A note from Meru, Kenya

Someone has asked for an update from my parents as they are in Meru, Kenya for the next several weeks and have no way to update their blog (vicariouslytogether.blogspot.com). This is the only email we have received, as internet access is obviously difficult to find. They do have a cell phone that can receive text messages, if you would like to contact them, leave a comment and I can tell you how to do that.

We have been comfortable in the arrangements for sleeping under a
mosquito net. The local clinic reports that 1-3 cases of Malaria come
daily to receive medications. This is the rainy season and the female
mosquitoes, here called Mosqweetos..are in full vigor.
Saturday a group of 50 children were fed, who were orphaned because of
HIV/AIDS. We have been astounded by the amount of HIV positive
individuals who have no hope but a painful death. Some of the obvious
lack of energy or mental alertness might be connected to a very poor
protein diet.
A great surpise for us was to find a stash of 42 new books written in
English, on topics related to Africa. These books were passed out at a
pastor’s conference to workers etc. Our local leader came home with
Amazon.com value of $1,000 worth of text’s, concordances, study
Bibles, Maps, written by Kenyans, scholars, some from Zondervan,
Navigator
Press etc. It was sad and shameful these books were in a box, some
still
in their plastic wrap, and none of the English speaker school teachers
had
read about the AIDS threat, the encroaching Islam menace. It was
enlightening to read of the Christian Historic movement in Sudan,
Ethiopia
and some of the Kingdoms like the Aztec Kingdom of Mexico, some with
evidence of awareness of Jewish and Christian principles.
The ongoing clash and conflict of HOW TO HELP PEOPLE rages in my mind.

Like the Katrina victims, some still want FEMA to give them a place to
stay, feed them and send their kids to school. AT WHAT POINT have you
stopped helping people and begin to HURT them. So the Thraka people
teaching their children to READ AND WRITE Thraka…when no books but
the
Bible exist in their language? How will they read manuals of VISTA
WINDOWS FOR DUMBIES? Interestingly the history of Africa there was a
King who wanted his tribe to learn Greek, to read the Wisdom of Athens!
We wanted to fix the road, filling up the potholes, which a small
Volkswagen would fit, and with pick and shovel, put dirt and gravel in
the low spots! NOT WITHOUT a permit from the local Chief. A small
town
has a barrier, pole and they taxed anyone bearing luggage, bags of
produce going to market. Everyone justified the taxing, saying it was
to
fix roads, but none of the roads we traveled seemed to be fixed.
I road on the back of a motorcycle Tuesday to catch the City Bus. The
guy who collected tickets offered me a better seat, and I thought I
would
like riding on the HUMP of the wheel well, with a beautiful view of the
country side. The driver went 74 miles per hour on country roads, with
potholes and slime pits, I realized the conductor taking tickets was
wise
in suggesting I sit anyplace except on top of a wheel well in a vehicle
with no suspension and no springs.
We drove on the wrong side of the road, and honked for cattle pulling
sleds to get out of our way. I don’t think any ride at Disney or
Magic
Kingdom would give the thrill of riding on a bus with Swahili music
blaring full blast.
Three times I’ve been to the larger city, and all times the servers
were
down. I keep trying to calibrate a handset with my laptop which will
allow me to go to a browser on the Internet. I waited 6 minutes for
the
full page of Yahoo to open up. Since people pay per mega that is
downloaded, it just takes time.
People sing while they work. Most men wear suit coats, even field
workers. I think the image of preachers with coat and tie, they
connected
suit coats to respectful images. I saw a gardener working his field
with
worn and tattered suit coats.
I took pictures yesterday, and all of the kids were black, and all had
the same uniform on. I asked them each to pose holding a bucket, a
mop,
standing next to a wall, a tree, a bike so I could emphasize
individuality.
Every morning they play drums, and I took their hymnal and starting
singing Standing on the Promises… DUMO…DUMO. And they all lit up
and
smiled. Funny how when you learn to say something in a language that
they cherish, it strikes a cheerful note.
I’ve found many religiously minded businessmen, the Hand of God
Cyber
Café..his initials are HOG Cyber. Many Bible Texts. I wished he
would
have been more knowledgeable and could get my laptop connected to their
Internet, After 4 Cyber Shops and 4 technicians, one of them removed
all
of my Anti Virus which did not please me.
We are learning our own limitations, and that these people are much
healthier than black people in Chicago who have Diabetes…here there
is
none, and I have YET to find anyone with a weight problem. They are
all
very slim, lanky and thin.
Charissa Urban at charissaurban@yahoo.com has found a Prefix, a
Country
Code and a number she can send text messages to us. Send her an email
and she can get this to you if you want to pop us a note.
God has a plan for Africa, and the Thraka people are part of his
diadem
of his crown. Meanwhile, we have been called to LOVE, and SERVE and we
thank you for your prayers for us as we experience different sounds,
different smells, different colors..
There is a mongoose family that runs through the trees at night with a
bark. When we have gotten up early we see them playing running up and
down fence posts, frolicking.
The Wild Life that used to roam these plains is now protected in a
National Park 40 miles away. No wild life, large game, is left, my
friend says it is because they are all very good hunters. They did a
good job and hunted it all.
Trees vanished, mahogany trees once were more evident. I see outhouses
and fence posts with the wood that is considered semi precious in the
USA.
It would be a college education in sociology for anyone to just come
and
hang out and learn from these people. I think being here for an
extended
time allows us to get to feel their pain and their joys. Last night
their leader was burdened as a staff member had taken upon himself to
be
like Americans, and just go ‘live with his girl friend’ and not
respect
the tribal customs of getting the parents blessing with the church.
Yesterday my technician visiting informed me that the monitors on a
computer adjust themselves, but he wanted to tweak the program to
adjust
the size. I can’t remember the last time I opened up a Windows 95
on a
computer, and all 8 women were spell bound with the phenomena of a
computer which ran off of a power plant.