MISSION TOUR: Twice a year we are privileged to attend a mission tour where a visiting authority comes to buoy up the missionaries, young and old. President Michael Watson, Counselor in the Southeast Africa Area Office and his wife were our visitors. Elder Watson has served as a secretary under 7 LDS Presidents. He learned shorthand in school and has used it in a secretarial capacity first in the Army and then in the Church President's Office for many years. He was very careful about not divulging confidential things, but he did talk about the mechanics of the general conference meetings and how he would make out the scripts for the person conducting, plan the time allottments to the second, and stand on the sidelines with his stopwatch. Sometimes he had to ask speakers to reduce their talks from 9 to 7 minutes, or ask the person giving the closing prayer to keep it to 30 seconds. How would you like to have to cut a speech by 2 minutes on the spot, or to try to give an inspired prayer while looking at your watch and keeping it under 30 seconds?

Elder and Sister Watson had 12 children in 18 years. Sister Watson admitted that she never had any help from Elder Watson on Sundays. Her method of control....if one of the children was acting up down the bench from her she would send a note: "It looks to me like you want to wash the dishes today." She said they shaped up pretty fast because doing dishes by yourself for 14 people is not much fun. Sister Watson also said that she could not tolerate contention and sent children to their rooms to work things out when necessary. This picture was taken at President and Sister Broadbent's home (seated on the right...Elder Broadbent was an orthodontist in the Orem area and Sister Broadbent served on the YW General Board). President and Sister Watson are seated on the left. From the left, seated on the arm is Sister Nevin (office couple from Safford AZ whose husband is taking the picture), we are next, E/S Puckett (Pubic Affairs), E/S Blake (CES, English, leadership in Kalungu Hills where all the baptisms took place on Sunday) , E/S McBride (Mombasa, proselyting. E. McBride is serving as Branch President), E/S Flinders (Perpetual Education Fund, S Flinders is seated), E/S Byrd (Employment). The senior missionaries were invited to a pot-luck dinner in the evening where we were able to talk informally. What a privilege it is to be able to associate with people who are so bright and dedicated to serving the Lord. This is brought home to me every Monday evening when we have FHE together, and on Saturday evenings when we go out to dinner as a group.

This is a picture of the shoes I wore to dinner at the President's home...my focus is obviously not on fashion these days. I put the mismatched sandals on in the morning and hadn't looked down at my feet until I sat down at the group social in the evening. Note the lack of pedicure, and the scabs on my feet from walking through thorny scrub brush areas during our monitoring activities.

Note the Masaai sandals. The Masaai tribe is known for their beaded work, and these are only two of the many styles of sandals you can find for sale in the open markets and on the streets.

Home Again, Home Again Monitoring's Done

Home to stay for awhile. Our task now is to put together the data we have gathered over the past 2 months, analyze it, make conclusions, and send it off to South Africa (138 pages so far).

CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION: On Friday, 27 August, Kenya celebrated the passing of a new constitution. The official celebration took place down the block from our flat at Uhuru (Freedom) Park with many orators (including the President of the Country), music, and fireworks. There was justifiable joy and pride in the peaceful and democratic election. Once again, the missionaries were encouraged to stay inside. The people were given the day off work and the streets were deserted. However it will take some time to clean up Uhuru Park; people must have thronged there.




NEWS FROM THE HOME WARD: Baptisms: 4 baptisms on each of the last 2 Sundays. One of the new members is Joel Luliko Wakayima, a man whom we met when we were being fingerprinted for our work permits a couple of months ago. Joel saw my nametag and asked about the Church. We had a short religious discussion and I gave him one of our cards. He emailed a couple of weeks later; we had him set up with missionary lessons. He has come to Church each week, joined the stake choir, is coming to institute, very bright and inquisitive. He also has a past.

I googled Joel and found several entries. Five years ago in Uganda there was an election to pass a proposed constitution that would ban presidential term limits. Joel was Chairman of the National Freedom Party and opposed the proposed constitution. His group participated in riots before the election; he was jailed as a result. He escaped to Kenya and hasn't seen or heard from his wife and 2 children since. We have been encouraging him to bring his family here. After attempting to find them for 2 weeks, he finally made contact last night. We are excited for him.

At FHE last night, we heard that 3 wards in Kalungu Hills on Sunday had 27 baptisms between them. There were 4 people doing the baptisms. The baptisms were mostly people who have been trying to learn enough English to "pass the baptismal interviews." One of those being baptized was an old woman, bent over with osteoporosis. She was helped into the font by her family members. There were many tears of gratitude; some people had been worried that they would never be able to join the Church.

The missionaries for a short period were allowed to teach people in Swahili, then the directives changed. Many people who only spoke Swahili were left with their testimonies but without the ability to become members. One of the senior couples has spent a lot of time training local people to teach English to all of those who desired to be baptized. It has been a long process, and I think some are still waiting.

The baptism was spiritual highlight; however there was a lot of laundry to do afterwards...and no electricity. The clothing was all washed in large tubs of cold water with lots of bleach and soap. It was then rinsed and laid over bushes and grass to dry. Unfortunately it rained during the early evening. When Elder and Sister Blake went to Church the following morning, there was white clothing draped over the chairs in the meeting house to dry.

This is a picture of the wedding of the Elizabeth Njeri, the ward Relief Society President to Alexander Noeritu. She has been a member of the Church for 1 year, and was introduced to the gospel by her future husband. They were married in the chapel in a ceremony that blended Church beliefs and tribal customs. They left 2 days later to be married in the Temple in Johannesburg, where they will reside. Elizabeth and Alex are an incredible couple and will probably be future leaders in the Church.

Alex and Elizabeth are very committed to the Church, and to family/tribal customs. In order to be allowed to marry Elizabeth, Alex went through all the required family negotiations and paid the agreed-upon bride price. You can see from the wedding attire that the ceremony was a little out of the ordinary.

Wedding: The ceremony began 3 hours 15 minutes late. Sitting all that time was boring (didn't even bring a book), but you know Dad...we couldn't be late. There were 3 senior missionary couples and a few others at the chapel for the whole time. Most of the guests arrived 2-3 hours later than we did. The reason it was late (besides the fact that African functions are always late) is that the bride had to be "collected" from her tribal home the morning of the wedding. The family home was a long way from the chapel, over very bad roads. [And we were waiting at the chapel with our filled oil lamps...waiting for the bridegroom so we could go into the wedding feast...kind of reminded me of parable of the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom to come.]

Integrated into the ceremony were several religious talks and some hymns sung by the stake choir. There were clapping and uulations at specified time during the ceremony: when the bride and groom said "Yes, I do," after the marriage certificate was signed and presented, and after the rings were exchanged.

Alex and Elizabeth are the only members of the Church in their families. Mormons have a reputation in Kenya of being "devil worshippers." I'm sure their families have no doubt that we are followers of Jesus Christ after that ceremony.

Reception: Held in the Nairobi National Game Park. We didn't go; we felt that 5 hours was enough of an investment. But we heard it was a wonderful affair with lots of food, dancing, and a public display of the elder women in the tribe teaching the bride how to cook. (They stirred a pot, then Elizabeth stirred a pot. They winnowed grain, then Elizabeth winnowed grain.....).

Wedding attire: Groom: simulated leopard skin hat, cape, boots. he carried traditional symbols of royalty: whisk and carved cane. Bride: gorgeous gown sewn with cowrie shells, traditional beaded headband and neck rings.

Musings on the ward: How I love the beautiful, simple faith of the members. Two testimonies lately have really touched my heart. One was from a missionary who spoke with great spirit. He described his grandmother as illiterate, but prayerful. When he asked his grandmother why he never saw her crossing her legs or feet as she sat, she replied, "I want to be able to get to my knees immediately when the Savior comes." When he found the Book of Mormon, he read it in 10 days, lighting a candle when it got dark. He joined the Church after receiving a powerful witness of its truth.

Another touching testimony was borne by a young ward member who had traveled to Rwanda to learn more about the genocide that occurred there in 1994 when more than 800,000 people (mostly Tutsis) were ethnically cleansed in a 100 day period. He had learned of the genocides when he was a young boy in Kenya and still had vivid memories. He wanted to talk with Rwandans to see how they had survived those sad days. He was surprised to find that most he talked with had forgiven and moved on with their lives. The government has moved a little more cautiously. Since there was some church (not ours) involvement in the bloodshed, they have been reluctant to grant licenses to churches in general. Our Church is one of those that has not been granted a license. Because we are not licensed, the Church cannot purchase land, but they have been able to rent a meeting place and have some very dedicated members...enough to merit their own mission president. Members cannot legally pay tithes and offerings. However, there is a bill before the government that will relax the regulation of churches.

The young man spoke of the spirit of forgiveness that had allowed the healing of the Rwandan people. He encouraged us to make the Church a place of refuge and of friendship, where we cherish, protect, and forgive each other, and where the Spirit can burn bright.

There is great power in forgiveness...the senseless murder of an LDS bishop in Visalia, CA illustrates the destructive power of the inability to forgive. The killer apparently felt that he had been condemned to hell by a former bishop some years before. He had been unable to forgive the bishop throughout the years. He was deranged (?before or after his interactions with the bishop?). The anger must have grown with time until he was so full of pain that he randomly picked a nearby church, waited patiently until after meetings were over, then killed the 42-year old father of 6 who had been a bishop for only 4 months. What a tragedy!

I have learned personally, especially while on this mission, that forgiveness is an important daily task.

The Meaning of Monitoring

This is a picture we see frequently in our monitoring....smiling and laughing children. I am the serious one who asks questions and takes notes; John makes people laugh and takes pictures. John's love of people was evidenced early in life when his younger brother, Kim, complained to his mother, "John just tries to get people to like him!" John's technique is characterized by a scripture I read yesterday in Proverbs 17:22: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine..." I can see why John went into pediatrics. Children never fail to delight him. Frequently children are sent to the wells to collect water. The lucky few have donkeys or bikes to carry the loads.

John is here with a local Chief (appointed position by President of Kenya) and our monitor, Amos Midianga on the right. Amos travled with us for 1 and 1/2 weeks and had an amazing ability to take us into an area and find just the right person who could help us locate the projects we were tracking. Once we had as many as 4 people in the back seat of the truck and 1 in the truck bed directing us to projects over washboard roads. There are always lots of people on the village roads, and there is great curiousity about the Wazungus in the white truck (us). We had the help of village elders, Area Chiefs, Chairman of various helpful committees. Once we even happened onto 2 contractors who had helped build 15 of our sand dams. During our "scavenger hunt," we burned out a clutch and slept at some interesting places.

Everyplace we went, John would find the oldest person around and say, "I'll bet I'm older than you are." Most of the time he was. But here is a man who had about 10 years on John.

Water, Water, Who Needs Water?

Children need water. For many families in the upcountry areas it is the child's duty to carry water daily. Water fetching is a large part of a Kenyan's day. The national goal is to bring water within 2 kilometers of every family. In the large cities there is piped water (except in the slums). But upcountry, many people have to walk much more than 2 km. In fact it can take one person all day just to provide enough water for the family use. This well is near a school (blue and pink uniforms). You can see that the area is very dry.
I am in the background of the next picture taking notes on the history of the well. Amos (our great monitor) is pumping water. Notice the many jerry cans lined up and waiting to be filled. It may take a long time to walk to and from the well, but there may also be a long wait once you get there.

At one well where there was much activity, we asked how much water the well produced per day. They pointed out one young man who was filling many water containers, and said that he used 100 jerry cans of water/day. He was growing a garden nearby with very thirsty plants. When I asked what kind of garden he was growing, they explained that the bark of the plant, when chewed, would make people feel happy. I said, "you mean it is a drug?" They smiled and nodded and said that it was a very profitable garden. We are not going to put this in our notes for South Africa.

Sometimes we construct cattle troughs. Cows, goats, and sheep are a very big part of the economy here. For some tribes, wealth is measured in cattle and goats, and bride prices are calculated in cattle and goats. When calculating the price of water, the 20L jerry cans pictured above cost 2 Kenya shillings. The owner of a cow who is drinking at the trough will usually be charged 1 Kenya shilling, for a sheep/goat the charge is 50 bob (or .5 shillings).

Sand Dams

In the drier parts of Kenya, many people mine for water in the dry (seasonal) riverbeds. As you can see, this water is neither plentiful nor clean, however it is used by many when it is available because it is free. Those who have jobs or are more health-conscious may purchase water in town for 2-10 Kenya shillings/jerry can (jerry can=20 L can pictured below). The Kenya shilling is worth about $0.013US. The price of the water is dependent on how scarce the water is. The money seems a small amount to us, but if you have no income, purchasing water is a luxury requiring that something else be sacrificed. As the weather dries, the water seeps deeper and deeper into the riverbed until it is no longer available. When the water in the riverbed dries up, the people will be forced to buy water.



You can see that many of the water transporters are young. That is especially true when the schools are out for winter break (the month of August). But even during the school year, many children are expected to fetch water for the family before school, after school, or sometimes in lieu of school. In fact, one of the oft-mentioned benefits of the water projects we have installed is that more children have the time to attend school and school enrollment increases. The fortunate have bikes or donkeys (right background) to carry the heavy loads of water. The aim of any project done by LDS Charities (Humanitarian arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is to strengthen people, i.e. teach them to fish rather than give them fish. Consequently, we require that the beneficiaries contribute to the project. By this we hope to accomplish: teaching the community to work together for a common purpose, giving them a feeling of investment in and ownership of the project. As a side benefit for us, the cost of the project is reduced, but that is a minor reason for requiring community involvment.

LDS Charities hires contractors to supervise the project. We also find the most likely site for the sand dam, mobilize the community, and provide the materials the beneficiaries cannot provide.

Community involvement: Some women will cook meals for those who are working. This woman is cooking in the riverbed. Note the 2 types of pots boiling and the containers of water nearby. She is cooking a stew beans and corn that takes a lot of cooking time but is cheap and nutritious.

These are some of the beneficiaries pictured: some are digging the hole for the footing of the dam. In the background you can see another community member pounding large rocks into smaller rocks (smaller rocks provide more stable fill than do larger rocks). The women carry the rocks to the site where they will be used. Kenyan women are strong and are the ones who carry most of the burdens.

You can see the mostly finished dam above. I am learning how the dam is constructed from one of the contractors. The dam must be placed where there are anchoring rocks on either side of the riverbed. Wooden forms are built, the rebar (twisted metal reinforcing bars = rebar) inserted. Forms are then filled with rock (pounded by hand into small sizes). The concrete is mixed with sand and water both provided by the community from the nearby riverbed. The mixed cement is then poured into the wooden form, where it fills in the spaces between rock and rebar. The forms are removed when the cement dries.

During the rainy seasons (2 of them/year) the dams will retain the water for 1-4 months depending on the size of the dam, the strength of the river, and the amount of rainfall.

A pipe (pictured) is inserted into a hole created at the bottom of the dam. The pipe extends out from both sides of the dam. On the upriver side, the pipe is laid in a bed of rock which is intended to filter out large particulate matter; the pipe is also punched with holes so that the maximum amount of water can get into the upriver-portion of the pipe. During the rainy season, water and mud are swept downstream towards the dam, and the upriver side of the dam will fill with water...and sand/mud. The pipe will transport the sinking rain water through the upriver pipe to the downriver portion of the pipe where it can be collected into jerry cans by the community. Some communities have installed taps or plastic fittings to close off the constant flow of water on the downriver side. In this way, the water stays in the dam as long as possible.

August 15th, 2010

Dear All,

Roz and I have been busy and out of Nairobi. I apologize for the lapse since the last communication from Africa. Three pictures are attached.

We visited a school recently. On one of the walls was painted a picture of the most important organ system in the human body. Can you guess what organ system that is? (Answer: It is the gastrointestinal tract.)



Roz left the door open to our pick-up truck several weeks ago. Before I could get back to the truck a monkey entered the door and took a bag of potato chips. He retired to a tree with the bag. The only thing that I obtained from the experience was this picture and a lesson that the door of the pick-up should never be left open.

A picture of two young African boys who watched us as we drove by.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Love ya all,
John

Our Roles

My major role continues to be our children and grandchildren. Today, we had our 11th grandchild. Caroline and David Garcia had a daughter in a New York City hospital at 9:50 this morning. Our new granddaughter, Iris, was 7# 10 oz., and all are doing well. My mother, Iris, passed away in June. Now she will have a sweet little namesake. A short time ago we were able to talk with Caroline and David (and hear Iris) on the phone through Skype. They will move to Mexico City when Iris gets her passport. In the meantime they will travel to Houston to stay with our oldest daughter, Alexis and Jon Schmitt and family.
This is one of our favorite roles: interaction with the school children. They are always curious to see our white faces. They love to have their pictures taken.

One of my most important roles lately has been to take notes while the wells are being discussed. The Head Teacher is on the left; our monitor standing; the 2 assessors are seated on the right.

This is one of my lesser roles...shopping for Masaai beaded sandals (purchased for 500 shillings, or about $6.50). You can see that shopping on the street attracts lots of vendors.