Appleseed Travel Journal

— Making a Difference in Liberty School

Recently we’ve been spending time in the Kakamega (Kenya) area, visiting some house church groups, distributing washable sanitary pads to two groups of women there, and checking in on some of the farming projects. Then, we traveled over to Kitale, truly one of the most beautiful, lush places on earth! Elevation of around 6,500, rainy, warm in the day, cool, ok, chilly at night…the hub of agriculture for all of Kenya, small enough where people warmly greet you, and big enough that the market is in full swing every day.

This week we’ve been completely focused on Liberty School. The school year in Kenya has just ended, so we were able to be a part of two graduations: the little ones, baby class, into Class 1 (first grade) and the Class 7 into Class 8, the final year and most important year of primary school. This is when students prepare for examinations to qualify for secondary school education. Between the students and the parents, it was a great opportunity to speak into their lives the importance and value of education.

Will in a sea of kids!

We also spent one day visiting some of the homes of sponsored students at the school. The stories are heart-wrenching, and the gratitude is real of the grandmothers and mothers of these vulnerable children.

One mama whose husband died from a brain tumor relocated with her three children so she could be near her sister in Bikeke Village. Not long after, she was in a bad motorcycle accident. Now even after having steel rods placed in her leg and much physical therapy, she is in great pain. Unable to walk without assistance, she has a small vegetable stand outside her rented home where she sells tomatoes and kales. Without help from Liberty School her children would not be able to eat or attend school.

This mama has four girls. Her husband died and she lives in a tiny rental. She sleeps with the girls in one bed and does what she can, selling porridge during the day to eek out a small income for her children. Before Liberty School stepped in, her kids were not attending school or able to eat every day. The mother was driven to prostitution and making home brew alcohol. Today her life is very different and her children are experiencing love in very real practical ways.

Will and Sarah, our daughter and son-in-law, brought their background in education to provide a professional development workshop for the entire teaching staff and administrators. The teachers have been engaged and are definitely being encouraged as the ones on the front lines working with the students. This is a first time experience for these teachers, to learn and share collectively as a school in a workshop. They are so engaged and participating with great interactions and discussions, “duking” out some very challenging issues.

One thing’s for sure (I think I can safely assume) that neither Will nor Sarah, after this first time experience to Africa, will ever be the same. But, more importantly, their desire to serve and make a difference is really happening. They have encouraged, built up, inspired, and also very much challenged the administrators and teachers of Liberty School. Especially when they were able to see how little they began with and what God has done in a few short years, they have affirmed them and seen that the potential to go far is great. The deposits they made will undoubtedly have great impact in the coming school year (begins in January) and even for years to come.

Sarah facilitating.
Will in a sea of Liberty School students.

— Continuing First Time Experiences for Visitors to Kenya

We arrived safely and soundly in Kakamega … which was no small feat! We got ourselves and TONS of luggage to the airport in Nairobi, got all checked in, plane left on time and even arrived early in Kisumu (Kenya). In getting (leasing) a car from a friend and with much negotiations and insistency on our part of getting a big car that ran well and was in good condition our friend John arrived on time. After greeting us, he then announced, "Now you see there has been a disaster." Sooooo NOT a good thing!!!! One could only imagine.

It seems BEFORE we had even gotten in a vehicle in Kenya, something had gone wrong! I hesitate to write you this, because it's hard to even envision. On the way to deliver the car to John, there was a storm. The guy was driving "our" car slowly through traffic, and a tree literally fell on top of the car. So poor John had to rearrange everything and find another car before picking us up on time … all of which he was able to pull off. So, we were pretty happy with the new car, as, Number 1, it had a/c! Number 2, there was enough room for us and all of our stuff … ok with each of us holding a backpack and Will holding one of the 50 pound bags on his lap!

our luggage tickets :)

So, all was well and off we went in search of somewhere to eat lunch. It wasn't 10 minutes into the drive that one of the tires blew!! So, poor Sarah and Will have been absolutely baptized by fire into traveling and being in Africa! Fortunately all turned out well, with the exception of Sarah's feet getting burnt on top from sitting in the sun for half hour (we are literally on top of the equator), while we waited for the guys to put on the spare baby tire (thank God, yes, there was one). Pretty soon, John had two of his friends involved in helping to find a tire, get it on and we continued the journey from Kisumu to Kakamega.

YAY for Will!!

Today, however, I am happy to report was such a great day, even with mud and rain and roads that should be traveled on only in four wheel drive vehicles. We met and were with different groups in rural and often primitive settings without mishap of any kind. We are so grateful for God's mercy and grace!!

Some photos from today: a homestead we visited, Sarah and some of the women from one of the house church groups, a house church group farm, and a placard in one of the homes we visited.

… and, of course, who can resist a photo of one of the kids (bored perhaps, but very focused on the white folks!):

— Bored in Nairobi Traffic

Everyone agrees that Nairobi traffic is the worst, especially in the morning and evening hours when people are trying to get to and from work. The buses, cars and the renegade matatus (an East African mini-bus taxi) stuffed with far too many people with daredevils for drivers are all trying to get into or out of City Center. There are no rules and no traffic lanes. It’s pretty much a free for all, with the right-of-way understanding that whoever’s the biggest rules. That is except for the matatus, who do whatever they want whenever they want and everyone else just tries to not get massacred by their weaving in and out of traffic, driving on sidewalks and honking their horns or hanging out the window yelling mercilessly to the rest of us.

The bad thing about traffic is, of course, being stuck, or rather trapped, in traffic! But the great thing about Nairobi traffic is there are lots of opportunities to make purchases for something you may or may not need.

The other night Roger and I were headed out to Kenyatta Airport at 5 p.m., possibly the worst time to try to get out there. (A friend recently tried to get there to catch his flight home and it took literally three hours, so we knew we may as well settle in for a long ride.) So, while sitting and waiting, what do we all do now? Yep, text or check emails or read the news. We all have our heads into a phone or iPad or something! Well, this time I chose texting my daughter to pass the time (6:30 a.m. her time), and here’s how our conversation went:

— Sharing Christ or Religion??

Deep in Mozambique on a remote island of 130,000 people living in poverty with a meager existence of catching fish and growing cassava, some heard and believed in the Good News brought to them by Mozambican missionaries. Western friends came to visit not long after and were excited to meet and encourage these new Believers. They wanted to teach them their songs, changing the English words into Portuguese (their spoken language). Fortunately, the missionaries refused and said, “No, God will give them new songs to sing.” And, it wasn’t long before that’s exactly what happened. Creative sons and daughters of our Creative God did indeed give them songs and dances in their own language, in their own way to worship their new-found God.

— Why I Love Waking Up in Africa

Sometimes called the ‘dark’ continent, somehow steeped in mystery, poverty, confusion, possibility, opportunity… but always filled with richly alive people and alluring places.

I can’t really say why I love waking up in Africa.

There are all of the reasons NOT to love it: mosquitoes, mosquito nets, inconsistent electricity and hot water, roads that are pocked with potholes and then the dirt avenues that circumvent the potholed pavement. There are the cars that are prone to break down and that often carry no spare tire for the inevitable pothole-induced flat tire. There is the big city traffic that can, literally, take an hour to go one block, and there is the village life where children still look at us wild-eyed because they have seen so few white faces in their lifetime.

But there is a rhythm to Africa that emanates from its people and surroundings that is musical and special and that infects you if you let it. Karen Blixen, in Out of Africa, wrote, “When you have caught the rhythm of Africa, you find out that it is the same in all her music.”

The morning sounds always contain the loud cawing of the hadada bird which is brash yet somehow comforting. People greet one another warmly with smiles and handshakes and the everlasting greeting of “How was your night?” There is always time to talk about how life is going and how one is feeling.

The air is warm and sultry. Yet, there is much work going on quietly and without the urgency that often permeates life at home. There is a rhythm to life that allows for work to take place but also connection, relationship, and even idle, pleasurable chatter.

There is the excitement from people who have known us for only a short time who use hand and face gestures to let us know how glad they are to see us again.

There is a sense that life cannot be taken for granted so whatever blessings we have for this day, including life itself, is meant to be embraced and to be grateful for.

Perhaps, though, the greatest draw is the spiritual climate that comes from people who are naturally inclined toward faith in another world and who are open to the workings of the Kingdom of God around them. Somehow this opens the door for God to work in ways that seem natural in Africa though we would consider it out-of-the-ordinary back home. Simple faith, with a keen awareness of eternal things, makes for a people who are able to be spiritually rich when connected with the heart of the living God.

So, to sum up how I feel today, as I wake up in Africa one more time is to quote Karen Blixen again who said, “Here I am, where I ought to be.”

Photos of Africa selected from Brooks’ collection:

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