If you live in North America or Europe, there are many things you will take for granted when it comes to toilets. I have gotten used to all kinds of toilets here, but I realised that I unconsciously still compare the washrooms I visit with the standards I have from places back home. I noticed it when I was using the toilet at another church and found myself commenting to a friend on the two positive facts of toilet paper and cleanliness – and then realising that the door would not shut or lock properly. “Two out of three is not bad,” was my evaluation. Since then I have come up with a number of criteria for the grading of toilets. Please let me know if I am missing certain criteria or whether the ones I have chosen are internationally useful.
Toilet paper
This is not a uniquely African problem – even in Switzerland I will often check public toilets for toilet paper, but here it is especially useful to carry some toilet paper in your pocket or purse when travelling.
Clean toilet/flushing
A toilet that can’t be flushed will not stay clean very long. Because of issues with running water or with water pressure, toilets will not always flush (probably also because it takes a long time for the tank to fill, and when there are many people using the toilet there is no time for the tank to fill properly).
Door/Lock
You may have never thought of this as an issue, but you would be surprised at how many doors here will not close properly. Even at our church, there are some toilet doors that you have to push very hard for them to close. Another thing is the lock – you will often find (even with hotel room doors) that there are multiple signs of locks that had once been there. Sometimes there is only a bent nail on the door jamb which you can turn towards the door to keep it from opening.
Running water
As mentioned above, running water can be a luxury item. If there is water to wash your hands, be thankful (even if the water is coming out of a canister or a tap outside the washroom facilities).
Soap
If there is soap to wash your hands with, even better! If there is liquid soap out of a soap dispenser, you have found luxury toilets!!!
Mirror
Some people go to the bathroom just for the reason of checking on their hair, make-up, teeth etc., but just remember that this presumes that you have a mirror available. In our office, only the toilet on the ground floor has a mirror – it is even a full-length mirror!
Drying your hands
The issue of drying your hands was one of the last items to come my mind. I guess I have already gotten used to the fact that you often have to go without drying your hands here. The really fancy bathrooms here have the automatic blow-drying machines for drying your hands – complete with the sticker assuring you that this appliance is “energiesparend” and “umweltschonend” (saving energy and taking care of the environment). It reminds me of the recycled toilet paper that was used in Swiss public schools which also had that signet (anyone remember that paper?).
Toilet seat
I have saved the most interesting for last: toilet seats. Just yesterday I used a public toilet in a nice shopping area that fulfilled all the other criteria – except the toilet seat. Even the Lonely Planet guide comments on the fact that many of the hotels or public toilets do not have toilet seats. Even after four months I do not understand the reason for it. The best explanation I have gotten is that people might want to squat (hocken, kauern) on the toilets, therefore the seats have broken or have not been installed in the first place. Or maybe there is a secret association for the liberation of toilet seats…
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Nairobi Chapel Family Day
On Thursday we had a meeting with all the Nairobi Chapel churches (just the staff). About three years ago, Nairobi Chapel split up into five different churches with the aim of multiplying and planting churches. Now there are eight churches – and more to come. It was amazing to hear about what the other churches are up to and to see all the staff – about 80-90 people! About half of them are interns; that is an average of seven or eight interns per church. Just imagine what you could do in your church with all those interns!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
What I do all day...
I am two weeks into the second half of my stay here, and it suddenly seems like time is going to fly. Things have changed at work, partially because Msafara is over and everyone is doing their "normal" job again. We also had an evaluation two weeks ago in which we were given new job descriptions and tasks. When the guys from the worship department came back from Msafara, I was suddenly out of work, as they took over service planning and bulletin work (which I had been involved in) and I had finished baptism class and baptism. With everything being different, I thought I could give you an overview of what I do all day or all week - as that is usually hard to see anyway in ministry.
Just to remind you, I am in the Pastoral Care department which involves pastoral care (weddings, funerals, births, illnesses, visitation etc.), adult education, small groups, visitors, and helping the Worship department with the worship service on Sundays. Here are my tasks:
Tuesday: departmental meeting in the morning, service planning in the afternoon
Wednesday: "library day" (which means you can actually get work or research done with out being interrupted)
Thursday: pastoral team meeting
Friday: class in the morning, admin or visitation in the afternoon
Saturday: admin, visitation or service preparation as necessary
Sunday: discipleship class, service, pre-marital counselling class (Sunday is my longest day!)
Monday: off-day!
Just to remind you, I am in the Pastoral Care department which involves pastoral care (weddings, funerals, births, illnesses, visitation etc.), adult education, small groups, visitors, and helping the Worship department with the worship service on Sundays. Here are my tasks:
- organise and co-facilitate discipleship classes
- put together a baptism class manual with the material I developed and with the information I gathered
- organise visitation one week a month ("Amtswoche")
- organise visits for our pastoral care team to the spinal injury clinic, lead our team
- take care of administration for the Pre-Marital Counselling Class, sit in on the class
- develop two study guides for small groups on two sermon series ("burn-out" and "the names of God")
- research on how volunteers at Nairobi Chapel are recruited, trained and appreciated; speak to staff team about possible problems or areas that need strengthening
- interview pastors in other departments about their work to get an overview of what the church does and how it does it
Tuesday: departmental meeting in the morning, service planning in the afternoon
Wednesday: "library day" (which means you can actually get work or research done with out being interrupted)
Thursday: pastoral team meeting
Friday: class in the morning, admin or visitation in the afternoon
Saturday: admin, visitation or service preparation as necessary
Sunday: discipleship class, service, pre-marital counselling class (Sunday is my longest day!)
Monday: off-day!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Political Update
Yesterday, President Kibaki finally announced the new cabinet. Now, you may not even have been aware of it, but since the signing of the national peace accord, Kibaki and Raila have been fighting over how to share power - how to divide up the various ministries and the seats in the cabinet. Here's a time-line as a reminder:
December 27th, 2007 - Elections
December 30th, 2007 - Results are announced
December 31st, 2007 - Post-election violence and riots begin
January 22nd, 2008 - Kofi Annan arrives in Kenya to mediate between the government party and the opposition
February 28th, 2008 - National Peace Accord is signed by President Mwai Kibaki and Honorable Raila Odinga
April 13th, 2008 - President Kibaki announces his cabinet
For the last two or three weeks (I can't even remember anymore), Raila and Kibaki have been meeting to determine the cabinet (after the parliament had worked out the details of the of the peace agreement). It was supposed to be announced last weekend, but they were not able to agree. At that point, it looked like the coalition was about to collapse, and there were people talking about a new vote etc. Many people here were just getting annoyed and fed up with politics. Others started rioting again in protest of the proposal of an enlarged (or inflated) cabinet - or whatever it was they were rioting about.
Now they have finally agreed on what the coalition government should look like, which means that we can hopefully move on to more important things: resettling the displaced people who have been waiting all this time, getting the economy back on track and reworking the constitution (which has been the plan since 2005, I think). Resettling the IDPs (internally displaced persons) is a matter of urgency for two reasons. The rain makes living in camps miserable, not just because of the mud, but because there is the danger of diseases (cholera, typhoid etc.) and sicknesses because of the rain and the cold. Many of the people depend on being able to plant and farm for a living, and if they do not plant before the rains start, it will be too late. Even though this is supposed to be the rainy season, we have not had a large amount of rainy days yet (which I am glad for), but there is also fear of drought (Dürre).
December 27th, 2007 - Elections
December 30th, 2007 - Results are announced
December 31st, 2007 - Post-election violence and riots begin
January 22nd, 2008 - Kofi Annan arrives in Kenya to mediate between the government party and the opposition
February 28th, 2008 - National Peace Accord is signed by President Mwai Kibaki and Honorable Raila Odinga
April 13th, 2008 - President Kibaki announces his cabinet
For the last two or three weeks (I can't even remember anymore), Raila and Kibaki have been meeting to determine the cabinet (after the parliament had worked out the details of the of the peace agreement). It was supposed to be announced last weekend, but they were not able to agree. At that point, it looked like the coalition was about to collapse, and there were people talking about a new vote etc. Many people here were just getting annoyed and fed up with politics. Others started rioting again in protest of the proposal of an enlarged (or inflated) cabinet - or whatever it was they were rioting about.
Now they have finally agreed on what the coalition government should look like, which means that we can hopefully move on to more important things: resettling the displaced people who have been waiting all this time, getting the economy back on track and reworking the constitution (which has been the plan since 2005, I think). Resettling the IDPs (internally displaced persons) is a matter of urgency for two reasons. The rain makes living in camps miserable, not just because of the mud, but because there is the danger of diseases (cholera, typhoid etc.) and sicknesses because of the rain and the cold. Many of the people depend on being able to plant and farm for a living, and if they do not plant before the rains start, it will be too late. Even though this is supposed to be the rainy season, we have not had a large amount of rainy days yet (which I am glad for), but there is also fear of drought (Dürre).
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Swahinglish (I)
As some of you may know, I am fascinated by language and the diversity of how language is used. It is especially interesting to see how the same language can be used so differently! Since coming here, I have been listening to people speak English and have sometimes been puzzled, surprised or amused by what people will say here – because their English has been influenced by Swahili or their mother tongue. To demonstrate this, I will tell you a story using as many “Swahinglish” phrases as possible.
Last week but one, one of the chicks from Msafara invited some of the interns to her house for a bash. I met Njeri and Gedion at the bus stage to catch a citi hoppa to Karen. As we entered the bus, we happened to find another intern there who had come straight from town. Gedion, always eager to get the best option, had worked out a way to save money: take the bus to the first junction after the Karen round-about and then catch a mat, but his plans were crossed by the fact that the bus conductor came to complain after passing the round-about that we had not paid enough since we were supposed to get off there. Gedion started causing and actually succeeded in not having us pay more.
Last week but one – two weeks ago
chick – girl, gal
bash – party, get-together
stage – station
citi hoppa – a local bus company
to enter the bus – to get on the bus
town – downtown
mat – matatu, a Nissan minivan for public transport
to cause – to cause trouble, to give someone trouble, to complain or rant
When we reached, we alighted from the bus and looked for a mat. The matatu tout finally agreed to take us to where we were going for ten shillings, so we entered the mat and were soon on our way. The matatu was full when we left, but on the way, we kept stopping to add more people. When we stopped for the third time, Gedion started protesting, as he was to make room for an old mama. They made room in the first row and we continued with the tout and the mama hanging out the side of the open van. When we stopped again, Gedion really started causing, threatening come out of the mat and walk – which the four of us actually did, leaving just enough seats for the extra people. We hadn't paid yet, so we actually saved money, but then again, what service can you expect if you are only willing to pay ten shillings?!
to reach – meaning: to reach a certain point or destination (verbs here are often used without objects)
to alight – to get off a bus (sounds to me like getting out of a carriage like in Jane Austen’s day!)
a matatu tout – the guy who “advertises” for the matatu at the stations, shouting out the destination, enticing people to get on (rather than go to the competition), and who acts as a conductor
to add more people – to let more people on
mama – pronounce mamá: an older lady
to come out of a bus or mat – alight, get off
Gedion supposedly knew where to go and told us that it was the next road, but when we got there, the road was Kufuga Road instead of Kuwinda Road. Strangely enough, the person we asked confirmed that this was Kuwinda Road, despite the sign that clearly said otherwise. We started walking down the road, but then decided to call Sarah (our host) to check. I would like to say that she did not pick her phone (just to use that phrase), but she actually did and explained to us that we would have to go farther down the main road to where her dad was waiting to pick us. We finally reached there after half an hour of walking and found Sarah’s dad patiently waiting. By that time we were quite annoyed with Gedion and his making us shuka way too early, but at the same time we had a story to tell and someone to blame for being late!
to pick your phone – to answer your phone
to pick someone – to pick someone up
shuka (Swahili) – to alight, get off
Last week but one, one of the chicks from Msafara invited some of the interns to her house for a bash. I met Njeri and Gedion at the bus stage to catch a citi hoppa to Karen. As we entered the bus, we happened to find another intern there who had come straight from town. Gedion, always eager to get the best option, had worked out a way to save money: take the bus to the first junction after the Karen round-about and then catch a mat, but his plans were crossed by the fact that the bus conductor came to complain after passing the round-about that we had not paid enough since we were supposed to get off there. Gedion started causing and actually succeeded in not having us pay more.
Last week but one – two weeks ago
chick – girl, gal
bash – party, get-together
stage – station
citi hoppa – a local bus company
to enter the bus – to get on the bus
town – downtown
mat – matatu, a Nissan minivan for public transport
to cause – to cause trouble, to give someone trouble, to complain or rant
When we reached, we alighted from the bus and looked for a mat. The matatu tout finally agreed to take us to where we were going for ten shillings, so we entered the mat and were soon on our way. The matatu was full when we left, but on the way, we kept stopping to add more people. When we stopped for the third time, Gedion started protesting, as he was to make room for an old mama. They made room in the first row and we continued with the tout and the mama hanging out the side of the open van. When we stopped again, Gedion really started causing, threatening come out of the mat and walk – which the four of us actually did, leaving just enough seats for the extra people. We hadn't paid yet, so we actually saved money, but then again, what service can you expect if you are only willing to pay ten shillings?!
to reach – meaning: to reach a certain point or destination (verbs here are often used without objects)
to alight – to get off a bus (sounds to me like getting out of a carriage like in Jane Austen’s day!)
a matatu tout – the guy who “advertises” for the matatu at the stations, shouting out the destination, enticing people to get on (rather than go to the competition), and who acts as a conductor
to add more people – to let more people on
mama – pronounce mamá: an older lady
to come out of a bus or mat – alight, get off
Gedion supposedly knew where to go and told us that it was the next road, but when we got there, the road was Kufuga Road instead of Kuwinda Road. Strangely enough, the person we asked confirmed that this was Kuwinda Road, despite the sign that clearly said otherwise. We started walking down the road, but then decided to call Sarah (our host) to check. I would like to say that she did not pick her phone (just to use that phrase), but she actually did and explained to us that we would have to go farther down the main road to where her dad was waiting to pick us. We finally reached there after half an hour of walking and found Sarah’s dad patiently waiting. By that time we were quite annoyed with Gedion and his making us shuka way too early, but at the same time we had a story to tell and someone to blame for being late!
to pick your phone – to answer your phone
to pick someone – to pick someone up
shuka (Swahili) – to alight, get off
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Adventures as a Mzungu (white person)
I am post-dating this (which you will only notice if you have checking the blog regularly) because I actually wrote it offline on Monday but have been so busy or not able to connect to the internet that it has stayed as a Word-document until today. It turned out rather long, but I am hoping you will enjoy it nonetheless.
Yesterday, I had an interesting day which made me feel like I was in the rural area, even though I was still in Nairobi.
I was at a retreat from Friday to Sunday up at Karen, which is a place unto itself, even though it is still part of Nairobi and only about twenty minutes from here by car. Even the weather feels cooler, and everything is much greener out there. On Sunday, I got permission to miss church and go visit two girls at their school visiting day. These two girls had been part of the outreach I was here for in 2005, and since they were not in school then, two of my team mates decided to sponsor them. I joined the sponsorship shortly after, and have been privileged to see them a few times since then.
I had agreed to meet Pastor Stephen, the contact person for the Giraffe Project girls, at the Karen round-about at 9am. I was early, and as was to be expected, I waited for about half an hour. When Pastor Stephen came, we got on a matatu (a minivan for public transport, but public transport in Kenya is worth a blog entry to itself). There were a few Masai in the matatu – recognizable by their dress (Masai blankets wrapped around their shoulders) and the woman’s colourful beaded jewelry. Apart from that, you can usually tell a Masai by the way their ears are pierced and stretched out so that they have a huge hole and their earlobe is hanging way below the rest of the ear. The Masai lady had her ears covered in interesting jewelry, including the huge hole (or the sides of it). As I entered the matatu, I noticed her looking at me and saying something. I sat down behind her. She kept turning and looking at me, commenting to her husband and then looking back at me. After a few comments, Pastor Stephen explained to me that she was admiring me. Now, I have gotten used to people giving me more attention here, but this was a new experience. After about another minute, she stopped turning and looking and seemed to forget me for the rest of the ride.
A Different Church Experience
Even though the main goal of my excursion was to visit the girls, Pastor Stephen of course wanted to take me to his church. Sometimes it feels like mzungus are like a prize exhibit (Vorzeigestück) that you want to show off to everyone you know – at least that’s what it felt like at this church. This church was like the kind I had seen in the slums (though it is not a slum area): a simple, one-room church with a wooden frame and corrugated iron (Wellblech), wooden benches, a few plastic chairs, and a pit latrine (Plumpsklo) behind the building. The ground was just packed-down dirt and even the stage was just dirt enclosed by large oblong hewn rocks (wie in der Schweiz Trottoir-Randsteine). The sound system (consisting of four microphones and a keyboard) was not very reliable, and the people kept exchanging microphones when singing. Nevertheless, the church has three pastors and about 60-70 people attending. The church service officially started at 10am, but I think it was 10:30 when we actually began with worship. The singing went on for one and a half hours, interrupted only for a short time of welcome of visitors and prayers. When they welcomed the visitors, they had them either come up front and share or at least stand up and say their name. Strangely enough, they did not ask me to do any of that – even though I was seated very conspicuously (deutlich sichtbar) with the pastors at the front (it is impossible for a mzungu to hide!). What I did not realize was that they were saving me for later…
After a short presentation by the Sunday School kids, the main pastor got up and said he had some announcements to make before inviting our sister from Switzerland to the front (everything was done bilingually for my sake). At that point I started wondering whether they had forgotten to tell me that they were expecting me to preach! However, I knew from previous experiences that they like having a special guest from afar come up and share something brief. It is their way of honouring a guest – and the guest’s way of honouring them (never mind the fact that some people would rather die than be honoured that way!). I hoped that it was just a case of sharing, and that is what I proceeded to do. I managed to keep it below fifteen minutes :-) which I felt was very considerate of me.
By the time the sermon began it was already 12:30pm, and Pastor Stephen actually said he would keep it short for the sake of time. Short in this case meant half an hour, and considering the fact that everything was translated, you could even say that it was just twenty minutes (not fifteen because he often was shouting so loudly and speaking so fast that the translator hardly had time to properly translate). By the way, I find it interesting how preachers here have a distinct “preaching voice”, maybe for added effect or the emphasis of authority. Even at Nairobi Chapel, I find that the preachers raise their voice or shout ever so slightly. On the other hand, I now remember people in Switzerland who would lower their voice for effect… But it did make me wonder whether here one has to do that to be taken seriously – maybe next time I could improve my sharing by developing a “preaching voice”. :-)
Enna Girls Secondary School
Before, after and during the service, many pictures were taken, and the senior pastor even advertised that today, people could have their picture taken with a mzungu – for free! After having tea and bread in the church “office”, we finally set out at 2pm to go and visit the school. Stacey and Grace had been waiting for us. We were their first visitors that day as their families live all the way across Nairobi and too far for most of them to come (except Stacey’s sister and sister-in-law who came a bit later). While Pastor Stephen visited with the other Giraffe Project girls (check out the website if you are interested in sponsoring a child in school or want to see pictures of the Enna Girls School: http://www.giraffeproject.org/), I got to chat with the Stacey and Grace. They are both almost 18 years old, but still in Form 3 (grade 11 or grade 3 of high school) because they missed a year or two as they were waiting for the finances to go to high school. Until just recently, high school has not been free, and many parents cannot afford the tuition. Grace is an orphan; she stays with her aunt when she is not in school. Stacey’s dad died some time ago, so of course her mom has a hard time providing for all the kids.
Nyama Choma
We only stayed at the school for about an hour, but I enjoyed my visit with the girls. I expected to go home from there, but Pastor Stephen insisted on taking me to have “lunch” (at 4pm). In Kenya, guests are honoured very highly (even more so when they are mzungu guests). He would not let me pay for any of my matatu fare, and he felt he could not let me go without my having had a real lunch (the tea and bread at the church was “just a snack – food is for the stomach and snack is for the mouth”).
We went back to a place called Dagoretti market to get some nyama choma (roasted meat). There were many Masai at this place, and Pastor Stephen explained to me that the largest slaughter house of Nairobi was just nearby and that the Masai come in to sell their cattle. Without my realizing it, he had called the team from the church to come and join us for nyama choma, so I was rather surprised when they suddenly turned up (the two pastors and two ladies who had still been at the church, planning for an upcoming event). I do not know how the pastors get paid at this church, but I could tell that all really enjoyed working together and doing ministry.
After this enjoyable “lunch” of nyama choma and ugali (something like polenta), they all escorted me to the matatu stage (bus station) and sent me off. This reminds me of another interesting thing that I experienced that day: almost every time we took a matatu, people would make room for the mzungu at the front of the minivan – something that has never happened to me otherwise. I actually prefer sitting in the back for a number of reasons: 1. I would rather not see so clearly how we are driving and what crazy manoeuvres the driver is making; 2. in case of an accident, you are probably better off in the back; 3. as I discovered, it is easier to get on and off the back of the matatu, especially with a skirt – unless you are sitting in the very back, in which case it is never easy to get on and off. On the other hand, you actually get to see where you are going when sitting at the front. Carrying my backpack with my things for the weekend did not make all the “matatuing” very easy, but fortunately it was a direct trip home from where we had eaten.
Yesterday, I had an interesting day which made me feel like I was in the rural area, even though I was still in Nairobi.
I was at a retreat from Friday to Sunday up at Karen, which is a place unto itself, even though it is still part of Nairobi and only about twenty minutes from here by car. Even the weather feels cooler, and everything is much greener out there. On Sunday, I got permission to miss church and go visit two girls at their school visiting day. These two girls had been part of the outreach I was here for in 2005, and since they were not in school then, two of my team mates decided to sponsor them. I joined the sponsorship shortly after, and have been privileged to see them a few times since then.
I had agreed to meet Pastor Stephen, the contact person for the Giraffe Project girls, at the Karen round-about at 9am. I was early, and as was to be expected, I waited for about half an hour. When Pastor Stephen came, we got on a matatu (a minivan for public transport, but public transport in Kenya is worth a blog entry to itself). There were a few Masai in the matatu – recognizable by their dress (Masai blankets wrapped around their shoulders) and the woman’s colourful beaded jewelry. Apart from that, you can usually tell a Masai by the way their ears are pierced and stretched out so that they have a huge hole and their earlobe is hanging way below the rest of the ear. The Masai lady had her ears covered in interesting jewelry, including the huge hole (or the sides of it). As I entered the matatu, I noticed her looking at me and saying something. I sat down behind her. She kept turning and looking at me, commenting to her husband and then looking back at me. After a few comments, Pastor Stephen explained to me that she was admiring me. Now, I have gotten used to people giving me more attention here, but this was a new experience. After about another minute, she stopped turning and looking and seemed to forget me for the rest of the ride.
A Different Church Experience
Even though the main goal of my excursion was to visit the girls, Pastor Stephen of course wanted to take me to his church. Sometimes it feels like mzungus are like a prize exhibit (Vorzeigestück) that you want to show off to everyone you know – at least that’s what it felt like at this church. This church was like the kind I had seen in the slums (though it is not a slum area): a simple, one-room church with a wooden frame and corrugated iron (Wellblech), wooden benches, a few plastic chairs, and a pit latrine (Plumpsklo) behind the building. The ground was just packed-down dirt and even the stage was just dirt enclosed by large oblong hewn rocks (wie in der Schweiz Trottoir-Randsteine). The sound system (consisting of four microphones and a keyboard) was not very reliable, and the people kept exchanging microphones when singing. Nevertheless, the church has three pastors and about 60-70 people attending. The church service officially started at 10am, but I think it was 10:30 when we actually began with worship. The singing went on for one and a half hours, interrupted only for a short time of welcome of visitors and prayers. When they welcomed the visitors, they had them either come up front and share or at least stand up and say their name. Strangely enough, they did not ask me to do any of that – even though I was seated very conspicuously (deutlich sichtbar) with the pastors at the front (it is impossible for a mzungu to hide!). What I did not realize was that they were saving me for later…
After a short presentation by the Sunday School kids, the main pastor got up and said he had some announcements to make before inviting our sister from Switzerland to the front (everything was done bilingually for my sake). At that point I started wondering whether they had forgotten to tell me that they were expecting me to preach! However, I knew from previous experiences that they like having a special guest from afar come up and share something brief. It is their way of honouring a guest – and the guest’s way of honouring them (never mind the fact that some people would rather die than be honoured that way!). I hoped that it was just a case of sharing, and that is what I proceeded to do. I managed to keep it below fifteen minutes :-) which I felt was very considerate of me.
By the time the sermon began it was already 12:30pm, and Pastor Stephen actually said he would keep it short for the sake of time. Short in this case meant half an hour, and considering the fact that everything was translated, you could even say that it was just twenty minutes (not fifteen because he often was shouting so loudly and speaking so fast that the translator hardly had time to properly translate). By the way, I find it interesting how preachers here have a distinct “preaching voice”, maybe for added effect or the emphasis of authority. Even at Nairobi Chapel, I find that the preachers raise their voice or shout ever so slightly. On the other hand, I now remember people in Switzerland who would lower their voice for effect… But it did make me wonder whether here one has to do that to be taken seriously – maybe next time I could improve my sharing by developing a “preaching voice”. :-)
Enna Girls Secondary School
Before, after and during the service, many pictures were taken, and the senior pastor even advertised that today, people could have their picture taken with a mzungu – for free! After having tea and bread in the church “office”, we finally set out at 2pm to go and visit the school. Stacey and Grace had been waiting for us. We were their first visitors that day as their families live all the way across Nairobi and too far for most of them to come (except Stacey’s sister and sister-in-law who came a bit later). While Pastor Stephen visited with the other Giraffe Project girls (check out the website if you are interested in sponsoring a child in school or want to see pictures of the Enna Girls School: http://www.giraffeproject.org/), I got to chat with the Stacey and Grace. They are both almost 18 years old, but still in Form 3 (grade 11 or grade 3 of high school) because they missed a year or two as they were waiting for the finances to go to high school. Until just recently, high school has not been free, and many parents cannot afford the tuition. Grace is an orphan; she stays with her aunt when she is not in school. Stacey’s dad died some time ago, so of course her mom has a hard time providing for all the kids.
Nyama Choma
We only stayed at the school for about an hour, but I enjoyed my visit with the girls. I expected to go home from there, but Pastor Stephen insisted on taking me to have “lunch” (at 4pm). In Kenya, guests are honoured very highly (even more so when they are mzungu guests). He would not let me pay for any of my matatu fare, and he felt he could not let me go without my having had a real lunch (the tea and bread at the church was “just a snack – food is for the stomach and snack is for the mouth”).
We went back to a place called Dagoretti market to get some nyama choma (roasted meat). There were many Masai at this place, and Pastor Stephen explained to me that the largest slaughter house of Nairobi was just nearby and that the Masai come in to sell their cattle. Without my realizing it, he had called the team from the church to come and join us for nyama choma, so I was rather surprised when they suddenly turned up (the two pastors and two ladies who had still been at the church, planning for an upcoming event). I do not know how the pastors get paid at this church, but I could tell that all really enjoyed working together and doing ministry.
After this enjoyable “lunch” of nyama choma and ugali (something like polenta), they all escorted me to the matatu stage (bus station) and sent me off. This reminds me of another interesting thing that I experienced that day: almost every time we took a matatu, people would make room for the mzungu at the front of the minivan – something that has never happened to me otherwise. I actually prefer sitting in the back for a number of reasons: 1. I would rather not see so clearly how we are driving and what crazy manoeuvres the driver is making; 2. in case of an accident, you are probably better off in the back; 3. as I discovered, it is easier to get on and off the back of the matatu, especially with a skirt – unless you are sitting in the very back, in which case it is never easy to get on and off. On the other hand, you actually get to see where you are going when sitting at the front. Carrying my backpack with my things for the weekend did not make all the “matatuing” very easy, but fortunately it was a direct trip home from where we had eaten.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Back again
Yes, I am back, not just from Msafara, but from suffering from some stomach bug (which was never identified). I am still processing all that I experienced and learned on Msafara. It was a emotionally, physically and spiritually draining trip, but it was also amazing, moving and indescribable.
Let me give you an idea of what we did. In the group, I was part of the volunteer team which meant that much of what we did was with IDPs (internally displaced persons - get used to the abbreviation!). In every place, while the pastors were meeting with the local pastors and working on reconciliation among them, we would go to the IDP camps. It has been more than a month since the peace deal was signed, but there are still over 200 IDP camps all over the country. The people there are still waiting to see the fruits of the peace deal. During the visits, we got to talk with displaced people and hear some of their stories. Even though there is "peace" now, these people cannot return to their homes because they have either been burnt, or they just do not yet feel safe going back. Many of them, even kids, have witnessed people being killed or hurt and their houses and properties being burnt or destroyed. Many of them are also still very bitter and hurt on the inside - they cannot or do not want to forgive what has been done to them. In that, it is hard for them to move on and to have hope for the future.
We tried to help these people in different ways: We brought "hygiene packs" that were distributed, we interacted with the people, talking with grown-ups and playing with the kids, and we had worship services with them. Even though these people have been taken care of physically and also have been given counselling, they are really thirsting for spiritual food and spiritual accompaniment in what they are going through. It was amazing to see people in the IDP camp in Nakuru breaking down in tears, asking God to help them be able to forgive those who had hurt them. In many ways, this is just the beginning of the work of reconciliation - we pray that this seed will grow and bear fruit. Many are not yet able to think of forgiving or reconciling - much still needs to happen for them to be able to move on. (For some people this is the third time that they have been chased away in post-election clashes.)
In Eldoret and Kisumu, the tension could still be felt on the streets as we came into town.
Oops, I have run out of time and must leave for our retreat... to be continued!
Let me give you an idea of what we did. In the group, I was part of the volunteer team which meant that much of what we did was with IDPs (internally displaced persons - get used to the abbreviation!). In every place, while the pastors were meeting with the local pastors and working on reconciliation among them, we would go to the IDP camps. It has been more than a month since the peace deal was signed, but there are still over 200 IDP camps all over the country. The people there are still waiting to see the fruits of the peace deal. During the visits, we got to talk with displaced people and hear some of their stories. Even though there is "peace" now, these people cannot return to their homes because they have either been burnt, or they just do not yet feel safe going back. Many of them, even kids, have witnessed people being killed or hurt and their houses and properties being burnt or destroyed. Many of them are also still very bitter and hurt on the inside - they cannot or do not want to forgive what has been done to them. In that, it is hard for them to move on and to have hope for the future.
We tried to help these people in different ways: We brought "hygiene packs" that were distributed, we interacted with the people, talking with grown-ups and playing with the kids, and we had worship services with them. Even though these people have been taken care of physically and also have been given counselling, they are really thirsting for spiritual food and spiritual accompaniment in what they are going through. It was amazing to see people in the IDP camp in Nakuru breaking down in tears, asking God to help them be able to forgive those who had hurt them. In many ways, this is just the beginning of the work of reconciliation - we pray that this seed will grow and bear fruit. Many are not yet able to think of forgiving or reconciling - much still needs to happen for them to be able to move on. (For some people this is the third time that they have been chased away in post-election clashes.)
In Eldoret and Kisumu, the tension could still be felt on the streets as we came into town.
Oops, I have run out of time and must leave for our retreat... to be continued!
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