Habari za leo?
I'm in Nairobi, at the ACK (Anglican Church of Kenya) Guest House, for my last 2 nights in Kenya. Samuel and John brought me from Molo on Friday. Now it's Sunday morning, but instead of the sounds of jubilation that I enjoyed so much from the church services at Michinda, I hear hammers and saws from the construction site next door, vehicles traveling by in the streets outside the gate, and from the kitchen below and across from my room, the sounds of pots and pans and the voices of the cooks and kitchen staff cleaning up from the breakfast that has just finished.
It's Sunday morning again...a beautifully blue, shiny, coldish morning on the hill here at Michinda. The boys in the dining hall across the football (soccer) field in front of my house have just started their 2 hour church service. They're singing...I think as loudly as they possibly can...accompanied by drums which one of the boys is playing. People outside, hearing the sounds of praise, join in the song as they walk by. The song they're singing right now is a medley of /He's Got the Whole World in His/ /Hands/ and other songs that I don't recognize. Now they've switched to a song in Kiswahili.
When John and I arrived in Kenya on Dec. 29, we didn't anticipate being part of the unfolding drama that has continued now for almost 2 months. Nor had I planned to write anything but a few postcards to grandchildren, family and friends who had asked to hear from us. These messages began before the New Year, as a way of reassuring those at home that we were safe and that there was nothing to worry about. As the turmoil here developed and the news that was sent out from Kenya grew increasingly negative, we continued to try to reassure friends and family, and to pass along our perspective on what was happening to as many of you as we thought might be interested. Since then, the list of recipients has become long, and the words many.
Habari zenu? (How are things with all of you?)
If all continues as it has been, I'm happy to say that things are getting much better here. I've been back in Molo since Thursday afternoon. I didn't anticipate being here again on this trip, much less without John, but then, there have been many surprises in the last 6 weeks. John returned home on the 3rd alone after we had decided that I should stay in Kenya for awhile longer.
Jambo,
We've been in Kilifi, on the Kenya coast, since last Saturday afternoon. Sitting on our balcony overlooking the ocean, the wind rattling the coconut fronds, the turmoil in other parts of the country seems unreal. In the central coast, it's life as usual...except for the scarcity of /wazungu/, the white tourists.
Hi, Everyone,
Just quick note to let you know that we are, as the Kenyans say, "very fine" and now back on email. The past three weeks (how quickly the time has gone!) have been successful beyond any expectations we might have had and we're so grateful that because of the timing of our departure from Eugene, we didn't have to make the difficult decision not to come to Kenya.
We really appreciate all of the messages you've sent in the past few days...it's been wonderful to hear from so many of you. We are safe and have just today returned to Nairobi from a 4 day trip to visit two of our schools in central Kenya. For those of you who have traveled here with us, they are the Waso nursery school and the school at Kachuru. It was a great trip with James and Joseph, both employees of Westminster Safaris and good friends of ours.
