Benny

Stuff.

2011-02-21T15:19:00.001-08:00

Once again it's been a while. I figured I would post a few pics of some stuff I've made recently and a while ago. I'd like to think they look better in person.

Homes on a Hill

2010-08-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

The video Philip (my brother) and I made in Kenya has finally been posted on vimeo. Here is the link
http://vimeo.com/14229767

Back in my American Ways..?

2010-08-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

I have been home from Kenya for over 6 months now. I asked myself before I left in November how I would be different. Many people who experience something so different from what they are used to like I did changes them greatly. I have asked myself if I am any different, either for the good or bad. I asked some people close to me after a few months of being home if they noticed any change. According to them... not really. Let me just say that I went to Kenya twice before, but just for two weeks. That is much different than living there for 3 months. However, I do not feel like I have changed much. Have my habits changed? Don't think so. Do I think about Kenya more? Yes. In particular all the people I grew close to. I miss them very much. My outlook on things have not changed much. I do not know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I like to think that it is somewhat good because hopefully I have always had the correct outlook on things. It could be bad because maybe I did not grow at all from my experiences. Have my actions changed? I don't think so. This is what I am not particularly happy about. When I was there I had a lot of time to think about what I could do when I got home. I need to read through some of the stuff I wrote to remind myself of the how I wanted to change certain things in my life, take some action to help my friends in Kenya, be innovative and change how people view the world. I think I have failed at some of these things. I have not done anything to help my Kenyan friends. No new action has been taken. I almost feel like if you were an outsider watching this you might think that I just up and left them, forgetting about everything that we experienced together.
So what am I going to do about it? I am going to read through my thoughts and act upon some of them. I know I had some lofty goals (maybe not so lofty) and do something. I do not know what.

Homeward Bound, Son!

2010-01-30T21:33:00.001-08:00

1-27
Good day. Went to town with Kamotho. Got another crutch. Two crutches make moving much easier; imagine that. Went to the market where I made my purchases that I’ve been promising for the last 12 weeks. I tried getting all the people I talked to some business from me. I think I did a decent job. I said my goodbyes to those guys. Once again email and facebook will come through for me so I can keep in contact. I bought some stuff from the curio shop. The guys at the market and curio are great. Everybody asking how I am, what happened, and wishing me well. Went to Guava with Kamotho. Got chicken tandoori wrap and a milkshake. Hopped on the internet. Kamotho also took care of some internet business while we were there. Went back to the town office and ran into some street kids. I bought them some French fries and talked to them. A bunch more came over as I was talking to just the two. Among them was a former Rohi kid named Job. We had a good talk. Later on Job told Joseph, another former Rohi kids to come talk to me. Both of these kids ran away and are now staying on the street. It’s cool that they still remember me. Job remembers me showing them how to do a back flip in 2008. He says he ran away the day we left on that trip. Joseph remembers me with my video camera. They asked for some food. I, and Kamotho, struck a deal with them. I gave them 50 shillings as an up front pay for some work they were going to do. I told them the other 50 would come if they kept up their end of the bargain. I asked what they were good at. Joseph said singing. Job said math. So I told them that they had to show up at street church for the next two weeks and do their work, Joseph said he’ll sing. Job said he would get there early and pray. These kids have to learn to work for their money, even if it is small responsibility. It’s pretty cool knowing that one back flip caused Job to remember me. The other kids at Rohi remember also. Simple things like that make an impression on kids. I’m gonna miss being here.

1-28
Kamotho called me this morning while I was still in bed. He said they were having an appreciation thing for me. So I got over there. We did the usual morning prayer. Then Eston, the school nurse, gave a presentation on HIV. He read a letter at the end that was given to him by one of the primary school students. That was sobering. She said in the letter that when she went home for break (not sure if it was this last break) she was basically abused by her brother and cousin. Abused, as in sexually. It caused her some medical issues. My heart is not good writing this. There are so many thoughts that go through my head. There are other similar cases. I will leave it at that. We then switched gears and everybody said something about me. I have to admit that it felt good. There were times being here where I felt useless. But everybody is so appreciative of me. Ah man, I’m gonna miss these people. They are so loving and caring. I don’t know how I am going to show my appreciation for them. I felt like crying when Troy was saying something. What they all said tells me that what I do in life is not in vain. It is very good to get that reassurance once in a while. I think this one will last a while. I pray that I will carry out good stuff and stay motivated when I get back home to do some of the things I wanted to do. I don’t want it to wear off.
I have said many times before and kinda use this as a motto to remind me of my actions, “What we do in this life echoes into eternity.” I thought that I kinda came up with that or took some stuff from other things I heard and put it together. But I was at Troy’s house when I was laid up and watched “Gladiator” on my laptop. Russel Crowe says it. That made me kinda sad. But at least I got it from a good movie.
Eston gave a talk to the kids about STDs. It was complete with pictures. Gross.
Another good day. Just sat with kids at different times and talked to them about my ankle showing them the stitches. Sat with some of the younger ones. They sang to me. I sang to them. They taught me kikuyu. You have to experience it to know the joy you feel to have a bunch of kids crowded around you just being kids, asking questions, showing off, comparing hands, just staring at you exploring your features. It’s an amazing feeling. I don’t look forward to saying goodbye to them. I was talking to them about my home. I said that my dad wasn’t there, but was in heaven. One of the girls said her mom and dad were in heaven. And then another girl said it. I asked all of them and gave them all high fives because we were all the same, brothers and sisters. We are part of a very special, intimate club that no one wants to be a part of.

1-29
Last day at Rohi. Working on saying my goodbyes. Trying to help out with stuff in the office. Wondering if my bags are going to weigh too much. A log of olive wood I got is gonna put some weight on. I’m gonna try carving it. Not sure what it is gonna be yet.

1-31
Chillin in the Amsterdam airport. I have about 5 hours left till my flight. I spilled apple juice on my pants in the first hour. Then in the last hour I spilled orange juice on my pants. What is wrong with me? Saying goodbye is not always easy. Well, saying goodbye isn’t too difficult, but trying to communicate with them what they mean to you is hard. I actually wasn’t able to say bye to a lot of people for a number of reasons. It makes things a bit easier I guess. Tears got in my eyes a couple times. It is ok for men to cry! Unless it’s physical pain, then suck it up! So there’s other stuff along the way but nothing amazingly exciting, so I will spare you. Anyways, I will be home in about 17 hours. Woot baby! Hopefully my seat will be better than before. I’m not complaining too much, but my foot is a more swollen than before.

Booya!

2010-01-27T02:22:00.000-08:00

1-15
I think I could chalk yesterday up as a useless day. I did a few things but compared to the 24 hours in a day, I was affective for about an hour. I don’t like that. It makes me feel crummy. Fortunately I went for a 1 hr 10 min run last night, which made me feel better. I kinda didn’t know where I was for about 20 minutes of it. Had some good conversation with Kamotho a couple days ago about street ministry and Rohi. We were talking about the goods and bads about Rohi, what we think would make it better and whatnot.
There was a solar eclipse this morning. They say the next one won’t be seen from here in this lifetime. All the students and staff were looking at it. Don’t they advise you to not look at solar eclipses?
I have 15 days left in Kenya. I am looking forward to going home. I feel like my time is over here. Like yesterday, I was nearly useless. There are times when I would be ok if I leave in the next couple days. Other days things are good and the thought of going home never enters my mind. Am I bipolar?
There are complications on where street church is going to be. ACK, the place where it was before, was charging a bunch of money, and then they said that they didn’t want us there anymore because the street guys were causing problems. Then last week we went to the old town hall, and it seemed good. But apparently the municipal council doesn’t want us there. The guy was making up excuses for us not to be there. Kamotho and Juma are frustrated about it. We are trying to help people and these people are trying to stop us. What is that? Street church will continue despite the challenges.
In town the other day I was talking to the usual market guys. A new guy came by and started talking about one thing, then switched to a new one, and continued doing this. I would begin to answer just before he changes the subject. It was kinda amusing. The other guys were just laughing. He saw my track shirt and said he could beat me in a 100m race. He then bet me that if I win I would get a masai blanket. He said he wanted 1000 shillings ($13) if he won. I was thinking about it. I had my slipper shoes on and wasn’t in much of a mood to race. He said he was fast, and the other guys said he was fast. I had my doubts cuz he was puffing on a cigarette, didn’t look amazingly healthy or fast. But looks can be deceiving. I was weighing the pros and cons. The other guys wanted some entertainment and I figured it would make for a good story to tell. So I said, “OK, let’s do it.” I said let’s go and started walking to where we were going to do it. The guy then started walking away. The race didn’t happen. I guess it is still a good story, but not quite as good as if it happened. So here is what would have happened. I walked over to where it was going to go down. The group of five growing to 10, then 40. Finally the crowd was close to 100 by the time we reached the road/lot. Meanwhile everybody was making bets. I would guess about $1000 was put on the betting table, because Kenyans are so rich. They began to line up down the 100 meter stretch. And remarkably it was 100m to the inch. I jogged a bit and did some high knees to prep my body as much as possible. Don’t want to tear anything. It’s important to warm up, but they were hurrying me, so I wasn’t able to get myself properly ready. Meanwhile, my competitor was putting on his spikes that he pulled out of nowhere. Not only were they spikes, but they are signed by Usain Bolt! I only had my Sanuks (like slippers). “Oh my,” I thought. I walked up and toed the line, not going into the full starting position, at the “On your marks” command. This guy had some blocks and backed into them like a seasoned pro. I could not worry about him though. I took a deep breath when the started said, “Set.” I relaxed my muscles to the point where they were ready to explode forward. “Go!” My arms shot forward, driving and hammering alongside my body. My knees began to lift. The blood and adrenaline was surging through every inch of my body. Cheers were going up through the crowd, but I heard none of it. It was like I was running through a tunnel. I could only see the light at the end of it only. Knees continued to lift, and I thought about nothing but floating with extreme speed forward. My competitor was huffing with each step on my side. We flew down the road, faces blurring by. Within seconds we were on top of the finish line. It was no contest. I had beaten him by a good two meters. Unfortunately, I had rubbed a hole in my Sanuks from the speed. I ended up not taking his Masai blanket, and I bought him a cup of tea.
Evans, the boy I sponsor, came by today. Because he is going into Form 1 (9th grade) he does not start school until Feb 8. I was afraid I was not going to be able to see him until next time I come. I’m glad I was able to see him before I left.

1-16
Went over to the high school to see what they were up to. I placed soccer with them and in the first five minutes I went up to head a ball that was up a bit high. I came down awkwardly on my right ankle and heard several pops and felt a shock go up my leg, kinda like when you hit your funny bone. I thought, “Oh no.” I sat and assessed the damage. Pain, usually not an issue for me, and it wasn’t hurting much- good. I checked to see if there were any odd protrusions or abnormal curves, none- good. Then I tried moving it a bit. There was some popping occurring- not good. I wondered if it was dislocated. Rolled it around a bit to assess some more. Some of the boys came over to check on me and help. I got up and tried walking. I was able to put weight on it- good. Then it started swelling- not so good. I sat there for a while and had John Mwangi tug on it a bit. There was a pop- I think it was good, maybe it set it closer to where it was before. They sprayed some icy-hot stuff on it. That stuff doesn’t really do anything. Then I wrapped it with a bandage they had. Thanks guys. Then I watched the rest of the game chatting with those on the side. I walked from the high school to home, maybe 200 meters. Now I’m sitting here after putting a wet towel and water bottle in the freezer for ice. Thank God that Mama has a freezer. Took an aspirin. Got it elevated. It doesn’t hurt much, but it is swollen. It hurts to move it laterally (side-to-side). You like that word laterally. That is what my kinesiology major taught me. And R.I.C.E.- rest, ice, compression, elevation. I am running a half marathon a week after I get back (3 weeks). If I can’t run within the next couple days I am going to be bummed.
-5 hrs later: yeah, it’s pretty swollen. Diagnosis from Dr. Ben- mild sprain. Treatment: Cut it off. Or see chiropractor to put it back where it belongs.

1-17
My ankle was hurting when I woke up this morning. It sort of woke me up. More swollen than last night. I tried to walk on it like yesterday. Wasn’t happening.

1-18
Papa and everybody insisted that I go to the hospital. I said ok and went. I got x-rays. Sure enough, it was broken. The distal part of the fibula, that’s the bump on the outside of the ankle. So I had two options, get a plaster cast that will take 6-8 weeks to heal or surgery with potential to walk in a week or two. After weighing the options with Troy and Eston, so happy they were here, I decided to go with surgery. The surgeon has done this surgery many times and is considered the best guy around. He trained in S. Africa and is confident. He gave me the options, told me he leans toward surgery cuz it has shown the greatest benefits, but said casting will be ok as well. This showed me that he wasn’t so eager to get money through the surgery. Anesthesia was the other question. I am going to get the epideral, which seems to be the better option considering. I am not at Troy’s house. His wife just had their baby. Becca’s mom is here for a bit, so she is also taking care of me. Cool people. I am going to sleep now with my foot elevated to get the swelling down. I will wake up and head to the hospital ready to get cut by 9 am. Wow wow. I am not nervous. Thank you God for who you are.

1-20
Got my surgery yesterday. It went well. I got the epideral, so my legs were numb for many hours after. Not a good feeling. I didn’t sleep too well last night. Combination of some pain and other stuff. The doctor ended up putting in nine screws and a plate! I looked at the x-ray and was surprised. Troy has been awesome in this whole thing, as well as his family. Also the rest of the Rohi people. They are all really supportive. Mama and Papa came and visited, Kamotho, Anthony, Henry and others.

1-22
Just went to the doctor. He said it is looking good. I’ve been having a headache every time I sit up. I’m told it is because of the epideral; it messes with the fluid and causes an imbalance of fluid in your skull. Hopefully it will be gone soon. My ankle feels great. Troy was with me at the doctor and was admiring the stitching of the wound and getting some instruction on how to do it. He has to stitch up animals every once in a while. I watched “Jungle Book” a couple times yesterday with the girls, and part of it today. I’m going home in 8 days. Wow wow.
One thing I don’t like, when you are in somebody else’s house and the toilet doesn’t work properly.

1-24
Today is the first day since the surgery that I haven’t had a headache. Yippee! I’ve just been keeping my foot elevated the last bunch of days. Haven’t even been outside in a couple.
Just saw pictures from my ankle surgery and a bit of video. Totally excited to post them on facebook.

1-25
I came back to Rohi today. Everybody here is so awesome. Everybody is asking how I’m doing, praying for me, and helping any way they can. I wish I had another crutch. Hopping around with one is not easy. I found a stick to help me temporarily.
I finished all 100 sudoku puzzles on my phone a few days ago. So proud of myself.
Things that I have always been thankful for, but I am reminded of while here in Kenya for 12 weeks: reliable toilets, driving, having my own car, paved roads, my friends, my family, my right ankle, having two crutches, health insurance, loving people who care for me, American television, fast internet access, facebook, email, people who follow rules of the road and are courteous to others, my pantry of food at home, refrigerators, freezers, microwaves and ovens, the sound of kids laughing and playing, God’s mercy and grace, my bicycle, walking outside without sunblock. rain, forks, trustworthy people, America, unlimited text messaging, quality showers, drinking out of the tap, the abilities of others (especially when I can’t do what they do),
There are going to be a lot of stuff I’m going to miss. All the people I’ve had the chance to get to know is number one on my list. Some of them I may never see again in this lifetime. I do plan on coming back, but some of them will be gone. I will periodically see how they are with email and for some facebook. I love technology.

1-26
My sister’s birthday! Happy birthday Ellie! Kinda bummed that I’m missing it. I’ll be home in a few days and will celebrate it then. I’ve just been sitting in the Kamotho’s office. Type a thing or two and then sit for the next while just chatting and whatever else. Real exciting stuff. I hope to go to town tomorrow. I think I might buy a cane so I could move around on the plane. Hopefully I will be able to put some weight on my ankle by that time. I’m gonna leave the crutch at Rohi for them to use.
What makes a person amazing and admired? Books and movies are created with these people at the forefront, usually. We look up to people who do remarkable things and live a remarkable life. I think of Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Jesse Owens, Rosa Parks, Walt Disney. These people have left a huge positive mark on society. Do these people have special abilities? Yeah, to a certain point. Jesse Owens was extremely fast, but he had to work super hard to get that way. Mother Theresa was nothing impressive that would make you look twice. Rosa Parks was the same way. These people at some point in their life, and every morning after that, decided that they were going to do something that was risky and against the norm. Walt Disney wanted to be creative and use his talents to entertain and make people happy. Nelson Mandela saw inequality and made the steps to correct it. Rosa Parks simply decided to stay where she was seated. We stand up and applaud these people and say, “I wish I was like them.” Well, why don’t we try to become remarkable people? It’s scary and risky, that’s why. We don’t know what could result because of it. “I could get hurt. People will look at me weird. I will offend somebody. I’m not good enough.” You know what? All those things are probably true. But what is life if it is not lived? You cannot truly live if you simply play it safe. As a person who believes that Jesus Christ died for my sins to give me eternal life and while I’m still on earth a life worth living, I can make a good guess that it is okay and good to not play it safe. I was recently reminded of a quote by CS Lewis, talking about Aslan. Aslan was described as “He is not safe, but he is good.” Wow! That is something I want to be a part of. I want to be like that. If something is good, won’t it be worth whatever it is at the end. Injury, risk, pain, and suffering may occur along the way. But if the result is good won’t it be worth it? I think it is. I think people have something to offer to at least one other person that will mark their life in an amazingly positive way. We may not defy Hitler with our extraordinary physical abilities or travel to the other side of the world to comfort the dying or create an industry that will leave children laughing and having fun for generations. But we can become extraordinary, admired people to those God has placed in our life.

Yowzers!

2010-01-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

Broke my ankle. Getting surgery in 13 hours here in Kenya. Update you soon. Peace!

...

2010-01-13T04:02:00.000-08:00

1-5-10
The rest of today was good. Philip bought some stuff from some of the market guys who we got to know and said goodbye to them. Then we stopped off at “kinyozi,” a barbershop. The place was just about the size of the bedroom I’m staying in now. I got my hair cut by a Kenyan who has never cut a white man’s hair before. I said not too short. Then he took the clippers and proceeded to shave. I thought, “Oh boy.” After cutting it, he then washed my hair, gave me a little head massage, “lined me up” a bit (I learned about this from some of the black guys I have coached- it is when they line up the hairline) and put some other stuff in it. He did much more than I had anticipated. At the end of it all I paid 150 shillings and gave him a 50 shilling tip. That is less than $3. Not too bad. I went home and looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that he left a large chunk of hair uncut on top of my head. Haha.

1-6
Philip left today. Kinda sad. Before he left we finished the film about the dump. We called it “Homes on a Hill.” When he gets back he will post it on the internet. I will give you the link when I can. We are really happy with it considering the amount of time we had. I’m really happy Philip was able to use his talent for something like this. He, and I have never edited live video before. He has done animation, but that is a bit different. If you want to see some of his stuff, you can check out his blog, pvose.blogspot.com. He will probably be posting pictures and stories and all sorts of good stuff on that. It was good having him here and just hanging out with him. He’s a good brother.
It’s kinda weird, in less than a week this house went from having 2 grandparents, two parents, two little kids, and me and Philip, down to just me and Papa (Mama is in Nairobi with her son and daughter-in-law who is having a baby). I guess I will have time to be quiet again and just think and reflect. The kids at Rohi are starting to come back now though. So that’s good.

1-7-10
I bought a couple DVDs off the street a few days ago. The movies recently came out so they are most likely pirated. Sorry everybody who is losing money on it. I think I’ll try to watch one tonight and see if the quality is good.
I’ve been thinking. I don’t think being a long-term missionary, well at least here, is what I’m supposed to do any time soon. However, I would like to lead a short-term (2 weeks) here. I’m thinking maybe June 2011 at the earliest. I have had a bunch of people ranging from kids I coach to friends and family say that they want to go to Kenya. And now I would like to be the one to lead them. I know a lot of talented people in their professions and hobbies, and I want them to use those abilities in a new, challenging place. There are some good athletes (soccer, running, etc), teachers, artists, film people, computer people, and just friendly, adventurous types. I am convinced that we can get a good group of people together who can contribute to what the staff is already doing here. They can then take home a film, experiences, challenges, and prayers that can make a difference in the lives of other Americans, and maybe even raise money for the work here. The missionaries here, Troy and his wife, have committed three years to being here. His wife, Rebecca, is staying home (here in Nakuru) to raise their two, will be three soon, kids. Troy is a veterinarian. He specializes in livestock and the economical aspect of it. Being here at Rohi in this very agricultural society, he is contributing a bunch. Me, however, I don’t really specialize in anything. At least nothing that is super noticeable. (When I think of this I think of my sister Kirstin. She is a remarkable person. She doesn’t have any standout, noticeable talents like my brother Philip who is a great artist. Does that mean that she has any less to contribute to wherever she is? Absolutely not! She is a very personable person who makes people feel good by just being around her. And she has her important role in life just like Philip whose ability is more easily seen- by the way there is more to Philip than just art.) There are a few things I do pretty ok, but nothing like what Troy is doing. But I have my role in this thing too. (I kinda feel like a gateway for people to have good experiences with whatever and grow in that thing. Kinda like marijuana- it is a gateway drug for bigger drugs. So I guess I’m like marijuana). Even though it is not seen as easily and results cannot be calculated, I have my significance. And because this is the case, I cannot say specifically what the reason for me being here is, and I won’t try to pinpoint what it is anymore. I just do what I do and not worry about the results. I hope this is all making some sort of sense.
Everybody has a role that is very important. I recently gave a short talk at family prayer night (only five people were there) on Job 33:4. I kinda stole a lot of thoughts from a guy named Jeff (check out journeyhomemen.com and click on notes). The verse says, “For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” We are made by God. When we accept Christ, we are given eternal life. When we walk with God, God breathes vibrant life into us. And when we have this we can have courage in the face of things that are ludicrous, be strong in our faith, and for others, and live a life filled with vibrant life. When we walk this kind of life out every day, we can then be who we were meant to be, so fully. I am trying, and I struggle at times. Probably a lot of times. But compared to a few years ago, I am on the up and up. Yay. I’m getting off my soapbox now…until next time.
Just talked to Patrick. He was the last kid here at Rohi before break. I showed him some card games and stuff. He just told me that his mom died over break and they buried her a few weeks ago. He said he’s ok, but I know what it feels like. Death is so common for kids to experience here. It really is not ok for kids to experience this. I pray that the kids at Rohi will not fall into the trap that has taken so many people they have known. I was just typing up some bios. New kids at Rohi, 7 years old, 12 years old, parents died of AIDS, TB, ... the list goes on.

1-8
Rohi had a staff meeting yesterday. There are a few new staff members. That brings the total to about 50 people. This includes all the departments from the people at the gate, teachers, sustainability, and everybody else. The heads of the department spoke, and they had a guest speaker (that was long). I was able to learn a decent amount from what they had to say, their expectations, where they are, and where they’re going. It was good to hear their vision and all that stuff.
After the meeting I went for a run. I went on a new path and found 20 minutes in that I was not sure where it was leading and didn’t see too many signs of life that way. It was getting dark, so I turned around. Sometime I will go down there again and see where it leads. A lot of the new younger kids at the primary school were all over me yesterday. I am most likely the first mzungu that they have had interaction with. It’s cool to have kids look up to you, and for you to show them love and care. The teachers and staff here do exactly that. Rohi is a very unique, amazing place. I watched “2012,” the DVD that I got. The quality was decent. No complaints from me. For two of them it only cost 500 shillings, like $6.55.
Since I have nothing to do right now, I am going to tell you what things I would like to do/accomplish when I get back regarding Rohi. As you know, Philip and I made a 10-minute film about the dump. I want it to be posted on the internet, my blog, Philip’s blog, and anywhere else. Philip will probably do this before I get back. I also want to disperse a copy to some of the churches that come to Rohi (Regeneration, Cornerstone, Fremont Community Church, any others, as well as the one I go to in Fremont when I am not at Cornerstone, Crossroads). I wouldn’t mind talking about my trip at Crossroads and getting them involved with things at Rohi. I want to eventually do an art auction to raise money for Rohi. I know many artists and would like to utilize their talents in this way. We could even combine it with a food or cake auction. Food and art go well together. This year with my track team, we are going to join with “Dig Deep,” a new non-profit organization. They get sports teams to join and they raise money to dig wells or get water tanks in different places of the world. Do you get the “Dig Deep” name- diggin deep for water and diggin deep to become a better athlete/ winning. Very clever. I want to at some point have a track and field invitational at Washington, the school I coach at. I want this to also be a fundraising thing for Rohi. I don’t know how the school would feel about that, but I could try. I said this yesterday, but I want to lead a two-week team here at some point. So, if there is anybody out there who wants to help with any of these things or has an ideas, I would love to hear about it and get you involved, especially if you’re the go-getter type and can lead one of these things. Collaboration baby!
Kids are kids no matter where in the world they live. I just saw a kid walking around with a bucket on his head trying to not run into anything. That makes me happy. Where does that sort of thing go when people get older? Could you imagine a grown man walking around like that? Responsibility I guess is one of the things that contributes to it. Also, lack of joy because of bad experiences, it sucks fun out of things, and experiencing and discovering new things. I guess the world would run aground if people walked around with buckets on their heads. I think when that joy, fun, creativity, and discovery is not chewed up and twisted in experiences like families dying, abuse, poverty, hate, and all the negative stuff, it is in a different form. Instead of bucket heads, creating dirt mounds with sticks stuck in the top, making mud pies, wrestling, making forts, and collecting snails, kids as they grow older begin to use those things in more practical ways. The forts turn into skyscrapers, mud pies into apple pies, wrestling into other competitive sports, snail collections in scientific research. It turns into people like Jim Henson. The “play” and creativity continues in the form of entertainment and education in fantastical forms of puppets, cartoons, acting. It is important for adults to hold onto, or rediscover, those things. Joy would be more abundant in the world, and I think we humans would be able to accomplish much more in life if this happened.

1-9
Walked down the road to buy a banana for my peanut butter and banana sandwich lunch. On the way there were a bunch of boys watching their sheep and cows. Seem like good kids. I bought them a couple mandazi with the remaining money I had. They even said thank you.
Things I am looking forward to when I get home: A hot shower- haven’t had one of those in about 4 weeks. A variety of food to choose from, and eating whenever I want. Watching Sharks hockey. I guess seeing and being with my family : ) Coaching my people in track. Seeing all the other friends. Driving to wherever and whenever I want. Going on the internet whenever to get info and communicate. Having a bowl of cereal for breakfast. A quality sandwich. Texting somebody to see how they are doing and just say hi. Doing some sculpting. Watching my little sister play rugby. Going to a church service that I enjoy (not to be mean). Making some money. Drinking water from the faucet.
Things I am not looking forward to: Spending money on gas.
Kind of funny, there are a few of the younger kids who remember me from the last time I was here. They would climb on me, ask questions, and all that stuff. Now there are a few new kids who are doing the same as what they used to do. But the kids from last time are acting like the pros, translating for them, and answering “obvious” questions they have. It’s fun watching them grow physically and mentally.
I washed my clothes by hand. I don’t know how much “washing” actually occurred, but I attempted. Thank God for washing machines. Since I’ve been here I have let Mama take care of washing my clothes. I think she would pay somebody to do it. She is not here, so I did it myself. I figured 12 days with the same pair of underwear was a bit much. That’s a joke! It wasn’t even 10 days : )
I discovered yesterday that the long, lonely road I ran down leads to a gate. Not sure what’s on the other side of the gate. I’m sure it’s a gate to another world. Away from all horribleness and everything that’s wrong. Maybe I will go tomorrow. I need that place.
So many Kenyans have requested that I take them back to America with me. I sometimes joke that if my bag were big enough I’d take them. I sometimes tell the younger ones that if they work hard in school they will go if God wants them there. What if I actually said yes to somebody?
Another dinner of rice, beans, sukumuiki (kinda like spinach), and a mango. Last night we added ugali. Tonight we added chapati.

1-10
Went to Rohi church. Went to street church. We are longer meeting in the ACK church for some reason. Not quite sure why. We met today in a town hall building. It is just about across the street from the curio shop. There were still over fifty people there. Wrestled with a bunch of the younger boys at Rohi after street church. That brightened my day. I haven’t seen any flies in my room the last 24 hours. Extremely happy about that.

1-12
Mama came home yesterday. We went to the dump yesterday and for the most part finished up with the survey we were doing. According to what we have, there are close to 400 people up there. About 80 of them are 6 years old or under. In the film that Philip and I made we put in there that there are about 200 people. We were off by 200. Oops. Hey Philip, maybe we/you can change that… I’m starting to not like going up there, for multiple reasons.
Mamba bet me that he could beat me in a 100m race. I would give him a granola bar if he wins. He makes me dinner if I win. I kinda laughed and told him to get the dinner ready.
It’s 9:30 am and I am just sitting here in the office with Kamoth right now. I finished entering in all the names and some info from the dump, and am now waiting on what to do next. I’m tired of waiting around so much. I’m trying to think of things to do to make myself useful. I wonder how much it would cost to build a windmill here. And what amount of time would it eventually start to pay off. I would guess that a windmill might be enough to generate enough power to offset a large chunk of the electricity bill. Then that money could go to something else. There’s a book I want to read when I get home called, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.” I saw him on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart before I came. It is about an African kid who did not have enough money to go to school, so he went to the library. He found a book about windmills and decided to build one. He couldn’t read English, so he built it based on the diagrams from the book. Amazing stuff. I want the students at Rohi to be innovative like this. There are many talented kids here. They need to have their minds challenged and supported, and I think this could happen. And it is to a certain point. One way I am motivated to do things that make a difference is by watching inspirational movies. For example, I just watched “Invictus,” the one I got off the street. It is about Mandela and how he used rugby to change the mindset of the country. This stuff gets me going. Reading books also. I think, I could be totally wrong, but the high school students have so much pressure on them to pass tests (a Kenyan thing) that they don’t have time to be creative and think of stuff. I don’t know. I think it would be good to have a movie night once a month where they watch a quality movie. They can do a write-up about it and use it for some good stuff. Movies aren’t all bad.

1-13
Beans, beans the musical fruit. I’ll leave it at that…
I helped at the high school yesterday. Talked to some of the kids about the internet and email. Talked to a couple about how to make/edit movies. Was able to help a few kids with some English. I took Emmanuel Noel on a run. The kid is 22 yrs old and in 8th grade. He was a street boy. He’s the kid we visited on the guardian project last month and told us that his house was “right here.” He’s a good guy. First off, he has to humble himself a bunch to be with a bunch of kids who are younger than him. Secondly, he is a great role model for them, and he is like a very good older brother to them. I admire the guy actually. Did I mention he likes to run? By the time he graduates from high school he will be about 26 years old. He wants to continue his education after that. Whatever he ends up doing with his life, he will be making a difference.

Happy 2010!

2010-01-05T02:31:00.000-08:00

12-31-09
Last day of 2009. Wow Wow! Pretty amazing. And I’m spending it hear in Kenya with my brother. I have no idea what we are going to do in 5 hours to celebrate.
We went over to Pauline’s home (she is the high school secretary) and videotaped her making chapati. Philip and I are going to edit and turn it into a cooking kind of show. If we have time we will tape something else (any recommendations?) and do that as well. We will be getting recipes and making a cookbook also (any recommendations?). I think it will turn out pretty good. I figure we can combine the two and sell them to make some money for Rohi. So be on the look out for that in the next couple months.
Mary and Eric with their kids left this morning. It is quiet in the house. Philip just said that it is lonely out there. It was good having them around and getting to know them. Nice, good people.
I think I am writing a lot less, and not as exciting stuff lately. I think it’s because Philip is here and I have somebody to share things with, instead of the computer. He is leaving in a week, so maybe I will write more when he leaves. The last few days have been good.

1-3-10
Happy New Year everybody! I rung in the new year with an amazing celebration of dancing, music, disco balls,… well not really. Philip and I went to bed at 10:30 and were struggling to stay awake. Then we got a call from home. That is how he celebrated, lying in bed and talking on the phone. Yay. It would have been cool to go somewhere and celebrate with other people in a different country. Another year perhaps. The first day of the year was spent at church then at home. We just hung out and did a few things around here. Yesterday we went with Troy and Becca and their two daughters to Lake Elementia. Not too much there, but it was fun spending the day with them. We were only at the lake for a few minutes to see the flamingoes and check out some other stuff. Then we went to see about going to a game conservancy. We checked out the rates and decided that it would not be worth the time we had. So we went back to their house, had lunch, watched Little House on the Prairie (their daughter’s choice- we weren’t arguing), and just hung out. It was really good. Becca made some snickerdoodles. They were so good. I think they were really good, but not having anything like that for a while made it that much better. We ended up staying the night there and came home this morning for church. We had steak for last night for dinner with sliced potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and feta cheese. It was so good. The food Mama makes is great, but it was good to have something different.
I can’t believe I have been here for 8 weeks already. That means I am coming home in less than four weeks. Wow wow. Then all of you can shed your pent up love and kisses on me soon. : )
I just found out that the matatu that charged me and Philip 50 shillings for a ride when it is usually 40 shillings, may have been correct. There is no law or anything like that, that decides what the set amount will be. Apparently they just change it whenever and the charges are almost never posted (I have seen it posted twice). When they changed the cost, I have no idea. However I don’t feel bad about what I said (I didn’t say anything bad anyways).

1-4-10
Philip and I worked on the dump video. We are hoping it will be done by tomorrow night before he leaves. We had some issues with space on the computer but it’s ok now. My stomach was hurting for just about the first time since I’ve been here. Don’t know why. I was feeling kinda dizzy too. I tried to sleep for a couple hours, and I feel better now. Don’t know what that was all about. We were going to go to town today but it was raining pretty good. El Nino has apparently hit Kenya. There has been some major flooding in some areas. Roads have been messed up pretty bad and villages also. Matatu drivers are going on strike I guess. Don’t know what they’re striking about. High school students are coming back to school today. Primary on Wednesday. Many take matatus, so it will be interesting to see how many arrive.

1-5-10
Philip is leaving tomorrow. Sad day in Kenya. Happy day in US. It’s been good having him here. We are almost done with the video, so there will be info on that soon. Pretty excited to show it to people. We’ll probably post it on youtube also. It’s been a good lately. I’m feeling encouraged about stuff. Not sure what the next 3 weeks hold, or even what to look forward to, but I think it will be good.

Winter! Or Summer...

2009-12-30T02:57:00.000-08:00

12-22
I haven’t had too much to write home about lately. Mary and Eric and their two kids are here as I said before. Because they are here there has been a constant flow of people in Mama and Papa’s house. Not necessarily a bad thing. Mary and Eric are good people and I enjoy talking to them. The only unfortunate thing in the whole deal is that for some reason we eat dinner at like 9pm now. Not really sure why. Mary and Eric got Mama a microwave, which doubles as an oven. Makes things much easier. Their three-year old daughter is frequently watching Pixar’s Cars or Dora the Explorer. My Kenyan experience will be temporarily minimized while they are here, but it is very ok. However, I did have a bit of goat intestine yesterday. I must say, it was not good. Texture, not good. Taste, not good. I also had a taste of fermented milk. I guess it is just boiled, spoiled milk. I must say, it was not good.
The last few nights we on the TV has been preachers, mostly Kenyan. I can only take so much yelling in preaching. It gets kinda old after a while. I don’t know why they just can’t talk. Their blood pressure may go down if they do so. Also, there was a guy on who was “slaying people in the spirit.” He called himself a prophet and used some verses in Isaiah to support it, which is ridiculous. All the guy was really doing was making some “wooshing” noises in the microphone, saying “Jesus,” and pushing people in the head making them fall over. I am pretty certain this is not Biblical. I have yet to read anywhere in the Bible that this happens. I have however seen hypnotists do this. So, just so some of you know, this is not what Christianity is about.

12-24
Christmas Eve baby! Picked Philip up from the airport yesterday. Glad to see him. He came at a very good time. I’m feeling tired and unmotivated the last several days. Don’t really know why. I know I am tired from not sleeping as much as I would like and doing a lot of traveling. It seems like everything is getting to me. Somebody asks me for money or I see somebody just sitting there not doing anything, I want to tell them to stop being lazy and get a job. Or the way people drive here. Things like that. I am kinda feeling like if I had to go home right now, I wouldn’t mind. Philip is here now, so hopefully that feeling will go away with some sleep and hang out time with the bro. I don’t even really feel like writing this. I just don’t have anything else to do.
Picking Philip up yesterday was quite a trip. It takes about two hours to get to the airport. It took a bit more time than that. Traffic in Nairobi is horrible. Drivers are not good. And the city planning for the traffic was designed by what seems to be a child. We took Sammy, a guy who works at the curio shop where the town office is, and his young daughter. They happened to be going to Nairobi as well. On the way there she puked. Poor girl. So that caused the van to not smell so good, but it wasn’t too bad with the windows down. We got to the airport early and waited. Airports are interesting places. There is such a wide range of people there. There were some Asian people, white tourists, Kenyans coming home to their families, Masai people with huge holes in their ears and beaded necklaces hanging around their necks. There’s a wide range of emotions too. Excitement to see family, anxiousness in trying to find the company picking them up, sadness in seeing their loved ones leave. The weather was good getting Philip, and as we headed into the city a dark gloom was over the buildings. As we entered Nairobi, it began to rain heavily. Within minutes rivers of water were beginning to form and winds were blowing hard. Bad driving coupled with the weather made things worse. It took us at least an hour or two to get through the few miles of streets. Big billboards, poles, and branches were knocked over. We finally got home five hours later. A couple people today told me that a few people died from the storm. Bad.
Showed Philip around the school a bit today and introduced him to some people, and now he is drawing and I’m typing.

12-25
Today is Christmas day my friends! I’m about to go to sleep, and most people I know are just getting their festivities going at home. I hope everybody had a good day and remembers the reason we celebrate this day. Americans get so caught up in the commercialization of it all. Here in Kenya, you would barely even tell it was Christmas. Going to church this morning there were more people dressed up than usual. Most of the stores were closed, not many people were out. There were the usual fruit stands and many of the street shops open. After church we went to Daniel’s house. He is the son of Mama and Papa. Had goat, rice, chapati, fruit, among other things. We sang songs, told stories, did silly dancing, exchanged gifts, talked, and prayed. It was a good afternoon. I was feeling kinda junky emotionally for the last week or so, but this family understands the meaning of life. And it was good and encouraging to see and be a part of that. I admit that I like decorating the Christmas tree, seeing Christmas lights on houses, and that stuff (not overly so), but seeing this family who don’t have or do any of those things, but have the true Christmas spirit is great. They love God so much that it shows in, from what I’ve seen, everything they do. My family at home is awesome and love God just as much as these people do, but things are done differently. I think my family could learn from this family and vice versa. I hope I can bring some of it home with me.
There are some people who read this, I think, who have different theological beliefs than me. And that’s ok and doesn’t change what I think of you or anything like that and hope it never does. And chances are I like you and you like me otherwise you wouldn’t waste your time reading all this stuff. I just want you to know that I am the way I am and do the things I do because of what God has done in me. I’m not a really amazing person, maybe a little bit ; ), but not much. So that is all I want to say for now. I love you all. Hope you had a very good Christmas and I hope to hear fro you soon.

12-26
I have a mean farmer’s tan.
Philip and I made slings today. Like the David and Goliath sling. They are so cool. We messed around with them for a bit today. Gonna take some practice to get the hang of it.
Philip made his first trip to town on a bota bota and matatu today. Pretty uneventful. The town is calm today. I guess everybody is staying home.
Just got back from town. We dropped our stuff off at the town office and went to a cyber café cuz Guava Café was closed. We got on the internet and shortly after that got off. The internet wasn’t working so well. We went to the street market where they sell all the cool art stuff and all the vendor people I know are. Started talking to one guy and then a bunch of them were around and we were all talking. Then one of them named Francis, nicknamed Ebony after the black wood (funny), said something and we ended up talking about God. It was a good conversation that ended up with a few other guys involved and under the eaves across the street when the rain started coming down hard. They are cool guys. Philip had a good time and we left them with some money for food. We ended up spending about four hours in town talking to them and eating at Rift Fries. We had good burgers and moquimo. The rain stopped after about an hour. We hopped a matatu and headed back. For the two of us it costs 40 shillings (about 55 cents). I gave the conductor guy (he’s maybe in his mid to lower 20s) 50 shillings. I said to Philip, “I wonder is he’s gonna give me change.” We arrived at our destination and I got no change. I know it’s only 10 shillings, and I care less about that much money, but it’s the principle of him trying to cheat me and get away with it. So I told him when I got out that I wanted my change, wondering what he was going to say. He said that it costs 50 shillings. I said, “No it doesn’t, 20 shillings each. I asked the driver who wasn’t paying attention to the conversation and he said it is 20 shillings. And then a few seconds later he said it is 25 each. I said on the way and all the previous times it has been 20 each. He then said it was changed last week. I said, “Right. Keep the money. God bless and merry Christmas,” and left. Ridiculous stuff. Anyways it has been a good day.

12-27
Went to George’s church this morning. He is Mama and Papa’s son-in-law. We had to get up and say a little something. The service lasted 3 hours. Fortunately Eric spoke, so the message was good, there was no yelling involved, and I learned some stuff. Not that I wouldn’t the usual Kenyan style (shouting…), but this is more my way of learning about God. Then we came home and worked the slings a bit and relaxed. We finished the day by having dinner at Mama and Papa’s daughter’s house. I’m tired. I’m looking forward to being productive and having something to do this week. I will do what I can to make it happen.

12-29
Philip and I finally started what I’ve been wanting to do the whole time. We took the video from the dump and started editing it. We don’t have much done yet but it’s good so far, at least I think so.

12-30
On Christmas Eve somebody stole the communication/telephone line between the high school and primary school, which is about 150 yards apart on separate properties. Lame!
A few days ago I was typing up a bunch of hymns and Philip was sitting next to me typing some bios of incoming first graders to Rohi. Here I was typing about how good God was and all the other stuff that is written in hymns, and here Philip is typing things like, “status: orphan, age: 7, dad died of tuberculosis, mother ran away, HIV positive.” Think about that.
Went to the dump. Philip got to see all the stuff and took a bunch of pictures. We took a tuktuk (3-wheeled vehicle) on the way there. We handed out candy and got some more footage for the video we are doing. We then went next to the stadium where there were some street guys hanging out at their base. We talked to them and proceeded to Guava Café. On the way back we saw some guy being pulled somewhere. His face was all bloody and didn’t look so good. Kamotho said he probably tried to steal a botabota. Things are going well.

2009-12-20T06:11:00.000-08:00

Croc and middle of nowhere

2009-12-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

Mt Kenya

2009-12-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

I'm tired, but not in a bad way

2009-12-20T05:48:00.001-08:00

12-13
I’m sitting here in my room. It’s 7pm and things to do are very limited. I do my best to be productive to my benefit. This stuff depends on where I am. For example, it may be going for a run or just sitting outside on the soccer field looking and thinking. Everything has a time and place. Right now it is writing this. I guess I could be figuring out the solution to America’s economic downturn but this will do for now. If you want to read just about Africa and Kenya then stop reading. I find that writing about whatever and posting it is keeping me entertained and helping me think. Reading your comments is very encouraging and I look forward to them. So if you are doing that the Thanks! If not, I still like you anyway, well, probably. I thought I’d tell you some of my top favorite movies. In no particular order: Cast Away, Monsters Inc, Iron Giant, Driving Ms. Daisy, It’s a Wonderful Life. There are others but these are the ones I can think of right now. If you haven’t seen these movies I recommend you take some time and watch. In light of this Christmas season I recommend It’s a wonderful Life. I’ve realized over the last couple years when compiling my favorite movies that many of them leave you with that “aawwww” feeling. They also have an incomplete ending where there is so much more in the character’s life left to live, like a sequel could be made. But it would ruin that feeling you are left with if that sequel was made. Don’t think I have ever made my thoughts be heard and shared as much as I have in the last few weeks from writing all this stuff. As I said before you don’t have to read.

I have always, since I was little, admired people in real life and movie characters who set out on adventures without fully knowing what the next step will be. To be honest I haven’t met too many people in real life. I met a guy on Mt. Kenya who is from NY but is currently “homeless.” He is in Africa right now and is not really sure what exactly he will be doing and going next. Also, when Kirstin and I were in New Zealand, we met a few of these people. The main character in the movie “Big Fish” leaves his hometown not knowing exactly where he is going. Benjamin in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” also goes on this long journey. I think people, in particular Americans, admire these types of people. Otherwise movies wouldn’t be made about them. And many wish they could do what they do. Everybody has his or her own reason for not doing it. Some are good reasons like responsibility of having a family. Some reasons are bad like they’re scared, or they make up some lame excuse. I thin some people would classify me in this group, although I think I’m not even close. Yes I am in Africa right now without too much of a plan, but there are people here kinda watching over me. I have traveled to a couple other places in the world, but this has only happened in the last couple years. Before this I was the person who made up excuses. And for the most part they were somewhat legitimate like school, sport, and I will even throw in family responsibilities. But I wonder if me not taking those risks might have hindered me into becoming a better person. Yes staying back and taking care of business is important, but maybe I should have done those other adventurous-type things. This does not always include traveling to another country, in fact, rarely does. Coming here to Nakuru, Kenya was a step in faith, not as big as these movie characters but a step just the same. I am trying to not be so planned out lately and just let the wind take me wherever. This may mean going to other countries, or talking to somebody I do not know. If you know me you know that the latter is way more risky for me. There was a point to this whole thing. Maybe a few points. Let’s see. First is to take risks. Take a step out of the boat onto the water. Peter trusted Jesus and did this, and he experienced something amazing. Second is that people may see me as being this adventurous person. I may come home and a Christian might say, “Wow! You’re really holy cuz you went on a mission, blah blah blah. I could never do that.” A concerned non-Christian will say something like, “That’s really cool of you help those people like that. I could never do that.” An unconcerned non-Christian will say, “That’s awesome that you went to Africa. Hope you didn’t get AIDS. Did you see a lion? I could never do that.” I guess what I’m getting at is that I am not very special for coming here. I don’t feel that I am doing anything that anybody else can’t really do. Sort of. All you have to do is make yourself available to the God of adventures and he will take care of it. Sometimes, actually almost always, the first step is into a very dark place where you can’t see where you’re stepping (this is not literal-please do not go into a very dark place, especially if they are religious affiliated-weird things can happen I suspect). Isn’t that first step part of the adventure? I don’t think I wrote anything I meant to say. Pole (sorry).

12-14
Rohi got a school bus, more like a charter bus, a few days ago. It looks really cool. Some of the staff and I took a ride in it. Needless to say, it was awesome! They were acting like kids going on a field trip. Anthony gave it a try and stalled it out, but quickly recovered. It seats 51. Tomorrow Daniel Komotho, Njenga, Henry, and I are going to western Kenya and will be back three days later. Apparently it’s a long drive. We are going to do the guardian visits for a few boys. This is when a member of staff and a few others go to a student’s home and gives the guardian a report on how the student is doing. We also find out what they are in need of, like a goat, help getting a shop started, seeds, roofing, a fence, etc. We then give what is needed to get this done for them. It’s a really cool thing. I will update on how the trip goes.

12-17
Just got back from the guardian visit road trip. Whoa, seemed so long. We left Tuesday morning around 7am and got back Thursday night, tonight. All in all we covered about 1200 km, or about 800 miles. And Henry drove the whole time. Crazy! I’m gonna have Komotho write down all the major places we went so I could map it out. First place Njenga, Henry, Komotho, a student named Emmanuel Noel, and I went was Benard’s home. That was about 7 hours away. We did stop a couple times though for tea and whatever. Kenyans need their tea. I’m starting to need it too. Benard’s mom was used to have a decent business but that all went away when the post-election clashes happened in December 2007. She now lives in a very modest, as in a very small mud house with metal roofing. She gave us tea and some sliced bread. We then went to Charles’ grandma’s house. Her house was decent sized. She had in her home her grandchildren and a couple daughters. I think two of her daughters died, so she is raising the grandchildren. We were served tea and given mandazi (like a fried bread). It was at this house that I was strongly encouraged to take a wife. I even had a choice of one of two women. Whether the cucu- pronounced “showshow” (grandmother) was joking, I am not sure. She was very insistent about it at a few different times. Komotho and Njenga got in on it as well and carried it through the rest of the trip. I think they and my mom would get along very well. They chopped a piece of sugar cane from their yard and gave it to us. This was my first experience of sugar cane. Good stuff. We arrived at our hotel in Kitale after more than a 12-hour day and five cups of tea.
We got up early and had a good breakfast that had, of course, tea. We then drove to Philip’s guardian’s place. His guardian is a man from his church who took him in. He was working in his little store when we came by, so the visit was short. This place was right on the border of Uganda and Kenya. I of course had to walk into Uganda. It was remarkably easy. Nobody checked anything. I, with Njenga, Emmanuel, and Henry, just walked across the bridge over the river where there was a decent amount of foot and truck traffic. It was pretty hot there and very busy. From there we went to Emmanuel’s home. His parents passed away when he was less than 13 years old, so he is staying with his aunt and uncle. He left home when he was 13 years old and was a street boy. He is 19 now and went home once before this trip. I want you to keep in mind that there are no maps involved, no street/road/trail names, and very few signs on this whole trip. There are also no addresses. We basically get to the homes using landmarks told to us from over the phone and memory. It is actually quite remarkable that we get to all five kids’ homes. Anyway, We get to the town/village near Emmanuel’s. We get there from him telling us from memory where to go. And we are pretty much in the bush- basically middle of nowhere. Komotho kept saying we were at the edge of the world. The small road/trail, we were told was not capable of driving, so we get out and walk. I’m thinking it is maybe a five-minute walk up this hill/mountain. We are going and we are approaching the top of the mountain where the houses are getting farther and farther apart. The houses are made of mud, are circular and have grass thatched roofs. We get to the top and Komotho asks Emmanuel where it is, and he says, “right over here,” and points his hand indicating right around the corner. We continue to walk for a bit more and start going down the side of the mountain, passing banana trees and small plots of land. There are some people out in their “yards” and the kids come running excitedly. Emmanuel is asked several more times by Komotho and Njenga with patience a little less each time, and he indicates the same thing. I see a house on the opposite mountain and jokingly say that we are going to end up there. And guess what, it was right next to there. So after about 1 hour and 10 minutes of hiking up, down, and up again we arrive at a nice big shading tree in the middle of five thatched roof houses. It was so cool up there. Beautiful, amazing view. So simple and peaceful. One of those things I am not going to try to explain. Only his cousin was there though because her parents were at, I think, a funeral. We sit there for about 30 minutes and decide to leave because of time. As we are going back his aunt and uncle are hurrying across a different trail to meet us. We did end up doing what we needed to do, which is neat. Henry was called from the van down in the town to drive up to get us. He was able to go about 70% of the way. You needed an ATV to get the rest of the way. That whole thing was really a cool experience. From there we went to Bakari’s home. We were served soda and peanuts that they had just harvested. His family situation is interesting. Bakari is a cool kid, as well as the other kids. Then we went to Kakamega where we stayed the night in a hotel.
The following morning we get up and go outside and find some people standing around our van looking at something. A guy ran into the back of our van. It wasn’t bad, just slightly dented and scraped. We followed him over to where he knew some guys who would fix it. I guess the place was an auto shop, but it was just in a dirt lot. If this was in the US, it might be called “shady.” So after that was fixed we headed for Kisimu, home of our president’s family. It is located on Lake Victoria. We got some netting for a fish pond Rohi recently built and then we were on our way home. The drive was not quite smooth sailing. The road was not the best in stretches. In fact we drove on the side of the road in the dirt rather than the “paved” barabara (road). Kenya is making progress in their roads though, and we passed several stretches where they were working on it. We stopped off at Njenga’s family’s home where we had tea and muqimo (like mashed potatoes with corn and other stuff in it- good). We got back to Nakuru at about 7pm, but had to get the van washed. So we didn’t get home until 8:30. What a trip! It was good.

12-18
Today is my mom’s and Glenn’s birthday! Happy birthday! Woke up at like 4:30 this morning. Not really sure why. I was really tired yesterday. Went for a run. The staff had a retreat today and went to Lake Bugoria and Lake ---, forgot the name. Lake Bugoria we played some games, boiled eggs at a hot geyser (so Kenyan), and had lunch. It was hot. Then got in the new Rohi bus and went to the other lake where some of us put on junky life vests and saw some hippos and crocodiles. That was cool. Then we wrapped up and came back to Nakuru. Another long day. It was fun, and I definitely don’t deserve it. The staff at Rohi, from the teachers to the cooks and sustainability team and guards are great people. I’ve said this before but Rohi Children’s Organization is a special place.
I came home tonight and Mama and Papa’s daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Eric, were here from the US. Good to have more people around. They have two young kids, so having kids crying, laughing, running around, and watching Dora the Explorer is nice and refreshing. Good, long, exhausting week.

12-20
I can finally cross off my bucket list: 3.5-hour church/livestock and produce auction. The cow sold for 750,000 shillings ($1,000).
I must say that I miss all the Christmas stuff. I miss the chill in the air. I miss the decorations, songs, excitement of those around me, being with family, sitting by the fire. There’s not too much of that here. My family sent me a tiny Charlie Brown Christmas tree. That makes me happy. You know what makes me even happier? My brother will be here in three days!
Where do I draw the line when giving and not giving money? I might be struggling with this right now.

Jambo! (Hi)

2009-12-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

12-3
Last week they started construction on the high school boys’ dorm. At the moment they do not have the funds to complete it. The boys are going to move out of the rooms they’re in now cuz those are going to be used for classes. This coming up year will be the first year that Rohi will have a Form 4, equivalent to 12th grade. So with the boost in numbers they will need the dorms. How are they expecting to get the money? They are trusting it will come. Simple as that. It’s kinda like a farmer. He sows his seed not knowing if the rain will come. Then he simply prays that God will provide. That is Rohi’s big project right now.
I was talking to Komotho yesterday about the dump. Complicated situation. There are definitely poor people there who need help. From what Daniel was telling me about some conversations he’s had with some people up near there, there are some people who definitely have enough money to not live there. The survey thing that we did last week, we were being directed by the leader of the people there. It seems as though she was having us going to some houses and not others. I did not notice this but Daniel did. It seems like there are so many factors regarding this situation. Kinda makes me want to go to them and tell them to “get a job!” But there are those who are definitely down and out. The structure they want to build for the nursery school will be a temporary one. Who will have legitimate reasons for bringing their child there will be sorted out in time, according to Komotho. So the process is slow going.
If you want to check out Rohi’s website, go to www.rohikenya.org
I was able to witness Daniel Komotho laying it down on a street “boy” yesterday. This kid, between the age 18 and 22 (not sure) named Dedon (sp?) came into the town office. Dedon used to be at the rescue center several years ago but ran away. He seems like a sharp kid and doesn’t seem to get mixed up with some of the bad stuff most of them are doing. He went in asking Komotho for help. Daniel basically told him that he needs to take care of some stuff, and he did it in a very good, assertive way. The next week or so will prove if he got through to him. Daniel has known Dedon for the last several years and knows his situation very well and did not mess around when telling him about a thing or two about his life. It was very good to see.
I have recently discovered Snake and Sudoku on my cell phone. Needless to say I am exercising my brain by partaking in these games whenever I have time. I have done very well on them, thanks for asking.
Just found out that Dedon is Collins’, the boy who broke his tooth, older brother.
Went over to see the boys, oh wait, men who underwent the rites of passage. It’s been two weeks and some of them are fine and some of them seem to be walking a bit tenderly. Today was the first time I saw them, and my boy Evans, the kid I sponsor was among the 60 or so there. Rohi and another church are caring for them. I think about 15 of them go to Rohi, so many of them were interested in the white guy. After they ran out of questions, I whipped out my deck of cards I had in my backpack and showed them a few magic tricks. I’m glad my time spent on youtube was able to benefit others. I just hope they don’t get the wrong impression, tell their families, and try to have the devil cast out of me for the “magic” they saw. I could imagine… (this is where the picture goes into a wave and I look into nothing) As I’m sleeping at night, there is a pounding at the door and suddenly a burst of men with pitchforks and torches come in yelling, “Kill the witchdoctor!” (I’d rather be a witchdoctor than a witch. Witches have big noses and are green. Although I have a big nose, I am rarely green.) They cut the mosquito net around me and tie me up with it and drag me outside where they hang the net in the tree with me dangling from inside. Finally after much yelling, Papa comes out to vouch for me. He says that if I’m a witch the duck will weigh more than me (name the movie!) Except there are no ducks, so they use the sheep. They weigh me and I do indeed weigh exactly the same amount as the sheep. Because this has never happened before the elders deliberate and come up with a new plan. They decide I must prove myself in a race against the best Kenyan runner. Holy smokes! How am I supposed to beat the best runner in the world? So, I strap on my spikes, toe the starting line, and wait for the gun to go off. Bang! The Kenyan gets out in front and I decide to fall in behind him and draft off of him. We go around the first lap in an astounding time of 55 seconds. As the second lap starts I find myself focusing on the Kenyan’s legs. The muscles are long and lean and tighten with every impact. As the second lap draws to a close, he picks up the pace. I take a deep breath and notice that we have come through at 1:53 for a half a mile. I am amazingly relaxed as I listen to the beat of my heart and the rhythmic exhalations of my lungs. It becomes a soothing sensation as the lactic acid builds up in my legs and other muscles. I hear the sound of the Kenyans breathing and notice he is working hard. I continue to sit on his heels and wait. Coming off the curve into the straight, I realize that I have just over a lap to go and have to decide whether I should pass him now or wait. I decide to wait. We pass the third lap in 2:49 and hear the clanging of the bell signifying the final lap is now upon us. The Kenyan picks up the pace and I try to go with him but struggle as my legs feel like they have lead in them. I try to relax and take a deep breath. I remember what my coaches have taught me, and starting working my arms a little faster. The gap between us ceases to increase and is now at 5 meters. As we enter the final back straightaway I know that it is do or die. My breathing is heavy now and I struggle to get the air I need to feed my body. It’s as though a thousand pounds has been placed on my chest. The Kenyan is laboring just as hard. We start to make the final curve and simultaneously begin to stroke our arms faster. The speed picks up, and my body is screaming at my brain to stop. All I can think about is closing the gap as each breath is causing my eyesight to darken. Oxygen is no longer flowing to my head sufficiently and my mind seems strangely outside of itself. The Kenyan comes off the curve into the final home stretch first. I now focus on the finish line and will my sand-filled, cramping legs to move faster. Breathing, moving, living cease to have any meaning now. Only reaching the line first. The gap closes. 4 meters. 3 meters. 2 meters. The finish line is only 20 meters away. The gap is now 1 meter. 12 meters to go. The gap is no longer there as I come up shoulder to shoulder with the Kenyan. 3 meters left. I explode forward with every ounce of life left in me at the only thing that matters now in my life. It seems as though the last few inches now have become slow motion as we drive our chests at the finish line with such desperation as if life hinged on that moment in time. In fact, for me it does. I explode through the finish line crashing to the ground. Suddenly my pain and suffering have come upon me as my mind catches up to my body. The ground under my collapsed body seems to envelop me as I try to bury myself within its grasps. The world spins around me and everything is forgotten as I try to bring life back into my body with each desperate breath. My head pounds and the sounds of people around me are muffled and blurred. After what seems like a lifetime, the Kenyan comes over to me and helps me to my weakened feet. He tells me good job. I say, “you too.” I hear the announcer say, “3:42 for one full mile!” I lift my weary eyes to the scoreboard where I see through blurred vision my name first followed the Kenyan. I had won. The ground seemed to be drawing me down into its depths. As I lay back down, I realize that my life has been spared and I say a silent thank you. Moral of the story: don’t practice witchcraft, and eat your vegetables.

12-4
There’s a show here on TV called “City Talk.” This very outgoing Kenyan guy interviews people of all sorts of on a park bench. The people range from actors, politicians, activists, athletes and so on. Last night he had Dr. Frene Ginwala on. She is the former Speaker of the House (?) for South Africa under Nelson Mandela. Well she was talking about Africa and the state that it is in. She with some others have recently started this think tank called CODA (forgot what it stands for. Don’t know if those are the letters either). They are trying to get not just academia but people from all walks of life, like students and women, to contribute to this thing. It seems really great. It seems like Africa and the Africans, for the most part, are not just standing by and letting stuff happen. They all know the situation they are in, I see it on the news, talk to people here at the school and the guys on the street market, and many are trying to do something about it. I was talking to Kirstin a few weeks ago about how to get Kenya/ Africa out of the third world status they have and all the issues they have going on. There are so many things that are happening here that you cannot boil it down to one thing. In a ranking of 1 being the least corrupt, New Zealand ranked number 1 in a survey of 180 countries about. Kenya ranked number 146! That’s horrible. Talking to Daniel and others about it, personal stories, has astonished me. The government is corrupt from top to bottom. So, this think tank, talking about problems of corruption, human trafficking, global warming, the economy, etc, is the start of something very good, but will not be the end of all the problems. Many times we as Americans view Africa as this deprived, suffering continent, and that is all it is. Food being delivered here by other countries for the starving, disease running rampant, etc, but there are a lot of people here who are not in that “poor me” state of mind and doing what they can to help themselves and others.

12-5
Today was the guardians meeting. I would say about 200 guardians were there. These are the people who take care of the kids at Rohi, parents, grandparents, etc. It was supposed to start at 9 am. Naturally it didn’t start until about 10:40. And it went for over three hours. Basically the staff from Rohi gave speeches. And it was all in Kiswahili. I could have fallen asleep a few times. I was trying to understand, and was able to catch words here and there. Papa gave a speech because he is on the board of directors. Everybody has been getting a laugh the last week or so, cuz he refers to me as his last son. Anthony, his real son who is Director at Rohi, gets a real good laugh out of us. After the meeting we, Papa, Anthony, Mamba, Juma, Troy (missionary white guy) had lunch. It was a lot of fun just talking and listening to the jokes people were making. Quite enjoyable.

Mama was not here tonight. She went to help with a wedding or something. So Papa made dinner, and I following his lead. Let’s just say Papa is not a cook. It’s traditional around here for women to make the meals and men to stay out of the kitchen, although this is changing to some degree. Papa basically took some leftovers that were sitting out from last night (I was a bit leery about this. It was a stew kinda thing, and looked like a swamp. Seriously.) We poured that into a pan with some frozen beans, fresh tomatoes, left over rice from the night before, an egg, and some other stuff. It filled the entire pan and was boiling out the top. He then tried to put a cover on top of it, but the cover was too small. Oh well, it was good enough. I wonder how many cock roaches got in it. I’m laughing and crying right now. All in all it tasted good. We boiled some corn and had mangoes as well. Such a mixture of emotions for me. Hopefully my stomach won’t feel the same way.

I was just watching “e Africa news,” which is stationed in South Africa, one of the more up to date African countries. Of course there was stuff about the upcoming World Cup. I guess USA is playing England in the first round. There also was stuff about an assassination attempt on one of the country’s presidents. Also a suicide bomber in Somalia, I believe, who killed 19. Horrible stuff. Then there was the entertainment news. There is a movie coming out this month called “Invictus.” It is based on the book called “Playing the Enemy,” which I read a few months ago. Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Madela, Matt Damon plays a South African rugby player, and is directed by Clint Eastwood. Anyways, it’s about S. African apartheid and how Nelson Mandela used rugby to unite the country. It is very cool and I’m looking forward to seeing it. I recommend you see it. If you feel so inclined to wait and see it with me when I get back, I would be most obliged. This is for anybody, and then you could pay for me : )

12-6
Went to church with Emma. I was there for 3.5 hours. I think we got there before it started, but there was prayer going on for anybody who wanted. I guess it went longer than usual too. Every aspect of the service was a message given by somebody different. By the time the pastor got up to speak it was 1pm and he promised he would speak for no more than 15 minutes, which surprised me. Not only that, but he kept his word. There were about 300 to 400 people. When Kenyans do weddings, at least Christian Kenyans, they get everybody involved to help out. And it starts with the church. They announced that somebody was getting married and listed all the things that are needed. Then we started to go through each item from the 10 chickens and 50 kg of maize flour to the tomatoes and transportation cost. It was kinda like an auction. He said the item and how much it would cost and asked who wanted to donate it. We got through two items, and finally on the third and fourth items nobody said anything, so he said that if there was something you can contribute to talk to so and so. I was relieved. That would have taken an extra hour. After that, we came home and had lunch. Doesn’t look like the food from last night had any ill affects. Then we went to street church. There weren’t as many people there as last week, but still around 100. There wasn’t much pushing and shoving until the end. That was better than usual.

12-10
Got back yesterday from Mt. Kenya. I’ll do my best to describe the last 3 days. Some things though cannot be described in words, especially my words, so I will not even try. Monday morning we were supposed to meet at 5:45 am. In typical Kenyan style only four of us were there at that time. It’s ok cuz we were on the road at 6:15 with everybody in the van. On the way there we saw some pretty incredible views. We drove by the president’s land, miles and miles of open land. There were zebras, gazelle, and other animals there. On the other side of his land was a newly created village of IDP (internally displaced people). I am not sure from what. After about 6 hours of driving on some flat and some not so flat roads, we arrive at the Mt. Kenya check-in area. Nakuru, the place I am staying, is at 1800m in altitude. The starting point for the hike is at 2650m. It’s pretty windy and decently chilly as we start off at a brisk pace. I was thinking to myself that this pace will not last too long. And sure enough, it doesn’t. The road/trail begins to incline and does not show any sign of leveling out. It gets pretty steep in some areas. We rest frequently to give some of the guys some rest. Mamba sees that somebody is struggling (I won’t say who) goes ahead, drops his bag off, and comes back for the struggling. I, along with a couple others do this also. I thought that their manhood egos might be a little hurt for carrying their bag for them, but I was very much wrong. They were more than happy and extremely thankful for lightening their load. The first day we covered about 8 km, or about 5 miles, in over 3 hours and an increase in elevation from 2650m to 3300m. That’s an increase of 650 m for those who aren’t so good at math. I started out the day with a slight headache but nothing that would hinder me. That night I slept in a tent at Old Moses Camp with Anthony Nderitu in the tent that I carried, the biggest of the four we brought. Everybody else slept three to a tent. The next morning everybody was saying how hot they were during the night. Anthony and I couldn’t have had a complete opposite night. That was the worse sleep I’ve had in a long time. I was freezing, uncomfortable, and my nose starting to get stuffy and runny. I probably only slept a few hours that night. You can use your imagination on how bad it was. I don’t want to relive it. I got up at about 5am with a headache that grew during the night and a runny right nostril. We got going at about 6:45 am and I was waiting for my legs to get under me. Sometimes it takes time for your legs and body to wake up. Unfortunately it never happened. I hung in the back with some of the slower people for the first bit, but after about an hour, I don’t think I would have been able to stay in the front if I wanted to. You have to understand something. I am always able to do physical things fairly well. So this whole thing was new territory for me. I had to suck up my pride on this one. Perhaps God was talking to me on this one… Anyways, I was able to truck along until we had to go down one valley and up the other side. Holy smokes! Going up was brutal. Again, my pride was left at the bottom, at least most of it. We start going up and I’m having trouble. James Mosumbuko (awesome name) beasted it up the hill. He carried his bag and another person’s, a combination of about 40-50 pounds. Another guy Eston, who doesn’t seem like much of an athletic person, grabs a person’s bag and starts going. To give him a rest I take the bag for a bit, but I’m struggling. Everything was feeling like junk. I don’t last long and he finishes carrying the bag to the top. I get to the top and am dunzo (another word for done, but with emphasis). There are two American girls we met at the first camp. One is in the Peace Corps stationed in Uganda and the other is her friend. They came up that hill, definitely tired, but not ready to pass out like me. It’s at this point that I’m flabbergasted. What is going on? My head is hurting, my nose is running, and my body is tired. Not the most enjoyable of situations. Anyways, I get to where everybody is resting and look out at the view. Wow! It’s like you can see all of Kenya from up there to the west. To the east is the rest of the mountain. We were on the crest with valleys to both sides of us, the one we just climbed and the one we were going to go down and up toward the mountain. Walking up through that valley toward the peak was absolutely beautiful. There are no trees because of the elevation, but there is a small river from snow melt going through the bottom with plants and other vegetation around. And on the side we were on, sheer cliffs with great looking rock formations loomed high above us. This is the time when I’m not going to try to describe it. Meanwhile, I’m still feeling like junk, and doesn’t seem to be getting any better. After several hours of hiking we reach the final stretch. One of the guys is having stomach issues and is lagging far behind. I take his pack and carry it on my shoulders for a bit. Then Mr. Njenga grabs it and carries it a bit. My head is hurting pretty good now. He starts a steep uphill for a little more than half. I finish the rest of the hill with the bag and am completely exhausted. He takes the bag and walks the rest of the way to Shafton Camp. I am thoroughly impressed by this. My stomach has now had enough at this point and I find a nice big rock to do my business behind. I then go the final stretch of uphill to the camp feeling like I’m about to fall over. I get to the top and drop my stuff and lay down. I made it! The view is spectacular. There is still a lot of mountain left, but this is where many people call it a journey. The elevation is 4200m. The peak is at 5100m. This last bit is done with a daypack. However the last few hundred meters has to be done with special equipment like oxygen and that sort of stuff. Njenga, Mosumbuko, Richard, Peter, Zechaiah, and Eston after resting for a bit go as high as possible after some rest. Njenga ended up going the highest, reaching maybe 4800m. This is the first time they have seen snow, and for a few of them touch it. Very cool for them. I, on the other hand, am lying there next to all the packs. In the next 45 minutes I make three runs for the bathroom. There are toilets up there, but they are the squatting type. Do you have any idea how horrible this is when you have no strength left to hold a squat position and you’re feeling light headed? I’ll leave it at that. As I’m sitting there shaking in the cold, and feeling like junk about 20 Australian thirteen year-olds come down from going up to the snow. I kinda laugh to myself at this. After sitting there for a couple hours, taking an aspirin and a cup of tea and some juice I begin to feel better. We decide to camp the night a little ways down so we can get a good start in the morning. I’m feeling a ton better now and sit with some Kenyan guides next to their fire with Mamba and Kariuki. They give us some food and we have a good conversation about God and some other stuff. Sleeping that night was still not good, but better than the night before. During the day I would blow snot rockets a ton. But at night, I couldn’t and didn’t have anything to use. So I ended up using my socks that I had been wearing during those two days. It was gross. They were damp and dirty. That’s enough of that. The next morning we started at 6:15am and I’m feeling a ton better. Lingering pressure on my head and ears, and my nose is still running, but much better. We make it back to the van in about 5.5 hours. Going down is much easier, but more painful. My knees and feet were hurting. All in all we cover about 44 km. That’s about 28 miles round trip in three days.
We left the mountain and started for home. We stopped and got lunch then with couple hours to go the car starts to overheat from the rolling hills. We stop at the top of the hill with steam coming out behind the front passenger’s seat (the engine is under the passenger). We sit there for about an hour. We are still pretty high in altitude, so it’s not very warm outside with the sun starting to set. But the view on the drive home was amazing. We get some water from a little shack of a house near where we pulled off to cool the van. We finally give it a go and Anthony starts to drive it up toward the road. We were standing around watching and the van’s wheels begin to lose traction in the wet, muddy ground. It ceases to go anywhere and begins shooting mud out behind it. Henry, good, reliable, quiet Henry, is standing about 25 feet behind the van and begins to get covered with spraying mud and starts to run away. Mamba and I are about 50 feet behind the van and are laughing at this. The mud is about 20 feet short of us and I think I’m a safe distance away. Then Anthony floors it and the mud is getting closer to me but to the side. It then starts going right toward me, but I’m laughing at Henry. Next thing I know Mamba is running and I join him as we are pelted with mud. The whole thing was really funny and made the drive home even better. We get back on the road and stop at a gas station. Of course they have no water. They also have not gas. Well, after all this we end up getting home at 9:15pm. It was a good trip. Now I’m sitting here with a running nose, a sun burnt face (bummer Tyrone), chapped lips, and feeling a bit under the weather, and feeling happy. God is good.

12-11
I think I’ve said this before, but I sometimes wonder if my money would have been better spent by just giving the organization the money instead of spending it on me coming here. However, I’m confident this is not the case. I don’t think God would put it on my heart to be here if that were true. I also wonder what my purpose for being here is. I came with the intention of hanging out with the kids on the streets. So far this has not really happened. There is a saying that goes, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” I had this noble thing in mind coming here and it has not come even close to fruition. I think God is so complex that I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around what his elaborate perfect plan is. My part may be very small or may be huge. Either way it is important. These are some thoughts about what my purpose for being here is: I am here to do exactly what I intended to do, be with the street kids. It could be to give the students and staff at Rohi some music, help with their work, give them chocolate, or to just keep them company. Maybe it’s to say hi to a kid on the road as I go for my run. Maybe it’s to get my brother out here so he can use his talents to make a difference. Perhaps for just me to know God better, and I do not contribute anything to Rohi or Kenya. Or to get away from my family so they can learn whatever. Maybe it’s because Mikey G. needed to use my car and me coming here is the only way for that to happen. Maybe it’s for this silly blog, that everybody reading it, or just one person, may be changed. Maybe it’s a combination of a couple or all. I have no idea. I think it’s so easy to get caught up and worry about all the things I am not accomplishing, and there are a lot. But you know what’s so cool? I am not worried, not one little bit about it. I am taking it as it comes and will listen to the Wind (Holy Spirit) on what I should do. If I come home on January 31 and did not accomplish what I set out to do, I think I’ll be very ok. I know if I do what is right and good and true, everything will take care of itself. And so far, I think I am doing that.

Follow-up on the kid Dedon: He said he took the KCP and that he was going to do all of this stuff. Did he do it? Nope. He straight up lied to Komotho. Komotho doesn’t seem surprised at all. You can’t trust the kids on what they say. It makes working with these kids very difficult.

Weighed myself today. According to this scale I weighed 67kg. That’s about 147.7 pounds. According to my scale at home before I left I weighed 157 pounds. That means I lost 10 pounds. What the heck! How much of that was on the mountain, who knows.

12-12
It’s Kenya’s independence day today. I woke up at 3:30 this morning coughing and heard Mama get up at about 4:15 to work on some cooking stuff. I was able to fall asleep around 5. There is a bunch of family coming over today. Not sure if it’s for the Independence Day or something else in particular. Some women came over this early this morning to help with cooking. It’s what they do here. If there is a celebration of some sort all the women pitch in to help. Kinda cool.
Kenya has a lot of tribes, Kikuyu, Lua, Masai, Calajin, and a bunch more. This is very much a part of who they are and is a big part of the clashes that occurred a couple years ago. Keep that information in mind as you read on. Last night was the first night in a while of watching TV. It frequently cuts out. Survivor was on and Papa asked me what was going on. I told him there are two tribes who have to compete and at the end of the episode they have to vote somebody off until there is one winner. Papa then asked me what the names of the tribes are. I told that they are made up and given to them, that they are not real tribes. They are Americans. I think he understood at that point. I though that was funny.

Some Rohi kids

2009-12-02T01:40:00.000-08:00

Disneyland!

2009-12-02T01:36:00.000-08:00

12-1-09
Let me try to give you an idea of what a matatu experience is like. Coming from town you must find which matatu to take. You walk through the hustle and bustle of people selling things, people coming and going, matatus moving in all directions and look for a sign placed on top of the vehicle. It seems like chaos. In my case I look for Kiratina. I walk over and step in. It is usually about half full at this point. Capacity is 15 including the driver. When every seat has been filled the driver starts going. Also inside is the “conductor.” He is supposed to wear a maroon shirt, but sometimes this doesn’t happen. The conductor is the one who looks out the window for people who need a ride, and who wants off. He then taps the window or something with a coin or his hand to let the driver know to stop. So, as we head out of the “parking lot,” staging area, we have to inch our way forward through all the other matatus, coming within inches of hitting each other. Most of the time they sound like they are going to fall apart as we move. They look like it too. The van doors don’t always close completely and they just don’t seem like the safest thing. As we get out onto the road, people are jumping out of the way and vehicles are dodging one another. Meanwhile, the passengers are bouncing up and down and swaying back and forth. There were a couple times when a vehicle was coming straight at us and both cars simply maneuver around each other. In America, those are called “close calls.” Mind you, the street is narrow and people are busy all around. We finally get out onto the highway kind of road and get up to speed. Think of the Disneyland ride, Space Tours. The conductor at this time collects the money from people. Costs me 20 shillings. There is no sign or anything telling you how much; it is just kind of known. And if you don’t, you can be ripped off. There are times when we stop to drop people off and slow down enough for people to run up to speed and jump on. Thus is only in some spots and with certain people. Sometimes when there are babies on board and they need to get off, they would hand the baby over to the conductor then get them back when their hands are free. Very helpful in that way. Conductors and drivers change with somebody else at random times. As we exit the main road and head onto the very bumpy dirt road, we come to a complete stop and pick up a few more people. We do this a couple more times. At the most we had was 22 people in the matatu. There were not enough seats for everybody or enough room to squish, so the conductor and another guy just stood out the door holding with one hand on the inside. This is basically what it is like on a typical matatu ride.

12-2
So I guess there were 131 kids registering for Rohi. Those are the ones with all the paperwork. I don’t know how many did not. Last night the family was talking about a lady who was there with her son, grandson (I don’t know) and was acting as if she was blind to give him a better chance of getting in. It is a very difficult job for the teachers and staff to decide who gets admitted in the school.
I was just hanging out on the strip of art stuff with the guys out there. There is one kid is 18 and trying to make money. He wants to go to college, but it costs a bunch of money. Other guys trying to provide for their families. They seem like intelligent, nice people. I told them I’m not buying anything for a while. I think eventually they’ll get it and stop asking. But I enjoy talking with them.

Mom, as far as the dump goes, many of the families there are Christian. What is needed for the preschool, I have no idea. That is kinda what we were looking at when we were there.

3rd Week

2009-12-01T02:59:00.000-08:00

Don’t know if I wrote this before, but I’m writing this stuff in Word then pasting it to blogger, otherwise when I finally get online I would say something even more lame than the rest of this stuff. Everything is sequential but not necessarily one right after the other.

11-25 (Wednesday)

Sometimes I’ll be watching TV with Papa and they would be speaking Kiswahili and then switch to English. At these moments I would think that I was able to understand them amazingly speaking in Kiswahili. And then I am brought back to life and realize the fact of it. It reminds me of the episode of The Simpsons when Bart is sent to France as an exchange student and he’s treated very badly. At the end of the episode he is complaining about “stupid France” and mumbling about how he can’t even speak the language after all the time he’s spent there. And during his mumbling he starts talking in fluent French. That was a good episode. I wish that would happen to me. Here’s a Swahili lesson for you all. “Habari?” means, “how are you?” Then you respond by saying, “Mzuri,” meaning, “I am fine.” Take that one to the bank.

11-26 (THANKSGIVING!!!)

Happy Thanksgiving everybody, even though you won’t be reading this until several days later. Long and tiring day. Komotho, Benard (a Rohi high school kid), and I went to the dump, aka Hilton, today. Took a bota bota (bicycle driver with a cushion on the back) at about 8:30 am to the matatu (public transportation van) to town. Then hopped another matatu up to the dump. Hiked a short hill to the top and saw everything that goes with a trash dump and then some. This dump is complete with pigs, flies, stench, and people living there. Rohi is teaming up with Pastor Hudson and his church to look into starting a preschool there. The questionnaire I wrote up last week was put to use today. Benard and I went to about 18 “houses” and asked some questions to find out some information about the people there. I think there are about 130 people there. It is government land, and they are basically “squatters.” They are there, in short, because of not being able to support themselves financially in their previous homes for one reason or another. Being there is not pleasant. You have to watch where you step or you might find yourself cleaning your shoe of pig/dog feces or something else disgusting. Kirstin, Gladys’ cucu says hi. We took a picture where you took yours. She sends a video message I will show you when I get home. Benard did an awesome job of asking questions and translating. So basically we went from house to house (these houses are basically one room, sometimes split with a sheet down the middle, and made of sticks, plastic, sometimes mud, rocks, and whatever they can find. I’ve seen kids’ forts look better than these) the whole time and finally left around 3:30. It was a good five hours we were there. Then we took a bota bota back to town and ate some good food at Rift Fries. Took matatu and bota bota back to Rohi where we arrived at 6:10. Solid 10-hour day. I went to go for a run but ended up helping pick caels (sp), a plant leaf thing, pretty popular here, for a bit until it got dark. Rohi grows and sells them and other crops for sustainability. I took my camera around with me at the dump so I can put a video together about the place. I need a firewire that will hook up to my camera though. The USB only work from the chip, which is not very good quality. Hopefully the video will help people experience the place. Well, I’m about to eat dinner. Be thankful for what you have on this Turkey Day and pray for those who don’t have as much. It’s amazing how thankful those people are though, thanking God for every little thing. Peace.

11-27

I talked to my family this morning. So good hearing their voices and that everything is good. Unfortunately I used up the entire 1,070 shillings on the call and we got cut off. I just bought those minutes two days ago. Don’t know when I’ll be able to get more. So right now I am locked in the school office. I came into Komotho’s office when everybody was here. I started working on something and people started to slowly leave one by one. Next thing I know I hear the metal door close behind me. And then the lock close shut (can only be unlocked from the outside). By the time I could get over there the person had left. I’m feeling a bit claustrophobic. I hope the place doesn’t catch on fire. All the windows have bars on them. Not to mention no bathroom in here. Hmm, wonder where they all went. I have my phone, but it has no money on it. So funny. I think I could yell out the window if it comes to that point. …. She just came back after several hours (actually about 10 minutes) in solitary confinement. I can breathe again. Looks like I can survive another day in the Wilds of Africa!

I want to talk a bit about Mama and Papa, Papa in particular cuz I’ve talked with him more. Papa is 70 years old. He is a farmer and has been one all his life growing up on Nakuru. He is one of, I think, 17 brothers and sisters from three wives and a single father. He is from the second wife. I am assuming he lived the typical young African farmer’s life and heading down a similar path as his father. When he was 25 years old he was convinced to go to this thing where a preacher was speaking. He wasn’t planning on going and didn’t want to. He told me he had planned on doing “something bad” that night. So he goes to this thing and hears the preacher talk about a person’s soul, and “is anything more important than a man’s soul?” (Matthew 16:26) At this point he realized all the things he was striving for was meaningless if at the end of his life he had everything but his soul would be sent away into eternal destruction. From that point on he changed the way he lived his life. He got married that same year, had a family, and is living an amazing life. The choice he made that day changed the course of not only his life, but also the lives of his children and the generations to follow. His kids, who now have families of their own, could be another African statistic. Not only did he change his family’s life, but he changed the lives of at least hundreds of others. He gave up his land to provide this school called Rohi. He’s a leader in the community and is working on getting irrigation through the farms to the community. He is a good man who cares about the well-being of others in this life and the next. It’s good hearing his thoughts, and him giving me advice on marriage and what not.

You know what bothers me? When the toilet paper layers are not even. You know when the sheets come apart and are like a quarter inch apart? Especially when it’s at the beginning of the roll.

You know that saying, “Wherever you go, there you are.” That’s how it goes right? I used to hear that and say, “Duh!” But, last year in particular when I was here, I really knew what it meant. A lot of times people try to go away from something, a problem or looking for something. Just because the environment is different does not mean your problems will just go away. If you can’t find whatever it is you’re looking for (not necessarily a thing), maybe you’re not looking for what is reality. Don’t know if I’m making sense. For example, if you’re trying to find happiness in a place that is “better” you may never find that place. If you have problems with whatever, you will still have those problems whether you’re in California, Africa, China, Australia,… Just a thought. No matter where you go, the rash will still remain on your butt, and it may get worse. NOTE: This is not from personal experience- the rash thing that is. However, new environments can help in seeing things more clearly or working through a problem. Basically if you’re feeling depressed, don’t spend a bunch of money to go to paradise in Fiji. Spend the money on some meds, then go to Fiji 

I figure I would take this time to thank all the very groovy people who helped me get here. I don’t feel like mentioning everybody, but you know who you are and so does God. So, give yourself a pat on the back. Go on, nobody’s looking. There. Now doesn’t that feel better? Thanks everybody.

I wonder how many people actually read this. I bet like 7 people. And most of them are my family. If you are reading this, pat yourself on the back. I even just did it. I made it look like I was scratching my back cuz Mr. Daniel Komotho is sitting right in front of me. Daniel just read the thing I wrote for the newsletter and deleted “boss” and “Mr.” in front of his name cuz he doesn’t want to be known as that. Such a humble guy. I like him. We’ve had some good laughs.

I’m trying to think about what you all want to hear. So I compiled all the questions we asked yesterday at the dump. We ended up going to 45 homes. We tallied 187 people living there (these numbers can be off and we may not have gone to all the homes), 40 of those are children under the age of 6, and 51 are between the ages of 7 and 13. A lot of those kids walk around barefooted. Many of the women collect plastic bags and weave pretty cool bags out of them. They then sell them.

Some of the jingles for products and shows are pretty funny to me. There’s one for rice that goes, “All Kenya Pishori Rice, Tastes so good, smells so nice.”

11-29 (Sunday)
Don’t think I could watch another episode of “Catalina and Sebastian.” It has to be the worst show ever. As I said before, it is a Mexican soap opera. The music is horrible, the story is horrible, characters are dumb, and the American voice-overs are even worse. I watch the show maybe once or twice a week, and that is way too many times. Feel free to go online and watch an episode yourself. I hear the theme music from the other room and my stomach turns. Ok, I’m getting worked up so I’m moving on to a new subject.
If you ever want to become an instant celebrity, move to Kenya. The only thing required is that you have white skin. I think it’s gonna be weird when I go back to the US and people aren’t looking at me all the time when I go in public and I don’t have to wave hi and say “habari” every 10 seconds when I go on my runs. Although, it is pretty fun when kids come and run beside me for a little bit.
I went to church with Papa today. It was a Swahili service so he gave me the 411 on what was being said, even when a few things were spoken in English. I enjoyed that. One of the ladies prayed for what had to of been at least 15 minutes. I think she matched my word count in that one prayer with my word count for the day. I don’t think I’d be able to do that no matter how hard I try. I’m not a person of many words, if you didn’t know that already. It was cool though. Especially knowing that there are people on the other side of the world who believe the exact same thing as you and are “getting it.” So that makes me happy. After that I had a quality lunch of ugali (it’s like flour, maybe ground corn, and water? It’s mixed and has the consistency of very stiff mashed potatoes? Kinda hard to explain. Go online and google it. It’s doesn’t have much flavor, but it’s good nonetheless.), beans (but it’s not just beans), rice, and a baked/fried bread thing with some meat in it. It started raining at that time for about an hour with some thunder. It then stopped in time for street church. I brought my video camera and was able to record what it’s kinda like. I spoke and did, I think, a decent job. My speaking is not like the usual Kenyan speaking. Kirstin, those Probar things are good. I had my first one today. On the way home from street church we stopped off at the store and I bought the kids with us cookies. I bought some honey for myself to put on my peanut butter and bread in the morning. I’m looking forward to it.

I’m kinda baffled about some stuff. A large majority of people here are Christian. I see many churches, big and very small, like shack small, doing what they do, which I’m not 100% sure what they do. They might just be a social club or they might be doing good stuff. I’m not in the position to say. However, if a Christian’s job is to feed the hungry, help the poor, spread the gospel, etc, then why are there so many poor, hungry, spiritually deprived people here. Yet there are a lot of Christians here. Now, I have only been here for three weeks now, so I have only seen a tiny bit, and I do not know everything that people are doing. They can be doing a lot, and I just don’t see it. They can be doing so little. I met and spoke briefly to a man named Joseph and his wife Molly. They are from the US and are doing some amazing things here. One of the last things he said before he went was that if everybody who is doing something here teamed up, Kenya could be rid of many of the problems they have, poverty, kids on the streets, disease, etc. So, why don’t people do it? I know some people have great ambitions to start a school or orphanage or hospital or whatever, and they do it. That’s great! But, if they were to put their resources, (money, creativity, etc) into an already existing facility or organization, could they have helped the situation even more. For example, if a hospital is just scraping by financially and another one is set up 3 miles away from that one, don’t you think the problem would not get better. If the money was put into helping that struggling one, then it could be more productive and the mind power of it would be multiplied to doing so much more. Why reinvent the wheel when you could just add a patch to a deflating tire. In some cases starting over is a must, but only in rare situations. I just wish all the great minds here, and there are a lot of them could get together and figure this thing out. I’m sure there are several factors that go into why things are the way they are, but something has to give. I think I might be writing and trying to problem solve. In the meantime, if you are planning on starting an orphanage here, don’t! Find one that is doing it right and pour yourself into that. Thank you and goodnight.

11-30
I was talking to Daniel about Kenyan food told him that I want to videotape Mama one day cooking. And then I thought we could make a cooking show out of it. Americans love their cooking shows. Daniel said maybe Pauline, one of the secretaries here, can do it. We can then edit it and make it look good, combine it with a cookbook, and sell them. That’s a pretty good idea if I say so myself.

It’s pretty busy right now at Rohi. People are coming from all over to apply to go here. I would guess that there are probably at least 100 kids with their guardians here applying. I just asked Pastor Juma how they decide who gets in. I think he said the main thing is to see if they are orphans. It’s strange cuz I see all these kids and they seem really happy like normal kids. But a large majority of them don’t have parents for whatever reason. They are being taken care of by grandparents, aunts, uncles, whoever. It can be fairly easy to overlook this stuff if you don’t pay attention, although much more blatant than in the US. I was standing next to the door of the office as all the women were giving their paperwork (birth certificates, ids, etc) and I see a lady holding a death certificate. I don’t know whom it’s for, but that child has been greatly affected. That is why when I go for my runs and kids come running out from nowhere and yell, “Mzungu! How are you?” I do my best to respond to each kid with words, a wave, eye contact, or something. You never know when a tiny gesture might make all the difference in the world.

12-1-09
Came to town for the first time by myself today. I’m sitting here at Guava Café drinking a milkshake. Pretty good. I made my first appearance on the street, going to where the art stuff is. Kirstin, Vincent says hi. Also Sammy, if you know him. They seem like cool guys. I kinda feel like this is the start of some good stuff. I walked around the block, and at Nyayo Gardens (I would hardly call it gardens) is an HIV/AIDS rally thing. Some people talking, testing, counseling. That was good to see. Then a couple street kids looked at me, they looked at each other, then started, “I’m hungry! Can you give me some money or food?” It was perfectly on cue. They need to work on making it more convincing though. They hid the glue as I approached. Their English was pretty good. One of the kids was 13 and the other 11. They said they were on the street for over a year. I was talking to them about what they want to be and asked if they were in school. They said “no,” and I said how are you gonna be an engineer and pilot if you’re not in school. I asked if they did glue, and smiled wanting to say no. I asked if they think they should, and said they should not. I asked why they do it. They said it helps with the stress. Then I said a few other things. These two kids seemed pretty smart. I’m hoping I will see them around. So that was my first day on my own. There were a few kids I saw with nail polish on their toes or fingers. This, I think but will confirm, is to show that they are available for sexual acts.

The weather has been good. It's been about mid to upper 70s. But when the sun comes out, it's intense! I'm sure to bring my hat with me. I have to go. Gonna try to make it back for Swahili class with Troy and his family. I don't think I answered questions that were asked. Sorry. i'll try to maybe tomorrow when i have more time.

Hey yo!

2009-11-27T04:04:00.000-08:00

I was able to get on Daniel Komotho's computer real fast. I figure I'll update all the other stuff when I get more. My Thanksgiving was pretty good. Said thanks a few times during the day. Ate Mama's food was good as usual. I wrote this thing up real quick today for the Rohi newsletter: Telling people, especially young people that I was going to Kenya they would usually say something regarding AIDs or poverty.Yes, there is that in plenty.But the world, particularly Americans, view Kenya as just that.After being here twice before for two weeks each, I had a decent idea of what I can expect. Now in my third week here for what will be 12 weeks I have seen Kenya, at least Nakuru and the culture, in a new light. You can only see and experience so much when you are with a large group and have everything planned out for you for those two weeks of short-term missions. Although they are definitely good and I think necessary, they are limiting.With Mr. Daniel Komotho as my on-site guide and boss, he has done an amazing job of introducing me to the ins and outs of Kenyan life. We have already taken the bota bota (seat on the back of a bicycle) and hopped a ride in the, always exciting, stuffed to the brim matatu (public transportation vans) several times. I have eaten real Kenyan food (Mama’s cookin’ is so good) and have been educated on subjects such as marriage dowries and rites of passage, both intriguing topics to talk about with the Rohi staff.In the midst of getting used to the change around me, I find that the Rohi staff is absolutely constant in one thing, their solid belief that God is the always consistent, savior of the world.It is through Him that this organization has a real life-giving mentality that is carried out and experienced by the street boys, those living at the dump, neighbors, and the kids at Rohi.Ben Vose, the intern
So yeah. I don't know what I'm doing the rest of the day. Kinda tired. I think maybe next time I will try to download pictures. Would you all like that? Is there anything that you guys want to know. Ask me some questions. If I deem them worthy I will answer :) Well, have a good day.

It's been just over 2 weeks

2009-11-25T02:32:00.000-08:00

11-19 Happy Birthday Brother Philip!

My little brother is 24 yrs old today! Wow! I am so proud of him (not because he’s 24).

I woke up this morning, got out of bed, and found a spider the size of my head. Ok, not even close, but it was still a nice sized spider. It was just chillin on the net over my bed. Thank God for nets. This guy looked like the same one from the first day I had arrived. The moments that ensued became the battle of the century… I started with peace in mind, trying to get it on the Clif bar wrapper (good call Kirstin on the Clif bars, and flavor, peanut butter), so I could get it outside. After many attempts with it scurrying away, it finally fell onto my shoes, which were not on my feet at the time. I shook it but no spider appeared. After looking for a few moments I decided to I’d continue my day and make sure my sheets were cleared when I went to bed. At that moment I saw it on my bed. I went to grab it, but it disappeared. Looked around and finally saw it. We staring each other eye to eye, neither of us backing down. The taste of death was in its mouth. The taste of morning breath in m-i-n-e. I decided that peace was no longer an option at this point. I tried peaceably to set it free, but my foe wouldn’t hear of it. So I unsheathed my Clif bar wrapper and prepared to do battle. I welded my sword, I mean wrapper, high above my head and brought down with such great force and swiftness that even the bravest and toughest of men could not bare it. The eight legged beast had never experienced such great power in all its life. “Parry, parry, thrust, thrust. Good.” The blow dazed him. It tried to get away but another blow had caused its eight legs to stagger beneath its body. It was at this point that I had decided to show mercy upon my formidable foe and grabbed it and threw it out the window. It put up a valiant fight and lost. I spared its life in hopes that in honor of the fight his opponent put up that had defeated him, the Great Spider would catch flies and mosquitoes that came to do war upon his worthy opponent (me). Good show.

11-20 (Saturday)

Some goings ons in Kenya now: The World Cup recently passed through Kenya and is making its way around Africa. It will eventually land in South Africa where the soccer/ football tournament will be played. There are a bunch of people living in Mau Forest and they are being told that they can’t stay there anymore. Not really sure why. Most of the news is in Swahili. So now they have built shelters outside of the forest and staying there. Also, the Kenyan government created a new constitution. It is being circulated in the country for people to read it for the next 30 days to approve or disapprove of it. Kinda interesting. Very few people have access to it. Wondering what will happen next.

A couple days ago, Collins, a 12 yr old skinny kid, was playing with another kid and had his hands held behind his back. A group of us were standing around when Collins fell face first into the cement floor with his hands held behind his back. Didn’t sound good. I went down to him and saw what I was hoping was a piece of corn… it was 2/3 of his front tooth. The kid laid there for a few moments, a few tears dropping, then he got up and we went to the nurse. She gave him some pain meds. Tough kid.

Some of the men staff members are planning to hike up Mt. Kenya. I was invited, so we had a meeting yesterday. So funny. Mr. Richard led, and in typical Kenyan Rohi fashion, had everything planned out about what we were going to talk about. If you’ve been here you understand. If not, just imagine the most formal meeting ever where the group has never met each other. Roles were given out and some other logistics were also accomplished. Anthony gave his 2 cents a bunch. Then we went over to the camping stuff that another group brought earlier in the year. We went over what a sleeping bag is and had somebody demonstrate how to use it. He got in and lay there. So funny. Only one or two of the 11 guys had ever been in a sleeping bag, and only a couple in a tent. I wish I had video of it. The whole meeting was thoroughly enjoyable. There are some funny guys. Mr. Mamba (says hi) with his ugali, a Kenyan food, comments were pretty funny. It’s ironic how I packed so little to come to a place where they have so little. Yet when it’s time for camping/ backpacking they seem like they’ve been spoiled all their life with the best of everything. It was like watching a bunch of manly men learning about makeup and how to apply it. I’m looking forward to this trip. We’re leaving Dec. 7 and will spend a couple days hiking. We won’t be able to hit the peak because it is so high and, I guess, oxygen is needed for the final ascent. There is sow on top, and almost none of them have seen snow. However, we won’t be able to touch it because it’s too high.

Last week a couple girls asked me if I knew Catalina and Sebastian. I said, “No, are they your sponsors?” They said “no.” They said they live in California and are on TV. I chuckled to myself about their assumption that I knew actors. I never heard of this Catalina and Sebastian, and that night guess whom showed up on TV? “Catalina and Sebastian” came on. Papa watches TV every night and I join him in the viewing of shows such as “Two and a Half Men,” “NCIS” (you can survive here family!), a Jon Ritter hosted magic show, news in Swahili and English, “Beba Beba” (Kenyan show), and others. I think I watch more TV here than I did at home. Anyways, “Catalina and Sebastian” is a Mexican soap opera that is in Spanish and poorly voiced over in English. In my opinion, very bad, but the kids love it.

I’ve had a lot of time to do pretty much nothing. At home I would occupy myself with something. I don’t have access to that stuff here. So I find myself pondering things and praying. I think it is good to slow down and listen. When I am home I try to slow down every once in a while, but here I have no choice. And the thing is, I have no idea what I am doing the next day. I can’t even plan for that. But I think it’s good for me.

Every morning I feel so tired when I wake up. I get out of bed and Mama has breakfast on the table at about 7:30. I have tea, Kenyan tea bag (KETEPA?) with hot water, milk, and sugar. I’m getting used to it. I never drink tea at home. Sometimes there are a couple hard boiled eggs or cereal bar things or banana. There is always bread and peanut butter. When I have a banana I slice it onto the bread and peanut butter. Mmmmmm. Sometimes I think somebody in my family told Mama to make sure there is peanut butter. Let me talk about peanut butter for a moment. Peanut butter is amazing! It is so diverse and compliments most anything. Bananas. Check. Apples. Check. French toast, pancakes, honey, nutella, cookies. The list goes on and on. PB and jelly, always classic and a staple for me at home. God did something very good when peanut butter was created. So I want everybody to make today peanut butter appreciation day. Here’s to you Peanut Butter. I salute you.

11-23 (Monday)

Happy Anniversary to my mom and Glenn! I reckon it’s been 12 years…! And as far as I know there haven’t been any black eyes or blood drawn. Let’s keep that up J

Around November and December in most of Africa, male circumcision is going on. If you don’t know what that is go ask some random person in the street. Daniel Komotho was educating me on the tradition. For most Africans this occurs around the ages of 12-15 years old. When you get this done you are then seen as a man. It is a tribal tradition that is honored. There are a few kids at Rohi who are going under the knife. They are bringing somebody in to do it. I want to see the looks on the kids’ faces as they walk into that room. Anyways, I guess if you are an older guy and not circumcised and people find out, they will strip you naked, put you on a cart pulled by a donkey, and have ask people for money to get the procedure done. Daniel was laughing as he was telling me this. You are not really a man if you are not circumcised and all the childish things that you do will be seen as the result of you not doing it. So if you are not, go talk to your doctor. Female circumcision, on the other hand, is very bad. Some tribes still practice this. Maybe Kirstin can post a comment explaining what she knows about it.

Went to street church yesterday. The food being handed out at the end became, as usual, a pushing match for some. But it was good. I saw a kid named Jimmy who I met a couple years ago on my first trip. He was at the Rescue Center at the time but ran away and is now in the streets. He looks healthy though and says he is doing well. I didn’t see him with glue so that’s good.

I was hoping this wouldn’t happen, but I guess it was inevitable. Kids at the school are asking for money. A couple kids asking for money so they can go home. I gave one kid some money. Another kid asked also. I got a call last night from Elijah asking for money for “finances.” It’s really hard because I know I have more money than their families, but I am not the richest American around. I also don’t want to just hand out money and be known for that. But I also want to be a good steward and generous. Does that mean handing out money? Not necessarily. Are there times for that? Definitely. But when they see me as the moneybag and that is what I am good for, then I have a problem. So I am going to have to figure this one out and do some consulting. I like to know the people pretty well before handing out money. Uggh.

I am eating dinner no earlier than 7:45 pm. I don’t like eating so late. I don’t think I sleep as well when I do. I’ve been going to bed around 9 pm. And waking up a few times in the night/morning and feeling like I didn’t even sleep when I wake up at 6:30-7am. I am sleeping more here than I did at home. Is it because of eating right before bed? I think it’s contributing to it.

I’ve gone for a couple runs out on the road. All the kids start yelling, “How are you?” and “mzungu.” Some run with me for a bit. But everybody takes a long look. I think at my white legs. A man introduced himself as Snake ran with me for a bit the other day. He was talking about me, or him, couldn’t really understand, going to the World Cup in South Africa. I think he wanted me to give him money so he could go. I told him that as soon as he gave me a million dollars I would take him.

Yesterday I helped do some “slashing.” They don’t use lawn mowers, so they have long machete-like knives curved at the end to cut the grass. They just swing it back and forth. As a result my baby, un-calloused hands have two nice sized blisters on each.

A high school kid named Bakari asked me last week if he could wash my shoes for me. I hesitated wanting to say no. They’re just shoes. But who am I to tell him no. If he really wants to wash my shoes and feels like that is what he should do, then ok. So I gave him my shoes, and he gave me his nice, clean white ones, which are now not so clean after wearing them for a few days. Sorry Bakari. Now that I think about it, Bakari is one of the kids who asked for money so he could go home. He lives on the far side of Kenya near Uganda. Maybe he was anticipating that this question of asking for money would eventually come up and would soften me by washing my shoes. Maybe I’m wrong and bad for thinking that. Either way I like Bakari.

11-24

It’s been two weeks that I’ve been in Nakuru. I think things are good. The last couple days have been good. I’ve been of some use. I did some typing on my laptop. They were so happy, and impressed at how quickly I got through the stuff. I’m really not even close to amazing by American standards. Some of the people here hadn’t touched a computer until a few years ago. I’ll be going to the dump I think Thursday and Friday. I think I might be teamed up with Benard, a high school student, to go around and do the survey thing. Tell you about it when I get there. The evenings now are so beautiful. The clouds fill part of the sky in a puffy but dominating sort of way. As the sun sets, the clouds and the sky silhouetted by mountains on the horizon gleam an amazing orange. The wind blows through the thin trees, making it seem like there’s a storm coming, but it blows itself out within moments. Little birds, some flashing bight colors, sing. While other not so elegant birds gawk through the sky. The sheep, along with a little white lamb with a black spot covering one of its eyes, wander around the house looking for long grass to chew on. I’ve learned something: I can be utterly useless and bored out of my mind, or I can look at things the way they were made to be looked at and enjoyed. I’m gonna do my best to do the latter.

Thought of the day: There are a lot of black people in Kenya.

11-25

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody! I'm at Cafe Guava right now. Things are good. Went to eat with Daniel. Dixon says hi to all that know him. Thanks to everybody who posts. It's really encouraging. I'm drinking a "smoothie" right now. Just remembered there is water in juice. Hopefully I won't get sick. It could also be that fish I ate for lunch. Not really used to getting served fish with the head and all. So, I will talk to you all later. Love you all. Take care.

Yay in Kenya!

2009-11-18T03:19:00.000-08:00

11/11/09 (Wednesday)

Slept pretty good on the plane. Arrived in Nairobi at about 9pm on Monday. Victor picked me up from the airport and we stayed the night in a hotel. I slept really well despite the cramp I got in my calf while I was sleeping. Still a little sore. We drove the two hours to Nakuru Tuesday morning. I was hoping to meet up with Denny. Unfortunately we passed each other. Bummer. When I got here I met with Daniel Komotho (he’s the guy who does the stuff street stuff-more about that in a bit), Anthony, Daniel, and others. We did the usual Kenyan thing and did an introduction and that sort of thing. Then… I kinda just sat around for a while. I was ready for it though. Americans like to get stuff done quickly and hop to it. Kenyans, not so much. But I was perfectly good with that cuz I was a bit tired. I met Mama and Papa, the people I am staying with. It is on their land that Rohi was built. They are very welcoming and speak decently good English. My room is good too, blue on a couple walls, white on the others. Bed is stiff but comfortable and the pillow is filled with wool, needs quite a bit of fluffing.

I went to town with Daniel and did a few things. The roads here are not very, umm, organized. People walking in the roads, cars going everywhere, businesses on the side of the street. And pedestrians do not have the right of way. So Daniel and I went to the town office and, well, sat and didn’t do really anything. We waited for a call from Safari, the cell phone and internet place to go (I guess kinda like a Verizon?). Something wasn’t working on the internet connection they gave him. I was prepared for this cuz Kirstin, my sister, informed me about it ☺ Then we came back to Rohi and I fell asleep for 3 hours and was awakened for dinner at 10pm. Great dinner! Then I slept until 4:50am. At 7:15, had tea and some bread, it was actually like French toast except no syrup, and peanut butter (If you have not had French toast with peanut butter spread on it, syrup, and powder sugar, you have not yet lived life!). Helped correct English exams for Form 3 (equivalent to junior year of high school). That was interesting.

I have not yet seen many of the kids I know. They are taking their final exams, which is a big deal in Kenya, especially grade 8 exams. Went to the town office again with Daniel and we sat. At this point thinking that me being here is kinda useless. But I remind myself that if God wants me here then there is some purpose. And we talked. Daniel is a cool guy. Finally people started coming in. Most people know that if they need something they go to the town office. First person to come in was a street boy, well former street boy. He has place to stay now and seemed to be getting his life together. One of the main things Daniel does is help the street “boys” get id’s. In Kenya you can’t get a job without one. Very important. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but when there is no birth certificate, they show up sometimes, and other factors, things aren’t so easy. Many others came in. I sat and listened as Daniel and the person spoke Swahili. A missionary lady came in. It was neat hearing from her. She has several things going on here that is making a difference. She has a few boys that she took in from the streets that are at Rohi.
That’s mostly it. I’m feeling pretty good. I seem to be getting tired around 6pm. I think Kenya might be 11 hours ahead of California. In a couple weeks Daniel and I will be going to the dump to do some stuff. He wants to put a video together about it to get the word out about the over 100 families living on trash. So I may have to teach myself how to use this i-movie.

11-13 (Friday)
The students are taking their exams, so I’ve been helping the teachers grade papers. I would get through them and just sit for a while. Sometimes a long while. I was smart today and brought a book and my journal. The teachers at the secondary are cool people. One guy, Mr. Kumau, is engaged and we started talking about dowries. They seemed surprised that Americans did not practice giving dowries to the mother’s family. I told the guys that if they want to save money they can marry a mzungu (white person) woman. They got a good laugh out of that. So if there are any ladies interested let me know and I’ll hook you up ☺ During the times that I’m just sitting there and feel useless I wonder if my time would have been better spent at home doing what I’ve been doing, and all the money that was spent getting here would have been in better use just sending it to Rohi and have them spend it where it needs to be spent. Then I think, “I have been thinking about coming here for a long time and I’m here now. This whole thing is not a mistake. God has something planned for me. Whether it is what I originally planned or something completely different, I don’t know but I can trust that I am here purposely. God has proved it many times before.” So that is where I am currently.
Yesterday I played soccer. Anthony recruited me and wants me to play with them tomorrow (Saturday) in the semi-final of a league or something. During the game he stepped on my toe with his cleats. It didn’t feel great and I noticed that blood was beginning to seep through my running shoes. It was bleeding pretty good. I put issue on it and kept playing. It feels fine now. It was only a little cut.

There was a giant beetle on my bed the other day. That thing was probably about 2 inches long. I showed him the way out the door. I ran the last two mornings at about 6 am. Getting up at this time is not a big thing considering I’ve been waking up at about 5. I was tired, I must admit. Not running for the last couple weeks and going to elevation takes a toll on you. Soon enough I’ll be running under 4 minutes in the mile…I can dream right? I won’t pain you with bathroom stories. I’ll keep those to personal conversations. Not many to report though, so that’s good. I have only seen a couple mosquitoes, and only one here in Nakuru. I slapped it out of the air. Stupid things. Not too much else going on. Talked with the high school students today. That was good. Felix says he likes “krunk” music so I might bring out my computer next week and show him some Bay Area stuff. Haha. I’ll censor it. Don’t worry.

11-15 (Sunday)
Went to street church today and finally got to see what I thought of when I wanted to come here. Rohi does street church where all the people on the streets or anybody else can come and hear some good stuff. The kids from Rohi high school basically do everything, music, the talk, and everything else. It’s awesome stuff seeing teenagers care about their own people and do something about it. You don’t see that too much in America. The Rohi kids are very special. When it is over we hand out food to them. Some of them haven’t eaten much in days. One of the things that sadden me is the kids (starting at like 6 years old, maybe younger) who have no shoes, wear tattered clothes, and are high off of glue. I walked to the church where we were meeting and saw the kids being patted down at the door for glue bottles. When was the last time you saw a 6 year old being patted down? These kids carry bottles of glue around, puffing on them. It suppresses their hunger, kills their thoughts about doing anything positive, and kills them slowly. I shook their hands (they like it when a white person greets them) not thinking much about it until I got to a kid whose eyes and nose were watering a lot. His hand was wet. Touching a person is more important than fear. Reminds me of a couple stories. The first is with Mother Theresa. She touched and cared for people with leprosy. Most people shunned them. Could you imagine how that made that person feel? He probably hadn’t been touched in possibly years. Where do you think she learned it? Jesus of course. He walked around doing it all the time. Yes he healed them when he touched them, but when that very important man made his way from the crowd of people to where the leper sat, far from everybody else and put his hand on him… holy smokes! Everybody must have thought he was crazy, seriously. Anyways, I sat next to them during church. Some went to sleep. Some danced around during the songs (some of them can move!). Some were glazed over. Very sobering for me, and I hope I never get used to it. The whole thing was good. Comparing those kids to the kids at Rohi is like night and day. Sometime I will go into specifics. Did I mention the kid who spoke lived on the streets for a year? He must have been no older than 12 at the time. He was one of them. His name is Peter. What a transformation! You would never guess. Stories like this are not rare at Rohi. From despair to hope is common.

11-18 (Wednesday)
Things are good. I'm at Guava Cafe. They have wireless internet. Not too fast though. I'm gonna make this last bit quick before it stops working. I'm helping Daniel Komotho with a survey of the dump to see how many families and kids are there. Rohi and co. want to start a nursery school. That's all for now.

Traveling

2009-11-08T23:13:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in Amsterdam airport right now. I'm pretty tired. Spent yesterday in NY city walking around. Note to self: Don't wear sanook sandals, carry a 20 lb backpack, and carry a 12 lb bag when you're expecting to walk several miles. Result: sore shoulders, hips, slightly blistered feet (not too bad though), and extremely tired. GOOD TIMES! Took the subway into the city and had a croissant, banana, and water for breakfast at Central Park at about 8 am NY time, 5 am Cali time. Really cool place. People going for runs and riding bikes, walking dogs. Don't see that in Fremont much. The went to Redeemer church where Tim Keller is the pastor. I wanted to fall asleep due to the 3 hours of not so good sleep on the plane. It was good though. Met a couple women who said some really encouraging things and gave me an agenda of what to see in a few hours. So I walked through Central Park, again cool stuff, walked to Times Square and down Broadway. Would have been better if somebody was there with me. Checked out the Public Library, huge! And Grand Central Station. Then went back to the airport. Doesn't sound like much, but it was a ton. Fell asleep a little in the airport, then I hopped a plane to Amsterdam where I am now. The plane ride consisted of about an hour of sleep from before takeoff, but left me with another 5 hours about. Watched a couple movies and tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep.

That's the extent of my adventures thus far. Seems like so much more. Heading for Nairobi in a couple hours, a good 8 hour ride. Slumber, please come upon me!

Thought of the day for everybody: Am I living a self-centered life, or living a life for others and God? Tim Keller said something along these lines yesterday. What you choose in these two choices leads where your life will go and the legacy left when you're gone. Hmmm....

Peace!

2009-11-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

So there are 4 more days until I leave at 10:25 pm. I arrive in NY at 7 am eastern time and have about an 11 hour layover. I figure I'm gonna hop a taxi and check out Times Square and see as much as possible before I head back to JFK airport. Then it's off to Amsterdam, few hours hanging in the airport, and finally to Nairobi, Kenya. I'll be getting there Monday night. Kenya is 10 hours ahead of California. Usually I don't sleep much on flights, so it should be interesting.

I am going to be there until Jan 30, that's a pretty long time. I'll be honest, I'm a bit nervous, but

not worried. I met most of the people before, but it's different when you are going to be living with them and not having your daily routine at home. Guess I'll just have to develop a new one.

For those of you who don't know I have been to Nakuru, Kenya twice before on 2 week trips. I am going by myself through Cornerstone church in Livermore. Yes, I am a Christian, that is I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, accept what He did for me, and read the Bible as it is written. Will I talk to people about God while I'm there?... when it's time. Will I indoctrinate them? Heck no techno. I am going to help teach at a school called Rohi (http://www.rohikenya.org) Also, gonna just be with the kids living on the streets. What that is going to look like I am not sure. I imagine that I'm just gonna hang out with them, toss a frisbee around, kick a soccer ball. I'm gonna follow the lead of Mr. Komotho, a teacher at Rohi who works with the street kids. I want to get the kids off sniffing glue, get them back into school or a job, help them start a new, healthy life. Sounds simple. Well, we'll see how it goes. I'll keep updating. Peace.

2009-10-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

So I haven't been on here in a really long time. I'm gonna be going to Kenya in a few weeks, and I figured that this will be one of the ways I will communicate with people while I'm there. Facebook and email are good, but I can't write to everybody. So if you want to know what I'm up to check this thing out and leave a comment if your heart so desires.

Elephantitis

2007-11-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

So here are a couple elephants I've made for a friend who is raising money for a trip to Kenya, the same school I went to, Rohi. It was pretty fun working on something different thaan usual and trying pay a bit more attention to detail. Anyways, here they are. I'm kinda liking them unpainted. Oh well.

First pictures up

2007-09-22T22:11:00.001-07:00

So, this is new for me. Showing people stuff that I've made is not what I do. Usullay I make something and it just sits there gathering dust. At least here it can gather dust on the internet. Anyways, here some stuff I've mad in the last couple months. Trying to do things out of my comfort zone and see what I like and don't like and good at. So here they are.

Art for Africa

2007-08-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking I want to raise money for kids in Africa. I recently got back from Kenya and feeling like I should do someething about the extreme poverty I saw. So, since I like to sculpt and make stuff (not particularly great at it but not horrible)I want to sell it and give the money to those people. I also want to get other artists involved.

GREETINGs

2007-08-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hi there. I love you even if you don't know me. Remember that, OK!