Guest Blog: Sue Hall aka Maz's Mum!

I have been supporting a charity called LARK along with my local church, village and wider community for the last ten years.  LARK help finance a children's rescue centre in Eldoret, Kenya.  It has always been my dream to see the centre with my own eyes and a flight with MAF with pilot Christiaan made this a reality for myself, husband, daughter and 2 grandchildren.  Here's my account of the day when we returned back to Nairobi at the end of the day.

Just to let you know we are safely back after an amazing day.  We left home at 6.30 and arrived at the airport about 15 minutes later.  Fortunately traffic was ok as it was early and also a Saturday.

Our pilot arrived at 7.  We all had to be weighed plus baggage but were allowed on the 6 seater plane which included the pilot. He prayed for the day ahead and for the centre and we were in the air just before 8 and the flight took 1 hour 20 minutes.  It was awesome.

It was a beautiful sunny day and we were able to see a lot of the places we had visited last week.

We had a perfect landing and it was so easy to get through customs etc.  We seemed to be the only people at the airport.  June, Centre Director, met us at the airport with 2 taxis and we made our way to the centre.

It took nearly an hour to get there because the traffic was so bad.  However the pilot came with us and agreed to give us an extra hour so it meant we had over 2 hours to take all our photos and do interviews etc.

Everyone at the centre was so helpful and we were able to see all the developments and speak to most of the staff and children.  I haven't had chance to go through everything yet but hopefully some will have turned out ok.

The mother and baby unit is still unused but June hopes the government are going to fund 2 staff so that it can be used hopefully from January 2015. They are also hopeful the vocational centre might start soon with government support. which will give teenagers experience in carpentry, car mechanics, metal work etc.

The water borehole is installed and pipe work hopefully to be fitted next week. Solar panels coming soon.

There is a hydroponic greenhouse which was built and funded by June's husband. It is great. Dave was in his element.  They are growing tomatoes and food for the cattle.  They now have 4 cows which is great although 2 of which aren't producing much milk!  They also have 10 hens which are not laying well but hope to be soon! June said they are virtually self sufficient in food through their self sufficiency and the donations they receive from the local community.  

We saw the chef cooking lunch with their produce and it looked delicious.

The main need now is for money for education.  There are 2 lads who have completed their schooling who are now hoping to go to college in September but this is only possible if they receive more fundning.  Other than the centre, there is no other hope for them I think it is £300 per year for each but I need to check that!  There was so much to take in!

June was thrilled with the quilt and calendar gifts that we took out with us. We also took some sweets for the children too and Elijah dished them out giving 2 if they gave an interview!!!!  June loved the computer we took for them and Elijah helped her sort it out. Needless to say I couldn't do it!!

It was such a thrill to see it all for real and a real privilege to experience it all.  They are doing a fantastic job.  You can feel the love and see God's presence through the children.

They are all so happy there and so grateful for everything they have.

Although there were 64 children here today you would never have known. They were all happily engaged and all was peaceful and purposeful.  Here are some photos of their dormitories and beautiful children.   

We left about 1 and were back in Nairobi at 3.30.
It was a truly amazing day and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Maz, the kids and Dave enjoyed it too.
Thank you MAF for making this possible.

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!

We've received our first Christmas present, a full water tank and water to spare!  I never thought I would enjoy rain so much!

All this rain fell in just 30 minutes - even my beloved Wales can't compete with that!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Visitors (for some reason this didn't send when it should so it is a bit late!)

In the last 48 hours we have had several visitors. My parents 

and around 20 monkeys!  

So pleased to see Maz's parents and the monkeys are rather good fun too. 

Preparing for Advent

We are about to begin Advent and we have just sent our Christmas letters to Father Christmas in the hope we have been good enough!  But this reminds me too of the hope we have in Jesus and what his birth really signifies. A hope that not all is lost. A hope that despite everything we do He still loves us. A hope for a life here on earth that is joyful no matter what my circumstances. A hope that He has the very best for us. That nothing is impossible!  How awesome is that!  This has truly been a year that we have learned to be joyful in all circumstances and we have known God's faithfulness and abundance and blessings beyond anything we could have ever imagined. 

Ticket to ride

Look who's behind the wheel again after 9 long months. God is so faithful.

Everything except for visitors!

"They have everything they need except for visitors!"

Those are the words of one of the teenagers from the youth group that I help run at our church. She was referring to the young people who live in a local orphanage the group visited last week. Many of the children aren't orphans through the death of their parents but because they have been abandoned, often due to the disabilities suffered by these children.

For one afternoon, our youth brought light and colour into orphans lives as they played and chatted with them. The delight brought to them was clear to see and hopefully this is a visit that the youth group will be keen to repeat again soon.

Water delivery

A new task that Is on my daily checklist is checking the levels of water we have in our tanks. Sometimes the water comes through the mains pipes overnight but recently we haven't had any so every morning I am checking the water levels in our tanks. If we don't have enough we phone for a delivery and a tanker comes with 10000 litres. We fill up our tank and find out who else needs their tanks to be filled too on the compound in the remaining 6 houses. Here is our delivery arriving now. 

Guy Fawkes night

No woolly jumpers, scarfs or hats required!  However it did rain just as the fireworks started so we put the rugs we were sitting on over our heads to keep us dry!

Friends

I am beginning to realise that home is not a house or even a place - but it is where God is and also where your family and friends are.  Take lovely Leafield where we used to live and call home. Beautiful as it was (and still is) and as much like home it still feels like, if all of our lovely friends upped and left, it would still be Leafield and still be beautiful, but it wouldn't be home.  It would just be Leafield.  It wouldn't carry the same love and fondness in my heart - it's my friends that do that.

So with that thought in mind, I would say that this big, bustling, noisy city called Nairobi is now beginning to feel like home as we are starting to make friends.  I found Edie this week playing 'clap hands' with a friend at school when I went to pick her up - it was so cute.  And when I took Audrey to panto practice yesterday she raced off to be with the 3 girls at another table (all of 3 different nationalities) and I was left on my own with my laptop!  Elijah too is making friends and enjoying being on a compound with ready made friends to play with.  He is also making friends at the local hospital too as we had to visit it last week when he cracked his head open and needed stitches! (photo taken the next day at a coffee shop (Costa replacement!) as a treat - thankfully his hat covers his stitches and the big bald patch he now has on his head!)

I too am making friends.  The MAF family here is amazing and Ken and I feel very blessed to have great people to be around.  I briefly stopped by at a friends house this morning as she too has just moved to Nairobi from Cairo and knows what it is like to be new!  She is busy this week unpacking all of her goods as her shipment of things arrived - unlike ours that still hasn't left the UK as Ken's work permit hasn't arrived yet.  She showed me around her lovely house that is beginning to also feel like 'home' as it is filled with items and photos that bring meaning and memories to them.  As we went into her attic room we laughed at the 30 or so boxes which still need to be opened.  I was about to ask her if I could have a few of the empty ones so that I could make things out of them for our children to play with as their toys are also still in the shipment in the UK.  But she told me that her house help has already asked for them so that she can insulate her house with them.  Wow - It certainly puts things into perspective!

Marsabit shuttle

Many of you have heard during our presentations about the essential weekly shuttle flight MAF runs between Nairobi and the town of Marsabit in Northern Kenya which makes it possible for aid and development workers and missionaries to serve this remote town.  Well Elijah and I were recently able to experience this trip for ourselves.  Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Here we are coming in to land at Marsabit.  The ground was so red and dry I could say it resembles "Mars a bit" but that would be a bit harsh!  However, there is a huge creator in the grounds near the town and it is believed that it was created by a meteorite crashing a long time ago.

On our flight there were seven passengers other than Elijah and I from six different mission, relief and development agencies.  The plane was also carrying clothes for a childrens' home, and freight for both a famine relief agency and a commercial bank. I spoke to some of my follow passengers who said just how valuable the flight was with only one other airline flying to this drought ridden and insecure region.   Without this two hour flight they would need to travel by land for two days and would risk getting attacked by the bandits which are prevalent in this area.

The Cessna Caravan flight has a solo pilot and so the co-pilot's seat is normally empty.  However, on the way back Elijah got the honour or sitting in the co-pilot's seat.  

I meanwhile enjoyed the journey in the seat behind him.

Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink!

It has been raining here for the past 24 hours almost non-stop, very unseasonable for this time of year.  We've had quite a lot of rain recently but this hasn't stopped us running out of water most weeks since we arrived.  This week we had to cope for three days with no water at all in our house.  We have certainly come to realise just how much we take water for granted in the UK.  Today we have got some water and we are trying to make it last as long as possible by keeping water usage to a minimum and recycling water.

Water collected whilst taking a morning shower.  Despite being a very frugal shower I collected enough water to nearly fill the toilet cistern.  The cistern still needed a slight top up despite having a brick in it to reduce the volume of water required to fill the cistern. 

Our problems in water supply however pail into insignificance compared to those of so many living in Kenya and other parts of Africa where villagers have to walk miles to collect a bucket of dirty water.  It feels so unjust that those in the Western nations have so much whilst so many suffer elsewhere in the world. 

Thankfully MAF is part of the solution as it multiplies the effectiveness of NGOs and others who are working hard to improve water supplies and sanitation.  It regularly flies these experts to areas that they wouldn't otherwise be able to reach safely or without several days travel on flights such as our Marsabit shuttle.

I shall be writing more about the Marsabit shuttle soon but today it is unlikely to fly, despite having passengers booked onto it, as the heavy rain would make it too dangerous to land on the basic runway at Marsabit.

Our water butt in the garden collecting rain water during a down pour.  In the foreground you can see another of our energy saving devices, a solar light, hanging from the rails on the window.  These lights are very useful as we suffer power cuts most days and so the lights enable the kids to do their school homework during a blackout.

Welcome Home

So this is home for the next 4 years or so.  Come and take a look with me - it's gorgeous ......

Here we are at the front of the house - well actually, it's the back really - but it's the door we use the most.

  And here we are at the back, (well the front actually) of the house.

 And the beautiful garden wraps around the whole of the house.  It's winter here at the moment, but I can't wait for the spring and summer to arrive to see what flowers are awaiting us.

Come and visit again soon and I'll show you around the inside.  What a privilege to be in such a beautiful spot.  We feel incredibly blessed.  Thank you Lord.

Our elephant - by Audrey

At six o’clock on Wednesday, Jasiri met the Browns.

Jasiri was born in December 2011. He was found in Amboseli National park three months after his mother was shot by poachers. Alone and frightened, he was taken to Nairobi’s elephant sanctuary at fifteen months. Here he met his new mother (a keeper) who fed and slept with him until he was 2 years old. He is now 2 ½ and he is still at the Elephant Sanctuary with other orphaned elephants.  He will stay here until he is about 3 and then he will move to a bigger orphanage deeper in the national park where he will stay until he is about 8 years old and will learn what it takes to live in the wild.  Eventually he will go back to the wild where he belongs.

Two years after he was found, Jasiri met his new foster family, Maz, Ken, Audrey, Elijah and Edie Brown. Together, they help Jasiri prepare for his future life where he belongs.  This week they came to see him have his milk from a bottle and go to bed.  They hope to come see him every few weeks to see him develop and grow into the Elephant he is meant to be.  

Bob's Blog

When Ken and I came to Kenya to have a 'look see' visit, we decided to 'adopt' an elephant at the Nairobi Elephant Sanctuary so that the children would have something to look forward to when we were preparing to move to Kenya.  His name is Jasari.
Here is Edie's (Bob's) Blog as we prepared to go to see him.

We have watched 'Elephant Diaries' over the last few days which was filmed in 2007 following other orphaned elephants at the same Elephant Sanctuary to help the children build up more of a picture of how the elephant sanctuary helps orphaned elephants.We had such a great time - pictures to follow....

My Terraphin

A Terrapin Is like a Turtle but is smaller.  He is about 5 cm long and will get to be about 20cm long when he is 3 years old.
Here  is a picture.

My Terrapin is called Shelly Bobby Brown. We brought  him on the 19th of August.  He is really cheap to keep and I love swimming animals so I think he is great.

By Elijah Brown

Home

I am sat here writing our first blog in Kenya – I can hardly believe it.  Despite everything that has happened over these last few months, we have actually made it!  Here we are having just arrived at our new house the very first night.  Everyone is very excited.  

We made it on the long journey here and all 18 suitcases made it through too!  We had to have 2 minibuses to pick us up from the airport!  The house (our new home) looked amazing when we arrived and our MAF colleagues had done an amazing job of cleaning the house and organising a hamper for us to keep us going for the first few days.  We felt so welcomed.

We have been here now for about a week and a half and it is beginning to feel like home already.   We have many of our home comforts in place: the first batch of biscuits have been baked, the bedrooms are tidy, we have unpacked all 18 suitcases and we are finally back on the internet! 

The fire is lit in front of me and is crackling away in the hearth as it is cold here today.  I know – I wasn't expecting that either – I thought it would always be warm in Kenya!  The first of many of my pre-assumptions corrected.  The children are busy playing in their bedrooms.  And all seems right with the world.  

So in the time we have arrived we have found our way around a little bit.  I have been driving a great car that we have been loaned called a 'Noah' with 8 seats!  To my surprise I have found the driving far easier than I had thought and have been enjoying it. Although I have been warned not to fall into a false sense of security as apparently everything changes when the schools go back and the traffic becomes much heavier!  

We have been to a great church.  It is amazing to hear and feel the exuberance praise from the congregation   The African drums pulsating through the air, the wonderful Africa voices - almost felt like we were in heaven!

We are enjoying the great impact on our senses - the different smells, the amazing sights, the various tastes. Although pizza tastes the same no matter which country you are in.  Here we are celebrating our 13th Wedding Anniversary with a metre long pizza!

Goodbye UK ......

We have been dreaming about this moment since before we were married!  And now it is finally here and we are living our dream. How incredible is that.  Thank you everyone for all of your love and support over theses last few months in particular.  Our  new adventure begins here .......
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The final countdown!

So we are now entering in to the ‘last times’ for a while.  We have been to our last quintessential village fete for a while which was full of all things which fill your heart with a  warm glow of ‘home’.  The Morris Dancers chimed their way through their dances,

afternoon tea was served by ‘tea ladies’ wearing 1950’s aprons, the air was full of laughter and merriment and the most fun of all was had in the long distance egg throwing competition!

We have now moved out of our house and feel incredibly blessed by staying at some very lovely friends' houses.  It is a huge privilege.  It almost feels like being on holiday - except for those last few things to do on our gantt chart!  We are now living out of 15 suitcases and are gradually filling them up with all sorts, from socks and speakers to books and balloons!  

The last few weeks we have been on a residential course with MAF teaching us everything we need to know about working for MAF and living abroad.  The course was hard work but we are all feeling a lot more prepared - and my amazing Mum survived 2 weeks with the kids.  It was great to be on the course and meet some great people who are in the same situation as us and heading off to different countries to work with MAF.  It was so helpful to chat with people going through the same experiences and emotions as we are.

So now we have a party to organise and lots of friends to say farewells to for a short while and a chance to tick off everything from our old friend the 'gantt chart!'

Saying goodbye

 “Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would, I'd never leave.” 

― A.A. Milne