Well, after some 72 hrs, four airplanes, a sleepless night in the Nairobi airport, and a long and bumpy ride in a Toyota, Brandon, Lily, and I arrived in Kakamega Kenya for the beginning of our internship. I’m not really sure what I expected Western Kenya to be like, but I’ve been consistently amazed by what I’ve encountered in my first few days here. The Kakamega area is one of the more densely populated places on the planet, and as you drive around there are people walking or biking everywhere. The countryside is covered by an endless series of small farms, so even when you are out of the towns there are people all along the roads. The roads are just as bad as everyone you’ve ever talked to who has been to Africa told you they were, and the drivers are absolutely just as crazy. As we drove along today, we would pass little crowds of small kids who would yell “how are you, how are you?” at the truck, or in some cases, just start screaming happily and waving.
Zach Masake, the head of WRCCS, took us to church this morning. Although the service was spoken in English, most of the songs were not. But the singing was beautiful (think Lady Black Mombasa but about Jesus), and it is always a joy to be reminded of the bigness of Christ’s church. This afternoon we went to Kakamega Forest, which is like one of those rainforest deals you read about in Encyclopedia Britannica, with eight trillion types of trees, six million types of birds, and seven varieties of monkeys (four of which we saw). As you can imagine, I was pretty giddy about the monkeys.
Yesterday I met my field supervisor, the staff of WRCCS, and my host family. As you might imagine, that made for a heck of a day. Everyone is great; my host family has been so gracious to me already, and my field supervisor, Patrick, seems like he will be both helpful and fun to work with. Today I saw the first of the groups that I will be researching, and I think I will dive in in full tomorrow. Please pray for the work that I'm doing; I am confident that I will learn a great deal on this trip, but I would also like to contribute something helpful to WRCCS before the end.
Grace and peace,
Michael
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7 comments:
Kakamega forest? Isn't that where they have those snakes that jump from trees? I'll be flying over you in about three weeks- need anything?
sounds like a blast...wish I were there...
Im envious of you gettin to see the neat forests and monkeys in the wild. The only rain forest I ever saw was in Belize and it had those cool huge trees with all the vines on them. Remember? Tell your host "mom" thanks for taking you in and being so kind. love ya madly, MOm
Mmm, monkeys. Glad you're settling in. Let us know how the "diving in" goes; my own research is starting a little more slowly.
The forest sounds incredible. You take pictures?
Was it an ambien-free 72 hours or did you and Brandon relive the memory? Hey, if you want to keep up with things at TRUE NORTH this summer we have a blog at www.truenorthsummer07.blogspot.com. Yes, you inspiired me.
i just want to make sure you dont get too happy over there, I want to keep you down enough to remind you of who you are.
Gee I thought Ethan was a bit more of an encourager. So sorry about your computer probs!!!! Where would be the closest repair place? Graduation is tommorrow --The leadership talk just won't be the same. probably will start with 'Webster defines ....." tee hee. love you much
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