Let It Rain

Kenya has 300 days of sunshine each year and two rainy seasons. The “Short Rains” occur in October-November-December each year. The “Long Rains” occur in March-April-May. Kenya is experiencing an extreme drought right now. The most dire consequence is the millions of people that have no food because their crops have long stopped producing. In fact, most areas in Kenya have experienced 100% crop failure.This is a dry river bed.

The Kenya Red Cross reports that thousands have starved to death. Children have died from eating poisonous wild fruits (looking for food in the trees when there is none left in the house). Elderly have died because their small backyard shamba (garden) has no maize (corn). Parents have committed suicide over the stress of being unemployed and having no food to feed their children.

Some are now dying because of an acute outbreak of cholera. Cholera is a potentially fatal bacterial infection of the intestine that causes severe diarrhea and dehydration. The disease is spread through untreated sewage and contaminated drinking water.

And so we wait for the rains.

The Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, Kenya Meteorological Department has provided this information concerning the Seasonal Forecast for March-April-May 2009 “Long Rains”:

The October-November- December 2008 “Short-Rains” seasonal rainfall was characterized by very poorly temporal distribution. Most parts of the country experienced heavy and continuous rainfall during the month of October and first half of November. The rainfall was especially heavy over the western part of the country. This resulted in flash floods and landslides/ mudslides leading to loss of life and property as well as destruction of infra-structure in several areas. However, the entire country remained generally sunny and dry through out the second half of November and the entire month of December. The poor temporal distribution and the early cessation of the seasonal rainfall had a negative impact on rain-fed agricultural activities.

The March-April-May 2009 seasonal rainfall forecast indicates that most parts of the country are likely to be depressed. Sporadic heavy and short-lived rainfall storms may however occur. The seasonal forecast for onset of “Long-Rains” in Central and Nairobi Provinces is expected in the third to fourth week of March with the cessation occurring the last week of May.

Public Transport in Nairobi

Most Kenyans cannot afford to own a vehicle so they rely on the “public” (privately owned) transit system which consists of Matatu’s (14 passenger vans) and larger buses which go between the towns and the cities.

The Matatu drivers are notorious for following their own set of rules on the road; essentially, there are no rules. The more passengers they can pick up, the more money they make. They are supposed to be limited to 14 passengers but we have seen vans with 24 people in them. Of course, the faster they travel the more people they pick up and drop off (which increases their profit). These drivers will make any two lane road into four lanes, drive on the shoulder of the road or on a sidewalk. We have even seen them drive the wrong way on a divided road. The owners paint their vans and some are works of art with expressions like “God With Us”, “Jehovah Provider”, and Bible verses written in Swahili. Some vans are in really bad shape because they have run into other vehicles or scraped cars trying to get by.
Because these vans and buses go everywhere in the country they are used to transport everything from people to beds, to wheelbarrows and sofas. We have seen motorcycles on top of buses, huge stacks of bananas...... you name it and they will put it on the top and drive hundreds of kilometres with these very precarious loads. It’s really quite amazing.

Are they safe? Probably not but the local people do not have a choice. The joke here is that these van drivers will get into heaven before most pastors because they cause more people to pray!

Cultural Field Studies

One of the blessings our children receive by being students at Rosslyn Academy is the chance to participate in Cultural Field Studies. This trip is a required part of the school curriculum every year beginning in grade 5. The purpose of the school-wide program is to educate the students about Kenya and become sensitive to the culture of the country in which we all live.

Last week Max and Lisa traveled south of Nairobi to the HopCraft Game Reserve in the area called Lukenya. The focus of Grade 5 CFS is learning about the nature and wildlife of Kenya. The 50 students and 6 chaperones spent 2 nights in a banda (like a little cabin) where the monkeys, hyenas and frogs serenaded all night long. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the kids that kept the adults awake! The food was delicious and the campfire hilarious!

During the day the students had classes on survival skills, safari drives, team building activities, orienteering, and how to make an equatorial sun dial. We also participated in a game walk with a local conservation officer named Nation. We learned that female zebra dung is found in a neat little pile while male zebra dung is scattered. It’s all about being organized, ladies – no matter the species!

Lisa also acted as the “camp nurse”. Except for a million ticks and a few acacia thorns in bare feet, the whole group stayed healthy and happy.

Last October Lisa and Tim also attended the Grade 7 CFS trip to Lake Naivasha. The focus of that trip was taking care of the land of Kenya – through conservation.

Banana Stew

We have heard from many Kenyans that one of their favourite meals is banana stew. Some time ago, Timothy our gardener promised to bring us the very special green bananas used to make the very special banana stew. I promised to supply the beef and Cathy promised to use her expertise in making the stew. This week we all pooled our resources and a banana stew was born!


The green bananas are a particular variety of bananas – not just unripened bananas. First they are dried in the sun, then peeled. They cook with the meat, vegetables, and a spice called Royco.
The result is a thick tasty stew not unlike my mom`s stew. The bananas do not have a sweet taste; it is a bit nutty tasting. Quite original!

My banana tree has been replanted (after the mole ate all its roots) and growing nicely despite the lack of water. I can expect to have bananas by December 2009.

The Cracks are Showing

It's been a few weeks since we have had any rain here in Nairobi and the ground around our home is starting to show signs of drought. Nairobi was blessed with three heavy showers since Christmas so we are not as dry as some parts of Kenya. These pictures show how the land dries up and large cracks form. These cracks can get up to a few inches wide and 8 - 10 feet long. It's like the land is crying out in desperate need of moisture.

Most of the grass on campus has turned to straw and crunches when you walk on it. Once the longs rains begin everything will turn green again. One of my Kenyan friends, James, predicts the rains will start on March 18th.

Grass and plants cannot move about looking for sources of water, however, ants can. So we are now in battle with tiny ants (about 2 mm long) but lots of them. If we drop food crumbs on the floor these ants will find it and they like to check out the kitchen and bathroom sinks in search of water. They're not dangerous just a nuisance and once we find their trail we a little ant poison takes care of them.

We are looking forward to the long rains and pray that they will be enough to help all the farmers in Kenyan.

Happy Birthday Max!

This morning at sunrise we had 13 boys come to our home for a celebration! Today is Max’s 11th birthday and we planned a breakfast party. Because no one wants to travel after dark we thought it was a wise idea to start the day with a party.

The party actually started last night when Max’s friend, Isaac, stayed over night. Isaac lives an hour bus ride away so his parents could not make a special trip here so early in the morning.
The boys took part in a scavenger hunt that led them all over campus counting windows, studying the colours of flags, measuring basketball courts.

Then we ate a feast – orange smoothies, fruit salad, angel cake with strawberry sauce, egg and cheese pizza. It was marvelous and delicious.


A special note to all you bakers ...... making Angel food cake from scratch at 6000 feet above sea level requires real skill. I am not bragging but my friends were laughing behind my back when I shared my plans and then were wide-eyed impressed when it was more than one inch tall.

By 8:10 the crew had left for school and I was alone with crumbs all over the floor and an army of ants waiting to get in.

It was then that I received a text message from Cathy (our house helper). I was so glad that she was coming to help me clean up – only she wasn’t. Her text told me about a militia group of Kenyans that were disturbing the city today. It was not safe for her to travel to us. There were vehicles being burned and gangs walking the roads. There was a huge police presence on the streets to quell any mob groups. The matatus (public transportation) stopped running before 8:00am. And so most Kenyans are home today. Unable to get to work, they will wait until it seems to be safe.

This group of outlaws is called the mungiki and has been active in Kenya since 1980s. This week they are protesting a newly released report from the United Nations which calls for the removal of the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General (due to their involvement in killings following last year's post-election violence). While the mungiki's most famous trick is burning matatus, they are also known for scalping people.

I have been reassured that mzungu ("white men") are not targeted in this type of event but it is hard to know when you will be in the wrong place at the wrong time…… All after school activities have been canceled for today. The students at Rosslyn Academy will travel home after school under the cover of prayer.

There is no way to know how long this protest will continue. Maybe a day, maybe a week. But for tonight we will have a quiet evening at home looking at Max’s baby pictures.

Nyamuchoma

For the first months living here there were many things that we did not notice. Now that we are more familiar with the environment we are noticing new things that have been there all along…..

Several weeks ago I noticed, for the first time, that there was a small banana tree growing near our house. I was very excited about the prospect of growing my own sweet bananas. When I shared my excitement, however, I was told that the banana tree was not mine! It belonged to James (one of the campus gardeners) – even though it was closest to my house! The staff patiently explained that each person is responsible for planting and tending his or her own banana tree, regardless of whose yard it is planted in. Emily, Timothy, and Evans all proudly showed me their trees.

Last week I announced my plan to get a banana tree. James took pity on me and unceremoniously gave me HIS tree (which is closest to MY house). I accepted his gift.

This week I noticed the leaves on my banana tree were starting to turn brown. Then today, I walked out on my deck and discovered James, Timothy, and Evans had cut down my banana tree!!
When I questioned the three amigos, I discovered that there is also a mole living in my yard. Apparently the mole had eaten the roots off my banana tree – that’s why the leaves were dying. These moles sleep during the day and dig a series of tunnels at night in order to eat the roots off plants. The only sign of a mole in your yard is a new mound of dirt each morning.

The three men were putting their arms into the tunnels created by the mole – trying to catch him. James says the mole is a `nice-looking fellow`. He says that they make a good nyumachoma (Swahili for ``meat roast``). These moles (larger than a rat but smaller than a rabbit) are a favourite BBQ for some Kenyans….

Tooth Stories

First let me apologize to all of you who check our blog frequently. I have been unable to post a blog or even respond to emails for most of this week. For some reason the Internet has been completely unstable and very frustrating. It has been a busy week and I have several stories ready to tell you!
We have reached a new phase of “settling in” here in Nairobi. It was time to find a dentist. We located a husband and wife team of dentists who have a clinic at the local Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital which is less than 10 minutes drive from campus.

We have all had check ups. Lisa needed some work on a cracked tooth. Tim and Max got a cleaning and a lot of praise for having such BIG MOUTHS. Simon was fitted for and has received an “expander”. Simon has quit sucking his thumb (again) and is now wearing this colourful retainer – which looks something like a butterfly! We crank it open twice each week and it will change his bite and allow his teeth to come in straighter.
This week Max also lost one of his teeth (to make room for a new 10-year molar). He received 100 shillings from the Tooth Fairy. The African children have told us that there are many tooth traditions here. Some do put their tooth under the pillow and receive a few shillings from the Tooth fairy. Some throw the tooth over their shoulder for good luck. Some throw the tooth under their legs to bring blessing on their Grandparents. Some told us about a Luo tradition which says that if you put chicken poop on the empty spot in your mouth, then the tooth will grow back in quickly. Some throw their tooth on the roof – that’s the one Max chose!