Letters from Kenya: Index • Next >
I am well and starting to get my bearings here. I arrived in Nairobi on Friday and got a great tour of the city with James Nyaga and his wife Sarah. They are friends of Paul Gitimu, the Anglican Church of Kenya priest who lives in Lawrence. Got into Maseno, Kenya on Friday evening at dusk (It does indeed get dark very fast after sunset on the equator.) Everyone has been wonderfully welcoming. The guest house is what must be called primitive but I am finding it comfortable. If you compare it to camping in the Adirondacks it is luxurious, hot water showers, flush toilets and my own mosquito netting.
On Saturday I went with the Mobile Health Clinic out of the Mason Mission Hospital to one of the Orphan Feeding Program sites. The Diocese of Mass pays for the clinic as well as the food. It is hilly country and the roads are frightful. We went up and down and up and down again on very bad dirt roads and turned into track only one car wide and then came upon the church, parish hall, priest’s residence and cook house and lots of kids and mothers. It felt to me like the middle of nowhere but the area is densely populated with tiny little farms so they said this was normal. There is a little village a few hundred meters up the road but it did not look like much of a village (No Norman Rockwell village here).
When we got there there were fires going in the cook house with huge vats of beans cooking. I helped out by counting pills being dispensed by the pharmacy. The clinic saw 205 people. Most were mostly OK but they did hospitalize three children. Because it is a free program everyone comes, though you do have to sign up and have your little booklet. We saw folks for about six hours. I did go out for the feeding program. I have no idea how many children were served. Each got a large mug of beans. There was just enough. They serve out of eight large plastic buckets. After the food and the clinic, the women fed us workers. We actually got some meat and vegetables. There were three Americans, Dr. Gerry Hardison, Wanda a physician’s assistant from Vermont and myself, and eight Kenyans. They either worked at the hospital or were student nurses.
That night I spent some time with some of the students at the school. I have met a few but have not had any time to sit down and talk. I had the copy of the article in Cowley Magazine that talked about Tom Shaw and Br. David’s visit along with a photograph of all of them. That wonderfully broke the ice. I think it will be a very interesting place to study. It looks like I will be leading a seminar on mission this week. I have also now have two offers to preach next Sunday. I will have to work that out on Monday. Yes, I do hear Ian Douglas’ counsel to try to not be put in charge and will have to find some balance.
Today, Sunday, I went to an English Morning Prayer service in the school chapel with just a handful of others. It was nice with voice-only singing and a nice simple sermon. I could not work out the logistics to go to a local parish. I really wanted to go with someone and the couple of guys I could have gone with were bicycling. I do not yet have one. Also, I wanted to visit a Children with AIDS program at the hospital. It is like a club for kids with AIDS and their care givers. They have it once a month. They have five children officers and do a lot of teaching about HIV/AIDS. I gave out about 30 of the friendship bracelets and they were a big hit. (I do have pictures but with a dial up satellite connection it takes too long to send.) They then watched Shrek, with great delight.
I am having a good time but do feel very far away. I think of you often. I hope to be involved in the college this week rather than the hospital. I also want to learn my way around. It is nice that I have some time and do not feel like I have to get every experience in at once.
I have extended the greeting of All Saints' Church with all. It is greatly appreciated that they know that the people from All Saints' Church in Chelmsford Massachusetts are praying for them. (Wherever that might be.) Life here can be very hard and knowing that in Christ they have brothers and sisters praying for them and that they are not alone makes a huge difference. Pray for me also, as I pray for you.
With peace and blessings,
Tom