WARNING: LONG BLOG POST AHEAD!
I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go visit Kenya this past week. As many of you know, in 2006 I spent three months living in a Maasai village called Kimana allll the way in the bush by Mt. Kilimanjaro - teaching at a local school and working at a local health clinic. After that summer, I worked with my supporting organization Staff of Hope to fundraise for a new secondary school - it was built within four months and it is called Oloile. I went back in 2007 for two weeks and have not been back since.
A few months ago, I received an e-mail from my Vanderbilt freshman year roommate Virginia Melo (see below photo at Tyson and Mama Nasieku's house) saying that she was working at an Episcopal church in Houston St. John the Divine in a youth fellowship program (with five other young folks our age) with a Pastor called Doug Richnow and the group was going to Kimana to do a workshop at Oloile called Sex, God, and Me!!
Roomie Virginia hanging out with me at Mama Nasieku and Tyson's home! Her first experience of my favorite Kenyan food was here - Chapatti and Skumaweki (can't spell!)Little did I know that I was going to be so welcomed into this fellowship program -- so much so that they allowed me to lead a small group of students at Oloile for the program called Sex, God, and Me! It was wonderful, and just what the students need .
My small group with Form 1 (freshman) girls. The girl on the right who is not smiling (sigh) is my dear friend Mary's little sister! In '06, Mary went EVERYWHERE with me. Helped me at the clinic, went to school with me, etc. She was my Swahili teacher and closest friend. She is now a nurse in the Sudan so I missed her. I remember her little sister Anne would always be so shy and get tea for us and help around the house but I never knew her. Now she was in my small group! Kimana is a SMALL TOWN! It was great to be with Anne.The next day was the long drive to Kimana.. . Only it wasn't 6 hours it was only 3.5! Why? Because they paved the road all the way to Kimana from Nairobi so it wasn't a treacherous bumpy and DUSTY road for six hours straight!!! The drive was a blast and I could barely recognize Kimana when we arrived simply because of the road.
But I remembered this beautiful view of Mt. Kilimanjaro!We went straight to Oloile - again, another time warp! I did not teach at this school but helped develop the idea for it and spent two weeks there in 2007. We got to go into each classroom to greet the students and it was filled with new students... same classroom, same subjects, same teachers... -- except for 2 of my students from Christ the King (school where I taught!) unfortunately (but fortunately for me) they stayed back a couple years, so it was so great to reminisce. Everything seemed the same, except they were so much bigger! It's amazing how fast everyone grew! My students and especially Nasieku, Siante, and Baby Rachel (Mama Nasieku/Tyson's daughters who I lived with).
The next two days were wonderful - Three young ladies and a woman named Meg from St. John the Divine led this abstinence/sex education course for the gals (there were two guys leading the boys group) from a Christian perspective - and it covered everything from rape, the difficulties of saying "no" to sex, STDs, and how to wait for a good man despite the odds faced in a town like Kimana. After the lectures, I would have a small group time with the Form 1 girls.
Perhaps the best part of the time was visiting and staying with my Kenyan family! Again, time warp! Mama Nasieku's sisters were just the same - except they had a few more babies than last time. The house was the same except for some different trinkets on the wall. The chickens were the same. The farm was the same except now they made a pond and are raising and selling Tilapia! Here are some photos:
This is my bedroom - where I slept for three months in 2006. Same as ever.
These are my Kenyan sisters who shared small quarters with me for three months! I cannot believe how much they have grown. Baby Rachel is in my arms - only she's about four years old now and is starting at pre-school! Not a baby anymore!!! The tall one is Nasieku (eldest) and the one on the right is Siante (meaning Grace is Maasai... not sure what Nasieku means). I'm standing in front of the house where I lived and also got to stay for a couple more nights this past week. 
Myself with Mama Nasieku, Kenyan mom and BFF (right) and one of her sisters, Rahab (left).
My fourth goat slaughtering event. Always exciting and very celebratory. That's Tyson kneeling down on the right taking the skin off. That little 5 year old boy Moynget (sp?) is helping - holding the legs while they skin the goat or keeping the dogs away. Start them young in Kenya!
Yum. The completed goat roast. Kenyan BBQ!
Just a herd of giraffes on our drive back. Actually, there were over 30! It was unbelievable but my dinky camera could only capture a few of them. We off-roaded a bit to get out of the car and just gaze at such an enormous herd of giraffes just chilling!On a sadder note, I had the pleasure but also experienced the difficulties of meeting a couple of my favorite students in town. When I was not working with the Fellowship group at Oloile I was either at the hotel or at Mama Nasieku's house, I only got to go into town once. I was able to see about three of my students at Oloile. Two of them were still in school and one of them - one of the brightest ones, named Washington (I still remember some of his witty compositions from my classes!) happened to come to school that day to get his papers to apply for university scholarship. yippee!
But, on Saturday, I went into town for Mama Nasieku's choir rehearsal and ran into one of my absolute favorite students named Esther. She was such a bright student and always accompanied me to after school tea and chapatti when I was teaching. I saw her in town - she came running out of a little run-down tea shop that her mother runs. After graduating Form 4 she had top marks but never had the encouragement of her family or even the school to seek out university scholarship, so she is trying to make her way working in the tea shop. Spending this much time in town lends to dangerous activities - if you understand me well.
Me and Esther in 2006 when I was a teacher at Christ the King
Then there's Muthoni. Another bright girl, always full of laughter and fun. Well, I couldn't see her b/c she was too ashamed to meet me. She got pregnant and is now raising her son. Moreover, she had the child with a "questionable" man in town who left her (obviously), and she is refusing to get tested for HIV/AIDS.
I heard lots of stories like this and all day Saturday it was like walking around with a huge lump of coal stuck in my throat. I couldn't believe it and I didn't know what to do. I was leaving on Sunday and discovered all these things on Saturday. I'm still wrestling with what could be done for these girls. Once they leave secondary school, the disposition of these young innocent girls completely changes and they are thrown out into the life of Kimana town with no support system. I'm at a loss, but thinking and praying. . . Will probably talk with Moses sometime soon about ideas.
However, a story of hope! One of my most worrisome students - a sassy young lady named Keziah. She approached me many times in 2006 about providing her with birth control pills. A difficult decision but in the end I made the choice not to provide her with these pills for a variety of reasons (sustainability of her taking the pills once I leave, HIV/AIDS, etc.). Instead I pushed and pushed and pushed abstinence and to be honest I didn't know if she would listen (and if she didn't listen, then demanding the man to use condoms). I was worried she would get pregnant and leave school but I could not give her these pills in good conscience. But, I found out when I went back to Kimana that she is currently enrolled in a Computer Technology College outside of Kimana and is pursuing studies! I was thrilled, and I'm motivated to pray even more for her success.
2006, one of the special tea times where I would take the girls and talk about "girl stuff" for hours. Left is Keziah, middle is my friend Mary, and right is Muthoni.
WOW! Long blog post. I can't even begin to capture the whirlwind of emotions that I experienced in just one week. This SUPER LONG BLOG POST is only beginning to help me process my time in Kenya from this past trip.
Because I lived in such immense cultural immersion, it's amazing how much more I feel that I was welcomed into the Kenyan culture. I never even met another non-Kenyan during my 2006 summer! But here in Rwanda, it's such a mish mosh of people, I've been grappling in different ways how to approach "development" or my "methods" (whatever that means) because it's such a strange juxtaposition of experiences - one day with rich Rwandans, another day with the poorest of the poor, another day hanging out with American friends. In Kimana, it was 100% Kenyan 100% of the time.
I'm afraid I'm out of blogging juice so I'm not going to appropriately conclude this blog with poignant words or meditations. Like all my blogs, excuse the massive brain dump with little thoughtful sifting!!!
Love,
Rachel
But, on Saturday, I went into town for Mama Nasieku's choir rehearsal and ran into one of my absolute favorite students named Esther. She was such a bright student and always accompanied me to after school tea and chapatti when I was teaching. I saw her in town - she came running out of a little run-down tea shop that her mother runs. After graduating Form 4 she had top marks but never had the encouragement of her family or even the school to seek out university scholarship, so she is trying to make her way working in the tea shop. Spending this much time in town lends to dangerous activities - if you understand me well.
Me and Esther in 2006 when I was a teacher at Christ the KingThen there's Muthoni. Another bright girl, always full of laughter and fun. Well, I couldn't see her b/c she was too ashamed to meet me. She got pregnant and is now raising her son. Moreover, she had the child with a "questionable" man in town who left her (obviously), and she is refusing to get tested for HIV/AIDS.
I heard lots of stories like this and all day Saturday it was like walking around with a huge lump of coal stuck in my throat. I couldn't believe it and I didn't know what to do. I was leaving on Sunday and discovered all these things on Saturday. I'm still wrestling with what could be done for these girls. Once they leave secondary school, the disposition of these young innocent girls completely changes and they are thrown out into the life of Kimana town with no support system. I'm at a loss, but thinking and praying. . . Will probably talk with Moses sometime soon about ideas.
However, a story of hope! One of my most worrisome students - a sassy young lady named Keziah. She approached me many times in 2006 about providing her with birth control pills. A difficult decision but in the end I made the choice not to provide her with these pills for a variety of reasons (sustainability of her taking the pills once I leave, HIV/AIDS, etc.). Instead I pushed and pushed and pushed abstinence and to be honest I didn't know if she would listen (and if she didn't listen, then demanding the man to use condoms). I was worried she would get pregnant and leave school but I could not give her these pills in good conscience. But, I found out when I went back to Kimana that she is currently enrolled in a Computer Technology College outside of Kimana and is pursuing studies! I was thrilled, and I'm motivated to pray even more for her success.
2006, one of the special tea times where I would take the girls and talk about "girl stuff" for hours. Left is Keziah, middle is my friend Mary, and right is Muthoni.WOW! Long blog post. I can't even begin to capture the whirlwind of emotions that I experienced in just one week. This SUPER LONG BLOG POST is only beginning to help me process my time in Kenya from this past trip.
Because I lived in such immense cultural immersion, it's amazing how much more I feel that I was welcomed into the Kenyan culture. I never even met another non-Kenyan during my 2006 summer! But here in Rwanda, it's such a mish mosh of people, I've been grappling in different ways how to approach "development" or my "methods" (whatever that means) because it's such a strange juxtaposition of experiences - one day with rich Rwandans, another day with the poorest of the poor, another day hanging out with American friends. In Kimana, it was 100% Kenyan 100% of the time.
I'm afraid I'm out of blogging juice so I'm not going to appropriately conclude this blog with poignant words or meditations. Like all my blogs, excuse the massive brain dump with little thoughtful sifting!!!
Love,
Rachel
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