I Can't Believe the Things I've Seen

It has been an exhausting two days in Kenya since the last time I posted. There are so many things to write about but I cannot begin to describe the things I've seen, heard, and done. For the past two days, we have been working in the village of Mtepani. Real4Christ has been helping this village for a while now. The nonprofit organization has built a school, church, bathroom facilities, and has dug a well for fresh water. Every morning we leave at 8:30am to head out to the village. It's about a thirty minute drive. We go through a small town (I cannot remember the name of it) that is one of the fastest growing cities on the coast of Kenya. I have never seen anything like it. They have open fires on the side of the road. Goats walk around through the streets. There is standing water that is filthy. There are piles of trash everywhere. The people mainly sell things out of tiny shops only big enough for 1 or 2 people. This is also where they sleep. After we go through this town, we turn left onto a dirt road with mud and huge ruts. After driving fifteen minutes, we arrive at Mtepani.

Every morning when our bus pulls up, there are tons of children (around the age of five) running to meet our bus and chanting something in swahili (something along the lines of "the white people are here")!!! It is a great way to start the day by seeing their happy smiles every morning. We can barely get off the bus before they swarm around us smiling and laughing and want to touch your hands.

After arriving, we break into groups and head out on the trails with our interpreters. We walk down dirt roads and tiny paths through tall grass for miles and miles. We go from hut to hut speaking with people and asking them about their faith. Most people are usually very welcoming. They sand up and offer you a seat in one of their homemade chairs. Some groups have experienced unwelcoming people and have been asked to leave. Their houses are tiny and are made of mud, clay, straw, etc. Some are a little more elaborate than others, but for the most part, they can only fit a few people inside. You see chickens and goats walking around freely. They sleep on straw mats. The babies lay on the ground by themselves with no diapers. Many people in the village have already been saved through the work Real4Christ has done. Many others have been saved this week.

After breaking for lunch, we spend the entire afternoon working with the kids. We have activities for them to do, candy to eat, and games to play. Today I face painted. I am no artist so most of the kids just had dots on their faces in a neat pattern! I took pictures, don't worry. I only face painted for a little bit because yesterday and today I have found that I love working with the medical team (we have three teams: crafts, sports, medical). All day yesterday I saw every child in the school and "de-wormed" all of them. We have a doctor and a few nurses that are members of our team and they are examining the sick people. Yesterday was children and today anyone could be seen. We have pills and medicine to give them and today I helped with distributing medicine according to what the doctor had recommended. I have seen cases of high fever, malaria, and epilepsy all in the last two days.

The bathroom situation is not good. While they have "bathroom facilities" now, this does not mean they have toilets. The bathroom at the school consists of three tiny rooms outside (only big enough to stand in), with a hole in the ground. It is dark when you shut the door and the heat makes it smell awful. No toilet paper so we bring our own. I could not bring myself to do this so for two days I have not gone to the bathroom until we return to the hotel. Many of our team members are just going behind the bathrooms because it's better with fresh air.

It is very sad, but some children have never seen white people before, especially toddlers. One toddler that was a baby last year, is now afraid of white people. Two of the girls on our team were very sad about this because they had played with her last year and now she cries when we get near her. I've seen a few other kids like this. We have to be careful taking pictures and ask permission first. Many fear that their soul is taken from them when their picture is taken. I've seen a few people get upset when we've taken pictures.

After we finished today, we came back to the hotel, showered, and went to bible study at the church we attended this past Sunday. Four of our girls shared their VERY touching testimonies and brought everyone to tears. To hear other people's stories is amazing. Several people came up to the girls after and told them they because of them, they had faith that things would change for them. We finished up about 8:00pm, came to the hotel and ate dinner, and now here I am! We do it all over again tomorrow in the same village and the end of the week we will be in different villages. Sunday we will have a church service in Mtepani to dedicate the church. We will entertain the children during the service. They are expecting anywhere from 500-750 people in this VERY small church. 18 people are waiting to be baptized this Sunday.

This only begins to describe what has been going on. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that this is reality. I'm still shocked when I realize I am actually in Kenya. I miss you all and will update when I can!