The Great White African Gorilla

From the moment we first walked into the work site everyone was enamoured with Eric.  At first it was his beard.  There were questions upon questions about his beard and more than one person reached out to touch it just to know what it was like.  Beautiful was the word most commonly used to describe it.  I had no idea Kenyans loved beards so much!

This lasted for a while but by the second or third day they had forgotten the beard and instead were amazed at his strength.  Eric consistently carried some of the biggest rocks and he worked as long and as hard as anyone else there.  But on the forth day he did the impossible.  

Our main job as a team was to move the rocks that the men were breaking from the river bed up to the actual weir site.  By day two or three we had pretty much depleted the main stash and they were now working on breaking rocks that took a lot more 'convincing'.  Breaking rocks in Kenya means you get a giant sledge hammer and a group of guys and basically just start pounding away.  Needless to say I can't fathom how they kept going for five days.

When the men first moved to the harder rocks they spent about an hour working on one huge rock in the middle of the river bed.  They pounded on it with all their might and they all took turns but none of them could get even a hint of a crack let alone get a piece to break off.

By the forth day of carrying rocks Eric decided he should try out the breaking instead and helped them finish a number of pieces before heading off to find more.  The rock he chose was the one they had worked on for an hour with no luck.  Despite many warnings and certainly some questioning looks he started in on it and amazingly had a nice crack forming within minutes.  Twenty minutes later he'd broken off a huge chunk and put down the sledge off for a break.  The men all sat down for a break and started talking in KiSwahili and eventually broke into laughter while staring at Eric.

"What?"  he said.

Eventually it came out that they had decided he must be stronger than any man in Africa as he had broken the rock that none of them could.  His response was that he must be strong like an African Gorilla.  And so was born The Great White African Gorilla.  Hairy and strong…yup it suits him.

Kamba Names

On our last day of work during the 2008 trip we all received Kamba names.  It's safe to say we are all as proud of them as we are of our family names and we share them with everyone we meet here.  It puts a HUGE smile on the face of any Kamba to find out that we have Kamba names and generally it begins a conversation about the number of people in the room whom also have that name and of course the meanings of them.

Because neither Janice nor Colleen had been here on the last trip they were still in need of this honour and thankfully Judy (the ABC Development Director) didn't keep them waiting too long.

Janice has been named Mwendae meaning the one who is loved.  This is also the female version of Eric's name and I contend that must mean that I am very good at showing my love for them as I'm the common denominator in that equation…neither of them are convinced.  Either way anyone who knows Janice will agree this is the perfect name for her

Colleen has been given the name Mutethya meaning the one who comes to the rescue.  I find this poignant given her job at the church and the fact I think she regularly comes to the rescue of a lot of us in that role.

It really amazes me that someone can know any of us for such a short period of time and yet find names that are so perfect.  I suppose the Kamba must have a gift for this.  We should all be so lucky to understand others so well so fast.

lisa

Mwingi

Monday morning we took a drive from Machakos to Mwingi.  It was supposed to be five or six hours long but thankfully some recent road improvements cut it down to two hours.  This was especially a blessing for me as I awoke feeling as if 'Ralph' was knocking on the door and soon I'd have to answer.  I downed a couple Gravol and settled into the back seat for what I hoped would be a long and uneventful sleep.  Apparently it worked well as by the time I came to we were half an hour outside Mwingi.

Mwingi is a truck stop and it happens to be busy enough that there's now a town there too.  Generally it's full of transients, people looking for a score of some sort and Somali's.  This is a very different experience for us and immediately upon our arrival we could tell it was a different place and quite frankly I think it half shocked and scared some of us.  However, having been here for a little while now I think it's safe to say we feel safe where we are and during our walk for dinner tonight we enjoyed relating to the kids on the street.

After setting up the accommodations we headed to the work site (about 30 minutes away).  We spent time meeting and talking to the people we'll be with for the next week.  As always that was a huge pleasure.  After a quick meal most of us pitched in to help get things started.  It was good to finally 'get to work'.

I on the other hand took the time to sit down with Carlos Mutinda.  We talked for about 45 minutes and both of us learned a lot.  I'll try and tell you more about that later.

This week will be exhausting for most of us and we've all decided that we'll work towards getting to know at least one person who's story we can bring home to tell you.  Start looking forward to them now, these are amazing people.


lisa

Cameras

It doesn't matter where you are in the world, little kids love cameras.  They love to watch you take pictures.  They love to see the pictures.  And more than anything they love to see the pictures you take of them.  Nothing creates a crowd faster than a camera or video camera!

Well ok, maybe candy.

lisa

UPDATES

OK, we finally have a little internet so here come all the blogs we've written along the way.  They will post every couple hours.


lisa

Devotional, Thursday, August 19th

Job 1:21 (New International Version)



NAKED I CAME FROM MY MOTHER’S WOMB,
AND NAKED I WILL DEPART.
THE LORD GAVE AND THE LORD HAS TAKEN AWAY;
MAY THE NAME OF THE LORD BE PRAISED.


Job was a man who honoured God; he had been blessed by God. Satan took away the evidence of that blessing but the presence and caring of God remained. God allowed Satan to intervene in Job’s life. Job questioned God. He called out to God. He demanded an audience with God for answers and confirmation that he was blameless. Job’s wife and friends confronted him. People from his community who had respected him now scorned him.


Job admitted his sin and confirmed his belief in God. God answered Job “out of the storm”; Job’s life was in turmoil. God responded to Job with questions which Job could not answer. Although Job loved God he could not see God’s perspective. God showed Job that God was in control. Job acknowledges, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” Job called out to God until he heard God’s answers.


Job’s story challenges me to acknowledge God’s provision. Throughout my life change has been constant. Life has not proceeded according to plan. The plan has changed many times, and likely will again. God loves me. He has directed me and provided for me and helped me to learn. But still, when change is upon me I struggle to meet it with confidence. Instead of calling on God to lead me I resist the change. Instead of relying on God’s strength I feel inadequate and overwhelmed. God has prepared me and challenges me to step forward. I am responsible to use the skills He has given and the strength He provides.


This opportunity to travel to Kenya is a gift from God. God has supplied the resources to allow me to see the beauties of the world and His provision in the lives of people I will meet. I will be challenged to learn new things and contribute the skills the Lord has taught me.


Will I understand “the bigger picture” that God sees? I may not. But I can be sure that God loves me and will meet my needs as I ask Him. Open my eyes, Lord, to see You. Open my mouth, Lord, to praise you. Let me learn through this experience, to use the gifts and skills you have given me to embrace change in my life, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13 NIV.


Janice Evans

More thoughts

Tomatoes, passion fruit - truly mind boggling compared to last time. The dedication of the pump was very moving. Janet Mutanu

The hope that the water showed was so extrodinary to see so wonderful. It was so lovely to see the green. Stew

It was my first time at mitaboni. I was encouraged to see all the green growth caused by the weir being built. Colleen

It was great to return to mitaboni and see the transformation from brown and dead to green and alive. It was the best day so far. Glenn

During our time with the bishop today he asked what he and the church should learn from our experiences. He is wanting to learn how to be a better leader. Janice

Water of life. Frogs in the lake, beautiful water lilies, gardens waiting to be harvested and clean water for drinking. A beautiful site. Lynn

An encouragement to hear and see today the value and importance of our physical presence here in Kenya, building and strengthening relationships with our brothers and sisters. A God breathed day. Sara
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.