Note from Group in Tanzania

I just spoke with Wayne and Carroll and they arrived at the coast today. They have had a wonderful time seeing many animals on another safari. They are happy for some relaxing time at the beach. They will return to Kenya on Sat and then home to the USA on Sunday. Please keep them in your prayers for safe travels!

Last day in Nairobi notes

Saturday…most of our group headed off for Tanzania, but Bethany, Megan, Toni, Clare, Annie, John and Joy made plans to go to the elephant orphanage. Patrick planned to pick us up at 9:30 so that we would be at the orphanage in time to see the baby elephant parade, baths and feeding. At 10 AM we began to be worried. While we were waiting, we discovered that the hotel had rented our rooms out to others believing that we had gone with the rest of the group to Tanzania.

Bethany negotiated for no little time and managed to get the hotel to just remove a bed from one of the rooms and let us keep the room. We suspect that some of those just arriving would find themselves doubling up in our confiscated bed!

Patrick was delayed because he was finally able to get the books from the airport and was eager to get them to Mercy Care Centre. When he arrived we had just enough time to make it to the orphanage. When Patrick tried to leave the guest house with all of us aboard the car refused to go up the drive way which had an incline. We all got out, walked up the hill and then reloaded to head off toward the orphanage. Every time we came to a hill we all sang at the top of our lungs, “God is so Good” hoping we would make it to the top.

The baby elephants ranging in age from 3 months to three years were playful and eager to be petted and have their trunks blown into. The trainer said that if we would blow into the trunks that the baby would have our scent and would never forget us. That may have been true, or all the Kenyan elephant keepers may have been having a good laugh as visitors from all over the world blew kisses into the trunks of baby elephants.

We also got up close and personal with a rhino. He was not as sweet as the baby elephants, but did remind me of myself early in the morning before makeup.

We went to the national animal park for lunch and had a roasted meat platter with interesting sauces for lunch. We were seated on a covered veranda and were serenaded by some Maasai.

We then headed for the market to buy some gifts including some musical instruments, jewelry and clothing so that we would be prepared to do some programs back home about our Kenya experience in hopes of raising some financial support for Mercy Care Centre.

We made another stop at the Yaya Center to have some samosas (wonderful meat and vegetable pastries with lime juice) and to pick up a few items for the trip home.

Last night we had a farewell dinner with all of the teachers form Mercy Care. We will miss these new friends, but will continue to pray for them when we return to America.

Tomorrow morning we will accompany Patrick to his church in Nairobi. It is the largest Pentacostal church in Kenya. We will not have much time before we head for the airport where we will fly to Addis Ababba in Ethiopia, then on to Rome and finally on to DC. We will be in the air about 17 hours, but we will be losing about 7 hours so it will seem like an even longer trip than it actually will be. Coming over John and I did not experience much jet lag, so we hope that is true returning as well.

So many things here are different than home: the lay of the land, the climate, the language, the food, the dress, the driving rules (there aren’t any!) , but the most important things are the same. Love of the Lord still makes for the strongest bonds between people and a smile still makes everything better.

Last Day at the School

We said Goodbye to the children today and it was sad! We were taking the teachers to dinner tonight. We paired up and had a great time with our "New Friends".
We got ready and head for the restaurant around 3:30 for dinner. It seems strange to head for a restaurant so early for dinner, but we are in Africa and things move at a different speed. We arrived at the Sahara City, the restaurant, and it was so great. They were cooking our food on ginkgos, small charcoal stoves, and the tables were set up outside. Megan found a playground and was happy as could be. The teachers arrived and we had planned an icebreaker to help introduce each person. We were all so excited to have dinner with them. This was a real treat for everyone. We took turns introducing each other and telling 4 or 5 things about the other. Several of the teachers commented that the loved the activity. The food was served and everyone enjoyed it. Then we just enjoyed time together. Patrick, the principal, did not make it in time to join us. He had gone to the airport to collect the 2 boxes of books we had shipped before we left. He got both boxes by 8:00 and met us as we were leaving. It was a miracle he got the boxes. A few years ago, it took my day 3 days to get a generator we shipped.
The teacher left for home on one bus and we left on another. Megan fell asleep in my lap. The about 15 minutes into our trip, our bus stopped and I looked up to see smoke coming up from the driver seat. Then I hear Joy say, “Fire…Fire! Everyone off the bus!” We all quickly got out of our seats and as we got off the bus, traffic was coming on the side we exited on. Joy stood in the middle of the road and held up her hand and told the car to “Stop!” Toni was one of the first off. She stepped over the side into a mud pit. Her foot was covered in mud. We all got off and we must have been a funny sight… a bunch of white people running off a bus into on coming traffic. I bet a few Africans had quite a laugh. We laughed all the way back to the Guest House. We got back on the bus and all was well. It seems to wires and touched and thus caused a small fire. It is just another African experience! Lucky we all made it home safe and sound!

Day 10

I feel lucky to be alive. Today Bethany, Megan, and Toni and I went up to the mountains of Lake Navasha to visit Esther’s family. We had a great visit and meal, but it started raining so we left quickly because the road was so bad. We got to the bottom of the mountain and Ester’s sister called to say I had left my passport and cash. SO I finally persuaded the driver to return. We slid all the way up and down. Several times I was so scared, but kept praying and made it back. Thanks for your prayers…I certainly needed them today.

Day 9

Today was an out and about day. A group from Feed the Children came to the school. We thanked them for all they have done and are doing for the children. There was another trip to the animal orphanage and 2 groups of students went for music and dance competitions. The school seemed so quiet with so many students gone. The team went in many different directions today. Some were involved in the clinic, some went to watch the music competitions, some went to the orphanage, some went on walks around the valley, and some taught classes and enjoyed the children. At the end of the day, we all met together to share a delicious meal at a great Indian restaurant. We are all tired tonight and will try to post more tomorrow.

Yesterday, I found myself with 240 kids alone at the animal orphanage. It was exhausting but they were wonderful and so well behaved. Today was better, I had several teachers and again the kids were wonderful. Tomorrow I am sneaking away from the group and visiting Esther’s family so that will be great! Thanks for your prayers! Love Carroll

Note from Miriam Sauls

Hello, Miriam Sauls here, the only North Carolinian amongst the Virginians and Aussies. They are all excellent traveling companions, I might add. For my first blog entry, I will include some words here that I wrote upon returning from our safari.

We headed off to the Maasai Mara region for our safari and on our way to our tent camp, we started seeing zebra and giraffe. Then we arrived at the very elegant Fig Tree Camp, with beautiful dining areas and pool and tents unlike what I had in mind. Yes, we zipped in and out of our tent, but they were furnished with very nice mahogany beds and a tiled bathroom with all working plumbing and hot water. It also had a nice open-air thatched roof bar. Not roughing it at all!

We went on our first game drive within an hour of arriving and over the next two days went on 4 game drives and saw lots of lions, elephants, more zebras and giraffes, hippos, a leopard and tons of Cape Buffalo and lots and lots of gazelles, impalas and all kinds of antelopes and hyenas and bat-eared foxes. There were warthogs galore and baboons and amazing birds and we even got in a wildebeast migration! When I say we saw elephants and lions, I mean multiple times and our drivers drove us to within 10 feet of them sometimes. We saw mother and baby lions playing and heard big males ferotiously growl and saw very protective mother elephants with precious babies. The leopard had taken an impala it killed and hung it in a tree and when we found the tree (all the safari drivers either talk by radio about what they have found or stop as they pass on the road, so we had gotten a leopard tip) we only saw the kill, but we caught the leopard the next morning coming down from breakfast.

The grandeur of the landscape and the light at sunrise and sunset and these enormous majestic animals appearing on the horizon is about as thrilling as anything I have ever experienced. Then there are the small moments like getting back to camp and seeing an elephant nonchalantly drinking from the stream by our camp or a baboon racing through camp and the monkeys that got in two of our tents and went after snickers bars and popcorn and makeup! You never, never leave your tent unzipped lest they make a raid. We took a couple of hours to go to a Maasai village near the camp and they sang and danced for us and showed us inside their huts and answered a million questions and it was magnificent. The men dress mostly in red fabric draped around them toga-like, and have lots of shiny necklaces and beading and a big knife in a sheath around their waist and they always carry a walking stick. It is so hard to believe these are not just costumes they put on for our benefit, but we saw village after village of these people going about their daily life, and they were simply beautiful. We even saw them playing soccer in these clothes and the goalie still had his stick.

The only animal we didn't see that we were hoping to see was a cheetah. We didn't see rhinos either, but we knew they were almost extinct in the park (there are apparently only 20 left in the park) so we didn't have any expectations for rhinos. But we really were hoping to see a cheetah in action. Oh well...But yesterday, we took 240 of the school children in buses to the animal orphanage in Nairobi. I was walking around filming and a keeper asked me if I wanted to see a baby lion. Of course I said yes and he took me to a building behind the cages. I snagged George, a great photographer in our group and he came too and they handed us a 3-month old lion to hold. You have to hold it very carefully as it already is interested in nipping. Breathtaking! Then I finally got to see my cheetah. They took out a 5-month old cheetah and gave me a toy on a rope to shake around for it to play with. It played just like a domesticated kitten and was absolutely adorable. But you had to keep its attention on the toy, because it was already too big to want to have it focussed on you. These workers obviously had a racket going - they expected a tip and were very good at using your camera to film you with the babies. But I was more than happy to give that tip. What an experience!

When we got on the bus to go to the animal orphanage, I happened to be on the bus with the 8th grade girls who have a great chorus. They immediately broke into song, with fabulous 4-part harmony and sang all the way there. They were in a regional competition today, but I haven't heard the results. The high school girls also competed today. Some of us went to the competition but we had to leave before they performed - but we heard them rehearsing and they did this beautiful call and response chanting that was out of this world. They were draped in African cloth - they can make the most out of the least little thing.

I continue to appreciate how fun and compassionate and talented the group I am with is. It all feels like a big blessing.

Note from Susan

Hello again Family and AP, from Susan (and Aderonke). We did our first clinic today, and saw 20+ children. The complaints are typical—they seem to have a lot of allergies, eye complaints, fungal infections, and coughing/wheezing. We did see several skin infections of significance, and were able to treat the children with antibiotics. We lunched on boiled corn and avocados (local), and this afternoon went to a crazy market, packed with people! We bargained and traded for some souvenirs. The time passed quickly. I hope you all are well and will email you!

Love,
Susan

Note from Joy

Today was parachute day for Joy and Helen. We had brought a parachute to use with the smaller children to teach them their colors and how to work as a team. By the end of the two hours we had about 100 kids running under and yelling out the names of the colors in English and Swahili. While we were outside, Ray continued building shelves for the school and John was at his post in the clinic giving a blessing to each child who had been treated by our two doctors.

This afternoon we went to the Maasi Market which is an outdoor market where hundreds (maybe thousands)…it’s hard to tell due to the levels going up the hill and the circumference of the market…of folks are selling their wares on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

There are bowls and plates and carvings of ebony and bone as well as dresses, paintings, and musical instruments. Even clubs (to keep order) are available. The hardest part is deciding what to buy, then negotiating the price (this is expected and encouraged) and then once a price is determined, trying to come up with the proper number of shillings.

Our team continues to be amazed at the dedication and excellence of the teaching staff at Mercy Care Center. Tomorrow Joy will attend the music competition. The Mercy Care Center will be singing and hoping to place well so they can go to the nationals!

Over the weekend we went on safari in the Riff Valley. In addition to seeing all the animals in the wild (elephants, lions, hippos, baboons, cheetahs, monkeys, leopards, water buffalo, and a host of members of the deer family.

The most interesting thing for Ray, Helen and John and Joy was a visit to the Masai Village. Each village is made up of families. You know the number of families because each family has its own gate in the briar fence used to keep the cattle inside at night.

They are polygamous with each wife having her own house. The houses are made of tree limbs, a metal roof and a coating of cow dung. Inside the house is divided into two halves. Half for the calves and half for the people. The husband and male children in one bed and the mother and girl children in the other bed. When the husband visits a wife all the children over the age of 5 go to another wife’s house for the night. The beds are made of cow hides.

Fire is made by rubbing sticks together over elephant dung. All adult men carry a stick and a knife or sword. They use these things for herding and for defense.

Water is scarce and sometimes families squabble over water rights. From the age of five, the girls carry water and wood for the fires w hile the boys herd the goats and cows. The main diet is cows milk and cow’s blood (cows are bled about twice a month) We did not stay for dinner, but we did get an opportunity to dance with the villagers…men with men and women with women all in a line. The songs tell a story.

There is competition with jumping. The fellows I saw should be recruited for American basketball teams. It is a hard life, but we all agreed that life in the Riff Valley is easier on children than life in the city slums. No one we have met has an easy life here. Unemployment is very high. Salaries are low. Transportation is usually walking.

Driving in Nairobi is thrilling to say the least. Dodging traffic either on foot or in a vehicle is a real talent here. (Today on a walk in the valley with some of the high school students, they pulled Joy to safety several times.)

Today we tried some of the roasted corn (roasted over a charcoal fire) and some fried wheat bread that tastes sort of like a New Orleans style beneits (sp?) Wayne and Carol hosted us all to samosas made of either meat or vegetables and seasoned with lime juice…Great stuff!

Tomorrow morning will come quickly, so the Mission group will be headed for sleep time now. Tomorrow some will be going to the animal orphanage with about 200 of the kids for a field trip and some will go to the music competition. Tomorrow night we will all go out for an Indian dinner and Friday night we will host a teacher appreciation dinner.

We pray for all our friends and family back in Roanoke each night as we know you are praying for us as well. On Saturday Ray and Helen will head for Tanzania. John and Joy will start flying west on Sunday night headed for home. God is good and we are trusting Him each step of the way.

Notes from Helen, Ray, John and Joy

Hello from Africa!
What an amazing time! We have seen many amazing animals this past weekend…elephants, lions, ostrich, cougars, impala, wildebeests, hippo, zebras, and lots more. The animals and the landscape were as amazing as I had imagined. Yesterday we also visited a Masi village. They sang and danced for us. They also invited us to come into their homes. Amazing!

Then a really time... Carroll celebrated her birthday at the hotel. Some Wasi men came into the dining room marching, dancing and chanting in their native attire. It was an amazing evening for all of us. (We are so grateful Carroll celebrated her birthday here in Africa)

Tomorrow we will go back to Mercy Care Center. We will take some of the children to the animal orphanage. Others in the group will be teaching in different classrooms,

WE now have 2 physicians with us. They will be caring for some of the physical needs of students. John will be praying with each child, as they are about to visit the physicians.

Tomorrow and the rest of the week we will follow similar patterns.

We are grateful for the privilege to share with the children, support the teachers and listen to the vision Patrick shares with us his visions for Mercy Care.

Agape!
Ray, Helen, John and Joy

From Carroll

We all arrived safely back from the safari with only one flat tire. I enjoyed a great birthday party at the Camp even though my birthday was on March 20th. We all enjoyed a lovely cake and the balloon ride was wonderful. We are anxious to get back to the school and be with the children for the rest of the week. Pray for safety as we take the children to the orphanage-the buses are local.

Love and blesses to you all.

Carroll

From Dr. Susan

Just wanted to say a big, “Hello” to my dear family and AP, who I hope got the blog address. Aderonke and I begin our medical work tomorrow, and we are looking forward to seeing what kind of clinic we can establish. By the way, I’ve never ‘blogged’ before. We want you to be assured that we are safe and awestruck by this beautiful country. Be on the lookout for incredible photos! All of you need to come to Africa!

Please check your emails, as we’ll send them out whenever we can!

Love very much,
Susan
(and Aderonke standing beside me, laughing)

Sports Day

It was sports day and we all enjoyed seeing the children show off. The school rents a sports field one time a year to bring the students out of the valley for a day of races and relays. All the children look forward to it and even the parents come out to watch the events. Each of us was assigned to a team. The children were amazing and were so athletic. Ed joined the red team and ran in 2 races. He made us all proud… he even won a ribbon! Ray ran with the male teachers and parents. Who knew Ray was so fast!!!
The children ran races, enjoyed each other and being out of the valley. The winners of each race go medals brought by the Australians and ribbons. The winning team members each got a bottle of soda and a trophy. At the close of the ceremonies, we all went back to the valley for lunch. All the parents joined us for lunch and then we headed home. We told them goodbye until Tuesday. Today we got to interact with the students in a new way. Many new friendships were made and everyone enjoyed the day.
On the way home we ran into a traffic jam and had down pours of rain. Our driver took us on back road to get us moving. Peter, our bus driver, was amazing. He got us home safely and then joined us for dinner. Today also had many moments and here are a few pictures.
Tomorrow we leave on Safari and will not be able to post to the blog until Monday. Thanks for all the comments. We check the blog every night and are encouraged by your supportive words.

Day 3

So many Great Blessing!
Today was filled with many wonderful moments. I am going to just list a few of the things we experienced.
New shoes for all our students!!!! Thank you so much Rebecca…the students kept saying, “They looked Smart!” Which for them means they look great! We told your story to all the teachers and they were so impressed and thankful!
Susan and Ed did a puppet show for a class. The “Outsiders” or young children who hang around the school really loved the puppets. They enjoyed playing with Ed and the puppets.
Carroll and Helen teaching a song to the Standard 3. They enjoyed Carroll’s singing as much as we all do (ha-ha)!
Ray and his new friends, James and David built our first set of bookshelves for the library. Sawing by hand wore several of them out. Ray had special helpers when he was alone and needed to cut a board. John enjoyed telling Ray what to do!
Hip Hop lessons with Anni and Ed. The students have been asking about our dances and asking for hip-hop. Anni taught them a dance and the Secondary girls really enjoyed the dance. They enjoyed Ed’s show.
Patrick modeled part of the newly made costume for the dance Axi is teaching. They are going to be great! Patrick is amazing in that he is able to be a part of all the ins and outs of the school.
Clare and Anni played soccer and volleyball for the break. They thought it was going to only be a short time, but it turned out to be an hour.
Toni set up the tennis net and showed some students how to play. It was great and a new sport in the valley. I have a feeling she will have more lessons to teach.
Megan, Toni and I read a book to several classes and they loved it. Clare and Anni were a big help in teaching the moves.
Axi worked on the dance most of the day. It is really going well and the dancers are often seen practicing in the school yard!
Joy and Tyler had a great day getting to know a man and woman who live in the Valley. They went shopping, toured the valley, went into the community garden and much more. I think it was a great experience for all involved.
Betsy and Pati visited several classrooms and also continued with the Romeo & Juliet! They are having so much fun.
These are just a few of the things that come to mind. I know each of us has our own moments!
Tomorrow is Field Day!