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So we have arrived in Nairobi. Our trip started out with much adventure as a storm in Chicago cancelled our first flight out of Indy. After a 3 hour bus ride through the Hoosier state we got to O'Hare International (actually earlier than our plane would have). Checking bags was a very new experience for me, as I was designated team coordinator for the trip. As most of you know my previous two experiences traveling have been solo and checking 44 bags (and 23 people) is much more complicated than 1 and 1. All is well except for 6 lost bags.
Enough luggage stories, their a dime a dozen. We had a 9 hour layover in London, so our team took the opportunity to ride the tube to Piccadilly Circus and see Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster and the like. It was fantastic especially since it was my first time to England (more on country counts later).
But this trip is neither about traveling nor England, but about Nairobi and the slums and the people here. So let's get to it. The poverty is indescribable, but I can only express it as shocking almost to the point of numbing. We walked through a part of the Mathari slum on Thurs and the smell, sights, and sounds broke my heart. 'Whatever you have done for the least of these...' The people there truly are the least of these. Here is a meager description: Imagine the smell of a water treatment plant in your neighborhood 24 hours a day. Imagine your house is directly attached to thousands of others forming an intricate maze where some ally ways are only one person wide. Imagine that your address is a toilet which you share with 500 other families. Imagine that your water source is a trickling stream which also serves as a toilet, trash can, kitchen sink, etc... Malnutrition, intestinal worms, skin diseases, malaria, and AIDS (possibly 1/2 the people in the slums) run rampant throughout the community.
Here's a story: I will be spending most of my time working in the clinic which serves the schools of the Mathari slums. On my first full day Friday I played doctor and helped diagnose and treat countless cases of coughs and colds in addition to giving anti-worm treatment to the nursery kids. We had one lady come in from the community with her 6 month old baby. Imagine Will at 6 months and then imagine Yuri at birth. This child was so malnurished that it was no larger than Yuri at birth. What is worse is that the mother had not taken an food that morning, so what was this suckling infant going to eat? How do you help? Where do you start?
Sorry that this first report is such a downer, but I must describe the reality of the situation and in truth I've probably done a poor job. It's probably much more dire. That said, the missionaries and schools here are doing a great work and I hope to report on them in the future. I feel like I'm home here in Kenya. It has been my dream to come to Africa and I believe it may turn into a calling (although India will always have a piece of my heart). Please continue to pray and pray specifically for the people, for God's work, and for me to continue to be receptive to the lessons he is teaching me. Thank you all for your support. I hope all is well wherever you may be.
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Rodney
non-member comment
great to know it's begun
Great to hear an update, Brett. We were really disappointed not to get ahold of you before Wednesday. I called Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but no answer. A fantastic account of the mission. Fantastic in the sense of the image you created for us. Not fantastic for the situation in Nairobi. I look forward to hearing more, especially efforts to improve these situations. Imagine if Obama grew up in Kenya instead of Chicago...