June 23, 2009

– We got up early to start a very busy day…first a four hour drive to Nairobi where we did some final shopping one of the nicest malls. We spent some time in the food court eating lunch while some went to the Massi market shopping. This shopping spree was a lot more controlled than past experiences. Each of the vendors still wanted you to visit their shop, buy their stuff, and they will make you a good price. We counted on Larry, Holly, and Steve for getting the good prices…they were good. After making our final selections, some of us went to the village market to get a few things before going to the Conway’s for dinner and final packing. Everyone had to make sure that their bags did not weigh over fifty pounds, make sure that everything was wrapped up good enough for the trip home, and loaded into the matatu’s. The next thing that I knew…we were saying our goodbyes and heading for the airport. Everything was going great until Joseph decided to save us some time by unexpectedly crossing over the concrete median into one way traffic going the wrong way…that was exciting…we made it but the second matatu kind of got stuck in traffic. After about thirty minutes of waiting, the other matatu caught up to us and we were on our way to the airport. Going through the first security was a little hectic especially for those that had a lot of bags…Gayla, Whitney, and I got through and continued to get our boarding passes and check our bags at the same time since we were traveling as a family …that was nice. We went on to the next security stop and then to the final security stop before there were any problems. This reminded me of all the speed bumps and police check stops over the past two weeks. At this security stop, the guy wanted to go through one of my carry-on bags…I started to sweat a little because he was taking all of the carefully wrapped Kisii stone out. I took a lot of time wrapping each little piece using dirty socks, shirts, and underwear. I assured him that it was Kisii stone…he stopped taking stuff out…maybe because he believed me or maybe because I had them wrapped up in my dirty clothes…for whatever reason, I was happy. I was glad to get all of my stuff and go on to the next stop…the waiting chairs.
The trip to London went pretty fast and it was all good because we slept and the fact that I was able to sit with my wife and daughter. We unloaded at the terminal that we were going to fly out of…that was nice. We still had to go through security one more time…I hope it is the last time. Most of us got through ok and got rid of any liquids like water except…Whitney…she had a water bottle at the bottom of her back pack…of course it was the last thing that was taken out of her bag. After she got all of her stuff back into her bag, we proceeded to wait several hours for our next flight. There were some of the others in our group that had to get rid of some things.
The last leg of our trip went smoothly. Again, I got to sit with my family because the man that was sitting next to Gayla traded with me…I was glad. We slept, watched movies, and had a few meals along the way. I enjoyed watching the flight plan to see what areas we were flying over…England, Ireland, Greenland, different Oceans, Canada, and the great lakes. We finally reached Dallas! I felt like the kid in the movie Pacifier or the Babysitter when the kid got out of the car and fell on the ground and said “land”…we were home. We still had to go through customs but that went well for us. Jerry, Carl, and Nina got detained because the dog sniffed something in their bags…and what was said about being on a farm and something about fruit. They were detained for about an hour…we wanted to wait on them to say goodbye to the ones that were flying to Oklahoma. It was great to be home! We had to pack our bags for our trip to Red River for the family encampment with my family.

June 22, 2009

– We got up early this morning to eat breakfast. The rest of our group is scheduled to meet us today…I am excited because I will be seeing my girls. Once the group arrived, we helped get them settled into their rooms before going to find something for lunch. After lunch, we went to some little shops on the streets…the ones that we visited yesterday. As we walk from stand to stand looking at the things…most things look the same. One thing that I learned is not to pick something up or look them in the eye because they will say “I will make you a good price”…they will say that anyway… and the price is usually twice as much as it should be. If you cut the price in half, they act as though you hit them in the head or something. Usually you have to walk away from them and they will make you a better deal or accept your last price. This place is so busy…one by one many of our group ran for the matatu to get away from the hustle and bustle. It was funny…when I reached the matatu, I found Joseph (our driver) giving Zach, and Whitney Kiswahali lessons from a book that Gayla bought before she started hiding in the back of the matatu saying “go away” to the vendors that were trying to make her a good deal. I got in and started going over the words too as Joseph continued with his lesson. After our shopping experiences, we found a place to eat before going to the game park in Nukuru.
We came to one of the most exciting parts of our trip…the game park. As we approached the park entrance, I noticed a high electric fence on both sides of the road and then a sign that said “Danger…do not walk beyond this point”. As we went further into the park, we noticed a Masi tribesman in full dress…we were told not to take pictures unless given permission. We were able to see many different animals like monkeys, cate buffalo, zebra’s, pink flamingos, pelicans, and other birds at first. We made our way to the edge of the lake to see the pink flamingos close up. We were allowed to get out of the matatu’s here at least that is what Steve told us…we all got out and went walking around and take pictures. As I walked, I started noticing tracks made by different animals…suddenly I noticed some huge CAT prints. I noticed that the tracks headed towards the edge and around the lake. These were lion or leopard prints…that was a little bit exciting…ok a lot exciting. I stopped and started looking around. Needless to say, we did not stay there too much longer. We loaded up and continued following the road around the lake. We drove upon a mother rhino and her baby. That was exciting…they came right up to Gayla and Whitney’s window…we stopped, took pictures, and watched them for awhile. As we continued our journey, we saw many of the same animals that we have already seen until we came upon some baboons and wart hogs. This was really cool…only in Africa. The scenery was beautiful. We did see some animal carcass’ and even some dead animals…after all this was a wild game park. We have seen many animals so far…we were told that there weren’t any elephants or hippos in the park. I was surprised that we haven’t seen any giraffes yet. The next thing you know it…someone spotted some blending into the distance trees…that was exciting. We headed towards the “Out of Africa” scenic overlook when we came upon some more giraffes…on both sides of the road. We went further the mountain to see a big giraffe…his long neck reached way above the trees. It was eating from the tops of the trees…this was really cool. We finally reached the top of the “Out of Africa” scenic overlook to see the most spectacular breath taking view…WOW! I noticed the giraffes that we saw earlier moving across the grassy area going from tree to tree. While I was up there walking around enjoying the view, this rock must have reached out and grabbed my foot…the next thing that I realized was me getting up from the ground…it was a good thing that I wasn’t close to the edge of the cliff. This site reminded me of the story when Jesus was tempted by Satan to throw himself down. The last five hours sure went by so fast…this was a good way to take your mind off of the hustle and bustle, dirtiness, and poverty of life. This was a great way to end our two and one half weeks in Africa…it was like icing on the cake.

June 21, 2009

– Today is father’s day, we got to sleep in a little bit longer before breakfast…that was nice. We were able to do our laundry and work on writing since this was a slow day. We ate lunch in a busy part of town at a Japanese hotel that was really good. During lunch, I saw an add on Father’s Day that made me think of my family…I miss them. Not too long after that, I heard from all of my children that just made my day! I also got to talk to my dad to wish him a happy Father’s Day…that was a lot of fun. After lunch, we walked across the busy street to a store similar to Nakumatt. We got more water, batteries, and a few other things before going shopping at one of the small street markets. I wasn’t about to stay in the matatu this time…with my batting record. I did not buy anything until the last minute as I was getting the matatu. A guy was selling hats and wanted a certain amount that I was not going to pay…I kept telling that I would pay him this much as I was getting in to leave…he took it. I am sure glad that I have had mosquito nets to sleep under the past few weeks. It is nice to not have to worry about them even though you can hear them buzzing around. I have been doing most of my journaling at night using my little book light…that is why I have to type this up…you couldn’t read it.

June 20

June 20, 2009 – We left for Nukuru after breakfast this morning. I can’t believe that our trip is coming to an end. We will be meeting the rest of our group…I am excited. My friend the Kisii guy was back for some final deals. I let him talk me out of my watch and pen…he needed it more that I did. I think that he felt a little guilty because he was giving me all kinds of little things. I had a whole pocket full of Kisii stone before we got the matatu loaded. He even gave me some things that were not even finished yet…I thought that was cool. I enjoyed seeing the different stages for shaping the Kisii stone.
We traveled for hours before we came to a hotel that was located on an old tea plantation. It was really nice. While we were eating, in came a group of about 20 Americans that were also on a mission trip. I had not seen that many white people in two weeks…it was nice to see Americans there. One thing that I noticed on travel days was the fact that there were so many speed bumps and police checks all over the place. The speed bumps were not so bad…unless the driver did not see it until the last minute…the police checks got a little nerve racking at times…especially the AK – 47 machine guns that they were carrying. We finally reached Nukuru about 5:30 in the evening and got checked into our rooms before dinner.

June 19 by Don

June 19, 2009 – Jerry and the deaf members of our group went to another deaf school while we (Vernon, Scott, and I) went to Sam’s Place one last time. We went to rescue the rest of our group from the deaf school. We headed into Kisii to go to the bank to exchange money, to eat, and go to the Wal-Mart of Africa…Nakumatt to get water and a few other things. Some of our group wanted to get some baskets from one of the market places close by. This is where we had another close encounter of another kind. Louis, Carl, Nina, Devona (these were the four of our group that are deaf), and I stayed in the matatu to wait for the others to come back from getting baskets…while we were there, many of the local kids would come up begging for money or try to sell us things. Louis and Carl just happened to be waiting outside of the matatu when a young teenage boy with some kind of problem (mental) started making several threatening acts and remarks towards Louis. I could not figure out what was going on…finally one of the shop owners came out and told the boy to go away and leave us alone. I noticed this boy make several threatening gestures towards others in the matatu…many of the locals would tell him to go away…he finally went away. With all of the excitement, we were hungry so Simeon took us to another good place to eat. I had samosas, and they were good. After lunch, we headed to Nakumatt to get supplies and then dropped Simeon close to his house…said our good byes and went to the guest house. There was an old man there selling Kisii stone…he had some nice things. I told him that we would be back because we were going to shop for Kisii stone. I should have stayed in the matatu this time but I have had bad luck waiting in the matatu…I ended up buying a lot more than I planned on. I was impressed because the guy that I bought some things from yesterday called me by name. We had to get back to the guest house for dinner…guess who was there waiting for us…yep the Kisii stone guy that I told I would be back. This man was hard to bargain with. I watched Jerry offer the guy a watch, a shirt, and some schillings for plates…it took a long time…he finally made a trade. I looked at all of his stuff one at a time until I found some things that I did not mind getting. I worked hard trying to make a deal with him…he would not bargain. Finally as it was starting to rain, he made me a deal that I took. I think that Vernon had a lot of fun watching us trying to make a deal with this man. I ended the night with a hot shower…in fact, the last few nights.

June 18 by Don

June 18, 2009 – This morning after breakfast, we loaded our matatu’s and went to Sam’s Place for a group picture. After the picture, one half of our group left for Eldoret. This was a sad time for me…to see my wife and daughter leave and travel three or four hours away for about four days. I got busy measuring and drawing out plans for the furniture that was to go into the dorm rooms to take my mind off the fact that they were gone. I know that they will be taken good care of…God is with them…besides; they have the best driver (Joseph) and Steve.

Vernon, Scott, and I stayed at Sam’s Place and met with Tobias (one of the deaf Christian men) who we are going to use to do all of the electrical work at the dormitory. We also had Robert there to interpret for us. He is also the foreman or supervisor for this building project. It took a little while to get Tobias to understand what we wanted…Robert and I were able to communicate with him…more Robert than me. While we were taking care of the electrical, our driver (Jon) took Jerry and the four deaf members of our group to the deaf school next to our guest house in Rongo. Once Jon got back, we were ready to go to Kisii to meet Simeon so he could take us to a carpenter to see about getting a bid on building the furniture for the dormitory and computer room. This took a little while because the carpenter was deaf and Simeon was able to communicate with him. After we got prices, we went to a book store in town where Vernon bought school curriculum books for grades 1-3. After we purchased the books, Simeon took us next door to eat. While we were eating, Simeon contacted a hearing carpenter and got him to build me a box out of blue gum wood. My plan is to reuse the wood to make pens for Sam’s Place. After lunch, we went to pick up the wooden box on our way to pick up the rest of our group that was visiting the deaf school. We had to wait a little while because the box was not finished yet. It was fun to watch an African carpenter at work. We left to pick up the group about 4:00. In Africa…if you go to visit someone, you cannot leave until your host releases or dismisses you to go. Usually it is a long time before they release you. We headed back to Rongo and stopped to shop for Kisii stone for a little bit because we had to eat dinner at 6:00. I bought a few things…it reminded me of being at the market in Mexico making deals with the vendors.

June 17

June 17, 2009 – Today was the final day camp. Whitney woke up not feeling well. I think that she might have been out in the sun too long yesterday. She took some medicine and stayed at the guest house. We were only about a mile away. The lady at the guest house said that she would check on Whitney from time to time. We stayed in touch with her also off and on during the morning. She wanted to come back after lunch so we went to get her and brought her back for the rest of the day camp…she did fine. Everything went well. We ended the day giving the children back packs, tee shirts, and some mosquito nets.

After dinner, Steve Greek, Scott Darrow, Jeff, and I went to a deaf school located at the end of the drive to our guest house. We ended up going over to Charles Otiano’s house and were there for awhile. They served chi but I was too full from dinner so I did not have any. Charles is a deaf shop teacher at the deaf school. I thought that was very interesting. One thing that I have noticed about most construction projects are done by using hand tools…this takes me back about 30 years. We visited several of the classes that were meeting at night as they were getting ready for major tests…like our TAKS test. We are supposed to visit this school tomorrow and some of our group will. Steve wanted to visit them because he was not going to be able to visit with them tomorrow because he was taking some of our group to Eldoret.