Reflecting on Kenya experience:
Life as a volunteer
Accommodation:
One building with 2 rooms; Each room has a bathroom and entrance way where we put water containers and your shoes. The room holds a bunk bed and a table with white walls
Food:
Meal Times:
Breakfast: 9:30 to 10 am
Lunch: 1:30 to 2:30 pm
Dinner: 7:30 to 9 pm
Meals: cooked bananas, cabbage, noodles, potatoes, mice meat, kail, ugali, eggs, chapatti, madazi, doughnuts, white bread, tea in mornings
Fruit: bananas, oranges
Once: pizza, watermelon, mango
Who cooks our food: Sinthea youth, Uncle Hasborn, Rosie nanny
Where we eat: volunteer dinning room with hens laying eggs in baskets
Hand wash clothes:
Use 3 buckets: soapy water, first rinse water, second rinse water then hang to dry
Bathroom:
In the bathroom, we only go pee and put the toilet paper in a bag. To flash the toilet, use dirty laundry water. We use the outside toilets for number two.
Work schedule:
Days: Monday to Friday
Hours: 6 to 8 a day
Duties: help in preschool: 8 to 12 pm & hangout the rest of the day, brush preschoolers teeth, art activities
Weekends:
Hang out with friends, go to Church in Sundays at local church in Ngong, coffee in Karen and sightsee
Meet other volunteers from:
Holland, Italy, Canada, USA, Germany, Austria, Ireland, New Mexico, Spain
Internet:
Buy an internet stick called Safaricom in town. You can buy airtime minutes and entry the pin into the computer. You can get 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 airtime cards at many businesses. It costs 2 bob per minute to use.
Phone:
Buy a cheap 2,000 shillings ($20) phone at many phone stores. You can buy Safaricom airtime at many businesses. It costs 1 shillings per text and 2 shillings to talk per minute. After 10 pm, it cost 1 shilling a minute to talk.
Transportation:
Use taxi (rains or gets dark), tutu (3 wheels with cover), motor bike into Ngong Town from Kibiko, buses, matato (van, fits 14 people), bicycle ride (in GilGil)
Buy Food:
Market place ( cheap fruits and vegetables) & Nakumarket & Sweet World Supermarket & Tuskys
Bank:
Barclays. If you take out money, show your passport at the till.
Keep contact at home:
Skype dates with parents, Lawrence (1), Holly (2)
Volunteer Opportunities:
Painting at Lords House of Hope Orphanage:
We have been able to help 4 times. We helped paint black lines on the outside of the building and the first coat of white paint in 3 rooms inside. We invited our friends Amos and Henry to join us! Each time we go, we see the progress in the finishing of the orphanage. They plan to have 40 children from Kibera live there with Janet (USA) and Badi (Kenya helping Janet oversee the project)
Daily Vacation Bible School
Dates: August 8 to 12th, 2011
A bus picks Mama Tunza children up from the top of the hill to take us to NPC. The theme of the week was “It’s my time to stand out for Jesus”. They learning songs, learned bible verses, world art project, story of Joseph, sports time and provided with a snack. The program runs from 8 to 12 pm. There was up to 2,000 children in attendance. I helped assist in the 4 year old class for the whole week.
Youth Summit
Date: August 16 to 20, 2011
Kim and I paid for the Tunza youth to attend. We walked an hour to NPC every morning and back home afterwards. They had a few guest speakers per day talking about the importance of working hard in school, careers, and making wise life choices. We sing loads of worship. They served us lunch and a light snack of tea & madaz. One youth named Grchot excepted Christ was her personal savoir which was so exciting!
Kibera
Date: November 13th, 2011
Pamula (19 years old, living at Mama Tunza original home) gave Kim, Sonna, Sylie & I a tour around the largest slum in Kenya. We walked around the area for about 2 hours. We also went to see the original Tunza place. Kim and I brought candy to hand out to the children. We shook their hands, told them Jesus loves them and gave them a sweet. It felt amazing showing them God’s love and seeing there faces light up.
Mama Tunza Children Home
Children’s Ministry
Teeth Brushing Program
Kim and I bought 25 children’s tooth brush’s to help keep the preschoolers to have healthy teeth. Monday to Friday, we brush their teeth after preschool class for 30 minutes. We hand their brush to each child and help assist the younger children. They sing the song while they are waiting for their brush, “No me brush”!
Preschool class
Kim and I helped assist Devina & Lanet in the classroom for the first two weeks of term 2 in July before summer break. Than, in September for term 3 till October. We marked their work, help them pronounce the alphabet and counting numbers. When Lanet left in the end of October, Kim and I became the preschool teachers for the younger group.
Schedule:
Monday to Friday class started after breakfast between 8 to 8:30 am. Monday and Friday they had group singing time for 10 minutes. They learn from 8 to 10. Then, they have an hour break. At 11 to 12 they have second period.
Lessons included:
Songs (bubble gum, 5 monkeys jumping on bed, slipper fish, tommy thumb, brown squirrel, hockey poky etc )
Math (less/more, addition, recognition, amount worth, small/big, shapes, colours) Socials & Science (transportation, insects, clothes, fruits, material s used in a classroom, weather, ocean animals, plants etc)
Alphabet (pronounce, recognition, using images for visuals)
Group Games (musical chairs, freeze dance, free style dance, Simon says)
Art (puppets, painting, butterfly, colleges, masks, finger painting, colouring pages etc)
Youth Bible Study
During winter break, Kim and I meet up with some of the youth to followership and grow in God’s word. We studied the book, “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. Our special meeting spot was on the grass field. We would start with a worship song on the lap top or guitar. Then, we could recap on what we learned the session before. Afterwards, went into small groups and had a decision question to get us thinking about the topic. Then, assign bible verses for the reading of the day. Kim would read the chapter in the book. At the end, we give youth a question to reflect on for the whole day. It took about 30 minutes to an hour. The book explained why we are here, we are not a mistake, God’s purpose for us, types of worship, eternal life and ways God tests us. We meet 8 times. It was a nice way to connect with the youth. YAY!
Teaching Ann
A beautiful 9 year old girl named Ann is behind in class. She gets hit because she doe not no the answers in class. She is still in the preschool class but should be in Primary 3. She has a difficult time learning how to read. In Kenya, you need to know how to read and write simple words to get into primary school. I would work with her a few times a week for a few months. We worked on recognizing alphabet and its pronunciation. Then, we sound out simple 3 letter words and draw the picture of the image. We practiced ck and cl sounds and put them into words. I believe she had a learning disability and started learning at an older ago which makes it more difficult for her. God has put a special place in my heart for her because I also had a hard time in school.
Fun activities during the afternoons…
Popping bubbles, reading books, singing songs, swinging on the swings, rolling tires to each other, picking up trash in compound, drawing with wax crayons with toy story colouring pages, drawing with chalk, face painting, dancing parties in preschool class, parachute, skip rope, tossing ball in a bucket, kicking soccer ball around
I will miss…
children the most, not being about to give them hugs and kissed whenever I want too
spending time playing with the children including blowing bubbles, tire passing, reading books, singing songs, face painting and being silly
proving materials to make art with the children
waking up to hearing Kim’s voice and spending time for walks, events on weekends and teaching preschool together. (We make a good team!)
Christian friends that I have made while I have been here
quiet country life
walking outside our room and seeing Ngong hills
able to walk 45 minutes to see wild giraffes
greeting Mike in the mornings, seeing his smile and spending time fellowshipping
cheap restaurants where you can get a 2 dollar meal
not having to wait for a bus most of the time
hearing the children attending Christian Unit and hearing there beautiful voices in worship and in prayer
how welcoming people are: making us feel like home and inviting us to there places
weather when its hot outside
reading spot in the garden (Shaba) and looking at the puffy clouds in the sky at the same time
clear bright stars outside and star gazing on a blanket in the shaba
fresh warm chapattis, madazes and tea that Hasborn (cook) makes
evening walking to a view in the Ngong hills: reading, listening to music and just relaxing clearing my head and being all alone!
Carnivore restaurant (crocodile meat!)
traveling experiences I was able to see including safari & mabasa beach
I will not miss…
bucket showers
going to the bathroom in a lantern (hole in the ground)
washing my clothes by hand
how dirty my feet and figure nails get
drama of Mama Tunza place and how they don’t put the children first
when it rains: your clothes & shoes get dirty, mud strikes to your shoes, difficult getting around
cooked bananas, plain noodles, rice, potatoes, mystery meat that are served for meals
not knowing what people are saying most of the time in other languages (Ki Swahili, Shang or 42 other tribe languages )
people making fun of you in there language directly at you
way they teach school here including miss class if you are not wearing uniform or black shoes, repeat method of teaching and not pronouncing the alphabet sounds right and hitting the children when they don’t understand the work or misbehaving
not getting a fair price because we are white and rich
not being safe walking around at night and staying in the compound when it gets dark
eating with hens in the corner of the room laying eggs, dance around the room and standing on the table eating our fruit and the smell in the room
paying for everything with cash (miss my plastic cards)
God was been teaching me…
God is in control, takings care of us and wants the BEST for us!
o National park day trip:
We were planning to hangout the whole day at National Park and then come home to Ngong. When we got there, I didn’t bring enough money and there were no ATM’s around. We decided to have lunch in the city. We were stuck in traffic because of a car accident and it starts to pour and leaks in the window of the bus. Everything that could have gone wrong did that day. It reminded me that God is in control and when we try to do something in our own strength it will fall part.
o During Gil Gil trip:
When I first wanted to come in Africa, I really wanted to stay at the volunteer house. I am a very social person and it would be nice to get to know other people around the world. When we got placed, we were going to be staying at our placement in Ngong. I was a little disappointed because all the other volunteers during our training were placed at the volunteer house. When I hang out with the volunteers on the weekend I realized I was so happy living at our placement instead. The volunteers were fun to hangout with but none of them were Christians. I felt a different feeling of feeling out of place and something was missing. I wanting to share about how our kids at Mama Tunza are going to VBS but all they said was that’s nice. I was so excited they would be given a chance to learn more about God. After being around strong Christians for a whole month than hanging out with all non Christians I started to miss Mama Tunza home, Kim and Uncle Mike encouragement and our talks about faith and about God. It was awesome to see how God is taking care of us and knows what is best for us. We our in the country which is so beautiful and peaceful. We can see giraffes about 30 minutes from here and have an amazing view on top of Ngong hills. Go to God first because he knows the right direction you need to go. It might not make sense at first but will become clear that God is helping you grow, looking out for your best interest and wants the best for you.
Don’t question Gods direction for you…
I live in what ifs too much. I thing about what if I was still with Paul would we still be happy? What if I just shout my month when Corey didn’t want to see me before I left to Kenya, would we still be friends now? In Kenya, my what if question was if Kim and I were placed at the volunteer house, how would our experience be differently? I had to stop and be confident that God placed us at Mama Tunza for his plans and for his purpose. Doing that helped me a lot. What ifs can torcher you and your living in the past and not the present. God wants us to live in the present and not to worry. We are imperfect people and will make poor decisions. We have to tell him about how we are feeling and then keep moving forward.
Being healthy the whole trip
God protected us from becoming sick. I adjusted well with the new foods that were introduced. All the volunteers that Kim and I have seen come and go have all
been sick and some even had to go to the Karen hospital. We have been blessed.
God wants to give us free gifts to make us happy
Mike brought me a necklace and bracelet for a going away gift.
Stacey from church invited us over for lunch. Her mother and friend were in the kitchen for 3 hours preparing everything. We had a African feast. They were so happy to make us an amazing lunch and we were grateful for their generosity
God had given me the gift of loving children and giving me creativity
There will be times when I play with the children and I can’t explain how over whelmed in love for these children I have. God first loved us so we were able to love others. They give me so much joy when I see them smiling, laughing, hugs, kisses, saying my name, and doing something cute. I will miss them all so much. God has blessed me with the talent of making up activities, singing songs and teaching preschoolers.
God sent people to encourage us and to build friendships
Mike first talked with us at Mama Tunza when we arrived and made us feel welcome. He spent every evening hanging out and makings us laugh for a few months. He told us, a part of his job was to take care of us.
Kanda is the first guy from church to go out of his way to help us out and show kindness. Kim needed to go into the city to get a new laptop cord and computer. He was there to show us around in the city so we wouldn’t get lost.
Martin came with us to Mombasa. We were nervous going by ourselves. He was the only one that was free to join us. We had a fun time.
Got to see in example from our friends what a true mature Christian looks like
They will go up to anyone and share about the good news. When they talk about Jesus, you know they have a close relationship with him. They are devoted to keep reading scripture and memorising it.
God was challenged me with:
I would read bible verses without analyzing what he is trying to really say, take to heart and believe. When our friends quoted these verses and believe so strongly in them, I struggled with what I believed in. God thinks of us as righteous and sinless? Christ lives in us and we are images of him? Why does he have so much love for us? He takes our sin, the consequences and shame? Why do I still feel shameful if God had forgiven them already? Of course we have to deal with the consequences of our sin, we cased in on ourselves. But its GRACE that he has given us. I have the bible answered when these questions come up. Do I believe wholehearted in what they mean. If I did, wouldn’t be able to contain myself and want to tell everyone right. What is stopping me from believing important truths, human logical thinking, being hurt from others and having a hart time putting myself on the line to trust again. God is the same today, yesterday and in the future. He does not change and keeps his promises. People will disappoint each other but not God.
I want to start learning bible verses. They are good in times of telling others about him and when we are being told lies from the devil. I need to start memorizing verses to fight the devil away and know the truth for myself.
Share with people what God has teaches me and be open with people about the relationship I have with him with others. We can all encourage each other. I keep my relationship with God to myself mostly and don’t express outwardly what he means to me.
