Adjusting to Kenyan Life

Well, I’ve been here in Kenya for almost three weeks now, and I am happy to say that it is beginning to feel a lot more like home.  My familiarity with the day to day life and greater understanding of the culture has made it easier for me to fit in and relate to the local people as well as the children at Mercy Home. 

A few days ago, Candice, me and five of the Form 1 (grade 9) boys were transitting back to Mercy Home after a day in Kitale when I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.  The things that I thought to be foreign, shocking, and a little crazy a couple weeks ago are slowly beginning to transform into average day-to-day sightings and activities.  For example, I no longer think twice about a family of chickens crossing the red dirt road in front of me, seeing donkeys pulling carts of mais on the side of the road, or men peddling bicycles piled with eight mattresses on top.  It is also a regular occurrence to squeeze over twenty people in a 15 passenger matatu (a white van used as one of the main sources of transportation). However, seeing a pikipiki (motorbike) with a mom, a couple young kids and a baby on the back still makes me a bit nervous and just watching them swerve down the edge of a busy road goes against all of my natural instincts. 

One of the first times Candice and I rode in a matatu I found myself momentarily forgetting how much we stand out.  We hopped in the van and Candice handed the conductor 100 Kenyan Shillings.  It costs 50 shillings per person so I wondered how he knew that she was paying for me too.  I thought to myself, ‘How does he know that we are together?’ Then it occurred to me, ‘Oh yeah, we are the only two white people in the van.’ I guess that might narrow it down a bit.

For the past few days we have been mostly hanging around the compound.  One of the highlights for me was introducing the game of ‘Dutch Blitz’ to the students.  It was a hoot for sure.  Candice and I just laughed to ourselves as cards flew everywhere and we tried to explain the rules of the game.  They are getting the hang of it a bit more now and enjoying something new to do.  The next day we taught them ‘Spoons,’ which they all swung onto very quickly and it has now become quite the hit.

Today, the KCPE marks for the Form 1 students come out.  So, they are eagerly awaiting the news on whether or not they have passed. So, hopefully all of them will be starting Form 1 next week.  I’m honestly going to miss hanging around with them, as they will now be in school for most of the day.  They are a fun group and it has been great to get to know them.  We will be continuing our Bible Study with them this week until they go back to school.  As of now we are continuing working on getting pictures taken of all the students and helping type out exams for the teachers. 

Thanks for following!

Anna

Candice and me introducing the game of 'Dutch Blitz' to some of the students.

Pictures!

This picture is of our room now that we have settled in.  We are feeling quite at home right now.

Here we are in front of the Guest House with a few of the older girls. From left to right: Winifred, Sarah, Sheila, Candice, Cecelia, Brenda, Edith, Anna, and Ann. 

Form 1 (CV)

 In Kenya the new school year starts in January, so our first week here was their first week back in classes.  Up until this year Mercy Home was only a primary school, but this January they started a high school.  This has worked out very much in my favour because it means that all the older kids that I became friends with on my last trip are still here, rather than being dispersed across town in different boarding schools. 

The primary system starts in ECD (kindergarten) and then goes from standard 1 to standard 8.  High school consists of Form 1 to Form 4.  At the end of standard 8, students must pass their KCPE exam in order to move on to high school.  Right now there are 15 students at Mercy Home awaiting their marks from the exam which they took in November.  The results are scheduled to come out this Friday!  Those students will begin classes the week after next.  Right now they are enjoying an extended vacation from school, so we are able to spend time with them during the day. They are kept somewhat occupied with odd jobs in the garden or in the kitchen, but our task for this week has been to make their lives a little more interesting since they aren’t able to leave the compound unsupervised.  

On Monday we took the 5 Form 1 girls (Cecelia, Winifred, Centrine, Angelina and Everlynne) into Kitale for a few hours to have lunch at Iroko’s restaurant and explore the town a bit.  We told them that they could order anything that they wanted, and they all ordered kuku (chicken) and chips with soda.  I had chapati and.. ehem..fermented pineapple juice.  I didn’t want to say anything, because I didn’t know if I was just being picky, but when I let the girls try it, they gagged and couldn’t believe I had drank as much as I had!

On Tuesday we held a bible study for all the Form 1 students.  We started off by serving biscuits and juice, which was a huge hit (as all Baptists know, snacks are important) and we ended up going through both jugs of juice, which were intended to last for two or three studies, in two minutes flat.  I shared about grace, using Ephesian 1:3-7.  The kids were receptive, and all brought notebooks and bibles.  In the afternoon, Griffins and Cecelia helped us recruit almost all of the students who are supported through Mercy Home (as opposed to day scholars who pay fees) in order to take new pictures of them to send to their sponsors.  It actually seemed efficient, which is rather unusual here. 

Wednesday we took some of the Form 1 boys to town (David, Ngai, Pius, Griffins and Peter). Samuel, one of the boys who just finished Form 4 also accompanied us.  We went out for lunch at the same restaurant we took the girls.  They were so great!  Griffins blessed the meal before we ate, and also asked that Anna and I would be blessed and live until we are 100 years old.  Afterwards, David prayed again.  Then we just wandered the streets for an hour or so.  We went into a couple of the bigger supermarkets just to look around.  I can tell that I’m getting used to rural life because I caught myself gaping at the hugeness of Khetia’s department store.  

We held another bible study this morning, this one on the Almighty nature of God, and how He is worthy to be praised.  This afternoon we are going for tea at the Ochana’s house.  This is the family that I stayed with last time I was in Kenya.  Stoked to see them and my old stomping grounds again!  

We have been trying really hard to post pictures, but we keep being thwarted by really slow internet.  Hopefully they'll come soon!

Our address is:

c/o Mercy and Caring Home

PO Box 1962

Kitale, 30200

Kenya 

East Africa

Thanks for following along.  Blessings to you all,

Candice

(AV)

Well, we have been in Kenya for nearly a week now, and our starting to feel a bit more adjusted to life here.  Because it is not only my first time in Kenya, but my first time being out of North America, it has been quite the experience being in such a different culture.  I knew that it was going to be different, but it feels like a different world and a way of life.  I must admit that when arriving here, I began to feel extremely uneducated about the world.  I think my North American/Western bubble has officially been popped.  It feels good to be able to see how other people live, and begin to understand it a bit more. 

The past few days have been both exciting and overwhelming for me.  I am still getting used to being pretty much the only white face in sight (besides Candice).  They are very welcoming and friendly to us but being the center of attention all the time is new for me.  I'm looking forward to getting to know the kids and staff more and becoming more accustomed to their routines. 

Yesterday we hung around the compound with the students, as well as joined them in a game of football (soccer).  I also did Kenyan style laundry for the first time.  The kids were quite impressed and probably slightly amused.   My legs were sore after the first five minutes of hand washing. I am surprised that I am not sore today.  I find it actually quite therapeutic. Although, I'm sure that the novelty will eventually wear off.

Well, that is what we have been up to for the past couple of days. We are learning lots of new things and are enjoying our time here thus far.

God Bless,

Anna

We're in Kitale (CV)

Hello and greetings from Kenya!  After what seemed like an eternity of traveling we arrived safely in Kitale on Saturday evening.  

The kids were all waiting for us in the dining hall and gave us an exuberant welcome of hugs, handshakes, and a hearty rendition of happy birthday for Anna.  It was late, and we were tired so after about twenty minutes of greeting everyone, they showed us to our room and helped us get settled in.  Our living quarters are a bit sparser than we had expected, and right now the big girls' dorm has taken over about half of it.  We have a bedroom with a bathroom, and then an empty bedroom that we are planning to make our kitchen.  I'll post some pictures once we spruce it up a little.  

On Sunday we spent all day with the children, and it was a bit of a shock to my introverted system.  We woke up at 3 because we're still jetlagged, got up around 7, and then had a breakfast of uji (kind of like a sour porridge) and chai.  Church was at 10:30.  It was under two hours which was absolutely amazing, and unheard of during my last experience here when it consistently lasted more than three hours. We had githeri (maize and beans) for lunch and then just hung out for the afternoon. I helped with some laundry, they braided our hair and we juggled a plastic bag soccer ball.  I definitely need to work on my skills.  I couldn't seem to get more than eight, while the other girls made fifty look like nothing.  We then took refuge in our room for about an hour, before coming out again to have a dinner of ugali (oogalee - maize flour and water) and sukuma wiki (kale), and then go to evening devotions.

Today has been a day of organization.  When we arrived the toilet didn't work and the shower was only a cold trickle.  There's nothing like a freezing cold bucket-bath in a shower that doesn't drain and two days without a flushing toilet to change your perspective a little.  Today our bathroom was restored to proper order and we discovered a kettle, toaster and stove which we put into the second bedroom.  We discussed plans to put up a door between our space and the girls' dorm so that we will have a bit more personal space, and we changed our bed from one queen to two singles.  We still haven't unpacked our suitcases because we have no shelving, but we are making progress!

This afternoon we took a matatu half way to town and then walked the remaining 3km.  We bought mangoes for 10 shillings each to eat along the way.  We're going to do some grocery shopping and errands and then head back out to Mercy Home.  It's been so fun to show Anna all of the places that I have talked about for the past three years.  These are the days in Kenya that I love and have missed. 

God bless you richly, 
Candice

We're Off!

Hello everybody, and thanks for checking out our blog!  This first post will provide some context for those of you who don’t know it already.

Our names are Candice and Anna Veale, and we are heading to Kenya.  Our flight leaves Vancouver on January 8^th, we have a 24hr stopover in Amsterdam and then we fly directly to Nairobi, Kenya, arriving at 8:25pm on January 10^th.  After spending 2 days in Nairobi, we will bus 8 hours northwest to Kitale (kitalee), where we will be staying at Mercy and Caring Children’s Home for just under 3 months.  I, Candice, spent 6 months there in 2009/2010, and I, Anna, am going for the first time.

 

Mercy and Caring Children’s Home (MCCH/Mercy Home) was founded in 2001 by Edwin and Nancy Cahill from the west coast of BC.  This link will give a good overview of the orphanage and school:

 

http://www.mercyandcaringhomes.org/About_Us.html

 

During our time in Kitale we will be staying on site at Mercy Home.  There is a guesthouse with running water and a flush toilet (yay!).  Most of the guesthouse has been taken over to make way for the new high school that will be starting this month, but we will still have a bedroom, bathroom and small kitchen to call home.   Our main purpose there is to build relationships with the kids and to share the love of Jesus with them.  In addition to that, we will be filling in any cracks that need to be filled, such as helping typing documents, cleaning dorms, teaching, doing errands and going on hospital runs.  I (Candice) will also be leading a bible study with some of the older students, which I am super excited about! 

 

Which leads us to the topic of Jesus.  We know that there is going to be a fairly mixed crowd following this blog, many of whom do not believe in God or ever care to, and we will try not to get too preachy on you.  However, it would be misleading for us to imply that Jesus Christ is anything less than the centre of our lives.  Everything we are doing is because of Him and for His glory.  He is the good and righteous King!  This video gives an excellent description of who He is…and why we love Him so much: