Nairobi morning! Heavy vehicle fumes irritate my nostriles as I wake up in MAF’s Team House, where we've now stayed
for almost three weeks. The never ending noise from the intense traffic on Argwings Kodek is blended with birds singing and the night- and day guards’ happy chat. The sun is rising and I can hear KeA downstairs
from the kitchen. Do I scent coffee? He knows what makes me happy! (Did you know
that KeA has been nominated “the husband of the year” by Nancy Kamau!)
Proud Prado owners! Today we
are finally going to close the car deal. The ultimate solution was an advertisement on the
big notice board at Sarith Center
(a big shopping center in Nairobi West). We trust and believe that this car
will serve well and be a blessing up in Loki.
Loki next! We are planning
to start our trip to Loki on Saturday, hoping necessary papers will be ready by then. We will drive to Kitale on Saturday (a full day’s trip) – spend the night on a
ranch, which is run by a Swedish descendent – visit the the ranch
and its surroundings on Sunday – spend the second night in Makutanu north of Kitale,
where another Swede, Fride Nilsson,
lives. He has been running running extensive school- and orphanage projects for many years. Early Monday morning we will continue with police escort via Lodwar to Loki. The
final day’s journey is said to be the hardest. You travel mile after mile in
dessert-like landscape on very rough roads. However, with a good car, armed
officers, MAF’s satellite telephone and your precious prayers we trust we will
make it.
During the
weeks in Nairobi we have met a lot of interesting people. It has been very
exciting and rewarding to renew contacts with old friends and get to know new
ones. Meeting all the MAF-people, young and old, nationals and expats, has
been fantastic. Our friends, Kristen and Ryan, whith whom we worked during our
short stay in Loki in 2008, passed through Nairobi for a couple of days on their way from Juba, their present base, to the US and a
period of home assignment. It was great to see them again.
Meeting ”Apple-Robert” who came to Kenya in 1927 and whose father was the first to grow apples in
Kenya – was an experience. It was Anders
Ridenfalk, an ”old” missionary friend, now working at the Swedish Embassy, who got us together. Robert Andersen, which is his real name, is 82 years old and has run a big farm at the slopes of Mount Elgon. His son has now taken over and that is where we will spend the night on our way to Loki. Robert has also grown avocados
and roses and is presently busy growing Jatrophas. This plant produces
oil which can be used as biofuel for diesel engines, soap production and the press cake is a
good organic fertilizer. The oil also contains an insecticide. (www.jatropha.de) It requires very little water and grows well in dry meager
soil. We are going to take some to Loki to see if we can make them grow there.
They could also be used
for fencing the school. Soap production could eventually become a source of income for the
Turkana women. Robert had so much to share from his eventful life. Among other things he told us that he
shot 900 crocodiles during two years in the 50s, something that he deeply
regrets today. For those who know about my fascination for Eric von Otter, I
can tell you that Robert made the wooden cross that embellishes his grave in Lodwar
today. I just have to go and see it!
Nyayo Stadium. Another
interesting event was the visit to Nyayo Stadium with Nancy and
Joseph. It was the final day of a week’s conference where 8 churches had joined to
celebrate the denomination’s (CITAM) 50 years. There was a constant stream of people strolling by into the big arena and what an atmosphere with hands lifted, bodies swaying and praise singing from thousands of committed attenders. Just watching people passing
by was a treat to our eyes.
KeA in action! One day KeA
got to act “the good Samaritan” when he took care of a man who was having an
epileptic bout laying flat in the dust with his face covered with vomit. On the other
side of the road people just stood stirring without doing anything. KeA stepped out of the
car, washed the man’s face and eventually got him to sit up. He finally gave
him money to buy some medicine (he carried a prescription in his pocket) and the man repeatedly wispered ”God bless you! God bless you!” It feels good to help – it could
have been one of us! Happy pre-school children! Today one of the MAF wives, Demares, took me to visitI two pre-schools here in Nairobi. It was very interesting. Demares works with blind children at these schools and after some special training they are being integrated into ordinary classes. The first was a
Christian private school and there I met a wonderful teacher called Cecilia. She
showed me the material and told me about her teaching methods with great enthousiasm. She
got very excited when I told her about the school project in Loki. - Wow, it thrills me
to hear about people willing to help my people. We also want to help but
sometimes we don’t know how. What you are doing is the best thing you can do – helping
the Turkana children to get good education. Please let me know if there is
anything we can do. I would love to come and train the teachers, she said.
The second
school was a government school where teachers struggle with big size classes
and quite run down buildings. Nevertheless, I was impressed by the teachers’
commitment and their creativity in creating useful but simple and cheap material.
I got many good ideas to take to Loki.
Well, this
will be all for now. In our next letter we will give you some highlights from our trip to
Loki. It is going to be very exciting! / Birgitta
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