After many months of planning and preparing, the time arrived for the 2009 Kenya Mission Trip on November 18th. No mission trip happens, especially African, without some bruises, surprises, and minor discomforts; and when nothing worse than those occur the trip is considered a success. As they say on the mission field, "Expect the Unexpected" which was exactly what I did every step of the way and thankfully so. Four days into this particular trip, I had already experienced more than my share of the unexpected, including a cracked head! Three weeks into being home it still feels as if I have my feet on Kenyan soil and my heart torn between two homes. It has not been an easy transition back into home life or U.S. living this time around, but I am happy to be back with my family, friends, and of course my dogs whom all I missed dearly. Sleeping in my own bed or sitting on a cushy couch is amazing! For blog purposes, I will break this trip up into several parts which will describe the daily events and activities taken from my personal Journal kept while away. It is my hope that you all find the these kenyan blogs as interesting and life changing as the experience was for me. May it inspire us to continue our works in Africa and move forward with the vision and service there, beginning in Migori District and Lake Victoria's Umoja Project.
2009 Kenya Trip Blog.... Enjoy!
November 18-20, 2009; TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL:
Plane 1 of 3 took off on time though leaving Mume (Carl) behind brought on tremendous emotional pain as I pray that God brings him with next time. Flew into Minneapolis St. Paul International, enjoyed a quick lunch that was a yummy burrito bowl, and took off for Amsterdam 3 hours and 40 minutes later. Enjoyed some movies including The Time Traveler's Wife, which not as good as the book, and My Sister's Keeper. Got to know my neighbor, a 19 year old Muslim girl originally from Kenya now living in Minneapolis with her Uncle, who was taking her first solo international flight and needed help with her tray, food/beverage choices, and movie watching. With the language barrier I could not find out why, but only that she dropped out of High School here in the states in the 10th Grade and has yet to continue any education. Found it alarming. She seemed extremely bright but after she explained that in 3-4 years she has yet to grasp the US culture and language(finds it all very complicated), this led me to believe the difficulty of learning our US-English prevented her from successfully transitioning into and/or getting through our educational system. She also indicated that her Uncle's family were not social with non-muslim nor US-born families, segregating her from US citizens. She did make it clear that she wished to be able to wear her hair out, short, and down like mine instead of keeping it in her head cover, but that she had no choice. Taught me how to wrap hair into a head cover and tie which was nice. We agreed that we always want what we don't have, including hair styles! Spent remainder of my 8+ hour flight working on a message, my bible study, and preparing outline cards. Once the plane arrived in Amsterdam, I helped my young Muslim friend find her gate for her flight to Geneva and then preceded to find a coffee joint and good place to put my feet up to wait for my mid-morning flight to Nairobi.
With a good 3 hour wait for my last connecting flight to Nairobi, I got a book out. While attempting to read, a Kenyan Pastor chatted it up with me and gave me his contact information rather quickly (always makes me weary when a complete stranger whom finds out I am on mission work going to their country hands me their contact info in the first 5 minutes). However, upon my arrival home I have been doing some research on this Bishop and am praying over networking in the future with him and his churches in Kenya. Next I had a Dutch older gentleman who thought I was Dutch and tried over and over again to hold a conversation with me in the Dutch language. He did not speak English; I did not speak Dutch. After several attempts to tell him I did not understand Dutch nor anything he was saying to me in which he would just continue talking to me in Dutch as if I did understand, I gave up and would just smile and nod. I understood maybe 1 word out of every 50; know for sure he said "five, round, and cancel" and tried to piece it all together; mostly this did not work. But I was highly entertained. Got quite a few giggles out of it as I am sure he did as well. Later I was told by a fellow traveler on our flight that I look exactly like the Dutch so it is no wonder why the Dutch guy assumed I was Dutch also. So funny.
No matter how sleepy I was or how much I kept my nose in a book I could not get a moment to myself. I think I must be a magnet for the lonely, bored, chatty, and curious or I just make too much eye contact with others. Even if I do not speak their language they want to chat it up with me. Ha! This may sound like a blessing, but often I find it a curse - especially in times of extreme exhaustion, both mental and physical. It can be highly entertaining though too, I must admit. After the Kenyan Bishop and Dutch guy were finished with me, the old Iranian lady who found a seat next to me and had "too much" time to kill decided she wanted to chat, quiz me, and tell me about every single one of her adult children from childhood until now. Now that was one hilarious and blunt little old Iranian Lady! She would go from cracking me up to embarrassing me to annoying me to moving me to tears... goodness. I now know about both her knee surgeries, her dual-citizenship in Canada & Iran, and about how she thinks people from China are "dirty little people" which was quite uncomfortable so I quickly changed the subject. Goodness!
Boarding time finally arrived; my flight was boarded and prepared for take off. We taxied a bit towards runway, stopped, sat for a couple minutes, and then the Pilot reported that there would be a slight delay due to a faulty engine indicator light. They taxied the plane to a parking like area near the runway as we waited for them to fix the faulty light. Over one hour later the Pilot reported that it was taking longer than anticipated though he was not sure how long and that what they thought was a faulty light was now a more serious issue with the engine cooling system. After another 2 hours sitting on that plane they finally announced that they would be taking us off the plane, driving us back to the terminal via a bus to wait it out there, and had to fly in a part for the aircraft. We all received drink/snack vouchers and were told to be back to the gate in a couple hours. In the airport, everyone from my plane hung out as a big group and got to know each other quite well. Met a couple other white/Mzungu missionaries that included 2 female solo-mission travelers like myself and 3 mission teams. Soon I was also getting to know Five other solo-travelers, all Kenyan nationals whom have all immigrated to Denmark, Amsterdam, and the States but did not know each other. Believe me, you have more time than you know what to do with in these situations when stuck in an airport 12+ hours and get to know those around you quite well.
This was the best part of my 2-3 day flight into Kenya; hanging out with those 5 Solos from Kenya. Needless to say, I was the only white one in the bunch which didn't bother me nor them. A nice thing about being outside the states, people care less about skin color. There was Ian, a 42 year old living in the US and Paris traveling to Kenya for a 3 month family visit in Nairobi. Caroline, traveling to Kenya to attend her father's funeral programs, lives in Denmark and was quite distraught half the time due to the worry of missing the Friday morning burial. We were due to arrive in Nairobi at 10:50pm Thursday night; we ended up getting there at 6am Friday so she barely made it to the 7:30am burial service start. Then there was Liz, living in Anaheim CA working as a Nurse, who moved to the states alone as a college student and was visiting family in Kenya. My absolute favorite of the bunch was for sure Agnus... what a character! She cracked me up constantly and I nicknamed her "Stinky" which I meant in a very loving way, believe it or not. Ha! Inside joke regarding too many hours hanging in an airport and on planes and not enough showering opportunities, resorting to the baby wipe poor man's shower. Let me just say that all us girls got great use of my package of baby wipes I stored away in my carry-on bag. ;) Agnus, living now in Pennsylvania and dating a U.S. Pennsylvanian Dutch man, was on her way to Nairobi to visit her kids from a previous kenyan marriage. In Kenya and most of Africa, when a wife and husband split or divorce, the man has full rights to the kids automatically; Paternal law still rules. Agnus was my favorite comedic form of entertainment for those 12 hours or so!
After our morning departure delay, we were to board at 3:30pm at gate F7, then at 4:30 at gate F8, and then 6pm at gate F5 where we went through a complete security check for a second time and were seated in boarding area. Then a very frightened-sounding attendant made the announcement that they were so sorry, but our flight time was changing again and the plane was not ready... and that (this was the worst part) our departure time was now "indeterminable" and could be the next morning or even re-booking altogether! Once everyone heard this, people were yelling at the airport staff, asking for management, huffing and puffing, while my group sat laughing out of complete exhaustion and disbelief. What else can you do at this point but laugh? The airport handed us all meal vouchers which we took to the restaurant to fill up on sandwiches and wine. Actually, my group had a fantastic time even though we weren't sure if it was because of the wine or the sleep deprivation.
The Solos teased me forever about how us Americans feed and clothe our dogs, allow them in the house, and treat them as family pets even allowing them on our furniture or to lick our faces. It was hilarious and I had no defense but to laugh right along with them... it is quite funny from the global perspective. We are quite silly to them. I now feel a little guilty scrambling eggs once or twice a week for my doggy children. Ha! But you all know I will still do it! Can not help but love my dogs, big softy; I blame it on my enculturation. We did finally get to leave Amsterdam but not until 11pm, after our 3rd complete security check of course. And this time I was chosen for the "special" pat down which in Amsterdam includes every inch of the body... I must admit, I felt a little violated after that one.
The red eye 9 hour flight felt excruciatingly long. Seemed to drag on and on with little solid sleep and every little thing waking me the moment I would finally fall into deep slumber. Watched "Night in the Museum 2" on the tiny aisle ceiling screens; the highlight of the flight because the food certainly was not. :( KLM uses their oldest and lamest planes for the Nairobi flights - next time I am switching back to United Emirates - so much better.
Nairobi Traffic
Arrived in Nairobi at 6am Friday where a Hampton House (missionary boarding house) Driver was waiting for me. Originally I was booked in a room at Hampton House for Thursday night, but since I never made it there that night, they booked me for Friday instead, knowing I hadn't slept in 2 days. Problem was that I needed to get to Migori by Friday night since my Hosts/Escorts from Migori, who came into Nairobi over night via bus, had prior commitments to get back to along with my orphanage day scheduled at Beula in Migori on Saturday. Our plan had to be re-worked on the spot Friday morning once I arrived at the Hampton House in Nairobi.
Hampton House Room View
Checked into Hampton House at about 9am where I took a lovely shower and had a driver take me to downtown Nairobi to the City Center to meet up with my Hosts/Escorts, Domnic & Millicent Owigo, Samuel, and Leonard.
Domnic, Milly, Samuel
We discussed a new plan including a new way to get to Migori by that night. Decided Milly and I would run back to Hampton for an hour of rest while they went and picked up the private car we decided to rent for our drive to Migori. Since Hampton had moved my booking to Friday to avoid charging me for the Thursday night I didn't arrive, I had to pay the Friday room price and lost $20 there... well not fully a loss as I did get a great shower out of it, some filtered "cold" water along with 60 minutes of laying fully horizontal which is heavenly after several days of flights and airports. ;)
First Shower Excitement... Nairobi, Hampton House
Next I begin my trip to Migori to spend 12 days. Migori District is about 30 minutes from the Tanzanian border in Southwest Kenya, near Lake Victoria. And boy what an adventure that turns out to be!!! More good than bad; more blessings than trials; definitely a good mix of everything.
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