Happy Reunion

Zula and I arrived in Kenya late Tuesday night.  The next morning, I couldn't wait to get out to the propety to see my guys and all the improvements they made while I was gone.   We arrived and got hugs from everyone!

I was greeting the ladies who showed up to wash clothes.  Jeremy stood by with a big grin on his face as I greeted them.

Next was Shadrack.  He is easily one of the kindest men I know!  He is always respectful, a hard worker, and eager to please.

I never get tired of watching the animals come to the watering troughs.

Jeremy showing me the improvements made to our pit latrine.  A shower and sink were added while I was away.

These animals are headed to the watering troughs.

Zula captured this picture of my guest room -- which was her room for the next two weeks.

This is my dining room and through the door is my kitchen.

My kitchen with a wall of windows!  I love this kitchen.

This is a view of the back of my house while standing in my tiny back yard. 

It was indeed great to be home again.  I've been here for four weeks now and am still trying to settle in.  I do love the feel of my own bed after being away for a year!  As I've always said -- there's no place like home!

Maasai Mara

I finally returned to Kenya the end of February.  A friend from my church in Oklahoma traveled with me, which was a new experience for me.  For 10 years, I have traveled back and forth between Kenya and the U.S. by myself.  I have always believed a shared experience is a richer experience, and it turns out that traveling internationally falls into that category!

My friend's name is Zula.  She was wonderful and enjoyable -- a very good combination.  I will be sharing more about our two weeks together in future posts, but for today, I will share our wonderful time in the Maasai Mara.

Another missionary friend, Joanna, and her guest, Debi, joined us for a two day trip to the Mara. We sat and watched this group of elephants for a long time.  Its so fascinating to see them in their natural habitat.  We were close enough to hear them chew!  If you look closely, you can see the legs of another elephant behind the bush.

Cape Buffalos are not pretty animals, per se, but they are massive and can be quite mean and aggresive if they feel threatened.

We got to the Mara River and met with a Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) Ranger who took us to the river to view hippos and crocodiles.  Along the way we came across hippo footprints.  This is Debi's foot beside this print showing you the size comparison.

This crocodile was about 7 feet in length.  We were happy he was across the river!

After we got back to our tour van and started driving away, this hippo was seen just beside the road.  He probably came up out of the river we had just been walking beside.

I get a thrill every time I see a giraffe.  They are just so graceful and elegant looking.  All four of us had cameras and choosing only one picture to put on this post was difficult.

Impala's were plentiful.  We enjoyed every group we saw.

The rhino is becoming so rare to see, so when we drove up to this black rhino, we felt blessed indeed.  Poaching is a huge issue for these magnificent animals and their numbers are shrinking at an alarming rate.

These naughty little monkeys are fun to watch, but a pain to be around when you are trying to enjoy a picnic!

Our driver/guide, pointed out this leg hanging out of a tree.  When a leopard kills an animal, he drags it up into the tree to eat to keep it away from other predators.  I guess he got full before he finished his meal.

In the ten years I've been in Kenya, I have never seen a leopard until this trip.  We were so thrilled when our driver took us to see this incredibly beautiful animal. 

We were so blessed to see lions on this trip.  Three different prides on three separate games drives.  In all, we saw 41 lions!  It was amazing.  On the last day, we saw them in action as they were stalking their prey.  But they are very patient, and our driver said we had to go after about an hour of watching because it could easily be several more hours before they actually made their move.  We were disappointed, but understood that we needed to move on.

This next picture is out of order as it belongs with the first picture, but I wanted to include this baby with his mother.  They are so much fun to watch.

There are so many pictures I didn't include.  With a slow internet connection, it takes a lot of time to upload pictures.  So I hope you enjoyed what I did include.  I feel so blessed to live here, doing what God called me to do, but also in a position to enjoy His creation!

Ooleserian Literacy Graduation

On Saturday, June 11, we celebrated with 11 lovely Maasai women as they completed our first adult literacy class of 2011. The church shown below hosted the classes, and the pastor of the church, Pastor Richard, was their teacher.

Due to the fact that I am in the states undergoing cancer treatment, my faithful board members carried on without me and made sure the day was a huge success. A big thank you to Joanna, Jeremy, Pastor Paul, and James and visiting Global missionary, Denise. As they entered the church they saw the ladies' worksheets proudly displayed.

This is Pastor Richard. He is a Maasai from that community and has a great love for his people.

As is customary when visitors attend a gathering, each of the Starfish representatives were given an opportunity to share. Here we see James Weche addressing the crowd.

This lady is Hellen and she is the class representative. They would all share if given the opportunity, but given the time restraints of the program, we always ask for one lady to share the thoughts and hearts of the class. She said "I can open the Bible anywhere and read God's Word. All the Bible is open to me and I can also write my name." We truly take alot for granted, but this was huge for these ladies.

Pastor Paul Ochilo (left) preaches, while Jeremiah (Jeremy) translates.

We always make official certificates for the students to have so they can show others they have completed the literacy training. Joanna stands with each student and Pastor/Teacher Richard as the certificates are awarded. This beautiful lady is Damaris Kaikat

Hellen Parsapayat

Josephine Sammy. Most likely she is married to a man named Sammy. Many of these women don't have official identifications or birth certificates, so they take on the names of their husbands.

Joyce Muntet

Joyce Nina

Lucy Ilanet

Madaline Maseker

Maria Kurraru

Rohda Joseph

The entire class with the certificates

Its always a joy to watch them share their work with the families. The children are thrilled their mom's are learning to read and do math.

We handed out gifts for all the graduates which included a new wrap (lesso) and a goodie bag consisting of toiletries. However, it sometimes backfires on us and there are items in the goodie bags that require explanation. One of the ladies got hair conditioner. Since most of them shave their heads or at the very least cut their hair very closely, it was a difficult explanation. Denise was imaginative when she told the lady the product would make her head soft.

Then of course they had no concept of dental floss! Denise had to demonstrate. You can see how fascinated they were with this demo. Thank you Denise!

Our group - minus James the photographer -- stood on the platform while the class presented them with thanks and gifts.

No celebration is complete without a cake. Joanna's neighbor graciously baked this lovely cake for our special day.

Cutting the cake is a very special thing and highly anticipated.

Joanna was blessed to see the men serving the cake. Maasai men typically expect the women to do the serving, but in Christian circles, more and more we are seeing these servant gentlemen taking on that role. Such a blessing.

Pastor Richard serves his students.

The ladies enjoying their cake and chai (hot tea)

We don't always have a meal at these celebrations, but this group wanted to share lunch with our group. What you see pictured here is their kitchen. Joanna shared with me that the ladies from this community always wear matching lessos (wraps) for special occasions.

Hand-washing time before the meal.

Yum! One of my favorites. Stew and chapatis (sort of like flour tortillas)

This picture made me cry with tears of joy and longing. Its a little hard to see what they are doing, but when Joanna told them I send them my greetings, they cross their arms over their hearts as a sign that they received my greetings. Wow. Very special indeed!