Kim's Take on The Lakers

Here is another post from Kim Davey's Blog.

Remember the Suba Lakers football team?

Sure you do, I met this fine group of teenage girls last August, on my first trip to Mbita, Kenya.

A few weekends ago, I tagged along to Kisii and had the opportunity to watch the Suba Lakers compete in the Coca Cola football tournament. Last summer, I was pretty impressed with this football club, but let me tell you, in the past eight months, these girls have IMPROVED!!!

I think that it is safe to say, that many of the girls on this football team come from homes and go to schools that are far from ideal. My Mbita friends, Joe and Jenny, use the football club as not only an opportunity to improve and showcase these girls' natural athletic abilities...

but also to mentor, love...

and spiritually guide a group of God's children.

And that's pretty important, if you ask me

Another Perspective on Zanzibar

This is Kim's perspective from our time in Zanzibar, taken from her blog http://www.firstwondergoesdeepest.blogspot.com/

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Zanzibar, a small Indian Ocean island, off the Tanzanian coast.

The island is beautiful in most every since of the word. The obvious tropical island attractions – those adorning the pages of countless calendars hanging in cubicles across America – white sand beach and turquoise blue water, were most definitely present. Yet, Zanzibar’s beauty stretched so much further then the coastline.

I found the island’s Swahili culture, a seemingly cohesive blend of Arab, African and island lifestyles, to be the basis onto which all other island attractions were built.

With very few exceptions, I found the people on Zanzibar to be happy, breath-takingly beautiful, contagiously friendly and seemingly unaffected by what must be a constant slew of outside faces. It took me the better part of two hours to make that critical decision that yes, in fact I could very happily live on that Indian island oasis. How easy it was to feel comfortable on an island whose residents cheerfully yelled, “Jambo!” (Hello!), rather than “Mzungo” (foreigner/white person) or even better, “Di cerehum.” (Give me your shirt!) that much detested Didinga phrase which littered my ears last year in Napep.

If Rick Steves had chosen to make his dollar on Africa’s, “Backdoor” rather than Europe’s, I doubt that he, even with the help of Mr. Island himself, Jimmy Buffet, would have been able to compile a Zanzibar itinerary fit to compete with the likes of our week of island fun.

Straight from an episode of Man vs. Wild, we started the week swimming in a mangrove. To be honest, it is only now, post-mangrove swim that I can explain exactly what one is. I was under the impression that a mangrove was a certain type of tree, when in reality; it is a sort of water-hungry forest, growing from within the ocean. Strangely, but most fortunately, there wasn’t a snake, crocodile or creepy crawler to be seen. Our oceanic forest was home to little more than a few crabs.

We swam with dolphins! This was what, well…simply AMAZING! Each time our guide spotted a dolphin, he would yell at us, with the force and excitement of a man who either loved his job or had never seen a dolphin before to, “Jump in the water! GO, GO, GO!” And when he said, “Jump!” one jumps, so with snorkel and flippers in place and with little to no gracefulness, we flopped time and time again into the warm water. And each time we flopped, there swimming up from the depths, were dolphins!

One really had to swim hard to keep up, but oh how truly amazing it was to follow the dolphin leader, to see a baby tucked tightly and moving in unison with its mother, to be close enough to touch a dolphin in the wild (it should be noted, that for some reason I chose Dolphin Day to be a rule follower. The guidebook warned tourists against touching the dolphins. So, each time I put out my hand to touch one of my watery friends, some brown nosed school girl drew it back. I did NOT touch a dolphin, though I could have.) As I swam, I could hear the dolphins whistling one to the other, I wonder if they could hear me laughing in my snorkel.

Okay, so I know that I may be risking my travel credibility here, but I have to say it. Even Zanzibar's favorite form of public transportation, the dala-dala, was fun. A dala-dala is nothing more than a truck that has been converted into a taxi, with parallel benches in the back, a covered top and open sides. I couldn't figure out if it was the parallel benches or the very nature of these Zanzibarian people that created the social atmosphere on the dala-dala. Mothers stepping into the truck, would nonchalantly hand their babies off to perfect strangers who were already situated inside the transport. Rather than fussing or crying out for their mothers, as one might expect, these beautiful little island children sat quite contentedly upon the lap, of well, anyone. In fact, on our first few days on the island, we were actually fooled into believing that all those who were openly visiting and playing Pass the Baby knew each other, when in reality, they didn't. Unlike many other African cultures and Western cultures, for that matter, it was refreshingly common to see men on Zanzibar hugging, cuddling and innocently playing with children who may or may not have been their own.

I've found that it is usually these common everyday activities, like taking public transportation or going to the market for a cucumber, an unexpected shared smile or walk in the rain, that are my favorite parts of a vacation.

You can live like a king on a pauper’s penny in Zanzibar.

A two hour dala-dala ride across the island - $1.00
Swimming with dolphins - $20.00
Beach front bungalow and breakfast - $9.00 per night
Lobster cabob - $1.00
Joe’s souvenir Zanzibar football jersey - $6.00
The BEST prawn dinner I have ever eaten and may ever eat again - $9.00
Snorkeling trip minus the snorkel and minus the fish - $10.00 (ok, so this one was not such a great deal. I mean hey, you win some, you lose some.)

The food.... oh, the amazing food!

Wedlock

Nope, not me yet. Sorry. But I got to enjoy a wonderful Kenya wedding this weekend. My Kenyan "Sister" got married in Homa Bay at a beautiful lakeside resort. It reminded me of a typical American Garden wedding; except for the length of the ceremony (6 hours) and the other Kenyan traditions such as the entire wedding party breaking out into a line dance in the middle of the ceremony. I call Violet my "sister" because her mother has always called me her son since the first day I arrived in Kenya 6 1/2 years ago. Her mother is Margaret Nyangi who has a widows project weaving baskets, just next to the ICIPE gate.

I had the job of transporting the bridesmaids and 10 junior bridesmaids/flower girls from Mbita to Homa Bay on Friday afternoon. The journey usually takes about an hour, but this day it took about four hours. During rainy season, you never know what will happen. We ended up stranded for a couple of hours after a big vehicle got stuck in the middle of the road and blocked it so that other cars couldn't pass. Dozens of cars were stranded like us. The local villagers were able to push and pull a couple of small vehicles through the rut on the side of the road, but there wasn't enough space for the big vehicles. After hours of waiting, my friend who was driving the groomsmen found someone he knew who guided us a long way around through some people's compound on a bicycle path. It was a small path with some sticky, deep mud. My friend's vehicle got stuck multiple times and I was busy pushing, along with an older man and small boy (I think I was doing most of the work). Finally some of the villagers found us out in this remote place and assisted in pushing us safely back to the main road. Fortunately my vehicle handled the mud very well. I didn't get stuck one time though personally I was covered head to toe in mud from pushing Salim's vehicle.

On Saturday I was busy driving people around to do errands, setting up chairs and trying to help in any way I could so that the wedding wounldn't start too late. Most of the people had come from my church in Mbita so it was a lot of good friends and our church family working together to make the day a success. I got to spend some quality time with a couple of our secondary students from CGA who were also in the wedding.

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ceremony with Christ in the center of everything. We hope and pray that Violet and Sylvano will keep Him in the center of their marriage!

So Close Yet So Far Away

After winning the regional Copa Coca Cola Tournament last month, our Suba Lakers Club prepared to bring our under-17 girls to participate in the Provencial Tournament in Kisii. The girls travelled to Mbita for a couple of days of training before we departed for the tournament. We were able to reach the semifinals, but one of the best clubs in the country was standing in our way of progressing to the finals. Kisumu Youth Olympic is a well-established club that houses their players in hostels and train intimidated by their opponent. The game was one of the most even games I have been involved in here with both teams trading a few limited chances in the first half. Just before the half-time whistle Kisumu scored a goal on a counter attack as the Suba Laker defense didn't retreat back ievery day. Last year they were able to travel to Sweden to participate in a youth tournament.

Our girls stormed out of the gate breathing fire; not at all n time. The second half was very similar to the first and we had some good chances, except our strikers were trying to shoot from too far away instead of bringing the ball further into the box for a closer shot.

We were too disappointed in the loss, but also pleased at the effort and the level of play that our girls displayed. The next match wasn't as good. The following morning a couple of the girls were dealing with sickness or injuries and couldn't match the strength and speed of Kisii in the third place game. All in all, it was a successful weekend as our young girls team continues to gain experience. They are learning much in football, as well as in academics and character development and life in general.

Vacation in Paradise

I have found one of my favorite places in the world... Zanzibar. In April during our school holiday, I travelled to Zanzibar with a couple of other missionary friends for a short 5 day vacation. I have gone to many places around the world, but Zanzibar is extraordinary. It is an island situated a short distance from the Africa mainland. We enjoyed great seafood, beautiful blue ocean, white sandy beaches, snorkelling, swimming with dolphins and so much more!

We travelled during low season which was nice because the rates were really cheap and we were able to interact with the locals much more than we normally would. The coastline of East Africa and the islands nearby are the birthplace of Swahili culture which developed from the traditional Africans interacting with the Arab and Persian traders travelling through the Indian Ocean. I was able to get a lot of practice speaking Kiswahili as we tried to navigate around with public transportation and interact with the local community. Because their culture is already blended with many different races and nationalities, we seemed to "fit in" more than I am used to in Africa. There weren't many people staring at us or shouting "mzungu" (white man) like they do so often in Kenya. It was much more comfortable. The people were extremely friendly and welcoming; I am not sure if that is because of the laidback Island lifestyle or the Swahili culture.

One of my favorite parts was riding their public transportation. They have converted big trucks by putting in benches and covering the top. So they squeeze people in the back and everyone is sitting, facing each other; talking, laughing and joking. I have never seen a culture where the men are so caring to the children. While climbing into the vehicle the women will hand their child to the closest man to hold. The man will carry the child on his lap and even play with them. Because of that, the children are so free with everyone. They are fun, cute and very playful. So some of my best times were just riding around the island in their public vehicles. And you can go just about anywhere on the island for under $1.

The beaches were great too. The one at Paje on the East Coast was huge. The sand seemed to go on forever in both directions. The water was shades of turquoise and blue with great visibility. We enjoyed some good snorkelling in the blue lagoon and swimming through the mangroves (a forest in the ocean).

On the second day we went swimming with the dolphins. A motorboat takes you out into the deep ocean where the dolphins like to pass. You search for them and when you see them the guides rush you into the water with your snorkel on. My friend Kim was swimming right between three of them, including a baby; she was close enough to reach out and touch it. I was a little slower swimmer, but got to see it all from behind. After the dolphins leave, you get back in the boat and look for another group of dolphins to join.

The food in Zanzibar was also amazing. The first night we had a fresh seafood catch dinner. We placed an order with a local man in the morning. As we were returning from snorkeling we met him brining in the squid and snapper he had just cut. A short time later we were enjoying one of the best seafood dinners ever, along with a couple of his small children who were entertaining us as they sat on our laps. During the two nights up on the Northern Tip, Nugwi, we found the most amazing place called Flame Tree Cottage. They cooked us delicous prawns, seafood pasta, and many other things that left our mouths watering. The final night was a unique treat in Stone Town. Every night the locals set up their barbeques at Forodhani Gardens next to the ocean and cook up all the fresh seafood that has been caught that day. You can literally get any kind of seafood imaginable at a very cheap price.

It was an incredible experience that I won't soon forget. I can't wait until I get a chance to go back and experience Zanzibar again.

March/April Update

This past month has been heavily inundated with football. We finished the primary school tournaments on Wednesday, then closed the school term on Thursday and then I left for a short vacation on Friday. I was able to drive a group of eight missionary friends from various parts of Kenya to Uganda to raft the Nile over the weekend. WE arrived back in Nairobi on Sunday night. This week I will be staying in Nairobi as I watch the Kenya National Secondary School Basketball Championships.

2010 is a historic year for CGA as our first graduates will sit their secondary school national exams in October/December. Many of these sixteen students were in CGA's first Nursery class back in 1997 and with the support of their sponsors, CGA has helped to see them all the way through their primary school and secondary school education. A few weeks back two of these "Form 4's" called me up and asked if I could come to the parent's day at their boarding school. I don't usually come on those days because we want to encourage their guardians to take the parenting responsibility, but this time they insisted. "Rose" began at CGA in the first class in 1997 as a total orphan under the care of a distant relative. She has had many obstacles throughout her education without much support from home and with the burden of many responsibilities in her family, but she has continued to persevere. During the parents day I was able to meet with all of her subject teachers and see her recent performance. She has really been improving and has climbed into the top ten in her school out of over sixty students. By the end of the term she reached the top five. If she continues that upward trend and God provides a way, she would like to study architecture after secondary school.

"Alice" is not an orphan, but is in a very difficult situation. She had come to CGA in 2nd grade even through her family lives on a neigboring island. Her father is a polygamist and had abandoned her mother several years ago to be with his other wives. He still has contact with his children, but says his only role in their lives is to give them a little money a couple times a year. The mother resorted to brewing and selling illicit brew to provide for her family, but after many run-ins with the police she finally abandoned her family to go somewhere else for a fresh start. The children were left in the care of the elderly grandmother. Alice says that without the support of CGA she would have never reached the level of education she has reached and would have remained very bitter towards her parents. Her goal is a B on her national exam so that she can pursue her dream of being a nurse. Everyone one of the sixteen Form 4's has a different story and it is exciting to see God at work in their lives. To look at where they have come from and where they are going.

Our girls' football club captured the Coca Cola Regional Championship in Homa Bay, we dove head first into the primary school ball-games schedule. It works like an all-star selection because you start at the school level with tournaments and then the best players are selected to proceed to the next level. Usually there is 1-2 days between tournament to train with your new team and prepare for the next level. Through all the levels (pre-base, base, zonal, divisional, district, regional and provencial) we were fortunate to win all twenty matches that we played up until the Provencial Final. Our regional team was made up of ten Suba Laker Football Club Girls and six others from various parts of our region. We reached the finals undefeated (and untied) and had already beaten our opponent in the preliminaries. They played a tough match and didn't allow us to score even though we had multiple chances. Eventually it went to post-match penalty kicks where we lost 4-3. Fortunately four of our girls were selected for Nationals, including a CGA student for the third straight year. Adah Sharon Awuor will be the goalkeeper at the National Tournament.

Prayer Requests:

1) Pray that my short time away from Mbita would be spiritually and physically refreshing

2) Pray for the students and staff at CGA to refocus themselves during this school breaks so that they return in Term 2 with renewed passion and energy to carry out God's calling in their lives.

3) Pray for our Form 4's in secondary school as they study and prepare for their National Exams later this year.

4) Pray for our Suba Lakers Girls Football Club to continue to positively impact the lives of these girls off the field in every area of their lives.

Rafting the Nile

Had a great weekend rafting the Nile in Jinja, Uganda. We finished the primary school sports tournaments on Wednesday, closed the school term at CGA on Thursday and then headed for Uganda on Friday. Jenny Cox and three other American teaches from West Nairobi School came out to Mbita to visit the school this week. So the five of us jumped in my Landcruiser and took the morning ferry and drove to Kisumu. We met up with four other friends from Narok. The nine of us squeezed in my vehicle and with some good IPOD music blaring headed for the border.

This was the forth time I have done it, but each time is a totally different adventure. It is so wild. There is an incredible rush you get when you are paddling right in the eye of the rapid, not sure if you will survive or get thrown into the water. Actually I think I get more scared each time I do it because I know how crazy it can get. We had a fun group of missionaries and enjoyed our time in the vehicle, at the camp and in the raft. Both of our rafts only flipped twice, though I was also thrown in one extra time by the sheer force of the wave.

Sunday's journey from Jinja back to Nairobi was long, taking about 10 hours; but the weekend was just what I needed. It was nice to get away from Mbita and be with some other young missionaries and be able to talk, laugh and joke. I was thankful for the opportunity and for God's provision in the entire trip.