drinking some coffee just like I would at Starbucks.

Julie and I worked in triage. I got to take temperatures, blood pressures, heights, and weights. I also made more charts like before. Eventually, Dan and Ruben got distracted and left the intake area. I stepped in and busted out some sweet basic Swahili skills to greet people, get their name, and their age. It was a fun experience. Until creeper man showed up.

This man was sexually harassing me and Julie. He approached Julie and was inappropriately touching himself and she made him a chart and gave him a number and sent him to me so I could take his temperature.  A while later he walked off and Julie and I thought he was gone for good. At this point both of us were distracted by a goat giving birth about 10 yards away. We watched for a while and all of a sudden the creepy guy sat down next to me. He asked me where I was from and if I was married. I told him America and no. While he was getting the scoop on my personal life, he was inappropriately touching himself again.

At this point, Julie and I went over and told Ruben about the situation. Ruben said, and I quote, “You’re my sisters from another mister,” and that he would take care of it. (Ruben rocks.) The man followed us over. 

Ruben told the man to go away and leave us alone because we were his sisters. The creeper was kicked out of the clinic and we didn’t see him again. This was all taken care of just in time for us to see the baby goat birthed. He was so cute and kept trying to stand up to no avail. I think this combination of events takes the cake for the weirdest 30 minutes of my life.

When I wasn’t distracted by creepy men or goats giving birth, I got to spend some good time with the kids outside. I was sitting down on a concrete block in the triage area and a little boy came up to me and smiled. I smiled back and said hi. He came right over and sat down in my lap. He reminded me of David and it broke my heart. I stayed with him for a while. He was wearing the school’s uniform – a blue sweater, black shorts, grey socks, and black shoes. His sweater had big holes in the elbows. He had short hair, big brown eyes, and a beautiful grin.

After work, I drove us over to Roslyn Academy to catch the last 30 minutes of Faith’s basketball game. Her team won. We headed home for Mexico Monday with Erin, Bethany, and Justine.

However, the night was intense because we learned that the foreman on a toilet project in Area 4A was attacked by another construction worker with a wooden beam. He suffered a brain hemorrhage and was in the process of getting to a hospital when we heard about the situation. As soon as we heard the news, we immediately started praying aloud in a circle. It was great to see a need and just pray right then and there. I definitely need to do that more when I get home.

A Contradictory City: 10-3

So today I did some pondering. Yesterday when we went downtown there were about four security officers on every block. Everything was new and painted and clean. Nice cars dominated the streets and people strolled down the sidewalks. We passed by gorgeous city parks with fountains and benches and flowers. The air seemed clean.

In Mathare there is literally zero police presence. There is limited street access, so there are no fire stations or police stations. Everything is dirty with peeling paint. Mutatus dominate the streets and drive in a terrifying manner. There are literally no trees. Absolutely no flowers. The air is totally polluted with car exhaust, burning trash, and sewage.

Every day we pass through a very nice neighborhood were the political leaders of Kenya live. Their houses are surrounded by walls, barbed wire, guards with guns, and lights. This neighborhood is about 15 minutes from Mathare.

I don’t understand how the government can ignore over one million people living in slum conditions. So much money is invested in the appearance of the nice sectors of Nairobi. The streets are free of potholes. There are skyscrapers. It’s almost like the government doesn’t want Mathare to exist, so they just ignore it. God doesn’t want his children to go to bed hungry. God doesn’t want his children to die of diseases related to HIV/AIDS. God doesn’t want his children high from sniffing glue.

For many people, Mathare is their reality. Mathare is their Nairobi. Mathare is just one slum in the area and it is sprawling. It stretches much further than the eye can see. One could easily get lost in its expanse. People work in the slum, they raise their children in the slum, and they die in the slum. God doesn’t want this for his children.

The only hope for God’s children in these conditions is Jesus. He can transform their lives. He loves us.

This afternoon Leann, Julie, and I went out to Java for some coffee time. But, before we indulged, we totally worked out at Roslyn (the kid’s school). I ran a sweet lap around the track and then practiced some Taekwondo. Right at the end it started raining. The biggest raindrops I had ever seen. It was a beautiful moment. 

Random Day: 10-2

Since we had no power last night, I didn’t take a shower (due to the lack of hot water). We watched an hour of Out of Africa (the 1985 movie). It was kind of hilarious with the dramatic Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. I totally could have taken a cold shower, but I decided to just crash at 9:30.

I rolled out of bed this morning at 9:00 feeling really grungy since I was out in the field yesterday. It really made me think about those who live in the slums full time. They don’t have the luxury of a hot shower, ever. I got to experience that for one night.

For breakfast I tried some delish grapefruit. It had a huge rind and wasn’t nearly as bitter as the grapefruit at home. We decided to accompany all three kids and Wallace to their dental appointments and then go shopping afterwards. It made for a very strange but awesome day.

We drove through downtown Nairobi to get to the dentist’s office. We entered a hospital complex complete with gate, fence, and barbed wire. I have come to realize that this is totally normal. Any nice building will be guarded. We entered the building and scaled three floors to get to the office. The building had basically every doctor’s office anyone could ever need. We went to a maxillary-oral-facial-everything surgeon. It cracked me up that they went to him as their dentist. It seemed like overkill, but I love it. All three kids and Wallace went into the office. Thirty minutes later they left and said that they were going to get x-rays. We waited in the office for about an hour and then decided to explore the hospital. I love how open and aired out everything is. It had a very nice vibe. The hallways frequently open up into outdoor areas.

We left the hospital around noon and drove to another part of downtown. We went to an x-ray office at 12:45 in a 17 story building. All three Mzungus were confused about why we were at another x-ray office, but Faith and Victory got x-rays done at this office. We waited in the room for over an hour. Charity, the head teacher from Kosovo, joined us at this point. She was going to spend the day shopping with us. I really don’t understand what all went on as far as dental appointments go, but eventually we were finished 3 hours later. I will never complain about waiting in a dental office again. I get in and out with my brothers in an hour. Plus it’s only a 30 minute drive at home, but here we drove for over an hour. Oh how I miss the convenience of America.

Once this was all said and done, we started walking around the downtown area. It was gorgeous and so clean. We decided to eat at Java House. I had an amazing burger complete with an egg on top. I was in protein heaven. I loved that we were served our milkshakes first. Dessert before dinner is a great idea!

After Java House, we all hopped in the car again and drove across town to a market. As we drove, I could instantly tell when we had left the wealthy district of town. All of a sudden the air was polluted with exhaust and the sidewalks and roads had potholes. Everything became instantly grungy. It was an odd thing to experience.

We pulled up to this wall on the side of the street and Wallace let us out. We entered a walled open air-ish market. It was terrifying. We rolled into the market, three blind Mzungus and four Kenyans. Instantly we were accosted to look at jeans, try on dresses, and check out shoes. Since I already don’t like shopping, it became clear to me that this was going to be a very interesting day.

We approached the first booth and Julie began looking at skirts. (She needed to get some professional looking clothes since she will be teaching some classes.) The men who owned the shops were taken aback by the three of us. We were the only white people there and when we tell Kenyans that we went to this market they are surprised and laugh.

We checked out the stands for about 2 hours. Afterwards, we walked through a rougher part of downtown. The traffic was insane. Herds of people cross the streets in random places. Eight mutatus seem to fit across in three lanes. Charity navigated us through the situation, but at one point we almost all got sandwiched in between three mutatus. It was wonderfully terrifying. 

Spontaneous Evangelism: 10-1

This morning Leann and I briefly talked to Fred Juma the head of the CHE department about the rest of our time here along with our goals. We are thinking about adopting Babandogo to work in. We want to have some health meetings with members of the community to discuss issues like hygiene, disease prevention, and alcoholism.

We spent the day with Robert. The first item on the agenda was to travel to Kaimiako and meet with a CHE group. I got to see the MOHI School and the community. There were quite a few goats in the area, so I guess the goat business is booming. We met with the group’s finance man. He keeps all the record books. They are doing a microfinance project and are using their profits to start a “baby care program.” (Basically it’s a daycare.) They are saving up their money to put in community toilets.

Then we travelled to Babandogo to do some follow-ups from Tuesday’s evangelism. We met with a group of about 8 men who Robert had talked to on Tuesday. He invited them all to church on Sunday and they all said they planned on attending. A member of the group, named Daniel, asked me and Leann to meet a lady around the corner. We checked with Robert, and then went over. We passed through an alleyway and came to her house. Daniel wanted us to talk to her about health and hygiene. Totally put on the spot, Leann and I discussed a few basics with them -particularly about keeping the area around their house free of trash. Inside the house was very neat and clean, but outside was dirty and had piles of trash around. We also asked about their spiritual health.

At this point, I went back to find Robert. He joined us and did some more evangelism. All the ladies were saved except one, and she accepted Christ. I absolutely loved the spontaneous evangelism. I need to do more of that at home. I need to take the time to invest in the lives of the people around me.

The men who Robert was doing a follow-up with want to post a verse of the day on the wall at their shoe shining business. It was so encouraging to see people accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior and then wanting to get involved. These men will probably end us starting another CHE group in the area.

We ate lunch at the Babandogo school and then met with our friends in the CHE group. Today they elected the officials in the group. Robert, Leann, and I left while they were electing so that it would be totally their own decision. I think this is a brilliant policy and I love that the group will soon be self sufficient and self led. The guys love that we are attending their meetings. They want to give us Kenyan names. I hope they come up with some awesome ones.

Orange Fanta: 9-30

Today Leann and I joined Daniel and went to Mathare Area 4A. (On the way to Pangani, we stopped at Java House and Mary bought us all coffee.) He showed us the toilet projects under construction. The toilet building that we saw was really big – three toilets and three showers for women and the same for men. While in the Area, we were accosted by tons of children yelling “Howareyou!” in a sing-song voice. All of them were adorable.

Daniel took us on three home visits/follow ups. We met two ladies in their house and we took our picture with them, much to their chagrin. They now want copies. Next we met with a woman named Christine. She is a CHE member in the community and has helped David get involved there. She lives in a small shanty.

We were sitting there and she was insisting on buying us all soda. She is obligated by her tribe to offer something to guests (or so it was explained). Daniel explained to her that we didn’t need anything. We didn’t want to offend her traditions, but we didn’t want to take anything from an unemployed woman in Mathare. She kept insisting and her niece eventually came in. They exchanged a few words and the niece left with some coins. She came back with one liter of cold Sprite and one liter of cold orange Fanta.

Christine took three nice glasses, washed them, dried them, and set one if front of each of us on her coffee table. She gave thanks, and then poured us each a full glass of orange Fanta. I sipped on mine for a while until most of it was gone and she refilled it. As we finished, I just sat there. So many thoughts rushed through my head: This lady has nothing and offered me something special. She thanked Jesus for the gift she was giving us. She was happy that we visited her.

It felt like I just had me feet washed. With orange Fanta.

I got to pray for her before we left. She is taking care of her three children and her three nieces (their parents died). Pray that God will help her raise her children up in Christ. Pray that God will bless her and her family.

Fun in the Mud:9-29

Babandogo clean up day! Leann and I went to join the group in Babandogo for a cleanup similar to the one we did on Saturday. We really got to work with those guys! It was a blast. By the time we got there, most of the ditches were free of trash (it was in piles). We went through with shovels and the guys used rakes to scoop the trash onto our shovels. We worked together to lift the trash and dump it in a wheelbarrow.

It had rained the night before, so everything was muddy and wet. This actually made it a lot more fun. We got messy. I found that being around the sludge and trash was a lot less gross the second time. I don’t really know why. I earned a ring of mud almost up to my knees from splatter.

The men in that group have become like my brothers/friends. They are so nice. As it turns out, most of them speak English. They were just shy around the newcomers at first. One of the members of the group named Elias brought his two and a half year old son, Ryan, to join the cleanup effort. Ryan was adorable and his dad helped him manage a rake to clean the ditch. I felt very encouraged to see an awesome dad in Mathare. Ryan is going to grow up seeing his dad working for the betterment of the community. Even at some previous meetings, Elias had brought Ryan and he frequently falls asleep in his dad’s lap while everyone is brainstorming. I pray that Ryan will learn from his dad’s leadership and grows into a man of God who will serve his community.

We spent the morning cleaning alongside those men all the while chatting. They are all passionate about improving their community. While we were working, some ladies who had food stands along the path wanted me to take their pictures. I did and they were thrilled. Leann and I even jumped in on a few of the pictures and it totally made their day.

In the afternoon we came back to Pangani and Timothy asked Leann and me to teach a devotional at the beginning of a HIV/AIDS Post Test Club’s meeting. The meeting was for all the members of all the Post Test Clubs totaling around 30 people. It was an interesting experience to interact with everyone. But the most interesting part was that it was totally normal. All the people there had HIV/AIDS, but they are all God's beloved children just like everyone else in Mathare (obviously). The stigma that gets placed on them is unnecessary.

Observing everyone, I noticed that some definitely looked sicker than others. Some had cheekbones that were sticking out. Some had red fingernails. Most of the members wore scarves over their heads. Some were very quiet and some were very outspoken. Men were represented, although the majority of the members were women.

We did the devotional on John 6:1-13, Jesus feeding the 5000. We boiled everything down into faith, hope, and compassion. I discussed how Jesus can take what little we have of something and multiply it. If we have a little faith, he can multiply it into a lot of faith. If we have a little hope, he can give us a lot of hope. The group really enjoyed it. Timothy told us that we did a great job. I felt humbled (again) that I could provide some devotional thoughts for the club. It was very moving to encourage 30 people with HIV through the word of God. His word is living and active.

On the way home, we picked up Faith and Victory from school. I got behind a school bus that was just stopped in the road, blocking our way. We sat there for a little while and I asked Mary what the appropriate measure would be. She reached over to the steering wheel and honked the horn! The three Mzungus started cracking up. We couldn’t believe that she just honked at a school bus to move out of our way. She said the driver was talking to someone on the side of the road. The children had already walked across. I love Kenya. We can honk at school buses. After getting the kids, we went to Java House (again) to get milkshakes. I bought the Kamau’s milkshakes and we all devoured them. It was a great night.

We All Need Jesus: 9-28

CHE evangelism day in Babandogo. Before going out into the field, the whole department had a prayer meeting. It was amazing to see everyone so dedicated to proclaiming God’s word. We went over to the village as a team and I worked with Timothy and Daniel. Those two men are super cool. They love Jesus and they are quite eloquent. They are great at encouraging people through prayer. They are totally confident in sharing the gospel, they are wise, and they are patient. Both are dedicated to serving these communities.

The three of us went around to random people and just started a conversation with them. I was surprised at how open everyone was to discussing the gospel. I think it has something to do with the Kenyan mentality of being so incredibly welcoming. Timothy and Daniel would explain the gospel and I prayed for literally everyone. It was a great experience. Four women decided to follow Jesus and start going to a Bible study at church. I loved getting to pray for them and welcome them as my sisters in Christ.

I met the most amazing woman today – Grandmother Nancy. She is in her 70s and is a stud. She loves Jesus so much. We were welcomed into her shanty and she made room for us on a bench. It was pretty dark in her home and she had a bad back so she hunched over to get around. Timothy and Daniel started talking to her in Swahili. They told me that she was a Christian and she always insists that people from her church come and visit her on Sunday (they gladly do). She couldn’t go without fellowshipping and worshipping God in her week.

She began to encourage us. She said that she was so pleased to see young people out evangelizing. She looked at me and I heard her say Mzungu a few times, so I knew she was talking about me. She said that she was encouraged to see that I cared about her and her community. She encouraged me to keep serving Christ. After talking with her for about 45 minutes, she said that she wanted to pray for us.

Talk about a humbling experience. Here is an old Kenyan woman in a metal shack hunched over praying for me and my walk with Jesus. She prayed for about 10 minutes, encouraging us and exalting our King. She totally gets it. She understands how perfect the grace of Jesus is. She loves her Savior with all of her heart. I pray that someday I will have faith like hers.

After all of this, Ruben walked us back. In the alleyway where we always see people passed out, there was a glue boy (awake). He saw us Mzungus walking and he jumped up and in a stupor started talking to us. He reached out for Leann, but Ruben quickly put his arm around her and told the boy to back off in Swahili. I feel very safe walking around with the men who work at Missions of Hope. I am always very grateful that they accompany us. It’s not like any of these situations are particularly dangerous, but the people we encounter will totally leave us alone if a man is with us. It is nice that we don’t have to worry.

Since Audrey is kind of hard for people to say, some people in CHE call me June. Today Fred, the director of CHE started calling my July at lunch. It was pretty hilarious. I kind of hope it sticks.

The only way to conclude such an epic day was with milkshakes. The three interns made a deal with Mary that if you learn how to drive in Kenya, you get rewarded with a milkshake. (This rule applied to Mary too since she never drives.) Well, all of us had driven at this point, so we decided to celebrate. I got to drive us around today. It is pretty enjoyable because you have to use your brain while driving. We put “Learner” stickers on the car, so everyone gave us plenty of space. I ended up driving us around for about two hours.

We got our milkshakes at Java House, a tasty coffee shop and American restaurant. The contrast from the slums to Java House was a bit alarming. I have decided to keep a tally of the number of glue boys I see in passing throughout the slums. Since beginning my count, I have seen 11 in total. However, today I saw 6 glue boys. It was very startling. Today stuck out in particular because I saw three glue boys running around together and they looked about 12 years old.

I absolutely hate seeing children grungy and high out of their minds, it is probably the most disturbing thing in the slums. These boys wear baggy dirty clothing and hold small clear bottles of yellow glue. Many of them leave the bottle just below their noses so they get a continual stream. Others have sticks that they dip in the bottles and then sniff. As we pass, they have goofy grins on their faces and their teeth are yellow and rotting. Watching them walk is the worst. I hate seeing kids stumble around saying, “Howareyou!” like they are drunk. I hate that I have to basically ignore them and pass by quickly so they don’t make too big of a scene. I hate that I see them passed out in the alleyways with a cloud of flies buzzing around them all morning. I hate that I can sometimes smell them – the fact that their odor can stand out while in a slum. I can only imagine how sad it makes Jesus. 

Audrey the Cheerleader: 9-27

I drove us to Pangani today, through the traffic and roundabouts. It was surprisingly easy. We spent the day with Robert in Bobandogo again today. Julie joined us to meet with the group there. Today Robert was doing some CHE training with the men.

We had to wait for the key to the church to be found, so we chilled in a shed with Robert. He asked us about American things. We had the most hilarious conversations about how American women shave their legs and about our obsession with dogs. We told him about electric dog fences and how they shock dogs to train them. I realized how ridiculous many American things are when I begin trying to tell a Kenyan about them. At lunch Leann and I began telling Robert about roller coasters. “It’s like a train, but the track looks like this (our hands flail around like a roller coaster). You are strapped in and you go really fast. Sometimes you are shot out at super high speeds and do flips.” His face was priceless.

Finally the key to the church was located and we entered. The church had a dirt floor and was made of simple concrete blocks and metal sheets. I loved the simplicity. All the men circled up and Robert brought out a huge pad of paper for us to “script” on. He discussed leadership and how to have a successful group. The main topics were finances, record keeping, and recruiting. The men were very engaging and they really appreciated the enrichment.   

Robert brought up the topic of suicide. He said that the reason most men kill themselves is because they don’t share their hearts. Men don’t open up. The men laughed at the idea of opening up to a friend. They said that they would be laughed at. All it would take is one man to open up and the rest would follow suit.

At the end they said a lot to Robert in Swahili and told him to translate it for us. Basically they said that they were very encouraged that we are coming to their group’s meetings. They said that we had blessed their lives and thanked us profusely. We have been welcomed to any of their activities. After thanking them for inviting us to their meetings, we said goodbye (for now). They asked us to bring our friends so we could “even the numbers.” (The girl to boy ratio.) They were hilarious.

They invited us to their cleanup day on Wednesday. We all plan on attending. They will begin the trash cleanup. I told them that we were honored to get to work with them. We prayed that God will invest in their projects and that doors will be opened to provide the finances they need. Right now, they are saving up to buy black trash bags to distribute to homes. Two men contributed 250 shillings. That’s like three bucks each. It was pretty humbling that these men were putting in their own resources to improve their community. We will continue to pray that God develops them into strong Christian leaders in their families and community. Robert is going to give us a list of the members so we can pray for them by name.

It is so exciting to see the beginnings of big improvements in Babandogo. God is at work there. He is transforming lives. I can’t wait to see how God moves through these men. I feel humbled again that by us interns being a part of their group, they are inspired and encouraged. All we have done is sit there, joke around a bit, write stuff down, and pray. But to these men, we are their cheering section. They see that people do care about their community and, hopefully, they will see that Jesus loves their community beyond words.

Tonight we had Mexico Monday again. It’s pretty much my favorite night of the week. Erin, Bethany, and Justine joined and we ate. A lot. After dinner we all played Quelf – basically the best game ever in the history of mankind. It was so much fun. I have absolutely loved getting to know those girls.

Right now I think the best part of this internship experience is being surrounded by other girls who are crazy about Jesus and have a heart for serving. It is such a positive environment. I am encouraged by literally everyone I meet.

Quote of the day: “Look out, June!!” – Robert

He calls me June because Audrey is hard to pronounce. I was about to get hit by a motorcycle man and forgot that my name is now also June. It was priceless.

Table for One + The Holy Spirit: 9-26

I didn’t sleep very well last night. This morning we walked to the neighborhood church with Elizabeth and David. It was really big with vaulted ceilings, but still concrete and metal. The service reminded me of a Lutheran style service back home. We had bulletins, which I liked because I could follow along and see where we were in the service. We totally rolled in late and definitely stuck out.

During the sermon (in Swahili) I read 8 chapters of 1 Samuel. It was really cool. I think I will do some more OT reading while I’m here. We got to chill this afternoon and it was really pleasant. We helped Elizabeth prepare some food for the short term team coming over for dinner.

While reflecting on yesterday’s cleanup project I experienced a variety of emotions. I am excited about the fact that a group living in the area decided to do something about the clogged ditches. I know God is moving in that area. But at the same time I feel overwhelmed with hopelessness. I unclogged one ditch in one village in one slum in one city with many slums. And Nairobi is just one city in Kenya with many cities. And Kenya is just one country in the world with many slums. I am just one person.

But then I remember that I have the Holy Spirit in me. One person can help change things. If I impact just one life, that life can impact other lives. Let’s say I share the gospel with one lady. That lady can share Jesus with her neighbors. She can raise her children up in Christ. She can have hope and share that hope with everyone around her. So Jesus is worth spending a morning scraping trash out of a sewer. In fact, he would be right there alongside us working and loving.

Unclog Trenches, Check: 9-25

Clean up day! Today I woke up well rested with a heavy heart. After scraping the black eye crusties off my eyes, I was ready to roll out. We got to help the group we met in Mabatini last week do a community clean up day. Our task – unclog the drainage ditches. There was so much trash and sewage in the trenches that the water was just stagnate everywhere (which made the situation much grosser).

We rode a mutatu down to the village and popped on some latex gloves. I began in close quarters scraping out trash from standing water. People with shovels would then pick up the sludge that was left. We made large piles of nastiness everywhere. Eventually we got that area clear.

Next we went to a more open main walking area. There was a trench of clogged stagnate water running all the way down the path. I started by scraping out the trash and making piles all along the way. Children have to hop over this trench all the time. Adults have to cross it to shop or to go home. I was very encouraged by the group of young men who were not okay with this standard of living. They are doing something about it. It was amazing to be a part of it.

I ended up splashing myself with the sludge a number of times. I really didn’t mind. My gloves ended up ripping. I didn’t mind. As I kept on scraping, in front of some community members who were just sitting there watching, my hands became raw. I didn’t mind. My fingers started to blister. I didn’t mind. I breathed in the smells of life in Mathare, but I didn’t mind.

I got my area unclogged and the water began flowing for the first time in while. Taking a breather, I spotted Julie playing with a huge line of kids.She was spinning them around and they loved it. Leann and I walked over there. Those kids were so baffled by our hands and arms. About 7 kids grabbed my hands and arms. They examined me carefully. One kid even licked my arm.

We walked over to another area that was just covered in trash. We piled it up into two large piles and Daniel (from CHE) lit them on fire. So there we were, destroying our lungs with burning plastic. It was pretty brutal. At this point I felt pretty bad for my poor lungs. I was using my nose to breath so at least a little bit would be filtered out, but it burned my nostrils to inhale. Then I realized that the people living in the area deal with this stuff every day.

I took a sweet nap after a long luxurious shower. We had some Mexican style lasagna for dinner and then we did some sweet Tae-bo. I also practiced Taekwondo while I was in the workout mood.

Oh, the Places You'll Go: 9-24

Leann and I got to chill with Robert from CHE today. He is super cool! We went to Babandogo to see the school and meet with a group of young men who want to start a cleanup project. As we approached the school we were greeted with singing and dancing kids. I looked around and saw an open field just covered in piles of trash. There were groups of children (not in school) playing on the trash. Some were using the trash to play with.

Walking to the group’s meeting place, I was treated a bit like a celebrity. All the kids greeted me with, “Howareyou!’s,” ran up to me and grabbed my hands, and announced, “Mzyngu!” One man said, “Hi, how are you?” in a very nasally voice. Robert said he was trying to sound like us. It was weird. We finally made it to the group and were greeted by all. One fellow took our picture with his camera phone – multiple times. It was hilarious.

Robert led the group in a brainstorm. They were coming up with ideas for ways to improve their community. Right now their number one concern is the trash build-up. It is literally everywhere – definitely the worst village I have seen as far as trash is concerned. They want to do cleanup days and eventually get a recycling machine so they can make some money.

At the end of their meeting Leann and I prayed for the group. I ask everyone to pray for them as well – that God opens doors for their projects to get underway, that they stay strong and patient, and that God will bless their lives. Robert said that not all the men are Christians, so pray that the whole group will give their lives over to Jesus. He is the one who will be able to improve their community.

As we walked through the streets, everything around me began to sink in. I walked by a man crawling out of the sewer. I passed by young men who had passed out in the alleyways next to their alcohol and glue bottles. I was accosted by kids Victory’s age (12) begging for money. I waved to kids playing soccer with a ball made of plastic bags rolled up and bundled together. I smiled at kids playing jump rope on piles of trash with a string.

After that intense day, I drove us over to the Village Market’s food court to eat out with Erin, Bethany, and Justine. It was awesome. They are really cool and insightful. They certainly know what’s up. I ate a delicious philly sandwich again and we all got ice cream.

Wallace drove the family home. David sat next to me and he got really sleepy. He snuggled up next to me. I thought of all the four year olds living in Mathare who don’t have anyone to cuddle with. 

Learning How to Cook: 9-23

Free day! So today when we woke up Leann was feeling sick. Julie and I ate breakfast (feeling fine) and got ready to go. Then, Mary informed us that FAME was coming over for dinner. Tonight is our night to cook something and we were planning on spaghetti and meatballs. We discovered that we would need to make a small feast. Mary suggested that we take the day off to shop for food and cook.

I agreed that it was a solid plan. We decided to go shopping at 10:00. This left us with about 2 hours to kill. We decided to do a Bible study together and I worked on memorizing the Beatitudes. It was a very pleasant morning. We went to Nakumat in the mall (that we went to last Friday). Julie drove us there and we all helped with directions. In Nakumat we got all the ingredients we needed plus some snacks. I got a large container of strawberry yogurt. It rocked my world!

I got to drive us home. It is pretty fun to drive – a lot more exciting than at home. The back roads are a blast to drive on. I am getting used to driving on the left side of the road. At home I ate two thirds of the yogurt. It was SO delicious! I felt awesome after eating it. Then for lunch, we made a trail mix with pecans, chocolate chips, and craisins. Elizabeth cooked us some chips. Chips=the best fries in the world. Julie and I ate two large containers of them. Basically 200 fields of potatoes.

I did some laundry and hung my clothes out to dry. Then we cooked for a large portion of the day while jamming out to some sweet tunes. I feel so relaxed here. It’s fantastic. Julie and I made some meatballs while Leann made the pineapple upside-down cake. We needed bread crumbs for the meatballs, so we toasted some bread and crunched it up. It was a blast.

The FAME team came over and ate some of our tasty food that we prepared and then they left for the airport. They will be greatly missed.

Three Blind Mzungus: 9-22

I got to drive this morning! After Wallace dropped the kids off at school I took over for a little while. We had to get gas and then Mary and Wallace realized that they needed to visit someone, so they called Doug (from BDS) to pick us up on his way to Pongani. All three of us decided to go to Kosovo to work with FAME. We walked over with CHE. Timothy walked with us to make sure we were safe.

While we were walking up the big hill to Kosovo, a group of 4 guys stopped us. They wanted to shake our hands. I figured it would be best to not agitate them, so we said hello as we walked and then they shook our hands. They didn’t really want to let our hands go (I kind of yanked mine away). The leader of the bunch was talking to Julie. He was kind of looking her up and down while still holding her hand (which definitely made me nervous). Timothy told them to leave us alone and go away. The leader said, mockingly, “Oh, he’s afraid we will rob you, but we won’t.” He then flipped off Timothy using a few choice words in English and they walked off. My false sense of security in the slums is now gone. It was just what the doctor ordered. Timothy definitely had the situation under control, but I was very very glad he was there. Just having a man around equals safety since we stick out like three sore thumbs. We are definitely a bunch of lost Mzungus (white people).

We got to Kosovo and took tea after tallying up the number of patients we helped yesterday. It was 165! After chai, we alphabetized some charts. I then helped do some heights and weights. I got to help out in triage taking chief complaints and temperatures (with the help of a translator). It was really fascinating. I got to see everyone who came in and then I got to hear half of their problems (Leann got the other half). There was a lot of lung congestion. Many were coughing up yellow phlegm. Lots of people had stomach problems – pain, swollen bellies, and diarrhea. One girl said she had blood in her stool. Some people had ringworms. 

All of the kids were super cute. The parents were very appreciative of the medical help we were providing. In the clinic, there was a health education section. In this area, they learned about basic health things like covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze (but not with your hand). Everyone got a sucker and the kids got stickers.

We ate lunch with FAME because it was their last day. They are so cool and so much fun. After lunch we chilled for a bit and then the kids at the Kosovo School had a program for us to watch/participate in. We prayed first. Then we worshiped God. It was such a blast. Those kids can clap! Then we danced with everyone and finally had cake. They gave a piece to every kid. The FAME team went around with forks and fed everyone. Then (after feeding everyone) they fed us each a bite of cake. I really hope I don’t get any crazy diseases because we ate off the same fork as the kid. At the end, the man running the assembly asked if anyone didn’t get cake. He said, “You know we teach you honesty and we want you to live an honest life. Is there anyone here who didn’t get a piece of cake?” Nobody raised their hand. I was so impressed by those kids.

We rolled out of Kosovo at 5:00 (a driver had to come pick us up).

Audrey the Pharmacist: 9-21

Today I had some fresh mango juice with breakfast. We rolled out in the 7:00 range at like 7:55. Leann drove us to work and the kids to school. On the way we got a sweet flat tire. Many people driving by offered to help. Wallace called someone to come and change the tire and a woman came and took the kids to school. It was a fun adventure.

We got to Pongani around 9:30 and talked to Maggie about which department each of us wanted to work in. Leann and I will be in CHE and Julie will be in Education and Social Work. Leann and I wanted to go to Kosovo to meet up with FAME while they were doing a clinic. One of the security guards at Pongani walked us to Kosovo.

I think I have a false sense of security in the slum. Everyone is very friendly and all the kids love us, always running up and grabbing our hands. However, it really wouldn’t ever be safe for us to just stroll around. As we were walking there was a man clearly drunk, holding a bottle of alcohol (probably changaa), who staggered by us. I was glad we had a man with us just in case something happened. However, I have been feeling more comfortable in the slum areas. I think I have gotten over the initial shock of the extreme poverty.

In Kosovo we were greeted by Rebecca (the pregnant social worker). She welcomed us to some Chi. Naturally, we accepted (instead of immediately getting to work in the clinic). I think I’m getting into the Kenyan time groove.

There was a huge line all the way to the outside of the Kosovo complex. Leann and I went into the clinic and talked to Timothy. He had us make a rough version of medical charts. We cut up pink pieces of paper and wrote up a template. We cut and hand-copied around 250. While working, I loved to greet people as they came in. I shook almost every kid’s hand. They totally loved it – they couldn’t help but grin.

Next, we organized all the active charts into alphabetical order (around 400). It was intense. We tallied up the number of patients FAME met with yesterday. The number was around 160. Finally our lunch break hit at 1:30. We ate with the CHE staff in the clinic while FAME at delicious guest food in a separate room. We are trying to be Kenyan and not guests. I had ugali, greens, and stew. I was able to eat it a lot easier – I think I’m becoming more Kenyan. But, I found a small black creepy bug in my ugali. Extra protein! (I didn’t eat it, but it didn’t deter me from finishing all my food.)

After lunch we helped out in the pharmacy. It was also intense. There are like 20 names the nurses and doctors could use for the same drug. Leann and I knew one of those names, maybe. It was a major crash course in pharmaceuticals. It was pretty fun none the less.

We weren’t sure how we were going to get back to Pongani to meet up with Julie again. We ended up hitching a ride with FAME back to the Kamau’s house and Julie hitched a ride with White River Christian Church. Both groups joined us for dinner. We had an amazing dinner. I think my favorite food here is the green beans and carrots. The interns finished off the night dancing with David. We rocked out to Father Abraham.