On Christmas eve I watched the Nativity story film, think it came out a few years ago. Its pretty good, apart from a few interesting lighting effects and at one point the angel looks a bit like he should pull out a v-shaped electric guitar and disappear in a cloud of smoke!
In general it shows the nativity sort of how it would have been, more so than the veggietales version at least. My favourite bit was the shepherds, in the film Mary and Joseph bump into a shepherd on their journey to Bethlehem, they are knackered and cold so he invites them to sit by his fire for a bit. Later once Jesus is born he rocks up with his friends in response to the angels tip off and there is an awesome scene where this shepherd guy is totally humbled by this baby who he knows is God, the shepherd is just crying and scared to even touch the baby.
From the holiday clubs I learnt that shepherds in those days were really poor and looked down on by society, no one really cared for them. At our church the kids did the nativity play as if it happened in Kibera and the shepherds were played by street kids called ‘chokora’ here, pretty sure chokora sort of means rubbish/worthless.
I was really blown away that when Jesus rocked up He let the shepherds, the worthless have the honour of welcoming Him, the honour of being the first to bow down before Him, the first to worship Him. And He came in such a way that made Him accessible to the poor, they weren’t restricted by a rockstar’s bodyguards or a king’s foot soldiers.
And then the wise guys turn up too and offer their crazy pricey gifts, they are also completely humbled and all of a sudden the outcast shepherds, Mary and Joseph the oppressed Jewish family and these well educated rich travellers become equal before a little squirming baby with a flippin big secret.
Jesus loves the humble whether someone humbles them self or they have been humbled, even humiliated by the situations they live in. He makes Himself accessible to the poor, to people who are denied so much. He makes Himself simple to people with no education and makes Himself a puzzle to clever people who like cracking codes and seeking understanding. Flippin love Jesus.
Friday, 26 December 2008
Friday, 19 December 2008
Baby Em et al
Florence teaches the prep class at Turning Point, she was expecting one baby then three popped out at once! The first is Emily named after the coolest mzungu in Kibs, second is Valeria, pronounced like malaria with a v, last is Sheila who is a little underweight but doing well.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Mama Ndungu
I hope you remember Mama Ndungu who became a Christian a few weeks ago when we prayed at the farm. We got some bad news this weekend, turns out she was pregnant with twins and lost the babies. At the moment we are unsure whether it was natural or whether she aborted. The mamas found Mary (mama ndungu) in her room obviously in trouble so they took her to hospital. It wasn’t until they returned to her room later that they found a foetus. The other twin came out at the hospital later. She was quite far on in the pregnancy; Florence, Peter’s wife said maybe 6 or 7 months. So it was all very dangerous for her but she seems to be doing well. Jo and I drove up to Naivasha hospital yesterday to be with her and pray with her. She seemed in fairly good spirits which is impressive as I’ve only ever seen her look grumpy at the farm!! She knows God saved her.
Before we went God seemed to want to really assure her of His grace, that she is completely forgiven, she is not condemned, there is no judgement on her no matter what she has done now, in the past or will do in the future. We were able to read a few verses with her:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1,2
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39
And we reminded her of the promise God made her when we prayed at the farm that He wanted to tie Himself to her so that He could never leave her. She seemed encouraged by this stuff. We prayed to together and just sat with her for a bit. I think it was important that we visited her in person. In Kenya people often say ‘we are together’ when you say goodbye or something. I hope our visit convinced Mary that we are together no matter what.
Mary was discharged from hospital yesterday and Jon and Pastor have gone to the farm today to bury the body (the hospital will deal with the second one). Please pray for Mama Ndungu, God’s grace is amazing, pray that she knows completely God’s grace and pray that she will be rooted and established in her new faith. Pray also that the other mamas will look out for her as she returns to the farm.
Before we went God seemed to want to really assure her of His grace, that she is completely forgiven, she is not condemned, there is no judgement on her no matter what she has done now, in the past or will do in the future. We were able to read a few verses with her:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1,2
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39
And we reminded her of the promise God made her when we prayed at the farm that He wanted to tie Himself to her so that He could never leave her. She seemed encouraged by this stuff. We prayed to together and just sat with her for a bit. I think it was important that we visited her in person. In Kenya people often say ‘we are together’ when you say goodbye or something. I hope our visit convinced Mary that we are together no matter what.
Mary was discharged from hospital yesterday and Jon and Pastor have gone to the farm today to bury the body (the hospital will deal with the second one). Please pray for Mama Ndungu, God’s grace is amazing, pray that she knows completely God’s grace and pray that she will be rooted and established in her new faith. Pray also that the other mamas will look out for her as she returns to the farm.
Sunday, 14 December 2008
To build a home
I found out this week that there are people who actually read this blog. I was fairly convinced my mum was the only one to read it as there are never any comments. I feel the pressure now to make it interesting!
I’ve hardly been to the slums where God is this week but when I did go God was very much there. On Monday Jon and I helped Betty move into her new home. Betty is a single mum to four kids – Emmanuel, Rosa and Clover who is cute as and the oldest boy whose name Ive forgotten sorry! Their house was burned down in January in the violence so they have been living in the porch of a building at the D.O.s on the edge of Kibera where we park our car when we go to the project.
A few weeks ago, the kids started coming down to the project for food and we started chatting to Betty about getting a house. The government have been giving money to people who lost their homes in January to build new ones so the District Officer found her a piece of land and she bought the iron sheets she needed but still needed money for wood and builders etc. Turning Point paid for that stuff so Betty was able to build a house for her family and they moved in on Monday. We crammed all their possessions into the back of the landrover, along with me and Kariuki crammed in the back with our faces squished up against the back window.
Their new place is over the other side of Kibera, right on the edge where the higgledy piggledy mess of tin shacks piled on top of each other suddenly stops and turns into grass and trees and bright red African dirt. Their new front door faces away from Kibera so you can’t even see the slum, just green hills. Betty told me now she owns the house she doesn’t have to worry about rent. Also there is a river nearby for clothes washing so they wont have to buy so much water, the forest is close so they can collect firewood instead of spending money on charcoal and there is a small bit of land where she can plant vegetables so she will even save money on food. She is so chuffed. Its still Kibera but life will be a bit easier now and fewer costs mean she might just be able to save enough to get somewhere even better. Good times for Betty.
To build a home is a song by Cinematic Orchestra, have a listen if you can. I think it probably says a little about how Betty must feel about the home she has built for her kids. Ooo it will make you cry!
I’ve hardly been to the slums where God is this week but when I did go God was very much there. On Monday Jon and I helped Betty move into her new home. Betty is a single mum to four kids – Emmanuel, Rosa and Clover who is cute as and the oldest boy whose name Ive forgotten sorry! Their house was burned down in January in the violence so they have been living in the porch of a building at the D.O.s on the edge of Kibera where we park our car when we go to the project.
A few weeks ago, the kids started coming down to the project for food and we started chatting to Betty about getting a house. The government have been giving money to people who lost their homes in January to build new ones so the District Officer found her a piece of land and she bought the iron sheets she needed but still needed money for wood and builders etc. Turning Point paid for that stuff so Betty was able to build a house for her family and they moved in on Monday. We crammed all their possessions into the back of the landrover, along with me and Kariuki crammed in the back with our faces squished up against the back window.
Their new place is over the other side of Kibera, right on the edge where the higgledy piggledy mess of tin shacks piled on top of each other suddenly stops and turns into grass and trees and bright red African dirt. Their new front door faces away from Kibera so you can’t even see the slum, just green hills. Betty told me now she owns the house she doesn’t have to worry about rent. Also there is a river nearby for clothes washing so they wont have to buy so much water, the forest is close so they can collect firewood instead of spending money on charcoal and there is a small bit of land where she can plant vegetables so she will even save money on food. She is so chuffed. Its still Kibera but life will be a bit easier now and fewer costs mean she might just be able to save enough to get somewhere even better. Good times for Betty.
To build a home is a song by Cinematic Orchestra, have a listen if you can. I think it probably says a little about how Betty must feel about the home she has built for her kids. Ooo it will make you cry!
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Arm their minds
This week’s holiday club was for the older kids between 12 and 18 years and while last week the teaching was around the Christmas story this week we have had a lady who works for SIM (don’t know what that stands for) doing AIDs education. Actually AIDs education was really only a small part of what she did, she started talking about how much God loves us, so much that Jesus died, she explained what the crucifixion was all about really well. She got all the facts out about HIV/AIDs, how to stay safe etc but she based it all on the bible with the main point being that we are super precious to God and therefore He wants the best for us, that means we need to make good choices. She then taught them how to live out the choices they have made like how to stand up to peer pressure and such. We did some hilarious role-plays on how to say no. Also the kids were telling all the chat up lines they’ve heard which was so funny like ‘you’re the only fish in lake victoria’ or ‘without you is like chai without sugar’!!
Bev and Eric who did the teaching were brilliant, really creative in their presentation and all the kids loved them, they were totally engrossed and actually asked proper questions about stuff they didn’t understand which is impressive considering they were dealing with such an embarrassing and taboo subject. One girl Zenna told me that she was enjoying it because they were teaching stuff she didn’t know.
Jeremiah 31:33 says ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts’. I remember writing an essay about arming the mind, that was about socialism but anyway the teaching that the kids heard this week is so so important, AIDs could kill them and getting pregnant could wreck their plans for the future and sleeping around does nothing for their already wounded self-worth. Sitting in the crowd this week was Petronila who is 14 years old and pregnant, she won’t be able to finish school. Likewise Millicent visited on thursday, she is a little older now but used to be in the project until she also had a baby and now can’t go on to secondary school, she shared with everyone how she wanted to go to secondary but can’t now and she is on her own with the kid. It is so important that the kids understand the teaching and remember it, and we’re praying that God writes it on their hearts. Bev said that actions only really change when there is a heart change, if the kids really believe that they are precious to God and that He has a plan for them, they will be so sold out for that they won’t even think about straying to the left or to the right.
So prayer request this week, please pray for everyone who came to the holiday clubs this week that God will indeed write that stuff on their hearts, that they will really know and understand and even feel how much God loves them so that they wouldn’t settle for anything but His best for them. Its so hard for them to believe that they are precious to anyone because they live in such poverty, its super hard for them to see it or to imagine what kind of plans God could have for them so yeah just pray for them that would be ace.
Also please could you pray for my friend Agri from church who really needs a job, he is HIV+ and is fighting off TB at the moment which means he is knackered all the time from the drugs but he really wants a job so he can afford his own place to live rather than staying with his aunt. She only lets him stay out of cultural obligation but treats him really badly. In the long run he would really like to be stable enough for his daughter to come and stay with him again as the family is currently looking after her. Its really tempting to try and figure out a way that I can help but God has challenged me that He is the one who will provide for Agri, maybe I’ll be involved, maybe not but for now my place is just to pray and encourage him and see what God will do. Agri is a total legend, his faith in God is epic, He totally expects God to come through for him.
Bev and Eric who did the teaching were brilliant, really creative in their presentation and all the kids loved them, they were totally engrossed and actually asked proper questions about stuff they didn’t understand which is impressive considering they were dealing with such an embarrassing and taboo subject. One girl Zenna told me that she was enjoying it because they were teaching stuff she didn’t know.
Jeremiah 31:33 says ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts’. I remember writing an essay about arming the mind, that was about socialism but anyway the teaching that the kids heard this week is so so important, AIDs could kill them and getting pregnant could wreck their plans for the future and sleeping around does nothing for their already wounded self-worth. Sitting in the crowd this week was Petronila who is 14 years old and pregnant, she won’t be able to finish school. Likewise Millicent visited on thursday, she is a little older now but used to be in the project until she also had a baby and now can’t go on to secondary school, she shared with everyone how she wanted to go to secondary but can’t now and she is on her own with the kid. It is so important that the kids understand the teaching and remember it, and we’re praying that God writes it on their hearts. Bev said that actions only really change when there is a heart change, if the kids really believe that they are precious to God and that He has a plan for them, they will be so sold out for that they won’t even think about straying to the left or to the right.
So prayer request this week, please pray for everyone who came to the holiday clubs this week that God will indeed write that stuff on their hearts, that they will really know and understand and even feel how much God loves them so that they wouldn’t settle for anything but His best for them. Its so hard for them to believe that they are precious to anyone because they live in such poverty, its super hard for them to see it or to imagine what kind of plans God could have for them so yeah just pray for them that would be ace.
Also please could you pray for my friend Agri from church who really needs a job, he is HIV+ and is fighting off TB at the moment which means he is knackered all the time from the drugs but he really wants a job so he can afford his own place to live rather than staying with his aunt. She only lets him stay out of cultural obligation but treats him really badly. In the long run he would really like to be stable enough for his daughter to come and stay with him again as the family is currently looking after her. Its really tempting to try and figure out a way that I can help but God has challenged me that He is the one who will provide for Agri, maybe I’ll be involved, maybe not but for now my place is just to pray and encourage him and see what God will do. Agri is a total legend, his faith in God is epic, He totally expects God to come through for him.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Kibera Nativity
Last week was the first week of the Christmas holiday clubs. Schools have ended now for their long holiday, basically the same as English summer holiday. Everyone is getting ready to travel upcountry to their home towns and villages so in the first two weeks we sneak in a holiday club for the kids before they disappear and the project closes.
The photos are from the first week for kids aged between 7 and 12 (I think) and just before it started on the first day Jon decided to let me know I was fronting it! I didn’t have to do much, just make sure we stuck vaguely to the timetable and host it from the front, and judge dramas and memory verses of course. I was a bit daunted as there is no excuse to not use Swahili now so I had all my notes with me and fumbled my way along. This is all good practice as I’m fairly sure Jo and Jon won’t be around for summer camps next year so I need to know what I’m doing!
The week was so much fun, the staff are hilarious as they are each put with a team of kids to compete for the week and they get really into it. On Wednesday Pastor had to visit the farm but he phoned up at lunch time to check the scores, Moses had him on speaker phone and all the staff were winding each other up, so funny.
It has been so good to spend more time with the kids as they are usually at school so I don’t see them at all or they are busy in their classes at Turning Point so I shouldn’t bother them. During the clubs there is time to sit and do colouring with them, eat lunch with them and do ridiculous games with them. We spent like an hour playing a game where they had to chuck a spoonful of water at candles to blow them out. They were rubbish at it so it took ages! Good times.
The photos are from the first week for kids aged between 7 and 12 (I think) and just before it started on the first day Jon decided to let me know I was fronting it! I didn’t have to do much, just make sure we stuck vaguely to the timetable and host it from the front, and judge dramas and memory verses of course. I was a bit daunted as there is no excuse to not use Swahili now so I had all my notes with me and fumbled my way along. This is all good practice as I’m fairly sure Jo and Jon won’t be around for summer camps next year so I need to know what I’m doing!
The week was so much fun, the staff are hilarious as they are each put with a team of kids to compete for the week and they get really into it. On Wednesday Pastor had to visit the farm but he phoned up at lunch time to check the scores, Moses had him on speaker phone and all the staff were winding each other up, so funny.
It has been so good to spend more time with the kids as they are usually at school so I don’t see them at all or they are busy in their classes at Turning Point so I shouldn’t bother them. During the clubs there is time to sit and do colouring with them, eat lunch with them and do ridiculous games with them. We spent like an hour playing a game where they had to chuck a spoonful of water at candles to blow them out. They were rubbish at it so it took ages! Good times.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Cream Crackered
This week has been knackering, I spent most of the mornings in Kibera with some of the older girls. Spending time in Kibera in general is great because most of the time is just about spending time with people, joking around; playing with the kids or greeting the people involved in the microfinance scheme who are usually very happy because things are going so well for them. However some of the time is spent dealing with more difficult situations, trying to figure out what is the right thing to do, trying to explain things to people in a different language who don’t see things the way you do because of their crazily different life experience. That side of the job is what I find tiring and it all happens under a blazing hot Kenyan sun.
On Friday, a group of 10 people linked in various ways to Wycliffe came to visit the project so I took them down and around Kibera. Some of them had never seen such a place and were quite impacted by the experience. Their reactions reminded me that Kibera isn’t normal, it’s an outrage, it’s unjust and it’s disgraceful that the rest of us allow it to exist.
Lillian and her brother joined us afterwards as we went up to the food court of a shopping centre just up the road from Kibera. It’s literally a 5 minute walk from Kibera but they had never been there before. We went to wash our hands in the toilets before we ate and Lillian had no idea how to use the soap dispensers or the hand dryer. Peter said ‘this place is wow’ he says everything is ‘wow’! Lillian said she couldn’t go there on her own because people would ask questions. She is from the slum and she’s not welcome. That ticks me off so much.
So after work on Friday I was upset and angry with a million questions in my head and no idea what to do, I was exhausted. One thing God said to calm me down was to remind me of all the stuff I wanted to do when I was making choices about uni and stuff. I had so many options open to me, options many of these kids may never have. Think of all the stuff I could have done but for now I have ended up in a slum! I may not have been very good at the stuff I tried to do but chances are I wouldn’t have ended up in a slum. But what I chose to do was follow Jesus wherever He would take me and although some days are absolutely gutting I flippin love being here and I flippin love being with God wherever He wants me to be. So basically, I had all sorts of opportunities and these kids don’t but the one thing that really matters to me is knowing God and being with Him and that opportunity is open to everyone whether you have everything or nothing.
I’m not sure I’ve explained that very well! I had a bit of an Ecclesiastes moment, everything in the world is worthless except knowing God and enjoying life with Him and that thought chilled me out a bit.
On Friday, a group of 10 people linked in various ways to Wycliffe came to visit the project so I took them down and around Kibera. Some of them had never seen such a place and were quite impacted by the experience. Their reactions reminded me that Kibera isn’t normal, it’s an outrage, it’s unjust and it’s disgraceful that the rest of us allow it to exist.
Lillian and her brother joined us afterwards as we went up to the food court of a shopping centre just up the road from Kibera. It’s literally a 5 minute walk from Kibera but they had never been there before. We went to wash our hands in the toilets before we ate and Lillian had no idea how to use the soap dispensers or the hand dryer. Peter said ‘this place is wow’ he says everything is ‘wow’! Lillian said she couldn’t go there on her own because people would ask questions. She is from the slum and she’s not welcome. That ticks me off so much.
So after work on Friday I was upset and angry with a million questions in my head and no idea what to do, I was exhausted. One thing God said to calm me down was to remind me of all the stuff I wanted to do when I was making choices about uni and stuff. I had so many options open to me, options many of these kids may never have. Think of all the stuff I could have done but for now I have ended up in a slum! I may not have been very good at the stuff I tried to do but chances are I wouldn’t have ended up in a slum. But what I chose to do was follow Jesus wherever He would take me and although some days are absolutely gutting I flippin love being here and I flippin love being with God wherever He wants me to be. So basically, I had all sorts of opportunities and these kids don’t but the one thing that really matters to me is knowing God and being with Him and that opportunity is open to everyone whether you have everything or nothing.
I’m not sure I’ve explained that very well! I had a bit of an Ecclesiastes moment, everything in the world is worthless except knowing God and enjoying life with Him and that thought chilled me out a bit.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
God will lift up your head
Yesterday we went up to the farm to pray for the mamas. A little while ago we had a looong meeting about how to move forward with the farm and felt that there was stuff in the mamas mindset that holds them back from ‘rising up and taking the land’ to use a bit of promised land imagery. It’s a bit like when the spies went to check out the promised land and 10 of them brought back a negative report and that negativity spread throughout the whole camp, only Joshua and Caleb stood up and believed God’s promises despite the scary tall men in the way and the negative group mentality.
These mamas have lived in Kibera in deep poverty for a long time and they aren’t exactly used to success. They have not had people telling them that they are awesome and capable so they don’t think they are. Many of these mamas aren’t too confident that they can really do what we believe they can and as they chat together that negativity spreads and deepens.
As these mamas have been told so many lies by the enemy to bring them down it was about time we started speaking the truth to them about how God sees them. This truth is all over the bible but we thought it would be good to ask God for some personal messages for each of the mums. Listening to God in this way is something the Kenyan staff aren’t so used to so we explained it a bit to them first.
Psalm 139:17 says ‘How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!’ and in John 16 Jesus explains how He will send the Holy Spirit to tell us this stuff that God is thinking. So we spent just five minutes listening to God for His thoughts about each mama one by one, we shared what we heard then we prayed those things over the mums. It was epic! It took five hours!
It was so amazing how God spoke so clearly, there was seven of us listening and writing down what we heard and every time there were a few of us who got the same picture or words that backed up the others, in fact the similarities got clearer and clearer the more we listened. I guess we were learning to recognise God’s voice as we went. God spoke loads to the Kenyan staff doing it for the first time, Pastor and Eunice got loads of bible verses that were bang on and Kariuki got some jokes pictures!
The mamas seemed really encouraged, it’s hard to tell what they thought of it as my Swahili isn’t brilliant and they probably haven’t ever experienced anything like that before. God had some very challenging words for one lady, Jesus basically said you keep running away from me every time I get close but I’m not going to stop chasing you, in fact I want to tie your arm to mine so you can’t get away because I never want to leave you. She agreed those words were true and decided she wanted to stop running away and decided to become a Christian! Please pray for in her first few days and weeks with Jesus, pray that God will bless her massively, even her land.
It was such an exciting and encouraging day, we have been doing this bible study course and the notes today said ‘the lowest specimens of any society receive special dignity because [Jesus] identified especially with them.’ God flippin loves the poor, people who no one notices or loves, people who are never told they are amazing. We had the privilege of listening in to God’s thoughts about these women and they were so awesome. God thinks of them so highly, it has changed the way I see them and I hope it has changed the way they think of themselves. God is good.
These mamas have lived in Kibera in deep poverty for a long time and they aren’t exactly used to success. They have not had people telling them that they are awesome and capable so they don’t think they are. Many of these mamas aren’t too confident that they can really do what we believe they can and as they chat together that negativity spreads and deepens.
As these mamas have been told so many lies by the enemy to bring them down it was about time we started speaking the truth to them about how God sees them. This truth is all over the bible but we thought it would be good to ask God for some personal messages for each of the mums. Listening to God in this way is something the Kenyan staff aren’t so used to so we explained it a bit to them first.
Psalm 139:17 says ‘How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!’ and in John 16 Jesus explains how He will send the Holy Spirit to tell us this stuff that God is thinking. So we spent just five minutes listening to God for His thoughts about each mama one by one, we shared what we heard then we prayed those things over the mums. It was epic! It took five hours!
It was so amazing how God spoke so clearly, there was seven of us listening and writing down what we heard and every time there were a few of us who got the same picture or words that backed up the others, in fact the similarities got clearer and clearer the more we listened. I guess we were learning to recognise God’s voice as we went. God spoke loads to the Kenyan staff doing it for the first time, Pastor and Eunice got loads of bible verses that were bang on and Kariuki got some jokes pictures!
The mamas seemed really encouraged, it’s hard to tell what they thought of it as my Swahili isn’t brilliant and they probably haven’t ever experienced anything like that before. God had some very challenging words for one lady, Jesus basically said you keep running away from me every time I get close but I’m not going to stop chasing you, in fact I want to tie your arm to mine so you can’t get away because I never want to leave you. She agreed those words were true and decided she wanted to stop running away and decided to become a Christian! Please pray for in her first few days and weeks with Jesus, pray that God will bless her massively, even her land.
It was such an exciting and encouraging day, we have been doing this bible study course and the notes today said ‘the lowest specimens of any society receive special dignity because [Jesus] identified especially with them.’ God flippin loves the poor, people who no one notices or loves, people who are never told they are amazing. We had the privilege of listening in to God’s thoughts about these women and they were so awesome. God thinks of them so highly, it has changed the way I see them and I hope it has changed the way they think of themselves. God is good.
Yes we kanga!
Kangas are patterned sheets worn by kenyan ladies. Often they have a bit of writing on which may be a saying, proverb or political message. These new kanga designs have just started appearing since the U S elections. Jokes!
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Cool waters
Moses and I went to the British council the other week for an event called Wapi. We got chatting to this girl who happens to be a pro singer, here is the video to her song about the post-election violence earlier this year.
Monday, 3 November 2008
Wiki njema
It’s been a while since my last blog and all sorts has been occurring. Firstly, I asked for prayer about spending a month on my own in the flat, turns out my new housemate is moving in tomorrow so no time on my own, God has hooked me up on that one! Thanks for praying!
Had an awesome week, I’m becoming more and more convinced that I have the best job ever, I’ll probably change my mind next time I get homesick but I think the rewards far outweigh the struggles.
On Saturday I went down to Kibera to hang out with some of the older girls from the project, they are doing their final exams this week for primary school and as long they don’t get pregnant between now and January they will be starting high school in the new year. We have an awesome opportunity to send some girls to a new secondary boarding school that some friends of Turning Point are setting up, pretty sure its free, the first ever free secondary school in Kenya. The group of kids these girls hang out with in the slum is not a good influence on them at all so we’re praying that they can stay on the tracks to get high school.
My job is to get alongside these girls and encourage them; I had no idea what to do with them so I was praying on my way down. Turned out there was some music event going on by the D.O.s office so we walked back up for that and hung out for a bit, drank soda and had a chat. Then I went back down to church with them for their dance group practice, I’m thinking of becoming the token mzungu member because it was so fun! A good workout too as each song goes on for like 10 minutes each!! Next week when the girls have finished exams they can come to the project during the week to hang out so I’m hoping to take some DVDs down to watch and stuff.
Please pray for these girls and the time we spend hanging out, pray protection for them that they can stand firm in what they know is right when they are hanging out with their friends, it would be awesome if their faith was so strong they could even be a positive influence on their friends.
Had an awesome week, I’m becoming more and more convinced that I have the best job ever, I’ll probably change my mind next time I get homesick but I think the rewards far outweigh the struggles.
On Saturday I went down to Kibera to hang out with some of the older girls from the project, they are doing their final exams this week for primary school and as long they don’t get pregnant between now and January they will be starting high school in the new year. We have an awesome opportunity to send some girls to a new secondary boarding school that some friends of Turning Point are setting up, pretty sure its free, the first ever free secondary school in Kenya. The group of kids these girls hang out with in the slum is not a good influence on them at all so we’re praying that they can stay on the tracks to get high school.
My job is to get alongside these girls and encourage them; I had no idea what to do with them so I was praying on my way down. Turned out there was some music event going on by the D.O.s office so we walked back up for that and hung out for a bit, drank soda and had a chat. Then I went back down to church with them for their dance group practice, I’m thinking of becoming the token mzungu member because it was so fun! A good workout too as each song goes on for like 10 minutes each!! Next week when the girls have finished exams they can come to the project during the week to hang out so I’m hoping to take some DVDs down to watch and stuff.
Please pray for these girls and the time we spend hanging out, pray protection for them that they can stand firm in what they know is right when they are hanging out with their friends, it would be awesome if their faith was so strong they could even be a positive influence on their friends.
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Not quite arrested
I had my first run in with the Kenyan police last night, I was driving to my church homegroup as all hardened criminals do and came across one of the many police checks on my way into the city. I’ve been told not to stop at night for anyone, not even the police, so following orders I ignored the policeman waving his torch at me and tried to forge ahead. I’ve done this before and got away with it no worries but this time there was all sorts of traffic in front of me so I couldn’t get away, the policeman kept flashing his torch at me as I desperately tried to squeeze past the dawdlers in front to no avail. In the end as he was running after me shouting and as I realised there was no chance of escape I pulled over for a chat.
Ignoring a police officer is in fact an offense so I would have to go to court the next day to pay my fine. The court is in Kibera, you have to go at 8am and I’ve been told you may well be there all day. I was so not ups, I was sure I could sweet talk my way out of it but Officer Grouchy Mcgrumps was having none of it. Then he said I could pay an on the spot fine and I was a complete sucker thinking you could actually do that, it wasn’t till I looked in my wallet, didn’t have enough and he said ‘1000 will be fine’ that I realised it was a bribe. By that point I was too flippin scared to do anything about it so I just paid the bribe and left. I was so gutted. I felt such an idiot for not figuring out it was a bribe and so gutted I had paid it, I chose to go along with the corruption because I didn’t want to go to court, if they even were going to send me, I don’t know. Anyway I had to pray a bit after that, forgive the policeman and say sorry for messing up myself. Hopefully I’ll be better prepared next time, to figure out when I should stop and to recognise a bribe when it comes.
So that was my exciting story for the week, now I realise I haven’t actually been saying much about what to pray about so prayer stuff:
Thanks for praying about finding somewhere to live and someone to live with, I now have a flat sorted and someone lined up to move in when my current housemate moves out. God has so clearly been hooking me up it’s been ace.
I’m pretty gutted that my current housemate is leaving and I’ll be living alone for a month before the new girl moves in so I would appreciate prayer for that time that I don’t get too lonely and bored but that I can use the time and space to be with God (and not just watching every season of 24)
I’m really loving spending the mornings in Kibera just befriending people, I’d appreciate prayer for wisdom and guidance with work in general as I don’t really ever know what I’m doing, I’m often asked for my ‘learned’ opinion on things and I immediately forget everything I ever learnt at uni and have no idea what we should do. Also figuring out how life works here and where I fit and what’s right and what’s wrong is pretty confusing, I’d appreciate prayer for that too.
For the project, 20 new people received their first loans yesterday, they were all very excited. I met Nancy today who is selling eggs. Please pray for them and their businesses that they will really make a go of them, that this would be the start of their climb out of poverty. Pray for protection and blessing I guess.
We are having lots of opportunities to help adults who we’re not strictly allowed to help because it’s not in our mandate for the charity commission in the UK. Pray that God would open doors so that we can make the most of these opportunities that come along.
Pastor Shadrack is planting a new church in Kianda, another village in Kibera, and once the church is established we will be setting up another Turning Point project over there. Pray for God’s hand all over that.
Right that’s plenty! Thank you so much for your prayers, its so exciting to see God’s responses, I hope you all are encouraged that God is up to all sorts in response to your prayers. Please let me know what I can be praying for you.
Ignoring a police officer is in fact an offense so I would have to go to court the next day to pay my fine. The court is in Kibera, you have to go at 8am and I’ve been told you may well be there all day. I was so not ups, I was sure I could sweet talk my way out of it but Officer Grouchy Mcgrumps was having none of it. Then he said I could pay an on the spot fine and I was a complete sucker thinking you could actually do that, it wasn’t till I looked in my wallet, didn’t have enough and he said ‘1000 will be fine’ that I realised it was a bribe. By that point I was too flippin scared to do anything about it so I just paid the bribe and left. I was so gutted. I felt such an idiot for not figuring out it was a bribe and so gutted I had paid it, I chose to go along with the corruption because I didn’t want to go to court, if they even were going to send me, I don’t know. Anyway I had to pray a bit after that, forgive the policeman and say sorry for messing up myself. Hopefully I’ll be better prepared next time, to figure out when I should stop and to recognise a bribe when it comes.
So that was my exciting story for the week, now I realise I haven’t actually been saying much about what to pray about so prayer stuff:
Thanks for praying about finding somewhere to live and someone to live with, I now have a flat sorted and someone lined up to move in when my current housemate moves out. God has so clearly been hooking me up it’s been ace.
I’m pretty gutted that my current housemate is leaving and I’ll be living alone for a month before the new girl moves in so I would appreciate prayer for that time that I don’t get too lonely and bored but that I can use the time and space to be with God (and not just watching every season of 24)
I’m really loving spending the mornings in Kibera just befriending people, I’d appreciate prayer for wisdom and guidance with work in general as I don’t really ever know what I’m doing, I’m often asked for my ‘learned’ opinion on things and I immediately forget everything I ever learnt at uni and have no idea what we should do. Also figuring out how life works here and where I fit and what’s right and what’s wrong is pretty confusing, I’d appreciate prayer for that too.
For the project, 20 new people received their first loans yesterday, they were all very excited. I met Nancy today who is selling eggs. Please pray for them and their businesses that they will really make a go of them, that this would be the start of their climb out of poverty. Pray for protection and blessing I guess.
We are having lots of opportunities to help adults who we’re not strictly allowed to help because it’s not in our mandate for the charity commission in the UK. Pray that God would open doors so that we can make the most of these opportunities that come along.
Pastor Shadrack is planting a new church in Kianda, another village in Kibera, and once the church is established we will be setting up another Turning Point project over there. Pray for God’s hand all over that.
Right that’s plenty! Thank you so much for your prayers, its so exciting to see God’s responses, I hope you all are encouraged that God is up to all sorts in response to your prayers. Please let me know what I can be praying for you.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Everybody needs good neighbours...
Right I’ve figured out how to solve poverty in the first world, I don’t know what to do about the third world, I’m still working on that but I think this theory is pretty good for one morning’s work.
So, poverty does exist in England but in a different way to Kenya, in England it’s mostly called relative poverty as opposed to absolute poverty. According to ‘The Poverty Site’ in 2006/2007 about one fifth of the population in the UK were living below the low-income threshold which is about £112 per week for a single adult with no dependent children or £189 per week for a single adult with two dependent children under 14. So, one in five people are struggling with money, which means there are four people to every one person struggling. That’s just income, this doesn’t say much about health or education or social exclusion.
The thing about relative poverty is that you probably aren’t starving but you probably will be marginalized, pushed to the side, not included in the good stuff of community in the same way as your rich neighbours are. You might be called a chav and told you’re not allowed to wear jumpers with hoods. Or people just might not notice you and the struggles you’re having. You might be having a really hard time at home but not have the social networks to find people to help you deal with those things. I have been so surprised by how much poverty there is in Woking, I just thought there were a few homeless people here and there but when you visit a few families that are having a hard time you realize there are loads of people who could do with some friends to come alongside them.
I think the biggest thing about relative poverty is the social exclusion that comes along with it, who you know is just as important as what you know. Jesus said ‘the poor will always be with you and you can help them any time you want.’ The poor should be with you so you can help them whenever they need it or whenever you can. I think with the relative poverty in the west where social exclusion is such a big part of it, making sure we are with the poor will go a long way to solving these problems. I think that means making friends, proper friends who spend time together, who are a part of each other’s lives. We can keep the poor at a distance and give money to charities or we can befriend a family and love them, maybe you’ll get to help them with money if you become close enough friends but love is better than money any day. It would be very cool if ‘the poor’ where no longer some abstract category of people but were George and Gladis who live down the road.
The reason I mention the stats at the beginning is because in England we have the awesome fact that the poor are way outnumbered by the rich so it should be so possible for all ‘poor’ people to be included and lifted up by the people around them. It’s a bit harder in places like Kenya where flippin everyone is struggling. So if everyone in England reads my blog and goes and makes a couple of new friends then poverty in the UK could be eradicated in maybe a year or so. Sweet.
So, poverty does exist in England but in a different way to Kenya, in England it’s mostly called relative poverty as opposed to absolute poverty. According to ‘The Poverty Site’ in 2006/2007 about one fifth of the population in the UK were living below the low-income threshold which is about £112 per week for a single adult with no dependent children or £189 per week for a single adult with two dependent children under 14. So, one in five people are struggling with money, which means there are four people to every one person struggling. That’s just income, this doesn’t say much about health or education or social exclusion.
The thing about relative poverty is that you probably aren’t starving but you probably will be marginalized, pushed to the side, not included in the good stuff of community in the same way as your rich neighbours are. You might be called a chav and told you’re not allowed to wear jumpers with hoods. Or people just might not notice you and the struggles you’re having. You might be having a really hard time at home but not have the social networks to find people to help you deal with those things. I have been so surprised by how much poverty there is in Woking, I just thought there were a few homeless people here and there but when you visit a few families that are having a hard time you realize there are loads of people who could do with some friends to come alongside them.
I think the biggest thing about relative poverty is the social exclusion that comes along with it, who you know is just as important as what you know. Jesus said ‘the poor will always be with you and you can help them any time you want.’ The poor should be with you so you can help them whenever they need it or whenever you can. I think with the relative poverty in the west where social exclusion is such a big part of it, making sure we are with the poor will go a long way to solving these problems. I think that means making friends, proper friends who spend time together, who are a part of each other’s lives. We can keep the poor at a distance and give money to charities or we can befriend a family and love them, maybe you’ll get to help them with money if you become close enough friends but love is better than money any day. It would be very cool if ‘the poor’ where no longer some abstract category of people but were George and Gladis who live down the road.
The reason I mention the stats at the beginning is because in England we have the awesome fact that the poor are way outnumbered by the rich so it should be so possible for all ‘poor’ people to be included and lifted up by the people around them. It’s a bit harder in places like Kenya where flippin everyone is struggling. So if everyone in England reads my blog and goes and makes a couple of new friends then poverty in the UK could be eradicated in maybe a year or so. Sweet.
Monday, 6 October 2008
Sunday, 5 October 2008
The Nairobi Show
All this week has been the Nairobi Show, a fairly bizarre fair celebrating all things Kenyan, it's absolutely massive. There are loads of stalls about all sorts of thrilling things like the the ministry of roadworks, my personal favorite was the ministry of agriculture becuase out the front of the stall was a life size model of one cow mounting another cow with a farmer standing by cheering them on!! There's also a fairground with some rickety unsafe looking rides and an arena where they do various shows with dancers, marching bands and dramas which are funny if you understand swahili apparently.
I went to the show yesterday with Lillian, Lillian's brother Peter, Lucy Katunge and her baby Grace. We had an awesome time, it was amazing to be able to take them out of the slum and have a proper day out together. Driving them in the car was pretty funny, they werent too sure hot to open and close the doors, we had to stop a couple of time to get them properly closed and I had to explain the shotgun rule to them in order to stop an all out war over who would sit in the front!!
At the show we saw loads of animals, the guys saw guniea pigs for the first time and rode camels and fairground rides for the first time. We went dancing wherever we could find some music playing, we ate loads and we went to the show in the big arena. It was so so much fun. Baby Grace had an ace time, we got her a balloon hat which she was completely in awe of for the rest of the day.
I kept thinking about how Jesus has promised us life in all its fullness, life for most people in Kibera is just about finding food for another day, I know it was only one day out for four kids in Kibera but it was flippin awesome to see them enjoying themselves so much. So I'm keeping my eye out for other stuff we can do together.
I went to the show yesterday with Lillian, Lillian's brother Peter, Lucy Katunge and her baby Grace. We had an awesome time, it was amazing to be able to take them out of the slum and have a proper day out together. Driving them in the car was pretty funny, they werent too sure hot to open and close the doors, we had to stop a couple of time to get them properly closed and I had to explain the shotgun rule to them in order to stop an all out war over who would sit in the front!!
At the show we saw loads of animals, the guys saw guniea pigs for the first time and rode camels and fairground rides for the first time. We went dancing wherever we could find some music playing, we ate loads and we went to the show in the big arena. It was so so much fun. Baby Grace had an ace time, we got her a balloon hat which she was completely in awe of for the rest of the day.
I kept thinking about how Jesus has promised us life in all its fullness, life for most people in Kibera is just about finding food for another day, I know it was only one day out for four kids in Kibera but it was flippin awesome to see them enjoying themselves so much. So I'm keeping my eye out for other stuff we can do together.
Monday, 29 September 2008
hope and soda
Last weekend I moved into my new flat in Kilimani which is ace, it’s a really nice place, super close to Adam’s arcade and Toi market. For those who don’t know Adams is where Java house is. Java house is my favourite coffee shop in Nairobi although there is some debate in the Turning Point camp as to which is better: Dormans or Java? Your opinions count people!
Toi market is a massive market that sells second hand clothes and shoes and all sorts of other stuff, a great source for slum chic apparel. I can walk to the office and to Kibera from my place as well as all the shops I need so it’s pretty sweet. I’m living with an american lady called Susan who cracks me up saying things like ‘Oh for the love of biscuits!’
So to be honest for a couple of weeks before I moved I was missing everyone loads, I was pretty bummed out because I felt I should be doing something to find some friends but wasn’t really sure what to do. However, I’ve started to really enjoy having the time and the space to spend with God, listening and praying and reading. I’m learning loads. I think I’ve realised God gives and He takes away and for now He’s taken my friends away or moved me away from them for a bit but He will give me some more. I’m learning to chill out and trust Him, He’s got it covered. He really does have it covered as I’m starting to make friends at church, getting in touch with people I met last time I was here and some awesome stuff is going on in the slum.
Another thing I’m learning to chill out about is what I should be doing here. There’s so many people who need help and so many opportunities to serve but I don’t know what I’m meant to do and how I’m meant to go about it. I have loads of ideas of stuff I want to do but the only things that will be significant are the things that are in God’s plans so I might as well chillax and see what happens.
Most of all I want to build genuine friendships with guys in the slum so I can encourage them and point them to Jesus so they can find proper hope. My favourite verse scribbled on my wall at the moment is Romans 15:13 ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ I’m praying that as I trust in God, hope will overflow out and bosch into some of the people I come across in Kibs. That’s the prayer.
This past week has been super encouraging on this front as I’ve all of a sudden had loads of opportunities to hang out with people in Kibera, been invited to some people’s houses for soda and I’m going to the Nairobi trade show (or possibly some gangsta rap gig) with two of the girls from the project next weekend. Lillian who is lonely because her friends keep getting married (even though their only like 17) and she doesn’t go to school, and Lucy Katunge who has had a baby since I last saw her, Baby Grace. Lucy has changed loads, she’s really grown up and is such a good mum, she still beats me up though! So that should be very fun.
It was my birthday yesterday so thanks to everyone who sent me all sorts of birthday love. I love you guys!
Toi market is a massive market that sells second hand clothes and shoes and all sorts of other stuff, a great source for slum chic apparel. I can walk to the office and to Kibera from my place as well as all the shops I need so it’s pretty sweet. I’m living with an american lady called Susan who cracks me up saying things like ‘Oh for the love of biscuits!’
So to be honest for a couple of weeks before I moved I was missing everyone loads, I was pretty bummed out because I felt I should be doing something to find some friends but wasn’t really sure what to do. However, I’ve started to really enjoy having the time and the space to spend with God, listening and praying and reading. I’m learning loads. I think I’ve realised God gives and He takes away and for now He’s taken my friends away or moved me away from them for a bit but He will give me some more. I’m learning to chill out and trust Him, He’s got it covered. He really does have it covered as I’m starting to make friends at church, getting in touch with people I met last time I was here and some awesome stuff is going on in the slum.
Another thing I’m learning to chill out about is what I should be doing here. There’s so many people who need help and so many opportunities to serve but I don’t know what I’m meant to do and how I’m meant to go about it. I have loads of ideas of stuff I want to do but the only things that will be significant are the things that are in God’s plans so I might as well chillax and see what happens.
Most of all I want to build genuine friendships with guys in the slum so I can encourage them and point them to Jesus so they can find proper hope. My favourite verse scribbled on my wall at the moment is Romans 15:13 ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ I’m praying that as I trust in God, hope will overflow out and bosch into some of the people I come across in Kibs. That’s the prayer.
This past week has been super encouraging on this front as I’ve all of a sudden had loads of opportunities to hang out with people in Kibera, been invited to some people’s houses for soda and I’m going to the Nairobi trade show (or possibly some gangsta rap gig) with two of the girls from the project next weekend. Lillian who is lonely because her friends keep getting married (even though their only like 17) and she doesn’t go to school, and Lucy Katunge who has had a baby since I last saw her, Baby Grace. Lucy has changed loads, she’s really grown up and is such a good mum, she still beats me up though! So that should be very fun.
It was my birthday yesterday so thanks to everyone who sent me all sorts of birthday love. I love you guys!
Monday, 22 September 2008
Gop
Went to Kinangop last week to visit the farm, this is the Turning Point Farm where mamas from the slum have moved to learn to farm and eventually become independent. Initially the mums were farming the land together but now they each have their own portion of land to farm. This is working really well, and some mums in particular are doing really well. One lady managed to make enough money off her land to visit her home in Western Kenya. That’s a long way therefore not a cheap bus fare.
So the next stage is for these mums to move into some new houses so that a fresh batch of mamas can move up to the gop sometime next year. So our mission this week was to choose which bit of the vast empire to build the new houses on. For those who have been to the farm we chose the corner near the road where the cows currently hang out.
It was awesome to see the farm over a year since the mamas moved up, they all look very at home on farm, like they know what they are doing and the fields are covered in lush looking plants. We sampled some carrots straight from the ground, tasted lovely.
There are three little kids at the farm who aren’t old enough for school yet: Junior, Joyci and Mombi. When I was here last year I spent most of my time at the farm being wrestled to the ground by these three while Pastor and Jon sorted out important stuff. This year their crew has increased by one wee nipper by the name of Sprilla. She is so jokes, she was too tiny last year to run about with the others but now she trundles round the farm with the rest of them, squeezing through gaps in the fences.
So the next stage is for these mums to move into some new houses so that a fresh batch of mamas can move up to the gop sometime next year. So our mission this week was to choose which bit of the vast empire to build the new houses on. For those who have been to the farm we chose the corner near the road where the cows currently hang out.
It was awesome to see the farm over a year since the mamas moved up, they all look very at home on farm, like they know what they are doing and the fields are covered in lush looking plants. We sampled some carrots straight from the ground, tasted lovely.
There are three little kids at the farm who aren’t old enough for school yet: Junior, Joyci and Mombi. When I was here last year I spent most of my time at the farm being wrestled to the ground by these three while Pastor and Jon sorted out important stuff. This year their crew has increased by one wee nipper by the name of Sprilla. She is so jokes, she was too tiny last year to run about with the others but now she trundles round the farm with the rest of them, squeezing through gaps in the fences.
Friday, 12 September 2008
Chapter 1
Hello!
So I arrived in Kenya last wednesday, I'm staying with Jo and Jon at the moment until I find somewhere to live. God seems to have created a bit of an opportunity in that the youth leader at Jo and Jon's church needs a flat mate for a month or so, I gladly stepped up to the plate and I'm moving in with her on the 21st.
It's pretty ace to be back in Kenya, been down to Kibera a few times, catching up with the staff and the kids, heard a lot about the camps that I missed this summer and I've caught up on all thats been going on with the Microfinance scheme.
As you enter Kibera theres a lady called Margeret who set up a business selling mkate na maziwa (bread and milk) with her loan from TPFP. When I left last year she just had a stool to sit on and an upturned box to store her food on. Now she has recieved her second loan and has a whole structure to protect her products from the sun and rain and even a nifty shelf on the front for two layered presentation. Its well encouraging to see the businesses growing.
Ninajifunza kiswahili, that means I'm learning Kiswahili. I have lessons for 2 hours every afternoon with Judy who is pretty jokes. I've been conjugating verbs all over the shop. I flippin love it! yesterday I came home from my lesson and managed to chat to some ladies doing some gardening in our compound for like 10 minutes all in swahili. Kenyans love it when a mzungu even tries to speak swahili.
Today I went down to Kibera by myself for the first time which was pretty exciting, met a guy called Samuel on the way down to the project and had a chat for ages (he also got a loan from TPFP), I said a few things in swahili and he presumed I was fluent. I have no idea what he said to me.
That will do for blog 1.
So I arrived in Kenya last wednesday, I'm staying with Jo and Jon at the moment until I find somewhere to live. God seems to have created a bit of an opportunity in that the youth leader at Jo and Jon's church needs a flat mate for a month or so, I gladly stepped up to the plate and I'm moving in with her on the 21st.
It's pretty ace to be back in Kenya, been down to Kibera a few times, catching up with the staff and the kids, heard a lot about the camps that I missed this summer and I've caught up on all thats been going on with the Microfinance scheme.
As you enter Kibera theres a lady called Margeret who set up a business selling mkate na maziwa (bread and milk) with her loan from TPFP. When I left last year she just had a stool to sit on and an upturned box to store her food on. Now she has recieved her second loan and has a whole structure to protect her products from the sun and rain and even a nifty shelf on the front for two layered presentation. Its well encouraging to see the businesses growing.
Ninajifunza kiswahili, that means I'm learning Kiswahili. I have lessons for 2 hours every afternoon with Judy who is pretty jokes. I've been conjugating verbs all over the shop. I flippin love it! yesterday I came home from my lesson and managed to chat to some ladies doing some gardening in our compound for like 10 minutes all in swahili. Kenyans love it when a mzungu even tries to speak swahili.
Today I went down to Kibera by myself for the first time which was pretty exciting, met a guy called Samuel on the way down to the project and had a chat for ages (he also got a loan from TPFP), I said a few things in swahili and he presumed I was fluent. I have no idea what he said to me.
That will do for blog 1.
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