Jeff

A couple of weeks ago we were driving along our road, on the way to Java House (one of our favourite eating spots) and Libby and I spotted a guy lying at the side of the road, apparently frothing at the mouth. We were going pretty fast, so didn't get a good look, and we decided not to stop - for various reasons; e.g. we had the kids with us, and we wouldn't have a clue what to do anyway. We felt pretty bad about it, but there were people walking past, and by the time we were on our way home he had gone.

Funnily enough, as we were driving to Java House yesterday (told you we enjoyed going there!) we came across the same guy, again frothing at the mouth - except this time he was sprawled across the middle of the busy main road, right in front of our car - this gave us considerably fewer choices! So we stopped the car in the middle of the road with our hazard warning lights on and Libby and I grabbed a leg and an arm each and carried him to the side of the road. When he started choking, we rolled him on to his side. We still had no clue what to do, but fortunately (or otherwise) our friends were driving past in the other direction, and stopped. Laura is a pilot with MAF and one of these 'capable' people. So while I moved the car out of the road, a posse of people carried the guy to the other side of the road and Laura came out with her First Aid kit and surgical gloves and helped clean him up. They then said they would take him to the doctors.

It turns out that the guy (called Jeff - or maybe Geoff) is an epileptic who had run out of his medication a few weeks ago. Although he had a prescription for more, because the medication is free the hospital had no supply. So Mike and Laura paid for three month's prescription for him, and prayed with him. Apparently he is a street hawker who lives in the slums, but as he has no license the police had taken everything.

We feel a bit like God had given us a second chance to do the right thing :) Or maybe he just let us see him the first time, so we would be more likely to stop the second time. Given how most people drive round here, if it had been someone else driving past just at the time he started fitting the chances are he would have been squashed.

It wasn't until we were on our way again that it occurred to us that it could have looked rather bad to someone coming upon the scene - Western couple stopped in the road with a poor Kenyan guy lying on the ground. Then carrying him out of the middle of the road and bundling him into another car...

Anyway, interesting story.

(The cynic in me wonders whether he is really epileptic, or whether he has just found a clever way to make himself froth at the mouth and he has now sold the medication...but I will try to choose to be trusting, and hope we did a good deed).

International Day

Today was International day. There are 70 different Nationalities at Braeburn school and the children all had to dress up in their own or another National dress. 25 Classrooms were set up as different countries inlcuding Lebonan, Ivory Coast, Japan, Greece, Israel and so on. The children all had their own passports and had to travel round the world getting stamps from different countries.They got to dress up, do crafts, taste food and there was a big parade round the field, with each class representing a different country. Caleb's class did Italy, Bethany's Nigeria and Joshua's Aruba. Bethany said is was one of the best days of her life.I spent the day with Caleb's class which is why I have more photos of him.

Differences between living in Kenya and the UK

* I see a traffic accident almost everyday.

* Sometimes I see dead bodies lying by the side of the road.

* At major road junctions (actually at all road junctions) there is no system except ‘everybody go at once’. Some junctions have roundabouts and traffic lights which you would think helps. It doesn’t. The same rule still applies: every man for himself. The whole ‘stopping at red lights’ and ‘giving way to others’ hasn’t really reached here yet!

* In the UK, the filter on the kettle was used for filtering out scale; here it filters out ants. (Likewise, it is always wise to give the tap on our water filter a few 'taps'. You then get to watch the little army of ants run away round the outside of the filter!)

* Termites are eating our house from the inside out. We have little termite mounds inside the cupboards; this cannot be good.

* There are cockroaches inside most houses whether they are clean or not.

* Geckos live in every room of the house; some of these are quite large. Still, I find them quite friendly and they eat mosquitoes.

* Seeing a giraffe is about as exciting for us as seeing a squirrel in England.

* Equally, seeing a Maasai warrior is now as about as exciting as seeing a foreign exchange student.

* I never park my car on the side of the road. Whether at home, visiting a friend, at school, church or shopping my car is always parked in a secure compound with a guard and I still always lock it.

* I drive around with my car doors locked and my windows up nearly all the time, especially if I am in traffic.

* The weather is much nicer. Sorry people, but you do need some compensation for some of the above.

* All my immediate neighbours are Christians.

* I can buy two large pizzas from the take away on ‘Terrific Tuesdays’ for much less than I can make them and they are much nicer!!

* I have friends from all over the world and very few of them are English. I do like the English but that is just the way it has worked out. (Although I am a bit annoyed that England doesn’t really have a National Dress that I can use to dress my children in for International day tomorrow. Instead they will have to go as Maasai warriors and an American cowgirl).

Currently...

Currently reading:
Having an electronic book reader does really help with the supply of books, or it would if my husband hadn’t taken it to use for himself!!

Currently watching:
‘Flashpoint’ or whatever other series Daniel has managed to buy for almost nothing on e-bay.

Currently working on:
Possibly moving house. A house had come up on the other MAF compound which has a much bigger garden than here. In many ways it is my perfect house, an old Kenyan bungalow in the middle of a big garden. To most Europeans it is probably a house you would want to completely do up, rip out the kitchen and bathroom, re- paint, re-plaster, put new windows and new floors in and maybe a patio. For me I think it will be just fine, although I am not so keen on the rats. However there are very few cockroaches! We just have to wait and see if anyone else wants to move in too!

Currently praying about:
Whether or not to change church. We like the church we go to but it is quite large and far away, so we are wondering about going for a nearer smaller one.

Currently enjoying:
Well the kids are enjoying silly bands. Not sure if they have hit the UK yet or we are years behind. Anyway they are like rubber bands but coloured and shaped. I have no idea what you are supposed to do with them but all the kids have them and swap them with each other.

Currently not enjoying:
Traffic as usual. A guy on a bike hit my car the other day. I was a bit panicked at the time but as he seemed OK and didn’t fall off it was OK. These things can often work out to being your fault even if it wasn’t so it is a bit nerve racking. Last week the country ran out of fuel, so there were huge queues at all the petrol stations. This caused traffic chaos and on Tuesday people were getting home from work hours late. It took Daniel 2 and a half hours to drive home. I managed to get home from school by working the back routes. The fuel situation is still not clear and they have been rationing fuel at some petrol stations.

Currently longing for:
A home that is ours and that we can stay in for ever. Although Daniel says I would soon get itchy feet. A place to live that didn’t have such huge security issues. I guess God knows what he is doing and hopefully all of this is character building or something !!!

Currently working on projects:
How to feel settled and at home in a place where you feel the opposite.

Nairobi National Park

On Sunday afternoon we decided to go to the National Park. Nairobi is the only capital in the world that is bordered by a National Park, so you can see the sky line of the city from the Park.

Compared to other places we have been on safari it wasn't great but we still managed to see quite a few animals inlcuding rhino and crocodiles and of course the monkeys in the car. The best bit was at the end when the giraffe came right up to the car. The kids wanted to get out, but we weren't sure that was a great plan.