Today was the first day where we did not have to work on the bridge. We had a couple of things we would have liked to get accomplished but, if they were not done, no problem (hacuna mutate). We had a leisurely morning. Mark, Mike and my Dad were headed into town to work in the fabrication shop. My Dad was cutting the wood that will be used as the bridge deck, while Mike was to help Ben with the bridge fabrication. Doug, Chris and I were to hang back at the training center and try to survey the new secondary school site for the architect in Sacramento. We also wanted to take a walk down to the log bridge. The log bridge is just that, a bridge across the (I can't remember the name) river that flows into the Kipkaren River that consists of a 24-inch diameter log that goes 80-feet from bank to bank. Every year several people die trying to cross the bridge when the water is high. This year twin boys were swept off the log and were found dead a couple miles down river.
Before Doug and I set out on the 30 minute walk to take some measurements and think of some ways in which a safer bridge could be constructed, we went over to the Children’s home to distribute the 30 or so pairs of soccer cleats we brought from the US for the kids. We also had some toothbrushes and other supplies. When we arrived Mr. Bushmai (sp) had the all boys who like to play soccer lined up outside. We went in, arranged the cleats by size, and had a couple kids come in at a time to find a pair that fit. For the kids that could not find their size we had t-shirts. I wish you could have seen the looks on the boy’s faces when they put the shoes on. They where looking at the bottoms of the shoes standing there staring at their feet. Once we distributed them all, they sprinted out to get a ball and try out their new stuff. We had a lot of smaller sizes too that fit the girls. Every year the kids from Kipkaren play against the kids from Ilula, the other ELI children’s home down near Eldoret. This year the Kipkaren boys lost, but the girls were triumphant against Ilula.
After we finished Doug and I headed out to the log bridge. We started walking down the dirt road from the training center, past the school and around the bend. We headed off the main road and onto a smaller trail. There are children everywhere around hear. They come out of the bushes and wave to you, their big smiles lighting up the sky. We pass homestead after homestead on our way. This area of Kenya has endless land divided up into small farms and homesteads. Dirt paths and small roads connect them all. Car traffic off the main road is non-existent. Everybody either walks or rides a bike. The bikes hear are all 1950’s era English commuters, and they are everywhere. There must be millions of them all the same style. The Kenyans have personalized them to their own taste with colored tape, fenders, and mud flaps. In the cities, they have made them into bicycle taxis called Bodo Bodo. They put a decorated pad on the rack over the rear wheel and the passenger travels by just jumping on and holding tight. Some have music so the passenger can relax while swerving in and out of the crazy traffic in the city. For mast people, if they don’t have a bike, they walk. To get to the main towns like Eldoret, you would walk to the main road, and jump in a Mutatu (Moo ta too), a small mini van/taxi. These things are everywhere, and they cram as many people in them as they can. It is not uncommon to see 20 people crammed into a 10 passenger van.
Anyway, Doug and I turn off the main road, down a small dirt path with chickens wandering about. Then take a right onto a smaller trail and head down to the river where we come to the log bridge. The water is low right now, so the log sits about ten feet above the water. It is 12-inches wide on one end and about 24-inches wide on the other. Last year Mica ran a cable across to aid people in crossing, but people still do fall off once the water gets too high and makes the log slippery. We took some pictures, sketched out the site and came up with some ideas about how to construct a replacement that would be safer. As we are sitting there a father comes walking across with two kids, 18-months and 7 years old. He crosses the bridge with the baby on his shoulders a bag of maze in one hand with his seven year old in the other. That site would freak out most western mothers. Another woman comes loaded with a couple of baskets on her head, and she slowly makes her way across. You have to remember, none of the Kenyans know how to swim, so if they go in, the will surly drown.
We made our way back and get picked up by Nelson, who is just happening to be traveling with the crane operator from Eldoret. We needed him to come down to the site to asses the situation and identify the most appropriate location for the crane to lift the bridge into place. This is a critical aspect of the construction, if he says he can’t do it, we will be scrambling to find a solution. We walk over to the other side of the bridge and we locate where we would need to place the crane. The operator says it looks good and that it should not be a problem, but if the rains come, we would need a bulldozer to get the crane out of the river bottom. Therefore, we need to pray for good weather in order for this thing to happen.
We head back to the training center and take a badly needed nap, the days have been very hot and we are all starting to get very tired, so the break in the work has been very welcome. After the nap, Doug and I head over to the site where the community is going to build a secondary school. We spend a couple of hours surveying the site and head back to camp. I scheduled a Skype call with Tracy and the boys for 6:30, so we had a couple of hours and we walked over to the Medical Clinic. ELI originally build the clinic about six or seven years ago and has been expanding it ever since. The have an HIV/Aids testing and education center, maternity and post partum care, chemist (Pharmacy), and they just added an eye doctor. They whole thing is very primitive compared to western standards, but it is very good considering the only other medical care is in Eldoret. Which is an hour and twenty minutes by car, assuming you have access to a car. While we were there we were given a private tour by Oscar and she (Yes Oscar is a woman) showed us around and too us to their newest building, which houses the home care office and some other rooms. That is where we met, Baby Michele. About two months before we arrived on of the local mothers was having trouble delivering and she dyed on the way to the clinic. The nurses were able to save the baby and now the staff is caring her for, before she is adopted by one of the families at the Children’s Home. They family waited to take her to the clinic because they didn’t have insurance. Do you know who much health insurance cost in Kenya? Six dollars. We were speaking to David, the Bishop of the area, and he was pleading that something needs to be done, that people should not be dying over six dollars. She lived on the other side of the bridge and her family had carry her over the old bridge before the ambulance (a 1980’s Toyota Land Cruiser with some benches in the back) could pick her up. Once the new bridge is constructed, the Ambulance will be able to drive across the bridge.
We say thank you to Oscar and head back so I can make my Skype appointment with Tracy. It is amazing what technology can do. Here I was in the middle of the back roads of Kenya video calling with Tracy and kids over a satellite connection free. Skype is awesome.
That night it rained very hard. The wind blew and it came down in buckets.
Saturday we headed into town to see the Children’s Home in Ilula, and visit with John Rono and his family. John is a freshman civil engineering student and Moi University and came to visit the US back in June. He stayed for 6 weeks and got to see tons of things in California. He visited a bunch of engineering firms and stayed for two weeks at the International House at UC Berkeley.
It was great to see John and visit with his family. He took us out to Moi University and showed us where he goes to school. Getting out to Moi U was interesting. The road out there had to be, by far the worst road I, or any body else on the team have been on in our lives. It is so bad that you don’t even drive on the road, most people just drive on the shoulder. The University was very sad. That is the thing about Kenya, everybody complains about how corrupt the government is, and the public facilities are run down dumps. Jon lives in a brand new dorm, completed last year and the place looks like it has been around for 50 years and nobody has been taking care of it. We walked down the hall, the faucet in the bathroom is broken, and water is flooding the hall. The flooring is coming up and there are broken windows. The place looks like a refugee camp. This is one of the largest Universities in Kenya.
We head out and make our way back to Eldoret where we have a date to have dinner and Soren and Brigetta Peterson’s house. Soren and Brigetta are from Holland and have been in Kenya for over 13 years. Soren runs a fabrication shop and he builds churches and other facilities for missionary groups and the churches in Kenya. They are an amazing couple and have quite the story to tell about how they got to where they are and how their faith in the Lord has led them to where they are today. This is not your ordinary couple by any means. Over the course of a couple of hours, Soren laid out their story. It is hard to put into words the incredible things they have been through, life and death, fighting the political establishment and putting their faith in God so many times when the end seemed near. Listening to them was truly inspiring. In 2006 they build 187 churches in Kenya. They have four Children, the two oldest go to boarding school in Nairobi.
We made our way back to Kipkaren got a good night sleep and woke up late. We went to Church on Sunday. The three-hour service was filled with wonderful singing, powerful prayer, and a great message from Debbie. It was a little embarrassing when the Bishop asked the bridge team to come up and sing a song. We were all looking at each other trying to think up something we all knew. Finally, we got Alman to lead us in Our God Is an Awesome God. It was perfect, one verse, over and over again. After the song, we told them we were better builders (Fundi) than singers.
Now we wait for Monday to come. The bridge will hopefully be taken out to the site on Tuesday, the four sections welded together on Wednesday and put into place on Thursday (Thanksgiving day). The community is very excited and they are planning a big celebration. We continue to pray that all the pieces will fall into place.
Thanks for reading.
God Bless.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The first week
Ok, where do I start.
Today was one of those days that makes you really think about who you are and what you are doing in this world. I know that what I saw today changed my perspective and will never leave my mind.
Last night on our flight from London to Nairobi Doug sat next to a woman named Helen who was returning from the UK. Her husband is a doctor and they have their fingers in all sorts of good stuff. They run a 24-hour a day medical clinic and a children’s school. But this is not just any ordinary school. This school is smack dab in the middle of one of the largest slums in Nairobi. Well, …. she invited us to come with her and see the work that her group has been doing.
To be honest, the thought of going into the slums scared the crap out of me. I have heard the stories of people going into the slums in Rio and never coming back. She shows up with a couple of her main counterparts, James and Davison. Then Ben, Doug, my Dad and I jump into their two late 80s Subaru wagons and head out into the streets of Nairobi.
First of all, riding as a passenger through the streets of Nairobi with a native is quite an experience. There are no laws, no lanes lines and the boundary between the oncoming lanes is just a suggestion. Passing on the left or the right is not a problem, and if you need to get out into a traffic circle, you just force your way. The taxis (mutatus) are these Toyota mini vans and they run them like busses picking up people along the way. There is a drive and a passenger handler, who leans out the window and tries to get you to jump in the cab as you walk by. Anyway…we jumped into the cars with Helen and head out. At first Doug told us that we were just going to go look at the clinic, but as we were going Helen mentioned that she was so excited, cause it had not been raining and we could go into the slums to see the school.
What? We ARE going into the slums? Ok, Lord I am trusting in you. We head down a major road in Nairobi and then turn and start down a small dirt one. There are people everywhere walking, riding bicycles, pushing carts and carrying babies. You glance over and there are two children no older than two sitting on the side of the road, there parents have to work, so they just leave them sitting there all day. Trash is everywhere and pools of stagnant water lay everywhere. We turn right and head into what is no wider than an alley, with street vendors lining both sides selling dried corn, shoes, produce. The vendors operate out of cardboard or corrugated metal building. All eyes are on us as we make our way up the road. First of all it can not even be called a road.
You see…… Helen and her Husband got four wheel drives in order to even be able to carry supplies back in. If the rains had come we would have been walking and as it was, we had to navigate huge mud holes, and deep ruts, while getting help form the hordes of people, chickens and kids walking next to us and past the car. We got stuck once and about 5 guys were shouting instructions to Helen as she tried to get us out of the hole. We pass a little shack where the entire community gets water from a small ½ inch pvc pipe coming up from who knows where. There approximately 300,000 people living in this slum. Think about that, two thirds of the population of Fresno living in tin shacks. Plus, this isn’t even the biggest slum in the City. The biggest one has over 1 million people. There have complete communities, with churches, small markets, and even hair salons. It was wild to look into a little store front made out of old cardboard and tin boxes, and see a young girl getting her hair straightened in a one chair salon.
We come to a place where we cant get passed a big mud hole and have to walk. I wanted so bad to take some photos, but I was afraid of taking out my camera. We walked a couple of hundred yards down a small side road and arrive at the Children’s school. There are 6 or 7 classrooms, all with small carved wood desks and little black boards. They teach about 250 kids at the school and they also feed them porridge everyday, since for most, that will be the only meal they eat all day. Helen also brings here clinic staff to treat the kids and give them shoots to get rid of worms and other parasites. An eye opening experience for sure. You hear people say that it makes you realize how lucky we are. That statement could not be closer to the truth.
After we left the slums we went to the site where Helen and her group are building a new school
for the children that will be located outside the slums, so the kids will have a better environment in which to study. She is a very bold and ambitious woman. She treated us to a very nice lunch at her house, and her three daughters cooked the meal. There is a young engineer Ben that came along on the trip, and one of Helen’s daughters was quite taken by him. She leaned over and said to him, “You are very handsome.” Ben was totally taken back and did not know what to say. It was pretty funny and so Doug started negotiating the marriage. 20 cows was the price for him to come home with a nice Kenyan bride….
I showed Helen a picture of Finn and Reed and told her how much we miss each other. She laughed and said in a cheerful happy voice, ”Of course, but you must do the work the Lord, and they are doing there part as well by supporting you in this effort.” They gave us the most wonderful meal of rice, cabbage salad, potatoes, and Kenyan chicken. Chicken from Kenya is very different from the chickens we have in the states. They are free range, and when I say that, I am not talking about being raised in an open-air coop, these guys are super tough lean muscled birds. There are no two pound chicken breast here.
We finished our lunch and Helen drove us to the airport, where we hooked up with Chris and Mark. Then we caught a flight to Eldoret, where Meshack from the ELI training center picked us up at the airport. Apparently, they thought our flight arrived at 2:00. We started driving and headed into Eldoret. There are people walking and riding bikes all over the place, the driving is just as crazy here as it is in Nairobi. Except here, it has a more primitive feel, and everything is a little wilder. It is truly amazing driving through these Cities. There are people roasting corn on the side of the road in little metal grills that look like they are made from hubcaps.
We head south and hit a dirt road that takes us to the ELI training center. The six kilometers seemed like a lot longer. The roads are super rough and bumpy stuff fit for a heavy duty four wheel drive, but we were taking them in a Toyota van. We turn the corner and finally reach the training center where a group of about 200 people were waiting to welcome us. We step out of the van and they begin singing the most beautiful song. It totally sent chills down my spine and I was completely humbled and blown away by the how wonderful it was. The community has been looking forward to this bridge for so long, as the temporary bridge is getting worse and worse by the day.
We had a nice dinner with the group that runs the training center. David and his wife Allison, Julie, and Peter then headed to bed. I woke up at 5:30 and went outside to take a look at the River for the first time. A frothing brown picture of motion. Across the river are some mud huts with thatched roofs, which are very typical of this area. We ate breakfast and headed down to the bridge site to take a look, measure some stuff out and get things going. It is quite a picturesque scene. A small dirt path leads down a steep slope to the old bridge. Green fields and hills surround the site. Villagers come out of nowhere to take a look at what is going on. Ten to fifteen men were already assembled to get the work started. We receive a blessing from a local pastor in Swahili and got underway.
The days task involved surveying and staking off the locations of the large footing on the sandy side of the river, drilling the anchor bolt holes for the rocky side and excavating the hole where the bridge abutment is going to be poured and then pouring the keyway. The keyway is a two-foot wide anchor piece of concrete that will be help the bridge resist lateral movement. With the Kenyans doing all the heavy lifting and digging, we made super fast progress. There were definitely leaders among the Kenyans. Mica, a very soft-spoken 35 year old business man, seemed to be allocating the tasks and making decisions. He manages a bread distribution service around Eldoret. In his quite gentle way he led the others and came up with practical ways for the team to do certain things. The Kenyans definitely do things differently. At any one point in the day there would be up to 30 guys standing around taking turns with the shovels, carrying wheel borrows full of concrete or shoveling sand, gravel or cement into the gasoline powered mixer. They were amazing workers and most of the time we found ourselves watching and supervising the job, making sure the rebar was placed right and keeping the concrete mix the right consistency. The Kenyans worked so fast that we completed two days work in the first day and found ourselves ahead of schedule.
The next day we set out to pour the 4-foot tall 3-foot wide foundation block in which the bridge structure is to sit on. The Kenyans constructed the formwork in their typical Kenyan ways, by piecing together timbers and using anything they could to get the job done. They are amazingly resourceful and while it may not look neat and tidy, it is beautiful how the structure came together. It took all day to pour the main section of the abutment, and as dusk was beginning to set, Mica smoothed out the top section and we made plans for the next day.
Doug, Mark, my Dad, and I decided to take the short walk back to the training center instead of the bumpy car ride. While we were walking a group of children followed wanting us to take their pictures and Doug ran after them and tickled them as they laughed hysterically. The children here are amazingly beautiful creations. They will come wandering down to the bridge site, some not much older than a year old, and sit and watch. They sill stare at you wondering what these crazy white men (mazungus) are doing. You give them a little smile and their little faces light up as they shyly turn away. They love to see their pictures in the camera. The can’t wait to look and laugh at themselves and their friends in the photos. You can’t help but want to take them home with you.
It is amazing to think that less than a year ago this whole region was ravage by violence. The ELI clinic has an ambulance that is used to transport people to the clinic or just to drive people to and fro. Julie, one of the missionaries here was telling us how valuable it was during the unrest. As we were talking about it, she softly mentioned how horrible it was. The area where we are staying was the center of a lot of the unrest.
As we walked back, we take a short detour through the children’s school grounds and into the children’s home. There are over 100 children living here in groups of 12 boys and 12 girls with a parent group. The system is quite interesting. We wonder into the cluster of houses as a loud bell rings letting the kids know that it is time for the daily devotions. All the kids come running with their little Bibles in hand and a couple of them offer up their hands and take us inside. There sweet little voices say come, please sit. All 100 kids squeezing into the little room as they begin singing. All the kids are AIDS orphans. They are truly beautiful. One of the older girls leads the singing. She has an amazing voice and the others follow her lead as they sing praises to God. The singing goes on for several minutes and then they begin taking turns reciting Bible verses. It was a fantastic experience to be there listening. Tiny little boys dancing and young babies sitting in older siblings laps singing. As the kids were singing a small little boy, had to be less than two comes toddling up to me and wants to sit up in my lap. I grab him and he sits down and keeps watching all the others singing and dancing. I was touched to watch these children that would be on the streets have such a wonderful home. After devotions were over the children all want to say hello shake our hands and show us where they live. As we leave, Doug is talking about the children and their singing and he says, ”That my friends, is just like heaven.” They are all truly beautiful.
It has been amazing to see how the Lord has been working during this trip. Sometimes he is subtle and sometimes he likes to beat you over the head. To the point where there is no way for you to ignore it. On Wednesday morning Chris and I were sitting out in the Gazebo watching the river reading and he turns to me and says, “hey if your going to do the devotional this morning how about using this passage for 1 Peter.” You see, someone from the team will present a reading from the Bible and we will discuss it and we will all reflect and pray. That morning we went into breakfast and my Dad was all ready to do the devotional. Well, he read the same verse that Chris and I had talked about. Chris and I just looked at each other and laughed. It was amazing, and made me realize again, even though I should never be surprised, how real God is and how he provides for us when we need it. Another example is something that happened Thursday morning.
Last night we went into Eldoret to meet with Soren, the engineer who is fabricating the bridge, and have dinner at the Eldo Grill. I have to say that was an experience. The menu is Italian, Indian, and American fare, complete with lots of interesting spellings of English words. Sort of like this blog (isn’t that right Tracy). It was the first time we able to talk with Ben since the first night in Kipkarren. You see, what Ben and Soren are doing is the crux of the whole project. They are cutting and welding the steel together to create the structure of the bridge. They are the critical path for this project.
Well, Ben was talking about the difficulties of the fabrication and how it was hard to watch each of the workers to ensure that everything is done to specifications. It is critical, because the pieces have to fit together right or the bridge will not work. Kind of like building a puzzle by creating the pieces from scratch and then hoping that they all fit together. You could tell Ben was frustrated, he even said as much. The going was slow, and their schedule was pushing the time to completion right up to the day before we leave. We needed another set of eyes to ensure quality control. Well, we get back to Kipkarren and the next morning at breakfast there is a couple, Mike and Debbie, from Pasadena that are here on a prayer mission. We get to talking and if turns out he is an Engineer who has specialized in steel fabrication for over 30 years. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!! Their trip to Kenya had been delayed twice before, and this time they made it. He was more than excited to help with the bridge project, and agreed to go into Eldoret to help Ben with the fabrication. It was unbelievable. God has been showing himself to us in so many ways on this trip. Those are just a couple of examples of his grace and provision.
Today we finished forming the second abutment and poured the concrete. The Kenyans worked very hard and they even began back filling where the road will be with rocks. You see, the deck of the new bridge will be much higher and there is a considerable hole that needs to be filled. The pour of the abutment was tenuous and we thought for a while that the forms may fail, which would be a catastrophe, but they held and the concrete is setting nicely. Tomorrow we are going to go to look at the log bridge, where many people have dyed trying to cross. Doug would like to construct something there that would be safer to cross.
That is my report for now. Keep praying and I thank you all for reading. Hopefully, I will be able to post more frequently know, as they have fixed the problems they are having with the network here. Sorry for now photos....the computers are fighting against us here.
God bless you all.
Today was one of those days that makes you really think about who you are and what you are doing in this world. I know that what I saw today changed my perspective and will never leave my mind.
Last night on our flight from London to Nairobi Doug sat next to a woman named Helen who was returning from the UK. Her husband is a doctor and they have their fingers in all sorts of good stuff. They run a 24-hour a day medical clinic and a children’s school. But this is not just any ordinary school. This school is smack dab in the middle of one of the largest slums in Nairobi. Well, …. she invited us to come with her and see the work that her group has been doing.
To be honest, the thought of going into the slums scared the crap out of me. I have heard the stories of people going into the slums in Rio and never coming back. She shows up with a couple of her main counterparts, James and Davison. Then Ben, Doug, my Dad and I jump into their two late 80s Subaru wagons and head out into the streets of Nairobi.
First of all, riding as a passenger through the streets of Nairobi with a native is quite an experience. There are no laws, no lanes lines and the boundary between the oncoming lanes is just a suggestion. Passing on the left or the right is not a problem, and if you need to get out into a traffic circle, you just force your way. The taxis (mutatus) are these Toyota mini vans and they run them like busses picking up people along the way. There is a drive and a passenger handler, who leans out the window and tries to get you to jump in the cab as you walk by. Anyway…we jumped into the cars with Helen and head out. At first Doug told us that we were just going to go look at the clinic, but as we were going Helen mentioned that she was so excited, cause it had not been raining and we could go into the slums to see the school.
What? We ARE going into the slums? Ok, Lord I am trusting in you. We head down a major road in Nairobi and then turn and start down a small dirt one. There are people everywhere walking, riding bicycles, pushing carts and carrying babies. You glance over and there are two children no older than two sitting on the side of the road, there parents have to work, so they just leave them sitting there all day. Trash is everywhere and pools of stagnant water lay everywhere. We turn right and head into what is no wider than an alley, with street vendors lining both sides selling dried corn, shoes, produce. The vendors operate out of cardboard or corrugated metal building. All eyes are on us as we make our way up the road. First of all it can not even be called a road.
You see…… Helen and her Husband got four wheel drives in order to even be able to carry supplies back in. If the rains had come we would have been walking and as it was, we had to navigate huge mud holes, and deep ruts, while getting help form the hordes of people, chickens and kids walking next to us and past the car. We got stuck once and about 5 guys were shouting instructions to Helen as she tried to get us out of the hole. We pass a little shack where the entire community gets water from a small ½ inch pvc pipe coming up from who knows where. There approximately 300,000 people living in this slum. Think about that, two thirds of the population of Fresno living in tin shacks. Plus, this isn’t even the biggest slum in the City. The biggest one has over 1 million people. There have complete communities, with churches, small markets, and even hair salons. It was wild to look into a little store front made out of old cardboard and tin boxes, and see a young girl getting her hair straightened in a one chair salon.
We come to a place where we cant get passed a big mud hole and have to walk. I wanted so bad to take some photos, but I was afraid of taking out my camera. We walked a couple of hundred yards down a small side road and arrive at the Children’s school. There are 6 or 7 classrooms, all with small carved wood desks and little black boards. They teach about 250 kids at the school and they also feed them porridge everyday, since for most, that will be the only meal they eat all day. Helen also brings here clinic staff to treat the kids and give them shoots to get rid of worms and other parasites. An eye opening experience for sure. You hear people say that it makes you realize how lucky we are. That statement could not be closer to the truth.
After we left the slums we went to the site where Helen and her group are building a new school
for the children that will be located outside the slums, so the kids will have a better environment in which to study. She is a very bold and ambitious woman. She treated us to a very nice lunch at her house, and her three daughters cooked the meal. There is a young engineer Ben that came along on the trip, and one of Helen’s daughters was quite taken by him. She leaned over and said to him, “You are very handsome.” Ben was totally taken back and did not know what to say. It was pretty funny and so Doug started negotiating the marriage. 20 cows was the price for him to come home with a nice Kenyan bride….
I showed Helen a picture of Finn and Reed and told her how much we miss each other. She laughed and said in a cheerful happy voice, ”Of course, but you must do the work the Lord, and they are doing there part as well by supporting you in this effort.” They gave us the most wonderful meal of rice, cabbage salad, potatoes, and Kenyan chicken. Chicken from Kenya is very different from the chickens we have in the states. They are free range, and when I say that, I am not talking about being raised in an open-air coop, these guys are super tough lean muscled birds. There are no two pound chicken breast here.
We finished our lunch and Helen drove us to the airport, where we hooked up with Chris and Mark. Then we caught a flight to Eldoret, where Meshack from the ELI training center picked us up at the airport. Apparently, they thought our flight arrived at 2:00. We started driving and headed into Eldoret. There are people walking and riding bikes all over the place, the driving is just as crazy here as it is in Nairobi. Except here, it has a more primitive feel, and everything is a little wilder. It is truly amazing driving through these Cities. There are people roasting corn on the side of the road in little metal grills that look like they are made from hubcaps.
We head south and hit a dirt road that takes us to the ELI training center. The six kilometers seemed like a lot longer. The roads are super rough and bumpy stuff fit for a heavy duty four wheel drive, but we were taking them in a Toyota van. We turn the corner and finally reach the training center where a group of about 200 people were waiting to welcome us. We step out of the van and they begin singing the most beautiful song. It totally sent chills down my spine and I was completely humbled and blown away by the how wonderful it was. The community has been looking forward to this bridge for so long, as the temporary bridge is getting worse and worse by the day.
We had a nice dinner with the group that runs the training center. David and his wife Allison, Julie, and Peter then headed to bed. I woke up at 5:30 and went outside to take a look at the River for the first time. A frothing brown picture of motion. Across the river are some mud huts with thatched roofs, which are very typical of this area. We ate breakfast and headed down to the bridge site to take a look, measure some stuff out and get things going. It is quite a picturesque scene. A small dirt path leads down a steep slope to the old bridge. Green fields and hills surround the site. Villagers come out of nowhere to take a look at what is going on. Ten to fifteen men were already assembled to get the work started. We receive a blessing from a local pastor in Swahili and got underway.
The days task involved surveying and staking off the locations of the large footing on the sandy side of the river, drilling the anchor bolt holes for the rocky side and excavating the hole where the bridge abutment is going to be poured and then pouring the keyway. The keyway is a two-foot wide anchor piece of concrete that will be help the bridge resist lateral movement. With the Kenyans doing all the heavy lifting and digging, we made super fast progress. There were definitely leaders among the Kenyans. Mica, a very soft-spoken 35 year old business man, seemed to be allocating the tasks and making decisions. He manages a bread distribution service around Eldoret. In his quite gentle way he led the others and came up with practical ways for the team to do certain things. The Kenyans definitely do things differently. At any one point in the day there would be up to 30 guys standing around taking turns with the shovels, carrying wheel borrows full of concrete or shoveling sand, gravel or cement into the gasoline powered mixer. They were amazing workers and most of the time we found ourselves watching and supervising the job, making sure the rebar was placed right and keeping the concrete mix the right consistency. The Kenyans worked so fast that we completed two days work in the first day and found ourselves ahead of schedule.
The next day we set out to pour the 4-foot tall 3-foot wide foundation block in which the bridge structure is to sit on. The Kenyans constructed the formwork in their typical Kenyan ways, by piecing together timbers and using anything they could to get the job done. They are amazingly resourceful and while it may not look neat and tidy, it is beautiful how the structure came together. It took all day to pour the main section of the abutment, and as dusk was beginning to set, Mica smoothed out the top section and we made plans for the next day.
Doug, Mark, my Dad, and I decided to take the short walk back to the training center instead of the bumpy car ride. While we were walking a group of children followed wanting us to take their pictures and Doug ran after them and tickled them as they laughed hysterically. The children here are amazingly beautiful creations. They will come wandering down to the bridge site, some not much older than a year old, and sit and watch. They sill stare at you wondering what these crazy white men (mazungus) are doing. You give them a little smile and their little faces light up as they shyly turn away. They love to see their pictures in the camera. The can’t wait to look and laugh at themselves and their friends in the photos. You can’t help but want to take them home with you.
It is amazing to think that less than a year ago this whole region was ravage by violence. The ELI clinic has an ambulance that is used to transport people to the clinic or just to drive people to and fro. Julie, one of the missionaries here was telling us how valuable it was during the unrest. As we were talking about it, she softly mentioned how horrible it was. The area where we are staying was the center of a lot of the unrest.
As we walked back, we take a short detour through the children’s school grounds and into the children’s home. There are over 100 children living here in groups of 12 boys and 12 girls with a parent group. The system is quite interesting. We wonder into the cluster of houses as a loud bell rings letting the kids know that it is time for the daily devotions. All the kids come running with their little Bibles in hand and a couple of them offer up their hands and take us inside. There sweet little voices say come, please sit. All 100 kids squeezing into the little room as they begin singing. All the kids are AIDS orphans. They are truly beautiful. One of the older girls leads the singing. She has an amazing voice and the others follow her lead as they sing praises to God. The singing goes on for several minutes and then they begin taking turns reciting Bible verses. It was a fantastic experience to be there listening. Tiny little boys dancing and young babies sitting in older siblings laps singing. As the kids were singing a small little boy, had to be less than two comes toddling up to me and wants to sit up in my lap. I grab him and he sits down and keeps watching all the others singing and dancing. I was touched to watch these children that would be on the streets have such a wonderful home. After devotions were over the children all want to say hello shake our hands and show us where they live. As we leave, Doug is talking about the children and their singing and he says, ”That my friends, is just like heaven.” They are all truly beautiful.
It has been amazing to see how the Lord has been working during this trip. Sometimes he is subtle and sometimes he likes to beat you over the head. To the point where there is no way for you to ignore it. On Wednesday morning Chris and I were sitting out in the Gazebo watching the river reading and he turns to me and says, “hey if your going to do the devotional this morning how about using this passage for 1 Peter.” You see, someone from the team will present a reading from the Bible and we will discuss it and we will all reflect and pray. That morning we went into breakfast and my Dad was all ready to do the devotional. Well, he read the same verse that Chris and I had talked about. Chris and I just looked at each other and laughed. It was amazing, and made me realize again, even though I should never be surprised, how real God is and how he provides for us when we need it. Another example is something that happened Thursday morning.
Last night we went into Eldoret to meet with Soren, the engineer who is fabricating the bridge, and have dinner at the Eldo Grill. I have to say that was an experience. The menu is Italian, Indian, and American fare, complete with lots of interesting spellings of English words. Sort of like this blog (isn’t that right Tracy). It was the first time we able to talk with Ben since the first night in Kipkarren. You see, what Ben and Soren are doing is the crux of the whole project. They are cutting and welding the steel together to create the structure of the bridge. They are the critical path for this project.
Well, Ben was talking about the difficulties of the fabrication and how it was hard to watch each of the workers to ensure that everything is done to specifications. It is critical, because the pieces have to fit together right or the bridge will not work. Kind of like building a puzzle by creating the pieces from scratch and then hoping that they all fit together. You could tell Ben was frustrated, he even said as much. The going was slow, and their schedule was pushing the time to completion right up to the day before we leave. We needed another set of eyes to ensure quality control. Well, we get back to Kipkarren and the next morning at breakfast there is a couple, Mike and Debbie, from Pasadena that are here on a prayer mission. We get to talking and if turns out he is an Engineer who has specialized in steel fabrication for over 30 years. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!! Their trip to Kenya had been delayed twice before, and this time they made it. He was more than excited to help with the bridge project, and agreed to go into Eldoret to help Ben with the fabrication. It was unbelievable. God has been showing himself to us in so many ways on this trip. Those are just a couple of examples of his grace and provision.
Today we finished forming the second abutment and poured the concrete. The Kenyans worked very hard and they even began back filling where the road will be with rocks. You see, the deck of the new bridge will be much higher and there is a considerable hole that needs to be filled. The pour of the abutment was tenuous and we thought for a while that the forms may fail, which would be a catastrophe, but they held and the concrete is setting nicely. Tomorrow we are going to go to look at the log bridge, where many people have dyed trying to cross. Doug would like to construct something there that would be safer to cross.
That is my report for now. Keep praying and I thank you all for reading. Hopefully, I will be able to post more frequently know, as they have fixed the problems they are having with the network here. Sorry for now photos....the computers are fighting against us here.
God bless you all.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Heading to Africa
After 30 plus hours of travel we arrived in Nairobi around 11 at night. The humid air offered quite the contrast to cold windy weather we experienced on the tarmac at Heathrow. Stepping into Nairobi International was like stepping back into the 1970s. Blue ratty carpet and funky colors. It is easy to see that we are now in Africa. We hooked up with our Driver Samuel who took us to the Mayfield House, home of African Inland Missions.
The first thing you notice once you jump in a car in Nairobi is that the roads here are very interesting, if not downright bad. I guess they have a policy here that once things are` paved that should do it for life. Huge potholes abound and places were a new road meets an older one have three to four inch drops in pavement. Travel on the main roads here involves accelerating up to 40 of 50 and then slowing down to 10-15 mph to navigate through a maze of road obstacles. If there is a construction project, traffic just shoots over to the oncoming road across the dirt or mud or whatever. All the houses are compounds with Barbed wire and fences with guards posted at the doors. We drive from Jomo International Airport on the Mombassa Road and head into town. It is 111:45 know and there are lots of young male Kenyans just hanging out on the street.
After we were woken up at 3:30 by the local rooster we set about figuring what the next step would be. Team meeting at 9:00 so we are prepared to hit the ground running with the construction once we get out to Kipkarren. Just a short plane ride and then an hour drive to get there…more to come later.
Peace.....
The first thing you notice once you jump in a car in Nairobi is that the roads here are very interesting, if not downright bad. I guess they have a policy here that once things are` paved that should do it for life. Huge potholes abound and places were a new road meets an older one have three to four inch drops in pavement. Travel on the main roads here involves accelerating up to 40 of 50 and then slowing down to 10-15 mph to navigate through a maze of road obstacles. If there is a construction project, traffic just shoots over to the oncoming road across the dirt or mud or whatever. All the houses are compounds with Barbed wire and fences with guards posted at the doors. We drive from Jomo International Airport on the Mombassa Road and head into town. It is 111:45 know and there are lots of young male Kenyans just hanging out on the street.
After we were woken up at 3:30 by the local rooster we set about figuring what the next step would be. Team meeting at 9:00 so we are prepared to hit the ground running with the construction once we get out to Kipkarren. Just a short plane ride and then an hour drive to get there…more to come later.
Peace.....
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sunday.......
I have been feeling sick and fighting to stay afloat with the house, work, and getting ready to go to Kenya (more on that later), so I wasn’t really thinking I would do the cross race last Sunday out at Woodward Park. In fact I was very close to just saying forget cross and selling my cross bike to remove the distraction. Well, anybody that knows me would understand that as soon as I was out there it was no turning back and I pinned a number on and went for it.
60 minutes of pure pain, suffering, dust, and mud holes of glorious goodness. It was fun and definitely recharged my batteries. It was great for me but the really cool thing was that Tracy got out there and lined up.
It was a big deal considering that it was pretty darn close to a year to the day that she walked for the first time after her accident. She looked great out there. I could tell she was nervous. I knew what a big deal it was to line up for the first time after the last year and a half of recovering, but I just kicked her in the butt and said go warm up….
Don’t know if all ya’ll know about cross racing but it is very demanding on the body. Ride as hard as you can on dirt, gravel, over loose sand and dust, through mud holes and then run up steep hills carrying your bike. Then you have to jump off and carry your bike over 18-inch tall barriers, then navigate sharp off camber turns and tricky, twisting descents with your heart rate pegged at threshold. Super hard physically and mentally. You either love it or hate it. So with that in mind, this was a good test of Tracy’s body, and she passed. Of course she was sore and tired, but her body and, more importantly, her hip handled it very well. 
By the way did I mention that she won the women’s race? Stud. So there is another one this weekend and we will be out there again. So, if you get the inkling, come check it out.
Details at http://www.homegrowncross.com/
Later
60 minutes of pure pain, suffering, dust, and mud holes of glorious goodness. It was fun and definitely recharged my batteries. It was great for me but the really cool thing was that Tracy got out there and lined up.
It was a big deal considering that it was pretty darn close to a year to the day that she walked for the first time after her accident. She looked great out there. I could tell she was nervous. I knew what a big deal it was to line up for the first time after the last year and a half of recovering, but I just kicked her in the butt and said go warm up….
Don’t know if all ya’ll know about cross racing but it is very demanding on the body. Ride as hard as you can on dirt, gravel, over loose sand and dust, through mud holes and then run up steep hills carrying your bike. Then you have to jump off and carry your bike over 18-inch tall barriers, then navigate sharp off camber turns and tricky, twisting descents with your heart rate pegged at threshold. Super hard physically and mentally. You either love it or hate it. So with that in mind, this was a good test of Tracy’s body, and she passed. Of course she was sore and tired, but her body and, more importantly, her hip handled it very well.
By the way did I mention that she won the women’s race? Stud. So there is another one this weekend and we will be out there again. So, if you get the inkling, come check it out.
Details at http://www.homegrowncross.com/
Later
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Doping
Ok,
So, to answer that question. I don't think every cyclist that wins a pro race is a doper, but when there are surprising amazing feats of strength out of somebody that usually or historically hasn't been that strong, then you have to wonder. That was the case with Ricco, and Schumacher, and to a certain extent Kohl.....
Back in the 90s that wasn't the case because everybody was doping, but now it is not that case. I have to truly believe that the sport is way cleaner now than in the past. I need to believe that, because I love this sport and have been following it for over 20 plus years. It is the only thing I follow closely.
The anti-doping advocates are out there. Pros are pissed that people keep screwing things up for everybody else. Now every time a positive comes in, a sponsor leaves or coverage gets pulled. That is not good for anybody, and not good for signing contracts. Anyway.....refining by fire, you burn away the crap to get back to the true metal, the Gold....
So, to answer that question. I don't think every cyclist that wins a pro race is a doper, but when there are surprising amazing feats of strength out of somebody that usually or historically hasn't been that strong, then you have to wonder. That was the case with Ricco, and Schumacher, and to a certain extent Kohl.....
Back in the 90s that wasn't the case because everybody was doping, but now it is not that case. I have to truly believe that the sport is way cleaner now than in the past. I need to believe that, because I love this sport and have been following it for over 20 plus years. It is the only thing I follow closely.
The anti-doping advocates are out there. Pros are pissed that people keep screwing things up for everybody else. Now every time a positive comes in, a sponsor leaves or coverage gets pulled. That is not good for anybody, and not good for signing contracts. Anyway.....refining by fire, you burn away the crap to get back to the true metal, the Gold....
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Barf
So, Lance is coming back.
Barf, hack, wretch...
That is the sound of me losing my lunch.
Just when things were getting good. Now we get to hear a whole bunch about him and not enough about all the other great, up and coming riders. Now I will have to answer a million questions about Lanc's comeback at work. Yeah, Excitement.
I think I just saw Levi jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.
Barf, hack, wretch...
That is the sound of me losing my lunch.
Just when things were getting good. Now we get to hear a whole bunch about him and not enough about all the other great, up and coming riders. Now I will have to answer a million questions about Lanc's comeback at work. Yeah, Excitement.
I think I just saw Levi jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Nice
Last Saturday I got out of bed at 4:30, and threw on my kit to meet Beers and a bunch of other dudes at his house to roll for 3 to 4 hours. I needed to drop a check off for the contractor so I decided to leave early and head over to his house and then turn east and make my way to Mike’s.
If I leave by 5:15 I would have plenty of time, but when I grabbed my bike….I had a flat. Now I was pushin it. Rolled out of the drive way at 5:25. Need to motor to make it. So much for a nice easy spinning warm up. Dark....Can’t really see, but blast forward.
I am rolling, cruzing the City streets. My shadow chasing and passing me, as I move under each streetlight. I remember when I was a kid when me and my partners in crime would head out at night on our bikes. I remember back then the same shadow, chasing me and then catching me. The shadow has changed over the years, but the same yellow streetlight illuminates the way. Baggy pants and ball cap, traded for spandex and Styrofoam lid. The feeling is still the same. So many great memories of warm summer nights, riding the bike. We were not necessarily looking for trouble, but occasionally we would find it.
Riding through the neighborhoods and residential streets, swapping leads with my shadow. I hit Bullard and Cedar and roll into the field north of State U. Lights are gone now and so is my shadow. Just me and the silhouette of the Sierra out in front. The turquoises blue of the early morning dawn the only light. Can’t really see the road, but I know its there. Nothing to get in the way. Rhythmic breathing and the turning of pedals. I love that feeling. Out on the bike before dawn, riding into a new day. Heading up into the hills, finally the sun hits you and the cold vanishes into a void of early day warmth. No cars……just breathing and the rhythm of the pedals turning. Black stretch of road just keeps on coming. Undulating, curving, rolling past the signs of other peoples lives. Lost in the midst of the moment. Oak trees and filtered sun are the only companions of the road. The road just keeps on going, until you make that turn into the driveway and you start dreaming of the next meeting with your shadow. The next time the wheels touch the road…..and it is nothing but breathing and turning.
If I leave by 5:15 I would have plenty of time, but when I grabbed my bike….I had a flat. Now I was pushin it. Rolled out of the drive way at 5:25. Need to motor to make it. So much for a nice easy spinning warm up. Dark....Can’t really see, but blast forward.
I am rolling, cruzing the City streets. My shadow chasing and passing me, as I move under each streetlight. I remember when I was a kid when me and my partners in crime would head out at night on our bikes. I remember back then the same shadow, chasing me and then catching me. The shadow has changed over the years, but the same yellow streetlight illuminates the way. Baggy pants and ball cap, traded for spandex and Styrofoam lid. The feeling is still the same. So many great memories of warm summer nights, riding the bike. We were not necessarily looking for trouble, but occasionally we would find it.
Riding through the neighborhoods and residential streets, swapping leads with my shadow. I hit Bullard and Cedar and roll into the field north of State U. Lights are gone now and so is my shadow. Just me and the silhouette of the Sierra out in front. The turquoises blue of the early morning dawn the only light. Can’t really see the road, but I know its there. Nothing to get in the way. Rhythmic breathing and the turning of pedals. I love that feeling. Out on the bike before dawn, riding into a new day. Heading up into the hills, finally the sun hits you and the cold vanishes into a void of early day warmth. No cars……just breathing and the rhythm of the pedals turning. Black stretch of road just keeps on coming. Undulating, curving, rolling past the signs of other peoples lives. Lost in the midst of the moment. Oak trees and filtered sun are the only companions of the road. The road just keeps on going, until you make that turn into the driveway and you start dreaming of the next meeting with your shadow. The next time the wheels touch the road…..and it is nothing but breathing and turning.
Later
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