connie's profileNapenda Kenya - forever ...PhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
December 15 Homeless For The HolidaysBeing homeless and broke... a good combination of circumstances when you are in a foreign country BUT the Lord has been providing for every single need.
Michelle and I thought we had found an apartment. Close to a public transportation line so that Kibera is easily accessed. It’s a 1 bedroom flat not far from our last place… 1 bedroom because the cost of housing was not something we budgeted for, assuming we would be living with teams and rent would be much cheaper in a larger group. But with 2 of us, we have to be a bit more frugal.
It has been very difficult with the money situation after the IRS rejected my paper work for round two. Especially because when you move in Nairobi, they make you pay 3 months’ rent up front as well as fees for turning on electric. I’ve had to borrow a bit but was able to pay that back and money has been showing up in my personal account before it is needed. God’s timing is always perfect and incredible. Every time it seems I have to make a large payment and the account is running low… somehow it is replenished and all is well. Thank you Lord!!
So this apartment… It’s nice but the previous tenants apparently still owe money so some of their furniture is being held for ransom. They were supposed to re-paint, clean and make any repairs on the 10th of December so that the apartment would be ready for Michelle and me to move in today. However, upon inspection (window peeking) yesterday, the place hasn’t been touched since the beginning of December when we saw it last. Frustrating. So today we are going to follow up and pray that we can be moved in before Christmas.
We are staying with our friends Liz and Steve and they are incredibly gracious to let us stay for so long. The only problem is their home is an hour drive in traffic from Kibera. Makes arranging things on the other side of town a bit of a challenge.
We can’t wait to move in though. I hope that it all works out because places that are cheap enough are very hard to come by… even when sharing a bedroom we are looking at double my projected budget for rent. Insanity.
Please pray for our housing situation. We need it. The Team Is GoneThe Real Life team flew home on September 6.
After a few days of debrief at a quirky guest house in Naivasha, complete with 2 bedrooms in the form of hollowed out VW mini-buses and ceilings made of egg cartons, we brought them back to Nairobi to sleep at the Alpha office, re-pack and fly home the following evening.
It didn’t really hit me till I saw that van pull out of the driveway but they are gone home now. And I’m sure they are now settled and deciding what to do with all that they’ve seen, heard and experienced. Trouble With The LawA fun fact about Kenya, one I wish was not true… If you are white, people will often try to get money out of you for any reason they can think of. This has happened to us too many times to count in the last three months and seems to be a growing trend with police officers and authority figures alike.
Theft has almost become an art form and although it is not a crime specifically victimizing foreigners – I have many friends here who have been robbed – we do become an easy target because for the most part, we are ignorant to Kenyan laws.
Some things we have been harassed about and subsequently fake fined for are:
-parking, parking and more parking
-locations for open airs
-simply walking around
-standing in front of a bank
-using water at a gas station
-using a public restroom at a mall
-bringing a camera into a park
This last one was actually a memorable experience, one I will never forget because it almost got us arrested.
Yes, I said arrested but before you worry, everything turned out alright and it was definitely a learning experience…
Michelle and I were able to get back to Nairobi while the team was still in Eburru. We arranged with a friend of ours, the leader of Alpha Kenya, to help us find a place while we were away. So we headed to the city to see some places for ourselves.
We got to town on a Monday and decided to take it easy that day and meet some friends in the Arboretum to catch up and just relax. As Michelle and I walked in, carrying all our luggage for the next few days, the guard saw Michelle’s camera bag and told her that she had to pay 2000 shillings ($30) to take pictures in the park. This was odd because not only had we taken photos in the park a few weeks before but pretty much everyone goes there with cameras. Regardless, Michelle told the lady that we would not be taking photos and she could even check the camera on the way out. We headed in.
It was almost closing time when we were packing up to leave when my friend saw the camera and wanted to take a few photos. He was told not to but insisted that he always takes photos in the Arboretum so some photos were taken… well, less than 5 minutes later; here come the two guards around the corner looking under-impressed.
At first I didn’t really know what was happening but we ended back at the office and before I know it they are saying we need to go to the police station to make a statement because someone from the State House, which happens to be right next store, complained that someone was taking pictures of it which is against the law. The photos indicated that that was indeed false but the guards insisted that we had to go to the police station.
Another problem… not only was it getting dark but I had no identification on me. Ironically, since my wallet was stolen I’ve been so over protective of my passport that I don’t want to carry it around and I have no other ID. This would mean that I would have to spend time in jail till I could verify that I am in the country legally etc.
This was not an option, of course and so our friends were going to bat for us… because well, there’s the whole language barrier as well as they are Kenyan and know how to deal with this kind of thing better than we do.
They highly suspected that the whole State House story was made up and that the guards were stalling on the paper work because they had something else in mind; money. We were at the office for over an hour before a deal was finally made. I’m not proud that we paid a bribe, but with the alternative being a night in jail, I’m thankful that we got out of there before nightfall.
So that was our run-in with the law, that turned out to be incredibly educational because it was not the first or the last time that we were scared into thinking we were in trouble with no way out but payment.
We now know that all you have to do is scare them right back, let them know that you know they are full of crap and have no power… My first instinct is always to be intimidated though, especially being female in this country, so it’s a work in progress. Eburru - Too Much of a Good ThingWe had to leave the house which meant we had to leave the city a week earlier than planned. Our destination; Eburru: a tiny town hidden in the great rift valley about an hour from Naivasha up the mountain. The town is so small that most Kenyans don’t even know about it.
There is a small medical station that has 5 round huts for visitors, I’ve stayed up there twice before on my previous trip. The difference between those times and this one is that I’d never stayed for a duration longer than 3 days. We were scheduled to be there for 3 weeks!
Now, I know there are a lot of people that love being in the countryside, away from civilization, with nature, overlooking valleys and lakes with fresh air and gorgeous night skies that light up with shimmering constellations… I discovered that I’m not one of those people.
Don’t get me wrong, Eburru is lovely and there are lots of craters and caves to hike but three weeks of going to the washroom in a hole in the ground and not having running water or a way out or any kind of store to go to proved to be much more difficult for me than I imagined. The other problem was the fact that Michelle and I were homeless and being isolated on a mountain isn’t exactly the best method of house hunting.
So up we went. Ministry for the team looked like daily VBS, construction, helping in the clinic, church services and various other small relational ministry that some of them felt called to, such as helping in the gardens and entertaining the kids that came by.
It was a difficult time for me to be perfectly honest. The team was doing their thing and doing it well with what little direction they had. But most of the time we had no answers for them because we could not plan beyond the current day. Half my brain was still in Nairobi as well, thinking about all the things that I needed to accomplish that I couldn’t. But I got through it. I was able to spend loads of time with the Lord because there was nothing else to do. I spent a lot of time in prayer about all the changes and what He had in store for me for the new year. I’m excited. I’m ready to move on and I’m more than ready to make Nairobi home.
Finding a place to live, however, is more challenging than exciting.
Ministry TransformingThe AIM Kenya base is changing face and it all happened much to the surprise of nearly everyone involved.
The cost of everything has sky-rocketed in Nairobi; food, transportation and especially housing. Not having any staff in country for nearly a year forced AIM to choke down rent on more than one apartment that was waiting for our return. This all made finding a new team house in Nairobi a bit of a challenge.
In September someone had found us a rather big place that would house teams. With 9 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, a large common room and a huge front and back yard with a pool, it was more than accommodating.
However, upon arrival and moving in we discovered that the pool was only ceramic habitat for frogs, only 5 bedrooms were usable, there was no running water, the roof in every room leaked when it rained and it was a 30 minute walk from Kibera. On top of that, the owners of the house were only looking for tenants for a few months to help fund their plans for ripping it down and building a new structure in its place. They wanted us out by November.
So we were on the hunt for a new place. We found some affordable new apartments but they weren’t big enough. We found some places that were big enough but were too expensive. Time was running out and Nairobi housing was not giving us a break.
Almost overnight a solution was found and approved by the AIM US office. The team would move an hour away and stay in Naivasha. One of our contacts, Pastor Steve, is in the process of building his family a home. His wife is still committed to working for 2 more years at a hospital where they are living now, which means that the new home will have no tenants for 2 years. He offered the home for AIM teams and the offer was graciously accepted.
So now, all the Real Life teams from AIM will be staying and ministering in and around the Naivasha area, designating about one month of their time in Kibera. Their month in Kibera is dependent on finding furnished apartments for let as again, permanent housing in the city is not possible at present time.
I initially thought that I would have to move to Naivasha as well which didn’t sit well with me. However, God is SO good, and does not forget his promises, plans or the desires of his children. My calling was and is to Kibera and so He made a way for me. I talked to the US office about all the new plans and my decision was made to stay in Nairobi, not living with the teams but preparing ministry for them in the slums when they come.
I will be living with fellow AIM staffer Michelle, who works with the school in Kibera, and keeping in touch with contacts and building on relationships within the area. I will also have loads more time to work on video projects which is something most of you know that I am really excited about. Living with teams makes it nearly impossible to have any time for this kind of ministry so the fact that all of these changes have come to play really just floors me that the Lord is spoiling me in such ways. I will now be able to do what I had hoped to do; live in Nairobi, build relationships with people and tell their stories though media.
I’m smiling even now; we belong to an amazing creator who promises this to us:
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
-Psalm 37:4 |
|
|
