Kenya A Rocha

The next morning I took off on Kenyan Air for Malindi, the nearest airport to the A Rocha training and conservation center in Watumba

On the way to where I would be staying, I noticed that the local housing design differed from that in the highlands.  Here, with an abundance of palms, thatched roofs covered and stick and mud walled houses.  Though one might be inclined to assume that 

this building technique was only for the poorest of the poor, I saw several compounds of five or six buildings with well kept grounds that indicated something other than abject poverty.  I talked to someone who said that these homes are airy and cool.  He preferred them to concrete block.

I arrived at A Rocha around lunch time.  A few of the staff are lounging on the porch.  I found the humidity and heat overwhelming.  My experience with the seashore was that it offered a cool pleasant climate.  Not so at the equator.  My room included a bathroom with a shower, and though there center had a solar heater for water, we were asked to take short showers to conserve water.  There never seemed to be time for the hot water to get from the tank to my room.  This part of Kenya suffers from epidemic malaria, so the bed netting is heavily impregnated with insecticide. The smell and the heat made sleeping difficult.

But the ocean was great, warm with a beautiful sandy beach.

This is the view of the Indian Ocean I could see outside my room

One morning I got up to see the moon set over the jungle

and the sun rise over the Indian Ocean.

A Rocha Kenya works with local farmers to preserve Arabuko Sokoke forest to preserve the habitat for local birds.  This is a tree in short nature walk on the center property.  The black band is the result of beetle infestation.

The center is staffed by administrators environmentalist, and researchers. While I was there two young volunteers from Britain and New Zealand rounded out the permanent residents.In addition to myself, other guests included several avid birders anda woman from New Hampshire recovering from volunteering for a year with Doctors Without Borders at Lake Victoria. Elsba, one of the permanent staff, cooked wonderful lunches and dinners in this kitchen.  The food was kept in a locked room so the monkeys wouldn't get it.

One day I went into Gede with Elsba to get groceries for the center.  This is the local grocery store, frequented by White Kenyans and expats.

The street outside is filled with many small businesses.

The next day I took off early in the morning for a safari in Tsavo National Animal reserve.

Kenya Commission 2008

After an 8 hour flight from Heathrow, I arrived in Nairobi late in the evening.  Staff members from FOCUS-Kenya met me a t the airport and took me to the Anglican Church of Kenya guest house. My first night in Africa.

The next morning was driven from Nairobi to Nakuru. At on point we came over a rise and saw the Great Rift Valley spread out before me.  I was more impressed than when I saw the Grand Canyon.

We continued on to Kabarak University where 2400 students were also arriving for Commission 2008, the missions convention of FOCUS - Kenya.

The next morning the students made their way to the large striped tent.

There they heard

 speakers on topics such as training in missions, community development, Local church and missions and the role of family in missions.

Of course worship was a large part of the meetings.  The university choir sang several times and the worship team led the delegates in praise to the Lord.

Each day, the student met in small groups to study the Bible.  One day the schedule was changed and the Bible studies did not meet. A cry of disappointment went up from crowd under the striped tent.

On New Year's Eve the stage was taken over by skits and recitations.

Through out the week, new friends are made.  The person on the right is a student from Rwanda and the other two are Rwandan staff members from Kenya.

During the commission, we had some special visitors.  Here Former President Moi listens to the speaker.

And Obama even made an appearance.  Actually, this is a former FOCUS staff member who is currently working with a church in England.

After a week of meetings, studying and fellowship the commission draws to a close.
Bags are packed, goodbys are said and cars are loaded with students on their way back to homes and schools.  Commission 2008 is over, but the memories and commitments will live on.

Christmas

I enjoyed the Christmas season in Oxford.  I helped my colleagues at the office celebrate by sharing my gumdrop tree with them.

When I go down the stairs, this jaunty Santa greets me.

And when I open the door to my room, there he is again.
 

Christmas eve I treated my landlady to a wine a cheese repast.  We enjoyed a glass of wine from the Rothschild's cellar along with brie on Carr's Water Crackers.

Christmas day all the churches have services.  I attended the one at Woodstock Road Baptist and then spent the day with a family from church.  We exchanged gifts.  I received some chocolate and a CD of English church music.  Allyson received a gift from one of her elementary students.  Before she unwrapped it, she tried to guess what it was.  It seemed like a bar of chocolate, but it was not all there.  Sure enough, when she unwrapped it, she found that someone had eaten two of the squares.  We had a good laugh about that.

I was pleased to realize that the family was as interested in pop culture as I was.  The dinner, partridge with poached pears, was scheduled so that we could see the episode of Dr. Who.  I also watched an episode of Wallace and Gromit, a show I had never seen before.

Then I went home to pack for Kenya.

Christmas party and a wedding

Friday evening as I was returning home, I saw fireworks.  I think the local pub was celebrating winter solstice.  I would celebrate it as well.  The lack of sunshine has been hard.  But I have been able to keep busy.

One afternoon we had our office Christmas party.  We went to the home of  a supporter, ate goodies, drank mulled, pulled crackers and reveled in the excellent company.  I even gave a fairly good rendition of Rudolf, which was caught on film.  
We had a secret Santa gift exchange.  I ended up with a warm woolen scarf.  Anja added hilarity to the activity.

Friday evening I helped prepare for a wedding. I had not been able to do any Christmas baking, so I helped make the desserts for a young couple from church.  He is the local Christian Union staff member here at Oxford and she teaches school.  We made fruit salad, apple crisp and banoffie.  It was great fun.

The wedding was not Church of England, but the Brits do take the marriage ceremony more seriously that we do in the states.  Before the bride enters the church the registrar, the government official who is required to witness the wedding, asked her questions to make sure she is the person listed on the license and that she is marrying of her own free will. (Britain has seen several forced marriages within the communities of their former colonies.)  Then the minister must ask if anyone knows of any reason why the couple not be married. In addition the couple both have to declare that they are not a ware of any reason why they cannot be married. (I have heard of a marriage called off by the registrar when the bride playfully said that she might be able to think of some reason.) Then the registrar and church role are signed during the ceremony.  This couple entertained the congregation with a ribbon dance during this time.

The reception commenced immediately after the ceremony with hot mulled apple juice and munchies.  The groom is the young man standing

After a very good meal of roast pork, (I have a photo of the pig on the spit. Email me if you would like to see it.) the festivities continued with a barn dance.  The bride is in white.  I left shortly after the dancing started, having been with people for nearly six hours and anticipating an evening of carols the next night.

Sunday evening I went to the Carol Service at my church.  They do not necessarily sing the same carols here, and a couple of the tunes are different.  One that I find most theologically suspect is Once in Royal David's City. The first verse rightly proclaims the coming of Christ, but by the third and fourth verses children are admonished to be like him, meek and obedient.  I am not sure that he was necessarily meek and it does bother me that a Christmas carol is used to get children to mind their parents.  Then the final verse tells of the Christians all in white waiting in heaven.  Our future clothing style is not mentioned and the assumption is that the by that time the waiting will be over.  The service was enjoyable though.

A wet weekend and the Christmas pageant

I began the weekend buying groceries in the rain.  Te bus trip wasn't bad, but walking a from shop to shop was a rather drenching experience.  This is the first time I've really had to spend time in the British weather.

In the afternoon, I went into the city center and heard this band come around the corner.

When they realized I was taking a photo, several of the band members posed.

     

  

                

I spent a couple of hours sitting at the SAGE table at the Green Fair in the Oxford Town Hall.  I am not very good at engaging people in this type of setting, but I enjoyed the venue, wood paneling and impressive portraits around the walls.

That afternoon I went to the church Christmas pageant with Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.  A donkey was also in attendance.

When the angels and shepherds arrived, chaos reigned.

This angel is the daughter of one of my  work colleagues.

The weekend was completed with caroling through the neighborhood around the church.  I discovered the reason for the Victorian pictures of caroling have the singers at the base of a lamp post.  They need the light to read the words.

We also left leaflets telling the people about the church calendar for the Christmas season.  One woman said that she had gotten one earlier.  Her daughter exclaimed, "I got a Christmas card from Jesus."

Waddesdon Manor and other Christmas events

On Thursday this past week I attended the St. Peter's Players performance of Treasure Island, a Christmas pantomime. The tradition is for the young male lead to be played by a female and the older female character to be played by a male. The palm tree was almost a character of its own, being moved from one place to another to signify a different part of Treasure Island. 

The audience is asked to cheer, hiss and boo.  The local theatre was the perfect place to experience this tradition for the first time.  I knew several of the actors from various village events.

Such as the monthly music and story telling time at the local pub, which I attended the next evening.  I told them the story of the mysterious spiral staircase in New Mexico.

Saturday I went with a group from church to visit Waddesdon Manor, an extensive estate built in the mid 19th century by the Rothschild's for their weekend entertaining.  

Winter is not the best time to visit the grounds of this house.  they drain the fountains and wrap the statues against damage from the freeze and thaw cycle of the British winter.

We went to the stable area to look at the Christmas market and get a cup of coffee.  These buildings could have easily accommodated a good size community as well as the animals.  It was a about 5 minutes walk from the house.  I wondered how the need for a horse or buggy was communicated.

We then went on a short tour of the wine cellars.  The Rothschild's even now have extensive holdings of wine producing land throughout the world so this is an appropriate display of that part of the family fortune.

Important people like the queen have been here to taste the Rothschild wine. This a display of photos and testimonials. They even have a bottle that was originally ordered by Thomas Jefferson.  The war of 1812 interrupted delivery so one bottle of the order is now on display.  I also enjoyed chairs painted with cherubs.

The wines that are sold in the gift shop are stored in the cellar.  I was with an artist who appreciated the interesting visual effect of the rows of bottoms of wine bottles.

The round room was used for special dinners.  The circle in the middle of the table could be removed and replaced with a container for wine dregs. The sculpture on the table honors the coopers who make wine casks.

We then went on a tour of the house interior.  As is often the case with these historical houses, no photos were allowed.  I did see two very interesting things.  A painting by Giovanni Panini entitled The Ball.  The online photo does not do justice to this piece.  The many individuals depicted in the crowd each have distinguishable facial expressions.  I also enjoyed a more contemporary piece is Porca Miseria by Maurer.  Such a stark piece in the midst of an essentially Victorian setting was quite effective.

After the tour of the house, we enjoyed tea in the kitchen and servant's dining room.  The seasonal decorations were fully evident.

As we walked back to the car, the view of the manor lit for the night was beautiful.

Tuesday afternoon at the office, our team sponsored a soup lunch for the benefit of the Egyptian Bible Society. Our resident French person brought delicious onion soup.  We also had a very good tomato soup, cheese and fresh bread.  I enjoyed helping set up the meeting room to make the meal a festive occasion.