Hadassah told the kids the lesson would be about how God created the earth and one of them immediately says "Oh yes, it is called creation and it is found in the book of Genesis!" They know more than we think they do. We would also like to start some sort of Dorcas ministry there.
Most of these kids go to school. Their native tongue is Masai, although they speak English fairly well.
Hadassah (the elementary teacher) has had the desired to do Sabbath School at the Ngong Hills with the Masai children. The noise you hear is the wind. It is always windy at the hills. Kyle shot the video.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Caleb, enjoying his haystacks. Here we eat them with potato chips rather than tortilla chips. For some reason, Kenya doesn't make tortilla chips, and the ones you would find at the stores are imported and very expensive! We've gotten used to it.
It is customary for the visitor to have a song service. So, here we are singing "I've got peace like a river." Mind you, we weren't prepared for that! We quickly came up with some songs and even taught the kids a few of them. It was a good visit. It definitely made me realize how blessed we truly are.
Kyle and Caleb passing out candy. Sorry the pictures are out of order! :)
Every year the school plans a trip to visit the Kibara Slums (the largest one in Nairobi), where over 1 million people live in shacks. The place is no bigger than New York's Central Park. In it, you will see all kinds of different shops where people live, work, and play. Indeed a city within a city. The school has a contact person who runs a shelter. The nuns in the back ground were in charge the day we went. We brought them some food and clothing items. They were very grateful.
Meet Fred. He is one of the school's guard. How did we end up at his house? On the way home from town, I asked Derek to stop by the open market for some fresh produce, and while I was shopping, (yes, I actually go by myself to the market now and am learning to bargain for Kenyan prices!) Fred and his wife spotted Derek and asked him for a ride home. We expected to just drop him off by his home, but were asked to come in for a "refreshment." They are sweet people. They have 4 children, cows, chickens, and rabbits. They offered us some very sweet pineapple, chapati and peanuts. They were thrilled to us (mzungus, white people) visiting them! This is how they pump their water. I told him I should be here every morning pumping his water. It is a good work out! Water is very expensive here. Most people don't have running water in their house and have to pay about $.25 per liter. Don't complain about your water, or your water bill! At least you don't have to get up in the wee hours of the morning to get water.
I told the boys this would be great for them to do when they were bored or needed some attitude adjustment!
This is how Fred pumps his water for daily use.
The boys loved this baby rabbit. I thought it looked too much like a rat! No, I didn't hold him.
They loved feeding the cows. Fred has 3, which help support his family by selling the milk. Oh! This reminded us so much of the trip we took with the Fords when we went to Maine to visit Maria's family and stopped by New York to visit Eric's grandparent's and tour the farm. Great memories guys! Did you notice Fred's shirt?
Fred said this is the least friendliest cow. I believed him! We asked if the cows had names (we should've known better!). To Africans, animals are animals, they don't name their animals. They sort of laugh when we told them they should name their cows!
Last month we began our training hikes in order to climb Mount Kenya. We had a total of about 20 people. Mostly staff and some students. The Mount Kenya hike will be in February.
This time we didn't have to have a back pack. For the qualifying one, however, we have to carry 20 lbs. up and down! I certainly hope I can make it. I told a friend to drag me to the top of Mount Kenya if she has to! I think we'll be dragging each other! As soon as the students get back from break, we will be hiking every Sunday to get us ready for the "big" hike. I am not afraid of hiking as much as I am of the effects of the altitude. We'll see.
