Hello blog fans!
Wow. The Kenya Project made history over the past few weeks: we welcomed 31 youths and adults to the guest house from Mt. Pisgah and 4 friends from Uganda on June 18th. That is 37 people under our roof! Luckily, the master carpentry of Wambugu held strong through clutch time. His double/single bunk beds may be our best investment yet. Fighting through a few minor cases of altitude sickness and one night without electricity, we did it! I am exhausted, hence my two week blog hiatus.
It was a pleasure to have this team despite its size—such an incredibly passionate group of teens. It is encouraging to see the sincere interest they expressed in pursuing change here at Mountain Park and overall lessening the burdens of others, especially of the children. For those of you who have visited Mountain Park before, you will not recognize it when you come back! This team put in serious work. The dining hall has been repainted in its entirety. Cubbies and hanging rods were installed in the children’s home so that our orphans no longer have to tie grocery sacks to their end bunks holding their personal belongings and clothes. Our adult leaders assisted the construction crew in building the new addition to the guest house—extra shower stalls and toilets. Every afternoon Mountain Park students and other village children were loved and LOVED and loved by our youths on the playground. Kady even endured being covered from neck to toes in vomit after a bit too much swinging with a 4-year-old…and will soon be tiny Catherine Mugure Thuo’s new sponsor. Though I have never had the urge to attempt carrying a 20-liter drum of water on my forehead, I nearly lost two teens on the team’s first day in Nakuru as they ventured off down the road helping locals lug home their water supply. Bibian hosted the team at Hutch’s House where each of the 15 orphans were given a new basket of clothes before we learned the intimate and tragic details of their backgrounds…and I started crying {again} trying to share about making their beds in March. Over 400 families were distributed food sacks and all of our school children received a new toothbrush. We have enough supply and laundry donations to last us several months and to serve countless families and future teams. Congratulations and thank you to Mt. Pisgah for their profound contributions to our projects and this community…
Personally, one of my highlights of the week was meeting Jamie and Sara Staley…and their visiting friends Stacy and Howie. Oddly enough, my aunt had shared considerably about the Staleys’ work with the International Justice Mission before and after my arrival in Kenya: I’ve been receiving their e-mail updates since April and I read a powerful book entitled Just Courage by IJM founder Gary Haugen before my departure. For those of you who do not know, the IJM is an organization of lawyers and volunteers that live overseas all over the world to combat bonded labor, slavery, human trafficking, illegal land seizure, etc. through the courts while simultaneously providing human services for their clients. Leaving their careers in the States, Jamie and Sarah committed to a one-year, unpaid internship in Kampala where they work the front and back ends of land seizure cases. Jamie is the front man: due to his background in ministry, he is the first point of contact for possible clients. He has trained to host legal education clinics deep in the villages of Uganda and to interview possible clients to determine if they meet the criteria set forth by the IJM for intake. Sara is the pivotal back end of the process: due to her background in social work, she cultivates partnerships with other organization to provide aftercare services.
This is not strictly a pitch for the IJM {although I do invite you to visit the Staleys’ personal blog site to learn more about their specific experiences}. Early in the week Mark threw the responsibility of devotions to the couple. They had approximately 10 minutes to prepare to speak, but it was their on-the-spot discussion that profoundly impacted me this week. Overall, this leg of my journey has had its share of ups and downs. The realities of trying to operate a non-profit in a developing country have been hitting hard. In response to those frustrations, I have frequently doubted my presence and successes here…and have resorted to the entirely unproductive what if. I am a planner at heart as so many of the older gentleman on the Pisgah team deduced very quickly: What if I had started law school this fall? What will I do if I return to the States earlier than planned? Where do you draw a line in the sand? Aren’t the women and children with whom I work worth all of the administrative hassles? Jamie and Sara began to share stories of the women and orphans they had met while working to restore justice to vulnerable Ugandans…and it was not all happy. There are days when 9 of 10 prospective widows who are threatened by powerful family members cannot be helped. And then this came out…
We should go until we are called to stay, not stay until we are called to go.
Tah-dah! Man, that is such a powerful statement and such a statement of inner peace. I am keeping that in mind for now as I continue my work here in Kenya.
I must also give a shout out to Stacy and Howie—such a fabulous addition to our team! Howie and Stacy joined Sara and Jamie in Uganda primarily to shoot and to document the work of the IJM…and decided to tag along to visit us as well. Stacy is a nurse in Atlanta at Children’s and will hopefully be returning to Kenya in the fall with our med team. Howie is a photography nerd like me and we shared many deep conversations over crop censor lenses and Nikon speedlights. I am in debt to him for his pointers (which will hopefully be exhibited in new photos of the women’s goods soon) and for his work with the women themselves. We will soon be featuring each one of our ladies, one per week, on their blog site.
I will sign off here. This is getting a bit lengthy, but please stay tuned for a few more stories soon and another update on the successes of Geneva’s Wonderful Women. July will be a very busy month here. I am continuing to prep for my Kilimanjaro climb in early August {officially booked—no turning back now!} and am hoping to head for a brief vacation to Kampala mid month. The Kenya Project will be beginning its annual audit of student records next Monday too—new photos, bios, and letters are on the way!
Love to you from this {still} dusty place…
tnick
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
and the primates have it...
Hot off the press: new photos from my most recent safari at Lake Nakuru-- thanks Kara! While I raved and raved about close encounters with lions and rhinos, it turns out that my best shots from the two game drives were veritably the Vervet monkeys and yellow baboons. The spooning lions and picturesquely perched African Fish Eagle are not bad either...enjoy!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
welcome to funnytown
Despite the fact that I have been decently sick since approximately last Thursday {i.e. is it possible for one human to create this much snot?}, it has been a dang funny week. When my eyeballs were not burning and when I was wasn’t releasing loud Hutchins croups that scared off the children…I was laughing.
For those who were lucky enough to meet “Thi-mon” {or Simon for those of you who do not speak 7-year-old-with-two-missing-front-teeth}, I had the pleasure of sitting down with him to briefly record his family history for the benefit of his new sponsors, Erin and Sean. After ten minutes of counting out brothers and sisters to get a consistent number of each, Simon informed us that his father’s name was Joroline. “Funny.” I thought. “That is not a Kikuyu name.” We called in his older brother for backup. His father’s name is actually Stanley. Joroline happens to be the brand name imprinted on his father’s bicycle.
Next in line was Ibrahim Kamau, one of my favorite little nursery students. We all think Kamau is special…in one way or another. My goal in his case was also to gather a brief family history for Sean and Erin’s benefit…and again we called in for backup. Kamau could just not wait. He attempted to run away at least five times…but without any remote purpose…lightly drifting out the door like he could not figure out for the life of him why he was standing in the room. I managed to catch his boredom in a snapshot: chin on the table, one arm up, and I got one smile only. Ta-dah!
Mr. Robi was kind enough to drive my ladies and me to town yesterday to pick up some much-needed supplies for our recent influx of special orders {thank you, America!} despite his slight annoyance that we hadn’t planned ahead for this earlier in the week. I was excited about this trip. A} I had planned not bother Mr. Robi and to brave the public transportation for the first time…with the protection of Dorcas and Ann, of course. That plan was quickly de-bowed by Reuben. B} I was going to personally meet the local tanner who has been working with us to complete our briefcase bags…and some secret new products {stay tuned here}! I expected to pull up to a modest shop: dusty, dimly sit, rudimentary but functional old machinery. Nope. Negative. We rolled up on Joseph sitting on the curb in the parking lot across from the post office. The man cuts and stitches the leather by hand folks. This is Africa. And then Mr. Robi dropkicked a tennis ball when we got home. And it was hilarious.
I’ve somehow managed to get another watch tan. This one is even more awesome than the last because I am marked with the lines of my $15 Wal-Mart sports watch: much bigger, much more conspicuous. I have hardly been outside for the past three days! How did this happen, for the love of man?!?
I finally kicked the dang goose. Enough said.
And sunsets here are still awesome.
For those who were lucky enough to meet “Thi-mon” {or Simon for those of you who do not speak 7-year-old-with-two-missing-front-teeth}, I had the pleasure of sitting down with him to briefly record his family history for the benefit of his new sponsors, Erin and Sean. After ten minutes of counting out brothers and sisters to get a consistent number of each, Simon informed us that his father’s name was Joroline. “Funny.” I thought. “That is not a Kikuyu name.” We called in his older brother for backup. His father’s name is actually Stanley. Joroline happens to be the brand name imprinted on his father’s bicycle.
Next in line was Ibrahim Kamau, one of my favorite little nursery students. We all think Kamau is special…in one way or another. My goal in his case was also to gather a brief family history for Sean and Erin’s benefit…and again we called in for backup. Kamau could just not wait. He attempted to run away at least five times…but without any remote purpose…lightly drifting out the door like he could not figure out for the life of him why he was standing in the room. I managed to catch his boredom in a snapshot: chin on the table, one arm up, and I got one smile only. Ta-dah!
Mr. Robi was kind enough to drive my ladies and me to town yesterday to pick up some much-needed supplies for our recent influx of special orders {thank you, America!} despite his slight annoyance that we hadn’t planned ahead for this earlier in the week. I was excited about this trip. A} I had planned not bother Mr. Robi and to brave the public transportation for the first time…with the protection of Dorcas and Ann, of course. That plan was quickly de-bowed by Reuben. B} I was going to personally meet the local tanner who has been working with us to complete our briefcase bags…and some secret new products {stay tuned here}! I expected to pull up to a modest shop: dusty, dimly sit, rudimentary but functional old machinery. Nope. Negative. We rolled up on Joseph sitting on the curb in the parking lot across from the post office. The man cuts and stitches the leather by hand folks. This is Africa. And then Mr. Robi dropkicked a tennis ball when we got home. And it was hilarious.
I’ve somehow managed to get another watch tan. This one is even more awesome than the last because I am marked with the lines of my $15 Wal-Mart sports watch: much bigger, much more conspicuous. I have hardly been outside for the past three days! How did this happen, for the love of man?!?
I finally kicked the dang goose. Enough said.
And sunsets here are still awesome.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
lions, cubs, baboons...and that justice thing
The Mountain Park UMC Young Adult team left late Sunday evening. The dining hall has been brightened with a good sanding of the main walls and the painting of murals—every student at Mountain Park {and Wanjohi} imprinted a hand on the wall. A garden of carrots, kale, potatoes, cabbages and collards has been planted to supplement the large grocery list of the children’s home. Dance lessons. Classroom activities. Mob scene at the bubble station. What…a…week. I have been fortunate to assist three teams since my tenure began here in March. I had forgotten what it was like to be in a group of twenty people under the age of thirty, mostly of which was actually under the age of 25. No offense to either of the two age groups {the above and below 30 crews}, but young people are boisterous, drink a lot of water and soda, antagonize geese, and throw dirt clumps. And they have this knack of eliciting beautiful {be-au-ti-ful} emotions from children…
When it comes to safari, I started big. Go hard or go home, America! In late September 2008, I ventured into the Mara {the Kenyan half of the Serengeti} during the annual wildebeest migration. Some nature lovers will argue that the event is the eighth wonder of the world—that’s hundreds of thousands of wildebeests crossing the Mara river {think crocodiles, hippos and steep banks} plus a pride of lions including a full-grown male, several families of elephants including a newborn, and changing a tire in the middle of a herd of cape buffalo. You can read more about that safari and check out the photos here. However, I must say that our overnight in good ole’ Lake Nakuru, only ten or so kilometers from my front door, gave my three-day at the Mara a run for its money. Due to the expertise and uncanny animal instincts of Julius, we pulled within six feet of a white rhino—the second largest land mammal after the elephant. We saw baboons showing rare agility…during lovemaking. Our first sighting of day two as the sun rose was a pride of nine lions, all females and cubs, destroying a buffalo on a hillside. Yeah, they dragged a half ton animal with horns up a hill with jaws only! Nearly a dozen mangy hyenas waded in the shallow lake desperately searching for an ill or clumsy flamingo to wade their way. As we headed back to the lodge for a late buffet lunch, we crossed paths with a black rhino. Although much smaller than its white counterpart {only fourth on the list of largest land mammals}, it is much more impulsive with a dangerously sharper horn. After lunch, we exited the park on the route we traveled in the morning only to find that our pride of lions was still there, lounging under a tree in the shade and spooning in groups of two or three. We were within fifteen feet {holy cow!}…and then the stench of the buffalo became too much. Pretty incredible, huh?
That same evening after making a brief stop in town to purchase mzungu t-shirts for interested team members, Adam lead devotions. Man, it was exactly what I did not want to hear but needed to hear. As my cousin and guest house roommate Taylor knows, I had a rough first week back in the motherland: high stress, high frustration, having a host of people in my typically empty house, not to mention that whole leaving lots of wonderful people in the States for a planned six months. This equals tears. Adam started off his devotion with a verse—he has been reading the Minor Prophets recently. He reads from Micah 6:
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to be good to others and to love justice...?
Whack! Wham! There is that whole justice and kindness thing again. Don’t you just love this?!? Justice is the conformity to truth, fact, or sound reason. To do just to is to treat adequately, fairly, or with full appreciation. Thank you, Adam—that is why I am here, that is why everyone I love encourages me despite my extended absence {and still loves me back}. It’s funny—once you get beyond the dirt, bouts of lost electricity, and the hormones of a large group of twenty-somethings, the want and need for justice remains. It’s funnier—all that truth and all that admiration and gratitude are emotions and ideas that pour from these children without effort or hesitation or distraction. I’ll get there.
Anyhow, it is a busy week! Gideon and Jerioth return to the States tomorrow. I am behind with the paperwork for the new term and Mt. Pisgah rolls in thirty strong in about week and a half. I am hiring an electrician. Plus, I am knee-deep in planning the trip of my lifetime for August: a little Amboseli, a little Kilimanjaro, a little relaxation among the big game. How do you squeeze this entire country into two weeks?!?
I look forward to sharing more of the Mt. Pisgah details soon...because this post is now too long! Of course, check out the most recent updates with the GWW here. We're doing big things.
I hope everyone is surviving the heat of Atlanta summers. I can almost feel the humidity from here. ; )
Love to you,
tnick
When it comes to safari, I started big. Go hard or go home, America! In late September 2008, I ventured into the Mara {the Kenyan half of the Serengeti} during the annual wildebeest migration. Some nature lovers will argue that the event is the eighth wonder of the world—that’s hundreds of thousands of wildebeests crossing the Mara river {think crocodiles, hippos and steep banks} plus a pride of lions including a full-grown male, several families of elephants including a newborn, and changing a tire in the middle of a herd of cape buffalo. You can read more about that safari and check out the photos here. However, I must say that our overnight in good ole’ Lake Nakuru, only ten or so kilometers from my front door, gave my three-day at the Mara a run for its money. Due to the expertise and uncanny animal instincts of Julius, we pulled within six feet of a white rhino—the second largest land mammal after the elephant. We saw baboons showing rare agility…during lovemaking. Our first sighting of day two as the sun rose was a pride of nine lions, all females and cubs, destroying a buffalo on a hillside. Yeah, they dragged a half ton animal with horns up a hill with jaws only! Nearly a dozen mangy hyenas waded in the shallow lake desperately searching for an ill or clumsy flamingo to wade their way. As we headed back to the lodge for a late buffet lunch, we crossed paths with a black rhino. Although much smaller than its white counterpart {only fourth on the list of largest land mammals}, it is much more impulsive with a dangerously sharper horn. After lunch, we exited the park on the route we traveled in the morning only to find that our pride of lions was still there, lounging under a tree in the shade and spooning in groups of two or three. We were within fifteen feet {holy cow!}…and then the stench of the buffalo became too much. Pretty incredible, huh?
That same evening after making a brief stop in town to purchase mzungu t-shirts for interested team members, Adam lead devotions. Man, it was exactly what I did not want to hear but needed to hear. As my cousin and guest house roommate Taylor knows, I had a rough first week back in the motherland: high stress, high frustration, having a host of people in my typically empty house, not to mention that whole leaving lots of wonderful people in the States for a planned six months. This equals tears. Adam started off his devotion with a verse—he has been reading the Minor Prophets recently. He reads from Micah 6:
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to be good to others and to love justice...?
Whack! Wham! There is that whole justice and kindness thing again. Don’t you just love this?!? Justice is the conformity to truth, fact, or sound reason. To do just to is to treat adequately, fairly, or with full appreciation. Thank you, Adam—that is why I am here, that is why everyone I love encourages me despite my extended absence {and still loves me back}. It’s funny—once you get beyond the dirt, bouts of lost electricity, and the hormones of a large group of twenty-somethings, the want and need for justice remains. It’s funnier—all that truth and all that admiration and gratitude are emotions and ideas that pour from these children without effort or hesitation or distraction. I’ll get there.
Anyhow, it is a busy week! Gideon and Jerioth return to the States tomorrow. I am behind with the paperwork for the new term and Mt. Pisgah rolls in thirty strong in about week and a half. I am hiring an electrician. Plus, I am knee-deep in planning the trip of my lifetime for August: a little Amboseli, a little Kilimanjaro, a little relaxation among the big game. How do you squeeze this entire country into two weeks?!?
I look forward to sharing more of the Mt. Pisgah details soon...because this post is now too long! Of course, check out the most recent updates with the GWW here. We're doing big things.
I hope everyone is surviving the heat of Atlanta summers. I can almost feel the humidity from here. ; )
Love to you,
tnick
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