Goodbye Sweden … yet one more time
After two months in Sweden we entered Turkish Airways (”Kebab Air”) once again heading for Nairobi, Kenya. While in Sweden, a heavy feeling of tiredness dawned on us. However, rest, the possibility to fellowship with our children and their families, other relatives and friends and be able to spend a lot of time in the beautiful nature, gradually poured new energy into our souls and bodies. Now we are back in Loki since four weeks and the work with MAF and the different local project s are in full swing.
Picture: Some of our wonderful grandchildren on a mini camp at grandma & grandpa's
Sara –angel no 3
With us from Sweden is Sara, our new volunteer. What a girl! She is an angel who has come to help us and the Turkana people for three months. Just like Wiebke, our volunteer from last year, she is biking to the school every day to help. She is also helping us with the accounts, sorting receipts, making our daily “Loki salad” (a side dish for our lunch) and much more.
KeA also got some help from David Beckman during a week, a German and a friend of Gero. Great!!
The hunger situation
Most people have probably heard about the famine disaster on the Horn of Africa. Even Kenya is part of it. MAF is very involved with two shuttles a week to Dadaab, the big refugee camp in North Eastern Kenya, close to the Somali border. Some flights have also been made into the most affected parts of Kenya.
But what’s the situation here? A question asked by many. We have had some good rains lately and Loki is as green as ever. We praise God for that! Some are growing greens like sukumawiki, kunde, spinach etc., used in sauces and a great source of vitamins. Some few grow sorghum. But the staple foods like maize and beans are still being trucked in from the south and sold in the shops at increased prizes due to the previous lack of rains. In addition, there has been a decrease of relief food since relief organizations are focusing on other parts of Kenya at the moment. People here are perhaps not starving as in Somalia and in Eastern Kenya but they are hungry.
Picture: Francis with his wife Selina are proud of their shamba. "Ni kasi mingi!" (lots of work) they say. The rains help of course but in between all water has to be pumped by hand and carried home.
Francis opens his home to prepare for the distribution. The oil is packed in small plastic bags.
Thanks to money given by friends, we have been able to do an emergency food distribution in the two villages where we have the school and water projects, helped to provide food for the school and to prepare for a major distribution in Nabang’keny, which includes “our villages” but also a bigger area. Picture
The latter will touch about 2000 households and will be organized by LEDO, the CBO (Community Based Organization) that we are working with. In Nabang’keny, which includes 3800 registered households only 800 get regular relief food, i.e. families with small children who have the signs of malnutrition, old, sick and impaired people. About 250 households are growing sorghum. From the 2750 households that remain, some are getting relief food sporadically, but for most people the food situation is a matter of constant stress and hunger a steady companion. We hear stories of people staying without food for days, even up to a week. It’s fantastic for us who live and work here to be able to hand out some food to the hungry. There is, of course, a need for finding solutions in a longer perspective and together with LEDO we are actively looking for those. It is also important to mention that LEDO’s policy when it comes to food distribution is ”food for work”.
Kenyans for Kenya
It has been interesting to hear and read about the Kenyans themselves have taken responsibility for their starving countrymen. The project “Kenyan for Kenyans” have raised a major amount of funds used for buying and transporting food to the hunger stricken areas.
”To Victor”
One day someone sneaked a brown envelope into my hand after one of the women’s meeting at Naurenpetet. The envelope read: ”to Victor”. The letter was written by Triza, a Turkana girl aged 15, and it deeply touched our hearts. Her story is a common one here: A step father refuses the girl to continue her secondary education, which is the dream of her life. 8 years in Primary is more than enough. Now it’s time for beads (to put on as many beads as possible around the neck) and get married, a business that will accumulate a number of goats, cows and maybe even camels. The mother appeals to the father in vain, is beaten and chased away. In desperation the girl writes a letter “to Victor” which in fact is to Birgitta. Later, when we meet Triza, she explains that she has heard the children calling Birgitta which in her ears sounded as Victor. And really, when I try to say Birgitta fast in the way children use to shout my name it becomes “bgto”J Immediately we feel we want to try to get help for this highly purposive young lady. She has top scores, speaks English well and has a dream to become a lawyer and an influential woman, who will help changing her country in a positive way. Sara, who has been there listening get touched, writes to her family in Sweden and they decide to support the girl. Wonderful!
As you can see Triza is tall and beautiful. Yes, taller than both KeA and Sara:)
A great take off!
On Sep 5 our preschool together with standard 1 started its third term. It was a great day! Line-up with singing and dancing, prayer and welcoming Sara. Then gathering in class rooms and after that, games outside. Sara was showing ways of jumping and running in the different relays. A snack with juice and biscuits and then the climax: meat with rice for lunch. It was touching to see how some children filled their little hands with some meat and rice to take home, maybe for a little brother or sister.
School construction number 2 in full swing
Next to our outdoor games the construction of the new Primary school is in full swing. Eleven men have been employed by KeA and have started preparing the ground for the slab. A woman, Monica, is employed to make “chai”, tea with lots of sugar and milk, which is the only ingestion during the day of work. All work is done by hand with the help of shovels and wheel barrows. Several women from the village are gathering heaps of small stones to be sold to the school project as ballast. This is something that will benefit our preschool since they will now be able to pay their children’s school feesJ
A new leveling instrument, sponsored by some friends, is helping KeA to level the ground. Yes, KeA is busy these days: on one hand the MAF work and on the other the school -, water,-latrine projects and more.
A real kick!
However, people are working other places too, not just here. Last Saturday evening we got a real kick. With the help of the wonder of technology we could follow a fund raising concert via Skype from a church in our home town Örebro. Famous artists took part together with a fantastic choir where many of the members are teachers at my school in Sweden, Hannaskolan, which is the main sponsor. Francis, our coordinator here and Lucy, the head teacher of our preschool, were together with us in the TV couch, deeply touched by the commitment from home. We could also take part in the show and were interviewed at several occasions. Yes, this is when the technique is at its best!
Furthermore, on the Friday before there was an event at Ritz in Örebro (a night club), organized by university students for the benefit of the school project. The guest artist was … It’s amazing with all the actions taken by so many different groups and people!
ANA Women’s Group – A source of joy for many
It was a great joy to once again gather with our ANA women for the AGM. Thanks to the “shanga” business (selling of bead-work ) we could meet at Track Mark, one of Loki’s lodges, and offer both snack and lunch. We closed down both the bakery and Hotel so that all the women could join. The hotel and bakery are open all days of the week, even on Sundays.
We prayed and read the Bible, went through our constitution and made some amendments, sang, danced and played games. We had many good discussions about membership, work tables and schedules, salaries, sick- and maternity leave, giving out bonus money and so on. Three new women were voted into the group so now they are 20 women working with ANAJ I handed out presents from Sweden: nice torches swept in beautiful colored scarves. We ended the meeting by taking a group photo with all the women dressed in their scarves.
During our stay in Sweden two missionary colleagues helped me with the ANA Women’s group. They did a great job and they have agreed to continue. We will share responsibilities. It is necessary for me to get some help since we are dealing with three different businesses. I will still have the overall responsibility which is demanding, but fun.
Our shop/restaurant is full with pleased costumers. They like the food, the service, the environment and the fact that it is clean and tidy. In addition, the prizes are very fair which makes it accessible to different levels of society.
It is running late and outside sounds of frogs, cicadas and other insects fill the air. Mosquitoes are raving around my ankles despite using repellant. Am looking forward to sneak in under the net and get some nice sleep.
So it’s time to say goodnight and I believe you who has reached this sentence also need to relax for a while.
God bless and let’s stay in touch! / Birgitta