Maasai Development Project

The Maasai Development Project Blog will be used by members to post updates particularly while on trips to Kenya. Here you can view these posts and make comments.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Sunday

Morning came all too soon - we had scrambled eggs and fruit for breakfast before heading to Sarova Mara Lodge for a little pampering! We stopped briefly at Sekanani gate to allow the shopaholics in the group to spend their money - and then headed to the lodge in time for lunch. If you have not been to Sarova you have truly missed out on a wonderful treat! Their hospitality is amazing! They were fully booked and so they put me in the managers three bedroom home! I had a huge bathtub that I quickly filled up with hot water -I think there was more dirt on all of us then there was on the ground!

The group swam, played ping-pong, had massages and slept! They deserved it after working so hard at each clinic. It was Heather's 18th birthday and we celebrated it in royal style at supper time. They had made a cake for her and sang to her several traditional songs! She was totally surprised and it was great fun to be a part of it.

Tomorrow we head back to Maxwell Adventist Academy - we will sort medicines, and repack for the October trip. If you know of anyone who would be interested in donating supplies please put them in contact with me. We are in real need of dental instruments.

God was so good to each of us - and we all were blessed as alway. We saw over a 1000 patients in the little time we were here. Our lives have been changed and renewed once again!

Thank you for praying for us! The group flies out starting early Tuesday morning. Heather and I will head back to the US on Thursday morning. Pray for safe traveling mercies for all of us -

Join us next time - as we reflect Christ once again in Maasailand!

kim

Sabbath


We decided to get a little extra rest and moved breakfast to 9am (pancakes, syrup and lots of fresh fruit) After breakfast we packed up the truck with all our belongings and head up to the Mara River. On our way we came across a beautiful blacked necked spitting cobra - about 2 meters in length! Once we got up to the river we decided to stop for a picnic lunch. There was a small problem - at our picnic area there was a very large male lion relaxing, so we opted to allow him to stay and we would pick a different tree to eat under.

After lunch we drove up to Musiara Swamp to spend the night in the park in a wooded area along the Mara River. The animals were incredible! From camp we could see a pride of 14 lions. The baboons were in the trees near us, impala and other gazelle grazed near by and hippos and crocs were next to us in the river. The noises of all the animals kept everyone on their toes.

After worship we roasted marshmallows and hotdogs, sang camp songs, spotted animals with our flashlights and headed to bed. About 1 am the lions roaring got quite loud and I was worried the fire had gone out - I knew no one else would venture out to check on things so got my flashlight and crawled out of my warm tent to put some more logs on the fire. The fire was out, but the coals were still hot, so all I had to do was add some more logs to it. Those who needed to go to the bathroom and heard me at the fire opted to crawl out of their tents and use the bushes near the tents to go to the bathroom.

kim

Friday


Up again early for breakfast and worship then we headed out to Siana Boarding School per a request of one of the head teachers there to check on some of their students. Seeing we had seen everyone in the village the day before we agreed to do Siana for a couple of hours. Not long after starting clinic a lady from a boma not far from the school came and got me to come to their boma and check on a lady that had been in labor for over 24 hours. Norbert and I grabbed some gloves and other items and headed by foot to her home. As we neared you could see the smoke coming out of the small fist size windows and doors - they had a very large fire going in the mud home to keep it warm (it was already very warm outside with the sun shining) Once our eyes adjusted to the darkness we could see her laying on the ground, she appeared to be in her 50's, this was her 6th or 7th child. We used a very dim flashlight that they had and Norbert examined her. The baby was not in the right position and he tried to move it, but was unsuccessful. He explained to them that he would need to do a vaginal examine but they refused - there was nothing else we could do, but tell them unless they got help from a hospital both the mom and the baby could die. Then we headed back to the clinic site to join the rest of the group.

After finishing up clinic we headed back into the park - only to come upon our leopard friend again, more cheetahs and lions. At 4:30 pm we took Norbert and Gordon to the Keekerok Airstrip in the park as they were flying back to the US. We watched them board their plane and then take off, before we headed out for our campsite.

After supper we sat by the fire and brought in the Sabbath by singing for about an hour. The stars would out and they hyenas and lions called - you could feel the peace of the Sabbath day!

kim

Thursday

Clinic was at Kijirijiri today. We left about 6:45am and took a couple of hours game driving on the way to clinic. We saw several cheetah and lions, plus numerous grazing animals. Clinic went well. We saw more little children then I think we have ever seen at a clinic. Jonathan our dentist was kept very busy pulling teeth and I had the opportunity to hold lots of his little victims, sorry I mean patients on my lap - bribing them with all sorts of goodies if they would sit still.

We left about an hour early from clinic because we had seen everyone in the village.On our way back to camp we had the privilege of seeing a beautiful leopard as it walked next to us along the road and then took a few moments to sit on the road and pose for us. There was a huge herd of elephant that hung around us for a little while too.

As the sun went down we had a great supper and sat by the fire for worship. Another great day seeing animals and a fantastic clinic day! God is good!

kim

Wednesday

We were up bright and early in the morning. Ate breakfast and took down our tents in the dark. We all had one goal in mind - get to the Masai Mara National Park as soon as possible, unpack at camp and head up to the Mara River to see some wildlife. We bounced along the roads at a fairly good speed. We reached camp by late morning and quickly took our things to our bandas (cabins)before jumping back on the truck and heading towards the river.

We were blessed with lions, cheetahs and all the grazing animals you could see, plus crocs and hippos! We stopped by to visit the baby that we had had in clinic in Talek that had been badly burned - and he was doing great! He had healed up well, except for one foot had not done well, and without several surgeries he probably be crippled, but we were glad he was doing as well as he was. We then headed slowly back to camp for a great warm supper and hot showers before falling into bed for the night.

kim

Monday & Tuesday


Monday morning we traveled into the Great Rift Valley and up over the escarpment through the town of Narok to a little village called Olmusakwa. The lay workers had fenced in the church property (the church is under a few trees - there is no structure, just a couple of benches and a pulpit)

We set up camp and made a fire. The weather was quite cold. After supper and worship we headed up the cow path towards a few of the stores. It was dark and we had little toys that light up in the dark to hand out to any children that might be around. We found a few on the road and gave them each one. It was not long before there were children running everywhere with the glowing toys.

Tuesday we started clinic around 8:30am in an unfinished clinic that was just near to our campsite. We saw hundreds of patients and had to turn hundreds away due to it getting dark in the evening. We sent one baby that was two weeks old to the hospital. She was in serious condition and every now and again would just stop breathing, along with her we sent a young boy who's knee was terribly infected and needed IV antibiotics. Later in the afternoon we had a young girl come in that had had a seizure and fallen into a fire. Her eyeball was burned and her eyelid of course was gone. It was badly infected and the flies were in it. I had some contact numbers and we were able to send her to the Eye Hospital in Kikuyu. We have asked the family to contact us and let us know what the cost will be to have her eye removed and the infection taken care of. If you would like to help with the cost of her surgery please let us know. Several of us on the trip are pitching in to help the family out.
We also brought a wheel chair with us and were able to give it to a young girl (16 years old or so) who had polio and could not walk. It was fun watching them push her away in her new chair.

Each evening it there was a light rain and it was so very cold. We all bundled up and some slept with all their clothes on.

It was a blessing to be there - and the people we visited and served seemed to be so very appreciative. God blessed, as He always does!

kim

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Sabbath and Sunday

We headed out bright and early Sabbath morning after eating warm cinnamons rolls and hash browns, with lots of fresh pineapple, mangoes, passion fruit, sweet melons, oranges, and finger bananas.

A family of six joined us for the over night outing to Mashuru, which was great! They were from Texas and Maryland. The road was dusty and bumpy, but lots of fun for the group as they spotted zebra, giraffe, gazelle and other creatures along the way. We got to Mashuru just as Sabbath School was ending and got to listen to the children singing.

For the church service Dr Gordon Guild spoke, and I told stories to the children outside (as the church was too full to house everyone) They meet in a school and use one of the classrooms to worship in. It would be great for them to be able to put up a church in the area - and we prayed that wish would come true for them someday soon. After the church service was over they had Communion Service which several of us joined in on. It was a wonderful honor to to participate with them. As the Maasai lady knelt with me and prayed for me, and then proceeded to wash my feet and legs I felt so incredibly blessed. I in turn prayed for her and washed her feet and it was an experience I will never forget. What a honor and privilege to be a part of such a special occasion and be in Maasailand to do it.

After lunch we set up our tents and most of headed out for a hike to Lay Pastor Julius Mooke's home. Five of the other lay pastors were there with us as we walked along the dusty cow's path to his home from our campsite. We visited in his home for a while and then it was nearing evening and so we headed back to campsite. After a great supper of sloppy joes and fresh fruit, most sat by the fire and visited while others headed to bed. I joined the young adults still at the fire and told stories of camping with the lions near by.... they are all so excited about camping Saturday night in the Masai Mara National Reserve!

Our driver had forgotten to put in 22 mattresses and we were two short, so he slept in the truck and I slept in my tent on the hard ground. It was not the greatest nights sleep, I can tell you that! But I survived! Most were kept up during the night by the noisy hyenas that cackled and laughed around us all night long.

Sunday morning came all too soon and we were up (everyone bundled in warm clothes). After breakfast we set up for clinic and the people started to arrive. It was a somewhat slow day, but that was good being it was the first day for everyone. Gave them a chance to organize themselves a little better. We had another anthrax case, and a stick injury to an eye (the doc's believe there was still a part of the stick in his eye) and just the other basic medical and dental problems we usually see.

We had brought water for the people in the area and filled up their water container with about 15 twenty liter cans of water for them. Then headed back toward home with our translators - dropping them off in Kajiado on the way. Back at Maxwell Adventist Academy we unpacked and repacked the vehicle for our our week long trip to the Masai Mara area. Our first stop tomorrow will be at Olmusakwa where we will set up camp and do clinic on Tuesday.

We said good-bye to the family of six that joined us - but they are hooked and they promised to join us on a trip in the future! It's time to take a nice hot bath and head to bed. Tomorrow we head toward the Masai Mara - my favorite place on this earth!

Thanks for all your prayers - we feel them daily! Wish you could all be here with us! Miss you all!

kim

Friday Outing

The group all arrived safely last night and today we are headed out to Sheldricks Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Feeding Center. We had a fantastic time at both places. Sheldricks had 21 baby elephants and a very young rhino that was a cheecky as they come! Most of group was brave enough to get a kiss from Daisy the giraffe. (You put the grain pellet between your lips and the Daisy the giraffe will gently take it out with her tongue, most of the time it is a nice clean take, but sometimes it is very sloppy wet one)

The rest of the day we spent re-packing, sleeping, playing basketball and walking around taking in the view at Maxwell Adventist Academy.

For the most part it was a relaxing day and gave the group a chance to get over some of their jet lag.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!

kim

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Medical/Dental Team arrives today!

Today is the day! Am so excited to pick everyone up at the airport!

Yesterday Heather and I went out to Mashuru to check out the clinic site, figure out the best spots to put our tents up, and meet the Chief of Mashuru. We also got to visit with Gracie in her school and that was great fun. After that we headed to Kajiado and visited with all the children there. We gave out their packets in the dining-room and they loved all the little goodies that their sponsors sent. Heather helped the ones that struggled with writing, we blew up balloons, read Primary Treasure stories to them and taught Janet Nkale to be a photographer. She had my camara and we all posed for shots. Before we headed out, Heather did some gymnastic for them (back bends, and handstands) which many of them attempted, much to the amusement of the others.

We stopped by and visited with Lay Pastor Daniel Sinti and family. He and his wife take care of Samwel the little baby that we took in about 2 years ago. In March he had burned his arm, so I wanted to check up on him and see how it was doing. He was great and his arm had healed up wonderfully. From their we went to see Tenina who was out taking care of the cows near his home ( he is probably about 7 years old). He was so excited to see, and came running from over the little hill that he was on with the cows. We visited for awhile and then headed back to Maxwell Adventist Academy.

After a very long evening of sorting meds and re-packing them we headed to bed (around 1:00am) This morning we are up bright and early and ready for a day of shopping, baking, and airport pick ups. It feels a little warmer today, which is great! Yesterday morning I sat on the front steps of the ad building (I can get wireless there) checking emails and I could see my breath even with the sun shining on me.

I wish you could all be here with us. I am so fortunate to be able to come and be a part of this! I just love it!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Monday

It was good to put our feet on solid ground after what seemed like forty hours of flying time (actually it was just a little over 20 hours this time)! We fell into bed about 12:30am last night and I was up before 6am this morning - not a solid nights sleep at all!

It was quite cold last night and early this morning, but when the sun broke through the clouds it brought some warmth our way. After a somewhat busy day I took my lap top and sat on the stairs outside facing Ngong Hills and the setting sun, it felt good on my face and I realized how good it is to be back home in Kenya. After about 20 minutes of emailing I realized that I was sitting in a nest of little tiny ants.....and I once again was welcomed back to Africa!

Tomorrow Heather and I will head off to the MDP office to pick up all the mission trip supplies that are stored there and then we'll spend the day sorting and packing.

Thank you all for your encouraging emails and prayers, they mean so very much to me.

kim

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Adventure begins...

We are off on yet another medical/dental mission clinic trip. Heather and I will arrive in Kenya on Sunday evening very late (Heather is a senior at Great Lakes Adventist Academy in Michigan)The rest of the group will arrive on Thursday, July 16

There are 13 of us on this trip, coming from Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Ohio and Zambia. All of us wanting to represent one thing - Jesus! We will be visiting Mashuru in Kajiado District - joining in the church service on Sabbath, doing home visits Sabbath afternoon and a clinic on Sunday. Then we will head to Narok District and do a clinic in Olmusakwa before heading down to the Mara for two more clinics in Kijirijiri. While in the Mara area we will be able to stop by and check out the new hostel area and visit with Josh Knowles who has already started the building process.We will also stop by and check up on the baby in Talek that was so badly burned in March when we were there.

Join us on the blog as we step out in faith. Pray that we will represent Christ in the right way, that fear, nervousness, prejudices, and pride will melt away. We are called by Christ and regardless of the circumstance's we will face, this is HIS work and we must be about HIS business. It is not our job to worry about the outcome or our safety, but instead to willing do what HE asks.

kim