Training, Training, training

I had ordered a dress, and here I am with my very cute dressmaker. The women here really dress beautifully-- cut work, lace, shimmery fabric and very stylish purses. They certainly pay more attention to fashion than I ever have. But I was told as I wore the dress today that I was "very smart." So maybe there's hope.

On Tuesday we decided to visit the Primary President at her place of work. It was a little trickier than we thought, as there was no place to park. So we parked away, then wandered, called by phone a few times, and finally met her at the street. She took us into the heartland of Kiboya market in the wholesale part. She sells grains. We bought beans for gathere (beans and maize) and beans for beans-and-chapates, and some "ground nuts" or peanuts. They were HUGE! (Clockwise: ground nuts, chapate beans, maize beans.) If someone can identify the English names of the beans I would be grateful.

We had training with the Elder's quorum president, two of the new Branch presidency counselors, and we visited or called some of the outgoing members to try to make sure they were not feeling rejected. Here the tradition is "president for life" and so some members don't realize that this is the Lord's church and He decided who is called to what position. In Kings, the prophet Samuel was choosing king David, and the Lord said God didn't see as a man saw, the Lord looketh on the heart. Because the church is the Lord's and is so different from any man-made institution, some people struggle a little. They have not yet grown to trust the Lord.

Saturday we did an 8:30 am training. Then we had a 10am baptism. This is little Mercy, daughter to Elizabeth who passed away last month. They seem to be doing okay. It was a sweet little baptism, as her father performed this ordinance for the first time.
As hand shaking was going on, I was struck once again by the contrast in colors. There is such beauty in both skin colors and the handshake just seems to join them both together. Africans have lovely smooth nearly hairless skin. They look young through their 40's. Lovely, clear, flawless skin.
Immediately after the baptism, we left for Busia. We did training with the Branch President and some of the other leaders. These are such good men and women. They are trying their best to do what the Lord wants them to do. And the struggles are against those frailties common to man-- lack of faith, selfishness, pride. In many cases, the same struggles play out all over the world. Leaders love people and want so much to have them be faithful so the Lord can bless their lives. And sometimes the people can't yet grasp the importance of faithfulness and obedience. Still, the church moves forward and slowly by slowly, people come to understand.

They were so excited to get a sign for the church and they showed us the new building they will move into. On the way home we were treated to spectacular skies! It is so beautiful here!
Today things went well here at church. Good teaching. Primary is moving forward well. Lots of visitors at church. Good sacrament meeting. It's good to be here.

Reorganization

Once we left Nakuru, it was back to business. Friday we prepared. Jackie came and cleaned. We did 5 loads of laundry. We prepared food. Elder and Sister U were arriving Friday night. It’s always fun to have visitors! Saturday we had leadership training meeting. Tom and I were both teaching that class. We spent much time praying and preparing. It was a blend of practical (calendaring and budgeting) and spiritual (How to strengthen member’s testimonies.) The more we do this, the more we realize the organization of the church is like nothing else. Not like other churches. Not like business. Not like government. Truly it is not of man but of God.

The U’s taught our first teacher development class. We’re told that learners have responsibilities to learn. And that people learn much better if they are part of the process. So they discussed the process of preparing to teach. They did an excellent job and got rave reviews. Elder U is also a doctor and agreed to meet with several of our members with undiagnosed sicknesses. He was a big help there, too.

Immediately after the Leadership Training, we had a baptism. Brother M had spinal meningitis at 14 and for the first 3 weeks, they treated it as malaria. When he got the correct treatment, he was very ill. He has been recovering for about 2 years. He’s regained his speech, his ability to sit, then stand, then walk a few steps. He can now hold a pencil. His mind is brilliant. The missionaries love teaching him. He reads and remembers. Here he's helped into the resort.

We had the service here at the church, then drove him to the Milimani Resort as they thought the pool would be easier for him to get into. They supported him into the pool and here Elder H. explains to him how he will be baptized.
I loved the look of delight on his face as he came up out of the water. Then we returned to the church for the rest of the service. As we were finishing, Pres and Sister Taylor and Pres. Kogo, of the Mission Presidency arrived to arrange the reorganization of the Elders Quorum and the branch presidency. They did interviews through the afternoon.

Pres Kogo is also authorized by the Kenya Government to perform weddings. So we had 4 couples that had a traditional tribal marriage, joined in marriage in a civil ceremony. Elder Fox was the photographer, and we made a cake to celebrate. They were so cute! They were hesitant to kiss in public, so we asked if they needed a remedial kissing course. The kiss:

The Newlyweds and Pres. Kogo (center).

I spent part of the afternoon making a giant bowl of potato salad (and a little German Potato salad for me.) because we would need to feed people before they left to go home on Sunday.Sister Taylor and U. helped out. We had a late dinner. I’d planned on fixing Hawaiian Short-ribs and putting it in the oven after leadership, but I was pulled here and there, and Sister U ended up doing most of the work, bless her heart! Good thing we ate at 7:30… the meat still was not very tender. Sigh. I think the cows here spend too much time trotting around instead of standing still and making tender meat.

Sunday morning we had a quick Father’s Day celebration. I made banana nut muffins. I’d used all the eggs for the potato salad on Saturday…. Uh oh... But I looked up substitutes and a banana and 2 tbsp of corn starch did the trick. They were tasty. I also had bought matching ties (for Elder U and Elder Fox) on Friday when we went to check the mail and develop pictures. THIS Father’s Day, they were actually delighted with their ties! They were getting tired of wearing the same ones over and over. Note tie below.

Sunday also brought the reorganization of the Branch Presidency. The branch president remained the same, but his experienced counselors were replaced with men with great hearts and the desire to be obedient, but not a lot of leadership experience. I love how the Lord is moving people around so that many people will gain leadership experience. We are growing men and women who will lead this church when it becomes a stake. I’m convinced of this!

So our new purpose is to help train all these new leaders! This week we have appointments with the counselors, Primary, Compassionate Service, Sunday School, and Elders Quorum. I tell you, I’m learning the church handbooks better than I ever have before! This learning thing is always a two way street.

The wildlife of missionaries in Nakuru

We loved Lake Nakuru National Park. It felt intimate and small. While you could not go off the roads, the roads seemed designed to bring you close to the animals.... that is, close enough to take over 800 pictures. We'll spare you all the details. (I used to tease my dad about taking a zillion photos---the view of the Grand Canyon from the south, from the south-southwest, from the west...etc. And now, AKK! I've turned into my father's daughter.) So you only get half a zillion on this blog.


The lake was pink with flamingos!We enjoyed just watching them. They are such funny birds, scooping up food with their heads upside-down. We saw a Thompson's Gazelle walking near the shore. The birds edged out of his way as he approached, then filled in behind.
Here are the only pelicans we saw on the trip.
This is my favorite bird! I love the Secretary bird. It's so big and regal. It's amazing to see this solitary long tail feather with a black splash at the end and these incredibly long legs. The book says it is over 3 feet tall!
I love it that the animals mingle. Close to the lake we saw flamingos, water buffalo, zebra and elands. Notice the ox peckers riding on the eland.
The eland is the largest African antelope.
Compared to the midsized Grant's Gazelles...
and impalas. Notice the rainbow in the sky. We skirted the rain most of the afternoon.
The park had open grasslands and acacia tree forests. The bark on the acacia trees is beautifully splashed with greens and browns. We did see some giraffes hidden in the trees and they are supposed to be Rothschild giraffes, but the pictures weren't good. Giraffes are big, but they hide well! Indeed they look a lot like the tree trunks!


These water bucks are hairier than many of the antelope. I was captivated by the round ears. they always seemed to be pointed our direction. You see, a quick photo gives you this angle-- head and ears. A slow photo gives you a great shot of the tail end... quickly receding in the distance. We tried to spare you the tail end shots... although they are quite pretty-- striped black, white around the tail and so on. Hmm. I wonder if that's why the guide books always give great detail of the hind end.

We came across a great herd of zebra wandering down the road. A safari van was following them, but they seemed in no hurry to leave the road. We found some young ones. Cute!
Talk of animals coming to the road. We met a swarm of baboons sprawled across the road working diligently on personal grooming. There had to have been 20 or more. We edged our way through and they reluctantly dislodged themselves and moved to the shoulder.
When we turned around to return, (we'd gotten close to the gate and weren't ready to leave yet) we heard a thump on the back of the truck. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw an adult baboon perched on the edge of the canvas cover of the pick-up. The back edge isn't all that secure. I'm glad he didn't slip inside or we'd have had a captive baboon!Water buffalo like... you guessed it... water. We found some at a wallow near the lodge and many near the lake shore.
They really aren't two tone, but they do like the mud! We were told they can be cranky and unpredictable. As we turned to drive away from the lake there was one huge one standing right about where we needed to drive. We edged by carefully, wondering if they were baleful eyes, or just a normal expression.
One of the things we really wanted to see was rhinoceroses. We had not seen any yet in Africa. So we were excited to see many. First from a distance (we won't share those photos) and then, the second day, we got up really close to several sets of rhinos by the lake side. Then later in the morning, we saw some in the woodlands. I think these rhinos are culturally diverse-- that is, the one with two horns is the black rhino, the one with one horn is the white one. Oh, it's not the color? you say. Yup. White is a corruption of Afrikaans's "weit" meaning wide. One has a wider mouth. I think you can see the wider mouth in this photo. I think. Maybe. Er, clearly I am uncertain of my rhinos.
The very first late afternoon we went out, we tried to follow some of the safari vans. They led us to these lions! Whahoo! First we saw three in a tree. But they were hard to photograph. Then, as we were driving along, here was this lion walking down the road. It was the lion, two safari vans and us, then the U's and who knows who else behind. We probably followed the lion for a half mile before she finally gave up, leaped into the bush and up this tree.
Notice the great color of the bark on the tree. Isn't that amazing? She stood around, waiting for us to leave, and we finally did. But it was awesome to see the lions.
Monkeys really are a barrel of laughs. These black faced vervet monkeys were cute to watch. Again, it always seems to be grooming time... or play time... or tree climbing time....or mischief time.
You see this monkey, innocently sitting on the mirror of the car parked next to ours. We had a monkey investigating our truck as well. But THIS car had a partly opened window. Oops. We watched and a monkey disappeared into the car. Then another... and another.

About that time the owner and her Anglo passenger returned. They opened the door. The passenger was much more interested in taking photos than in shooing the monkeys out. The Monkeys eventually emerged with all their sandwiches in mouths and paws, scattering crumbs, and squabbling among themselves over the best pieces. It was entertaining.... but I was glad it wasn't my car!

Lake Nakuru Lodge

I'm getting behind on my blogging. There is much happening now, but I need to be chronological. So this is our trip to Lake Nakuru on June 16-17. We left Nairobi increased in elevation and encountered some beautiful fog. I actually think we were in the clouds.
We had thought to leave earlier, and Elder and Sister U, planned to leave much earlier than that... but we ended up getting away somewhere around 11am. When we were half way there, we called the U's, they were within a few minutes of us!

So we met and wound our way through Nakuru to the National Park. The street lights testified to the immense flamingo population.

Lake Nakuru is part of the necklace of rift valley lakes and is quite alkaline. There are many marshes around it and wonderful forage for animals. It has acacia forests and savanna and bluffs. Some of "Out of Africa" was filmed here.
Once we came into the park, we headed for the lodge for lunch. Here is a view across the pool, similar to the one at the restaurant's outdoor patio. Here a storm is brewing.
These were our rooms. Very nice. Those are solar water heaters on top of the roofs.
Here is the Masai guard watching; watching against what, one may ask? I think baboons. Or perhaps he's there for photo opportunities.
Here we are, happily eating on the patio. You see Elder Fox in the reflection, and beyond that the wallow where the water buffalo are, and next to that a happy baboon habitat. And they are happy. You see, they creep up over the lip of the patio, right next to the wall. Then they watch and wait. The moment your head is turned, they jump to the chair, and snatch your food. Elder Fox lost his bread stick. Sister U. suddenly found herself eye to eye with a baboon when I vacated my seat. (No, she did not mistake me for a baboon.) A moment later, some of her dessert was gone! And she was sitting right there!
The grounds of the Lodge were lovely.
It was delightful to relax and decompress. For those 24 hours, we didn't think of or talk of the 40,000 things that needed to be done in Kisumu. We met a safari guide from Orange County named Sue Fox. We visited with a matre d who asked us to bring the church to Nakuru. We avoided getting stuck on a muddy road, and we saw some amazing animals. See the next blog for those.

Kazuri Beads

I had sworn off jewelry. Really. I did. I wasn't wearing much here. I only needed a short necklace, so I wasn't all that excited about going to the Kazuri bead factory, until I saw the beads in a store in Westlands Mall. Ahhh. The colors, the shapes. Oooh. Truly works of art.

We got a tour of the place. It employs over 350 women-- mostly single parents and was the brain child of an English woman. They purify local clay and extrude the water. Then it is shaped by hand. This woman is one of the original workers and has been here for 35 years.

Notice the perfectly shaped beads. some are flat. Some long. About 10 different round bead sizes. Some are square or box shaped. They have a board with the orders for necklaces, earrings, and bracelets with the number needed. Then women have sheets with designs as they work.

After shaping they are fired. Then glazed.

Then fired again.

Then the patterns, paintings or designs are applied and they are fired again.

This room holds the overstock of beads-- those in excess of orders and they are 35% off. I think I could go crazy in there. Mmm. So pretty. And, I'd need to look in every jar! Sort of like purses. (Family joke. In Korea I went to 39 stores looking for the perfect purse.)

I didn't get a picture of them stringing the beads. But we went on to the pottery area and here are the large kilns for the dishes and mugs. They make everything from unique art, to dinnerware.

Then we went to the store. Ahh. The store. Tom wanted a photo of me lusting after the beads. But I refused to drool in public. I tried on dozens. I bought... Suffice to say I spent birthday, Mother's day... and Tom will claim Christmas money there.

Actually the necklaces were about $18-25 here and list online for about $77. So it was a good deal. Really! Just think of all the money I saved! And Tom was very kind. He soothed himself with a beautiful small pitcher, just right for pouring pancake syrup.

When we were ready to leave, we found a family of black faced monkeys traversing the roof of the pottery shed. Of course! This IS Africa!

Elephant Sanctuary blog follows this.

Here Come the Elephants

The Elephant Orphanage is for baby elephants who have lost parents due to poaching, drought, or the conflict between man and environment-- that is elephants messing with farmers. The ones we saw were between 4 months and 2 years. After that they are separated from visitors and moved to a place where they intermingle in the wild. They are cared for until they integrate themselves into the wild at about 8-15 years. Elephants nurse until they are 4-5 years old, so they can't live on their own until they are older than that. Even here at the elephant sanctuary, it's connected with the Nairobi National Park and they spend part of their time there.

The visiting hours are only between 11-12. We arrived early and met this worker and his tree hyrax. He'd rescued it from a cat when it was young. It's still about 4 months old. It's not a rodent, it's supposed to be related to the elephant.

We also had ample opportunity to watch the warthogs. These warthogs were not nearly as shy as the mara ones. We were very close and they seemed oblivious to us... until we tried to pet one.

The video clip is of the older elephants coming out. The smaller elephants came out first and were fed.

This is the youngest one. They bond with the handlers-- about 44 of them, but are smart enough to know the difference between the handlers and other humans.

They can't be fed cow's milk, so actually they are fed baby formula.... gallons of it!

They said if they lift up their trunk, blow gently into it to greet them. They may want to put your hand into their mouth, but don't do it. Only the handlers know where the teeth are... and are not. You notice the stout, imposing fencing that separates people from elephants. Occasionally the elephants would push out and need to be shepherded back in.

After feeding they went to the dirt mound and the handlers tossed dirt on them. It protects their sensitive skin.
And of course, they're babies. They need play time with balls, pool and each other.

Each elephant sleeps in it's own stall with a handler. When they are young and anxious (as in they saw their parents shot by poachers) they need someone 24 hours a day. And they are fed every 3 hours around the clock. To prevent them from getting too attached to one handler, the handlers rotate between the babies. Note the cot to the right where the handler sleeps.
We had a very informative lecturer. Elephants do have good memories. They must remember all the places they've migrated to find food. The oldest female is the head of the herd. That is instinctive. They are very sensitive to medications. They can become sick from interaction with domestic animals (cattle) and picking up their parasites.