Seven days in East Kenya

Beautiful downtown Dadaab




Our host, Ken, providing security for our luggage.




the Highway to Dadaab.





Home made Drums (the only instrument) for Ethiopian church in Dadaab refugee camp.




ah.... err... Africans have a different cultural concept of holding hands.



Ethiopians in their new uniforms


Somalis in their uniforms


OK, so I'm fascinated by cornrow art.



Giving out basic supplies in refugee camp


cute kids


more cute kids


Still more


Caleb (Professor at U of I and Kenyan native) talking with locals in camp.



The Ethiopian church building in refugee camp


It is amazing what can be done with just sand and NO paint.


Ali Preaching


Sean Preaching at camp


Lupita preaching



Supplies being given out a Somali tribe near Garissa, Kenya.


Standing room only for bus trip from Nairobi to Garissa. You can't seem the armed guard (he gets a seat) up front.


Bruce and Caleb filtering water from the local supply at Dadaab.


Caleb pumping water to overhead storage tank (so we have pressure for showers in the morning) in the Canadian Baptist compound in Dadaab, Kenya. There was 12v solar power only, but cellular service was excellent.


School in the Canadian Baptist compound



Sean after yet another proposition... for marriage. this time 4 wives of his choosing all he has to do is convert.


Basic Supplies for Somali tribal people near Garissa Kenya. Per family 1 each plastic cup, metal spoon, a cooking pot, large plastic bowls for washing, 30 liter water jug, mosquito nets for everyone. They also got a Solar oven for the community. As a nomatic tribe they lived without this kind of thing because they just couldn't haul it around, now they can use it as they build permanent structures and create a village.


Preparing for Medical mission pharmacy


There are great needs.


Ya we gave out a football (soccer ball for us Yanks)



Classroom at ken's School. "Frontier Life School"


morning meal at school


Ya I stole the ball.


Classroom at Somali tribe, they are dedicated to educating their children.


A lot of trash in Kenya, and in the background the huts that are the homes for this Somali tribal community. the huts are designed to be completely portable (by camel) but since they've decide to end their nomadic ways I'm sure they will change soon to more traditional housing.



Another school/community (Ibnu-Khaldum Integrated Program) we give out another solar oven, this is also the community we broke ground for the well.


At Ibnu-Khaldum Integrated Program (school) Head teacher, Committee head, and my wife at this same community/school. Giving out more books.


Used books handed out at all the schools. We maximised our allotment of checked luggage in the form of books.


Head of Frontier Life school is a South African (jocov ??) and Ken.


It was so packed the only way we could get water to people doing the medical outreach was through the wall.


A Sean moment, teaching at the school


Solar oven gift. The guy in the white cap is Ken's full time solar oven minister. He oversees the construction, delivery, training in the use, and some of the recipes.



Head Teacher at Ibnu-Khaldum Integrated Program




People coming for the medial outreach.


more medical outreach - Laurie taking medical histories.


Ground breaking ceremony for new well at Ibnu-Khaldum Integrated Program. the well be used for drinking and irrigation for several hundred people. There will be a manual (foot) pump people trained in how to use and maintain it, a local will be in charge of the well which will be locked when not in use.


Ground breaking.


Catholic run Rosa mistica spiritual center and hostile, where we spent a couple nights at $10 per person in nice clean rooms.


My guess is the don't have PETA. yes those are chickens lashed to roof of a van.


and in the van Goats under the seats.


amazing.


Somali tribal camp.



Sean in traditiona Somali garb.

Seven days in East Kenya, we've taken 1000's of pictures

Thursday

Shortly after our arrival and while driving into Nairobi from Airport we got a Flat tire.

Lost luggage (Guitar) Still at airport

Learned about Kenyan Drivers and the Matatas

Checked in to the Santa Maria Mystical Spiritual Center

Ate out of gordes at a late breakfast

Went to Nairobi Museum and the Nairobi National Park

Carnivore for dinner, they no longer server wild game Sean and I were really disappointed.

Friday
Kenyan Banking (DO NOT BRING TRAVELER’S CHECKS!!!)

Bought 2 full sets of soccer uniforms (Bright Green and Bright Orange) and 4 leather soccer balls.

Took the bus from Nairobi to Garissa This trip was delayed b/c of Friday Prayers for the Muslims so we left 2 hours late.

Bruce decided to buy some random So-called Camel meat from a “non pushy” Muslim street vendor, This mystery meat was actually really good.

He also picked up some amazing cookies that we shared with other people on the bus. These lasted for days for the desparate people -- us.

Once on the bus Eliza was propositioned by the Somali help to hire him for work and he would be happy to marry her daughters for her.

We thought it was crowded we found out later that if there is still room to stand and only move by crawling over the seat then there are still tickets to sell.

The healing tonic of East Africa we have found out is Camel Milk. According to local taxi’s take 1 drink, expel everything from your body and you will be fine… we don’t agree.

The bus ride was about 6 hours.

Arrived in Garissa at night and checked into the Nomad Palace Hotel. The nicest place in Garissa, which has been great. Of course only the team leaders got Hot Water, and the rest of us all got A/C which is a huge treat!

We had an amazing dinner prepared by Eunice Ochieng.

Saturday.

Meet with Ken and headed downtown to dive into the market. Here we met up with Jacob who was our Nurse Practitioner who bought the medical supplies for our medical mission that day.

Headed out to a school in a local Muslim Community. Here we set up the medical distribution. Laurie and Jacob checked the patients, Caleb and Lupita became pharmacist and Eliza and Sean handed out mosquito nets while Bruce tried to keep control.

We found that when dealing with Muslim women that a man’s voice won't go very far, however, another Muslim with a big stick can make a crowd move. Check out the video… wow.

The money for the well ($3000) was given to this comunity, we preformed a ground breaking ceremony and learned that this well will be giving water to the school and the local community which has about 150 households with an average of 10 people per house.

Bracelets: We each handed out at least one “Good News Braclets”

Sean taught spelling, math and the colors of the rainbow.

Bruce played with the kiddos, and found that kids in Kenya are amazing with a camera.

We were at this school for about 6 hours.

Eliza was blessed by being asked by two of the mothers to visit their local homes which is a great honor. It was obvious that they appreciated us being there.

That night, we split up and started our teaching.

Caleb and Lupita headed over the Garissa Teachers College with Eunice while Bruce, Lori, Eliza, and Sean headed over the local Catholic Guest House to give a short Marriage Encounter to the local Pastors. This was our first experience presenting with an interpreter and ended up using flashlights to light the room as all the lights went out.

After feeding us a great dinner the pastors headed out and as they van was out we headed back to the kitchen and had a blast washing the dishes.

We headed back to the Nomad about 11 pm.

Sunday:
Divide and Conquer

This morning we headed out in groups of 2 to preach the good word to the local churches.

Lori and Eliza headed off to the Garissa Teachers College

Bruce and Sean headed over to the Mororo Baptist Pentecostal Church and
Caleb and Lupita went to Redeemed Gospel Church
We had an awesome time and loved to preach, experience the worship (WHICH IS AMAZING) and meet the congregation.

That evening we all headed back to the Garissa Teachers College and listen to Caleb speak about planting a seed and harvest.

After the talk we headed out to dinner at the Almond (which is another hotel in town) This ended up being not such a great choice, especially for Lupita who fell ill. No worries she gets better and it is a great story.

Monday:

At 7 am we had the honor of being a part of the Life Frontier School Flag Ceremony where we got to hand out the books to the students. We also got visit many of the classrooms where we listened to the students sings songs about God and we taught science and geography topics on the spot. Life Frontier School is the school that Ken help establish.

We then got to meet with Jacu the Manager of the school and the Head Mistress and talked about different ways the school is advancing the students education and collects funding.

This is also the place where the Solar Cooker manufacturing shop is located. They also create Solor Dryers. This small business is helping local tribes prepare food and creates a source of income by selling the cakes and breads that they make in the cookers. As well has keeps them from cutting down all the local bush 'forest'.

Pullman Foursquare purchased 6 of these cookers to be donated to local tribes.

We then headed over the Boji Village on the outskirts of town. This is about the most primitive village anyone on the team has ever been in. No water, no electricity or sewer of any kind. This of course is 100% Muslim. There were 3 communities within this Nomadic Tribe. They live in small huts that most of us had to get on our hands and knees to enter.

They are progressing and like most of Kenya, believe that education is the best option for their children. Their school is the only permanent structure around.
We were privileged to see local dances by the older women in the tribe and introduced ourselves to the group.

Sean is the only member of the team who is not married and we found that to be a highly desirable trait for the local women. At this instance Sean was offered new born babies and at least 4 wives if he decided to convert, Sean is still single.

Speaking of babies, Eliza was offered a little, this one was not yet born, she is waiting for John’s approval. We will all wait and see.

At this tribe we handed out medical supplies, water judges, a solar cooker, eating spoons, cooking pots, mosquito nets, 1 soccer ball.

These materials were safe inside the school b/c of our leader Bruce who was not afraid to touch/ shove / knee in the rear Muslim women to keep them out. Thank You Bruce.

We handed out hundreds of items to these women and their children.

That night Eliza, Lori and Sean gave the first part of another Marriage Encounter at the Anglican Church of Kenya. Once again the flashlights and headlamps came to the rescue as the lights went out.

The enemy tried to keep us in darkness, but with the Word of God there is no darkness only light! AMEM

After this encounter Lupita and Sean stayed home while the rest of the team went to the Ochieng house for dinner. Unfortunately Lupita has gotten food poisoning and Sean had a head cold.

Lupita’s illness got worse over the night and ended up having to go to the local hospital where Ken, Caleb, Lori and Jacob got her taken care of. Not only did the hospital do a great job and were very caring they did not CHARGE for any of the services! AMEN

She was much better by later that day and was able to travel with us to Dadaab.

Tuesday:

We missed our first bus due to Lupita’s need to check out the local medical facilities so Bruce and Ken got us a bus later in the day.

This bus ride was 1 in a million. Luckly the conductor did a great job and got all of the ladies a seat, the fellas on the other hand got the chance to stand. This ride took us 2 ½ hours for a 4 hour trip on an all sand road. Just enough bumps to throw your head against the ceiling and make you hold on for dear life.

Laurie was concerned about the bus actually tipping over … well yeah it happens.. about 3 times in the past 3 months, thank God ours made it just fine. To show how small the world is, Laurie ended up sitting next to a women from Seattle WA. Who was visiting relatives in the camps.

DADAAB!
We arrived in Dadaab (which is the local city surrounded by the 3 UN Refugee Camps which house approx. 150,000 people.) Dadaab is about 80 KM from the Somali Boarder.
We were housed at the Canadian Baptist Ministry Guest House in Dadaab. Ytani and Irene were our host and treated us with great hospitality.

To get a little extra work out in the heat of the EQUATOR we had a stair stepper pump to pump water to the houses. Nothing like working up a little sweat while you are already dripping in it.

For dinner we headed over the UN Compound, which took about 1.5 hours to get permission to get in. Once in we visited a restaurant that liked to use dirt as a spice. Mmmm mmm. Delicious.

Wednesday:

It took a little long to get a cab due to the Canadian Commissioner in town and no cars were allowed to drive. They also shut down all cell phone communication which made it hard to find out what was going on. After prayer and patience a cab arrived and we headed out to IFO Camp and the Gambella Block. Gambella is an Ethiopian Tribe.

Here we did our Encounter at their beautiful churched called “God Help Church” This was a non denominational hand made brick church that houses over 100 members. The brick was covered by sand plaster that had amazing art work.

Their praise and worship was truly amazing and glorified God with every part of their mind, body and soul.

These members have been traveling here since 2003 when the massacres started in Ethiopia. We heard many devastating stories that broke our hearts. It is amazing what these people have gone through and still they praise the Lord and have Jesus as their Savior. AMEN!!!

The Encounter took 2 days.

Day 1 Morning Session was Sean, Lupita, Eliza and Bruce and was translated into 2 languages as the same time, Ethiopian and Somali.

The afternoon session was Laurie and prayer for deliverance accompanied with local worship.

Over 100 people plus children came to the Encounter and the church overflowed with people, song, prayers and the love the Father.

During our lunch time we got to listen to Ali’s (who is a Somali convert) story of his life with Christ and the persecution he has gone through from Somlia’s. He is the Somali Track Master and handed out tracks in Arabic, Somali, and local languages.

We also found out that Ethiopians do not have the Old Testament Translated in the local tongues. This of course makes it very hard to understand the full message of the word.

After the Encounter we headed back to Dadaab for another unsatisfactory meal at the UN. That was the last time we choose to visit there which worked out nicely b/c they decided to ban us from the facility.

Thursday:

Headed back to the Gambella Block of the IFO Refugee Camp for the rest of the Encounter.
Caleb spoke about the Holy Spirit and we prayed for the Holy Spirit to enter the lives of the believers. This was amazing proclamation of faith and we experienced the Holy Spirit enter that church and the IFO Camp. AMEN!

Since not all church members could attend we held another shorter version of the Holy Spirit talk in the afternoon. Ken closed the meeting with a great Vision Talk for the Gambella people. After the Encounter we handed out the soccer uniforms we purchased in Nairobi and watched a match between one of the Somali teams and the Gambella Ethiopian Team. It was a dirt field with ashes from cooking fires as lines on the field. Before the game began the field needed to be cleared… of Goats.. 3 young local boys did the work for us and the game began. They were amazing athletics and it was a great game to watch. As we left in the Taxi that drove across the field during the game (which didn’t stop play) the Ethiopians were winning 3 to nill.

We headed back to the Baptist guesthouse where our host Irene made us a incredible meal that put the UN restaurant to shame.
I also need to mention that the food given to us for lunch at the IFO camp was incredible, Ethiopian Meals are amazing.

Friday:
Caleb left at 6:30 am to head off to Nairobi to catch a plane and head over to visit his family. The rest of the group was ready for our bus at 9 am which ended up being 1 and ½ hours late. We were very happy to all have seats this time around and with room to spare.

The ride back included, 6 goats that reluctantly stayed in the storage compartment under the bus, 4 police checks, 3 hours of travel and a lot of sand.

We arrived back in the Nomad Hotel safe and sound with all of us feeling good and ready for a meal.

This afternoon was a relaxing day of shopping in the local market and having dinner with Ken and his family at the Nomad.

Sean and Bruce and the team.