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.