At the end of January, the entire high school packs up and goes to different parts of Kenya to have a cultural interaction with the Kenyan people. Last year at this time we were not sure if we would be staying in Kenya or not, so this year is my first CFS experience. I was a chaperon for a group of 18 freshmen. I also went with the school nurse to be the female chaperon. We left Nairobi on a Friday night and then returned from the trip on Tuesday. My group went to Cheptebo. It is a small community in the middle of a valley near the city of Eldoret. The drive took us about 7 hours and we headed north-west. The area is dry and hot. Once we arrived, we were greeted by the couple that runs the camp. Actually our group had one of the easiest conditions to live in. We had beds, showers, toilets, running water and all meals provided for us. We stayed at the African Inland Church (AIC) compound and they use it for conferences, so that is why it was nice. The compound is like a haven for the community. They teach people in the community how to earn a living for themselves by growing mangoes and papaya (pawpaw) and also by milking cows and goats. On the compound, they grow mangoes and papaya, so that means fresh fruit every morning for us. I ate so many mangoes … fresh mangoes, nothing can beat it. On Saturday, we helped a very old woman in the community. Our group of students walked to her mud hut. Our task was to smear the hut again with mud and water. The woman had a hut about eight feet squared. The roof was made out of metal. We removed the roof and strengthened the wood supports and then got to smearing. We, along with other youth from the community, were working together to redo her house. The old woman was so old that she could hardly see. While we were smearing her house, her chicken sat right next to her. The chicken was like her pet. Unfortunately, the old man lived on the same land as her eldest son. The thing is that he is usually drunk and does nothing with the land and he and his mother have very little to eat. The AIC is trying to get the family to start planting fruit trees to use to gain income. We all felt very satisfied in helping this old woman. It was a blessing for us to be a blessing for her. Later that night, the youth from the area came for a meat roast. They slaughtered a goat and grilled the meat. We all sat around a campfire that night and shared between the groups. We had a good night of cultural interaction. Some of our students shared and they even sang some songs. On Sunday, we dropped off the students at various local churches to experience that part of life. Some of the churches were in small mud buildings. This day was my favorite because after the church services, the students went for home stays with the local people. The students went in groups of 2 to 3 and stayed the night with different families of the churches. They were expected to help out in any way that they were asked. The girls typically helped cook or do other chores, and the boys really did not have any expectations for them to help. Actually that is typical here. The women are the ones that do most of the work around the house and the men do not do much. Even if you, as a male, do help in the kitchen or with certain chores, you are looked at strangely. So I said that this day was my favorite … well me and Nurse Rachel, the other chaperon, our bus driver and the manager of the compound took a drive towards Eldoret. So we drove up the escarpment to a small resort. At this resort, many people come from all around the world to hang glide. The main cliental are European, mostly Germans and Austrians. It was cool to see the people just be taken by the wind. We relaxed and just enjoyed the scenery. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed ourselves without having to look after 18 students. Monday morning the students arrived back at the compound and they were all buzzing with their stories from the home stays. Some had nice living conditions while others dealt with bed bugs and not-so-nice living conditions. After the students got done debriefing with their friends, we went to the planting section of the compound and filled bags with dirt. The compound grafts plants together to get better plants so they use the bags to replant the plant. This task was the hardest to get the students to do because there were many people and not enough gardening gloves. Later this day, we went to a local school and our students were able to interact with the students there and vice-versa. The Kenyan students had some skits and songs for our group. Then it was up to our group to do a presentation. They sang the song “God of wonders”. Actually that became our theme song for the trip … every time the students had to do a presentation, they chose that song. It still amazes me that students can be such extroverts with their friends, but when they are put in front of strangers, they become shy. That is exactly what happened to our group. After the interaction, we all went out and played volleyball. Sports really bring people together. On Tuesday, we set out to Nairobi. Our time in Cheptebo was over. We really had an enjoyable time. Instead of going back to the school and letting all the students go home, we spend a night at a camp near the school. During this time, all the students are able to interact and share their various experiences. Each group of student come back changed. The sophomore groups helped build houses for Habitat for Humanity. One senior group went all the way to Turkana. They have to leave a day before everyone and spend a night in Eldoret because it takes almost two days to travel there. I have heard that it is like a different world in Turkana. If you have seen the movie “Constant Gardener”, there are scenes at Lake Turkana. It is such a dry, desolate place. So over the next day, the students debrief in various ways so that they can apply what they learned from their experience to their lives. I really enjoyed a chapel service that we had where students came to testify about their experience. I liked hearing their unscripted responses to such an overwhelming experience. As a whole, CFS was a great experience for me. I enjoyed seeing new parts of Kenya, interacting with new people groups and learning more about God and myself. God is using the AIC compound to minister to the people of that community. There was even a couple from Ireland that was helping to build a church on the AIC compound.
Our bus in the middle of nowhere. Also a good time for a bathroom break.
Some boys on the way to smear the old woman's house.
Here is the woman's house after we removed the tin roof.
Getting close to the finished product after smearing.
The valley
Hang gliders
Me, Nurse Rachel, our driver, the manager of the AIC compound
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