The Kenya team wishes everyone at home a very Happy 2010. Yes, we survived Christmas in Kenya, and saw the simple way it can be celebrated without any fanfare. On December 25,our Church was packed with visitors,and we were happy that the cooks had justprepared enough food, as some unexpected company(from Gershom's church)arrived to hear his sermon, and of course,eat the meal, also.
We have had a good week, trying to catch up on sponsorletters. Nancy Miller is doing a fantastic job of staying focused on that. heh? if you are a sponsor....how about a new year's resolution to write your child each and every month....what a blessing that would be to that child. We also were trying to talk with as many of the older students as we could, because, they will be leaving fairly soon, now to their various schools and attachments,that they are involved with. These fine young men and ladies are the future of Kenya, and from where I sit....it will be a great future. Thanks to all of the sponsors who support the older college kids....they really could not possibly be where they are without YOU.
God Bless you all. We miss you but know that God is looking after each and everyone of you.
Praise HIS name.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
One big birthday party and a story about fainting
David Wednesday December 23,2009
First of all happy birthday to Nancy yesterday ! She was very excited to get her cards and Candice gave her a giraffe and I gave her a rhino. But today we weren’t just celebrating Nancy’s birthday but we were celebrating the birthdays of all the kids at Mercy home with party. The night before we had popped a hundred plastic bags worth of popcorn and put 5 candies in each one. Trudy and Candice had also spent a while putting together gift bags personalized for each child. Most of the toys and gifts were stuff from Canada so thank you to all the people who donated those gifts. We left for Mercy Home around 10:30 and the first part of the party was a talent show. Most of the kids would get into groups and do a choreographed song and dance while Joseph the guy in charge of the boy’s dorm accompanied them on the keyboard. They also recited poems and did some skits. My favorite skit was one that all the big boys from college did. There was also the fastest food-eating contest, which was hilarious because after the kids competed they had the manager Gershom and two other board members of Mercy home also take part. I had never seen the kids so enthused. Another highlight was a dance competition between some of the younger boys. They certainly bring it on when they are competeting. After the talent show all the kids received jelly sandwiches and juice, which was a real treat. Once all the kids had received one of each Trudy allowed them to have seconds only if they could repeat a verse from the bible from memory.
Then it was time running races the part where this day got interesting. Apong one of the big boys organized that I race against all the other big boys I agreed very excited to try my best against the highly talked about Kenyan runners. We were to run two laps around the soccer field. After many false starts we were off. I ran with all my might and began to take a good lead on the first lap, then I realized I had just sprinted it and had very little energy for the second. Half way around the second lap I was being passed by everyone I was just about to finish last when big Samuel totally face planted and I finished the race ahead of him. I had ran so hard I felt like my lungs were bleeding and I was going to throw up. I paced around for a good ten minutes not feeling any better and every time I breathed I felt a sharp pain. I then really felt the need to throw up so I went for the boy’s washroom and immediately started to dry heave. After that I felt a little bit better but then all of a sudden I become extremely light headed and lost all vision and some hearing, I could only see white light and felt as though the ground underneath me was spinning. This had happened to me once before and I knew I was just about to faint and if I didn’t get out of the washroom and drink some water then I could fall and hurt my self in there and nobody would have known. I staggered out clinging to the walls murmuring for some water when a girl named Howa saw me and got water and help. As soon as I drank some water my vision started to return and I felt more conscious. Andrew one of the big boys and vincent helped me to a bed in the boy’s dorm to lie down. My body was just soaked in sweat so they helped me cool down by unbuttoning my shirt and opening some windows. After a few minutes of resting I felt back to normal and I ate some food and drank ALOT of water. Nancy hung out with me the entire time, which I was very grateful for and she gave me extra water from her bottle. After all that I went back outside to join the party again. They were handing out the gift bags and popcorn and the kids were smiling from ear to ear.
So the moral of this story is, don’t try and outrun Kenyan’s
Merry Christmas everyone!
David
First of all happy birthday to Nancy yesterday ! She was very excited to get her cards and Candice gave her a giraffe and I gave her a rhino. But today we weren’t just celebrating Nancy’s birthday but we were celebrating the birthdays of all the kids at Mercy home with party. The night before we had popped a hundred plastic bags worth of popcorn and put 5 candies in each one. Trudy and Candice had also spent a while putting together gift bags personalized for each child. Most of the toys and gifts were stuff from Canada so thank you to all the people who donated those gifts. We left for Mercy Home around 10:30 and the first part of the party was a talent show. Most of the kids would get into groups and do a choreographed song and dance while Joseph the guy in charge of the boy’s dorm accompanied them on the keyboard. They also recited poems and did some skits. My favorite skit was one that all the big boys from college did. There was also the fastest food-eating contest, which was hilarious because after the kids competed they had the manager Gershom and two other board members of Mercy home also take part. I had never seen the kids so enthused. Another highlight was a dance competition between some of the younger boys. They certainly bring it on when they are competeting. After the talent show all the kids received jelly sandwiches and juice, which was a real treat. Once all the kids had received one of each Trudy allowed them to have seconds only if they could repeat a verse from the bible from memory.
Then it was time running races the part where this day got interesting. Apong one of the big boys organized that I race against all the other big boys I agreed very excited to try my best against the highly talked about Kenyan runners. We were to run two laps around the soccer field. After many false starts we were off. I ran with all my might and began to take a good lead on the first lap, then I realized I had just sprinted it and had very little energy for the second. Half way around the second lap I was being passed by everyone I was just about to finish last when big Samuel totally face planted and I finished the race ahead of him. I had ran so hard I felt like my lungs were bleeding and I was going to throw up. I paced around for a good ten minutes not feeling any better and every time I breathed I felt a sharp pain. I then really felt the need to throw up so I went for the boy’s washroom and immediately started to dry heave. After that I felt a little bit better but then all of a sudden I become extremely light headed and lost all vision and some hearing, I could only see white light and felt as though the ground underneath me was spinning. This had happened to me once before and I knew I was just about to faint and if I didn’t get out of the washroom and drink some water then I could fall and hurt my self in there and nobody would have known. I staggered out clinging to the walls murmuring for some water when a girl named Howa saw me and got water and help. As soon as I drank some water my vision started to return and I felt more conscious. Andrew one of the big boys and vincent helped me to a bed in the boy’s dorm to lie down. My body was just soaked in sweat so they helped me cool down by unbuttoning my shirt and opening some windows. After a few minutes of resting I felt back to normal and I ate some food and drank ALOT of water. Nancy hung out with me the entire time, which I was very grateful for and she gave me extra water from her bottle. After all that I went back outside to join the party again. They were handing out the gift bags and popcorn and the kids were smiling from ear to ear.
So the moral of this story is, don’t try and outrun Kenyan’s
Merry Christmas everyone!
David
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Merry Christmas from Kenya.
We have had a busy time during December. We first had a wedding of two of our staff. It went very well except the bride and groom were 4 hours late for their own wedding! It took one hour for the men to come a short distance...they walk slow....then it was the ladies, and many flower girls' turn....they were slow dancers, too. Just as the bride came out of the car, it started to rain(good luck,here) so they had an umbrella over her, as she walked to the tent. Everything was outside. Two tents were put up. All of the girls were allowed to wear their Christmas dresses(where else is someone going to wear it..otherwise,except at church). Some of the boys wore their new African made shirts, but the trousers were not ready yet. Of course, the highlight of any wedding is the food. The food was chapatis, rice, potates, soup, pork, kuku, and sodas. The cooks at Mercy Home did a very good job staying up late to make sure it was all done. Amazing!
Some of the children got to come to Kitale for the library. Most of the Secondary students got to read and study, and actually got a library card.
The next week the children were given a home visit. Some went to relatives and some stayed with friends of Mercy Home. It was like a ghost town out at the farm. We had the joy of having our sponsored girl, Alphine stay with us. She had a great time with David and Candice, and enjoyed new foods and experiences. One day we went to Eldoret(an hours drive) to renew our visas for another 3 months. They enjoyed that outing too.
This past week we have been busy doing sponsor letters, and we had a youth conference on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We had a guest speaker from a local church. I had the joy of talking to the young girls ( 8- 13 years) in three separate workshops on what puberty is. We had some interesting discussions. The bigger girls were also present.
This week we are preparing for Christmas at the Centre. The birthday party will be tomorrow, so yesterday we had to organize our suitcases full of toys, to make sure each child has something small, to celebrate Christ's birth. It was an exhausting, but rewarding day!
Tomorrow we are having the Christmas/Birthday party, with popcorn, bread and jam, drinks and a small gift. On December 25, we will have special meal, with meat, rice, chapatis, potatoes, and bananas for dessert. We look forward to seeing all the kids, and their new dresses, shirts and trousers. All the college boys are home now. What awesome young men they all are!
Christmas is all about Jesus. What a wonderful Saviour we have.
Being here for Christmas is a gift from God. Away from the hustle and bustle of the Canadian Christmas you can really see better the meaning of the holiday. Of course, we miss our family and friends...but God is good....and we feel His presence with us each day.
Merry Christmas from the Kenya team.
Some of the children got to come to Kitale for the library. Most of the Secondary students got to read and study, and actually got a library card.
The next week the children were given a home visit. Some went to relatives and some stayed with friends of Mercy Home. It was like a ghost town out at the farm. We had the joy of having our sponsored girl, Alphine stay with us. She had a great time with David and Candice, and enjoyed new foods and experiences. One day we went to Eldoret(an hours drive) to renew our visas for another 3 months. They enjoyed that outing too.
This past week we have been busy doing sponsor letters, and we had a youth conference on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We had a guest speaker from a local church. I had the joy of talking to the young girls ( 8- 13 years) in three separate workshops on what puberty is. We had some interesting discussions. The bigger girls were also present.
This week we are preparing for Christmas at the Centre. The birthday party will be tomorrow, so yesterday we had to organize our suitcases full of toys, to make sure each child has something small, to celebrate Christ's birth. It was an exhausting, but rewarding day!
Tomorrow we are having the Christmas/Birthday party, with popcorn, bread and jam, drinks and a small gift. On December 25, we will have special meal, with meat, rice, chapatis, potatoes, and bananas for dessert. We look forward to seeing all the kids, and their new dresses, shirts and trousers. All the college boys are home now. What awesome young men they all are!
Christmas is all about Jesus. What a wonderful Saviour we have.
Being here for Christmas is a gift from God. Away from the hustle and bustle of the Canadian Christmas you can really see better the meaning of the holiday. Of course, we miss our family and friends...but God is good....and we feel His presence with us each day.
Merry Christmas from the Kenya team.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Uganda part 3
David Friday November 27,2009
Today was to be our last day in Kampala, Uganda and we had to wake up at the ripe time of 5:00 in the morning. Our Bus would leave at 6:30 so we got ourselves packed and ate breakfast then we got driven to the bus station. This time I made sure I was not sitting at the back of the bus because last time I felt every speed bump and pothole to the tenth degree. I sat alone for the first 30 minutes or so until a young Muslim lady around my age came on board and sat next to me. She sat down said hello, I said hello back, and then she put one of those Muslim veils over her face and put on some black cloves. I’ve always been a little spooked by these veils and I wasn’t sure if it meant that she didn’t want to be talked too as well as be looked at. I turned up my Michael Jackson on my IPod and looked out the window as if I was looking at something very interesting.
Around ten minutes latter or so, the girl tapped me on the shoulder and offered me some home made snacks out of a big plastic bag I accepted and then she removed her veil and cloves. She introduced her self has Sophia and from there we got talking about how she had all this food because it was a Muslim Holiday and she was travelling back to Nairobi Kenya to see her family because school was out. Only hearing about Muslims in the media I figured now was my best chance to really get first hand information on what their beliefs are and about their religious practices. She cleared up allot of misconceptions for me like that having the long back robes and veils (she said they were called Ninja’s) that the girls wear doesn’t mean they want to be completely ignored but that its manly for safety and modesty reasons. She also said she and her friends wear “ninjas” because their fun. It didn’t take long before she found out I was a Christian, so I asked her what the main difference is between our religions. She told me that in Islam Jesus was just a prophet and that he never died on a cross for our sins. The person was died on the cross was just someone that was mistaken for Jesus. So basically their way of getting into Heaven is by doing good deeds and keeping their religious practices like praying 5 times a day. So we just continued talking, she asking me questions and me asking her questions in a none threatening way, it was actually quite a pleasure.
We eventually moved away from the topic of religion and just talked about normal things like music and movies and the differences between the Kenyan life and the Canadian life. It really helped time pass and in no time we were in elderit getting a Kangaroo back to Kitale to make it in time for the monthly missionary bbq that night. We made it in time and we enjoyed eating western food again!
Today was to be our last day in Kampala, Uganda and we had to wake up at the ripe time of 5:00 in the morning. Our Bus would leave at 6:30 so we got ourselves packed and ate breakfast then we got driven to the bus station. This time I made sure I was not sitting at the back of the bus because last time I felt every speed bump and pothole to the tenth degree. I sat alone for the first 30 minutes or so until a young Muslim lady around my age came on board and sat next to me. She sat down said hello, I said hello back, and then she put one of those Muslim veils over her face and put on some black cloves. I’ve always been a little spooked by these veils and I wasn’t sure if it meant that she didn’t want to be talked too as well as be looked at. I turned up my Michael Jackson on my IPod and looked out the window as if I was looking at something very interesting.
Around ten minutes latter or so, the girl tapped me on the shoulder and offered me some home made snacks out of a big plastic bag I accepted and then she removed her veil and cloves. She introduced her self has Sophia and from there we got talking about how she had all this food because it was a Muslim Holiday and she was travelling back to Nairobi Kenya to see her family because school was out. Only hearing about Muslims in the media I figured now was my best chance to really get first hand information on what their beliefs are and about their religious practices. She cleared up allot of misconceptions for me like that having the long back robes and veils (she said they were called Ninja’s) that the girls wear doesn’t mean they want to be completely ignored but that its manly for safety and modesty reasons. She also said she and her friends wear “ninjas” because their fun. It didn’t take long before she found out I was a Christian, so I asked her what the main difference is between our religions. She told me that in Islam Jesus was just a prophet and that he never died on a cross for our sins. The person was died on the cross was just someone that was mistaken for Jesus. So basically their way of getting into Heaven is by doing good deeds and keeping their religious practices like praying 5 times a day. So we just continued talking, she asking me questions and me asking her questions in a none threatening way, it was actually quite a pleasure.
We eventually moved away from the topic of religion and just talked about normal things like music and movies and the differences between the Kenyan life and the Canadian life. It really helped time pass and in no time we were in elderit getting a Kangaroo back to Kitale to make it in time for the monthly missionary bbq that night. We made it in time and we enjoyed eating western food again!
Uganda part 2
David Thursday November 26,2009
Today was our last full day in Kampala and we started it off by having a nice breakfast and then making our own way into town. First we walked to the nearest road to try and get a matatu, but we had no luck so we continued to walk until finally one stopped for us. We wanted to go to the garden city mall, the one we went to yesterday so we asked the conductor if he was headed that way. He nodded vigorously and said “yeah, yeah, yeah” and hustled us into the van. We soon found out the had no intentions of going anywhere near the mall and that the conductor just wanted us to get in so that they could make money off of us. The conductor actually tried to cheat us and tell us the fare would be 1000 shillings to where it would let us off, but thankfully Dane had a guardian angel next to him, an older Ugandan lady and she told Dane that we were only to pay 600 shillings. She then got worked up about it and scolded the Conductor. The conductor by then feeling embarrassed allowed us pay the right amount. Even after we had gotten off the Matatu (which was not really anywhere near the mall), the lady very kindly showed us where to go and she tried to find a matatu that was headed that way but she couldn’t so she arranged a taxi for us.
So we got in the taxi but only went a few meters before we were stuck in a traffic jam. We waited and waited but we hardly moved an inch. So we decided to just get out of the taxi and start footing it and try and make it to the mall using Dane’s map. So we walked and walked and while Dane refused to ask directions, Nancy would ask every block or so, for directions from the locals. It was a real classic case of how men like to read maps and ladies like to ask directions.
Along the way to the mall we came across a really good market, where we spent a while buying more souvenirs. We finally made it to the mall, and we went straight to finding somewhere to eat. As we were looking Candice let out a gasp and squeal of delight she had spotted a pizza restaurant. Now this was truly a moment where you think it might be a mirage. A legit pizza place is really hard to come by in kitale. In a way it was kida a mirage because we thought it said Pizza Hut but infact it said pizza hot but it was delicious anyway and we were thrilled to bits.
After eating Candice and I really felt like watching a movie at the cinema, so while Nancy and Trudy got hair cuts and Dane went back to the market, we went to see what this cinema business was all about. You see we had gotten used to things not being quite as what they seem to be or what were used to, so we were a little skeptical about what kind of cinema this would be. As it turned out it was one of the nicest Cinemas I had been too. And guess what we saw? The new Michael Jackson movie “This is it” Believe me it was the last thing I thought I would be doing while in Africa, but I really wanted to see it. It was sorta a live concert/documentary of Michael Jackson preparing for his last 50 concerts he was going to do at the O2 arena in London. It was spectacular footage even though it was only dress rehearsals and no audience and we enjoyed it through and through. Walking out of the theater I had to remind my self I was in Uganda and not somewhere like Vancouver. We then met up with the others and took a taxi back to the hotel.
Today was our last full day in Kampala and we started it off by having a nice breakfast and then making our own way into town. First we walked to the nearest road to try and get a matatu, but we had no luck so we continued to walk until finally one stopped for us. We wanted to go to the garden city mall, the one we went to yesterday so we asked the conductor if he was headed that way. He nodded vigorously and said “yeah, yeah, yeah” and hustled us into the van. We soon found out the had no intentions of going anywhere near the mall and that the conductor just wanted us to get in so that they could make money off of us. The conductor actually tried to cheat us and tell us the fare would be 1000 shillings to where it would let us off, but thankfully Dane had a guardian angel next to him, an older Ugandan lady and she told Dane that we were only to pay 600 shillings. She then got worked up about it and scolded the Conductor. The conductor by then feeling embarrassed allowed us pay the right amount. Even after we had gotten off the Matatu (which was not really anywhere near the mall), the lady very kindly showed us where to go and she tried to find a matatu that was headed that way but she couldn’t so she arranged a taxi for us.
So we got in the taxi but only went a few meters before we were stuck in a traffic jam. We waited and waited but we hardly moved an inch. So we decided to just get out of the taxi and start footing it and try and make it to the mall using Dane’s map. So we walked and walked and while Dane refused to ask directions, Nancy would ask every block or so, for directions from the locals. It was a real classic case of how men like to read maps and ladies like to ask directions.
Along the way to the mall we came across a really good market, where we spent a while buying more souvenirs. We finally made it to the mall, and we went straight to finding somewhere to eat. As we were looking Candice let out a gasp and squeal of delight she had spotted a pizza restaurant. Now this was truly a moment where you think it might be a mirage. A legit pizza place is really hard to come by in kitale. In a way it was kida a mirage because we thought it said Pizza Hut but infact it said pizza hot but it was delicious anyway and we were thrilled to bits.
After eating Candice and I really felt like watching a movie at the cinema, so while Nancy and Trudy got hair cuts and Dane went back to the market, we went to see what this cinema business was all about. You see we had gotten used to things not being quite as what they seem to be or what were used to, so we were a little skeptical about what kind of cinema this would be. As it turned out it was one of the nicest Cinemas I had been too. And guess what we saw? The new Michael Jackson movie “This is it” Believe me it was the last thing I thought I would be doing while in Africa, but I really wanted to see it. It was sorta a live concert/documentary of Michael Jackson preparing for his last 50 concerts he was going to do at the O2 arena in London. It was spectacular footage even though it was only dress rehearsals and no audience and we enjoyed it through and through. Walking out of the theater I had to remind my self I was in Uganda and not somewhere like Vancouver. We then met up with the others and took a taxi back to the hotel.
Uganda part 1
For those of you who dont know our team went on a short Vacation to Uganda to see the city of Kampala. For some reason my journal entry from the 24th wont open on this computer, so I have started from the 25th. The 24th was just spent on a eight hour bus ride. The highlight was seeing the mouth of the Nile river from Lake Victoria
David Wednesday November 25,2009
We left Kitale on Tuesday on the 24 at 10 in the morning, and we arrived in Kampala around 9:30. After a comfortable sleep in our guesthouse we all met downstairs to have breakfast together at 8:30. After breakfast we discussed that we would all like to spend the day looking and shopping around the city and just use public transportation. We got ready and met outside, but we met a man who was on staff with Adoni guesthouse and who could drive you and be your tour guide around Kampala. So we decided that since we didn’t know anything about Kampala and where things were, we hired him. He first drove us up to a large hill where a large Muslim mosque stood and you could see all of Kampala from the top. We were allowed to go inside the mosque and take a boo, so we took off our shoes and the mosque man allowed us to go way up to the top to one of the four towers. After walking up a very spiral 79 stairs we got to see an even better view of Kampala. Kampala has 2 other hills, which are for the Roman Catholics and the Anglicans. It also had alot of tall modern looking buildings, which was a site for sore eyes.
Our next stop was lunch. I was very happy to see a western style menu that didn’t just serve just Ugali and chicken and chips like Kitale. We stopped by an impressive new mall that got us pretty excited because it was something like you would see at home. We only spent a short while because we decided we would check it out in more detail the next day. Next, our driver took us to a very cool touristy kinda market, where I bought a mid sized Jimba drum, two African shirts, and some other gifts for home. Nothing had fixed prices on it, so it was fun to bargain. We then went to another market but this one was mostly second hand clothes, but I did end up buying some nice dress pants. We wanted to see lake Victoria, so we made a stop by before dinner, and I Candice and I put our feet in the water, just to say we had put our feet in Lake Victoria and we got pictures to prove it. Our driver dropped us off at probably one of the most expensive and nicest restaurants in town. It felt like I was at a tropical resort because the roof was a grass roof and it was made off bamboo, and there were lots of fountains and palm trees and it had a nice view of Kampala. I ordered the tenderness steak I had ever tasted that only cost me 24 thousand Ugandan shillings which is around 14 dollars, where in Canada it would have cost be between 25 and 30. It was sure nice to spoil ourselves though and have a break from the small town of Kitale and experience new and also familiar things.
David Wednesday November 25,2009
We left Kitale on Tuesday on the 24 at 10 in the morning, and we arrived in Kampala around 9:30. After a comfortable sleep in our guesthouse we all met downstairs to have breakfast together at 8:30. After breakfast we discussed that we would all like to spend the day looking and shopping around the city and just use public transportation. We got ready and met outside, but we met a man who was on staff with Adoni guesthouse and who could drive you and be your tour guide around Kampala. So we decided that since we didn’t know anything about Kampala and where things were, we hired him. He first drove us up to a large hill where a large Muslim mosque stood and you could see all of Kampala from the top. We were allowed to go inside the mosque and take a boo, so we took off our shoes and the mosque man allowed us to go way up to the top to one of the four towers. After walking up a very spiral 79 stairs we got to see an even better view of Kampala. Kampala has 2 other hills, which are for the Roman Catholics and the Anglicans. It also had alot of tall modern looking buildings, which was a site for sore eyes.
Our next stop was lunch. I was very happy to see a western style menu that didn’t just serve just Ugali and chicken and chips like Kitale. We stopped by an impressive new mall that got us pretty excited because it was something like you would see at home. We only spent a short while because we decided we would check it out in more detail the next day. Next, our driver took us to a very cool touristy kinda market, where I bought a mid sized Jimba drum, two African shirts, and some other gifts for home. Nothing had fixed prices on it, so it was fun to bargain. We then went to another market but this one was mostly second hand clothes, but I did end up buying some nice dress pants. We wanted to see lake Victoria, so we made a stop by before dinner, and I Candice and I put our feet in the water, just to say we had put our feet in Lake Victoria and we got pictures to prove it. Our driver dropped us off at probably one of the most expensive and nicest restaurants in town. It felt like I was at a tropical resort because the roof was a grass roof and it was made off bamboo, and there were lots of fountains and palm trees and it had a nice view of Kampala. I ordered the tenderness steak I had ever tasted that only cost me 24 thousand Ugandan shillings which is around 14 dollars, where in Canada it would have cost be between 25 and 30. It was sure nice to spoil ourselves though and have a break from the small town of Kitale and experience new and also familiar things.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
pics from Uganda
Here is us eating out on Wednesday 
for supper after our tour.
The one with the Dino's is in front of the mall. And there is one of me with my feet in lake Victoria and me up in the very top of the mosque tower we visited
for supper after our tour. The one with the Dino's is in front of the mall. And there is one of me with my feet in lake Victoria and me up in the very top of the mosque tower we visited
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