Our days in Nairobi have been full of rest and new sights. Western food is a relief - I didn't realize how much we westerners rely on variety in our meals! Ice cream especially is a treat. We are mingling with missionaries from all over the world - Taiwan, New Zealand, USA, England, Ireland, Canada, etc. Yesterday we took a day trip to the Masaii Market for a little "shopping" - and found that it's sometimes difficult to shake some of these salesmen when they really want to sell you something, even if you don't want it!
Today we went to a church in the slums of Nairobi - in fact, the second largest slum in the continent of Africa. It's called Kibera. A million people live in one small area - check the pictures to see the amount of people milling the streets! Incredible. Bishop Timothy, a dear friend of Gord and Carole's, has started a huge ministry here and his church has already birthed some 50 churches across Kenya. He has a number of schools for orphans and they feed 2000 orphans 3 meals a day every day!!! Without asking for money! This is definitely miraculous. He is also running several Bible schools and sending pastors out into a variety of areas. Timothy has been robbed several times, including one break-and-entry into his home while his children were around. His response? "I have two options: either I die and go to be with the Lord, or I continue to serve the Lord here. Both are good options!"
So very true.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Part Two
TRAVELING MERCIES!!!
We have said goodbye to Bukoba and now have said goodbye to half of our team. According to Gordon, our team leader, after we leave Nairobi we will be saying goodbye to most comforts as well and saying hello to some mud huts, tents, hiking and rough roads as we prepare to head into South Sudan.
If the last twenty hours on the road are any indication of what we will be traveling on, please pray for my motion sickness. The main highway between Nairobi and Kampala was one of the roughest "paved roads" I have been on in a while. A large portion of it is under construction and is now dirt, though it was hard to tell when you left the pavement anyways. The trip was supposed to take 12 hours but, due to the mix of construction and a bad rain storm, a few big trucks got a little stuck and blocked the highway for about 3 hours. It also took another hour to squeeze past the line of trucks and buses on the other side of the mess. Wow.
To top this off, the border between Uganda and Kenya was closed when we arrived four hours late. So our bus driver took the back way around to the gate, passed across into Kenya, dropped us off and told us to walk back into Uganda to the closed immigration office and wait for the "man with the keys" to stamp us out of Uganda so that the open office on the Kenyan side could stamp us into Kenya.
It brings back memories of sleeping on the side of a mountain in China because of a broken down truck and the lack of space between the truck and a seemingly endless cliff. Last night there were no cliffs but I am pretty sure that if I dropped something the thickness of a quarter between the mirrors or bumpers of these trucks going opposite directions the quarter would get stuck. These drivers truly leave no room for error.
THOUGHTS ON BUKOBA
As I think back to my time in Bukoba, the things that stand out the most are the people and the friendships we made. Then I think about missions and what our role is, as the "Rich North American" (because, in comparison to the Africans we have met, we are all loaded, even in our own North American context). Those involved in ministry and the friends we made do not want us simply to send them a cheque. Yes, they do want our money, but they want more than that. They want to be in relationship with us. This is largely because, in African mindset, friends and finances go hand in hand.
When I compare our individualistic culture with their community mentality I do not understand Africans as much as they do not understand me. How they deal with money and how we handle money are as far apart as our countries are physically. The question remains, what is the best way to close that gap? You cannot spend a lot of time in Africa (though two months is not really a lot of time) and not begin to question what is the best use of money. Are we right in our western, time-oriented "save save save" world ? Are the Africans right in their "respond to what you see is the most pressing need?" I know we as North Americans think we are right! But I am learning it is about what we perceive as needs.
I know my answer. Having running water! (Though helping my friends are pretty high, I want to pay my bills)
In Africa, it seems having a TV or helping a friend often comes before having running water. Since this seems to be the order they get it. I can't count how many times I went to turn the taps on and nothing came out. Yet they all had cable!
Our perceived needs are different. Who's right?
The two things I am looking forward to most:
One on one with Gordon and Carole and Crystal and I
And visiting a leadership training center that is in its second year of becoming a reality
Stay tuned!
We have said goodbye to Bukoba and now have said goodbye to half of our team. According to Gordon, our team leader, after we leave Nairobi we will be saying goodbye to most comforts as well and saying hello to some mud huts, tents, hiking and rough roads as we prepare to head into South Sudan.
If the last twenty hours on the road are any indication of what we will be traveling on, please pray for my motion sickness. The main highway between Nairobi and Kampala was one of the roughest "paved roads" I have been on in a while. A large portion of it is under construction and is now dirt, though it was hard to tell when you left the pavement anyways. The trip was supposed to take 12 hours but, due to the mix of construction and a bad rain storm, a few big trucks got a little stuck and blocked the highway for about 3 hours. It also took another hour to squeeze past the line of trucks and buses on the other side of the mess. Wow.
To top this off, the border between Uganda and Kenya was closed when we arrived four hours late. So our bus driver took the back way around to the gate, passed across into Kenya, dropped us off and told us to walk back into Uganda to the closed immigration office and wait for the "man with the keys" to stamp us out of Uganda so that the open office on the Kenyan side could stamp us into Kenya.
It brings back memories of sleeping on the side of a mountain in China because of a broken down truck and the lack of space between the truck and a seemingly endless cliff. Last night there were no cliffs but I am pretty sure that if I dropped something the thickness of a quarter between the mirrors or bumpers of these trucks going opposite directions the quarter would get stuck. These drivers truly leave no room for error.
THOUGHTS ON BUKOBA
As I think back to my time in Bukoba, the things that stand out the most are the people and the friendships we made. Then I think about missions and what our role is, as the "Rich North American" (because, in comparison to the Africans we have met, we are all loaded, even in our own North American context). Those involved in ministry and the friends we made do not want us simply to send them a cheque. Yes, they do want our money, but they want more than that. They want to be in relationship with us. This is largely because, in African mindset, friends and finances go hand in hand.
When I compare our individualistic culture with their community mentality I do not understand Africans as much as they do not understand me. How they deal with money and how we handle money are as far apart as our countries are physically. The question remains, what is the best way to close that gap? You cannot spend a lot of time in Africa (though two months is not really a lot of time) and not begin to question what is the best use of money. Are we right in our western, time-oriented "save save save" world ? Are the Africans right in their "respond to what you see is the most pressing need?" I know we as North Americans think we are right! But I am learning it is about what we perceive as needs.
Here are three needs. You can only pick one; what would you pick?
Buying a TV
Having running water
Helping a friend
Buying a TV
Having running water
Helping a friend
I know my answer. Having running water! (Though helping my friends are pretty high, I want to pay my bills)
In Africa, it seems having a TV or helping a friend often comes before having running water. Since this seems to be the order they get it. I can't count how many times I went to turn the taps on and nothing came out. Yet they all had cable!
Our perceived needs are different. Who's right?
The two things I am looking forward to most:
One on one with Gordon and Carole and Crystal and I
And visiting a leadership training center that is in its second year of becoming a reality
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
You Can't Do That in Canada
There is another new post below this one, but it is less happy than this one - so you may want to read it first!
So we arrived in Kampala after an incident at the Tanzanian border! That will be saved for another discussion, since there's so much going on and so little time to write. From Kampala, after defying death walking through the wickedly jammed-up streets, we boarded a bus and headed to Jinja for our group activity - white-water rafting on the Nile! Geoff went ATVing along the shores instead, while the seven of us prepared for a real adventure.
Adventure started in Jinja. Following include the things you can't do in Canada - that we DID do in Jinja!
* Ride a boda-boda (tiny motorcycle) side-saddle without helmets through the streets. 8 of us on 8 motorcycles, like a little gang. Kim's broke down eventually and so she sat on the back of mine with me - three of us on this tiny little thing! Can't do that in Canada!
* Ride in the back of a truck, standing up and holding onto metal bars. 8km of crazy bumps through fields of sugar-cane and banana trees.
* Eat real western food in a real western restaurant over-looking the Nile river and listening to monkeys as they chattered about in the trees.
Nile experience - you can't do THAT in Canada either!
* Boarded a 14 food red vessel with a lifted nose and paddle off into the river
* Spun the boat, flipped the boat, swam around the boat, swam UNDER the boat when it was upside-down, floated on our backs in the Nile looking up at the blue Ugandan sky
* Hit class 5 rapids, the highest level you can take even professionally. They are almost completely safe because of the incredible volume of water, but that doesn't mean they are without thrills! First set of class 4 rapids and I was up and out of the boat, floating rapidly downstream with my paddle in hand. My knight in shining kayak rescued me at the nice safe part.
* Next set of rapids - our whole boat flipped and we crashed helmets, paddles, arms and legs as the churning water tossed us around, plunged us down into the waves and spat us back up, sputtering and coughing. Laughter abounded as we reboarded our righted raft later on.
* Hit Silverback Waterfall, 3 meters high, and watched the other rafts simply disappear over the edge. Our hearts pounded as we paddled toward the edge of what we could see, soared rapidly around a rock, and dove nose first into the boiling, frothing hole below. Right-side up, we paddled into a class 3 rapid and came out staring as another raft dove over the edge. Incredible.
* Second flip was more fun for everone else - less fun for me, since something collided with my face and left a pretty Nile Tatoo on my nose (OUCH!). This particular rapid was like being in a washing machine and we grabbed air where we could before smashing into waves again. As we finally drifted - individually - into a smoother water, I caught someone's paddle and then was hauled back into our raft as we rammed into a tree on Bat Island. Bats galore flying overhead, woken up by the smashing of paddles on the calm waters at its shore.
* I wimped out at "The Bad Place" - the last grade 5 waterfall, a converging of three rivers with enormous volumes of water. I've done it before - four years ago - and besides, my face was still hurting from the last toss. Carole and I ran over to a huge rock and watched as our craft expertly crested the wave, dove into the hole and soared safely over the top. Bob's face registered total disappointment that they hadn't flipped - but not to worry, our trusty raft-guide steered them into "the other place" and the boat tossed them like salad into the water there.
* And we even have a video to prove it!
What a team building exercise! It was fantastic to spend time together doing something that didn't require emotional energy but rather caused a healthy physical strain and brought laughter and joy.
So we arrived in Kampala after an incident at the Tanzanian border! That will be saved for another discussion, since there's so much going on and so little time to write. From Kampala, after defying death walking through the wickedly jammed-up streets, we boarded a bus and headed to Jinja for our group activity - white-water rafting on the Nile! Geoff went ATVing along the shores instead, while the seven of us prepared for a real adventure.
Adventure started in Jinja. Following include the things you can't do in Canada - that we DID do in Jinja!
* Ride a boda-boda (tiny motorcycle) side-saddle without helmets through the streets. 8 of us on 8 motorcycles, like a little gang. Kim's broke down eventually and so she sat on the back of mine with me - three of us on this tiny little thing! Can't do that in Canada!
* Ride in the back of a truck, standing up and holding onto metal bars. 8km of crazy bumps through fields of sugar-cane and banana trees.
* Eat real western food in a real western restaurant over-looking the Nile river and listening to monkeys as they chattered about in the trees.
Nile experience - you can't do THAT in Canada either!
* Boarded a 14 food red vessel with a lifted nose and paddle off into the river
* Spun the boat, flipped the boat, swam around the boat, swam UNDER the boat when it was upside-down, floated on our backs in the Nile looking up at the blue Ugandan sky
* Hit class 5 rapids, the highest level you can take even professionally. They are almost completely safe because of the incredible volume of water, but that doesn't mean they are without thrills! First set of class 4 rapids and I was up and out of the boat, floating rapidly downstream with my paddle in hand. My knight in shining kayak rescued me at the nice safe part.
* Next set of rapids - our whole boat flipped and we crashed helmets, paddles, arms and legs as the churning water tossed us around, plunged us down into the waves and spat us back up, sputtering and coughing. Laughter abounded as we reboarded our righted raft later on.
* Hit Silverback Waterfall, 3 meters high, and watched the other rafts simply disappear over the edge. Our hearts pounded as we paddled toward the edge of what we could see, soared rapidly around a rock, and dove nose first into the boiling, frothing hole below. Right-side up, we paddled into a class 3 rapid and came out staring as another raft dove over the edge. Incredible.
* Second flip was more fun for everone else - less fun for me, since something collided with my face and left a pretty Nile Tatoo on my nose (OUCH!). This particular rapid was like being in a washing machine and we grabbed air where we could before smashing into waves again. As we finally drifted - individually - into a smoother water, I caught someone's paddle and then was hauled back into our raft as we rammed into a tree on Bat Island. Bats galore flying overhead, woken up by the smashing of paddles on the calm waters at its shore.
* I wimped out at "The Bad Place" - the last grade 5 waterfall, a converging of three rivers with enormous volumes of water. I've done it before - four years ago - and besides, my face was still hurting from the last toss. Carole and I ran over to a huge rock and watched as our craft expertly crested the wave, dove into the hole and soared safely over the top. Bob's face registered total disappointment that they hadn't flipped - but not to worry, our trusty raft-guide steered them into "the other place" and the boat tossed them like salad into the water there.
* And we even have a video to prove it!
What a team building exercise! It was fantastic to spend time together doing something that didn't require emotional energy but rather caused a healthy physical strain and brought laughter and joy.
Painful Goodbyes
Nothing has prepared us for the grief of saying goodbye to our host families. After only two months of staying, we were not expecting to find it so difficult to leave them behind - knowing that we may never see them again. "Mungu akipenda, tutoanana tena" - "if God wishes, we will see you again" - this was the refrain we heard and said often.
The farewells started on Friday night, after a week of preparation - shopping for gifts for our host families and friends, preparing for packing and travel, discussion about who to support in Tanzania and how to deal with the barrage of financial requests hitting us throughout the week. This was not a deterrent to friendship, as we have learned that in Tanzanian friendships, requesting money does not demonstrate a lack of care or a desire to use you but demonstrates respect and trust. Friday evening, Bob and I took Mama Sweya and her relatives and the children staying in her house out to supper at a fancy restaurant overlooking Bukoba. WHAT an experience! In spite of what we thought was food heaven (western food!), our African friends weren't so keen - especially on coleslaw. We waited an our for our food and gave out wrapped gifts. Ema, age 4, was the first - and didn't respond to the gift as a North American child would but rather with shock and confusion - "what do I do with this?" The other children figured it out as they watched him, and they were bouncing with excitement. Wrapped gifts are very unusual here.
Saturday night another party - this time with our whole team, plus two members from each household, plus some of the extra friends we'd made (some of the church elders, the only bibi - elderly lady - in the church, two women with AIDS that we have befriended and who are now attending the church and being cared for by the pastor's wife and other ladies). After supper (coleslaw again - our host family members avoided it) were the speeches and the emotion was thick - tears from many people, both us North Americans and our African friends. The emotion was surprising again, and very difficult, even though it was evidence of deep friendships that had been formed.
On Sunday we had a real treat! Beth, Kim, Bob and I danced with the choir finally - after weeks of practice and being too shy to actually join them during service. Chris preached, we all sang songs together, and then afterwards joined together for biscuits and sodas. Mama Sweya had decorated the church beautifully and we watched the choir sing for us. A number of our friends had written songs for us, which they sang (some in English and some in Swahili) alone - GUTSY. Tears flowed again. The mamas brought up gifts for the ladies, and the babas for the men, and then our host families brought up gifts for our parents! (So yes, Mom and Dad Wiens and Walker, you guys have gifts from our host parents!).
Monday morning at 6:30 am we all met at the bus station and painful goodbyes continued. At this point, many of us were numb from crying and just wanted to get it over with already! Three days of emotion is too much for anyone. When we finally boarded the bus, we had bags and bags of fried chicken, mandazi, and samosas for the trip - well loaded up for the ride home.
So now that part is over and the debrief has begun. So much to think over and consider. Tomorrow four of our team head to Canada and Bob and I, Gord and Carole, head to Nairobi and then to South Sudan. The adventures continue. I hope you are enjoying the journey with us!
The farewells started on Friday night, after a week of preparation - shopping for gifts for our host families and friends, preparing for packing and travel, discussion about who to support in Tanzania and how to deal with the barrage of financial requests hitting us throughout the week. This was not a deterrent to friendship, as we have learned that in Tanzanian friendships, requesting money does not demonstrate a lack of care or a desire to use you but demonstrates respect and trust. Friday evening, Bob and I took Mama Sweya and her relatives and the children staying in her house out to supper at a fancy restaurant overlooking Bukoba. WHAT an experience! In spite of what we thought was food heaven (western food!), our African friends weren't so keen - especially on coleslaw. We waited an our for our food and gave out wrapped gifts. Ema, age 4, was the first - and didn't respond to the gift as a North American child would but rather with shock and confusion - "what do I do with this?" The other children figured it out as they watched him, and they were bouncing with excitement. Wrapped gifts are very unusual here.
Saturday night another party - this time with our whole team, plus two members from each household, plus some of the extra friends we'd made (some of the church elders, the only bibi - elderly lady - in the church, two women with AIDS that we have befriended and who are now attending the church and being cared for by the pastor's wife and other ladies). After supper (coleslaw again - our host family members avoided it) were the speeches and the emotion was thick - tears from many people, both us North Americans and our African friends. The emotion was surprising again, and very difficult, even though it was evidence of deep friendships that had been formed.
On Sunday we had a real treat! Beth, Kim, Bob and I danced with the choir finally - after weeks of practice and being too shy to actually join them during service. Chris preached, we all sang songs together, and then afterwards joined together for biscuits and sodas. Mama Sweya had decorated the church beautifully and we watched the choir sing for us. A number of our friends had written songs for us, which they sang (some in English and some in Swahili) alone - GUTSY. Tears flowed again. The mamas brought up gifts for the ladies, and the babas for the men, and then our host families brought up gifts for our parents! (So yes, Mom and Dad Wiens and Walker, you guys have gifts from our host parents!).
Monday morning at 6:30 am we all met at the bus station and painful goodbyes continued. At this point, many of us were numb from crying and just wanted to get it over with already! Three days of emotion is too much for anyone. When we finally boarded the bus, we had bags and bags of fried chicken, mandazi, and samosas for the trip - well loaded up for the ride home.
So now that part is over and the debrief has begun. So much to think over and consider. Tomorrow four of our team head to Canada and Bob and I, Gord and Carole, head to Nairobi and then to South Sudan. The adventures continue. I hope you are enjoying the journey with us!
Friday, July 6, 2007
Roof is up!
Talk about a busy three days. It only took three days for from 12 to 20 people to raise 14 rafters up onto the walls of the church. It was a great time to spend more time with some of the guys that we have been helping us with language, as well as some of the builders that have been working on the church since before we arrived. The builders are also the elders of the church plant that this church planted about seven kilometers away. Some of these guys walk the 7km every morning and every evening. It is humbling when at times I have complained about the just over 1km that Crystal and I have to walk. God did bless us with a cooler weather though. The day we started raising the rafters we were delayed by a down pour of rain for the morning. In Swahili rafters are called kenches. In the next couple of days they will be putting up the fotos (support beams that space the rafters and that are used to attach the metal roof.
As mentioned earlier, the previous weekend we were at Melaba were we were invovled with an evangelistic campaign that the church we are helping put on. It was a great weekend, though the choir needed to preservere with out any water, for bathing or drinking, which explains why when the last service was over and the buses arrived to return to Bukoba, the Africans moved faster than I've ever seen Africans move.
Continue to pray for us and for them as we finish our last week here in Bukoba and begin our journey to Sudan.
As mentioned earlier, the previous weekend we were at Melaba were we were invovled with an evangelistic campaign that the church we are helping put on. It was a great weekend, though the choir needed to preservere with out any water, for bathing or drinking, which explains why when the last service was over and the buses arrived to return to Bukoba, the Africans moved faster than I've ever seen Africans move.
Continue to pray for us and for them as we finish our last week here in Bukoba and begin our journey to Sudan.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Around Tanzania by BUS!
Some notes about bus travel in Tanzania:
* When a bus seems full, there is always room for more. Four seats across = five bums, regardless of size.
* Monkeys like to sit by the side of the road and watch buses go by.
* Roads are paved by prisoners - Chinese prisoners. This is a little strange.
* Tarmac roads are not as safe as they look. Buses like to drive at rampage speeds downwards - this so they can actually make it to the top of the hill on the other side.
* Wide-mouthed waterbottles will not give you success in drinking while driving on unpaved roads. Bumps create havoc and you will usually look like you've had an accident.
* Every stop includes vendors holding cooked bananas, bags of juice, and sometimes shishkabobs (kind of - meat may be questionable).
We traveled to Karagwe and Muleba, two villages within 200 km (west) from Bukoba. In Karagwe we lived with families - Bob and I stayed in a poor home with no electricity or running water, and a cho (toilet) covered in bugs (including slugs). The family was incredibly warm and hospitable, as are almost all people here. The toilets, however, were not so welcoming. Most toilets in the area were shallow enough to see the maggots swarming over the bottom. No toilet reading here.
We drove to several orphanages to visit children and were amazed by the different way of running orphanages here - it is more like a cooperative where several children live in a home with several widows, most of whom are widowed from AIDS and themselves are HIV positive. They get together - everyone from the cooperative - to sing and dance and encourage one another. We got to spend time singing and praying with them, and sharing testimonies to encourage them. As we prepare to leave, we are exploring areas that we would like to support, and it is awesome to see so many different opportunites and get to know them.
This area of Tanzania is very hilly, full of valleys and lakes and rivers, and lined with banana plantations and coffee trees and small huts. Beautiful.
Last weekend we traveled to Muleba with the church from Bukoba. WHAT an experience! It was an evangelistic outreach driven by the choir of Bukoba, which is an incredible singing and dancing group. We shared our stories, visited homes in the neighbourhood, and just had a fantastic time getting to know the choir members and encouraging the local church. I also had the privilege of seeing a fortress where a king of Africa used to live - including the round hut in which he is buried (only wife of dead king has the key - she is still living and very old. Met her).
And today was an incredibly special day as we have been working with teh Bukoba church to build the roof, and today the trusses went UP! 20-30 church men came up, and we, together with them, "raised the roof" - and are thankful for only minor injuries.
Time is again ticking away, so we shall post. Plan to put some pictures on soon!
PS. Rice and beans sometimes contain bits of gravel and small rocks. Chew with care.
* When a bus seems full, there is always room for more. Four seats across = five bums, regardless of size.
* Monkeys like to sit by the side of the road and watch buses go by.
* Roads are paved by prisoners - Chinese prisoners. This is a little strange.
* Tarmac roads are not as safe as they look. Buses like to drive at rampage speeds downwards - this so they can actually make it to the top of the hill on the other side.
* Wide-mouthed waterbottles will not give you success in drinking while driving on unpaved roads. Bumps create havoc and you will usually look like you've had an accident.
* Every stop includes vendors holding cooked bananas, bags of juice, and sometimes shishkabobs (kind of - meat may be questionable).
We traveled to Karagwe and Muleba, two villages within 200 km (west) from Bukoba. In Karagwe we lived with families - Bob and I stayed in a poor home with no electricity or running water, and a cho (toilet) covered in bugs (including slugs). The family was incredibly warm and hospitable, as are almost all people here. The toilets, however, were not so welcoming. Most toilets in the area were shallow enough to see the maggots swarming over the bottom. No toilet reading here.
We drove to several orphanages to visit children and were amazed by the different way of running orphanages here - it is more like a cooperative where several children live in a home with several widows, most of whom are widowed from AIDS and themselves are HIV positive. They get together - everyone from the cooperative - to sing and dance and encourage one another. We got to spend time singing and praying with them, and sharing testimonies to encourage them. As we prepare to leave, we are exploring areas that we would like to support, and it is awesome to see so many different opportunites and get to know them.
This area of Tanzania is very hilly, full of valleys and lakes and rivers, and lined with banana plantations and coffee trees and small huts. Beautiful.
Last weekend we traveled to Muleba with the church from Bukoba. WHAT an experience! It was an evangelistic outreach driven by the choir of Bukoba, which is an incredible singing and dancing group. We shared our stories, visited homes in the neighbourhood, and just had a fantastic time getting to know the choir members and encouraging the local church. I also had the privilege of seeing a fortress where a king of Africa used to live - including the round hut in which he is buried (only wife of dead king has the key - she is still living and very old. Met her).
And today was an incredibly special day as we have been working with teh Bukoba church to build the roof, and today the trusses went UP! 20-30 church men came up, and we, together with them, "raised the roof" - and are thankful for only minor injuries.
Time is again ticking away, so we shall post. Plan to put some pictures on soon!
PS. Rice and beans sometimes contain bits of gravel and small rocks. Chew with care.
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