This is real.

There aren’t many words for today. We had three activities today, in the morning, lunchtime, and afternoon.

We spent the morning talking to Pamela about the HIV/AIDS situation here in Kenya. We went through a lot of material and articles in order to better understand the virus, and the way that it is viewed. It was heartbreaking to read the questions sent in by readers to the editors of the magazines. What we discovered was a lack of education and an enormous social stigma. Basically, people will not go to get tested, even if there is a chance they may be infected. This was extremely hard to swallow and to understand. We just hope that we can play a tiny small part in educating while we are here. I know that there will be plenty of opportunity to help with education and testing as we work with some of the medical camps/clinics. Be praying for an opportunity to help this crisis in any way possible.

Lunchtime was very exciting! We met with the Kenyan missionary couple from Kajiado (we will work with them all of next week). They live in Maasai (a tribe in Kenya that has preserved its culture very well) land in a very rural area. We will join them next week and help in the schools, with a health clinic, in the church, in the villages, on the farms, and on a community development water project –building a small dam. We are excited about our chance to be able to experience and serve in a more rural village. Another thing that left us busting with excitement on our walk back to the guest house for lunch was the answer to a seemingly basic question from Holly. She asked the missionaries if she would be able to run sometime. They said, ‘Well yeah sure, there is a lot of wildlife around, like zebras and giraffes. You can chase the giraffes if you want.’ I don’t think we stopped talking about that all day! I think a few of us are now motivated to get into better shape so that we can go running in Kajiado!

After lunch, we met back up with Pamela and headed to visit some partner churches in Kibera. Some of you may have heard of Kibera, it is the largest slum in Kenya and supposedly one of the largest in the world. We were split up into two groups – Daniel and I went with a pastor and two LIA staff, and Holly, Lauren, and Ben went with Pamela and another pastor. Daniel and I visited the pastor’s church, where his wife was teaching preschool. I can’t even describe it to you, except that there was a packed dirt floor, mud/concrete walls, and a tin roof. All of the kids were adorable! Some were kids of church members and a couple of them were orphans. We got to visit with them for a bit and I got to hold a lovely little girl while the kids enjoyed their snacks. We then went to a nursery where three women were taking care of about 8 or 9 babies all under the age of 1. They were in a little building; similar to the church, but it was about the size of a standard walk-in closet. We were blessed to be able to visit with these women and encourage and pray for them. Last, we went to visit one of the women from the church in her home. She touched my heart. Her name is Juliet, and she is a beautiful young woman. She has a son and a daughter, ages 1 and 4. Last September she lost her husband and she recently got tested for HIV and was found positive. We can’t even begin to imagine how hard life is for her. We gave all the encouragement that we could give and were blessed to see her smile as we left. Please keep her in your prayers.

On our way out of the slums, it began to rain. This meant that dirt turned to mud and small puddles turned to tiny streams, full of garbage and sewage. The rain felt beautiful and created a wonderful rainbow, but the knowledge that everything we just walked through would make its way into the houses of those who lived below was heartbreaking – if that’s even the right word. Needless to say, the ride back to home for us was pretty quiet. I don’t have many more words to describe today, except that it was full of excitement, crushing realities, and a drive to prayer.