Runners... (continued)

There's another article coming, but here is a BBC article featuring my friend Elias.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_7968000/7968352.stm

Language School

I'm nearly halfway through a 3 week Swahili language program--and loving almost every lesson! After nearly a year in Kenya, I've learned some Swahili and understand quite a bit, but have resorted to using mainly English rather than attempting to use my broken Swahili because it's... well, easier. I started a full-time job pretty soon after moving to Kenya, so never got the concentrated time to learn Swahili as I needed. Almost everyone I work with speaks great English (most as their 3rd language), so I've been communicating adequately... but after a visit from NMSI's executive team, we all agreed that there is just something you miss if you don't know the local language. So, here I am! 

I'm in class from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm everyday and then have homework in the evenings. It's interesting to be in school again! I am really enjoying learning and putting things together with the language as I learn each day. There have been many "ah-hah!" moments when I learn a new rule or word that explains something I've heard before or helps me understand why they say something the way they do.

I decided to come to Tanzania to study because they speak proper Swahili here, where as in Kenya we speak more of a convenient version! I won't bore you with the details, but basically here in TZ they use the rules when speaking, which makes learning the language make a ton more sense as you reason through the rules and patterns. 

My classmates are great--lots of international workers based in East Africa, mainly from Europe. In my class there is a German, Dutchman, and Belgian! I'm the only one who speaks English as a first (and only) language--where my classmates are learning their 3rd or 4th language. I get to translate things from Swahili into English for them sometimes to help with the wording, it makes me feel special to be needed =) In our program there are people from France, New Zealand, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, and the US. I'm learning a lot about Europe... and enjoying meeting new people who are also eager to learn about this new part of the world we are temporarily calling "home."

And now I'm off to finish homework... 

Runners

Shane and I had the opportunity to eat at Johana's house the other night and meet his family--12 kids in all! but not all live at home anymore. (Johana is our high school friend who is a great runner; I've written about him before).

Here I am with Johana and his parents... it's common to receive gifts when you are visitors in someone's home. I received the necklace and earrings I'm wearing. The mama made them herself and even bit the wire off on the earrings after asking how long I wanted them! After I cringed they laughed and explained she had very strong teeth from drinking so much milk =)

We ate ugali (cornmeal) and sikumawiki (kale), which is common Kenyan cuisine, but during the meal Johana commented, "When we have visitors we normally kill a goat, but because of the drought they are all so skinny!" 

Here is Shane with Johana, his mom and some of the siblings.

Johana is becoming like a little brother to me. The other day I went to the track and found him and some of his high school friends. We jogged together and talked about their hopes for going to college--one boy was dreaming of going to Michigan State! 

Johana's running coach and friend Elias (on the left) came over the other night while Elias was visiting from Iten, Kenya, where he lives and trains for international marathon running. I was happy to finally meet Elias because Johana has told me so much about him and I had seen an article in a Kenyan magazine about him and his twin brother regarding their running success. Elias was in town trying to meet with the town government leaders to promote a running camp for the youth in the Narok area. So far, the town leaders haven't been available but Elias and Johana will continue to visit the government offices in hopes of some support.

During his school break Johana is training in Iten. I was in Iten a few weeks ago (it's about 5 hours from Nairobi) and met Nathan Lagat--the brother of Kenyan/American runner Benard Lagat and some other world record holder. People from all over the world come to train in Iten because of it's high altitude.  

Johana called a few days ago to tell me that there was a BBC reporter following them around while they were training. In about 2 weeks there should be some publication--I'll let you know when I find out!

Drought Relief

With donations from IDES, MPCC, and other various donors, AfricaHope was able to do a food distribution over the last few weeks. 2087 households from 26 different communities in our region received food for their families. (That's around 12,500 people!)

Greeting the community from the churches in the US who donated the food they were about to receive.

Each family received 4 bags of maize meal and a small container of shortening. This amount of food will feed a family of 6 for about 4 days.

Mamas walking home with bags full of food and a little more hope that they are not forgotten.

The rains have now begun in most of our rural communities. "God has remembered us," I've heard over and over again...

Relief

We just got back from an afternoon/evening out in the bush distributing some food in a few of our communities--hundreds of people will have food for the next few days! I feel a little spoiled to be on the giving end of such a meaningful gift. The group in my car gave 4 packages of corn meal and a package of shortening to 150+ families in 2 communities... which doesn't sound like much, but will give them something in their bellies (and they love ugali, which is made from the cornmeal--kind of similar to oatmeal... kind of not). We had 2 cars go out today and we'll go out again tomorrow to different communities.   Smiles were all around. Some of these families haven't eaten much for weeks. On our way we saw a man carrying a malnourished calf on his shoulders; we saw dry riverbeds; we saw the carcass of a dead cow in another place. But, we also saw areas with green grass peeking through and we saw some rain falling in some places as we drove. There's hope.   

A big thanks to IDES, MPCC and a friend from IL for making such an impact on these people's lives. Thanks also to my supporters. Seeing AfricaHope respond to these people's needs during such a time of crisis further opens the door for our ministry to them throughout the year. Praise God for His generosity and connection of resources in one part of the world to another part in need. That's the beauty of the church, right? 

It Rained!

I think it's been 8 months since the last big rain in some areas of Kenya--that's nearly as long as I have been here! Last May when I arrived everything was so green. I was actually surprised because of how lush Kenya felt--I was expecting everything to be super dry because I had heard how Kenya suffered from droughts. Well, it was green for awhile, but then the rains stopped. Over the past few months especially, things have gotten more dry and more dusty to the point that I hear stories of people out in the village fainting and even starving. Animals are dying. Food prices for some items has nearly doubled.

But yesterday it rained hard! Even out in the bush. Some of our team went out to survey how things were (and get an interview for NMSI's website--check it out next week to read "Mama Laisa's story": www.nmsi.org). They said it was so muddy. The hope is that once these rains begin, they will continue through the rainy season. We were just waiting on the first one.

Even with the rains, people are still having a hard time out in the bush. The crops won't really start growing for another few months and it will take awhile for the grass to grow. Last week we received $10,000 from IDES and $3000 from my church in IL (Thanks MPCC!!) so we'll be doing a food distribution at the end of this week and beginning of next. $13,000 is a chunk of change, but really we'll only be able to help about 10 communities. We even have to do a surprise distribution because if the word would get out that we are coming people would come from far and wide to get food and we wouldn't have enough--that could cause problems. I get to drive my car out in the bush! I'm excited and can't wait to help with the food distribution, but mudding isn't so much my thing. Where are all my guy friends from IL when I need them?! 

As I sit here and type the rain sweetly falls on my tin roof =) and I hear the sound of thunder and the see the flash of lightening. I hope it's raining in the rural areas... it's what we've been waiting for.

Kukimbia: to run

I just got back from the track. A school break just began for most primary schools so I wasn't surprised to find bunch of young kids playing on the soccer field when I got onto the college campus. What I was surprised with was that 10 of the kids ran with me!! for 30 minutes! in flip flops! We had fun. They were asking me questions about America... about presidents, the weather, the oceans--I think some of them know more American history than I do! I hope we get to run together again.