Saturday Morning Thoughts

There is something that happens here all to often that leaves me feeling wishing I could do more and questioning whether I can do more.

Just a few minutes ago two small girls showed up at my gate asking for plastic bottles. They were covered in dirt, wearing ripped clothing, and shoes with holes in them.  The site of children in their condition is not an unusual site here, but it never stops taking my breath away. At first I just told them to wait and I would look for some plastic. It turns out we had a ton of plastic water bottles, and big ones at that. Catherine and Evelyn were so excited when they saw them. I was pleased to be able to make them smile with what I considered useless plastic bottles.

After that they asked for chakula (food) saying "hatukuwa kula jana usiku" or we did not eat last night. I am thankful for the broken swahili I have been able to pick up on and that I could understand that and communicate with these two precious little girls.  When they told me that I went inside and found a loaf of bread and brought it out to them with some butter. Then they wanted tea with their bread so I made them some tea even though we did not have milk they were thankful just to have tea with water and sugar. Boy did those girls love sugar! I brought them some water and we just sat outside and talked a little about where they live and where they go to school. Catherine, the older one, is in class 5 at Arap Moi, the government primary school in Nkoroi and Evelyn, the younger one, goes to a school in Acacia. They live up the road, probably about 2Km away.

After they finished eating they asked to use the choo (toilet) so I led them inside. They looked around skeptically then the older one asked me if I could help her with some clothes. I told them I did not have any at the moment, but maybe when they come back I could find some. In my head I was thinking, "I do not have any clothes small enough for these little girls." Then they asked for shoes and once again my thought process was, "no I have no shoes small enough and I do not even have any extra shoes here." Finally as they were leaving the older one asked for the shirt I was wearing. Now, I wish I could say that I just went inside and put a different shirt on and handed her this one, but I did not. It is such a hard balance to find where the line should be drawn in increasing dependency.

These two young girls did not choose to be born into the circumstances they live in and neither did I, but I wonder everyday if I am living in the love of God with what I have. Next time Catherine and Evelyn show up at my gate, which I hope they do, I will give them this shirt and any others I have because, even if they are big or if they sell them, I believe Catherine and Evelyn need them more than I do.

We can always do more and I am the first to admit that I fear doing more most of the time. To be honest, I like this shirt, and because of that I was afraid to give it away. I am pretty sure Jesus would not have used that as an excuse and from now on I am going to do my best not to either. God gives us opportunities everyday to love and be loved. That is true world-wide, but I think I can see it more clearly here in Kenya and for that I am grateful! It reminds me of the book by Bob Goff called "Love Does." And I think it is what Mr. Goff meant when he said, "That's because love in never stationary. In the end, love doesn't just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does."

I hope everyone has a great weekend and gets a new opportunity to love and be loved!

Back to Blogging!

Hello friends! I am so sorry it has been so long since I have blogged and updated you on life here in Kenya.

Believe it or not, I have actually been blogging every day for Tatua Kenya, so I will give a quick plug for you to go and read our blog. Exciting things have been happening since Be The Change has become a part of Tatua Kenya. I know it has been confusing for some of you so please read the blog. I hope it will explain more, but if you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me.

Now on to other exciting news from Kenya. I had a visitor here a couple of weeks ago. My fellow YASCer, Jared Grant, came to visit.  We had a wonderful adventure. God has given me so much love for this country and I love when I get to share it with other people in my life. I would encourage you all to read his blog as well about all of the things we got to do together and get another perspective on life here.

Jared and me on top of Kenya International Conference Center.

Really, though, Jared had 3 requests- Lions, monkeys and pizza! I may have failed him on pizza, but surely not on lions and monkeys.

Lions!

Monkeys!

My next piece of news is that I just found out David Copley, mission personnel officer from the church office in New York, is coming to visit in May! He will be here for just a couple of days so Natalie, Zach (Episcopal missionary in Western Kenya) and I will do our best to show him a good time. I am thankful he gets to come because I know he is busy traveling all over the world. In fact, he is currently in Japan visiting some other YASCers working there.

My last big piece of news is that I know my departure AND return date. Yes, that's right, departure AND return. I will be coming home for about a month and then returning to Kenya for about another month of work. My visa expires in July so I have to leave the country, but there is a group from Boston coming to Kenya in August and I am leading their trip. In order to make this all work the church has agreed that I can come home on June 27th and then with the generous contribution from my home parish, St. Catherine's and Tatua I will be able to return to Kenya July 29th through August 20th to finish my work. I cannot believe how soon June 27th is. There is no way to know how I will feel returning to the US, but I am trusting God is sovereign and He will prepare me for each next step in life, just as He prepared me for my time here.

I know so much has happened in the world in the past couple of weeks and I want to leave you with the prayer for Boston, my future home, provided by our Presiding Bishop.

Gracious God, you walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death. We pray that the suffering and terrorized be surrounded by the incarnate presence of the crucified and risen one. May every human being be reminded of the precious gift of life you entered to share with us. May our hearts be pierced with compassion for those who suffer, and for those who have inflicted this violence, for your love is the only healing balm we know. May the dead be received into your enfolding arms, and may your friends show the grieving they are not alone as they walk this vale of tears. All this we pray in the name of the one who walked the road to Calvary.

Amen. I will do my best to not let so long pass before my next post. I am thankful for you all!

A Tanzanian Adventure

As most of you know we had elections here on March 4th. I am thankful that I can say so far it has been peaceful.  Thank you all for your constant thoughts and prayers throughout the process. It is still not over, though. Now there are a couple of court cases we have to get through before there is an official president.

View outside Ben and Elizabeth's house.

One fun thing that came out of the elections for me was that I got to go and visit my fellow YASCers down in Tanzania! I flew down to Dar Es Salaam and then took a long bus ride to Dodoma.  The bus had some small issues, but I eventually made it. Ben and Elizabeth picked me up and we drove out to Msalato where they live. It is about 20 minutes from Dodoma Town on what I learned is the only unpaved portion of the Arusha Highway.  It is always strange when you arrive somewhere in the dark, but I love the next morning when you get to see everything for the first time. Msalato is a really peaceful place. It is dry and rural, but the people are really friendly and welcoming. There is a wonderful community of teachers and students from all over the world. Our social calendar was extremely full while I was there. Several of the other teachers had us over for dinner. Another YASCer, Brian Orlay, also works in Dodoma for the Carpenter's Kids program.  My second night in Tanzania we went to dinner with him and a guy named Chris who is also an Episcopal missionary working with Carpenter's Kids for a few months. Brian and Chris live and work together in Dodoma town.  It was good to spend time with them and hear about their work. They also joined us on a hike up Lion Rock.  Ben and Elizabeth have a great view of Lion Rock from their house and when you climb to the top you can look out over all of Dodoma. Hiking is one of my favorite things to do so I thoroughly enjoyed that.  During the days in Dodoma I was able to go on long walks and do some work. It was a restful week with some great people.

Ben, Elizabeth, me and Brian at the top of Lion Rock.

Beach in Dar.

I was able to get a MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) flight from Dodoma to Dar on Thursday, but I was not supposed to fly back to Nairobi until Saturday so I planned to stay a couple of nights at a guest house and visit the beach for a day.  Naturally plans changed.  As I was on my way to the airport on Saturday morning I got multiple calls from people saying I should not fly back to Nairobi that day because they were finally announcing the election results and while everything had been peaceful so far there was no way to predict how people would react.  No one wanted to leave their houses that day so I ended up staying in Dar for a couple more nights and just spent some time reflecting and working at the beach.  Cannot really complain about that :)

I have been back in Kenya for about two weeks now and it has been incredibly busy, which is why it has been so long since I have posted. I will try to do better. My fellow YASCer Jared Grant is on his way here right now to visit so get excited for a post about our adventures soon.

Have a blessed Holy Week and a very happy Easter!

Asante sana!

Momma Jenny in Kenya

So about 3 weeks ago now Momma Jenny, my mom, came to Kenya! I was spoiled to the extreme while she was here. She arrived on my 6 month anniversary here. It was so exciting to be back in the airport at the exact time I arrived 6 months earlier to pick up my mother who has never traveled to Africa before.  This may be a long post, but I want to capture as much as I can of what we did.

Our adventure started immediately the next day when we flew to Mombasa, which is on the coast of Kenya.  We spent a few nights at a hotel on the beach there just relaxing and catching up on the last 6 months of life.

The beach at Mombasa.

Next we headed out on safari.  Our guide Ibrahim picked us up and we drove out to Tsavo East and did a game drive through the park.  We made it to our accommodation for the night in time for lunch. It was called Galdessa Tented Camp.  It was beautiful! However, it was in the middle of the park and since it is not fenced or anything animals can rome freely so we had an escort throughout the camp. That afternoon we did a walking safari. Again escorted, but this time by a ranger with a giant gun. We went to Lugara Falls and saw so many crocodiles and hippos. I have never been so close to a wild crocodile!

View from our tent at Galdessa

Crocodile!

Lava cave

After Tsavo East, the next morning we woke up and headed to Tsavo West where we again had a wonderful game drive in the morning and then in the afternoon we picked up another ranger and headed to some caves created by lava and did some exploration underground. There is an active volcano there and after our underground exploration we went to this giant hill created by lava rocks. It was basically a HUGE pile of rocks and we climbed to the top where we could look out and see the whole park. That night we stayed at a lodge that was situated right on a watering hole where all night animals would come and go. I think my mom stayed up all night to watch the elephants, then the zebras, the buffalos, the giraffes, the baboons, and even more.  We were so close to them!

Lava rock hill we climbed.

Watering hole right outside our room.

Mzima Springs. 

The next morning we were off to Amboseli, but before we left we stopped at Mzima Springs. They are these beautiful natural springs in the park.  Then we joined the convoy of vehicles going to Amboselli National Park. It was a bumpy ride, Ibrahim said it was a free massage. After a short game drive we decided that once we arrived at the lodge we would take the afternoon off and hang out by the pool and get real massages.  This lodge was FULL of monkeys so they has Maasai warriors around to keep them away from food. They used sticks and sling shots to accomplish this. Before we left the next morning the security guard at the lodge took us on a run around the edge of the park. We were running with a Kenyan at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

One of the many lions we got to see!

Once we arrived back in Nairobi we had some dinner then headed out to Rongai for part 2. We spent the next couple of days in Rongai. I took her to a few of the children's homes we work with. She even rode in a matatu! I was proud of her. Living out here can be exhausting and you never know what to expect, but it was such a blessing to share it with her. Saturday we spent the day doing tourist things. We went to the baby elephant orphanage, ate at Karen Blixen Gardens with Mike, went to Kazuri Beads, then stayed the night in Nairobi. Sunday we went to church at Mike's church then ate lunch with my friend Rev. Zach Drennen who runs a project in Western Kenya and then stayed the night at an interesting place called Rolf's Place. That was an adventure in itself that I won't go into. Monday was her last day here. We visited Kitengela Glass then spent the day with my friend Edwin. He took us to eat in Karen, through Nairobi, and to a park where we got to play with monkeys before heading to the airport. We had a wonderful visit and as you can see we crammed a lot into 12 days!

Baby elephant orphanage.

Suspension bridge we crossed to get to Rolf's Place.

Mom at Kitengela Glass.

Next week are the elections here. As I have mentioned before there was a lot of violence after the last election and I can only ask you to continue to pray for this country! So much has been leading up to this and right now nothing is certain.  We are praying for peace, unity and wisdom for the leaders and the people.

Here are just a few more pictures.

Mom and me with Ibrahim.

Mom and I at lunch before Tsavo West.

Safari!

Warthog.

Giraffe.

Biffalo.

Playing with monkeys.

Thank you all for your continued support and love. Hope everyone in the US is staying warm, it has been exceptionally hot here.

Kwa Heri!

January Recap

Rain and thunder have been the soundtrack to life the past couple of nights. I am not complaining, though because without the rain the dust is terrible. So much has happened the past couple of weeks. First- thank you all for your prayers for Ryan and his family.  I was able to attend the burial last week with Rachel and some of the kids and community members from Dream's.  It was in DEEP Maasai Land. It was the furthest interior Kenya I have been thus far. We traveled for at least 4 hours on what should not qualify as a road to a place where there was no electricity or water at all.  The whole community gathered for the ceremony, which was mostly in Maasai with a Swahili translator so I did not understand much, but it was incredibly sweet and moving.  Surprisingly, it did not last very long at all, maybe an hour and then they carried the casket to the burial place where we all took a turn throwing some dirt in before the elders finished covering it.  After the burial they fed us a delicious lunch and then we packed up and headed home. It was an emotionally and physically exhausting day, but I was so thankful to be there.

Maasai Land

Ryan's brother, sister, and uncle at the burial

The rest of last week was spent getting acquainted with my new role as the Development Associate for the next six months.  I will be switching from my monitoring and evaluation job to work more with the social media, grant writing, and being the lead on our Pamoja program.  Our Pamoja program partners groups in the US with groups from Kenya to facilitate cross cultural relationships.  If you are interested in learning more about this or being a part of it please email me at jenny@bethechangekenya.org. I am working on updating our website and creating a new look for Tatua Kenya and Be The Change- Kenya so when that is complete I will share the new website with you all.  Until then you can still go to the old BTCKE Website for some information about Pamoja.

Giraffe Center

Last Saturday I got to spend the day with my friend Lara Shine.  She is an Episcopal priest from Nebraska who just spent a few weeks in South Sudan.  On her way home she stopped in Nairobi for a few days and I was able to meet up with her and Jim, her teammate.  We got coffee at Java House, then went to the Giraffe Center, and stopped at Nyumba Ya Tumaini so they could meet some of the people I work with here.  It was a great day. To find out more about our adventure and their trip to South Sudan you should read Lara's blog.

Yesterday I got a new roommate.  Natalie and I went to the airport last night to pick up my new friend Andrew Nazdin.  He is from Washington, D.C. and will be staying with us for the month of February to teach a community organizing course to our newly hired community organizers.  Our staff has doubled in the past 5 days which is very exciting.  We hired 4 of the young adults who completed the program last year to be full time community organizers for this program year.  They will spend this month in an intensive course that will prepare them to go out to their assigned communities and get people moving around child poverty.

Me with Clinton

Today was a really special day.  I woke up at 5:30AM so that I could meet my friend David Kariuki in town.  He is the Kenyan country coordinator for an organization called Bright Point For Children. They are a child sponsorship organization that my family sponsors a young man through here in Kenya.  His name is Clinton and I met him while I was here in May 2011. David and I drove out Mombasa Road to a community called Ngaamba to see Clinton at school.  He is now in class 8, which means he is a candidate this year for his KCPE exams.  I could not believe how tall he was.  We got to spend some time together and I brought him some paper, crayons, and pens.  He told me how he still loved science and still wants to be an engineer.  The head teacher had wonderful things to say about him.  It was such a gift to see him and I plan on making it happen more while I am here.  Please pray that he continues to excel in school and that he will get good marks on his exams so that he can be sent to a good secondary school.  Life is not always easy out in the village, but all of the children at Ngaamba Central Primary were so full of joy!

Ngaamba Central Primary School

The last bit of news I will leave you with is that my mom comes in less than one week, which also means I will have been here for 6 months in less than a week!! Can you believe it? I can't!

Hope you are all well! Siku njema! (Good day!)

Celebrate Life

Yesterday was a rainy and rather chilly day here in Kenya.  The dreary morning brought with it some news I am not sure my heart was prepared for.  My sweet little friend Ryan passed away 2 nights ago.  For those of y'all that had not read, he was HIV positive and battling stomach cancer.  Death is something that you can never fully prepare for.  When it comes, it is always a shock.  Ryan was a fighter and a joyful boy.  Anyone spending time at Dream's Children's Home could see clearly how he loved his brothers and sisters well and how much they loved him.  I want to take this time to rejoice over the life Ryan lived here on Earth and the eternal life he will live with our loving Father.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts for Ryan over the past 5 months.  They made a difference because he knew that you were all praying for him and I believe in the power of prayer.  Please continue to think of his family, Rachel, and all of his brothers and sisters at Dream's for the next while as they process, mourn, and celebrate Ryan's life.  

I want to close with a quote from Thomas Merton that I believe is full of comforting truth and the way I I got to experience God through Ryan.  Have a wonderful day.

“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” ― Thomas Merton

A YASC Christmas in Cape Town

Happy 2013 everyone!

Pit stop in Rwanda

I hope everyone ended 2012 and began 2013 on high note.  I definitely did.  For Christmas I was able to travel down to Cape Town, South Africa and meet up with 6 of my fellow YASCers placed in Africa.  After a minor detour to Rwanda due to cancelled flights I made it to Cape Town where Holly and Jared picked me up from the airport.  We then headed to Struisbaai, which is a little beach town about 3 hours from Cape Town.  We met 4 other YASCers there, Cameron, Steve, Ben and Elizabeth, as they drove in from Grahamstown, South Africa.  We stayed in a condo that was just a 2 minute walk from the beach for 4 nights to celebrate Christmas.  It was strange to be so far away from family on Christmas, but I could not have asked for a better group of people to spend the holidays with.  It was as far from a "normal" Christmas as it could be and I would not have wanted it any other way.  Most of the time while we were there was spent on the beach.  We did go and visit Cape Agulhas, which is the southern most tip of Africa where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean's meet.  For Christmas Eve dinner we did a Braai (or cookout) and made some delicious side dishes.  Then for Christmas morning we made a big brunch with eggs, bacon, fruit, toast and mimosas of course.  It was fun for us all to cook and share meals together.  For most of our meals at Struisbaai we all cooked and it was great time for fellowship.

View from our balcony in Struisbaai

All of us at Cape Agulhas

Our Christmas Eve table

Christmas Eve sunset 

When we arrived back in Cape Town we all moved into the Anglican guest house on the Cape Town University campus.  That is where Holly lives and it worked out perfectly because all of the students were gone for the holidays so we were each able to have our own room.  In Cape Town there was so much to do and I think we did a pretty good job of fitting it all in.  We went wine tasting, saw the penguins, did the Red Bus tour, saw the District Six museum, went to the beach, visited some of Holly's co-workers from Hope Africa, went to the waterfront, went to Kirstenbosch Gardens, hiked Table Mountain, did a couple of sun downs and attended a service at the Cathedral.  Amidst all that we found time to just relax, go on a few runs, and just enjoy each other's company as well.  I think Cape Town may be one of the prettiest places I have ever been.  For a big city, it was great because there was a view from everywhere of either a mountain or an ocean.  We spent New Years at Kirstenbosch Gardens.  There was a concert and we brought a picnic and we were surrounded by what most of described as the setting for Jurassic Park minus the man eating dinosaurs, of course.  It was probably my best New Years to date.

All of us with some Hope Africa people

Cathedral in Cape Town

New Years Eve at Kirstenbosch Gardens

Vineyards

Jared and I with the penguins

View from the top of Table Mountain

I arrived back in Kenya a few days ago and I am slowly readjusting to life here.  It was refreshing to be with friends for a couple of weeks.  Overall I am glad to be back and ready to work.  My mom comes in a month, which is exciting. I cannot wait for her to experience all Kenya has to offer and meet the people I work with here.  

Elections are quickly approaching and for those of you that do not know, back in 2007 Kenya had terrible post election violence.  Please pray for peace and understanding among the people here.  Elections are to be held on March 6, 2013.

Thanks for reading! I would love to hear how you celebrated the holidays and welcomed in 2013, don't hesitate to send me an email jkorwan@gmail.com or write me a letter. You can find my address in the links and contacts tab above.