Beechers Serving in Kenya: November 2010

Well, after a long famine of word, I thought I’d sit down for a few minutes—very few and try to just write some highlights. We had quite the traumatic week (2 weeks ago). It rained and rained—every day, and the muddy roads were abominable. We had to make 3 trips to Naitiri in 3 successive days. The roads out there are bad when it is dry, but terrible when it has been wet. It takes us an hour to get there when the road is dry. A half hour of that is on dirt. The road is very high on the top and has a pretty steep slope on either side of the rise. The slope ends abruptly with a steep dirt bank rising upward between 12 inches and 2 ½ feet high.

When it is very wet, a small stream runs in the crack between the bottom of the slope and the steep bank. Also, when it is wet and big grain trucks have passed, it creates huge gashes—sometimes 2-3 feet deep up on the narrow top of the burm.

Both of the first two days found us slipped off in the crack. We took the edge of the road because the top was simply impassible. On two other occasions, we have driven way out there---an hour in picking our way through, only to find a large truck jackknifed horizontally across the road. So, we have had no choice, but to turn around (very carefully) and backtrack all that way through deep slippery mud.

So the first two days of this fateful week, we tried the sides of the road, only to completely slip into the crack. It was frightening because we couldn’t get back up, couldn’t go forward, and couldn’t go back. Neal kept rocking it back and forth, and on both occasions, he was finally able to get enough traction to back far down the road in the crack and pull us out.

Our anxiety rises because we are way out in the jungle and though people are continually walking along through the mud (often in heels and in their satin and taffeta dresses), they either stand and stare at us or pay us no mind. The curiosity is not that we’re stuck---that is everyday---every few blocks people are stuck…the curiosity is that we are muzungus…whites. Some of friendly stares…I think some are contemplative of possible profit stares…I think we get the gamut.

On the third day, we were wiser. We knew what happened when you got off the crest of the road, so he tried to plow through along the top. That was a treat! I’m here to tell you, we were (as always in these situations) in 4-wheel drive, proceeding down the road horizontal to the direction it was going….we were up, we were down, we were sideways, and finally, we were stopped…absolutely, irrevocably stopped—high centered with our wheels just spinning in the deep water of cracks on both sides. There was no way in heaven we were getting out. We were in Sunday dress as always….we do have coveralls in the truck, but the mud was so sticky and so deep. We had no more than stopped, than a motorcycle tried to pass us on the left and slipped into the crack, dumping the driver and his paid fare into the soup.

Another older funny bearded man finally passed us going the opposite way on his motor..they pass close enough to kiss us…and smilingly said, “Don’t worry, the Lord will send you an angel to pull you out, because people will stop because they can’t pass you where you are straddled clear across the road.” Then, he merrily went his way. We had a couple of offers from stray men walking by to try to push us, but they couldn’t budge us. Two men offered to go find tractors, but we could envision a huge, absolutely huge fee—we’re muzungus after all….

Neal called the branch president of Naitiri and asked him if he could bring shovels and come to help us. He arrived with a friend about ½ hour later—without shovels. By the we had quite a group of people gathered to watch the muzungus in their dilemma. President Barasa is a tall, very commanding looking young man. He spoke to the crowd and arranged for a tractor to pull us out.

About another ½ hour later, the tractor and several men arrived…the tractor was already pulling a large, heavy trailer…like a cattle trailer, although I’ve never seen cattle transported here. So, we wondered how it could ever pull us out with the trailer intact. The tractor pulled right up to us and tried and tried to pull is out, but it was slipping in the yukky stuff. It finally, pulled out and turned around so that the trailer butted up next to us and the tractor pulled the other way. We were sure we were going to lose all of our underside, but they finally got us out.

We still needed to get to Naitiri, so we backed way up, and then made a huge, fast run at it and talk about a roller-coaster ride, we had it, but we made it to the other side. We weren’t sure if we were going to be spending the rest of the night in Naitiri or not. (we would have stayed in the truck because there is nothing in Naitiri but a few little shed shops). We were so blessed because by the time we returned, the sun had been out and it was a little—not a lot drier.

Our other blessing was purely material. President Barasa told the people we were poor missionaries and not to charge us muzungu prices. It cost us 200 shillings to the tractor people (about $2.50—about a day’s wage) and we paid 150 shillings each to President and his friend. Without that, we thought we would have paid about 4,000 shillings.

TIDBITS—

We often get cold in the evenings, so I’ve been half-heartedly looking for small blankets for us. Fake fur ones are popular here. Our house helper, Beatrice, said she would take us down in the market/alleys to try to find some. She knew right where to go, places we would never venture on our own. The vendor was very pushy, and when we explained the quilts he showed were too large, he led us even deeper down several lanes and another alley to his “second” shop. Again, he was very pushy and giving us a hard sell. We were pretty firm on not wanting what he offered because he wanted over $50 for his quilt, which he said we could easily cut in half. We resisted, but afterward, we asked Beatrice what he had said to her. She reported that he told her, “Shut up! If you stop talking to her, she will buy.” We did more shopping, but just couldn’t find what we wanted. Just before returning home, we went into the supermarket, and on a whim climbed upstairs where they keep the household goods. There we found two child blankets (perfect size and just as fuzzy) for $6 each. We felt it had been a successful day.

MISSIONARY MOMENT

President Barasa (Naitiri) called us and his greeting was, “Have you had your missionary moment?” We were uncertain about what he meant. He repeated his comment and then said, “Remember when we visited Rosemary and their family?” Rosemary’s husband has been a member for 10 years…a pioneer here. He is extremely active in the Church and comes without Rosemary. He wants to take her to the temple. He has 8 children, all of whom are members with varying degrees of activity. Rosemary is his second wife, not the mother of these children. Although she is a member, she is less active and has not been to church for many years. Rosemary and her husband are well educated and very active in the community. She is a social worker and prominent in the female community with her work in micro-finance (groups of women get together and are able to borrow small amounts of money which they collaboratively use to develop small industries, which they themselves run).

We visited with Rosemary, her husband, and three of his active adult children. All of his kids are adults or missionary age. We begged her to return to Church. Pres Barasa was calling to tell us that SHE CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!! YAY!!!! He said, “It made tears come to my eyes to see her come and I just needed to tell you she did so.”

PEF:

We were going through our old Perpetual Education Fund files and found a folder for Kate. She is 32 years old (too old to be accepted through the regular channels for the Perpetual Education Fund). The folder said that the former couple had applied for an age-exception for her. We did some checking. Kate is a returned missionary, who married and had 2 children. Her husband left her mostly because of his antagonism about her “devil worshipping church). She has absolutely nothing. We did some more checking and discovered her age-exception had been granted clear back in June, but no one had heard that that had been the case. We talked with the branch president, and then drove out to Kate’s house to talk with her. We did not tell her that it had been cleared because we had heard she was no long attending. Apparently, she had tried to get PEF for two years, but it just hadn’t gone through.

When we arrived, she appeared quite disheveled, tired, and discouraged. Her baby clung to her the entire visit. We asked about her testimony, about her circumstances presently, about how she felt about PEF, without disclosing our purpose. We were still unsure about her activity level. She said her sister had been very ill and she had been away from Church for 2 months because she had been in a distant city. So, we called the Branch Pres and asked him to interview her before we talked to her about being accepted for PEF. In fact, Pres Kandawala didn’t understand our ENGLISH and he didn’t understand that the acceptance had come through. He told us she was worthy. We all then, explained that PEF had finally come through. She wept, she laughed, she cried….she was ecstatic…it was a straw of hope for her.

We visited again several days later, and asked we did so, we realized going through the paperwork she had prepared, that she misunderstood the program which pays only tuition, fees, and books---no food. She had been accepted to a college that was a boarding school and requires 5,000 shillings a term for board and then lots of other charges the PEF will not pay (4-6 terms required for her degree). Five thousand shillings is about $62, a king’s ransom. She needs a day school within walking distance of her home. We are novices, and not too astute ourselves and so that was a shocker for us. So, she was devastated again….it has been soooo hard for her to get this accomplished.

Now, we have heard she has found two possible schools since we were there. We’ll see. We are really under a lot of pressure to help her get everything done so she can start in January. It is a question if we can pull it off in time. She must take the Career Workshop (offered in her area next week)…She already took it last year, but it has to be within 6 months of her application acceptance. She has to complete 2 two-hour computer programs and there are no computer places where she lives, so we will have to help her with that. So, we are working on that with her.

Neal and I have both had lots of bites. Every morning I get up with more bites. I quit counting after I had 39 on my body. Neal doesn’t have as many. We have sprayed this place until I’m sure we are glowing. We put every cream we brought with us on. We have washed bedding and clothes, and hung them in the house. We are getting a clothes drier (but it takes a long time to come). Finally, they have abated. I wear clothes from head to foot to bed and think that has helped with all the spraying.

ROAD RIDING

We went to Nairobe to check out Neal’s eye, which has improved tremendously. He still will take meds for a month. It is always an adventure to drive the 7 ½ hours to Nairobe because the road is so bad. Everytime we go, it seems worse….there are so many potholes….deep ones…but Neal is getting more proficient at missing them, and we only hit the ceiling a few times. However, this trip, I wasn’t watching, and we hit one, and my head hit the plastic handle on the car roof, and I about had a concussion—no kidding…headache for a few minutes… We have never traveled to Nairobe (and this is our 6^th or 7^th time down and back) without seeing 3-4 large semis jackknifed either in the road or off the road. They are not the same semis…That road is treacherous.

There are potholes all along it, so traffic weaves back and forth to avoid hitting them. It is almost a constant that you will meet oncoming trucks and vans traveling at breakneck speed that veer across your lane or right toward you. Also up along the top ridges of the Rift Valley, the heavily laden trucks have beaten down the tarmac so that it makes large ruts in the tar so the road ripples….The trucks get into those ruts and try to cross them with their top-heavy loads and it invariably throws them over. The vans carry way over their allotted number of passengers---I think 14 is the supposed limit, and they make their money by the speed and # of people they carry, so they go like madmen—very aggressively. Their goal we are told is to make as many trips as they possibly can in a day.

Some observations: We came out of Church after watching a sweet little baby girl be blessed—the baby we rushed to the hospital to deliver—about a month ago. Imagine our shock when after Church as all the kids rushed out to play in the grass after the meeting. There in the middle of all the chaos sat a little child (about 5-6 years old) holding the newborn baby in the midst of all the kids playing and peering inside the blanket to see it. I think of how we coddle and protect our little newborns, and here is this little one with not a single adult in sight, being loved and tussled, and seeming no worse for the wear!

WEEKLY ACTIVITIES:

We’ve had some wonderful experiences with reactivation. We visit a different branch every Tuesday and Thursday and then visit a different seminary/institute class every Saturday, and a different branch every Sunday. We tell the branch presidents that we are there at their bidding for the whole days on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some of them use us every spare minute, and some seem a little disconcerted wondering what to do with us. We usually teach 3 temple preparation classes a week and 3 missionary preparation classes during that same time period.

Our big push right now is to prepare for a Seminary Activity December 10 for all the seminary-age kids in this area, which encompasses 4 branches. This will be something of a novelty. They have had one such similar activity in the past, but it has been awhile. We are trying to really pack it with spiritual and fun things to do:

Each student will be given a colored neckerchief (4 colors) and be told to follow his/her Moroni during the day. There will be 4 Moroni’s, each carrying a colored banner (Title of Liberty) standing at the gate to welcome them as they arrive. They will sign in (a new concept), and receive 4 paper puppets to color and a script to follow so that they can put on a puppet show for their branch Primary the next day (as a service project). They’ve never seen a puppet show, and have no concept of the idea of “drama” or “puppetry”. So, this should be interesting. Even the adult teachers looked at us quizzically when we tried to explain what we were doing.

(We did a complete run-through of the day’s activities with all the actions with the teachers last week so they would at least have a vague idea of what we are trying to help the kids do). In the past, they have memorized scriptures (which even little kids do regularly) and then they get up and recite them to each other. We told them this time, we are not going to do any recitations. They often do recitations of scriptures in place of testimonies on the first Sunday. They think we are from Mars when we tell them, no recitations.

So, after they’ve made the puppets, we’ll have them do an acquainted game—you know where you go around with a sheet of paper with questions and try to find someone who can match your query. It, too, is quite novel to them, although some have done those kinds of activities before.

Then we will have a husband and wife give the keynote addresses—15 minutes each. President and Sister Kandawala are so neat. It is unusual to have a woman address a group like this, but we hope it will be good role modeling for the kids. They will speak on I N 3:7 and will encourage the kids to look in the mirror each day and commit to do as the Lord commands. (They will each be given a mirror as they leave for the day). Many do not have mirrors in their homes.

Our next activity is like an Era Bowl, only it will be a Book of Mormon quiz, where they sit in their colors as teams and compete answering questions as teams, with the winners getting 2 pieces of candy, the losers only one. This will be followed by something that is going to be tricky.

Each Moroni will lead his team to a room where they will find a basket of props…we anticipate 161 people divided into 4 groups. Their goal will be to put together a play in 15 minutes before the bell rings. They’ve never seen a play, never been in a play, and didn’t even know what the word meant. We did it with the teachers and they had a ball, but it took some explaining to know what to do. The biggest challenge was to remind them to open up their group and not turn their backs to the audience. It was fun! We are anxious to see what happens. They have 12 minutes to perform.

These are kids that speak so softly if they speak at all in a group.

Then the bell will ring for them to go to lunch---one small loaf of bread for each person and one bottle of pop. They have ½ hour to imbibe the whole thing and then the bell for GAMES.

Again, these kids don’t know games. Not like our culture. They don’t have opportunities to play, so it will be a challenge just to teach these concepts. We will have 4 stations: Volleyball, How do you Like your Neighbor, relay races, and then one station devoted to dance: “Chicken Dance”, “Hokey Pokey”, and “Bunny Hop”. We’ve taught several of the leaders these dances, and they laugh and laugh. They think it is soooo funny! It is moving from one activity to the next which will pose our greatest challenges we think.

Then the bell will ring, and everyone will return to the chapel for a testimony meeting before they return home. So, we’ve been trying to create costumes out of the barest supplies---we bought a lot of fabric to make the flags, costumes for the plays, and for the Moroni’s and the neckerchiefs. Neal has been repairing all the mirrors. Our house helper bought a box of them, but they are metal framed and the frames are very rough and could really cut someone, so he is fixing all 145 of them. He is such a good man. So, that is our consuming activity right now.

We were driving back from Misikhu, Saturday about 5:00 PM when an approaching vehicle hit something on the road. That projectile hit the windshield, which splintered and scared us to death. I don’t think it was as bad as Tiauna’s experience, but scared us nevertheless.

The rain has abated somewhat I think. It still rains about every other day or every day, but it certainly isn’t as bad as it had been in the past. We are grateful because although the roads are still bad, they are NOTHING like they have been. What a blessing!