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Tomorrow, July 2nd, we will stay the night in Nairobi.
July 3rd we leave from Nairobi airport at 950am
get to London at 440pm
July 4th at 11am we leave London for Chicago.
arrive in Chicago at 2pm leave at 4pm
1hr layover in Salt Lake
arrive in Boise at 917pm

June 30th

Today, we went to the another orphanage, Kip Kaeno's Children's Home, the same one we went to last year. We went into a small pre-k class with 12 or so kids. When we went in, they were all practicing writing letters in little booklets. But after a few minutes, none of them wanted to do their work. They were more interested in using us as things to climb on, or bringing us all their favorite toys. We tried to get them to practice letters, but they preferred bringing us dead bugs instead. After that, they all went out to wash up for lunch. Some kids walked around half naked, because they had just finished using the plastic training potty, and didn't see a need in getting redressed. After that, we went back into the classroom for a little bit, and then it was time for them to have lunch. Brooke, Helen, Lilian, and I walked around the orphanage, looking at pictures on the walls and playing with a cat. We later went into the office to talk to one of the social workers. Both Brooke and I were anxious the whole time we were there to see the two kids we had attached to last year, Liz and Edwin. We asked the lady about them, and she told us they had both been adopted since we'd been there last. She showed us pictures of each of them with their new families. Liz ended up with a nice looking couple that lives in Nairobi. Knowing that Liz was adopted made me really happy, but I was also sad I didn't get to see her. After talking with the social worker, we had lunch with some of the ladies and some visitors that were staying at the orphanage for a short time. After lunch was all the toddlers' nap time, so we hung out with the smaller kids, age 1 or younger, until the older kids arrived. We played on the playground with the older ones for a while, and watched them play in the sand, making mud tea and mud ugali. After that, we went back home. It was a good day.

Last year I got super attached to little Edwin. Going to the orphanage a second time I was really anxious to see him again, however I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. When we got there I asked the ladies in the office and they informed me that he had been adopted by a couple in Nakuru which is the half way point between Eldoret and Nairobi. He got adopted with one of the little girls from the orphanage, Joanna. So they are brother and sister living with two nice parents. I am very happy for him! The orphanage adopts out about 16 kids a year, so its nice to see that the kids are getting placed in loving homes. They are doing great work that our world is desperate for.  

The past two weeks...

After a lot of driving on Monday we ended up at Machakos at the Liti's house. No one usually lives there so the house was overtaken by giant spiders that were lurking around every corner, on the ceiling, under the furniture, and everywhere in between. When we got there we were pretty tired so we just went to bed and headed out to Amboseli the next day. We got to the tent lodge we stayed at a few hours before dinner so we went out into the park to visit a real Maasai village.

The chiefs son took us. They greeted us by doing a short dance with the three of us separately. It was interesting. They did loud calls and singing and the guys jumped really high while the ladies danced...to top it off, we were in the middle of it. After that a few of the warriors showed us how they make fire using two sticks, it took them a while and looked like a lot of work, but thats how they live. It was awesome to see their culture that has remained unchanged over all this time. They explained a little bit about the basics of their tribe. 1) They are polygamist so the men can take many wives. 2) The women build the houses, get firewood, and basically everything that is considered 'mens work' in our culture. 3) The women sleep in 'their' houses every night in a room with their children. A man can come in and sleep in the room next to hers and invite her to his bed if he wants. He leaves his spear outside of the house next to the door and that way other men know not to go in because a man is already there. 4) They are nomadic still so they move around a lot according to where the food will be.

It is a very interesting intriguing culture. They are trying to remained unchanged and not become westernized but some forms of westernization are inevitable which causes a few people to leave the tribe due to updated opinions and beliefs. We got to tour the houses and see what the rooms are like. We even sat on the beds which are made from cattle skin. Unfortunately while we were in their village we did not get to meet the chief, but it was still an awesome experience. I mean, how many people can say they've danced with a Maasai tribe?

We returned to our lodge, ate dinner, and went to our rooms. Our rooms were big tents with nice beds and tiled floor as well as an amazing shower considering it was just a tent. The tent had curtains that pulled back and the walls where just covered with mesh screens so all night we could hear all of the cool animal noises and hyenas. The nice African weather blowing through our tent made the camping experience quite realistic. It was really nice, not too cold, but not hot either.

The next morning we headed out into Amboseli National Park. We drove around in the Liti's little car. It was dusty and bumpy but a tun of fun! We saw more elephants than we could even try to count. We saw zebra, wildebeest, water buffalo, hyenas, antelope, boars, strange birds, hippos, and all sorts of monkeys. In fact, the car even got attacked by a baboon. It was the scariest thing ever. It had huge long nails and he scrapped them on the window trying to get in. He even ripped off the visor that was over the window. At that point Dr. Liti's laugh turned into a frown and he looked very concerned and exclaimed “Ohhh that was not very nice!”. We backed up and honked until the monkeys left then he ran and grabbed the visor. The whole thing was rather amusing and we definitely will never forget it. We saw a lot of amazing wildlife and culture. It was such a blessing that the Liti's took us.

That night we stayed at a small hotel a few hours away from Amboseli. This hotel had cockroaches on the floor and there were tuns of mosquitos. However at dinner we had fantastic conversations about our monkey encounter earlier that day. Dr. Liti is extremely funny, especially at dinner. The whole time we were gone with them we ate African food. It seems that the meals center around the starch. For example potatoes or ugali will be the main dish and you eat it with a little meat/stew or sukuma and the meal always ends with Kenyan tea. I love all of the food. It is very delicious. The biggest thing we leaned about food while traveling with Dr. Liti is that the “human fork” (aka your hands) as he says, is the best eating utensil to use in any circumstance.

The following day we traveled to Mombasa. It is very hot and humid in Mombasa and the traffic is hectic. When we got there Dr. Liti dropped us off at Haller Park. Haller Park is awesome.

As soon as we got there we went and fed giraffes. Yeah, fed them. Their tongues are rough like cat tongues but much bigger. Their lips grasp over your hand when you give them food, similar to the way horses do. It was pretty much awesome. There is really no other way to describe it. Lilian went to feed one but she got scared, dropped the food, and jumped back. We got to feed them pellets- like rabbit food- the pellets were in a big bucket and monkeys would run up and grab a bunch to go eat themselves. After our earlier encounter with monkeys, we were all a little bit on edge because there were all sorts of monkeys EVERYWHERE. There were also big tortoises all over the place. They live to be 300 years old in case you were curious. At Amboseli the hippos were really far away, but at Haller Park we got to see them up close so that was cool, they are way bigger in person than on tv... they weigh over 4 tons and only eat plants, how do they sustain their weight? Good question. The main thing Haller Park is known for is the crocodiles. They had some young crocs, some that were black and some that where yellow. The yellow ones were under incubated, so they end up yellow- not black, however eventually they all end up the dark green colors. When a crocodiles body temperature is too high (they are cold blooded) they just open their mouths so we saw a lot of crocodiles underwater just chillin with their mouths open. They also can hold their breath for 45 minuets underwater. The oldest crocodile they have at Haller Park is 37 years old. While we were there they fed them some snacks and we got to see them fighting over the meat. The oldest one is much bigger than all of the rest. Our guide told us that whenever an animal dies at Haller Park they just feed it to the crocodiles, but other than that they only eat a full meal once a month aside from the small meat snacks that they get daily (which is just a show for tourists). It was, of course, another really awesome experience.

After that we walked to the north coast of the beach in Mombasa. The beach is inexplicably amazing. The sand is white and soft and beautiful. The water is insanely clear and blue. There were a few shops set up along the beach and the coolest part was the camels on the beach. We walked around for a little bit waiting for Dr. Liti then me and Danika decided we need to go into the Indian Ocean! So we ran in (it would be lame to walk into the Indian Ocean the first time ever going in). The water was so warm. It was great. We met up with Dr. Liti a little bit later, had dinner, then went to bed. The next day we spent the whole time on the beach while Dr. Liti did some work. Danika and I were proposed to quite a few time times that day, due to our white skin and “long beautiful hair”. We went swimming, drank coconut milk and just hung out all day. That evening we went to eat crocodile meat but the place was closed so we had fish instead. The next morning we took some final pictures and headed back to Machakos.

We stayed at their house in Machakos Sunday & Monday then we drove back to Eldoret Tuesday. While we were in Machakos, we had delicious Kenyan food that Lilian's mom prepared. We ate a lot of chipates, sukuma, beans, potatoes, rice, stew, and of course tea. I washed some of my clothes African style while Danika ate a flower into her chipate. We took the matatu down to Machakos town on Monday and walked around for a while. There were two little dogs out back- that weren't taken care of because no one lives there- and I absolutely fell in love with them! They were so so skinny and malnourished but they were both very sweet and I wish I could have brought them home with me. They were also very smart- I taught the one puppy to shake and he caught on SO fast! I snuck them a lot of food and even convinced Lilian to give them the leftovers. On Tuesday morning we left and drove 7 hours back to Eldoret.

The trip was fantastic and an incredible blessing. We learned a lot about the culture. Just spending 8 days with a Kamba family taught us a lot.

On Wednesday we went to the market with Connie and finished up our shopping. Mama Elizabeth and her daughter were so excited to see us one more time so we took pictures with them before leaving. Mama Elizabeth also gave us each a free necklace, it was sweet of her.

Cultural Relevance

During our trip with the Liti's we will be 100% in Kenyan culture. We will be sleeping in African homes, traveling with Africans, eating their food, being around mainly only Swahili vs. English, driving with a Kenyan in itself is going to be cultural. 
We will be spending this next week with just Kenyans. We are going to travel around to see more of the country. We will meet Massai people at Amboseli and see the landscape that they come from.

Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya next to Nairobi. Its considered the 'coastal capital'. It was originally founded by Arabs and Islam spread throughout the city. The first Swahili speakers originated at Mombasa. In the 16th century the Portuguese settled and built Fort Jesus in the early 1500's as a military refuge. In the 1900's when the British colonized Kenya they used Fort Jesus as a prision. Mombasa was key to expanding trade throughout the Indian ocean and its main exports were ivory, millet, sesamum, and coconuts.
Mombasa has a lot more in depth history that you can read about HERE. 


Malindi has been a Swahili settlement since the 14th century, it used to compete with Mombasa to have dominance in East Africa as far as trading went. A lot of the original buildings are architecture are still there in Malindi and we will get to see all of that. 


The coast of Kenya is packed with history and cultural relevance and during this time we will get to really see the culture and dive into the depths and history of the founding and settlement of Kenya. We will see the roots of Swahili and the trading system as it evolved over the centuries. It is going to be wonderful! And we will get a really good feel for this culture and language. 


See ya'll in a week. 

June 19th

Kids in Sunday School

Danika Teaching

Children

Brooke Teaching

Outside Pastor Thumbi's House

Delicious Ugali and Sukuma Wiki

The chicken came in the house

We got our hair braided :)

Today we went to Sosiani Bible Baptist Church and taught the kids in Sunday school. After that we went to the regular service. However it was in Swahili so we didn't really have any idea what was going on, but they seemed very happy to have us there. After the service we shook everyones hand in the entire congregation. They were so very welcoming.

Then we walked to Thumbi's house and had Ugali and Sukuma Wiki for lunch. It was AMAZING. Ugali is probably my new favorite food. It is really great going and hanging out in an African home. They do everything together, the cooking and such... it is really communal and I love it. 

After lunch we went to Lilians house and got our hair braided. It took about 1 1/2 hrs each. It is rather painful though. It was great though!


Tomorrow we are headed on a trip with Lilian and her father.
Our schedule is as follows....


Monday 20: leave Eldoret at 12. Spend the night at Machakos (a little past Nairobi)


Tuesday 21: Start at 10am, drive from Machakos to Amboseli National Park. Spend the night either in Oloitoktok or at the park


Wednesday 22: National Park, start at 6am-6pm, spend the night in Oloitoktok


Thursday 23: Travel to Mombasa- in the afternoon visit Fort Jesus & the beach, and stay the night in Mombasa


Friday 24: Travel to Malindi Marine Park. Stay the night in Malindi


Saturday 25: Travel back to Mombasa- stay the night in Mombasa


Sunday 26: Travel to Machakos- stay the night there


Monday 27: Start at 9am travel to Eldoret, arrive at 4pm


During our trip with the Liti's we wont have computer access, so we will blog about it when we get back the following week!


When we get back we will have 4 days left in Eldoret. Saturday July 2nd we will travel to Nairobi, stay the night there in a guest house and leave the Nairobi airport at 9am on July 3rd on our way home.


See you all soon!! :)

June 18th

Danika with Irene and Julius 

Brooke with Brian and Cliff

Today, we went to an orphanage. There was one couple, Moses and Eunice, with 12 children, only two of them are their own. Ranging from ages 2 to 9, we had a lot on our hands for the afternoon. When we got there, we first talked with Moses about some of the kids' backgrounds, and how he got involved in being a parent to them. He told us stories of the kids being left on the streets, or a mother going to the market leaving her child with someone and never coming back. Some had different stories, but most were similar to these cases. There was a pair of twins, and one other set of siblings, not counting the two biological kids of Moses and Eunice. Their house had three rooms, their bedroom, and then a room for the girls and a room for the boys. There were bunk beds in the kids' rooms, and the girls' room was all pink, and the boys' all blue. It was really cute. They had a cow, goats, rabbits, and a bunch of chickens. They lived on a 9 acre plot with fields surrounding the house. Some of the crops grown they sold, and the rest was their main food source. They are currently looking for another person to come help them with the orphanage so they can rescue more kids, because their house is already full enough. 
Anyways, Moses introduced us to the kids, and we gathered them all to play some games. We taught them duck duck goose first (except we said bata, bata, kuku, which is duck duck chicken). Some of the younger ones didn't quite understand, but everyone seemed to really enjoy it. After that, we played Simeon Says, and then a game they play in Kenya. It was about which animals are edible, and if it is, you jump, and if its not and you jump, you're out. Me and Brooke kind of sucked at this one because it was all in Swahili, but it was still fun. Then we went in for a water break, and then the kids colored. One little girl, about 4, Jen, drew a bunch of circles, and then started counting them. She wasn't too bad, until she got to 11, because then it went 19, 22, 25, 50. Others drew pictures of houses, or people, and labeled them "house" or "girl". One boy, the oldest, drew the Kenyan flag. When we went back outside, a little girl was holding my hand, and I looked down and there were burn marks along her hands, and up her wrists. I asked Moses what had happened, and he told me that when she was a baby she fell in boiling water, and then removed her sweater to show the burn marks all along her arms, and across her chest. He told he they even had to remove some fat from other parts of her body to put in one of her arms. Her name was Irene, in the first picture. 
We went out a played a little more with them, and then it was lunch time. All 12 of them piled into the dining room, around a table with 14 chairs. Eunice and one of her helpers brought bowls of food in, and after everyone got their food, a little boy said "Let us pray." Moses and Eunice weren't even in the room to tell him to, he just did it willingly and immediately. He may have been the oldest, (age 9), but I couldn't tell who it was. He prayed, and all the others closed their eyes and clasped their hands. After, they ate and within no time they were all outside again, fighting over the 2 bikes, or squealing on the tire swings. We ate after them, with Moses Eunice and the lady that was helping Eunice. After we ate, we went back outside and played some more. They were all interested in our cameras, and there was always at least one trying to hold our hands. We taught them Red Rover, except they weren't too good at it, so we just pushed them on swings and let them play with each other. One little girl, Lucy, wanted to take pictures, so I let her have my camera. She was older, probably 7 or so, so the pictures weren't of like the grass or a blurry hand. She took a lot, and had fun doing it. One little boy, Julius, (in first picture) always wanted me to pick him up, or was holding my hand. After one of the many times I put him down, I realized he peed on me.. Haha. 
After a while, Moses came out and said it was bath time. So all the kids went to the other side of the yard, and the smaller ones started undressing. Eunice and her helper washed them one after the other, with buckets of soapy water. When they were done, the ones that were big enough to be independent dried off, then went inside and got dressed. The younger ones just sat on a towel on the porch and hung out. Brooke brought them some necklaces she had made, so Moses handed them out to them after their baths. They swung them around their necks, chewed on them, and one girl was twirling hers and accidentally broke it. But they really seemed to like them. Pretty soon Randy came to get us, so we had to say our goodbyes. Many of the kids gave us hugs, and we were on our way. 
It was a wonderful day :)

June 17th

Downtown Eldoret

The tallest building in Eldoret. 

Car ride with the Elondonga's

On our way to Iten

A big market

Iten & the Kerio Valley

The Kerio Valley

Top of the lookout over Kerio Valley

Looking over the Kerio Valley

Pastor Elondonga saying 'Jambo' to the cows

Pastor Elondonga

There are crocodiles in that water!

We just didn't see them. 

Today we spent our day with the Elondonga's. Maureen, Sharon, and Pastor Elondonga. We started off around 10 this morning on our way to Iten which is about 45min-1hr out of Eldoret. When we left our house we went to town to get the tires filled up and to get some fuel. After that we proceeded on our way. Driving with Kenyans- in a Kenyan car- is much different than driving in Kenya with Americans. Lets just say the Kenyan's drive more..umm..brave?? The car ride in itself was an experience. 

We stopped at the lookout above the Kerio Valley. The Kerio Valley is a long strip, 80km x 10km, located in the Great Rift Valley-- the main town being Iten. The lookout was GORGEOUS! Kenya is so beautiful and green. After we got our fill of pictures we continued on our drive. It was really cool to look out the window and see all the mud huts and small shacks that the people live in. How do you raise a family with 10 children on less than $1 a day? I don't know, but they do it. Not only in Kenya but all over the world more of the population than we care to realize lives on less than what we pay for our daily Starbucks. They live in these tiny houses, most with minimal or no electricity, and no running water out far away from any towns or anything. (only 22% of Kenya is urbanized) They walk everywhere, grow their own food and try to make a living from the small excess they may have. More than half of the people in Kenya live on less than $1 a day and far below the USA standard of the poverty line. I really enjoy looking at their houses and seeing them walking on the road. They live with so much less than all of us, and they don't even think twice about it because it is what they have always known. Emersion into this culture is what brings us to the right perspective and really makes us think, and in turn realize that we are more blessed than we can even imagine. 

There are 117 people groups in Kenya- 36 which remain unreached by the Gospel. That means those 36 people groups don't have access to the Gospel. They live in these small houses that I saw today. They are the ones living in extreme poverty- poverty we can't even fathom. We have to help them. We have to take them the Word of our Lord, THE Lord, so that they may see hope. They need that hope and the promise of Jesus. 

For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

~2 Corinthians 1:5-7~

It was a lot of fun to spend the time with the Elondonga's today and see how other people really live- most people in fact. Seeing the beautiful scenery and the pure aesthetics of Kenya was awesome in itself. Even though Pastor Elondonga doesn't speak English and we only could figure out about one or two Swahili words per sentence it was a lot of fun spending the day with him in fellowship. He is a really funny guy who definitely has a sense of humor. It was a blessing to get to spend that time with his family today and see more of the beautiful country.