The answers to your Questions

Well lovely people, my journey and time in Kenya has come to an end.

Thank you all for your love and support, for reading these blog posts, praying for me, letting me know that you are backing me.
I plan on doing a final reflection blog post soon, but until then…. Here are the answers to some of the questions I was asked about my experiences:

Q: Since arriving, what was the first traditional food you ate? what was the first comfort food you ate? what food do you miss the most?

A: I think the first traditional food I ate was a chapatti (which is like a flat tortilla). The first comfort food was licorice J and the food I missed the most … apples.

Q: Is Kurgunu more of a nomadic area? People pass through versus settle down? How tall are the people there?

A: The people are more nomadic in the sense of their animals – some will travel with their livestock 40km in order to find good grazing and water.

The interaction I’ve had to discover is that the women are quite short and have limbs (I soon discovered that a common bracelet that many of the people where will not fit over my palm). The men are about average around 5’10/11 and usually are more slender. However, it’s common that both male and female are slender, in contrast to what I’ve seen in the city.

Going for a walk in the Luga 

Q: How far away to the nearest coffee shop? Who are you staying with? What does your typical day look like?

A: Umm… well the closest grocery store is 8.5 hours away and so is the nearest coffee shop. The family I’m staying with Callaghan’s and Swanepoel’s tend to grind their own coffee beans.

The description of a typical day does not exist, since there are no typical days. A day can range from anything like doing school with the girls, preparing lunch, having rest time, doing an activity with the children, helping with bath-time, and serving supper and then putting the kids to bed or making a trip out to help install internet service at another missionary’s station 3 hours away or building chicken coops or … well anything really. 

Showing the Children their photo

Q: What words have you learned in their language? What has been your best moment with Jesus?

A: The words I’ve learned are actually hard to write because firstly, I don’t know the spelling, and I really don’t know the English translation of the words because I’ve learned the typical response of a greeting, rather than a direct translation. Haha, also, The family I was primarily staying with speaks Afrikans, the community language is Samburu, and the conversing language between the missionaries and local people is Ki-Swahili. So sometimes I have difficulty distinguishing.

One of my best moments with Jesus was being removed from the context of life and writing music. However, our routines before bed such as bath time and story reading has been one of my most treasured moments.

At Church

Q: What have you learned from their culture and traditions?

A: I have learned the beauty in their cultural dress and that even if their clothing is the same day-in-and-out, they take pride in presenting themselves with beauty. Another thing that I discovered, perhaps not really in the category of culture or tradition is how within the church the members would start singing with no instrumental lead-in and yet, it wasn’t a solo because everyone joined them (I have recorded some of the service, I’ll have to share their music with you).

Q: How bad are the bugs? What types of critters have you seen?

A: The bugs actually aren’t that bad, even despite taking anti-malaria pills they aren’t so apparent in Kurungu. However, there are wasps that tend to frequently fly around (they have long legs!), but don’t sting you – they are mainly busy looking for places to build their homes. Once you realize they’re not out to sting you, you hardly notice them.

Ngota Sinapo and I making Chapatis!

Q: Can everyone run really fast, or just the ones that go to the Olympics?

A: I have not had the opportunity to foot-race a Kenyan, but if you put me in the context of foot-racing in the terrain of Kurungu, they could walk and beat me (so many thorns).

Q: How was Korr different than Kurungu?

A: The climate in Korr is way hotter and windier. Yet, the major difference that I noticed was the level of interaction. The Rendille people in Korr tend to find you and if they have a question ask it to you directly. Whereas, the Samburu in Kurungu would not seek you out for company and tend to beat-around the bush, wanting something from you, but then would end the conversation without even asking for it. 

All I can think of for a conclusion to this post is --> a smile :)
So much was learned and so much will be remembered.


* p.s. these photos were taken by Grant Swanepoel