Perspective

Having begun our missionary training on November 14th, it is really hard to believe that we have been on our mission for 5 months already. One of the most poignant aspects of our learning and our giving, is to see how the majority of the people live in these developing countries of Africa. We have had the opportunity to visit the nations of Botswana, Lesotho, Kenya and the Republic of South Africa, and with the exception of a slowly emerging middle class in SA, the people live a very difficult existence. So much of what we have grown to accept as normal, and almost a right of life, is totally unknown to vast numbers of God's children over here. Child mortality is very high, longevity of life is very low. Electricity is a luxury and running water in living quarters most unusual. Because of the abject poverty in many areas, the crime rate is very high. I would not try to defend it or excuse it...just add that the daily struggle for food and survival will often bring out the base side of humanity. Most people eek out a subsistence living of about $1000 per year. Real employment opportunities are very limited and only the skilled or educated even get a shot at these. Few get the chance at attaining these skills and formal training, which is why we are so glad to be part of the Perpetual Education Fund and become agents of opportunity to these young folks who can then get that training and certification to step up and out of these grave living conditions.

As rough as the economic conditions are in the US at this time, ie having to cancel family vacations, postpone retirements, dig into ever shrinking savings and even downsize housing, people in North America need to realize how wonderful their lifestyle is and appreciate all of the advantages they live with daily, but probably take for granted. We have seen first hand what living without any modern medicine, sanitation and technologies can be like, and it means that these people struggle every single day just to keep on living.

I have many favorite hymns, but surely one of them is 'Count Your Blessings', and the first verse reads: "When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."

...or to put it a little less poetically, 'What a grand world this would be if we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings.'

It was emotionally difficult traveling through these areas and even more difficult photographing them at the risk of seeming the American tourist wanting pictures of the 'have nots', but we felt it important to share these pictures with those we know and love as a reminder of how good you really have it.

Please take about 10 seconds on each of these pictures to help you better realize how three quarters of the population of Africa lives. All men are created equal...they just don't all get the same opportunities after that.

This is lower, but still considered middle class housing in the heavily populated outer townships of Johannesburg, South Africa. For the most part they enjoy indoor plumbing and electricity.

...a local meat market on the outskirts.

Standard housing for the masses in Maseru, Lesotho

Primary school with three-to-a-seat, in Maseru. They don't complain about this because it is all they know. They don't complain of recess being too short because there is none.

This is a High School classroom in Lesotho. This class will accommodate 35-45 HS students...if they can personally afford to buy the books required for the classes.

Here is the downtown shopping district of Maseru

This is the famous Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Note the man with the cart full of jugs. He will sell tap water, gotten from a city hose, door to door through the three square mile slums, since there is no running water in the dwellings there.

The Kibera Road, where on any given day 1 million Kenyans walk 9km from the slums into Nairobi looking for a way to literally earn their daily bread.

Homes made of anything available. Double clicking to enlarge this picture will reveal: metal, wood, plastic and mud

The road most traveled...but it seems to make no difference.

Here is one of three Pharmacies serving the population of Kibera.

Sewage and trash meander in the same place as children at play.

Whenever there is a new building put up in the city, the old material is never taken to the land fill, for there are no land fills in Kenya. It just means additional housing will be added on to the slums of Kibera.

Here is an example of the housing for 1.5 million Kenyans, and the government's meager attempt at street lighting in an effort to try and reduce assaults and theft.

Having seen all this in person, and having had the opportunity to look into the sad yet determined faces of these fellow travelers in this mortal sojourn, we know we will never be the same.

Compassion fills my soul and gratitude fills my heart that, for whatever reason, I was dealt the better hand than they.

Stay well.

Africa is 'for the birds'

Love birds, Love birds, Love birds

I have always loved birds and admired and envied their ability to soar through the sky above us all. They have much in common with each other but are also so very different. Africa is full of birds of every type and a few weeks ago we took our "P" day, our one day off each week to prepare for the next week, and we got up close and personal with many of the beautiful and unique birds of this great land. We went to a place called The Bird Garden. The best way I can describe it is as an open air aviary about the size of a professional basketball arena with hundreds of different types of birds living there. Each bird variety had its own natural habitat for eating, nesting and flying. The entire top of this large facility was covered with a massive net to keep the birds in, but frankly, they all seemed quite content to just do their 'bird thing'. Their wings were not clipped-they were free to fly within this vast tropical forest. Without a lot of commentary, below are just a few examples of the unique birds we saw and of the great time we had walking for hours amongst our winged friends.

Please enjoy...

The grace and elegance of the pink flamingo.

One of the many varieties of the parrot family that were flying loose everywhere and were most social. The colors are vivid & dramatic, but amazingly camouflaged within the foliage.


What he thinks is 'his better side'



This was great. This young man was walking near us when this bird flew onto his shoulder and then began picking the lad's teeth. The more he laughed about it the further in the bird went until he was cleaning off his molars. It had us all in stitches.


Reenie was soon in on the act with a small tray of food she offered and quickly had a friend. The cleaning of the teeth was left for the dentist's office however.



The Hornbill. What a noise!



The colorful Toucan


An African owl in action. Wingspan up to 1.3 meters (about 4.5 feet)



A Saddle-billed Stork patrols the shoreline for dinner.


The chorus-girl like head dress of the Crowned Crane


What...I don't look like a bird?

Well no kidding! But hey, while you've got the camera out...
How's this for a pose?

Male Spoonbill that stands about 4-5 feet tall

Helmeted Guineafowl

Laughing Dove, and yes it really does sound like it is laughing.

This dove is about twice the size of those in the US.

Nesting Red Ibis

Flock of Red Ibis nesting in the tops of trees

Got me here. Just one of dozens of beautiful birds that will go unidentified for now.

This does not appear comfortable at all. This Saddle-billed Stork is sitting down with his 'knees' bent backwards...well, not for a bird... but to me it just looks like it hurts.

These gorgeous creatures are the Blue and Gold Macaws. They are the largest of the Parrot family and were free to fly about the aviery. We were fortunate to have this one land nearby and chat with us for quite a while.

A sort of disgusted look... which he gave us when he realized that we had no figs...his favorite food. He was soon off to source better opportunities.

And finally, the ballerinas of the birdworld. A continuous show of eating, preening and sleeping

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.

There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds,

the ebb and flow of tides, the folded bud ready for Spring.

There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-

the assurance that dawn comes after the night

and Spring after the Winter.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

Stay well.

Nairobi, Kenya

Yes, you are listening to Karen's Song, which is the theme song from the movie "Out of Africa". The movie was about Karen Blixen, who lived just outside Nairobi and the movie was filmed there as well, so since we just spent a week there, it seems appropriate. Go rent it and see the beauty. Nairobi is a major city of approximately 3 million with 250,000 doing well, 750,000 getting along and 2 million that have nothing going for them at all...a big modern city surrounded by slums. I intentionally left out the photos of the downtrodden so this post is not so depressing or shall I say 'realistic', but there were also a few new things for us to discover. We found that one does not drink the water. Not in the office, the missionary apartments or even in the restaurants. When showering, keep your mouth closed and brush your teeth with bottled water only. Seemed foreign to us but much of Africa is in a similar situation. We are spoiled in Johannesburg. I have never seen traffic so chaotic either. No police to direct, no stop signs, no red lights, lots of round-abouts...just mayhem, and taxis (called matatoos) that violate every possible accepted rule of the road. I did not even attempt to drive in that city, and also chemists (pharmacies) that dispense any health drug you would like without a Dr.'s prescription. Absoultely any drug that you can get in the US is available if you just go in and tell them what you want and how many. Yikes, that seems strange...self prescribing medication!

We went to Kenya to assist with the PEF program since the missionary couple that had been there for 18 months returned to the US and once again, I was really impressed with what the program is doing for those that are ambitious, worthy and needy.

This is the Hilltop Ward building. The first floor (lower level) is the mission office, the distribution center and the country admin. offices. PEF is located here for Kenya. This building is next to the British Embassy and the CITI Group headquarters for Kenya. A well secured area to work each day.

All missionaries in Kenya drive a four wheel drive pick-up since the roads are mostly unpaved and quite rough once you leave the city of Nairobi. Because the driver is on the right, the stick shift is done with the left hand.


Here is Anthony Cdiero. He is a PEF grad that studied to be a personal trainer. He went from the low end of Nairobi and earning 2000 Shillings/month($25) before his certification, to earning 90,000 Shillings/mo ($1200/mo) after, and has a steady job at a high end hotel. His entire training cost a total of what he earns a month now, but he never could have accomplished this with out the PEF help. A happy guy.



This is Betterman Simidi Musasia. Betterman is a current PEF student studying IT and business and is quite the entrepreneur. A great guy, who also assists in the PEF office. Just in the few days we were around him, we know he will be very successful.




This is tiny little, Yvonne. I believe she is 22 years old, but could pass for a 13 yr old. She is in her 3rd year of microbiology @ Univ of Nairobi. Very small, as many Kenyans are, but very smart and putting it to good use. She plans on specializing in infectious diseases, which will assure her a job in Africa.



Another PEF student named Stephen Kyalo stopped by the office while we were there to see if we wanted to buy one of his carved 'Noah's Ark's'. He creates and sells them to pay back his PEF loan and support himself. Each animal is hand carved with considerable detail and then painted and they all store in the ark. Of course we bought one, and we will try to generate some more sales for him back in Jo-burg. The set takes him two weeks to make and he sells them for $37.





We arrived on Wednesday the 4th, and worked the 5th and 6th, but when Saturday came the folks in the office insisted that we go to the the huge Nairobi National Park and see the animals...we did not argue. This park is located toward the Serengeti and it would be a shame to come to Kenya and not see it. We saw lots of wonderful scenery and wildlife. Below are just a sample of the 75 photos we came home with.

Above is the famous Blue Wildebeest at dawns early light.




Here are Zebra and Impala on the grassy plains of Western Kenya.





I have yet to find out what bird this is, but his song was great and he flew right in and froze-a- pose for me.




Two beautiful zebras striking a nice parallel pose as we stopped to stare. I found out on this game drive that zebras bark like dogs instead of whinnie like horses do. Are they white with black stripes or black with white stripes?



A grazing giraffe with zebras foraging the drought striken grassland. These guys are really very tall and quite graceful. To see them run is magical.






We came upon this wanderer on a very back trail. He is a Maasai tribesman complete with his walking stick and lion killing club. This area is crawling with lions and the Maasai men are the only ones who will individually take out a lion by themselves. They have their own technique, but fortunately we did not have to witness him in action.




Enlarge this photo to see this hungry 15 foot long Nile Crocodile waiting for one of the Marabou Storks to get close 'enough'.

After our 8 day visit to Kenya we flew home via South African Airlines. We were very pleasantly surprised by the promptness, courtesy and food quality of SAA. A side benefit was that after we were airborn, the captain announced that he had gotten permission from the ground to detour slightly and take us over Mt Kilamanjaro which is on the southern Kenyan border with Tanzania. Lucky for us it was on our side of the aircraft and we got some nice photos.

Kilamanjaro is the highest mountain in all of Africa, standing at 19,330 ft above sea level. It is snow and ice covered all year long even though it is practically on the equator. It can be climbed without advanced equipment, using just hiking boots, but it is not for the faint of heart or purse. The guides charge $1500 for the 2 day up and 1 day back trip.

I believe our Captain was a bit of an air jockey because just as we passed by the Mt, he went into a bit of an exagerated roll of the 737-300 aircraft off to the East and we bid goodbye to both Kilamanjaro and Kenya.







"The poetry of the earth is never dead"

John Keats (1795-1821)

Stay well