Orientation at Agape

In addition to unpacking and getting the family settled in Kisumu, Tammy and I had the opportunity last week to sit-in on and participate in a few of Agape’s staff meetings. 

Last Tuesday, a meeting was held to review and discuss Agape’s new Orientation Program.  In the past, a boy coming from the street to Agape would immediately enter into the normal routine of the main campus:  meals, attending class, devotionals, etc.  Over time, though, the staff at Agape identified that these former street boys needed time to transition from life on the street prior to entering into daily rigor of life at Agape’s main campus. In the long term, Agape would like to establish a separate Transition Center where the boys can live during this period, but in the interim, Agape recently established an Orientation Program to teach the boys about Agape, to begin to counsel them through their experiences on the street, and most importantly, to teach them about their Savior, Jesus, who loves them and died for them.

Here is an excerpt from the Orientation Class Curriculum:

The children that we admit are from the street and have different periods of staying in the street.  Some are those who have been on the street for one week or less while others have been in the street for weeks, months, or even years.  Some have been in different towns including Nairobi and Mombasa while others have only been in Kisumu, but majority of them are those who have been to towns of west Kenya mostly Luanda, Busia, and Kakamega.  In the street, this child is alone.  He is himself in attitude and feeling one might find them in a group and see them to walk, work and do things together but that does not reflect a family.  It is actually a gang, group of young people on a specific mission, and after that mission is accomplished-everyone on his own.

Being a self-egoed person, this young lad develops the attitude of self-defence which includes arrogance, lack of appreciation, furiosity, abusive language, destruction, and general disorderliness.  The young lad perfects himself in survival tactics which include stealing, fighting for food, ownership of things, and wanton destruction of other people’s things, formation of defence gangs, taking and peddling drugs, looking at other members of society as enemies-i.e. uncontrolled hate attitude.

This is a boy who is not ready to share his feelings with anybody.  It does not matter whether he is badly hurt, beaten, injured or otherwise – he is on his own.  It is his problem.  You don’t have to know about it, why do you want to share?  What for attitude.  Whether he is sick or not, that is his business.  If you have food to give or medicine then give it and please leave “me” alone attitude. 

This is the boy who is admitted to Agape . . .

God loves these boys as much as He loves you and me.  While young (between the ages of 7 and 16), the trauma and tragedy that they have experienced is beyond our understanding.  Only through Jesus’s sacrifice, grace, and love can these boys hope to recover from the worst of this world.  Please keep the street boys of Kisumu and the boys of Agape in your hearts and prayers!

Transportation Options in Kisumu

When traveling on the roads in Kisumu, you will come across a number of different forms of transportation.  You, of course, will see a large number of people walking, but if someone need to get somewhere quickly they have a number of options.

Boda Boda (bow-duh):  You will see a ton of bikes on the road and almost all of them are taxis.  There are large padded seats over the back tire so that riders can sit comfortably.  According to one of Agape's managers, bikes were first used to ferry people across the border between Uganda and Kenya, hence the work "boda" or "border."

Piki Piki (picky):  For a little faster (and more expensive) mode of travel, you can take a piki.  These motorcycles have a large "backseat" as well, for a rider's comfortable seating.  Piki's are very unsafe; there is a young man in a coma right now from a piki accident that goes to the church we attended this past Sunday.

Matatu (Muh-tot-two):  Matatus are usually used for longer distance travel.  The drivers customize their matatus with all sorts of names and colors.  I might add "Interesting Matatu Names" to my blog lists.  Drivers pack as many people as possible into the vehicles.  

Tuk Tuk (took):  A tuk tuk looks like a 3-wheeled go-cart, and can carry as many as 3 passengers.  The tuk tuk earned it's name because of the "took-took" sounds the engine makes.  

And when you need to carry a heavier load, you can always pull a trailer.  

Just Jik It!

Everyone in Kenya uses a brand of bleach called Jik (pronounced jeek), and just like Americans they have turned this noun into a verb.  When you bleach something, you "jik" it.  (Just like in the US, if you want to search something online, you "google" it.)

Now, you have a number of different uses for bleach in Kenya.  Because the water isn't safe to drink, all fruits or vegetables must be washed in bleach water to kill any bacteria or other scary things living on the skin. (Bananas and oranges are okay, because you don't eat the peel.)  So, you'll commonly hear, "Have you jiked the lettuce?" or "I just jiked those potatoes and apples."  You might wonder if everything tastes and smells like bleach, but you only use a small amount of bleach in the water.

Another area where Jik is used is in washing dishes.  Because we don't use bottled water to wash dishes, you cannot simply rinse soapy dishes in tap water.  Instead, you have to "jik" your dishes after they are washed.  Please see below for a demonstration:

Initially, dishes are simply scrubbed in the same manner that you would scrub in the US (minus throwing them in the dishwasher).

The dishes are then placed and soaked in bleach water, effectively "jiking" the dishes.

The dishes are then dried and put away.

*Editor's Note:  The Jik model above was not pictured due to his capabilities as a dishwasher, but instead because of his striking good looks.

Funny & Tasty Food in Kenya #2

After so many comments on our last food posting, I decided to do another one.  Here are a few more foods that we've encountered here in Kisumu:

No, it's not beer.  This is Stoney Tangawizi.  It tastes like very strong ginger ale.  Pretty good; Tammy doesn't like it, though, because it kinds of burns when you drink it.

No, not beer again.  Novida and Alvaro are malt, fruit soft drinks and are delicious.  Novida comes in Pineapple, while Alvaro comes in Pineapple, Passion Fruit, and Pear.  These are our favorite drinks in Kenya!  (Guinness also has a malt fruit drink that we haven't tried yet, but all of you would definitely think we're drinking beer then!)

All ice cream (that we've found so far) is made without eggs or gelatin, due to the large Indian, vegetarian population in Kenya.  It's still pretty good, though.

Pick 'N Peel juice is really good and comes in Apple, Orange, and Mango.  The Mango is really strong, and we have to dilute it.  And yes, it looks like a big juice box!

All of the water that we drink is bottled, so we have to buy these large bottles of water for drinking and brushing our teeth.  They cost around $5 (after you get the deposit for the bottle back).  We'll probably go through 3-4 per week.

Here's Lyla (Miss Priss) helping Tammy cook pancakes this morning.

Here's the final product!  Tammy used Mandazi flour to make them.  We had it with a side of "streaky bacon." Yum!

Unfortunately, you can only buy whole chickens here . . . no filets.  You end up paying around $5 per chicken at the store.  The good news, though, is that one of our managers at Agape raises her own chickens and sells them.  Evidently, they are delicious!   

Tammy was very excited to find Snickers at the Tuskys in town and purchased and undisclosed number of them.

I saved the best for last!  Kachumbari is the hands-down best thing I have tasted in Kenya.  It most closely tastes like spicy salsa.  I've eaten it on tacos, with a sandwich, and on pizza.  It is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Kisumu Impala Park

We celebrated the end of our first week in Kisumu with a visit to the Kisumu Impala Park, which is about 3 miles from our house.  The park is like a small zoo; the difference, though, is that you can get really close to the animals (see pictures below).  There are impalas and monkeys roaming free throughout the park (also monitor lizards, but we thankfully didn't see any of those).  The place is gorgeous and is right on Lake Victoria.

While our family was amazed by the lions, cheetahs, leopards, and monkeys, the local Kenyan children were more amazed with the family of mzungus (white people)!

Connor with some local girls . . . .

 . . . and boys.

Sutton speaking with boys from a local school.

A view of Lake Victoria

A monkey hangin' around.

A small bird

We had to pick up Lyla, because the leopard started stalking her everywhere she went.  Right now she's crouched and ready to pounce!

A monkey sitting on a post a few feet from us.

Sutton said that he was waiting on the monkey to jump on his head.

The family watches a herd of impalas.  There was one male and a bunch of females.

Another impala.

A fishing boat in the distance.

A fishing boat on Lake Victoria.

An impala and something I will call a rabbit-deer (cousin of the jackelope).

A Suttonelope.

A huge mama lion sleeping in the shade.  I had no idea that lions were so big. She had to weigh close to 350 pounds.

A spotted hyena, also much bigger than I expected.  He was the size of a large Saint Bernard.

Gotta love the symmetrical Cheetahs.

"Hello, Ms. Baboon."  

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Lyla."

More pics of the leopard (once again fixating on Lyla).

My beautiful ladies (minus Lyla)

Ants, ants, ants, you've got ants in your pants!

The other night, one of the kids spilled a little Fanta on the floor.  We wiped up the spill with paper towels, and then asked Sutton to wet a towel to wipe up afterwards (to make sure the floor wouldn't be sticky).  Sutton put the towel on the floor in the bathroom, and here is what is Tammy found a few hours later . . . .

ANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a similar experience the next evening at dinner.  We made pizzas, and while eating dinner, we left some of the dirty dishes on the counter.  Within a few minutes, the counter was COVERED in ants!

Funny & Tasty Food in Kenya #1

We are really lucky to have a very nice grocery store (Nakumatt Mega City) near our house in Kisumu, but the selection of foods is a little unusual.  Periodically, they will have US brands in stock, and the expats here will usually buy all of whatever shows up on the shelves (Ragu Spaghetti Sauce, Corn Flakes, etc.).  I'll try to periodically post some of the funny things that we find and buy here in Kisumu.

Yum!!! Come get your Streaky Bacon!!!  On our previous trip, all of the bacon we had in Africa just tasted like ham, but "streaky bacon" tastes awesome, just like good old American pig.

You can't find milk in a jug or a carton here in Kisumu . . . only in a bag.  You can buy boxed, shelf stable milk, as well, but real milk only comes in a bag.

Next time you go to Starbucks, you may have their Kenyan Blend, but the funny thing is that everyone in Kenya drinks instant coffee.  Personally, I think it's really good, but Tammy wants to try some other brands.

Zesto is Kiswahili for Smuckers . . . well, maybe not, but Zesto Strawberry Jelly is awesome.  It comes in a  soup can instead of a jar, but it is very good.  I think it's because they use cane sugar for their sweetener here, as opposed to corn syrup.  Their soft drinks taste a lot better here, too!