Inside My House

Sitting Room

Another picture of the sitting room

Cooking Station

Pantry
pantry

My New House

I have finally moved into my "new" house next to Steve and Judi Cochran on Thursday, November 5th. I have been praying about it since early September when I found out my rent in ICIPE was increasing 50%. I had looked at several places, but quickly realized it was difficult to find a quality place in Mbita. Steve has been a huge blessing to me as he helped to bring plumbing to the house so that I have a water tank, toilet, shower and sink. He also helped me install a couple of 60 watt solar panels on the roof which are strong enough to charge my laptop, power my TV and give me electricity in every room. It is about the perfect size for a single guy like me. I have a nice size sitting room, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a tiny kitchen area. I love the fact that I now have my own yard,. It is also considerably closer to school. I will miss my 30 mintue walk to and from school each day, trekking through the community and greeting people along the way, but it is also nice that I can make it to school in less than ten minutes. My walking commute has been cut by twenty minutes each way. What am I going to do with all my extra time now?

I have to admit I was a little hesitant at first about leaving my home for the past six years in ICIPE. We had many modern covenciences inside that compound including 24 hour electricity, hot water, plumbing, good security, internet access, television stations, refrigerator and a totally furnished apartment. But the rent had just gotten too high for this area. It didn't seem like a wise decision to continue paying that much money for a place to live. As the days go on, I feel more and more excited about my decision. I was in a bit of a comfort zone and so it feels good to change my daily routine and be stretched a little in some areas. It will be a savings for me and free up my budget a little more for other things, including being a blessing to others. It will also give me more community especially being close to Steve and Judi. We are sharing the same front gate and the same compound, though our houses are separate. Several of my close friends had moved out of ICIPE in the last 2 years so I was feeling a little isolated there.

I am still adjusting to the cold showers and not having a fridge to store leftovers or keep certain "luxury" items (like cheese). My internet modem through a cellphone company has bee really unreliable which is frustering. God remains faithful throughout everything. I am thankful for how he has answered my prayers and provided everything that I need.

Enjoy a couple of pictures of the outside of the house. And yes, that is a basketball hoop on the side of the house. Steve installed it for his daughters to use, but I think I will also be getting some use out of it, as well as some of the other kids. I will try to post some pictures of the inside of the house in the coming days.

Time to Celebrate

CGA's 8th grade class finished their national exams Thursday morning and celebrated the special occasion with an overnight party. The exams had begun on Tuesday with Math, English, Cand Composition. On Wednesday they took exams in Science, Kiswahili and Kiswahili Composition. Finally, Thursday they took an exam with 60 Social Studies questions and 30 Christian Religous Education questions (mostly from the Bible). Except for the compositions, all of the other exams are mutliple choice ones in Primary School. They were sitting their exams at the same time as about 800,000 other 8th grade students throughout the country of Kenya. The students feel very good about how they performed on their exams and their teachers are very confident that their results will be good. They will have to wait until the end of December to see the outcome. Then, in January, they will find out which secondary schools they will be selected to attend.

As is tradition at CGA, the 8th graders hosted an overnight party on the final day of exams. They did all the planning and organizing of the party which included roasting a goat and preparing a nice meals for their invited guests (mostly teachers and CGA staff) and even buying presents and making cards for their teachers. After the excellent meal they presented the gifts and cards and then had a short time for speeches which were hard to hear because of the rain pounding on the roof made of iron sheets. The group then moved to the office to play some games and watch a movie (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe). Around 2:00 am everybody went up to the field for a bon-fire. Around the fire, the group sang songs, prayed and had a time for testimonies when several students shared what God had done in their lives. Then they watched another movie (Prince Caspian) before the closing sermon and clean-up after daybreak. It was a memorable night for the 8th grade students and staff at CGA.

Please remember these children in your prayers as they anxiously await their results. Pray for their success and for the future schools they will be selected to attend. The December holidays are a challenging time when many of these 8th grade students across the country get off track. They stay so focused and busy in the months leading up to their exams and so it becomes difficult when they are finished. They now have much time on their hands and they feel they are old and sometimes begin experimenting in negative activities. Pray that our kids will fill their time with positive activities like spending time with God, helping around the house, helping at school and church, playing sports and preparing themselves for the next step in their lives.

After an entire night of celebrating a jumped on the ferry and then rode the bus to Nairobi. I made it in time to watch the last three quarters of the International Schools High School Girls Basketball final in which Steve and Judi's daughter, Bea, was playing in. Unfortunately they lost a close one, but I was happy to get my first chance to watch her play. Saturday we drove out with Steve, Judi and Jenny to Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe and watched their production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We travelled back to Mbita on Sunday to prepare for the end-term exams at CGA.

Survivor Island

On Sunday, I went with the chairmen of our girls football club, Paul Onudno, to visit Ngodhe Island. One of our girls from the football club lives on this remote island behind Rusinga Island. We took motorbike taxis across the man-made bridge to Rusinga Island and then waited at the beach for about an hour and a half for a boat to take us across. The small, old wooden motor boat left a lot to be desired with numerous leaks allowing water to flood in. We were forced to use buckets to scoop the water out of the boat so that it wouldn't capsize. The journey was only about thirty minutes with some light showers to keep us cool. The island could be the poster island for Survivor except that it is inhabited by about 300 people. It is very green and bushy with three big peaks jetting out of the lake

We were greeted on the beach by Caren (the player) and her family who quickly ushered us in the house to do the official introductions and treat us to a big soda and share some beans and chapatis together. After lunch Caren took us on a short tour of the island and the school where the 70 kids from the island get their education. I am amazed by the challenges these young people face. The nomadic fishermen are quick to offer the young girls money in exchange for sex. A few years ago every single girl except one in the upper primary school had dropped out before reaching the end of 8th grade because of pregnancies. The locals finally brought changes to the school to stop this. They now keep the older students in school at night and they even sleep there five nights a week to keep them away from the beaches and the fishermen. The academic performance has increased dramatically and fewer girls are getting spoilt by the fishermen.

My heart really goes out to these young people. If they can survive and succeed in those kinds of situations, it will require the hand of God. I am happy that our football club is able to keep some of these girls busy with positive activities, develop their talents, encourage them in their decision making and give them a hope for a better future!

Blossoming Youngsters

On Saturday I went with our Orphan Overseer, Lillian, through Ruma National Park, deep into the bush in Gwassi Constituency. There are four former CGA students who we placed in two different schools out there. Three of them were siblings who had a pathetic home situation where they were being put into danger each and every day. For their survival and well-being we were forced to find them a new home. The other was a boy who was very mischevious when he was younger, but had tried to change. Because of his past behavior the other students in school always looked at him in a certain way. This made it impossible for him to succeed at CGA. He needed a fresh start and a new beginning. All four have blossomed in their new homes and schools and are being well taken care of. They now have a hope for a good future. It was fun seeing them. They all came running to greet us and were eager to tell us good reports of what is happening in their lives and show us around. We didn’t get to spend much time with them, but at least we encouraged them and prayed for them before leaving. We were forced to rush faster than we wanted because of the rains that were threatening. If it rains, then those roads in the bush become impassable which would have left us stranded. On the way home we were also able to visit two of our secondary schools and spend some quality time with them. It truly a blessing to see the way God is working in some of these young peoples' lives.

Road Adventures

We had postponed our football club's training weekend from this weekend to next weekend, but apparently several of the parents/guardians didn't relay that message to their children. As I was coming home Friday I ran into several players who had travelled far to come for the weekend. It was getting late and the rain clouds were rapidly approaching so I couldn't just tell them to walk back home (10 miles away) or put them on the back of a motorbike which could get stuck in the mud. Instead, I ran home and got my vehicle and embarked on an adventure. We reached the first place with no problem, but on the way to the second place we found a bus stuck in the mud on the road. We were able to squeeze by it with my four wheel drive but I was worried that if another vehicle got stuck there, then nobody would be able to pass and I would be trapped and not able to reach home. Sure enough, after dropping the players, I returned to the same spot where there were now around ten vehicles waiting because a fuel tanker had joined the bus stuck in the mud.

I stopped and got out to assess the situation. The fuel tanker was sideways, but not stuck too deep and just needed a push to get out. There were over 40 villagers watching the "show" but all of them were refusing to help push because the driver wasn't offering any money. I passed the time by striking up conversations with some of the villagers and other drivers, including some German tourists.

Finally after about a half hour they helped to push the vehicle out just as it was getting dark. We passed through easily and as we approached Mbita the German tourists stopped us to ask directions to a certain guest house where they had reservations. I found a local boy to escort them, but on arrival they quickly realized it wasn't a safe or comfortable place to stay. They asked if I could help them find something better so I brought them to Safari Village, but the problem was they had shut down for the night because there were no guests and it was late. They had to call their employees back in and prepare for guests. We enjoyed a nice Fanta orange and good conversation while waiting. Finally after they were well taken care of, I reached home past 9:00 pm. Definitely not the afternoon I had planned, but a good adventure nonetheless.

The Blind Shall See

Here is the second of Dave's two God Stories from his time in Kenya (once again in his own words).

"The blind receive sight,
the lame walk,
those that have leprosy are cured,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the good news is preached to the poor."
Matthew 11:5

I went to the first day of clinic and there were maybe one or two people with the complaint of not seeing very well, but I didn't realize that we had brought any glasses along. At the end of the first day, I walked through the little pharmacy area to see what medications we had a lot left of and review the medicines we had left to give out for the following days. It was then that I discovered we had brought five pairs of glasses. Two of them were prescription glasses, two of them were sunglasses, and the final pair was a thick pair of coke bottle looking glasses with weird yellow writing all over them. There was an L on the left and an R on the right and there were circles and lines on both lenses. The lines could not be removed. I remember making fun of the glasses and putting them on. Others laughed at how funny they looked on me. I didn't think there was any chance that anyone could possibly use them or even more so be caught wearing them. I wondered what kind of joke it was that these had been sent along. I put them back in their case not thinking much more of them.

Late in the afternoon the following day I had a patient come to me with the complaint of not being able to see further than a foot past her face. I didn't notice it at first but when I put my penlight up to examine her eyes I was surprised to see that her left eye did not have a pupil. She told me she had surgery many years ago and she had lost her sight in that eye. The eye was left deviated inward slightly. Her right eye was normal on exam but had minimal vision. So I told her we had five pairs of glasses and I would go get them to see if any of them would improve her vision. To my disappointment when I found the glasses there were only two pairs remaining. One pair of sunglasses and the bizarre coke bottle spectacles. I picked up both pairs and then had a glimmer of hope. This lady had terrible vision and this funky pair of glasses was nearly a centimeter thick. This could work!

I had her put on the crazy glasses and instantly she swung her arms out to the side and said, "I can see!" My translator, Joy, and I sat there somewhat stunned and quizzical thinking in our minds that this couldn't really be true. Joy even grabbed a box of gloves that were sitting on my exam table and held the box about three feet away from the patient and had her try to read the writing on the box. I didn't understand her words as they were spoken in Kiswahili but Joy could understand them and excitedly exclaimed, "She can see!"God can do miraculous things in hopeless situations!

Upon returning home, I received an e-mail from one of the SC teammates. It told the rest of the story. She told me that a patient of hers had given her the glasses to take along. When she saw her patient upon returning to the states she told him the story of the young woman who was in desperate need of glasses and the whole story about me and her and how she praised God when she could see. He then proceeded to tell her the story behind those glasses. The glasses had belonged to his severely mentally handicapped 46 year old sister. He said he did Google earth, got out this big map of Kenya, zoomed in on Mbita, explained to her what a missionary is, and what we were doing there. She wanted to be a part of it so she donated her glasses! The markings were all done by the Optometrist to help communicate to her while he was trying to figure out if her vision was changed and to assess if they were working because it is so difficult to communicate with her. The man said his sister would be thrilled to hear that she had helped in her small way by donating her glasses.

Once again, I am speechless and humbled. All praise, glory, and honor be to our God!