I've arrived safe 'n' sound back home. It's good to be back. (So far) the transition has been as smooth as American roads, without the bumps, hic-ups or swerves I habitually endured in Kenya, and had come to expect on my return home. I'm sure more thoughts will come, from the profound down to the absurd, and yet I'm content to just go through the motions (for now).
The only thing that's weirded me out is how late it gets here! At the equator, sunrise and sunset change very minimally throughout the year, making a watch quite unnecessary. With days so exorbitantly long, I'm finding rest all the more satisfying.
I've been asked the usual questions, like, "How was it?" "Are you glad to be back?" "Where were you?" "What will you do now?" along with the one-word response to my answers, "Wow." "Geez" "Incredible." "Huh.". So far I and they both have had incredible patience with each other. I think as time passes the memories will soak deeper into my life-sponge, and it will only take a small poke for me to 'leak out' a few tears and words from experience passed yet still present.
For now, I'm soaking in the little things: It's good to have dinner with my family. It's assuring to hold Emily in my arms. It's fun to laugh with an old friend, Andrew. It's wonderful to drive. It's delightful to eat cool food in the summer heat.
Time will tell more of the mystery still hidden.
Sunday, July 30
Thursday, July 20
A Damnned Shame
This year has been a monumental learning experience, and sometimes I must stress "experience" over the "learning" aspects. I do not understand most of what I see here, from a boy herding pigs through trash-filled streets to government ministers zipping through town in their chic SUVs. I cannot explain it fully, and sometimes as a reporter of sorts, I feel I can only point the camera and click. A picture tells a thousand words, few of which can actually be articulated.
I write this as I see the images of the conflict in Lebanon go on and on, growing worse and worse. I can sympathize and strangely admire the reporters there. As our president nobly uses his FIRST VETO EVER against stem-cell research, presumably in an effort to save the lives of embryos, he is turning around to allow (if not encourage) Israel to 'finish its work' destroying Hezbollah, and with it hundreds of Lebanese lives.
Utter Annihilation (Source: BBC)
Are we as a nation saying an American embryo is more valuable than a Lebanese citizen? What rights are inherent to "us" and not "them"?
It is time we have a consistent ethic that values ALL human life. There is an overwhelming since of powerlessness as I view these images. Yet we are human, too. We have voices. And it's time we spoke up for the voiceless.
I write this as I see the images of the conflict in Lebanon go on and on, growing worse and worse. I can sympathize and strangely admire the reporters there. As our president nobly uses his FIRST VETO EVER against stem-cell research, presumably in an effort to save the lives of embryos, he is turning around to allow (if not encourage) Israel to 'finish its work' destroying Hezbollah, and with it hundreds of Lebanese lives.
Are we as a nation saying an American embryo is more valuable than a Lebanese citizen? What rights are inherent to "us" and not "them"?
It is time we have a consistent ethic that values ALL human life. There is an overwhelming since of powerlessness as I view these images. Yet we are human, too. We have voices. And it's time we spoke up for the voiceless.
Saturday, July 8
A Strong Role Model
Today I visited the Kipeto Community in Kajiado, about 55 km from Nairobi in Kajiado District. I was invited there by Maggdalene Esekei, a friend of Jane Cooper's who found this blog a while back and asked me to get in touch with her Maasai sister in Christ.
Maggy met Jane back in the US and has been trying to raise funds for a borehole back in her home community. The community struggles to find water after the rains leave in June and the dams dry up in October. Even using the exposed water of the dams is risky, posing health hazards like the recent malaria outbreak here which killed a mother and child.
My colleague Sam Mutua addresses the women
In meeting with the community, my colleague Sam and I listened to their stories of struggle and small success. Men own and take care of the cattle here, seen as the only source of wealth, leaving the rest of the work to the women (child-rearing, food, water, shelter, etc.) Compounding the problem is that the cattle are the only means of wealth generation, leaving the women entirely dependent on the men to buy anything, from medicine to school fees.
The women here are very skilled in beadwork and before we left presented us with some very nice gifts: a beaded belt and a runga, or beaded staff. Maggy and I have agreed to work together along with Jane to secure funds for a borehole. The women would like to use the borehole to grow vegetables and create a local center around the water in which to sell their vegetables and beadwork. With closer and cleaner water, these women and their families will have more time and resouces to generate income.Traditionally, the Maasai marry off their women at a young age (as early as 13) for anywhere from five to twenty cows. Returning as an educated woman, Maggy is a role model for her entire community, proving that a woman's education is a longterm yet profitable investment.
A sign of peace and hope
Friday, July 7
Feeding the Forgotten
An article I wrote for the PCEA and ACT.
“I have nothing so I leave everything to God,” laments Beatrice “Mbite” Mutisha, holding a bucket of her harvest this year: five ears of maize. Once a proud farmer of seven cows, 30 chickens and 40 goats, only two goats remain due to drought and disease. “If others could see our problems themselves, they would see that we are need and we don’t know what to do.”
While few have seen their predicament, many have heard. Presbyterians in the USA have contributed funds for emergency relief to Ukambani, about four hours from Nairobi, Kenya. The Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) channels money through Action by Churches Together (ACT) for this food relief. The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) coordinates the distribution with the help of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and the local community administration.
Although nearby regions flourish with pineapples and rice, rains haven’t fallen here since 1999, creating a pocket of desert winter strangling any hope of respite. Laments Musito, the local agricultural officer, “The soils are very good. The only problem is water.” Women walk up to 20 km a day in search of water for the home.
“If the rains came, we wouldn’t need help,” says Damaris Nduku, in charge of over 25 dependents. Without water, the people are not able to sustain themselves and are losing hope. Gesturing to withered cornstalks, Damaris poignantly asks, “Why should I repair this grain store if my crops look like this?”
Since the vast majority of people are unemployed, many cut down firewood to sell, often burning it to make makaa (charcoal). This region produces 250,000 bags of charcoal each month, the most of any community in Kenya. Hauling 20 liters on her back, Elizabeth makes 5 km trip to town five times a day. By day’s end, she earns enough to barely feed her family of 25 a meal of maize.
The women are left to do most of the work, with many men having died from AIDS or going to the city for work. When Katunge’s grandmother passed on, she says she “lost all hope,” as her brothers left to find work and she bore a daughter out of wedlock. She is fortunate however, finding a job at a local hotel earning less than US $30 per month.
Lydia Komu bashes stones to sell as ballast when she’s not throwing at the stones protecting her crops of sorghum from the birds. Even so, she thanks the people who provided her the seed for this drought-resistant crop, praying for them daily.
Looking for more sustainable solutions, PCEA will purchase its own machine to drill community boreholes in the area later this year. There area few shallow wells now, but the salinity is too high for regular human consumption. The European Union is also digging a subsurface-dam to supply water for a local school, which then may sell to the community.
The local chief wrote a letter last month, praising the PCEA’s work in distributing food through the village committees and not discriminating based on religious affiliation. Says David of the PCEA projects department, simply put, “We must go the way the people want.” Working with all community stakeholders, the PCEA won’t leave anyone behind.
“I have nothing so I leave everything to God,” laments Beatrice “Mbite” Mutisha, holding a bucket of her harvest this year: five ears of maize. Once a proud farmer of seven cows, 30 chickens and 40 goats, only two goats remain due to drought and disease. “If others could see our problems themselves, they would see that we are need and we don’t know what to do.”
While few have seen their predicament, many have heard. Presbyterians in the USA have contributed funds for emergency relief to Ukambani, about four hours from Nairobi, Kenya. The Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) channels money through Action by Churches Together (ACT) for this food relief. The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) coordinates the distribution with the help of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and the local community administration.
Although nearby regions flourish with pineapples and rice, rains haven’t fallen here since 1999, creating a pocket of desert winter strangling any hope of respite. Laments Musito, the local agricultural officer, “The soils are very good. The only problem is water.” Women walk up to 20 km a day in search of water for the home.
“If the rains came, we wouldn’t need help,” says Damaris Nduku, in charge of over 25 dependents. Without water, the people are not able to sustain themselves and are losing hope. Gesturing to withered cornstalks, Damaris poignantly asks, “Why should I repair this grain store if my crops look like this?”
Since the vast majority of people are unemployed, many cut down firewood to sell, often burning it to make makaa (charcoal). This region produces 250,000 bags of charcoal each month, the most of any community in Kenya. Hauling 20 liters on her back, Elizabeth makes 5 km trip to town five times a day. By day’s end, she earns enough to barely feed her family of 25 a meal of maize.
The women are left to do most of the work, with many men having died from AIDS or going to the city for work. When Katunge’s grandmother passed on, she says she “lost all hope,” as her brothers left to find work and she bore a daughter out of wedlock. She is fortunate however, finding a job at a local hotel earning less than US $30 per month.
Lydia Komu bashes stones to sell as ballast when she’s not throwing at the stones protecting her crops of sorghum from the birds. Even so, she thanks the people who provided her the seed for this drought-resistant crop, praying for them daily.
Looking for more sustainable solutions, PCEA will purchase its own machine to drill community boreholes in the area later this year. There area few shallow wells now, but the salinity is too high for regular human consumption. The European Union is also digging a subsurface-dam to supply water for a local school, which then may sell to the community.
The local chief wrote a letter last month, praising the PCEA’s work in distributing food through the village committees and not discriminating based on religious affiliation. Says David of the PCEA projects department, simply put, “We must go the way the people want.” Working with all community stakeholders, the PCEA won’t leave anyone behind.
Thursday, July 6
No Easy Way Out
Look at this guy - seems pretty innocent, right? Little does he know that within an hour he'll be in a Kenyan police station.It all started when I was in the back seat of a car, waiting for a colleague to run in and grab a video cassette. He'd left the engine running, and no sooner was he out of sight then two policemen emerged. After arguing with my other colleague in Swahili, we all piled into the car and headed off to the police station.
The entire way over the cop kept asking, "So what are you saying?" My colleague would respond, "What do you mean, what am I saying? How do I answer what I haven't been asked?" Apparently they were looking for a bribe, probably about 500 Kshs (US$7) each. Considering their salaries are no more than $150 per month, this is not an unusual request.
As my colleague refused by never acknowledging the offer, we found our way into the station. Seeing me, people turned to their neighbors and said something about me but all I caught was mzungu. It was the closest thing to celebrity I've experienced here in Kenya, sending a murmurring wave ahead of me.
Apparently in Kenya you have to post bail for a traffic offense. My colleague posted 5,000 Kshs (US$65) and scheduled his hearing for Monday. And the offense? "Double-parking." He was lucky, though, since another one of his friends was charged five times with, and I quote, "obstruction", "overlapping", "careless driving", "lack of courtesy", and to cap it all off: "driving in a manner likely to annoy".
My failed attempt to take an indiscrete photo inside the station
In the olden days, the rules weren't just funny but potentially deadly. One charge under the Moi Regime was "behaving in a manner likely to suggest ______ " and they'd just fill in the blank. And to even imagine that the President (remember: there's only one in Kenya- all other heads of organizations must use a different title) had been killed, you would be arrested and possibly tortured on charges of treason.
The court system is no longer as dangerous yet still no less cumbersome, with cases backlogged up to 10 years. A police officer's word is usually good enough for your conviction, making a bribe - er, out of court settlement - an attractive alternative. Going to court often demoralizes the accused, exhausting his or her time and resources.
Remarked my colleague: "Justice delayed is justice denied. And if you don't follow the process, you aren't given your rights."
Tuesday, July 4
Independence Day
Back in the US, my fellow Americans are celebrating the 4th of July, our Independence Day. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on today's significance.
First of all, what's in a day? The colonies voted on Declaration of Independence on the 2nd, not all signing it until the 4th. And if it weren't for French support, many historians argue that the American Revolution would have been another colony's devolution. Our stake in independence required our dependence on declarations of freedom and foreign assistance.
Yet haven't we forgotten this lesson, not only in the past with slavery and segregation, but also today in spreading democracy by force? We should be more diligent in standing up for our "freedom rights," especially when it comes to government secrecy and surveillance that chain our independence with falsified information. We find ourselves "going it alone" with the "coalition [or coercion?] of the willing" in Iraq. I pray we Americans remember that we are not the only ones with the right to self-determination.
Today's New York Times front page reveals how independence can be used: in Macedonia nationalist politics promote factionalist candidates, teenagers are discovering long-term effects of binge drinking, and yet another case of an American GI committing inexplicable atrocities in Iraq against her people.
I wonder if non-Americans, and specifically the Iraqi people, are celebrating our independence today? For many, our independence means their dependence, from the fading prisons of Gitmo to the current Doha round of World Trade talks. Patriotism will get us as far as our borders (of mind or nation I leave to you), but humbleness as God's people will take us further than we can ever imagine.
My point is not to lampoon my home country: I am proud of my country's determination to do good in this world, and even more so for her self-effacing nature to correct past and present mistakes. My point is this: We can use our freedom for ill or good will.
As the Apostle Paul warns,
12"Everything is permissible for me" — but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me" — but I will not be mastered by anything... 14By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and God will raise us also... 17She who unites herself with the Lord is one with God in spirit. (1 Cor 6)
Sisters and brothers, let us be united today across makeshift national borders and into oneness with Christ. The choices we make today will have ramifications for OUR tomorrow as well as the future God's children. Let us celebrate the freedom we all have to humbly submit to God in all that we do - a God for the people and by the people, of this nation and all creation.
To read more thoughts about today, I recommend this article.
First of all, what's in a day? The colonies voted on Declaration of Independence on the 2nd, not all signing it until the 4th. And if it weren't for French support, many historians argue that the American Revolution would have been another colony's devolution. Our stake in independence required our dependence on declarations of freedom and foreign assistance.
Yet haven't we forgotten this lesson, not only in the past with slavery and segregation, but also today in spreading democracy by force? We should be more diligent in standing up for our "freedom rights," especially when it comes to government secrecy and surveillance that chain our independence with falsified information. We find ourselves "going it alone" with the "coalition [or coercion?] of the willing" in Iraq. I pray we Americans remember that we are not the only ones with the right to self-determination.
Today's New York Times front page reveals how independence can be used: in Macedonia nationalist politics promote factionalist candidates, teenagers are discovering long-term effects of binge drinking, and yet another case of an American GI committing inexplicable atrocities in Iraq against her people.
I wonder if non-Americans, and specifically the Iraqi people, are celebrating our independence today? For many, our independence means their dependence, from the fading prisons of Gitmo to the current Doha round of World Trade talks. Patriotism will get us as far as our borders (of mind or nation I leave to you), but humbleness as God's people will take us further than we can ever imagine.
My point is not to lampoon my home country: I am proud of my country's determination to do good in this world, and even more so for her self-effacing nature to correct past and present mistakes. My point is this: We can use our freedom for ill or good will.
As the Apostle Paul warns,
12"Everything is permissible for me" — but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me" — but I will not be mastered by anything... 14By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and God will raise us also... 17She who unites herself with the Lord is one with God in spirit. (1 Cor 6)
Sisters and brothers, let us be united today across makeshift national borders and into oneness with Christ. The choices we make today will have ramifications for OUR tomorrow as well as the future God's children. Let us celebrate the freedom we all have to humbly submit to God in all that we do - a God for the people and by the people, of this nation and all creation.
To read more thoughts about today, I recommend this article.
Monday, July 3
Faith & Politics
Recently, I sped through God's Politics by Jim Wallis over our final retreat. Upon my return, Emily brought to my attention the Call to Renewal Conference held in DC last week. Barak Obama made a powerful speech to reignite an informed discussion on faith and politics, drawing both from the bible and international events. The ramifications will surely be interesting.
Here in Kenya, many politicians profess a believe in Christianity. Yet these same politicains often engage in public deceipt and mass corruption, eating like cancer in their follower's mind. Many Kenyans are either ashamed of these double-talking politicians or just laugh at the hypocrisy. This isn't to say there aren't any good politicians here. It just shows the danger of believing in the gospel and then working in government: there should be some sort of dynamic cohesion, rather than a private/public split, between the two.
I must say I was quite surprised to read that Bush uses the same daily devotional I use, Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest." I think we come to vastly different conclusions each day, and this is exactly my point. An engaged, enlightened discussion of faith and politics brings both morality and practicality to the table, and our public policies need both.
I encourage all of us to re-engage in our faith and how it relates to politics as a form of action. Obama encourages us to go back to our bibles, to be informed internationally, and to make our choices accordingly. Let us humbly step into the discussion of faith and politics, knowing we have a relationship with God as well as God's people.
Here in Kenya, many politicians profess a believe in Christianity. Yet these same politicains often engage in public deceipt and mass corruption, eating like cancer in their follower's mind. Many Kenyans are either ashamed of these double-talking politicians or just laugh at the hypocrisy. This isn't to say there aren't any good politicians here. It just shows the danger of believing in the gospel and then working in government: there should be some sort of dynamic cohesion, rather than a private/public split, between the two.
I must say I was quite surprised to read that Bush uses the same daily devotional I use, Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest." I think we come to vastly different conclusions each day, and this is exactly my point. An engaged, enlightened discussion of faith and politics brings both morality and practicality to the table, and our public policies need both.
I encourage all of us to re-engage in our faith and how it relates to politics as a form of action. Obama encourages us to go back to our bibles, to be informed internationally, and to make our choices accordingly. Let us humbly step into the discussion of faith and politics, knowing we have a relationship with God as well as God's people.
Saturday, July 1
Final Retreat Pictures
At the border of Tanzania and Kenya, where the Serenghetti meets the Masai Mara.
Will is bombed by the vultures.
Phyllis' "Happy 70th" Birthday, a prank from us YAVs
Wanna-be Masai During the "Cultural Exchange"
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