Elizabeth has a Chicken!

 

          This weekend I went to a pre-wedding event. This event is part of the Kenyan wedding process intended to raise money for the wedding. It started on Kenyan time (2 hours late). There was cake and soda served before the fundraising began. The fundraising consisted of selling handkerchiefs and guest badges, a time to come greet the bride and groom and drop money in a bag, an auction, and a raffle. The main events were the auction and the raffle. The auction was run much differently than those in the US. When you bid, you give the money right there and a running total is kept of how much each person has in their bid. Also, you can bid in other people’s name, i.e. “I bid 200 shillings in X’s name”. 

This method causes a lot more money to be raised. Items auctioned included everything from non-alcoholic wine to fruits and vegetables to live chickens. The chickens were one of the first items auctioned off. People started bidding on the large rooster in my name, I contributed some just because it was to raise money for the wedding, but not much compared to others.  I ended up with the chicken. I must have turned 6 shades of red and purple during the bidding out of embarrassment and from laughing. So now I have a LIVE chicken living in the corner of my house waiting for slaughter. No, I am not naming it because that will only make it harder to slaughter later this week. I hope everyone understands. The prospect of slaughtering the chicken both excites and scares me. I have never slaughtered a chicken before and I’m kind of nervous about the whole thing.

            Anyway, back to the event, my chicken was the most sought after being the biggest so it raised a lot of money (probably close to 50 US Dollars). The other items went for less, mostly because it was getting late and the MC was trying to get through all the items for auction. I bought a bunch of raffle tickets (the tickets got cheaper as the event went on) and won an umbrella. Other items raffled off were a pair of slippers, a pair of sunglasses, a water pitcher, and several packages of handkerchiefs. As a whole the event was a lot of fun and I got to socialize with some of the grooms relatives. Oh, and I was the ONLY white person there! I feel very privileged to be part of these ceremonies and events. Nancy and Moses (the bride and groom) were very glad I was there. Apparently, having a white person there helps open people’s wallets because they assume the white person has money so the others spend more. Or something like that. I mean they also enjoyed me being there as a friend, don’t get me wrong.

            The event ended after dark so Nancy and I could not return to Kijabe that night. Instead, we stayed in Limuru with Moses at his house (separate rooms). This was quite an experience for me. Not only staying in simple basic housing with only a compound shared toilet (long drop pit), but also traveling with a live chicken and other groceries and at night.  Don’t worry, I was perfectly safe as I was with two native Kenyans. On a side note, sterilized water tastes weird! While the water here in Kijabe is clean, the water elsewhere is not; hence the need to sterilize the water. Anyway, I enjoyed spending time with Nancy and Moses and watching how in love the two of them are. Its sweet! ☺ They also gave me a Kikuyu name. I am now Elizabeth Wangeshi Flow, at least in Kenya.

In other news, I have joined the combined church choir for an area wide rally/competition among the AIC church congregations. Originally we met every Sunday and Friday, but last week we met at 5pm Monday, Tuesday and Friday and from 2-5pm on Sunday. The competition is next Sunday, so this week wee meet everyday this week and for 4 hours on Saturday. Long week!! However, I am glad to be a part of something so important to the fellow Kenyan members of the church. Also, this has allowed me to get to know more Kenyans in the church and built relationships with them, even if it is just to make them laugh at my attempts at directing/leading choir practice. (They assume that since I am white and can read music, I must be able to play the piano and direct the choir) ☺

Emotionally I have been doing fairly well, although after every high point comes exhaustion and sometimes a low.

My sleep has not been very restful either.

I am struggling to separate work and life. I want so much to meet the expectations of my boss and organization back in Texas.

Oh, please pray for the power and internet here at Cure. The Internet has been out all day and the power has been going on and off. The power has been pretty stable up to this point, so these frequent power blips are not common. Also, pray for the SafariCom network. It has not been working well the last few days, meaning I have a hard time reaching people by on their cell phones and my internet modem does not always work. Frustrating!

I am really enjoying being in Kenya. The landscape is beautiful. The people are mostly friendly. (Okay, so I’ve met a few beggars in Nairobi that where rather pushy and confrontational. No worries though, I always travel in Nairobi with a Kenyan companion who makes sure we stay safe. ) I love seeing lives changed for the better here at the hospital!

I now have my own dust/lab coat to wear around and a large tub to wash clothes in.

Prayer requests:

- I’m exhausted. Please pray for restful sleep at night.

- I am trying to schedule a meeting with 5 other organizations this week to discuss the Knee assessment 

   protocol. Please pray that this meeting happens and that it goes smoothly.

- Certain items are going missing. Please pray that I find them!

- That I will make the right decision about what to do for Christmas.

- Chicken preparation

Praises:

-          I found the flashlight I thought I’d lost.

-          I have good neighbors.

-          I am connecting with people here in Kijabe.

-          God has given me health

-          I see God answer prayers on a daily basis. It’s Awesome!

-          Got the power point slides put together and sent to my team member back in the States

PS. I have awesome news! Lydia (an amputee who came to the lab to be evaluated for a prothesis) came to know the LORD today!! I am always super excited when someone makes a decision to follow Christ and give their life to Him!!! =) =) =)

Adventure is out there!

Okay so maybe I watched the movie "UP" last weekend! =)

Anyway, life has been busy. I am finally settling into a routine.  Things are picking up work wise. I go to Nairobi about once a week. 

I spent last Thursday in Embu meeting a 12 year-old patient, Jacob, being fitted with the LIMBS knee for the first time. He is very shy and dos not speak a lot of English. This was my first experience being on my own (without much of a translator) and interviewing someone whose language and culture were different than mine. After a lot of work and frustration on both sides I got most of the information I wanted to know and with the help of another adult (who wasn’t around earlier) I got a picture of me and Jacob and some video of him walking. Now to formulate a story for the home office.

This Saturday I went to Gatamaiyu, the hometown of my neighbor, Nancy, for her bride "sendoff". This is a special celebration and ceremony for her family and the people in the village announcing that Nancy is getting married. I felt honored to be there. I was the only mazungu (white person) there.

           

The celebration included a lot of meat eating (they called it goat but it was probably sheep).  There were other foods as well, such as, rice with carrots, Irio (mixture of beans, maize, potatoes, and pumpkin leaves), something made from black beans and bananas, and mixed vegetables. Lots of food! I found out Nancy is actually shy around large groups, so we stayed in the background until the actual ceremony. I stuck close to her as much as possible for 2 reasons:

1. I don’t speak Kikuyu
2. I didn’t know what was going to happen next and did not want to miss anything.

The AIC Church Nancy went to growing up

 As we walked to the village, Nancy pointed out different landmarks from her childhood. I enjoyed seeing the scenery and different places around the village. Once we got there, she introduced me to her grandmothers (her grandfather had two wives) and some other immediate and extended relatives. She has a very large family.

Maize husks for the cows

Nancy's step sister

 She showed me where her grandmother lives and also where her grandfather’s other wife lives. Each wife has her own house and kitchen. Most of her family live on the same compound. Each family is separated by a low hedge. Her grandfather’s two wives are in one area, the next area is where her father and his family live, then the farthest area is where her father’s brother and his family lives.

Nancy's Grandfather's other Wife's house and kitchen

Nancy's Grandmother's house and kitchen

Nancy and Joanne in the doorway of their grandmother's house

One interesting thing about Kikuyu culture is that once a boy finishes primary school (8^th grade) he is considered a man and moves out of his father’s house. His father makes him a “cube” (basically a small house) to live in until the son finishes secondary school and makes enough to build his own house. His mother still cooks for him until he has a wife. The cube is passed down from brother to brother as each gets married. Currently, Nancy’s youngest brother, Dan, lives in this “cube”.

The "cube" can be seen in the background

Nancy (left) peeks out the door as Moses and his family arrive

Moses and his family arrived late. Once they arrived, his family all went into Nancy’s Father’s house to eat a special piece of meat. I don’t know what this was because I was not in the house. The ceremony began soon after.

  

The ceremony:

            Nancy was called from her father’s compound area to the mic and then I think she was asked to get her fiancé. (I’m not sure but she went over and got Moses from where he was sitting with his family.) Then there was a speech by the MC, then by Nancy, and last by Moses. After the speeches, Nancy went back and sat with Moses and greeted all of his family.  There was another speech by the MC, then Moses got back up and told everyone when and where the wedding would be. Nancy’s uncle (also my neighbor) got up and prayed to close the ceremony.

Nancy coming forward

"Choosing" Moses

The special meat presented by Nancy's "uncle"

  












  After the ceremony, I was privileged to witness another ritual between Nancy and Moses. One of Nancy's "uncles" presented them with a special piece of meat which they both cut up and ate.

Nancy with the chopped up meat

Additional meat was then divided among the family as they were leaving. They even gave me a large chunk!

Since I have a digital camera, Nancy asked me to take pictures. Poor thing. When someone asks me to take lots of pictures of an event I do, over 150 pictures in fact. What I think she enjoyed most though was that I was able to record most of the ceremony between her and Moses.

The whole event was an enjoyable and educational experience. I ate a lot of meat and also found out certain parts of the meat that I don’t like. Mainly, anything with large amounts of cooked sheep blood, these are apparently delicacies for the Kikuyu, but not for me.

Anyway, those are my main adventures recently. Day to day life is more mundane, yet challenging. I am not much of a writer or videographer, yet in the last week I’ve been both. I now have to figure out how to edit and cut video.

Also, the annual LIMBS International board meeting is coming up and I have to prepare slides for it. I am not presenting them but I still need to put them together for whichever teammate does. Please pray I do a good job. They are due by Wednesday.