God is Faithful!

So much has happened during the last 2 weeks! There was thanksgiving, a wedding, travel, rain, and more.

I have finished all the documents needed to run the evaluation/testing of the LIMBS low-cost M1 Polycentric Prosthetic Knee. 5 locations have been selected to participate in the trial. Now, I just have to GET it running at these locations. Overseeing and ensuring the success and completion of this evaluation is one of the reasons I am here.

But on to more interesting things!

God has blessed me so much. The week of Thanksgiving (last week) was very busy. The internet being very unreliable as usual, Alex (the Head of the Orthopedic department at CURE-Kenya) and I decided to purchased an unlimited week of internet.   He needed to make a Skype call on Tuesday and I needed to use Skype Wednesday (or so I thought) and Thursday evenings, so getting unlimited data for the week made sense. As it turned out the meeting I thought I needed Skype for on Wednesday was cancelled because of Thanksgiving. (Duh, I know, but the thought that it was the day before Thanksgiving never even crossed my mind!) Instead, I got to talk to a friend of mine in Korea.

Since Thanksgiving is an American Holiday, it is not celebrated in Kenya. This means business as usual. However, for me, it was not business as usual. I had the opportunity to join the CURE team for my first mobile clinic experience. We had to leave by 6am to get to the clinic site in Nakuru, about 2 hours away. I overslept, but everyone was gracious and picked me up on the way out. (They pass my road on the way to the Highway) This was not just an experience trip for me though, I had business to conduct with the head Orthopedic Technologist at the hospital in Nakuru. This hospital is going to be one of the testing centers of the LIMBS knee and I needed to discuss the details with him. Meeting with the head of a department (HOD) can be a challenge, especially during a clinic day, so I helped my co-worker (a Orthopedic Technologist) from CURE in the clinic. Mostly by handing him wet Plaster of Paris bandages and recording patient details. During mobile clinics, the rehab department and the orthopedic department work together. The rehab department mostly removes and reapplies casts and the Ortho department fits orthoses and measure patients for new ones. However, when there are an overwhelming number of patients waiting for measurement, the rehab department steps in to help. It was really encouraging to see everyone works together so well!

Anyway, back to my meeting with the HOD. The meeting went well and I am hoping to get the evaluation/testing started soon. Praise the Lord!

We (the CURE team and I ) got back late (8 pm-ish) from Nakuru. Overall, it was a good trip!

Then I got to get on Skype and SEE my family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was the highlight of my day/night! For those of you who don't know, Skype has a video feature that enables the caller and recipient to see each other. Therefore I got to "attend" Thanksgiving lunch with my Mom's side of the family (10pm my time)and "visit" after Thanksgiving Supper with my Dad's side of the family (5am my time). =)  I slept between visits. It was wonderful to actually see all my extended relatives even if i wasn't able to be there in person. My great-uncle even tried to offer me so food through the computer!

AND SINCE I WAS ALREADY AWAKE, I went Black Friday shopping online! hehe! I have never been Black Friday shopping before, but being up while normal Americans are asleep has its advantages. Amazon.com had some really great deals if you could catch them. What fun! So what if I was exhausted when I got to work, at least until I drank some coffee. (Yeah, you heard right, I drank some instant coffee diluted with chai for milk. I was wired after that!)

I took half a day off on Friday to celebrate Thanksgiving with some other American ex-pats. We had turkey, potato gunk (cubed scalloped potatoes), green beans, rolls, cornbread (made with maizemeal), and pickled mango (a substitution for cranberry sauce). Yumm!

For dessert there was cheesecake topped with Mangoes and Mango-Rhubarb crisp! Both were absolutely delicious!!

 This past Saturday I got to attend a Kenyan Catholic Wedding. It was bittersweet. On the one hand, it was an interesting experience and the bride was gorgeous! On the other hand, my friend joined the Catholic church. This saddened me because there is so much in the Catholic church that I disagree with and I thought she believed the same way. =(  Its in God's hands now!

The ceremony was long and beautiful. Most of the service was in Swahili, so I understood only a little of what was said. The preacher gave a charge to the bride, the groom, the groom's parents, and the bride's parents. The whole service was about three hours. I was one of 5 white people at the wedding. My friend, Nancy, works at Moffat Bible College which is mostly taught by foreigners (ie. white people). Therefore, I was not the only American in attendance. 

It rained off and on during the outdoor reception. We were served a full meal of traditional Kikuyu foods. Most of it was good. I'm not sure how this happened, but I got seated in an honored seat where they brought us food instead of us standing in line to get it.When the bridal party arrived, all the women went out to meet the bride and dance back to where the rest of the guests were. 

There were some speeches (in Swahili), then presentation of gifts, and finally they cut the cake.

Some of the gifts

Cutting the cake

One thing that is done differently in Kenya than in the US is how they serve the cake. In Kenya, the pieces of cake put in a baskets and the guests take one bite-sized piece of cake as the brides maids bring around the baskets. The special guests are fed their pieces by the bride and groom.

Basket that used to contain pieces of cake

Feeding the marriage counselor . I love Moses' (the groom) face!

In other news, I has been raining  here in Kijabe every day for the last week and a half! Some have said they have never seen a greener November. This has been great for the gardens and nature, however, sometimes its not so good for me! I am a klutz and therefore find every chance to fall in the mud. My shoes WERE silver/gray at some point, now they are a bronze/brown color. Also, perpetual rain means no drying clothes. My clothes had to be re-washed last Saturday because they were starting to smell of mildew. But PRAISE THE LORD! Today has been sunny, so I will have dry, clean clothes again! (OR NOT. It just started raining again!)

Also, there is a chance I may be able to come to the US for Christmas! My aunt is playing travel agent. We'll see how everything goes. 

I have really been blessed to have such a wonderful prayer and support team! Everyone of you make a difference to me!

Praises:

• I got to see my family for Thanksgiving. Praise that the internet worked here AND there. Praise that I did not break down upon seeing everyone. 
• We have rain. Kenya has been going through a severe drought, so the rain is a blessing. 
•  I found my small Bible. It had been missing. Apparently, I left it at the church during the choir competition. 
•  No more uninvited guests!
• I have a wonderful, loving family and support team (both financial and prayer)
• I have my health
• I have cooking gas

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for Trevor. He is a 4 year-old boy in the CURE Hospital ward right now. I first met him in Nakuru during the mobile clinic. He came to have his casted leg (he had surgery at CURE November 9th)  checked out by the doctors because it was causing him pain. It turns out there was a major infection INSIDE the wound. His Mother was told to bring him to Kijabe so they could clean it out. (Pus was continually oozing out of the opening in the skin after the initial spurt upon removing the cast HE was screaming bloody murder.) According to another person at the hospital, this is not the first time this wound has been infected. Please pray that he will make a full and rapid recovery! He has been in so much pain already. 
• God's Will be done in regards to my Christmas holiday.
• The evaluation will start running smoothly and that I can (with God's help) get it running in all the clinics before December 16th. (when CURE closes and many people all over the country begin travel for the holidays)
• Nancy. That she will look into what the Catholic Church really believes and if she really believes that as well. Prayer that God's Will be done. 
• There is a natural gas (or whatever is used to cook here) shortage in Kenya. Please pray that this gets resolved quickly.  
• Please pray that my ankle heals completely.
• Good nights sleep
• Reliable internet
• Patience under pressure!

Internet!

The wireless internet is back down and so are SafariCom modems. Meaning no internet for me! Thankfully, one of my coworkers is letting me borrow his. I put airtime/data on it this morning. And although I was encouraged to get a safaricom modem when I got here instead of an orange modem because no one thought the Orange modem would work at my house, the Orange modem actually gets better reception at my house than it does in the department building. What a blessing from God! Therefore, I am considering buying one for myself. I intend to wait a few more days to see if SafariCom comes back, I don't want this to just be an impulse buy because I'm fed-up with SafariCom. An Orange Modem costs about $20, which is not real cheap for Kenya.

Okay, so for clarification: SafariCom and Orange are two major mobile/internet providers here in Kenya. The third is YU Mobile. I think I am going to start using them for international calls because they charge around a third of what Orange and SafariCom charge.

Anyway, please pray that the internet starts working again. Orange is more expensive per MB than SafariCom, but at least it works.

Hope all of you are doing well! Good Night!

I found my tablespoon!

Just wanted to let everyone know! The rat hadn't stolen it after all. I fell behind the trash bag.

Long overdue update!

So much has happened since my last update and yet so little. I’m settled into life in Kijabe. Everything mentioned in this post happened in the last two weeks. 

I joined the praise and worship team for the English service at church. This is exciting for me, because, as many of you know I love to sing. I was finally able to meet with the LIMBS Committee for a group meeting to discuss the LIMBS M1 polycentric knee assessment. The meeting went fairly well, but I was left with a lot of paperwork to do. The committee secretary was not at the meeting so Alex and I had to take notes and then I had to compile them into meeting of the meeting to send out to the rest of the committee members; definitely a new challenge for me.

This week I have been developing at least 5 different new forms necessary for the assessment. To add to an already busy week, relations between APDK (a Kenyan Disabilities Organization) and AIC-CURE (where I’m based) have become strained over the politics of another project. Certain members of APDK leadership have the attitude of it’s my way or the highway. Thankfully, these gentlemen were not at the assessment discussion meeting or things may have gone very differently. This strained relationship could make getting my assessment running much more difficult as APDK is one of the partners in the committee and also one of the testing centers. Your prayers are appreciated!

I HAD a smart pack rat in my house. He stole my toothbrush and I’m pretty sure he stole my tablespoon measure as well. I found my toothbrush chewed to pieces the other day in his nest. I have not found the tablespoon! I’ve had a trap out all week trying to catch him. The first night, the trap caught him on the nose (I’m assuming) because I heard his screams. However, when I went to the trap the next morning, he had gotten the bait off the trap and tried to eat some of it and escaped. There was blood droplets on the floor and meat bait, so I know it got him somewhere on the face near the mouth. I tried re-baiting the trap in the same place, but he never cam back to that area. Once I found his nest, I tried setting the trap there, but the only evidence I had that he had even gone into the nest was that he PEED ON THE TRAP! The little boogger! Last, but not least, I put the trap on the counter where I saw him running back and forth. I baited the trap with butter this time since that was what had been on the spoon when it disappeared. The first night I didn’t set the trap sensitive enough and the rat ate the butter without setting off the trap. Okay so now I know he likes butter! I re-baited the trap yesterday and set it much more sensitively. Last night, when I came home from work, I found a sprung trap with a DEAD rat inside!!! Ok maybe I shouldn’t be excited at the death of a small animal. He was about twice the size that I thought he was. I guess that is better than half, which would mean I had blown it out of proportion. I wouldn’t have minded having him around if I could be sure that he was disease-free and he would stop stealing my stuff. Yea, call me weird. I guess I am craving animal company. I am glad I was able to avoid using poison because animals go through the place where I am supposed to dispose of my trash and I would not want to kill anyone’s pet and some pest control cat. The poison they have here is VERY strong and could kill any animal that ate another animal killed with the poison. Plus, the last thing I need is another rat crawling off into some hidden corner to die and stinking up the house. (For the story of the first dead rat found in my dwelling, talk to my Mom or Stephanie Korth and they can tell you about the one they found in my house)

Dead rat. The handle in the picture belongs to a long fillet knife.

I killed the chicken shown in my last post. I found out only after we slaughtered it that it was a hen, not a rooster. Oh well! Some nursing students passing by helped me cut off its head and prepare it for cooking. I had boiling water ready to dunk the chicken in to pull out the feathers and one of the nursing students showed me how to gut and cut up the chicken Kenyan style. What has not already been eaten of the chicken is in my freezer a-waiting cooking as needed.

Due to the recent security threat here in Kenya, plane tickets have almost doubled in price. Therefore, I will be spending the holidays in Kenya. I knew this was a possibility when I left so I packed accordingly. But its still sad. I miss my family and long to see them even if its just over Skype.

The wireless internet has been down for the last week. (Another reason I have not updated) It finally came back on this morning. I have been using a USB Internet modem, but it costs about 1 Kenyan Shilling a Mb so I have to be careful how much I use it.

I have been experiencing some pretty heavy spiritual warfare and definitely need prayer. It is getting harder and harder to get up in the morning and get to work on time. Then there was the rat situation. Also, I have been getting frustrated during department devotions because the group won’t answer a question simply and move on, instead they discuss the issue at length. For example, the question was “According to the verse [Romans 6:23], what is the payment of sin?” , instead of answering death, they philosophize about if all sin really leads to death. And now, there is the politically charged issue between CURE and APDK. 

Yes, I’m feeling a bit frustrated and overwhelmed.

On a happier note, I have hired one of the young ladies (sisters) that befriended me and have been asking me for money on a regular basis, to help me clean my house once a week. This is a good solution for both of us. I get my house cleaned and don’t feel like I am promoting perpetual begging, and she gets a regular income to help care for her family and pay school fees. Her name is Rose and she is the youngest but one of 6 children. Her youngest sister is around 8-10 years younger than she. The oldest three are in high school and a fourth (Salome) will start in January. In Kenya, school is only provided for “free” through the 8^th grade after that you have to pay. So in essence, her family will be like one with four children in college in the States, except there are no student loans. Anyway, this arrangement works well for the both of us. 

Rose and Salome came over on Sunday afternoon to hang out. They found my camera and enjoy taking pictures of me and each other. Below are some of those pictures.

Me with my frog given to me by Grandma Jan

Rose (wearing my sunglasses) on the stairs leading to my bedroom

Me working on Christmas presents.

Salome

Prayer Requests

• My ankle should have healed by now, but instead its acting up and giving me more problems. I am back to wearing the brace I wore when I first sprained it, which is helping. I also found out that I am allergic to the soft brace I was wearing. Please pray for healing of my ankle.
• I get all the assessment forms completed and approved and that the assessment gets started on time. Target date is the first of December. Philippians 4:13!
• The internet stays on.
• Energy in the mornings.
• The political situation between CURE and APDK resolves itself.
• Good sleep at night.
• A solid walk with the LORD
• There is a natural gas (or whatever is used to cook here) shortage in Kenya. Please pray that this gets resolved quickly.
• That I get my job right. I am still learning what is expected of me from LIMBS International. Please pray that the organization will have patience as I make mistakes and learn just what I need to do when I meet a LIMBS patient.
• My support checks are not reliably making it to the LIMBS office. This month none of my support checks made it!  I have enough saved up for the month. But this is the second time a check has not made it to LIMBS, I am sure this is spiritual warfare plain and simple. Please pray that next month’s support comes in.

Praises

• God is in control. Since the initial grenade attacks in Nairobi by some Al-Shabob wannabe, there have been no more attacks on Kenyans. (The man responsible for the grenade attacks has been arrested and is awaiting trial)
• The rat is DEAD. Now to clean out his nest.
• God provides relief when you need it most. Just yesterday, God provided an excuse for me to leave the room right after a meeting so I didn’t get pulled into a heated discussion/grilling from someone at APDK. Its amazing how God works. He knew I would have a hard time keeping me mouth shut and not expressing my opinion so He provide me a way of escape.
• I have gas, water, and power. I got the last gas cylinder available in Moffat Bible College (the college that owns the guest house where I’m staying).
• I got to hear from my Mother the other day. It meant the world to me. I need encouragement especially now and a surprise call from Mom was just what I needed the other day.
• God has given me travel mercies thus far in my trips to and from Nairobi.

I really appreciate getting emails from each of you! They bring me a lot of comfort.