Peace, Shopping, and Travels

We have just finished up a busy two weeks--the first two weeks of our second semester. It's hard to believe that it will also be my last.

We have had some changes--one of the moms, who was once a fitness instructor, has taken over my middle school PE class to do a weight training unit for about six weeks. And I have taken on an extra middle school project for those six weeks--research papers. Wahoo!

Last year, we did research papers, but we did them as part of our creative writing class for the middle schoolers. This year, we don't have a formal class time, just a time allotted for writing conferences. The kids bring me anything they are working on and we talk about it, which I am really enjoying. (I have several middle schoolers who are very good writers.) So those are a few of the changes.

Politically, things are fairly calm, at least around here. The rainy season has started early, so people are starting to plant and get their crops started, which means they have plenty to do besides gather for political rallies and form roadblocks. There is still violence in some of the larger cities and the government is far from settled in terms of the election results, but it looks less and less likely the violence will continue. Schools (at least the primary schools) are opening again, after being delayed for so long and shops are opening again. The people still need prayer, though, as always.

The most recent news indicates that over 600 people have been killed in the clashes and a quarter of a million people have been displaced. They say that close to 1600 Kenyans have fled over the border to Uganda, as well. WGM in Kenya has been working with some of the local churches who are helping homeless families and WGM Uganda is helping with the refugees there. Here at Tenwek, the Community Health Dept has been taking out non-medical supplies, while medical teams have gone out several times  to conduct clinics in some of the refugee sites. We spent several evenings last week packing two-four week doses of a variety of medicines in bags for the doctors and nurses to give out. Thankfully, the last I heard, there had been no great outbreaks of any illnesses within the camps.

FYI--Overall, WGM has committed $37,000 to the crisis relief efforts and as of a few days ago, they had $20,000 in the Crisis Relief Fund. If you would like to make a donation to help those affected by the violence, you can go to WGM's website, click on "Donate Now", and indicate that your donation is for "WGM Crisis Fund". You can also send a check to WGM and earmark it "Crisis Fund, no. 41116".

Despite the unrest in other places, I was able to go into Bomet last weekend and get a few things. They didn't have all their usual stock--the owners said they had not received a shipment since before Christmas--but I found a number of things. Once again, I am heading into my 11th week without going into Nairobi, which is not exactly fun, but I am hoping to go in a few weeks, so the end of Nairobi-lessness is in sight. As is the end of my food, so I am looking forward to the trip. (I am not in any danger of going hungry--because almost all of our visitors for this month have canceled following all the unrest, the guesthouse has surplus of supplies, which I can easily buy from them if I need to.)

I am also looking forward to (probably) having another mandatory vacation next month. My visitor's visa expire in three weeks and I am still waiting for my work permit. I can only have two consecutive 90-day visitor’s visas each time I am in Kenya and to get another two visas to cover my remaining months in country, I have to leave East Africa for more than 72 hours. (Last year, after I first came, I applied for a work permit through the Ministry of Education and they denied my request. We have applied once again, but last time we talked to the officials, they had not even processed my request. So the chances of the request being processed and approved in the next three weeks is highly unlikely.)

Last year, I spent five days in Istanbul, Turkey and this year, I am hoping to venture a bit farther west to Athens, Greece for a few days--very exciting. I have no idea how I picked it, but their are some good deals on flights and it is only an hour difference from here, which means…no jet lag! Also exciting. After being here at Tenwek much more than I was last school year--I have only been in Nairobi once since coming back in August--I cannot wait to be in a city with great restaurants and fun shops (not to mention all the museums and historical sites) for a whole five days.
In fact, if my work permit does, by some miracle, come through, I might have to cancel school anyway and just spend a week in Nairobi, just to have some time away. (Actually, while I am in Athens, I am hoping that I can get the moms to sub for me again, so school will go on.)

So that’s the update here. I will try to be better about posting more often. Have a great week!

"Goodness is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate.  Light is stronger than darkness.  Victory is ours through Him who loves us." Bishop Desmond Tutu

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