Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas from the beaches of Kenya!

Since we are lacking in the snow area this year, we thought for Christmas day we would make a "sandman" at the beach. We even drew a crowd of kids that wanted to join us in the making of sandman. Perhaps it will be a new Kenyan tradition...

Wishing you laughter and joy this Christmas season!

Jesus: "I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)" John 10:10 (AMP)

The beautiful invention of the bicycle!

My friends (Patrick, Abraham, Taya) and I embarked on our 2 bicycle adventure this past Saturday while we were staying in the village.

One thing I have learned thus far being in Kenya is when you think you know how long something will take, assume that it will take waaaayyyy longer. It is 25km to our destination and it is supposed to be a 2 hour ride... but it took from 9am until 6:00 to return home- with a 2 hour break to watch our friend's soccer game.

From this experience my new moto is, be prepared for anything! When the little voice says, carry water, your leatherman, some money and some snacks, listen. Even though people often question why you seem to be carrying too much stuff- there are times when they come in handy!

But another important thing I have learned is that if you are with the right people you can have a considerable amount of fun!

Who knew it could be so fun...

and so tiring...

or we could get so many tire punctures in one trip (over 5)...

Later in the week... testing out the tire repairs.

Our New Home!

Digging our garden. Our friends hanging around.

Since moving into the new village we are working in- I have been given a glimpse of the difficult reality of water for the people in rural Kenya. And as much as our team wants to live like the community- we can not in the area of water. We must bring tap water in many containers of water to our house which is then treated to make sure we do not get sick (we also collect rainwater). But we struggle to have enough to last for a week, rationing the water for drinking, cooking, washing dishes, bathing and cleaning the house. This is sometimes difficult and we often run out. The necessity of water again reinforced.

But THEN I look at the situation of everyone who permantly calls this home- they do not have the luxury of a shipment of clean water but are required to walk quite far to a water source that looks like this-

And for water that looks like this-

And this-

Dam water vs. Tap water

This past week we met with a health care worker in the community to discuss this issue of water and find out the effect on the health of people. Much of the sickness he treats is a result of the water people drink and the lack of sanitation facilities. A water sample was taken recently and tested in a lab and it was found to be so contaminated that the health care worker would only report that the results were "embarrassing." Now I am not an expert in water but I now seen with my own eyes, the level of contamination and how sick it makes people.

This again reinforced the importance of the filter. In my head, ideally it would be great if everyone had access to piped water from a spring but this is not going to happen very soon or maybe at all. While the promise of piped water to rural areas from the politicans continues-(especially during election time) these people continue to hang in the balance. It is especially the children who suffer from taking this water. We have met many children along our way with skin problems and stomachs expanded from worms from the water. So really, the next best option for these people is the filter. Taking the water they already have and making it safe to drink.

If you are interested in helping continue this work of building filters to provide clean water for people, check out the "Turn on the Tap" project on the Samaritan's Purse website. There is a video on this link that explains the filter program more in detail.

http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/ourwork/water/Default.aspx

If you do decide to support "Turn on the Tap," please send me a message or email so I can thank you. It really makes a difference in the lives of many people.

Peace and Joy to you during this Christmas season.

Teresa :~)

The Water Intern Team

This is what the Water Interns look like in the city...

Judy, Taya, Winnie & Teresa

This is us in the community...

Water Intern Profiles:

Judy: Our quiet, deep thinker diva. Our expert at doing imitations of team members quirks and trademarks. The guru at teaching in our community participation meetings.

Winnie: Our spunky advocate. Passionate at challenging the people, compassionate heart for the watoto (children). Likes change: has had 5 different hairstyles since we met in September.

Taya: Our hardworker who keeps us motivated and on time. Great at connecting with the community.

Teresa: I try to keep things fun.

A reminder of things before the grocery store...

Please be aware that this material may be sensitive for some…

You would think that as a farm girl I would be more brave when “knowing where the food comes from.” I know that chocolate milk does not come from brown cows and nicely packaged boneless, skinless meat does not grow in the garden. But how often do you really think about the process that needs to happen in order to have your food in that form.

So our team was given the gift of 2 chickens on our way back from work on Friday. There is a very warm and welcoming woman that invited us to her house for chai and chapatis. And we left with our bellies full and two tied up chickens. One tried to make a run for it, out of the truck just as we were leaving so I had to chase it down and tackle it. On our next stop it again took off and Winnie (other intern) and I chased it through the compound and I trapped it under my leso (wrap skirt). We again confirmed the beliefs of the people in our housing area since we were screaming and running in between houses trying to get the chicken- man, they can run fast, even with their legs half tied.


It turns out that isn’t really a good thing for me to have a 3 hour drive back home to Mombasa- that is enough time to get emotionally attached. And once you have named them they aren't just some chickens but become more like pets...So here is Cha & Kula. (chakula= food) I was trying to prepare myself and be brave and make light of the situation...


So… in the end I wasn’t able to help the chickens go “missing.” (despite my threats of this and advocacy by hiding the box) They then met their end this evening and me trying to be brave... it was like watching a scary movie when you are interested but don't really want to see what is going to happen so you watch through the spaces between your fingers or the holes in the blanket. But, I have to remind myself that this is necessary in order for us to have food.

I guess I have been living in the city too long…

Well, I better sign off- Cha-Kula is now ready- literally. Off to go eat!

(by the way, I couldn’t bring myself to eat the chicken.)


I will spare you from the "other" pictures that I took around this incident.

Happy 3rd Birthday Emma!!!

I wish you a very happy birthday as you celebrate your 3rd birthday.

I hope you have a fun day. I send my love and hugs to you.

Here are some of my friends that I met in the community I am working in.

You would have fun playing with them.

A Window into My World

A visual tour of my job...

This is my Monday to Friday House.

It is a great house with great neighbour children that play with us when we are home from work. It has running water and we use lantern at night (aka no electricity). But hey we have built in National Geographic channel.

(we share our house with some fun wildlife- rats, bats, ants, a pet spider that "mysteriously" disappeared, snake, hedgehog?, & super jumping frogs and brightly coloured frogs. They have free reign while we are gone for the weekend...)

While I used to be stuck in traffic because of car accidents or bad weather... I have a different kind of traffic jam...

Our work site in Kazamoyo. The people in the community have been so graciously welcoming to us.

Stay tuned for the unveiling of our final product- the BioSand water filter! A simple design that makes a huge difference in the lives of these beautiful people.