Stories..

We went to the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage last Saturday...it's in the outskirts of Nairobi..and it was a really fun afternoon! They bottlefeed the baby elephants...!






One of the entrances to Kibera Slum...the other day when I said it was the biggest slum in Africa...well it's actually the biggest slum in the world!

Markets set up beside the road...I apologize for the bad quality of pictures...these are taken while driving past!

~I think we, when we moved here to Nairobi, had to go through more than just culture shock due to moving from Canada to Africa. I think we have gone through culture shock moving from small town Canada…to big city Africa!! There have been so many adjustments just due to moving to a city…I mean, we’re both small town kids…hey I’m a farm kid! There have been so many adjustments!! And then there’s all the things about Nairobi that are not so pleasant…the corruption, the violence, the smell of burning garbage everywhere…We have heard some interesting comments from different people here…describing Nairobi:
-“it’s like a pit.”
-“it’s a dark hole…”
-“you don’t come here for anything but work.”
-“it’s all business, no pleasure”
And finally…my personal favourite.. -“as soon as you come into the city limits, the matatus (mini-buses) try to kill you!”
Haha…no, before you think that this is completely negative and cynical…we don’t feel all of these things ourselves (except maybe the one about the matatus!!). We are feeling quite good about living here, but do realize that we need to take those times to get away before we go crazy!! We’ve had other interesting conversations with people here as well, that perhaps capture the struggles people have living here, and how difficult it really can be…these are some of the tidbits of conversation that we’ve had with people who have either grown up here (Kenyan) or people who have lived here for a long, long time…
…you don’t trust anybody. Nobody. Everybody is out to get you. You look out for yourself. Never trust a cop…if you have a choice between running into a thief or a cop, choose the thief…it’ll be better for you…
It’s hard hearing this type of mentality…we’re here to minister, and yet everyday you run into situations that just make you shake your head and say “are you serious??” Another example of the differences here is the village justice type of mentality…because the cops really are not here to help the people (by the way, a big reason for dirty cops is because they get paid next to nothing, and so are expected to do their own business on the side…like ask for bribes, steal, take advantage of people in any way that will benefit them financially…and plus, they don’t have cars…so if you need to report a robbery or are in trouble or something…you actually have to go and GET the cops and bring them back to “help” you…!!) anyway, because the policemen don’t help the people, the people feel that they have to get justice themselves…the other day we heard a story of people in the village who just burned two thieves to death last Saturday…or if someone steals from you, you better think twice before yelling “mwezi!” (thief) or the mob will go after them, attack and often kill them right there in front of you…can you imagine??? It’s pretty crazy…but we have been learning a lot!! If God can use two people like us here in Nairobi, two people with no experience with this sort of thing…then I think He can use anybody!!
As Trevor has been getting to know his co-workers, he has been learning a lot about their stories, and what they have been through and come out of. There’s Benedicto…an older man who’s family doesn’t live in Nairobi with him, they live in their up-country home, and he just works here in the city to make enough money to support his family, and goes home when he can…while he’s here he lives in Kibera Slum because he can’t afford anything else…the other day when he came to work he told Trevor that he was really tired and hadn’t gotten much sleep…and when asked why, he replied that during the night there had been a fire in the slum very close his house, so he had taken some things out of his house to save them from getting burned…the fire didn’t get as far as his house, but it burned a huge section of Kibera, and he was up most of the night because of it….this is life for him. He does it to support his family, who he doesn’t get to see very often…
And there’s Steven…a younger man with a wife and daughter…he is Kikuyu, and she is Kamba…during the election violence, he had to run for his life because of the tribe he belongs to…rioters came to his apartment building looking for any Kikuyus…they asked the landlord’s son about the Kikuyus in the building, and when he wouldn’t give them any information, they beat him to death…meanwhile Steven took his daughter and ran into the forest and hid until it was safe…this is his life…
And then there’s another young man…a teenage boy from the Darfur region of Sudan, where all the atrocities are happening…he had to flee his home…spent time in refugee camps, and is now living in Nairobi…he speaks his tribal language, and Arabic, and also a little English…Trevor is spending a lot of time with him…helping him with his English, being a support to him…he is a great kid, a really hard worker…trying to save up to buy a bicycle…his life has not been easy…
Trevor is really enjoying getting to know these people..hearing their stories..hearing about their faith in God..trusting God in the midst of these awful and trying times…faith so strong…it’s pretty amazing. God is raising up good, good people in this country, people who have been through so much hardship, and yet can still say that God is good…
So in the midst of living in a sad, corrupted place…it is so encouraging when you get to meet the heart of why we’re here…for the people…for those struggling to get by…for those needing encouragement…for those who work so hard for their family…to be able to be God’s hands and feet…to make what may seem like a small difference, and yet in one person’s life, it may be all the difference…What an honor.
~A