MCC Summer 09

Carroll's Final Words

2009-08-12T14:17:00.000-04:00

Dear friends, We arrived back at Dulles yesterday. This was our busiest trip. I actually never even read the blog or emails. We had so much to do and so little time to get it all done.We appreciate all your prayers and love. We felt your prayers. Just surviving Nairobi traffic is a miracle. It has gotten awful. Often it took us 1 hour to get to the school. The kids are looking well and Patrick has worked so hard on the school spending the rotary money. I will report all at our next meeting. Our group of folks were wonderful. The clinic saw over 600 people. Katie was able to examine ears and diagnose and there were a lot of ear problems! The clinic took up 6-8 people and lasted for 7 days. We now have a wonderful nurse who takes care of the kids beautifully. Her name is Katherine and she is very smart and teaches health lessons also.I hope you read that the primary choir came home from Mombasa with 3 first place trophies! Can you imagine their self esteem after such an experience! Patrick has the computer lab going and the high school students are so excited. They did not want to leave. Some tried to stay through the next session. Tom, Angie and Debbie worked hard getting the lab finished before we left. Internet connection at the school is $50 per month and I felt it was essential for teaching, communication, etc. The spirit of the teachers was high and they loved the party we gave all of them and they all came.This is a wonderful way of getting to know them and showing how much we appreciate their hard work. I have my time all mixed up and I typed this without my glasses but I wanted all of you to know the trip was a blessing to all of us and we are thankful for a safe trip home. Blessings and love, Carroll

News From Tanzania

2009-08-04T07:39:00.002-04:00

News from the team:
We arrived safely and had a great time at Tarangare National Park, Marangu and at KCMC. We are to visit the Masai clinic tomorrow and Panagani on Wednesday for some time at the Beach. The internet is slow so will be unable to post until back in Kenya. All are safe and enjoying Tanzania. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for safe travels!

Just a little reminder

2009-07-31T23:28:00.002-04:00

We are heading to Tanzania for a week. I do not think we will get internet for the next week. You can check the blog every few days and see if something gets posted. If we get some internet, than I will for surely put something up. Also, sorry about no pics from the field day. I had no time yesterday. I tried to get a few of the girls to post some pics while I was out, but I can see that did not get done. Van is here, so I got to get going. Take care everyone.

another exhausting day

2009-07-31T12:26:00.003-04:00

I ran out of time last night to post everything we did. It looks like I might run into a little trouble as well tonight. I am heading to the movies with Kate and Wayne, so I will try to get through as much as I can. I also am in the process of doing laundry. So I am multi tasking at the moment.

First of all, I want to mention the traffic. I know everyone gets it by now. The troubles of travel here in the city. Yesterday was by far the most horrible traffic we have encountered. It was so miserable. It was the hottest day that we have been in Africa by far. We have not had many sunny days here. But yesterday the sun was out in full force. So, it was like sitting in an oven while traveling in the vans. We were suppose to get back to the school at 1. That ended up being close to 3. I thought we were going to have a few people pass out on our way. We surely did have a few people with farmers tan. Not O Aaron thou. I am from the sunshine state. So, bring on the sun!

The school put on another performance for us. It was mostly for the people who were not with us the first day. It was still a great time. They did a few new songs this time. So it was a nice treat once again. Jane taught some of the kids how to use the recorders. They had a few days to practice a song and were put to the test. I was surprised. These kids had it down and performed it well. I was blow away by the time frame that they had to learn the song. But these kids are amazing. They continue to surprise me day by day.

Today was the olympic day for the school. Mostly all the events were running events. I got to perform in the 100 meter dash. I say dash, but I was nearly crawling along. I did not realize how far 100 meters really was. I only had to compete against the teachers and parents. But they all burned me. Well, except for one. I got him! I even got to slow down at the end and pull a Usain Bolt. There was a kid who ran the 5000 meter race. He was like a gazelle out there. He ran every lap like it was his first lap. There was no slowing up for this kid. He ran the first lap with over sized flip flops on. Than he kicked those off and ran in just his bare feet. A member from my team placed third. This gazelle lapped him twice. Half the field dropped out half way through. I do not blame them. I don't think I could of made it one lap. One lap is 400 meters. There surely is some true talent in this school. Both academically and physically.

One sad note to the day was watching the kids drop out of a race and fall to the ground. It was from a lack of water. Nearly all these kids drink one glass of water a day. So most of these kids are dehydrated most of the time. So you take that combination of dehydration. Than you throw a 5000 meter or 1500 meter race in there. What do you get? Mass chaos! The next sad note was that there was no water to drink at the field. I purchased a big bottle of water before I left for the field. So I started hooking up the runners from the red team with my water. They surely needed it more than me. I felt bad for the other teams, but I was being a team player first. Sorry guys! All the teams did a great job today. The yellow team, the lions, won the overall competition. The red team came in second. But one positive note was that the red team won the team who stood out the most. I like to contribute that to Caroline's and my leadership. I will give the teachers some credit too. They were the ones getting the team to stay off the track. We had a secondary student named Sam who was outstanding with the younger kids. He was by far the leader of the team. He was keeping all the kids in line, as well as, screaming out a chant. That chant was followed by another chant from the entire team. It really sounded awesome. I just wish I knew what they were saying.

Most of us got to walk back with the kids through the valley. It was most of our first experience with walking through the slums. It was a real eye opening experience. I walked alongside another guy name John. This kid is really sharp. He told me a little bit about his story, as well as, a little bit about the people of the valley. It costs a family around $6 U.S. dollars a month to rent a place in the valley. That seems like so little to us, but to these people it is alot of money. Especially when 80% of the population here is unemployed. Now John has to wake up at 4:30. He is at the bus stop by 5:30 to catch the bus into town. He has no parents, but lives with his aunt. He works odd jobs to raise money for his bus fair. I love this kid, because he is good looking, has great charisma, and works hard just to make it to school. Now, how many kids back in the states would do that to get to school. This kid is awesome. I have a new friend.

Oh, our driver his here. I got to run. I will catch up with you later. We leave at 6 in the morning to head to tanzania. Bye!

What a long day.

2009-07-30T15:21:00.002-04:00

Today was by far, the longest day we have had in Africa. Well, at least it felt like that to me. I am sure a few of the others would agree with me on that. We were on the road by 8 in the morning. We first headed to the giraffe farm. It was on the other side of the city, so it was quite a little drive to get out there. I wish I could comment on the giraffe farm, but I did not go in. Wayne and I just sat on the side lines and had a coke. There was not alot to the farm. They had 3 giraffes from what I could see. I live in Tampa bay and my parents have a home in Orlando. So, I can go to Disney's animal kingdom or busch garden's to see giraffes. So I passed on the $10 fee to look at the giraffe's for 30 minutes. I had a great time talking with Wayne and Claude. Claude is one of our drivers. We really have two great drivers. Their name's are Claude, of course, and Maxwell. They are not your typical drivers, because these men are educated men. They speak 3 or 4 languages and have been such a huge help to us here. I don't think our trip would be the same without these guys.

It was then off to the elephant orphanage. Now, I did partake in this activity. The orphanage takes care of 23 elephants at the moment. It was really funny, because you see the care takers come walking towards you with a line of what appears to be, pigmy elephants. It is just a big group of babies that were found in man holes or mother's had recently died. So they raise them, as well as, teach them some of the things that elephants must know to survive in the wild. They have these big O bottles filled with elephant formula. They first have the elephants chug down the bottle. Than they have them play in the water hole. The sun is really intense here along the equator, so it is vital that the elephants learn how to throw mud on themselves to protect themselves form the suns rays. The orphanage also has 3 rhinos.

Shopping time! We headed to this masai market to do a little shopping. It must of been the Macy's of masai markets. It was so expensive. If you got a chance to experience this market compared to the rest of the shopping here in Africa, it was a bit pricey. Akhuna matada( no worries) on my part. I did no shopping. But everyone else got ripped according to me. The best part of this experience for me was Julian. It was the masai warrior that greeted you at the door. He was in the full get up. He had more beads on than any Masai I have seen in Africa. Now Tom and some of the girls thought he was a fruity Masai. I was not to sure, but he sure did like talking to me, so they might have been right. He handed me his spear and ran off. He came back with his business card. He pointed out his e-mail and his cell phone number to me. The funny thing about that was, this guy did not really speak english. He knew a few words in english. So we were doing those hand gestures and stuff to communicate. So, now, how am I suppose to talk to him through e-mail or a call. I don't think that dictionary.com has a translation for masai to english. Funny guy still anyways.

To Mark and Rebekah's family. They wanted me to let everyone back home know that they made it to the airport and got off. So you should be seeing them tomorrow at some time. I am sure they will have many stories to tell you. Too bad they will not have a few more to tell you from the next week and half to come. You can always check back and see what the rest of the group is up to.

I really wish I could write some more. I sure do have more I can mention, but it is past 11 p.m. here and the computer room closes at 11. So I am sure the guard will be walking up any minute to kick me out. So I will get back on tomorrow to fill you in on a few more details for the day, as well as, our field day tomorrow. Bye bye!

Rebekah and Mark

2009-07-29T15:55:00.002-04:00

This will be our last blog since we are leaving tomorrow night. Please keep us in your prayers as we depart from Nairobi at 10:10 pm and arrive in Amsterdam at 5:30 am. Then we leave Amsterdam at 8:10 am and arrive in Detroit at 10:40 am American time Friday. From there, we fly out from Detroit at 1:50 pm and hope to arrive home in Greensboro around 3:30 pm Friday. We have missed everyone very much but it has been an incredible experience!!! Updating you everyday on here is a true blessing but we can't wait to tell you so much more in person!!! Today, we went to Mercy Care Centre for our last full day there. It was a very busy day with many projects going on and we also had to work around a testing schedule. I started out by going to the kindergarten class and asked them to sing to us again so we could videotape. The teacher and students were so excited about having an audience so they sang 15 songs to us!!!! It sounded so beautiful and I joined in with the songs that were not in Swahili. Then I had foam visors for each kindergartner to decorate and wear. I don't believe they had ever seen anything like it before because they were so appreciative and the smiles on their faces never went away. After that, I went to the first grade class where I told the story of Jonah and we made two crafts. One of those crafts was using tissue paper and none of the kids wanted to tear it. Dad and I had to tear most of the paper for them. This shows how thankful they are of having crafts and not waste anything. After lunch, Patrick took dad and I on a tour of the Mathare Valley. Every where we walked, we were stepping around trash or sewage. He took us up to a higher point that overlooked the valley and we took many pictures of the hundreds of shacks packed so close together. We stood there for awhile just looking all around and thanking God for a home to live in, showers, bathrooms, clean floors, and a safe environment. We also ask that you would remember in prayer the people that were involved in an uprising today. An individual was run over and killed by a van on a street we drive on everyday. A riot broke out and spread through some parts of Nairobi. I believe it has settled down some but we pray for easy travel tomorrow as we head to the airport. We want to say again how grateful we are for our church who helped provide for this opportunity to spread God's love among all the people here. Also, thank you so much to those who have been reading the blog and keeping us in your daily prayers. It means the world to us and we can't wait to see you all soon and tell you about all the incredible stories we have!!!!! We love you!!!!

2009-07-29T15:14:00.001-04:00

2009-07-29T14:45:00.001-04:00

Jane D.

2009-07-29T13:01:00.003-04:00

Finally, a note from Jane! Apologies to those of you who have been looking for news from me. As you might expect, I have been having my own set of issues with the blog and the computer, but tonight I will try yet one more time. I'll do my best to bring you up to date . . .
First I should report that we all are well. There are 14 of us on this trip, and you may have heard that there is currently rioting in the streets of Nairobi, which is the result of an incident today in the city. We were told not to go out tonight because it is not safe. One of our vans was rerouted this afternoon on the way back to the guest house from the school, and things just got worse from there. So the good news is we will have our first evening without responsibilities, and we may be able to get a really good night's rest. The traffic in Nairobi is worse than ANYwhere I have ever seen, and while we are housed not far from the school, it usually takes us over an hour to get there because of the rush hour traffic. Also, it appears as if there are no driving regulations of any sort. Fortunately we have some very savvy drivers who weave in and out of this unbelievable traffic with remarkable ease.
For those of you who were worried about my getting sick -- well, it appears you were right! I visited a "doctor" when we were on safari over the weekend. I received a penicillin shot in my butt and three other meds - (Yes, the needle was clean!) -- and I appear to be on the road to recovery. No worries, but I will have some good stories . . .
The experience at Mercy School is extraordinary. My traveling companions are are interesting and fascinating folks, each with unique gifts and talents. I'm not quite the oldest, but almost! I hope you have time to read their blog entries as there are some very interesting and detailed stories about our experiences so far. I won't repeat, but I will certainly expound when I return home. Plus I hope you are enjoying the photographs. Many that are on the blog were seen through my eyes, but all of us are taking pictures like crazy!
Julie, you asked about the weather. Interestingly enough, it is not all that hot, maybe low 80s. In fact, we didn't even see the sun for the first 4 or 5 days, but the pollution here is sooooo bad, that the sun is shielded from its own rays. However, it is unbearably hot in the crowded classrooms at the school, but the kids and staff never complain -- only us visitors! :-)
The time is going quickly as we are fast approaching the end of our second week. With the exception of the safari weekend, virtually all of our time has been spent at or about the school. We are all feeling quite exhausted by this time, but the needs here are so great that you feel as if you could never do enough. There has been nothing in my life that could have prepared me for what I have seen and experienced thus far. Mercy Care Centre is an amazing, amazing place, plopped right in the center of the worst slums in Africa. It will be impossible to view the world in the same way when I return as when I left.
I will confess, I am not crazy about African food, so I will look forward to a good pizza from Chris' Charcoal Pit . . .!
All is well here, so don't worry. We are sharing lots of laughter, even amidst all this poverty. I will indeed have tales to tell upon my return. My Kindle has been a good companion for late night reading, and that has been a real blessing.
I probably will not write many times on the blog, but I hope you will continue to read the postings from my new friends. I'll save my stories for later, in person. Please continue to post notes if time permits - It is always nice to hear from all of you. Love to you all, including Skipper and Sadie! :-)

2009-07-29T12:33:00.001-04:00

Maria-Theresa Dragg

2009-07-29T09:49:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was awesome! We went to the Massai Mara Fig Tree Camp and saw all types of animals: wildebeest, lions, cheetah, leopard, hyena, warthog, giraffe, you name it we saw it. After a nice weekend we departed Maasai Mara and upon driving for 30 minutes we had a flat tire. To make a long story short, we experienced 5 flat tires in all before arriving safely at the Mennonite Guest House. I took wonderful pictures and I can't wait to show them off when I get home
Last week I had asked Patrick if he would be able to get a pig so that we could complete a dissection. I know when I was younger that was the one thing I looked forward to in high school biology so I figured the kids would enjoy it as well. I was a bit surprised when he told me that he was able to get a pig but that it was alive and I would have to kill it. Thankfully , with the help of the students we successfully prepared the pig for dissection. The kids were so excited and were able to name all the different organs and even describe there function. They enjoyed it so much that I was asked if we could dissect a frog if the students could find one. Hopefully by tommorrow we can find a frog and perfrom one more dissection.
Today I was able to complete a chemistry lab with the students. They were very careful and followed all procedures as we were working with hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide etc. It was perfect because the kids have been learning about acids and bases so they were well prepared for the lab. Each students was able to peform five tests to determine whether they were given an acid, base, or neutral. They all turned in stellar work describing in detail their findings! After instruction one of the students asked if he could read a poem that he had written during break. It was a thank you poem and I could not withold my tears.
We also had our second beautiful chapel service and the teachers singing was beautiful; very inspirational!

2009-07-28T15:40:00.001-04:00

Rebekah and Mark

2009-07-28T15:31:00.002-04:00

Greetings to all of our family and friends!!!! We miss you all very much and look forward to seeing you very soon. Today was a pretty busy and hectic day with a lot of stuff going on. We left earlier than usual for the MCC but we ended up getting stuck in traffic and it took us an hour to get there. But once we got there, we got right down to business. I started the day by helping dad teach a religion class with the 10th graders. It was a huge class of about 50 with varied ages and only about 12 Bibles to share among them. He challenged them to trust God like Moses did as he led the children of Israel out of Egypt and they accepted. He presented the teacher, Moses, with a Bible atlas to use in his lessons along with several other books to help the schools library have a religion section. We also made necklaces for each student to wear and they were very excited to be included. Next, we went to the kindergarten class where I read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book and then we made butterflies out of coffee filters for their wings and a clothespin for the body. After they had decorated them with bright colors and assembled them, they began flying them around the room. Then the teacher began leading them in several songs which was absolutely beautiful!!! Later on, dad went and taught the 9th graders about the Sermon on the Mount and the Beattitudes. Three of the students raised their hands that members of their family had died during the uprising last year. He promised to pray for them. While he was teaching them, I went and worked with the 6th graders. We had a lesson about being fishers of men and then made cross necklaces for each student. I also read the caterpillar book and then did a word search, a craft about the butterfly stages, and a maze. They really enjoyed all the activities and I think they were a little overwhelmed. Also, throughout the day, we gave out treat bags for all 600 kids at the school. They were so happy to receive them and it was very humbling to see them so excited about having small things like a pencil or eraser. We left the school around 3:00 and headed towards the market to do some shopping. We were not there very long though because one of the vendors stole money from a lady in our group. We bought a few items but we are going to a different market on Thursday to shop some more!!! YAY!!!! Thank you so so so much for your prayers and we look forward to heading home Thursday night. We love each of you and appreciate you following us by reading our blogs. Have a wonderful day!!!

A Busy Day

2009-07-28T13:59:00.002-04:00

Today was so busy! We started getting all the computers running, the projector working, and the document camera going. Also, we continued the clinic, disected a pig, learned recorders and many other special projects. The team is working so hard! We just don't have enough time to get it all done. Thanks for your constant prayers and comments. We are working hard to encourage the teachers who work so hard. They are brave to put up with us disturbing their routine. Most a re so eager to learn. Mark will lead our chapel tomorrow and we are trying to sing a song with Jane on the guitar.also. I am going to bed. Several of us have to move rooms tomorrow again! Blessings and love, Carroll

2009-07-28T13:50:00.000-04:00

Kibalo's 1st day at MCC

2009-07-28T13:34:00.003-04:00

Today was our 1st day at Mercy Care. We had to drive into the Mathare Valley Slum to get to the school. The kids greeted us when we arrived with big smiles. The children who are not part of the school followed us around most of the day when we were not inside the school. Tom & Andrea worked with the kids on computers and Debi helped in the clinic. We also helped pass out goodie bags to the students. They were very appreciative. We left the school around 3pm and went to the Westlands Markets. There were lots of shops and the shop owners were very aggressive with their sales pitches. We didn't stay long but will shop more later. Since returning to the Mennonite Guest House we have been relaxing and recuperating from the day. We are looking forward to returning to the school tomorrow.

Aaron Swafford

2009-07-27T15:46:00.003-04:00

Me again. I know everyone gave you a good run down of their time and the groups time in the Masa Mara. I was really pumped to talk about the green mamba that dropped out of the tree right next to Maria theresa and I as we were standing on her and Caroline's porch. But I noticed how Caroline already covered that. She also mentioned the baboon that cruised past Maria Theresa and I as we were both sitting on our own porches. So thanks Caroline. Steal a man's glory. I almost feel like I don't need to do anymore blogging, because everyone covers all the good stuff. So I will just tell you about a few of my nights around the camp fire. Wait a second. Did I say camp fire. Their camp fire was a bunch of charcoal piled one atop of another. The only thing that was missing was the charcoal grill and burgers. It was really funny, because everyone had to scoot their chairs up really close just to fill any heat. We were practically laying in the fire. You know, the fire actually looked like the flame from a lighter. It was still a great time thou.

You ever heard of the southern cross. I know I never have. For those of you that do not know what it is, it is a formation of stars that you can only see south of the equator. Seeing that I never have been south of the equator, I never heard of it. One thing I never get to see back home in Florida is a bright sky. Full of stars, the milky way, and the plow. I never heard of the plow either. It was nice to be surrounded by almost total darkness. It really illuminated the sky.

Now, every night when it approached midnight, Wayne and I would walk Carroll and Katie back to their tent. It was on the far side of the compound. It was the scariest walk. It was so dark out there. I always thought I was going to step on a snake. Especially after the green mamba incident. The first night Carroll told me to walk Katie back to the tent, which I was fine with. BUT..... Who was going to walk me back. I know a man is suppose to be fearless and manly. I am not going to lie to you. I am not fearless. I am manly, but I have no shame in saying that I just do not do long walks in the dark, alone. Katie was whiling to walk herself back to the tent. But I felt to bad. Wayne came back to the charcoal, lighter, baby flame fire to talk a little more. Good O Wayne! He just loves to talk. Good thing thou, because he walked with us, as well as, Kate.

You know the crazy thing about walking around the compound at night. There has not been heavy rain in the park since 2006. There was only scattered showers during 2007. There really has been no rain in the past year. So the river was no more in many parts of the compound. So it was kind of like a super sized ditch in a few areas. There was no water right by Katie and Carroll's tent. So who is to say that no lions or such will run across the dried up river and into the compound. I am consider myself a pretty quick runner. But, could you imagine Wayne and I out running a group of lions or hyenna's in the dark. Good thing I am faster than Wayne. Sorry Wayne!

I have to mention before I sign off. I did not get to see a crocodile. I was so disappointed. I was hoping that I could just sit near the river and keep my camera on and catch a crocodile taking out a zebra or wildebeest. The rain really killed everything. They really need rain badly in the park. The game reserve was so big. We were two hours from the mara river by vehicle. The mara river is where you see the wildebeest and zebra cross the rivers. So I was a little disappointed for not getting to see it, but I still had a great time.

Catch you later!

more photos

2009-07-27T14:58:00.003-04:00

Masai Mara

2009-07-27T14:29:00.004-04:00

Kibalo's in Africa

2009-07-27T14:12:00.004-04:00

We finally made it!!! Our trip was originally postponed due to the death of my grandmother on 7/18. She passed away while on the phone with my father from natural causes and she will be greatly missed. We arrived in Nairobi on Friday night, after a really long flight and a layover in Ethiopia, and had a really great dinner with the teachers at Mercy Care. Everyone was really nice and one of them asked me to marry them!! We woke up early on Saturday to drive to Masa Mari which took almost 6 hours. We checked into our tents (which sounds bad but they were more like luxury hotel rooms) and saw baboons right outside. Later we went on an afternoon safari and it was amazing. We saw lots of giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, mongoose, antelopes, gazelles, warthogs, hyenas, hippos, and ostrich (I'm sure there were more that I can't think of). We were also lucky and got to see 4 cheetahs and a leopard which are rare to spot. After the safari we went back to our tents and there was an elephant right outside. The next day we woke up early and were determined to find some lions. We spent the morning trying to find them but were not lucky. We still got to see many amazing animals and the sunrise. Afterwards, we had breakfast in the bush and went on a nature walk. We relaxed for the rest of the day and went on one more safari. Again, we were looking for lions and our drivers were stressed out thinking we might not find any. We spent almost 2 hours looking and finally found a pack of about 20! We then saw the sunset and came back to the lodge. During dinner, my mom and Carol surprised me with the locals singing a few songs and their version of "Happy Birthday". It was really cool but also really embarrassing. Overall, it was probably the best birthday weekend I have ever had. Today, we drove back to Nairobi which ended up taking closer to 7 or 8 hours because we had 4 flats along the way, it was ridiculous. Tomorrow we are going to the school for the first time and looking forward to do what we can to help.

Back to the guesthouse!

2009-07-27T14:04:00.002-04:00

We had a very nice safari but it is amazing how much damage has happened in the Mara in only one year. The Masai continue to graze their cattle and they even poisoned many lions because they killed several cattle. I fear for the game reserves of Kenya. We all had a pretty typical African experience today with 4 flats and running out of gas. Then when we returned to the guesthouse they had gotten all our rooms mixed up but we all ended up with a bed. We finished up our bags tonight and will give to the kids tomorrow. We have a lot to do in just 4 days! Continue to pray for our team. Several are on antibiotics for respiratory infection but are recovering well. Wish all of you could experience the love and joy of the kids! Blessings, Carroll

Caroline on safari

2009-07-27T13:45:00.003-04:00

Lion Country Safari? Whoa. Being on safari is way cool!! Unlike anything else. It is amazing how many animals cohabitate on the open plains. The park doesn't even have fences, so on the way there, zebra and giraffes just stroll about, mingling with the Masai people, crossing the dirt road at will. The drive there took about 5 or 6 hours to get there, but the last hour or hour and a half were bumpy dirt roads and nothing but the Masai people wearing their traditional cloths. They look a little like red togas, but tied around their necks so both shoulders are exposed and they adorn themselves with all kinds of beaded jewelry. I'm sure you will see some photos of them on the main blog page. My eyes were going bonkers gazing at all the beads and sparkles! The thing that caught me most by surprise was the fact that they wear their "native" tribal garb all the time. It's not like they are just dressed up for the tourists. That's really how they dress every day. Their homes are made of mud and twigs and in a strange way, at least not having rain has kept their home intact. The last rain they had in that region was in 2006 and they had a few scattered showers in 2007. The Masai people seem to all be shepards. They herd their sheep or cows constantly searching for a few blades of grass to chew. Many of the cows were boney. It is very sad. The landscape is desert, as you can guess, and it is just crazy to me that the wild animals that we only have contained in zoos, strolling about around their homes.
The actual safari was amazine, too. We all got so many really cool pics. The most numerous animals are wildebeest and zebra. There are also a lot of Tom's gazelle and baboons. We saw hippos and an elephant right near our room, and one of the funniest moments was when Maria was on the porch of our tent while I was in the bathroom, and she yelled, "Caroline! A baboon just walked by!" So much urgency in her voice! And no wonder! The baboon was no more than five feet from her and had a baby on her back. Also, a green mambo (one of the most poisonous snakes in all of Africa fell out of the flower bush two feet from our porch and slithered at warp speed into the brush. If it had bit one of us, we would have died within an hour. Nothing like that to induce a peaceful night's sleep! Last night I heard a hippos in the "river" right outside our tent, splashing about in the middle of the night. Thank God my bed was so cozy!
Not too sure what tomorrow will bring for me back at Mercy Care because I contracted a sinus infection and now have laryngitis. Don't worry, I'm on an antibiotic. So I really shouldn't work in the clinic, and I can't really teach anything without a voice!
Dennis, I know you've been trying to reach me. Please be patient. As you can tell, communications are tedious at best. Sending my love to everyone and hope to post again soon!

Carol------

Rebekah and Mark

2009-07-27T13:26:00.002-04:00

WOW!!!! What an amazing time we had on the Maasai Mara safari!! We left here from the Mennonite house around 7:00 on Saturday. The roads were very bumpy and rocky on the way to the resort we were staying at. It took us about 5 hours to get there and we had one flat tire on the way which set us back a little bit. On the way to the resort, we saw a lot of wildlife and Maasai villages. We were all so relieved to arrive at the Fig Tree Resort and not be bouncing around in the van. The resort was absolutely beautiful!!!!!! There were many open huts for things like the eating area and gift shop. There was also a tree house you could go up into and look out over the huge plain. Dad and I went up and immediately saw a giraffe, many wildabeasts, impalas, and also zebras. We shared a permanent tent together that overlooked the river. We had to make sure we zipped up the tent each time we left because small monkeys could easily get in and steal things like your camera or food. Once we carried our bags to our tent, it was time for our first out of three safaris. We made sure all of our camers were fully charged and with our safari gear on, we were headed out with much excitement!!!! We rode in jeeps which had a top that popped up so we were able to stand up. The first animal we saw was an impala. Soon after, we saw many wildabeasts, zebras, and warthogs. Then we approached 6 giraffes that were within 5 yards of us. We took MANY pictures and it was truly a spectacular sight!!! We continued driving arouind for about 2 1/2 hours seeing more animals such as a leopard up in a tree, 6 cheetah, and 4 hippos. I mentioned to dad several times about how much I wanted to see an elephant. We never saw a single one. Once we got back, we headed for our tent. I was in front of dad and once I got close enough to see the river in front, I saw a huge elephant!!!!! He was standing on the rocks eating from a tree nearby. It was such a surprise but an unforgettable moment!!! He was so close that I could hear him flap his ears. The next morning, we left at 6:30 for another adventure!!! We saw many more zebras, gazeles, impalas, wildabeasts, warthogs, buffalos, and several hyenas. We all really wanted to see lions but we couldn't find any. When we got back, we had breakfast out in the bush and then we went on a nature walk with a few Maasai people. He showed us a trail in the grass where a python had been and where hippos had slept. We came back and rested for awhile before our last safari at 4:00. We were all determined to find lions and we weren't going to leave until we saw at least one!!! Our two drivers booked it really far until we could almost see Tanzania because they thought lions would be out there. We were unsuccessful after much communication with other vans and driving around but we weren't about to give up. The other drivers were telling us to look where all the vans were gathered and once we saw them, we held on tight for the fast drive down into the valley. On our way there, we saw around 1o giraffes eating in the trees but we didn't even slow down for them beacuse we were so excited about the lions. When I first saw them on the rocks, I was in awe of how beautiful they were. There were many cubs playing with their mom and one lion who was sitting on top of the large rock to let everyone know she was in charge. I took so many pictures and dad did a video. We stayed there for awhile just enjoying the moment. We counted a total of 20 lions altogether!!!!!! Then it was time to head back but that was okay with us because we had seen our lion. While driving back to the resort, we watched a magnificent sunset with all kinds of wildlife in the backdrop. The site was breathtaking!!! On Monday morning we sadly left the resort headed back to the guest house in Kenya but......that doesn't mean we got there in a reasonable amount of time. Between the two vans we had for our group, we had four blow-outs on one van and then we ran out of gas with the other van in a very dangerous place. A drive that was supposed to take five hours, took around 9 hours!!! We were all exhausted from the very long journey but all of it was worth it for the incredible sights we saw!!!!! We are going back to the Mercy Care Centre tommorrow morning so please continue praying for all the kids we are ministering with through the clinic, play time, and teaching. Hope to update you soon!!!

Back from Masai Mara

2009-07-27T13:02:00.003-04:00

Hello again from the Masai Mara. It was one crazy day of travel as you can see. I do not remember the exact number of flats. We had one flat on the way to the Mara, and I want to say either 4 or 5 on the way back. We would have to all unload from the cars, to have one of the drivers head towards the closest town to have the tire tube patched. We would get 30 minutes down the road and that same tire would bust. If you could see the roads that we were traveling on, you would understand why we kept busting the tubes of our tires. The roads were like dirt roads with mini sized boulders all over it. I think I actually have internal bleeding from the bumpy ride. All the problems kept happening the same tire, on the same van. I just so happened to be in the other van. So I thought it was great. We kept pulling over in some interesting places. It was all good to me. That was until we (the other van) ran out of gas. Now it was our turn to experience some frustration. Only this time, the other van was way ahead of us and nearly back to the guest house. So we were left to ourselves with no one to take one of us to get gas. That is when our brave driver hiked it to the nearest gas station and filled up on a little bit of petrol. The bad thing about this was, we were stranded in a very bad part of the country. Before we were in the country side with only a few Masai and passing cars to worry about. This time we were in a rough neighborhood. That is when Patrick had mark close his window. Than he went on to tell us that two tribes are still killing each other in the area. Also, it was a big area for carjackings and theft. Patrick said they will take your car, and all your clothes and only leave you in your underwear if you are lucky. Thanks Patrick! That put all of us into the right spirit.

The Masai Mara was beautiful. We stayed at the most amazing hotel. It was funny, because it was called a hotel. It was more like these luxurious tents with your own personal bathrooms. It had a beautiful dining hall, pool, lounge, and small fire circle just to name a few amenities. The best thing about this hotel was that it was all open to the outdoors. So the dining hall had netting around it to keep the bugs, birds, and bats out. It was by far the nicest establishment we have seen in Kenya thus far.

Our tents were so amazing. It had two nice beds that were changed in the morning and night. In the morning, the comforter was changed to a light comforter to just lounge on. In the evening, your room attendant changed your bed with these super comfortable white comforter. So this hotel was really a class act. Our back porches was by far the best part. We had a river running alongside our porches. So you could see baboons, elephant, hippos, and a few other species. The last night we were at the Mara, you could hear the monkeys going crazy at around 3 or 4 in the morning, than a loud scream, and than some silence. So we thank a leopard got a monkey.

I know a few others are writing out some blogs this evening, so I don't want things to get repetitive. I will post up a few pictures and read everyone's blog. Than I will try to fill in some areas that might have been left off.

check these two photos out

2009-07-24T16:27:00.004-04:00

I had to put these two photos up. For one thing, I only got to take like 20 photos in the past 24 hours. I did not see anyone from the group after we got back from dinner that I could of borrowed photos from. Mark, I saw you, but did not see you snap any shots, so I did not ask you. The first photo up there is a boy from the school. he is kicking what they use for soccer balls. I am not sure exactly what it is made up of. From what I could tell, it is plastic bags all bunched up with some tape or something around it. I am sure I am way off, but either way, it sure is crafty. I never would of thought to do that. It works really well thou. The kids have a rocks on opposite sides that they use as goals. So they have someone stand post as goalie. And a few guys will try to kick it through.

The second picture was at the restaurant we ate at tonight. I had to take a photo of this one. It was just funny, because that seems so true about parking your car here. Every car here has the license plate number written on every window and nearly every part of their car so people will not steal it. Kind of crazy!

The previous five photos you see took me forever to upload. I got timed out once after like 20 minutes. Than the computer room was closing, so I had to walk outside. The wireless does not work in the comupter for some odd reason, so I got timed out once again. That upload was nearly 30 minutes. We have a big group that arrived here this evening. I saw 3 of them plugging away on their computers. So the bandwidth went from little to almost non existent. So that super long upload time went even crazier. Even with me exporting the files. So than I uploaded again outside for another 30 minutes for you to see what you see. I just want everyone to know how much I want to rip my hair out. But all these kids here have a good spirit, so I sure am trying to keep mine up.

If any of you ever meet me back in the states. I am hoping for some good dinners. See you after the Masa Mara

2009-07-24T16:04:00.000-04:00

Rebekah and Mark

2009-07-24T15:40:00.003-04:00

Hello to all of our dear friends and family!! We miss you so much but we are having an incredible time!!!!! We left from the guest house at 8:30 this morning to go to the Mercy Care Centre. Traffic is terrible in Kenya so it took us a little while to get there but the kids were already waiting to welcome us for another day filled with blessings. Dad and I went to the preschool class first today. They share a larger room with the fourth graders and are divided only by a small partition. The only light they have in the room for almost 100 kids is from one door. Today I read a book called "Bear Feels Sick" which is about all the animals of the woods taking care of the sick bear and once he gets better, all the other animals get sick. They loved the story and clapped after I had finished reading which was really cool!! In advance, I had printed out a picture of a real bear on a piece of paper for each of the kids. I also gave them a piece of felt which they glued on top of the bear like a blanket. They really enjoyed that. Then we made a snack that went along with the story. We took two cookies and used peanut butter to hold them together and form an upside down "V" shape like a tent. Then we put a gummy bear underneath the tent. After all the kids had made the snack, not one kid picked it up to eat it. They all just stared at it in amazement. I told them at least 5 times that they could eat it but they wouldn't. So the teachers and I ate some in front of them and they finally ate theirs after that. They were a wonderful class to share with!!!
Next, we went to the fourth grade class. I read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to them and then we gave them 10 different pieces of paper with either a fruit from the story, the cocoon, or the butterfly. Then after they colored them all, I re-read the story and they put the pictures in order of how the story happened. They were very attentive and interactive. Then we made a caterpillar snack using a small pretzel stick, fruit loops to slide on the pretzel, and a marshmallow for the head. Some of the pretzels broke when the kids slid the fruit loops on it and so we would give them another one. Other kids saw that so they began to purposely break theirs so they could get another. The teacher told dad that 90% of the kids at the Mercy Care Centre never got three meals a day. This broke both of our hearts and we actually gave them all an extra marshmallow to eat. Then before I left I had a stuffed caterpillar that you could turn inside out and make a butterfly. The kids were in awe when they saw me "magically" make it into a butterfly. I passed it around the room and the kids would pretend to fly it around the room. I took many pictures which they always love. One little boy actually hid the butterfly in his knapsack which was hung on the wall. As I'm sure you can tell, we had so much fun with them!!!! Then at the end, the teacher came up to me with the stuffed butterfly and quietly asked me if I would mind to take her picture with it. I cannot explain to you what this meant to me and I thought about how that's what this is all about-sharing God's love in unique ways with those who need it the most.
Then for supper, we went to an African restaurnat with most of the teachers from the Mercy Care Centre. We were told to spread out among the teachers so we could talk more with them and let them tell us their story. I talked in great detail with a lady named Rose who was the teacher of the fourth grade class I mentioned above. She has been a teacher at the MCC for 11 years and she told me that she walked most days to school for an hour and a half!!!!! I was completley shocked and humbled that someone is so dedicated to their job, that they would walk for that long. I'm sure many of you complain about driving to work and how it takes you 30 or 45 minutes. I pray that we will realize how truly blessed we are and not take these things for granted. It was a wonderful fellowship in the Lord and we all really enjoyed getting to know them all better.
We will unfortunately not be able to update you for several days because we are leaving early tomorrow morning for the 3 day safari where there is no internet. WE CANNOT WAIT to see all the incredible wildlife!!!!!! We will be back Monday afternoon so I will try my best to post something then. Please continue praying for all the children and teachers at the Mercy Care Centre. We love you!!!!

P.S. Just wanted to let you know, for those who read about the very sick girl who came to the clinic yesterday with Black Water, she is doing MUCH better!!! They checked her temperature and it was normal. When dad took her back from the clinic, her and dad held hands and skipped back to the classroom. It was definitley an answer to everyone's prayer!!!!

The teachers dinner

2009-07-24T13:48:00.003-04:00

We just finished our teachers dinner and arrived back at the guest house. Man, what a night. I really had the greatest time. I did not enjoy the traffic to get there, but I think many of you are starting to really get the picture that Nairobi might have the worst traffic in the world. But man, the time we had at dinner with all the teachers put the traffic out of our mind. Now this restaurant was an open restaurant. We had this huge long table with a little tin roof over our head. The rest of it is all open to the outdoors. We had a super long table as you can see. It was Carroll's idea that there was one person from our group next to two staff members. I was a little hesitant at first. It was such a great idea. We went down the table and had to get up and tell everyone about the people who sit to the left and to the right of us. I actually had three people to introduce. But I would of had it no other way now. I went from only knowing a couple teachers, to knowing nearly all of them, because of this dinner. I am looking forward to returning to the school and greeting them by their name.

These teachers are really great people. Seeing the area that the school comes from, I am still blown away by the intelligence of these teachers. They are spectacular people. There seems to be so much joy in them. I know we as Americans complain about the little things that are wrong in our life. You have to see what these people go through. Somehow, they still seem to have a better overall attitude about life.

Well everyone, I really hope that everyone is enjoying the blogs I am putting up. I really wish I had more time to sit on the computer and update you on everything that is going on. Unfortunately, there is not enough time in the day. This will most likely be the last blog before we had to the Masa Mara in the morning. So check back on monday for some updates. I will put up a few pictures before I leave. I also need to track some people down and get some photos from them. I am still a little short on photos from working the clinic.

Thanks zack. That actually cut my uploading time down alot. It still takes me a few minutes to upload one photo, but Rome wasn't built in a day either.

Oh! I had to mention our blogs from last night. I read them this morning and found it very funny that nearly every blog mentioned the same stuff. That is only because all of our hearts were touched by many of the same things or the same events that took place. So sorry about that. Also, I saw that we had some posts for the girl who had blackwater fever. Some had a temperature of 102 and another had 104. The temperature was around 102. There was someone in the clinic who threw 104 out there and that was heard by one. So a little mix up. No big deal thou Caroline, medicine woman. Haha. 104 would not be moving much, 105 is brain dead, and I think you can guess what 106 will do to ya.

Well everyone, we will catch back up with all of you on monday. So everyone take care and have a good time. I know we will!

A very good day

2009-07-24T07:47:00.002-04:00

Today was really a great day here in Nairobi. We woke up this morning and we actually saw the sun. I am not sure about the group, but that was such an inspiration for myself. I was starting to think that the sun did not come out here. I know the first day we arrived you could see the sun shining in a few sparce areas. The sun sure is shining today thou. You still have alot of scattered clouds and the smog around the city.

The clinic was really alot more uplifting today. We saw the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and I want to say the 6th also today. It was alot easier to get these age groups through the clinic. Scabbies was still present among many of the kids, but you would just have a spot or two. Which if you saw the children from the younger grades was a huge differance. It just goes to show how much healthier the kids who have been a part of the school for many years. I can only imagine the clinic will run quicker and alot easier. Today we did have a case of staph infection on the hand for one girl. But if you saw the living conditions over here, you could trully understand the cause to so many illnesses.

Now, we left the school just after lunch today. Tonight is going to be our teachers dinner in town. So we had to get back to the guest house and get ready. You could understand also if you saw the traffic here. it could take 2 hours to get somewhere here which would take just 5-10 minutes back home. I wanted to let everyone know that we really did not have much time to do much blogging until we get back from the teachers dinner tonight. Also, we have been short on pictures from yesterday, as well as, today. Most of us are running the clinic. So we just do not have the opportunity to get outside the clinic and snap photos. I really did not think it would be a great idea to take pictures of the kids who needed treatment. Those of us who are not in the clinic are working very hard on teaching. Mark has really taking a huge initiative in helping these kids out. We see kids coming into the clinic with pencils glued to their hands that are about 3 inches long. When you only got one pencil, you run it down to you just can not hold it anymore. I guess they just do not want anyone to take it also. So that is really something that has been heart breaking. Nothing goes to waist out here.

I did not really mention anything about Janes mission yesterday. She went into town with the music teacher to get some instruments for the school. I know she picked up a guitar and other instruments that I could not even begin to name. I guess it turned into a mission for her. She said the downtown district has the worst traffic. It was sort of like a parking lot with running cars. She was stop and go for many hours just to grab a few music items.

We had the last 3 members of our team show up today. Carroll and two others left the school at 11 to pick up the Kibalo family. I hear that took quite a while to get to the airport also. Now, we will do our best to get a few pictures up later this evening when we return to the guest house. I will have to walk around and see who has some pictures to put up. Also, we will be leaving early in the morning to head to the Masa Mara. We will be staying in tents I believe near a river. So we will not have internet access. Upon our return, we will have alot of amazing pictures for you. So please check back on monday.

Dr. Caroline... Medicine woman

2009-07-23T16:13:00.002-04:00

Not really! Ha. This morning Rebekah and I read a book and made a craft with some of the 2nd graders. Their classroom had no lights, only the hole in the corrugated steel that forms the door. The structure was completed entirely of branches (as posts and beams) and corrugated steel on the walls and ceiling. Carroll is going to buy some clear corrugated plastic to make skylights so they can see in there. The kids loved the craft and cheered and screamed when we pulled out a camera to take their picture at the end.

The second half of the day was spent in the clinic, where Dr. Caroline learned to identify scabies and saw some really horrible cases. One girl came in with a fever of 104. Her untreated malaria had turned into Blackwater fever, and we are all praying that she comes through. Her parents won't take her to the hospital because that would mean they would have to take off from work. What a dreadful decision to make as a parent! We saw more than 200 kids, and will be seeing many more tomorrow.

Tonight we had dinner at an Indian restaurant which was delicious!! All the same recognizable food from home... sort of! I finally washed my hair today---a must after treating all those sick children. We are going through the hand sanitizer fast!

FYI, it takes us several days to see the posts that you all are adding. We can't understand why. Sometimes we can see what is posted immediately, and then the next time we look, our site has reverted to the previous day's. That seems much in line with all the other strange things of this land. This place sometimes feels like I am on another planet. I have never ever ever seen anything like this, not even a photo. If something doesn't make sense, that means it fits right in with the rest of our experiences. It will be a pleasure to join the teachers for a dinner tomorrow at a restaurant in their honor. Hopefully we can really get to know some of them. They are truly dedicated professionals who put their heart in to their work for these children. They have so little!

I'll write again when I can, but the computer is often tied up and when it's free it's past my bedtime. Hope you are doing well!

Maria-Theresa Dragg

2009-07-23T15:57:00.002-04:00

Today was eye opening. There are so many things that need to be done. Me Carroll, Caroline, Kate, Anni, and Wayne were all working feverishly to help assess all the children. When I was in nursing school I would often read about scabies and impetigo but was often told by my professors that those diagnoses were cases that I would most likely not experience; boy were they wrong! The first 98 students all seemed to be afflicted by scabies and I saw the worst case of staph. At one point I had to excuse myself as the little boy that I was evaluating was so brave when I was cleaning his wound which I knew had to be painful. After the morning shift we ate a beautiful lunch on ugali and that seemed like collard greens. In the afternoon we saw another group of children and by the end of the day we had seen 200 kids total.

On a more uplifting note, I thought it would be cool for the biology kids to dissect a pig. I asked Patrick if we could somehow find a pig so hopefully we can find a pig by Friday so that the kids can actually perform a dissection as opposed to writing it out as though they had completed the lab. I cannot wait for tomorrow!

Just a short follow up

2009-07-23T15:52:00.003-04:00

The site had Carroll's blog saved, but not posted, since the internet went down. So you might find that a few things might have been repeated. So sorry about that.

Rebekah and Mark

2009-07-23T15:38:00.002-04:00

Jambo!!! That means hello in Swahili. We sure haven't picked up much of the language so we just go around saying Jambo to everyone. We went back to the Mercy Care Centre again today and it was a harder day than yesterday. We went a different way than yesterday and drove through where many of the burnings took place during the uprising last year. There were heaps of trash all over the bumpy roads and nothing had been rebuilt. It was a horrible site to see and we will never forget the indescribable things we saw.

I taught a few classes today and we held a clinic today for the kids at the school to try and treat various diseases. You wouldn't believe how sick some of these children are because they have had a disease for so long with no medicine to treat it. Around 200 kids, 15 mothers and some babies came in today with various illnesses such as Scabies, Malaria, Ear Infections, Upper Respiratory Infections, and Parasites. Several people from the team scrubbed the heads and even the whole body of those with mild to severe cases of Scabies. We also had medication for the other sicknesses. It was very heart-wrenching to see these children who are so neglected in regards to medical care. I know we received such an incredible blessing today and although it was hard, I'm so thankful for the experience.

Caroline and I were able to teach the 2nd graders using the book "The Mitten" and doing crafts that went along with it. After they were finished with the craft, I asked them to take a picture. Every time the camera flash went off, all the children yelled YAY and were so happy to have their picture taken. It was very humbling to see them so excited!!! I also taught the first graders using "The Mitten" and telling the story of Noah. They were such great listeners and I hope the future kids I will teach will be that well behaved. Dad taught a religion class with the 8th graders. He talked about the Exodus experience. He was amazed that the kids knew ALL the plagues and the books of the Bible even though they only had 12 Bibles to share among 55 people. They shared textbooks and he gave out 40 pencils to those who did not have one. Even with that, they were very respectful and patient. The bell rang for PE but none of the children wanted to leave the class. This demonstrates their determination to acquire a meaningful education despite the conditions they live in.

Today was dad's birthday and he says it truly has been a memorable one. Many of the teachers at the MCC sang to him and gave him some hand carved African pieces and a shirt. Then for dinner, we went to an Indian restaurant which was very delicious!! They brought him an ice cream tower with a sparkler in the top and sang to him. It was a very special day for him. We get a break by going to a two-night safari this Saturday. We are so so so excited to see all the animals and we heard it was migration season so the sites should be even more amazing!!!! There will definitely be many many many pictures taken!!!

These kids at the MCC are always up to something..... Today when I first got there, a little boy ran up to me immediately and began pressing all the buttons on my digital watch. I'm not sure what all he pressed but somehow he set an alarm. Throughout the whole rest of the day, it went off every 5 minutes and I had no idea how to fix it!!! It was quite irritating but I eventually got use to pressing the stop button every 5 minutes.

In the two full days we have been here, we have witnessed the unimaginable. I knew I would see some rough things, but never did I expect to see things that would literally leave me speechless. Pictures do not do it justice. I'm so thankful that God placed this opportunity in my life that has already blessed me beyond measure!!!

Thank you all for your love and prayers!!! We are feeling them all the way in Kenya and they are greatly appreciated!!!! We look forward to keeping you updated as we encounter more things in the next few days. We love and miss you!!!!

day 3 is in the books

2009-07-23T14:43:00.002-04:00

I first want to apologize to everyone who has checked on the blog throughout the day back in the states. We did not get back to the MCC until just before 5. That would be 10 a.m. your time. We had to get everyone showered and ready for a dinner reservation at 6:15. It was Marks birthday. Happy Birthday Mark! We all went out to an indian restaurant. It was really a great time. By far the best Indian food I have had. The staff brought out one scoop of ice cream for everyone in our group. They just piled balls of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry and put a sparkler on top.

I know Carroll wrote out a blog and hit the publish button. While it was in the act of loading it on the page, the internet went down in the computer room. This is starting to become the story of our blogging life over here. It always wants to wait till we are so far into a blog of uploading a pic to just shut down on us. It is almost like forces are at work to battle against us. The funny thing is, I walked outside the door and picked up wireless and was able to get right back on. So whatever it is that is defying us will not hold us down.

Today was really a long day for us. We started the clinic for the school today. We saw 200 kids and had a few mothers bring their babies in from the surrounding slums. Carroll even worked her PT magic on a few of the ladies. I really thought that just driving around Nairobi and the slums was a huge culture shock. Seeing all the illnesses that the kids of the surrounding area are plagued with was a huge eye opener. We only had a chance to see the preschool, 1st, and 2nd grade classes. It took us an entire day from 9-4 to just get that many classes done. It was really sad to see the condition of many of the kids. Nearly every child had scabbies. The other illnesses we witnessed ranged from HIV, ear infections, fungal infections, and malaria. We had some other cases that we were unsure of. Now, there was one girl that had a sever case of malaria. It had developed into blackwater fever. She came in with a temperature around 102. We had a bed constructed for the clinic. So she laid down and took some medication to bring down the fever. It was a very sad case, because we knew there was not much else we could do for her. There were 3 kids who had the scabbies so bad that we had to strip them down and treat the entire body. It was really a sad sight, because some of these kids can do nothing to control the scabbies. That is due to the living conditions at home for these kids. Most families in the Mathare Valley live in small 10x10 houses with around 10 family members. So they are forced to lay next to one another. So if one person is infected, nearly everyone in the room will get infected. This is just another luxury that we in America take for granite. We have the health care to provide care for us. I know most of us complain about the cost of insurance and things being to much to afford. Well, at least we have the opportunity and knowledge to heal ourselves from many of the illnesses that plague the people of the Mathare Valley.

Rebekah went straight back to hitting the classes. I am not to sure what classes she taught, but I am sure she is doing a great job at what she is doing. She also found the time to help us out in the clinic when she was finished with her duties. Pastor Mark also taught a class today. I got a chance to walk by and see what was going on. From what I can see, it appeared that he was doing bible drills. It sure looked like the kids were loving it. Mark even helped us out in the clinic when he was finished. We really needed every man we could get to help these kids out.

I really wish I could share more with you folks. We are just limited with time today. Not to mention the internet troubles we are having out here. I need to save a little bit of time to upload a few pictures for you folks. This is by far the most challenging day we have had thus far. So we need some prayer from everyone. We all are drained physically and emotionally today. For those of you who have not heard of Anni. She is part of our group who lives in Australia. She spent her day as most days filming students. She will be bringing everyone another video of this trip and her other time she has spent in Africa this summer. So, even though you might not get your fill of pictures till we get back, you will have a video coming from Anni. She is doing a great job!

Comments from Carroll

2009-07-23T14:16:00.003-04:00

Well, we started our clinics today with 3 nurses, and all of the rest of us. We treated over 200 kids today. We had some really sick children- one girl was extremely sick with malaria that had turned to black water fever. Her temperature was very high but after treating her all day it went down to 97.1. Please keep her in your prayers. Her name is Elan. All of the street children had very bad scabies. The carpenter took a break from making desks to make us a bed and it was really needed. Tonight for dinner we went to the Indian restauarant. It was Mark's birthday and we

2009-07-22T16:16:00.000-04:00

FYI to everyone who is checking us out

2009-07-22T15:51:00.002-04:00

I just wanted everyone to know that it takes 20 minutes or a little more to post a set of pictures. It will only allow me to post 5 at a time. It will still take me 15 minutes to post just one picture. So it just makes more since to upload 5 at a time and wait the extra five minutes. Bethany, I tried exporting the pictures to my desktop and resizing it, but my computer will not allow me. I can see the resize button, but it is not highlighted, so it will not allow me to click on it.

I do not get a chance to get up on the blog until we get back to the guest house around 4. So between dinner and the other things we have going on at night, we get a little pressed for time. Also, everyone has been using my computer to check the blog, or update the blog for themselves. So we are losing a little time there also. Carroll's computer has been for e-mailing and surfing the web. If you can imagine thou, I sit in the computer room here nearly every minute that we are on the property. So I sure am working on it. We do have wireless here, but it only works right outside the computer room. So I can not sit in my room and keep posting, because I sure would, just so you folks at home could catch up on what we are doing and see alot of pictures. Last night, I sat outside the computer room at closing after 11 and uploaded 10 photos. It took me over an hour to get that accomplished. So I am outside battling the elements for everyone back home. I will sit outside again tonight to upload some photos. I am risking the mosquitos for all you good poeple

Now, I just had five photos uploading for 16 minutes and the internet went down. So I lost those pictures. But I am sitting outside about to upload those again. Wayne is keeping me company this time. So we are both risking the mosquitos now. Also, don't get discouraged if you do not get a comment back from one of your comments to us. We can not see the blog here other than the first blogs that were posted before we left the United States. That goes for seeing most of your comments. We do know that everyone is seeing them back home. So that is all that really matters.

Rebekah and Mark

2009-07-22T13:21:00.002-04:00

Hello to all from Kenya!!! We finally made it Tuesday night around 8:00 (1:00 pm your time) at the Nairobi airport. We were picked up by Wayne and an African driver named Hudson. Hudson drove quite fast and on the opposite side of the road than the United States which felt very different. We arrived to the Mennonite Guest House around 9:30 and went to bed soon after that. Today, we got up around 6:45 and had a nice breakfast here at the house. Then we headed towards Mercy Care Centre around 9:00. We drove through some pretty rough areas of Nairobi on our way and were instructed to leave the doors locked, windows up, and to not take pictures. This is where around 30 people were killed in the uprising last year during the election. We saw hundreds of small shacks made out of tin that people were selling an assortment of goods out of. I have never seen such a sight in my entire life!!! It is truly indescribable and made my heart ache to see such horrible conditions. When we drove up to the Mercy Care Centre my heart started beating faster and I couldn't wait to get out of the van to physically meet all the kids that were running towards us. They held our hands and wouldn't let go. One little boy immediately grabbed on to dad's leg just holding on so tight. I was humbled within 5 seconds of being with these remarkable children. To realize that I was finally at the Mercy Care Centre was an amazing feeling!!! I quickly began teaching the first graders by reading "If you take a mouse to school" and then doing a coloring page. The kids were so enthralled by the box of crayons we gave them. Many kids just stared at the box not knowing what to do with the crayons so we showed them how to color on the page. Even though there were around 60 kids in a tiny, cramped classroom, they were the best behaved kids I have ever met. Later in the afternoon, we had a worship service with the teachers in one of the classrooms. Dad preached a wonderful sermon and then we shared the Lord's supper together. It was a very special time of worship despite the fact that we were sitting in wobbly desks with 4 adults sitting at one desk. We promised that we would pray for the 29 teachers and headmaster Patrick who preached at our church last year. It was an incredible day and we are so so so so excited about going back again tomorrow to minister more with all the kids. We appreciate all your prayers and we hope to update you soon!!! We love you!!!!

2009-07-22T12:28:00.000-04:00

Aaron here.

2009-07-22T10:40:00.006-04:00

I know, I know. Some of you might be thinking to yourself. This kid writes most of the blogs and than makes his own postings. Well, I did not want the group part of the blog to be all about me. So I have to make my own entries. I hope you are all alright with that. I had to take a picture of a few students from the secondary school. I had a chance to teach a little bit of chemistry to the secondary students. Most of the kids in my class were around 16. They were really a great class. I found out like an hour before the class that they wanted me to teach a few things about electronegativity through aqueous solutions. I went over balancing equations, as well as, the periodic table. The kids already knew most of it. They are very bright. I am certain that there is a few kids from this class that is ready to take the world by storm. They just need a chance to shine. I was told I was to talk for about 45 minutes. I was thinking that is pretty long for a man who has never taught before. I ended up talking in the class for nearly two hours. Now, Not all of that time was all about chemistry. Alot of the kids wanted to know things about the United States and college. So it was really a great experience to be able to tell them about our culture. I got a chance to learn a little bit about theirs as well. I thought I did a horrible job of teaching, because I was not really that prepared for it. But they asked me to come bak and teach more tomorrow. I was surprised, because after 45 minutes or so, the teacher took off. I was like man, "Am I that bad"? But than I figured out that it was their lunch time. The kids were to study and head to lunch. Not much studying got done, thanks to me. My fault Patrick! But it was still a great learning experience for the kids and myself.

Hope everyone's time in the United States is going as good as mine. Take care!

2nd day at the MCC is complete.

2009-07-22T09:45:00.002-04:00

We just got back to the guest house. Day two was even better than the first. We all took to our stations today and helped out in areas of our interest. Most of us taught in classes. We also set up the clinic and went over the necessities that needed to be purchased to get things rolling bright and early tomorrow. There are so many kids, many of which need some major treatment. I have noticed thou, that most of the kids that belong to the school are pretty healthy. That can be contributed to the ministry of the school. They really have done a fantastic job there. The kids that wonder around the school are in serious need of some treatment thou. Scabbies is one of the bigger problems surrounding those kids. Those of you who think scabbies is some kind of foreign language word. Scabbies is a skin infection that is caused by a type of mite. It burrows under the outer layer of skin. It causes skin irritation and is highly contagious.

Rebekah and Mark Holler arrived last night. It took Wayne nearly two hours to get from the guest house to the airport to pick them up. He missed our dinner last night. It sure was good Wayne! Yum yum. That is the first thing Carroll said to him when he arrived back at the guest house. It was really funny. Wayne was like, "thanks for rubbing it in." We had a chapel service for the teachers led by Pastor Mark. Now, it was our turn to see how it feels to cram into a small class room and learn a little. Of course! Who gets stuck in the back of the room with all the bags and no leg room. I am starting to get the picture here guys. Make me carry all the heavy bags, run 15 xray bins through the machine, and now cramed into a sardine can. Haha. I am just messing around. But I did have no leg room. It was still a great experience. There is alot of faith in Patrick, the teachers, and the staff. I sure am learning alot from just watching them. Courage, humility, and perseverance are only a few words to describe them.

We are all looking forward to what tomorrow brings. So check back throughout the day to see posts from others in the group. We appreciate all the prayers! Take care everyone!

2009-07-21T16:51:00.001-04:00

2009-07-21T16:36:00.000-04:00

Maria-Theresa

2009-07-21T13:57:00.002-04:00

WOW! Kenya is an experience! Beautiful people with people smiles and warm hearts. Today was my first day at Mercy Care and it was eye opening. There's so much to be done in this world and I wish I could do it all. The children were so friendly and seemed so happy to see new faces. Immediately upon entering the school, we were greeted by eager children all asking, “How are you?” I wish that I knew more Kiswahili so that I could communicate better but a smile goes a long way. The classrooms are unimaginably small and filled to the brim with well behaved students eager to learn. After wandering through the classrooms, we all gathered to watch a performance fit for royalty; beautiful singing, dancing, and even a rap performance.

I also was able to present the class gift to Patrick from those students who participated in raising monies during the African Bazaar. Because of your donations, the choir will be able to compete in nationals which they won last year. After presenting the check, Patrick informed the students they would be able to travel to nationals which resulted in loud applause and joyous screams! Many thanks to all the students at Nysmith for all your support and to Rosette; without you I would not be in Africa! A special thanks to Nora, Joan, and Terry for your donations and support. Through your fundraising we were able to bring over a Science Lab Kit (included eye droppers, magnifying lenses, microscopes, slides, magnets etc) and individual kits that included activities related to Nutrition, Weather, Plants, Social Studies etc. I cannot wait to put them to use! I will write more tomorrow and hopefully be able to share all my wonderful pictures. And lastly, thank you Carroll and Wayne for this life changing opportunity!

Carroll

2009-07-21T13:56:00.000-04:00

Thanks for your prayers!

We arrived safely with all our luggage and got it through customs with no problems! Thank you for your prayers! Today was a full day. We were busy planning and organizing and also distributing things we brought. It is always a joy to watch the kids win over the new guests with their smiles. Today they performed and danced. What a joy to be back here with our kids! Blessings, Carroll

Caroline

2009-07-21T13:55:00.001-04:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words, it would take a thousand pictures to tell what I've seen today. Traffic is unbelievable! My camera kept snap snap snapping all the way through the slum. There is no way to describe the Methare slum. When we got out of the vans at the school, the tiny preschool children rushed up to us and grabbed our hands. One tiny boy latched onto me with freezing little fingers. He wouldn't let go of his death grip until I got to the doorway of the school, where he knew he was not allowed to enter. That's when he finally let go. I have taken so many pictures today that my battery died, but lucky for me I have a charger and a back up battery! So... more to come!! We were treated like royalty at the school, where certain groups of children performed songs, dances, all sorts of performances, all for us! The children are very respectful of their teachers and are extremely well-behaved. They seem to treasure the opportunity to learn. I can't wait to go back tomorrow!

Our first morning in Africa

2009-07-21T09:55:00.003-04:00

Hello to everyone who is checking up on us. We just completed our first morning in Africa. We were up bright and early for breakfast and to get the show on the road. We went to Mercy Care Center to take some bags with supplies and to get familiar with the school. It was really an eye opening experience. Before we ever arrived at the school, you could just see how bad the living conditions are here in Nairobi. People line the streets from left to right. In the Mathare Valley, you have street vendors lined up, one next to the other. There trades range from just about anything you can think of. The streets are littered with trash. In some areas you could see them burning the trash on the side of the street. This is because they have no other means for getting rid of it.

Once we arrived at the school, we were greeted by some children. They came running up to the vans with the biggest smiles on their faces. Immediately, the children started holding your hands. They were all so sweet. They just wanted a little love and attention. Now, most of the kids that were following us around and holding our hands do not even belong to the school. But they were all great. I thought it showed just how great the school is to this community. They wanted to be around the school instead of running around the streets. The school had hot tea for us to drink upon arrival. So we took things out of bags and sorted things. Than it was tea time. It is really funny, because they love their tea, like we love our starbucks. After tea, the school put on a little show for us. They sung, danced, and did a little skit they performed for a national performance. We even had two guys perform a rap song for us that they came up with. It was really great. I just wish we knew what they were saying. Lucky for me I sat next to Wayne. For all of you who know Wayne. He loves to talk. So he was translating things for me as the performance was going on. The thing is thou. You did not have to know their language to know how talented these kids are.

Lunch time! Carol made us peanut butter sandwhiches and a banana. We were nearly finished with that when a few wonderful ladies carried in a full meal for us. White rice, cooked cabbage, potatoes, and beef with a tasty broth. It was really good. Someone even went out and bought us a crate full of sodas. It was really more than we ever expected. They did not have to do that for us, yet they were so generous to provide for us.

We took a tour of the school. I was blown away by the size of some of the rooms. There was a class in the primary school that had 34 kids in a tiny room. They were almost sitting one on top of the other. You could even notice, that to close the door, you would have to move desks around. I am not to accurate with the dimensions, but to give you a picture. I would say it was like a 15x15 room. But they sure make due. It is just such a testament to these wonderful people that they make due with what they have. No complaints about it! The children were all just as happy as can be. Makes you wonder what we do wrong with our lives back home in the United States. We are all so quick to complain about our situations.

We than sat off to go to a giraffe farm. We were in the car for more than an hour fighting traffic. Traffic is so bad here in Nairobi. There are no street lights. Just thousands of cars, trucks, buses, and small amount of motor bikes. The craziest part to the whole thing is the roundabouts. I guess Nairobi can think the British for that. There are roundabouts all over the city. It just causes mass chaos. But the people manage. Back home in the States, that would not fly. There would be accidents left and right. Man, we don't even have to many roundabouts. But we sure do have alot of stop lights. Somehow we still manage to get in accidents there. I guess there are more than a few things we can learn from the Kenyans. I Know I already wrote a book on just our morning and early afternoon. So I will leave those of you up this morning to this. There were certainly be some more entries from the group later in the day. So feel free to check back periodically.

2009-07-20T13:45:00.000-04:00

Team Australia

2009-07-20T13:29:00.004-04:00

This is team Australia as I like to call them. You have Anni on the right and Katie on the left. You know, they sure thought they were being smooth brushing up on Africa. But if you can see the book, it almost looks like they have that Chinese thing going on. Only, they do not read books backwards, they read them upside down. Brings a whole new meaning to, "downunder." Haha. They are just messing with everyone. Our group is really glad to have them. They bring another element to our team and what we are doing here in Africa. Now anni Has been twice before. This is her third time. Team Australia has been in Africa for the past 6 weeks. So they really are doing alot for Africa. This is really going to be a great trip. With their team grouped up with our team, we are more like team extreme.

Aaron Swafford

2009-07-20T13:00:00.003-04:00

Hello to everyone out there. My name is Aaron and I am from Orlando, Florida. This is my first trip to Africa. I have been so excited about this trip for the past few months. I first heard about the Mercy Care Center while cruising through the islands with Wayne and Carol. I knew from the first moment I heard about the foundation that I wanted to be a part of one of their teams. My biggest fear of coming to Africa was to witness the strength of the kids and realize that all my struggles in life could never equal anything close to what these incredible kids have been through. They show joy in the face of adversity. I knew deep down inside that I could not say that about myself. All of us from the United States love to complain about what life has dealt us and we never realized just how good life really is for us.

We walked into the airport in Washington D.C. and from the start, you could feel the pressure. We had so many bags. Most of which were overweight. Next thing you know we are marching through security check point. Well, little did I know, that we had to take every laptop out of their cases and put them through the machine one by one. Wayne and myself got the honor of carrying the two bags with all the computers. We must of used at least 15 of those plastic trays that run through the xray machine. Thanks ladies! Also, who knew that those bags weighed like 60-65 lbs. It was not bad at first, but then as you are lugging them down long terminals, from plane to plane, and stuffing them in over head compartments. It quickly turned out to be a nightmare for Wayne and myself. I guess we have to look on the bright side. We were bringing them for the kids and we got a workout also.

For those of you who do not know. I am in charge of the blog site. I for the most part will be posting everything online. If you have any complaints, than Wayne did it. So flood his e-mail with the complaints. The group looks forward to your comments. So please feel free to leave us some love. God bless everyone who is interested in what we are doing. Take care!

Wayne B

2009-07-20T12:53:00.002-04:00

What a long day. After lugging 50 pound carry (2 for Aaron and I) our arms are now 4 inches longer. What still sorting and packing the bags to get what goes where. I will try to do better

tomorrow.

Maria-Theresa Dragg

2009-07-20T12:50:00.001-04:00

My name is Maria and this is my first time in Africa. We landed safely and I absolutely cannot wait to visit the Mercy Care Centre tomorrow. I met Patrick Lumumba at the Nysmith School in Herndon, Va while he was visiting America and I felt compelled to volunteer my time and make a difference in this world.

They are off!

2009-07-19T14:29:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone!
I wanted to give you an update on the team that is traveling to MCC.
All is well and they boarded the plane about 11:45.
Yesterday we received news that Tom Kibalo's mother had passed away. Debbie, Tom and their daughter Andrea were a part of the team traveling to MCC. Please keep Tom and his family in your thoughts and prayers at this sad time. They still hope to join the team in Nairobi, but need to figure out the details here at home first. Be in prayer that they will work all out and be at peace with joining then team. They all really want to be a part of the team.
So, that leads me to this morning. 7 members of the team arrived at Dullas to check in. They checked 28 bags. Wayne had to make a new friend, since the man who usually is there was off this week. He managed to get the airline to allow 2 extra bags and not weight overage, just a flat rate for each bag. The total was about $1,200. This was a blessing, since most of the bags weighted over the allotted 50 pounds! It is amazing how my dad can work his magic. The team was traveling with 13 laptops and was under the impression they could take a carry on and a laptop case. When they were going to security check they were told that they were only allowed one bag. So with 7 people and 13 laptops, you can image how heavy the carry on bags were. Arron carried on 6 laptops in his bag. The Rotary grant had purchased some equipment that was in Carroll's carry on. It was a document camera, the security person said they thought it looked like a table saw. We had expected them to ask to see it.
I am putting a link to the blog for the team (Anni) from Australia. Please support them with comments and prayers!

http://anniafrica.blogspot.com/

I will let you all know when I hear they have arrived!

Jane Daugherty

2009-07-18T19:36:00.000-04:00

I have done quite a bit of traveling all around the world, but I truly think this trip is going to be the trip of a lifetime! I am very much looking forward to being at MCC as I know I will have many tales to tell when I return. I currently am Principal at St. Martin's Lutheran school in Annapolis, and all my students, staff and parents are looking forward to learning more about the children of Kenya.

I am also Director of Music at Trinity United Methodist Church in Annapolis. Our congregation sends much love and many prayers for a successful three weeks abroad. I feel very fortunate and blessed to be part of this journey.

Katie Boyd's Intro

2009-07-18T12:18:00.002-04:00

Hi, my name is Katie Boyd. This is my first time traveling to Africa and I am excited about our adventure. I always enjoy traveling and meeting new people. I have just recently graduated from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C,. with my masters in Speech- Language Pathology. I am a native Georgian. After our trip, I am headed to Atlanta to work at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf. While in Kenya, I hope to learn more about the deaf community there and use my training to work with people with hearing loss.

2009-07-17T11:12:00.002-04:00

Hi! My name is Caroline and I have travelled a little bit outside of the U.S., but never to a place like Kenya and Tanzania! I am very excited to meet the rest of our group and the students. I decided to join the group for this trip because I've always wanted to see the sights of Africa, but not without giving something back to the people. Since I have no teaching experience, I decided that one of my contributions can be to foster the children's imaginations and have fun with things like simple craft projects and bubbles. I hope the children enjoy what I have planned for them!

the Hollar family

2009-07-17T11:02:00.000-04:00

I am Rebekah Hollar, a 19 year old sophomore at High Point University majoring in Elementary Education. This is my first time traveling to Africa and I cannot describe in words how excited I am to share with children and others the love of Christ. God has blessed me beyond measure with people in my life who are so supportive and with this amazing opportunity which I know will be a life-changing experience!!!

My name is Mark Hollar and I am a pastor at Abbotts Creek Baptist Church in High Point, North Carolina. This is my second mission trip to Africa. What I remember most about my past trip was the joy on the children’s faces in the Kawangare slum. I am excited about going on a mission trip with my daughter.

the Kibalo family

2009-07-17T11:01:00.000-04:00

The Kibalo family lives in Annapolis, MD. We are very excited about our trip to Kenya and Tanzania, and about working at the school.

Deborah has been a special education teacher for 28 years. She teaches students with moderate to severe disabilities. Her subjects include English, Science, Community Skills and Vocational Skills.

Tom has been an electronics engineer for 36 years. Currently, he is Principal Engineer at Aerospace Corporation in Chantilly, VA. He also teaches electronics at the local community college.

Andrea will be turning 26 while in Africa. She graduated from Towson University in 2005 with a double major in Psychology and Sociology. She worked for over 2 years at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center's Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program but recently left. She hopes to figure out what she wants to do with her life by the time she gets back – any ideas are appreciated!

-Debi

2009-07-17T10:51:00.003-04:00

Bags are being packed. Attitudes are getting checked. Just a few more days until we depart for the trip of a lifetime

Thoughts from Carroll!

2009-07-05T20:23:00.001-04:00

My name is Carroll and I am so excited to being going back to Africa. I go most summers and look forward to seeing the joy in the faces of all the children because we have come to help them. We have a great group going this year with many talents and gifts. Be in prayer for our safety, for the arrival of all the gifts duty free, and for our daily sharing with the children. We will try to keep you aware daily of our ministry. Wish all of you could be here to experience this time with the teachers and precious children of MCC.