Day 1 (detailed)

Please forgive all the grammatical and spelling errors which will
inevitably occur.  I am using my Blackberry for these eventual blog entries,
but trying to get all this to you sooner. BB is the only connection
here at all...I cannot even believe that THIS works. We are in REMOTE
Africa. The following are solely my (Rosanna's) personal (and often
rambling) thoughts and perspectives shared "journal style" as though I were
able to post to my blog. This is intentional. Thank you for passing on
to anyone interested. They get long, so "delete" is always an option if
not interested. :o)

We have all arrived safely!!!! (Last night!...I have not been able to
get to a computer ac adapter until now.  We ran out late the night
before meeting everyone at Quail for our departure to get an adapter which
works on the plane. $110 later, I left the appropriate "tip" at home.
Such the fiasco!)

Anyhoo...the flights were AWESOME, ne'er a bump to be felt, such
friendly and competent flight staff and (for some) a LOT of quiet rest
(especially for someone whose name begins with an "M" and ends in "arshan).
Unfortunately there are one or two on the team who are suffering from
sleep deprivation right now. Your prayers in that regard would be
appreciated as we have had understandable tears shed. :o(  Additionally, there
was a moment of stress when Jenn couldn't find her baggage tags at the
KLM desk in London, as they threatened not getting the bags on the
plane without them. After a bit, Marshan stepped in, said "You WILL get
her bags AND get them on that plane!". And that was that. Go Marshan! (I
have never ever heard, in all my years of international travel, of
needing baggage tags half way through. Hmm ). On the brighter side, we met
up with Chris from Servant Life without a hitch and I, the eternal
bubble-headed beach blonde, was able to recover my digital camera left on
the plane. God is good!

Very interesting:  I was pulled aside on the plane by a woman who said
that she is with a group of 15 people going to Uganda with her church.
They were slated to go with us to Kenya with Servant Life through
Compassion! That is why the plane trips booked are the very same for this
leg.  But since this is their 5th trip of this type, they said to Servant
Life, "We would like to do this and this and that" to which SL
replied, "Well, it seems you do not really need our services." They mutually
agreed, and hence went separate ways (to Uganda) instead. Funny.

On the flight from SFO to Heathrow we were all scattered about the
plane with no ability to change seats. From London to Nairobi, however, we
were lumped together as a team, for the most part. Either way, it all
worked out great to get us there in one piece!  Thank you to those of
you praying and fasting on our behalf.

We landed at about 9pm and arrived at this youth hostel at around 11pm.
Unfortunately, we ran into a snafu with three pieces of luggage, one
of which contains the speakers for our skits. 3 of the team have been at
the airport since 8 am, trying to figure that out prior to departing
for our 4 hour bus ride to Mbeere.  I have been praying for that issue
this morning.

The ride from the airport here was interesting. Jared was helping us in
a Swahili language lesson by quizzing our driver on pertinent phrases
and passing them onto us. Then we were slowed by a bad traffic accident
just ahead of us. A car was tossed upside down after having crashed
into the rear of a large construction truck. Pat prayed for the situation
as we sat and waited. We were on our way shortly and arrived well.

We want to thank Eunice and her friends SO much for the fabulous meal
they put together for the team to introduce us to Kenyan food. It
worked. At about 11:30 last night, we had nearly the EXACT same foods:
grilled flatbread (Chiapatti?), sliced cucumber and tomatoes, steamed white
rice, and a yummy chicken in tomato stew. Delicious! I am just pecking
away at breakfast as I do the same on the keyboard: fried eggs, toast,
sliced tomatoes and cucumbers again, and hash browns.  The sodas were
fun last night...ginger ale and ginger beer (non-alcoholic) with a real
bite! I love it! Some others...not so much. Just outside our youth
hostel, from which I picked up orange juice for Delos and lychee juice for
me. Yum!  A few of the Lighthouse girls just walked by for a jaunt to
the java house across the street. Delos just went running after them for
his morning caffeine fix. :o)

Earlier, I woke to take a run with Delos to stay up with the
triathalon-training routine. We made it maybe 10 mins, at which point we had to
run behind some bushes to avoid the thick, and I mean THICK black
emissions coming from the buses. It was less healthy to run and breathe in
that junk than it was to skip the run, so we turned around and bailed. I
did appreciate the little time we had out and about though. Just a
minute away from our hostel is the cutest little market with hanging
bananas, loofas, etc. It was great to see all the locals, all walking in
business suits; men and women alike.  There is not much dressing down from
what I have seen so far.   Even the employees at our hostel have been
dressed "sharply" with leather coats and blazers. The welcome was
wonderful with big, broad smiles and warm handshakes.  The showers were warm
and the toilets were there; more than I expect later in the day! We
have been handed our liters of water and our rolls of toilet paper. We are
ready to be soldiers in the field! :o)

Okay...off for now.  Thank you for making this all possible! Cannot
wait to "get to work" in Mbeere!

11am: We are on the way!  The bags we're located, praise God! John's
was even mistakenly taken home and returned this morning. The other 2
were misdirected at the airport. Now we are trundling on our way in 3
vans. John brought a car-to-ac adapter, hence my ability to type while
drivng. Yeah! We love media people!

I am sitting in the front seat, by the charger, we have been in the car
for about 7 mins and I have had at least 20 cars zip by me with about
half an inch to spare. Fascinating.  So many round-abouts too, much
like the ones to be found throughout Europe and the Caribbean. The carbon
monoxide around here really is toxic. Every third vehicle spurts
billows of the poison in varying shades of dark gray to pitch black. The
traffic is thick, but thankfully the weather is very nice. 79F as I type.

Marshan just tapped me on the shoulder to tell me that Jeff (a
Compassion former sponsored child and graduate who is accompanying us) just
told him that on Sunday, our team needs to do 4 dramas in 4 different
churches....at the same time! Alrighty then. I can't tell you how nice this
would have been to know back in the states when we kept asking how to
prepare. Putting our thinking caps on now. Gotta put those gifts of
creativity and flexibility to work now.   We knew we would be stretched in
this regard! ;o)

1pm: We've been on the road for 2 hours now. The countryside sights are
really something. Donkeys, goats, cows, and oxen are tied perilously
close to the road throughout the journey so far. I am not certain why
they are kept just there when there are so many more grassy areas to
graze and tie down. There are dozens of Kenyans afoot and atop bicycles on
either side of the road, even in the more sparsely settled areas. One
wonders exactly where they are going to, coming from, why and for how
long. Small market stands peddling rice, fruits and drinks are scattered
everywhere and the fire red clay dirt lay before our eyes in all
directions. People work in rice fields, chopping down reeds and corn grown
haphazardly (no rows) along the road, or sit relaxing/napping in the
afternoon sun. Even here 2 hours from "metropolitan" Nairobi, the people
are most often dressed up, pretty dresses and suit coats with dress shoes
worn while trodding for miles upon the hard clay road.

1:30pm: we had a quick restroom stop at a lovely resort en route. Nice
little relief in more ways than one. Jared and Hillary gave us some
comic relief as they leaned in for a closer look at "the cute little
monkey" which launched right at them, teeth bared! They and everyone else
were laughing so hard when I came around the corner to see what was
happening, however poor Hills did bonk her head on the roof trying to avert
the attack. She's okay though. Just a minor bump.

3:30pm
Ahhh. We are "home"!  We were again met graciously and shown to the
dorms (singles) and rooms (couples). We couples lucked out with the
lavatory facilities! Rather than just a little hole in the ground, we
actually have the bottom part of a toilet bowl sunk into the ground for more
aiming possibilities. There is a large "mess hall" in which to meet and
eat.  From the Welsh's and our room there is a beautiful view for miles
as one gazes over the chicken coop and through a tree with nearly 30
birds nests silhouetted against the sky. The grounds are donned by
beautiful bouganvelia and scattered coconut trees. A couple of old dogs join
beautifully marked birds wandering the property. By the chickens is
what we think is one of those giant anthills or termite mounds. It's
maybe a meter tall. The footing is deep loose red dirt outside our
quarters. So I am now glad that I did decide to bring my red clay dirt covered
tennis shoes from Kaua'i!

3pm Lunch: steamed white rice, pan-fired flat bread,
tomato/carrot/onion/cilantrio salad, unidentified meat stew.
After lunch we were informed that we need to preach and give
testimonies in addition to performing the 4 skits at 4 churches at the same time.
Zowie! Each church has provided something special for us, hence we
must reciprocate or run the risk of being extremely rude, which of course,
is not an option.  Our "break/rest time" from 4:30 until dinner at
6:30 is spent dividing up responsibilities and leaders for each group.
Marshan takes Jill and Hillary with John W. on congos to work on a capella
worship music.  Delos takes the "Everything" skit with Jared slated to
do the sermon/worship praise, and I head to the front room with Jon,
Nicole, Ana and Danielle for the "Sin Chair" skit and Pat, Jenny, Cindy
and Bill (who will be preaching) for a "Sin Chair Skit #2"!  Chris will
apparently be preaching at sin chair skit 1. Oooo the adrenaline is
flying now!

6:30pm meeting with Susan, Jeff and Jim from Compassion. I can't tell
you how pooped people are. 3 are asleep at the table. It doesn't help
that it is warm, dark outside and dimly lit inside.

Dinner: same unidentified meat stew, brown rice pilaf, cabbage dish,
same carrot/cuke/onion dish from lunch.

Rules for trips to the project: no exchanging contact info.
Children might never have seen a white person, be prepared for stares.
Photos ok in project; outside project with permission only!
Do not reject foods. Very insulting.
May not "help" family" unless it goes through Compassion.
If a child is tagged for Australia or UK, that's that. You may not
sponsor them.
Clothing: no tight jeans or shirts, dresses for church, nothing shorter
than capris in general for women.
Explained how water situation for bathing goes.  We have one huge black
tub filled with non-potable water. We scoop that water out to "flush"
our "toilet". Twice a day boiling water is delivered for sponge bathing
into large pans. Towels are provided. The "quick dry" towels we all
purchased from REI are so well appreciated!

8:30pm: Bed! Yahoo!

I have no idea what it was, but several times there was an exceedingly
loud caw, caw, caw screeching right outside our window, just as if a
vulture or raptor of some sort were proudly bragging about its kill.
We're in Africa all right.

The chickens are funny. They barely speak (cluck) . I stand there and
stare at them and they just stare back. I guess they think I am pretty
odd too.



Tuesday, Aug 12th
7:30am Bkfast: sliced, untoasted white bread, baby bananas, sliced
watermelon (dark purple shade), boiled eggs, purple skinned (skin removed)
white sweet potatoes, bottled water, hot lemon water, coffee

8:30 off to the project. We travel in 3 vans, the cool wind blowing
through the open windows. About a 45 min ride there and back each day.
They will perform for us! We are excited to meet these children and see
what they have prepared.

En Route: cows and goats wandering in the woods. Beautifully colored
birds  roadside. Pedestrians/cyclists much more sparse, but definitely
present, and still often dressed to the nines.
People love to wave and smile...and so do we! We yell "JAMBO" (hello)
loudly out the windows and have that and more repeated back to us.
It was hard to miss all the logs in the tops of trees. I couldn't help
but ask "why?".  Beehives for honey. Of course. I should have known!
;o)

45mins later, we're here!
Long road in, kids chasing van, running, smiling, waving.  Many donkeys
and cows.
So many children in their brown Compassion uniforms! Beautiful smiling
faces. Already I'm getting choked up, and nothing's even transpired
yet.  Their excitement and enthusiasm for our arrival is infectious. What
followed, upon our arrival can never fully be explained in words, but
could only be experienced. It was a day we will never forget...beyond
comprehension.  What lay before us completely blew us away. There are 303
children in this particular compassion project. Every single one of
them, plus the "project moms" and (previously unheard of) project dads,
along with the Compassion and church staff have literally worked for 3
months in preparation for our arrival. And it SHOWED!  The day at the
Raicine Child Survival project lasted from 9:30 to 5:30! Five and a half
hours of it were pure performances and bible verse recitations! We
mostly sat in stunned silence,  with huge grins plastered on our faces,
sometimes clapping and swaying with our hosts.
Included in the festivities were formal introductions, prayer, a
special clap the staff developed, explanation of the many acronyms used and
tomorrow's duties, (gardening, digging deep trenches, working on the dam
[nice sideline about all the crocodiles in the river], cooking, and
painting the church inside and out.)   We were provided a lovely snack:
triple layer butter and jam on white bread, hot tea and hot cocoa (88
degrees in the shade, 96 in sun...but they wear sweaters and jackets and
drink hot beverages regardless). Next we were  given a tour of all the
facilities. Amazing what can be done within mere clay walls with the
work of God going on inside! For instance, the kitchen.... A small
rectangular building with openings for windows and just 2 pit areas (a few
rocks in a pile) to cook for 300 children.  The classrooms are large and
simple furnished merely with homemade desks and chairs and one
blackboard. There is the small church we will be painting, and the Compassion
offices. The offices are warm and welcoming with beautiful bright
paintings on the walls inside and out (you might be familiar with this from
the slide shows at church) and stuffed animals everywhere. There was
even a little nap room with 2 little ones sprawled and out for the count.
The grounds are spacious with beautiful views in all directions. The
Baubau tree ominously dot the horizon with their straight, wide trunk and
leafless branches. Legend has it that the Jaguar did not like the
Baubau tree which angered the gods. Therefore they picked up the tree,
stuck it top-down into the earth and forever more it grew this way.
Smacking of more truth is the fact that old African tribes used these trees as
a source of water, wringing droplets from it during dry seasons. At
least that's what Pius, our driver next to me says. :o)

Following the tour, the welcome presentations began. They had set up a
U-shaped table with flowers, a pink table cloth and temporary shade for
us.  The children and parents sat under a large shade tree, and let me
say for all of you with children or grandchildren, these little people
from "class" 1 to "class" 12, sat with rapt attention for FIVE and a
HALF HOURS. In the dirt. Later in the day, in
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