Visiting America is always a joyful time. It is a joy taking a hot shower any time of day. This is not the case here at my home in Kenya. My shower has one knob and it is always a surprise to what temperature of water will come out when turning that knob. There are really only two variables: freezing or scalding. Therefore, it is advisable to have a back up basin full of hot water. If it is freezing water shooting, sputtering or dripping from the shower head, just add to hot water to basin. If it is scalding water, just add cold water to basin. Inevitably you end up just taking a bucket bath. The water coming out of the head really only acts as a ploy trying to make you believe you had ... read more

It is 4 a.m. and I am having a lack of dreams…and sleep for that matter. What better time to sit and write. The noises of the city have disappeared for a few short hours and even the neighborhood dogs and chickens, which otherwise are very vocal, are sleeping undisturbed. The last two weeks have been packed with adventure, some of it good, some of it not so good. One of the not so good times was coming upon a road accident involving three vehicles. It happened on Ngong Road which has sections that as you drive the holes jar the nuts and bolts of your car and your body. As you hold the steering wheel you begin to think that if your arms weren’t fixed tightly to their joints that they would shimmy right out ... read more

Music blared from some of the makeshift stalls that serve as “stores” adding to the chaos of massive amounts of people passing each other, wares hanging from the windows, trash thrown carelessly about, and a stench wafting in from the toilets that serve the slum dwellers of Fuata Nyayo, South B. As we walked the black sludge alleyways that weave like a maze through the heart of the slum I honestly wondered why some people are forced to live in an area the disease infested rats call home. The smell of the sewage that is dropped directly into the Ngong river that cuts through the area was almost overwhelming at times. It is an assault on all ones senses and is a cumbersome weight that threatens to crush all hope of a better existence. Most of ... read more

With a sigh of relief the diligent Kenyan farmers look to the gray clouds looming overhead. Each drop of rain that falls to the ground bursts into a drop of hope that the soil may be saturated and the crops just may have a chance. People are hungry because the rains are late in coming and the crops are struggling. For some, rain is the determining factor as to whether the family will go to bed with satisfied bellies or gnawing hunger pains. So we all say, “Let it Rain!” It has not only been raining outside but the blessings have been raining down on our hearts and homes. Due to generous people back home some funding has come in to help feed the 200 children of Spring Valley. A Bible study has provided a cow ... read more

I arrived back to Kenya just a few short weeks ago with joy and a sigh of relief. Due to political problems and a few other events I was gone longer than expected. For two months the country was covered in the red of bloodshed, black of smoldering homes and a gray sorrow cast a shadow over their people as they watched their country untwine. Kenya is a bit more peaceful now that the leaders signed an agreement to work together. That helped everyone to breathe a sigh of relief. Thanks so much to those who prayed for the county and for IAA during such a scary time! During the violence Christine, our on-site administrator, and two of our girls had to be whisked away by motorcycles after a very frightening ordeal. A couple of ... read more