Sunday - Mavuno Church

I accidentally made arrangements to go to two churches on Sunday. I was going to try out Miriam and David's church in Nairobi but when Miriam was sick all week with typhoid and an amoeba infection, I made plans to go to the Karen Vineyard again with Scilia's family - also in Nairobi. I had gone there the week before and absolutely loved it. It has the same flavor of any other Vineyard and the Pastor is Canadian so I could fully enter into the worship and could get lost in the sermon with no strange accents to overcome. This Vineyard is actually a pretty wealthy church that is located in a private school for privileged children. Most of the people attending it are businessmen, those involved with the United Nations or embassies and many missionaries that have come from all over the world. I felt so at home there that it was a great short term escape from my life at the base. Oh, and they offer free coffee with cream during the break between the two services so that gets it a thumbs up right off the bat!!! I can count on one hand the number of times I have had coffee since arriving here. Late Saturday night I found out that Miriam and David did want to go to church and had made arrangements to use the YWAM base's car so they needed a full vehicle to help pay for the gas. I altered my plans and went to Mavuno Church for a 9:00 A.M. service. This church is huge - between 3,000 & 3,500 attend each week. Most of the people who attended it were in their 20's & 30's so the praise and worship was very lovely but a bit too loud for me. ( I never thought I would say that - I must be getting older.) It really was a great church for this age group and the Pastor had an excellent, practical sermon on love and dating. They are even playing parts of his sermon on one of the radio stations in Nairobi because it has caught the attention of some outside the church. The church is housed in a number of huge tents. We were in the main one that probably holds about 1000 people but they had other ones where you could watch the service by remote TV. They had a restaurant and drink bar at the church so Miriam and David headed off theree after the service while 3 of us went to another meet and greet tent for visitors. We were given large glasses of mango juice while they told us about their church. I was really impressed with the level of organization at this church because it is distinctly unusual for Kenya. After church, Miriam and David asked us if we would like to go out for lunch. Of course we wanted to get some good food so we headed off to the Java House for chicken burgers, salad and coffee. The food there was fantastic! We finished off a beautiful day with some window shopping in one of the malls. It is so uplifting to get off the base on the weekend for a change of scenery and some good food.

Saturday Afternoon in Nairobi

As we left the slum, those of us who were from North America pulled out our hand sanitizer and cleaned the germs from the slum off our hands. We raced to the city centre to exchange some of our money before the banks closed. I ended up visiting 5 banks but none were willing to cash my travelers cheques. I didn't think this would be such an impossible task in such an international city but the Kenyan banks are very strange about money. They will not exchange American dollars that are older than the year 2008. If you hand them an American bill with a fold in it, they will give you a much lower exchange rate. Anyways, I ended up getting a cash advance from Visa to provide myself with some cash for this weekend. We all decided to go to an Ethioian restaurant that Warrio had heard was very good. We didn't really know where it was so ended up walking through a large part of the city centre where all of the government buildings are. It is actually a very nice part of the city with parks and beautiful old Bitish buildings as well as modern sky scrapers. We were very hot and hungry when we arrived at the restaurant. We sat in an area with a large U-shaped couch and a coffee table to eat from. Warrio and Addis suggested a vegetarian dish that they thought we would like as well as a curried beef and chicken dish. The food was really flavorful which is something that we have all been craving as Kenyan food is very bland. The Ethiopians do not use utensils to eat their food but use a crepe type fermented bread called injira to scoop their food off their plates and into their mouth. They also eat from communal plates. The curried chicken came with one breast of chicken on top and I had ordered this dish to share with Ian so I asked how we were going to divide up the chicken. I was hoping Warrio would ask the waiter for a knife to cut it but he picked up the chicken breast and started pulling it apart with his fingers. It was quite tough so he passed it to Addis to finish the job. They then held out the plate to me so that I could take my portion of the chicken. I was in shock as neithr of these guys had washed their hands since shaking everyone's hands in the slum. I wanted to pass on the chicken but thought that would be too rude, so I took the smallest piece that I could find and said a quick prayer over it before popping it in my mouth. After the main course we had an Ethiopian coffee ceremony. The coffee was served in a demi tasse and was very strong but not at all bitter! It was actually very delicious! When we were finished lunch we went to the supermarket to stock up on foods to supplement our meals at the base. I got oatmeal, peanut butter, cashews, almonds, figs, dates, and chocolate. I think you can see that food has become very important to us! Warrio then led us all to a stand where you could get huge fruit salads or mango/beet juice/avocado drinks. I went for the drink and the other Canadians went for both. We were then escorted to the bus stop and said good-bye to Warrio and Addis as they were staying in the city overnight. We always have to make sure that we get back to the base before night fall as it is very dangerous for us to be out in the dark. Shortly before our bus stop Joelle started urging us to get off the bus so we got the driver to stop and let us off. Joelle got the runs and felt like she was going to explode on the bus so was in a big hurry to get off. She departed in such a hurry that she forgot her I-pod so everyone on the bus was calling us to come back and get it. I thought that was extremely honest of them considering the level of poverty in this area. We walked for about a half an hour back to our base and were quite happy to miss dinner and have a quick sponge bath to cool off.

This Weekend - A Visit to Makuru Slum in Nairobi

This weekend was really great. It all started with a quiet afternoon on Friday when all of my roommates headed off to Machacos to the open market. I was totally out of funds because I could not find a bank in Machacos that was willing to cash my travelers cheques. On Saturday, we would be heading into Nairobi so I was hoping that with it being a large international centre, the banks would be willing to cash it there. Anyways, it was such a treat to have some time to myself. I washed clothes, e-mailed, read and listened to my radio (a huge luxury) while I was puttering around. The girls had a great time in Machacos and came back laden down with produce for smoothies - a blended drink of fruit and green leafy vegetables that we supplement out diet with - as well as a number of purses and a dress. Friday night after everyone had returned home, it started to pour outside. This was the first rain we had had since last August! We were all pretty excited when we saw it pelting down because it meant that we would not have to haul buckets of water out to our gardens to water them that evening. On Saturday, we headed off to Nairobi with a few of our classmates. My 3 roommates, Ian (a Civil Engineer from Tanzania), Warrio and Addis (two classmates from Ethiopia)and I hit the road around 9:00 A.M. We had arranged to visit the slum that Warrio grew up in. He had been sent there as a young boy to live with an older brother. Lynda and Dale, the founders of Organics 4 Orphans, had suggested that we visit The Kibara slum while we were here as it was one of the largest slums in the world and something worth experiencing. We shared this with some of our classmates from Kenya and they told us we would not be allowed to enter without armed police guarding us as Al Shaabab had taken up residence in this area. They are the terrorist group that has taken over much of Somalia and are presently at war with Kenya. We decided we did not want to be depending on the police to protect our lives as being a policeman in Kenya is just a license to take bribes. They do not seem very trustworthy and I remember when I was in Mozambique with Heidi and Roland baker that Heidi told me she told her children that if they ever saw the police to start walking in the opposite direction. Most of them are quite corrupt. Since Warrio grew up in an adjacent slum to Kibara we asked him if he would be willing to show us around his old stomping grounds. He was very happy to do so and suggested that we head off early in the morning before the sun was too hot and the stench too bad in the slum. We took a matatu (public bus) into Nairobi. That is always an experience in itself. These guys drive like maniacs. They are always in a hurry because time is money so they constantly pass other vehicles on the shoulder of the highway, in the ditches, or just by flinging themselves in front of oncoming traffic and hoping that they will slow down and let them into their lane of traffic rather than collide with them. It's best to keep your eyes off the road when riding these buses because you constantly feel like screaming out warnings to the driver. We walked from the main highway to the slum that was Warrio's old neighborhood. We passed through a shopping mall collinade and stepped into a whole new world. The slums were not too bad at this point because the main street was still paved and people lived in cinderblock apartment blocks where families would live in either a 1 or 2 room apartment. Clothes were drying in the wind as they hung from all the balconies and from clothes lines on the roof tops. There were sewage ditches on the sides of the road and planks across them where stalls were set up and people were selling their wares. People were everywhere! As we walked deeper into the slums it became much dirtier. The streets were just mud and the homes were made from sticks and sheets of corrugated tin. There were goats walking everywhere and garbage cluttering the streets and gutters. There was feces on the street as many just squat and go where they are. We passed some men rolling oil drums through the streets and were told that they were collecting feces and removing it to a place just outside the slum. People still had their businesses set up on the side of the road beside the gutters but they were tiny booths made from sticks with plastic to shade them from the sun. It was interesting to see people getting their hair cut by the side of the road and then they would burn the hair in front of the beauty salon. There was a number for the fire department painted on one of the walls so I asked Warrio how long it would take them to arrive at the fire. He just laughed and said normally 2 hours and by then the residents had put it out. There is absolutely no space between buildings so I could see that they would really need to get the fire out quickly. Warrio met up with a number of his old friends and after introducing them to us, they joined us on our walk. We went down a tiny, muddy side street and came to a school where one of Warrio's friends, Kim, worked. Warrio had worked along side him for 7 years in his old neighborhood. Kim was an absolute delight as is Warrio by the way. They are both such gentle, loving guys that you really wonder how they turned out so well living in this environment their whole lives. Warrio said that 75% of the kids he knew growing up are dead now from diseases, violence and drugs. Kim showed us around his school. It was in a very confined area with tiny classrooms. Hoever, each of these classrooms housed about 30 students and a teacher - I have know idea how they all fit in there! He had 9 teachers and 300 students at his school. These students were street children and other kids who had fallen through the cracks in the educational system. We were there on Saturday so he only had the kids requiring extra help with their classes at school that day. He was so gentle and loving with the children and it was obvious that they adored him. Kim is also providing nutritional classes to adults with AIDS and teaching others hygiene classes. He invited us to come back and teach some of the classes or help other adults set of micro businesses. Kim stayed with us for the rest of the tour and then walked us to the bus stop to say good-bye. We got on a city bus and headed for the city centre in Nairobi. We were in a rush to get to the bank before it closed.

Day 8 - Saturday

Yeah, the weekend is here and we have no school. We slept in until 7:00 A.M. and then went for breakfast.  We had a big treat waiting for us – a hard boiled egg!!   We saved it for lunch since we had to pack a lunch. I did a huge load of laundry in my bucket and then hauled the water to the drum at the garden where we will treat it with ash from the cooking fires. I spent most of my time chatting with my roommates, doing homework and writing my blog.  I have a severe case of the runs again so am not going to stray far from my friendly outhouse.

Day 7 - Expedition to Machacos

I didn’t have a great sleep last night so I really struggled to keep my eyes open during class. Luckily, one of our Ethiopian friends shared some Ethiopian coffee with us during our tea break. This is the first coffee I have had since leaving home. Although Kenyan coffee is considered the second best in the world, it is too expensive for the Kenyans to drink.  The government has their hand in the pocket of this industry as well as any others that are successful.  They skim off most of the profits and leave the farmers struggling for survival.  I was told that very recently the farmers rose up against the government and decided to burn their own crops in protest to the government interference in their industry so there is actually a shortage of coffee in Kenya now.  My Ethiopian friends told me that their coffee is considered the best in the world.  In Ethiopia they drink coffee regularly and I must say it was wonderful coffee.  It was very sweet even without sugar and had no harsh or bitter tones to it at all. I am voting that we go to Ethiopia for our outreach so that we can enjoy this coffee daily.

After lunch, Eleanor allowed me to skip my hospitality duties so that I could go to Machakos to purchase a sim card for my computer. One of the staff on the baser has been trying to get a modem for Antonia and I all week but found that they were sold out at the store that sold them for a reasonable rate. Boniface, a staff member from the Masi tribe, offered to take Joelle and I into the city.  We went on the base’s motorcycle (piki piki) up to the first town where we parked the bike and hopped on the public transportation. This was an interesting experience. The drivers never pass up anyone at a bus stop, no matter how full the bus is or how loudly the passengers complain. I was sitting on my seat by the door when the guy who collects the money and opens and shuts the doors, entered the bus seat first and sat on my seat. I slithered off it and ended up between 2 seats with a quarter of a cheek on each. Later we stopped for another passenger and all got jammed together a little more so that it really did not matter that I had no seat to sit on as I was being suspended in the air by the bodies that were jammed against mine.  A policeman sternly looked in the window of our mutatu, because it was overfilled, so the door boy jumped out and paid him some bribe money and then we happily continued on our way.

Once in the city, with a population of 500,000, we walked for miles and miles with everyone staring at us as we were the only white people I saw there. All the women were dressed in skirts and dresses and Joelle and I were in our jeans. Joelle is in her 20’s so she looks cute no matter what but I felt really ugly with my dirty straight hair plastered to my face. Some of the 20 year olds are starting to wear jeans in Africa and have a very western look to them but you never see older people in jeans outside of Nairobi.

We went to a bank that was just gorgeous with its marble floors and grand structure. There was a long line-up and we were trying to get Joelle to the hospital for tests since she had been quite violently ill one night and was still feeling a little under the weather. Boniface new the guard at the bank, so he gave him a small bribe to put Joelle at the front of the line so we could get off to the hospital. We ended up taking a motorcycle to the hospital. It was actually a very nice facility and I do not think I would have any problem going there for tests if it becomes necessary in the future. We picked up some fruit & veggies for smoothies that we are making ourselves each day and then got some modems for our computers and mosquito nets for our beds. We got back on the bike around 6:30, just as the sun was disappearing once again.

We were served a great meal of cabbage that night with ugali (a staple here made of corn flour) and a piece of watermelon for dessert. When we are lucky enough to get a plate full of veggies like this it is a real treat.

Day 6 - Cleaning Day

I worked in the garden first thing in the morning again and then went to school until 1:00 P.M. After lunch I went to do my work duties in hospitality. Eleanor asked me to bring a new book shelf into the hospitality suite and to transfer the dishes and food into the new shelf.  Carl (our instructor) and I decided to reorganize the whole room (including the fridge and stove) and give it a serious cleaning. It was disgustingly filthy and there were rat droppings everywhere. We cleaned the walls, floors, appliances and shelves before reorganizing pretty much the whole room.  I don’t know how Carl could relax in it when it was so disorganized and dirty but he has lived much of his life in the Dominican Republic and it sounds like the standard of living there is comparable to Africa. We used soap and water to clean everything once but when I wanted to repeat the process he thought that I was going a bit overboard. When I suggested using a little bleach he thought it was totally unnecessary. Quite a deviation from the sanitation measures I am used to in the food industry. Anyway, the suite looked great when we were finished so Carl is as happy as a clam now.

I had rats on my brain when I returned to my room and started getting concerned that we may attract rats in our room with all of the extra food we were purchasing and leaving on our beds and bookshelf. We have a large crack under our door that a rat could get through so I have asked for an old towel or rug that we can stuff under our door  each night. Rose came into our room and suggested that we close our suitcases each night so that rats do not get in them and eat our clothes. That apparently happened to her once.

Day 5 - Assignment of Chores

We got up at 5:30 A.M. so that we could be in the garden by 6:00 when the sun comes up. We all wanted to get our hard physical work done before the sun got too strong. We weeded our plots and discussed how we wanted to prepare the ground for seeding. After an hour of work we headed in to the dining hall for our white bread breakfast.

At tea break, around 10:00 A.M., we celebrated Rose’s birthday with a corn meal pizza. It actually had recognisable chunks of vegetable and sausage on it and was very good. I can hardly wait for the next birthday!

In class, we discussed the things that the Bible says can cause land to be cursed and one of these was shed blood.  Rose then shared with us how one of the leaders on the base had been murdered in his home on the base about 11 months ago. He had hired some locals to build orphanage homes on the base and had told them he was going to the bank that day to get the money to pay them. A couple of the workers came back that night to steal all of the money that the base leader had said he was going to withdraw. The workers broke into his house and shot him in the leg. When they found out that their employer had not yet made it to the bank, they shot him in the head and neck in front of his wife and 2 children. After killing him, they proceeded to rape his wife.  The guard was also shot but not killed.  We were advised to keep our dorm room doors locked at all times which we are more than pleased to comply with.

There have been 2 other robberies at this base involving guns but only once did it result in death. Rose was very close to this Dutch couple and very upset about her friend’s death. She shared with me that in this past year she lost her Mom and then her sister from AIDS. Later the same year, she lost her brother when his boat capsized. He was in the army chasing Somali pirates that had kidnapped a Kenyan woman. I really like Rose. She is a real sweetheart even after all that she has been through.

We were assigned our chores for the coming week and I am on hospitality duty. This means that I will be responsible for washing the guest’s and guest speakers dishes, cleaning the hospitality suite and whatever else I am assigned. I went to the guest house where our present teacher is staying and found out from him that a rat the size of a cat was co-habitating with him.  I can hardly wait to start cleaning in this suite!

When I got back to the dorm I grabbed my half bucket of water and went for my sponge bath. It feels so good to get cleaned up after having all of the fine soil blowing onto you all day. I saved my water after my bath to pour it on my garden as this will be our only source of water.

Day 4 - Our First Day of School

When Antonia woke up the next morning Joelle informed her that the bed she had chosen had bugs living in the frame of it. It was the only wood bed in our room so we invited her to take a top bunk on one of our metal beds. We got to know Antonia (33 yrs old) a bit as we were preparing for school in the morning.  She is a holistic chef from Toronto who most recently worked as a chef at a 4 star restaurant in New York.  She arrived with a suitcase full of herbs, spices and different foods.  All 3 of my roommates eat mainly vegetables, fruits and super foods. They also prepare their own body lotions so living in this environment is a real assault to their bodies. The only food provided to us – starch – is something that they would not normally eat.

We attended our first day of school in an old barn that had been transformed into our classroom. The floor of our classroom is concrete and the walls are a combination of plastic, linoleum and cardboard filling the holes in the old weathered wood boards. The building is very adequate and I kind of enjoy being so close to nature while in school. All the doors and windows are open during class and the shutters and doors creek and bang as the wind blows them back and forth.  Cows and cats are our close companions and we can hear the birds chirping away throughout our class time. There are about 15 of us attending the school - 5 Canadians and 10 others from different parts of Africa like Uganda,  Tanzania, Ethiopia and of course Kenya. So far the program seems a little disorganized but it is only the second year that they are offering it so it is still in the developmental stage.

At the end of our first day of class we were divided into 5 teams with 3 students in each and taken out to the fields where we were assigned plots to start farming on. You can imagine my surprise at receiving this assignment without even 1 day of teaching on the topic!  Our instructor told us to interview different people on the base with farming knowledge and figure out how we wanted to plant our crops. The other surprising fact is that they have not received rain since last August and he wants us to figure out how to make things grow in these drought conditions – an extreme challenge for even the most seasoned farmers!  Interesting way of teaching isn’t it?

We headed for bed around 9:00 P.M. but during the night I had to get up and visit the outhouse. As I came out of my room I noticed 2 very large, dark figures in the corridor opposite me where the men’s dorms are. I was a bit startled and embarrassed as I was only in my old granny PJs and did not feel appropriately dressed.  I realized I had run into the security guards. They pretty much ignored me though and continued walking the property with their 6 guard dogs.

Day 3 - Our First Church Service

A number of us piled into a couple of vehicles and headed off to Makutano for church. The jeep that I was in ran very hesitatingly and I wondered if we would make it to church and home without it breaking down. Soon, we pulled over to the side of the highway and went into a small corrugated tin church with dirt floors that a number of the members of our base attended. Our base leader was actually one of the Pastors there. The people were very friendly and some were dressed to the nines in wool suites that were from North America - the kind that used to be office attire for us. Most everyone is very clean and well pressed which is rather surprising around here. Apparently everyone irons everything they can get their hands on. They do not have many possessions though so most of them do their ironing on their beds. It is amazing to watch how little they get by on and how well they do.

The church service was 4 hours long. It seemed more like 2 services since we had praise and worship twice and two sermons. I love hearing the Africans sing and they often dance a little too which is fun to watch but we could not enter in to the praise and worship as it was all in Swahili.  We were all pretty tired by the end of the service due to the length of it and the sweltering heat inside our tin church.

After church, we went to a grocery store that was about the size of our old corner grocery stores and bought a few  items. After that we went to the small produce stands in the ditches to purchase some healthy food as we were missing it already. On the weekends there is no prepared lunch. They put out white bread and peanut butter for us for breakfast and for packing ourselves a lunch. Then for dinner there is some starchy food to eat with shavings of vegetable in them. Pretty much everything we eat is 99% starch so it fills your stomach but does not  provide much nourishment for your body. My roommates are used to extremely healthy eating so their bodies were screaming for something better.  We purchased a bunch of bananas and mangoes to eat in our room.

Our final roommate arrived around 11:00 P.M. after we were all in bed. She had been due to arrive the day earlier but missed her flight out of Paris because she was very sick and threw up a number of times on her way to the airport. We all grunted a greeting at her when she came in and then fell back asleep.

Day 2 - Settling In

My roommates and I woke up about the same time so we had a good time chatting and getting to know each other. Joelle (25 yrs old) is from Prince George and has an extensive produce farming background. Carly (24 yrs) is from Saskatoon and grew up on a farm. They are both very much into the holistic lifestyle and are very careful about what they eat and even what products they put on their skin. They are both a fountain of knowledge on this stuff so I will be able to learn tons from them as it has become a new interest of mine.

As there are no organized activities on the weekend, a number of us decided to walk to the neighbouring property where the Minister of Law & Justice lives in a huge mansion. He has some caged lions, water buffalo and cheetas on his property and permits the general public to come and see them.The walk was much further than any of us anticipated and there were few trees to shade us from the hot sun. I accidentally walked into a thorn bush and the thorns easily tore through the flesh on one of my shins creating a bit of a mess. We were very lucky to run into some of the employees on this property who had come to feed the animals.  They asked us if they could give us a ride back to the main entrance of the Minister’s house so that we could sign a guest book. They were trying to keep track of how many visitors were coming to assess if they should be charging an entrance fee. The employees then showed us through their  greenhouses, gardens and took us to see their fish pond.  It was a beautiful property and really highlighted the discrepancy between how the rich and poor live in Kenya. After hearing us mumble a bit about the heat, one of the employees took pity on us and drove us back to the entrance gate. What a blessing!

Later in the day, Erin, gave us a short lesson on how to wash our clothes in a bucket. Erin is another Canadian who came to Kenya for a DTS 5 years ago and fell in love with a Kenyan named Paul. They have since married and are bringing up Paul’s brother's twin boys that are age 4. Paul's brother died from aids when  his wife was pregnant with these children.  She has more children than she can handle so they offered to  help her out. They have been trying to adopt the boys for 3 years now but are unwilling to bribe the officials and this is causing delays in the whole process.  I am sure I will be sharing more of their story with you later.

I spent the remainder of the day organizing my belongings so that I could find things easily in my suitcase. While I organized my things, Carly, Joelle and I talked about our expectations of the program. It seemed that we had all been told different things about the program so we ended up with many questions at the end of our conversation and were feeling a little confused about what we had gotten ourselves into. We are looking forward to Dale’s arrival so that we can get clarification on the program we will be involved in the next year. The other 3 ladies have signed up for the whole year whereas I have committed to 9 months only.

Day 1 - Arrival in Africa

My flights were very good with quick connections and interesting people to talk to. The whole journey took about 23 hours though, so I was fairly tired when I arrived in Nairobi. I had a short panic attack when I realized that I had cleaned out the address and phone number of the YWAM (Youth with a Mission) base that I was going to, and wondered what I would do late at night in Nairobi (often called Nairobbery) if no one arrived to pick me up. Luckily, after obtaining my 3 month visitors’ visa, and collecting my luggage, I saw my name on a placard being held up high avove the crowd awaiting those who arrived on my flight. Two guys from the base were there to pick me up. We walked out into the balmy weather – even at 10:00 P.M. I asked one of the guys what the temperature had been during the day, since it was still so nice out, and he said he didn’t know – he never checks the temperature because it is always nice. I guess, as a Canadian, I am going to have to find something else to talk about other than the weather.   The roads were still congested at this time of night but mainly with trucks travelling between Nairobi and Mombassa – the main port for Kenya. When I arrived at the base, I found everyone in bed. I unfortunately had to wake up my 2 roommates that had already settled in, so that they could unlock the door and let me into the room. Sleep came quickly and felt wonderful after such a long day!  

Welcome to My African Adventure

Hi friends & family, Welcome to my new blog. I am so excited that Anna (the volunteer at the base from Brazil) was able to walk me through setting up my first blog site. My hope is to share interesting stories about life in Africa with you. Please let me know if there is something in particular that you would like to hear about. This site provides a comment form where you can ask me questions or comment on the stories posted. I would love to hear from you. Please continue writing me personal e-mails too because I love to hear what is going on in your lives too.