Home Safely

We arrived home safe and sound to lots of snow and cold temperatures. We were 30 minutes late landing; got through customs very quickly; had to wait almost an hour for our luggage!
Jennifer and Quinn were at the airport to meet us. Stephen, Yenny, Aiden and Sean were waiting at home.
Quinn looked stunned when he first saw us and then was all smiles and giggles. Aiden made strange at first, but was then his usual happy self with lots of smiles too. It was wonderful to be with them again.
We have not suffered any jet lag. Still going to bed early and up around 7:15. Lots to unpack and even more laundry, but it is all summer clothing so there is really no rush to get it done!
We miss all our new friends in Africa. We especially miss the weather! We know that God will continue to bless the Kennys and the other CBM Staff there. They are all doing wonderful work in His name.
Thanks to all of you who have read our blog and kept us in your prayers. We know that our trip was as successful as it was because of your prayer support. We hope that our blog was interesting and informative and that you were able to experience a little taste of Kenya because of it. Don will be adding a few of his thousand or more pictures to this blog over the next few days.

Amsterdam Airport

We arrived in Admsterday at 5:10 a.m. (11:10 p.m. Monday, Toronto time) We had flown all night (8 hours) and neither of us slept much!
We have an eight hour layover here but luckily we found some wonderful leather lounge chairs. There were a lot available because there are not too many people here at that time of the morning! We were able to rest and read and stayed there for about 5 hours. We are now going to wander around the airport because it is like a large mall (yeah!) and grab a bite to eat. Our flight leaves at 13:40 so we figure that we only have approximately 2 hours before we start boarding.
KLM, so far, has been a great company to fly with. It is extremely foggy here and flights are still getting out. The temperature is -1C....starting to feel like home!
If our flight is on time, we should arrive in Toronto at 3:50 p.m. It is about a 7 1\2 hour flight.
We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends.
Our blog is not over yet! We will add a couple more posts, including pictures, from home.

Sad Farewells

Our last day in Nairobi was sad to say the least. It was finally our turn to say goodbye to those we had come to love and admire.
We were supposed to spend the day with Aaron and Erica but the flu bug hit the Kenny Family starting with Tristan, then Emma and then Aaron today. So we still had a wonderful day with Erica but were unable to give those goodbye hugs to Aaron, Tristan, Emma and Ava.
They are coming home to Canada in the spring and their first stop is Toronto so we are looking forward to seeing them then!
We spent the morning with Erica doing our "debriefing" and then we went out to lunch! It was very hard saying goodbye to Erica.
It was also very difficult to say goodbye to the staff at Heart Lodge. We have grown to appreciate them as a staff and they sure made our "home away from home" a wonderful place to stay.
Another change in plans was that we took a taxi to the airport. Arrived in plenty of time for our flight! We are excited to be going home.
Please remember to pray for Erica. She has an extremely busy week. She has been involved with the school Christmas Pageant. There are two dress rehearsals this week and the performance is on Thursday night. Believe it or not, yesterday we were actually hoping that she would get the flu at any moment in order to be recovered by Thursday!

Sunday Worship

This morning we went to church with Andy and Rebecca DesRoches and family. The DesRoches are CBM staff here in Nairobi. Andy is in leadership development and teaches at a college outside of Nairobi. Rebecca is a high school math teacher at Rossland Academy. Their two teenage children also attend Rossland Academy.

Andy and Rebecca worship with a small group of people at St. Julian's Centre where there is a chapel. St. Julian's Centre is an Anglican retreat centre located in a beautiful setting 27 km. north of the city. This centre was built in 1951 by Sir Micheal and Lady Wood, founders of Flying Doctors.

It seemed surreal to light the 2nd Advent candle in such a luscious green setting.

After church, we went to the River Cafe for another wonderful lunch!

Water

During our time in Kenya we have come to appreciate the importance of clean water. For so many people in Kenya, clean water is not a reality for them. The search for water is often a daily struggle for survival.

At Heart Lodge there is bottled water available to drink. When we are out we ask for bottled water or sodas. We have never had so many bottled cokes or stoneys. We just can't trust the water in many places. Even salads can be a problem if they are washed in tap water. Fortunately Erica and Aaron have come to know where it is okay for us to eat.

After dinner last night we spent a good hour talking with Joseph, our chef for the evening. Joseph is usually in charge of housekeeping but will often spell off one of the other two chefs from time to time. Joseph went to college to become a chef so enjoys this occasional opportunity to cook. Last night he shared with us his story and his dream to bring clean water to his village.

Joseph's wife and young daughter live with him in Nairobi. His two sons live with their grandmother in his home village. This village is some 90 kilometres north east of Nairobi. It takes about 6 hours to travel there by bus. He and his wife alternately visit to see their sons. It is too costly to travel together. Their village is in a very dry and dusty region of Kenya. This year has been particularly dry. During the recent rainy season, it only rained once. Families are daily searching for water from a local spring. This spring is so small that they use a cup to scoop the water into their containers. It is found between two rocks so it is also an excellent place for deadly snakes to live. There are only a few cows and goats in their village because there is not enough water to support the animals. It's a constant struggle to survive. What water is available is often dirty and polluted. Sickness from drinking the water is a common occurrence. Typhoid and intestinal diseases are well known to the village.

Ever since Joseph was a small boy he remembers getting up at 3:00am and going out to search for water with a flashlight. To this day he continues do this for his mother when he visits. (Recently a regular visitor to Heart House brought some crank flashlights from Costco for Joseph and some of the staff.) Joseph is determined to make things better for his village. He has told the elders in his village that they must change. While working at Heart Lodge he has come to meet a number of people, who are in Kenya working on water projects. Recently, he took Don and Pat, from the Rotary club, to visit with the village elders. A surveyor was hired to assess their situation. The recommendation was to build a catch basin for the water with a purification system. The cost is about $100,000 U.S. Unfortunately the Rotary club can't justify that cost because the system will only benefit a few hundred people. Joseph is not deterred. He put together a very well written proposal which he has sent to a number of organizations and foundations. He is working with his village elders to determine what they can do themselves to lessen the costs. He has met with government officials but reports that the politicians make lots of promises during the lead up to elections but never follow through. Joseph will not give up until his dream is realized.

Unfortunately there are hundreds if not thousands of little villages in Kenya, just like Joseph's, that are in dire need of clean water.

We must continue to keep Joseph and his village in prayer as he seeks God's lead in how to provide water for his village. Joseph strongly believes that God will open the doors for him to succeed.

2 Sleeps to Go!

We have had a great Saturday in Nairobi!
Ate breakfast here at Heart Lodge with Pat and Don Howard from Colorado. We have gotten to know them while staying here at the Lodge. They work through the Rotary Club. This is their 7th trip. They (through the Rotary Club) sponsor a number of water projects here in Kenya. Don and Pat also bring books and buy books here for a number of school libraries.
We then went to have coffee with Malcolm and Patty Card. We have enjoyed getting to know them and the work that they do with CBM. Patty just returned from a week in Rwanda. We learned a lot about Rwanda and are looking forward to our trip there in August of 2009 with a group from our church.
Then off to the mall, again (!), this time for bubble wrap! We are starting to pack and needed to protect the hand carved giraffes and other items that we have purchased.
A bridal party, along with their friends, had their pictures taken here this afternoon! The bride and groom are spending the night here! We will have another fabulous dinner because we are getting the same food as the newly weds!
Ah, such is life here in Nairobi at Heart Lodge!

Masai Mara

We had a wonderful time on our safari to the Masai Mara. It was a long 6 hour drive getting there over extremely bumpy and dusty roads. However, it was worth the trip!
The Tipilikwani Camp was absolutely amazing. It is set on the banks of the Talek River and overlooks the Mara Plains. The tent was absolutely luxurious! If all tents were like the one we stayed in at the Mara, we would go camping all the time! Of course, it had an ensuite bathroom!
The food was extravagant to say the least with 3 choices of entres for lunch and 4 for dinner.
Lunch included one starter and a dessert and dinner included 2 starters and dessert.
We went on 3 safaris each lasting 2 hours. On an early morning one (6:30 a.m.) we saw a family of hippos frolicking in a river. We also saw a lot of lions, gazelles, hyenas, elephants, giraffes, topees, jackals, and bat eared foxes. We were able to get very close to some of the animals. We saw a baby elephant about 1 month old. It was very well protected by the other elephants in the herd.
This morning while eating breakfast in the dining room we saw a troop of approximately 50 baboons heading out on the plains.
This park is very different than Amboselli and was well worth the trip!

Safari Time!

Tomorrow morning at 6:45 a.m. we will be picked up to begin our trip to the Masai Mara. This trip was our treat to ourselves at the end of our time in Kenya. We are travelling with Twiga Tours and will be staying at the Tipilikwani Luxury Lodge. If you want more information about where we are staying you can google the name of the lodge. We will return late Friday afternoon. We will not be adding to our blog until then. Just be assured that Don will have taken hundred's more pictures!!

Lunch with Zahra

After painting, Aaron, Don and Zahra picked up Joy from Heart Lodge. We then went to Zahra's absolute favourite place to eat, Java House. Erica met us there. Zahra ordered her favourites, chicken strips, french fries and a chocolate milkshake. She orders this every time Aaron and Erica take her to Java House. Even if they meet her there early in the morning she will order a chocolate milk shake!
This was our last time to visit with Zahra. As we may have said before, she is a delightful young woman who is very popular and well known in Eastleigh. She works for CBM helping with Erica and Aaron with teaching ESL classes and doing outreach in the community.
We have grown to love and appreciate her sense of humour, spontaneity and helpfulness. She loves to sing the "Hokey Pokey" and as promised, we will send the words to the song to her!

Painting Blackboards

This morning Don and Aaron went to Eastleigh to paint! They cleaned and painted the blackboards in two classrooms. What a difference a fresh coat of blackboard paint makes. We would have liked to have painted more, but the classrooms were locked up and the caretaker was absent.

Another Farewell!

We also said farewell to our driver, Martin, this morning. Martin has driven us to and from Eastleigh everyday and anywhere else that we wanted to go. He has been an inspiration to us.
We learned a lot about him, his family and the Kenyan culture. He always had very wise comments to make when we said that we were concerned about an issue. Martin played wonderful, uplifting Christian music in his car which we also enjoyed when riding with him.
Martin, as many drivers do here in Kenya, took great pride in keeping his car shiny inside and out. If ever we were late, we would often find Martin shining his car. We always felt so bad everytime we took his shiny, clean car into Eastleigh where it is either muddy or dusty! Martin never complained though.

A Sad Farewell

This morning we helped Erica and Aaron host a party for the young Somali ladies. It is a special event for everyone. There were about 50 there along with some of their siblings and children.
Aaron planned some games, we sang some songs, we danced and we ate! We did everything that makes a party successful!!
The young ladies danced up a storm, just like young ladies anywhere would do. Except, they also did some traditional Somali dancing and singing for us. Can they ever move their hips, stomachs, and bottoms! It was wonderful to see. They really "let their hair down" and had a great time.
In fact, we had to break up the party!
Lots of pictures were also taken and will be cherished by all of us. We promised to print them and leave them for Erica and Aaron to take to school when it resumes on January 6th.
They also wrote lovely thank you notes to us which we will be bringing home. We were also chosen as "Iftin" students of the week. Iftin means "light' in the Somali language. These young ladies are certainly the "light" in Eastleigh and so it was an honour to have this title given to us.
Joy was given many hugs before the girls finally left. It was a very emotional time for her as these young ladies have come to mean so much to her, and Don too. They are so strong and happy given their circumstances.
We will miss them but know that Aaron and Erica will continue to be working with them and helping them to have hope for their futures. Aaron and Erica love each and every one of them and are planning to do some home visits over the holidays.

Bits and Bites

Nairobi is one of the largest cities in Africa. It is about the size of the city of Toronto. It is located about 80 miles south of the equator with an elevation of 5,500 feet above sea level.



The weather has been mostly sunny and warm during our time here. The light rainy season is pretty much gone as Kenya heads into the summer months. January and February are the hot summer months. Nevertheless because of the altitude it cools down nicely at night. Even when it is hot, there is not the humidity that we experience at home. Even in hot weather, you see Kenyans wearing long sleeve shirts, a sweater or jacket. You know it is really hot when you see Kenyans with short sleeves. You never see Kenyans wearing shorts. They believe shorts are just for boys. However Don does wear shorts when back at Heart Lodge.



Although Nairobi is a large city it doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the population growth that has taken place here and so the traffic can be very congested at most times. Wherever one goes in Kenya, one sees people walking. Another mode of transportation is the matatu. Matatu is taken from the Swahili word, matata which means problem. The matatu is a 14 passenger Toyoto Van. Each matatu has a driver and a conductor who handles the fee. The matatu drivers are independent drivers and are the most aggressive drivers that we have ever seen. It seems no laws apply to them. They will drive on boulevards, grass, walkways, over medians, etc. in an effort to obtain that edge in the traffic. We have seen as many as four matatus driving abreast for two lanes of highway. They will stop everywhere and anywhere to pick up or discharge a fare. We suspect that they also contribute to the traffic congestion.



We understand that there is a lot corruption in government in Kenya. The politicians also receive approximately 1 million Kenyan shillings each month for salary and expenses. That's about $13,333.00 US. This salary is tax free. There has been a lot of media attention about this while we have been here. A recent survey showed that over 90 % of Kenyans believe the politicians should be paying some tax on their salaries and allowances.



The unemployment rate is approximately 68% throughout Kenya. That is probably one of the reasons for the high crime rate since there is no government assistance if you are unemployed. There is a military presence everywhere in Nairobi. You see solders walking about carrying K47 weapons. One day as we were waiting for our driver to pick us up at the entrance to one of the malls, a small vehicle pulled up and four heavily armed soldiers jumped out and took their positions. A Wells Fargo bank truck then pulled up followed by another car carrying more solders. Some were carrying machine guns. This now seems to be the regular practice for bank pick ups and deliveries. It is not surprising to walk in a mall or on the street and see this army presence.



Not far from Heart Lodge are many embassy's and embassy residences. It seems every country that does business with Kenya and East Africa has an embassy here. We saw the old US embassy that was bombed by terrorists prior to 9/11. The new embassy is much larger and much better protected. It's like the USA is sending a message: if you attack us, we will come back even bigger. Most if not all of the embassy residences are beautiful buildings with manicured lawns and gardens. One day we drove past the Israeli embassy. We had to go through a road block where Kenyan solders checked the car before we passed.



The second largest UN compound in the world is located here in Nairobi, across the road from the US embassy.