Communication

Communication, in all its many and splendid forms,

on display in the Eastleigh Community Centre

We have the joy of working with our Somali friend Zahra who is serving as the community coordinator for the Somali women's groups through the ECC. Zahra recently wrote a report of her activities with the women including a brief description of the ESL program that she serves in with us. With her permission, we wanted to share a short excerpt with you.

"Language is an important part of communication, which forms a greater part of life. Failure of any component in a given community to learn and understand the common language in any setting creates a basis for discrimination. Refugees running from war torn zones and countries find themselves in foreign lands with different people speaking different languages. This discriminates and isolates them from other communities just because they cannot communicate in their language. Somalian refugees living in Kenya find themselves in a land where Kiswahili and English are common. With only the Somali language, refugees find themselves unable to communicate with other people. Access to basic needs from shops and other outlets has for a long term proven to be a milestone. There is a growing need for an organization to help refugees learn the common languages of Kenya. Communities will participate in activities that improve their living standards.

Together with the Eastleigh Community Centre, we have started an initiative through an ESL program.The main aim of the program is to help refugees, basically women, to learn, communicate, and write in English. The program runs two classes with an attendance of sixty women. It has been in existence for four weeks and the beneficiaries have been taught some basic English like greetings and commonly used words. The two classes run from 10 am to 12:30 pm, Monday to Friday every week.

There have been improvements by the students through greetings in English and enhanced confidence among them. Students have been urged to learn despite their inability to read and write."

Please continue to keep this ministry in your prayers. We are very proud of the Somali women who are struggling onward with the English program: Learning a second language is a slow and difficult task. One of the most fun elements of our class is Erica's "Physical Response Activities": Erica will say an English verb in the imperative and act it out: She will say "Stand!", for instance, and then she will stand. The Students watch and listen as she introduces a new verb or two each day and then they will respond as she asks them to "Stand". Erica has introduced dozens of basic verbs and now the students are able to tell her what actions she acts out at the front of the class, for instance: stand, sit, walk, run, read, draw, write, drink, jump, throw, open, close, kick, drive, fly, show me, come, go,... and the list goes on. The ladies fill the class with laughter as they try to keep up with Erica's lightening list of commands "Stand, run, fly, eat, sleep!"

All is Well

We wanted to let you know that the BWA youth team is all doing very well and enjoying their time serving in Mombassa. They will be completing their project there this weekend and then returning to the city. Everyone is doing fine!

The renovations in Eastleigh continued today and the classroom is looking better and better. We had many little visitors as children from the school took every chance they had to come and see us working the noisy skill saw that was echoing throughout the centre. It was a surprise to see every little scrap of leftover lumber and chipboard being snatched up by the kids who started playing with the bits of wood. It was certainly and easy project to clean up.

Summer vacation is soon drawing to a close for Tristan and Emma, we actually did a little back-to-school shopping yesterday. Rosslyn Academy returns for a new school year on August 12. Both Tristan and Emma are very excited to meet their new teachers. It will be great for them to get back into the school day rythym.

Hitting the Ceiling

Andai played "spiderman" for us

crawling the rafters as we work this week

in renovations at the Eastleigh Community Centre.

Erica and the demolition crew

A big thanks to Ryan and Jason, members of the BWA youth team, who lent us a hand in Eastleigh today as we worked with Andai in tearing down a rotten ceiling in our ESL classroom at the Eastleigh Community Centre. We are excited to be able to spruce up the classroom for the Somali women who use this space for learning English and supporting one another as they struggle as women living in a male dominated culture.

Tonight we also had the pleasure of getting to know the Chute family from Truro, Nova Scotia. Tim and Lisa have come to Kenya with their two sons, Max and Simon, to live and serve at Rosslyn Academy where Tim will be the middle school principal. It is great to have fellow maratimers living in Nairobi!

Jason, Aaron, Andai and Ryan after the dust settled

in our classroom/construction zone

Wondering Where the Lions Are.

Tristan and Erica out for a hike with Sprite,

the resident tour guide at Acacia Camp

We were humming Bruce Cockburn's "Wondering Where the Lions Are" on Sunday morning at Acacia Camp as we enjoyed some long walks under the yellow acacia trees and through the sun burnt plains. A lone male lion has been roaming throughout the private reserve where our friends and colleagues Tim and Diane Bannister live. Fortunately, our paths never crossed with the lion who isn't typically active during the day (It is at night that Tim and Diane usually hear him).

We stayed out at Acacia for the weekend with the White Rock Short-term Mission (STM) team that have been serving with us in Eastleigh this past week. They were a big help getting classrooms prepared for the primary children at the centre. We will miss you Glen, Debbie, Dave and Dianne! Tristan and Emma had such a fun time battling in games of 99 and competing in Canadian trivia. We will all keep trying to win bonus points! And yes Dave, we'll do our best to "keep between the lines". The White Rock team flies out tonight.

While enjoying the beauty of Kenyan wildlife at Acacia, the team took part in debriefing sessions with the Bannisters who are responsible for all Canadian Baptist STMs in Kenya. Tim and Diane have had a busy summer hosting several teams including one which arrived today.

A troop of vervet monkeys gathered to form a welcoming party

for the latest STM arriving early this morning.

The Bannisters will be leading an STM of youth who are participating in the 2008 Baptist World Alliance youth gathering in Leipzig, Germany. About 220 youth from across Canada have journeyed around the world to serve in STMs in places like Germany, France, Rwanda and Kenya before converging in Leipzig for the world gathering. The team, who arrived bright and early for breakfast at Acacia, will spend the next week on the Indian Ocean near the port city of Mombasa where they will be working with an Africa Brotherhood Church in the construction of a water project. The team is made up of youth from both a church from Whitby, Ontario and another near Calgary, Alberta. We pray that their time in Kenya is transformational!

Tim Bannister officially welcoming members of the

Baptist World Alliance Youth STM to Kenya

before setting out on long days journey to Kibwazi.

Getting into the rhythm

A female student skipping during recess

at the Eastleigh Community Centre

Today was a great day in Eastleigh with the women's ESL class showing great improvement with their participation in the classes. They are obviously putting a lot of effort into studying their vocabulary and working through the take home lessons. They are definitely getting into the rhythm!

We are also finding the new projects and programs in Eastleigh a positive change. We are very excited to see what the Lord has in store for these women as they work together. One new development has been an interest from the Eastleigh Pottery ministry to have Erica work with a group of Somali women to design and create ceramic bead jewelry with the potters. Many Somali women are very skilled artists with henna which they use to create beautiful designs on their arms and legs. Erica has begun working on the ground-work for this as an income generating project for women in the group.

Jon Hodgeson left the city today by bus to join Yattani with the school in Dadaab. Jon will be teaching in Dadaab for the remainder of the month. He should be a big hit up there, not only because he comes armed with a stack of Alive and Kicking footballs, but because he is really interested in building good relationships with the students there. We pray that Jon will have a fun and fruitful experience serving in Dadaab.

In Prayer

Please remember us tomorrow morning as meet with the social worker for Ava's adoption. His report is required for the adoption to go through.

Pray with us for the health of our students in Eastleigh. It has been very cold and wet in Nairobi for the past several weeks and many of the students have been sick.

We also pray for our colleague Andai whose home was broken into while he has been working in Dadaab this month. A neighbour has been checking in on his house and it seems that many of his personal things have been stolen.

Please be in prayer for John and Eloise Bergen; the couple serving in Kenya's western city of Kitali with "Hope for the Nations" who were attacked in a home invasion last Thursday evening. Members of their family arrive today in Nairobi to visit the couple who are recovering from multiple injuries in hospital.

Click here to read more: News Report

July 2008 Prayer Update

We want to thank everyone who has been keeping Somali ministry and our family in prayer. Please continue to pray for our colleagues the Carlines as they continue to support Paul's mom and dad (No new information on how Peter's cancer treatment is going).

* Please also pray for the many short term missionaries who are serving here with us this summer: Jon Hodgeson, an elementary school teacher from British Columbia (married to Bob and Ann Swan's daughter Sarah) has come for three weeks to teach in Dadaab; Paul and Jennifer Ward (Ron and Joan Ward's son and daughter-in-law) arrived last week and are now in Garissa for two weeks; And the White Rock team that will be finishing their project in Dadaab and returning to Niarobi on Tuesday where they will be serving with us in Eastleigh.

* Please pray for the Somali women's group at the Eastleigh Community Centre. Our ESL classes are going very well and new students continue to arrive seeking space in the morning classes. Thanks to our friend Zahra's help, we are able to hold two classes each week day morning. We pray for these women who face many difficulties with dedicating the time for attending classes and studying English amidst their many family responsibilities.

We had a scary experience on Friday night coming home from the airport after dropping Jon Hodgeson off at the Carline's house. While driving home along the dark winding Peponi Road, a belt snapped in our vehicle stranding us on road at about 11:30 pm. We managed to get it off the steep road out of harms way from the rushing cars and contacted a towing company, but it took nearly an hour for the tow truck to arrive. This wouldn't be much more than an inconvenience in Canada, but here it was dangerous and more than a little scary. We were harassed by a few inebriated men, but in answer to prayer the Lord provided us with a Good Samaritan, a Kenyan named Robinson. Our baby sitters were greatly relieved to have us home when we finally got back after 1:00 am. We are so thankful for everyone who regularly prays for our safety and for the well being of the people of Kenya.

Anniversary Getaway

On July 10th, we celebrated our

tenth wedding anniversary

with a night away together.

We spent the night at Malu, a beautiful farm on the hillsides above Lake Naivasha about an hour and a half outside of Nairobi. Not only does Malu have wonderful gardens and fresh produce, but the farm has horseback riding over its expansive acreage. Along with the farm animals there are zebra, buffalo, baboon and leopards roaming the hills around the farm. It was such a peaceful place to enjoy!

We spent most of the afternoon cuddling up together with a book on this great big comfy coach overlooking the Rift Valley.

The potter's hands

Our friend James, at Eastleigh Pottery, is giving Tristan and Emma some pottery lessons this summer at the community centre. We are so blessed to have him sharing his talent and time with our children. He is such a gentle and godly man, it is evident that God has been shaping his life as he has given the past twenty years of his life serving this community.

Both Tristan and Emma are having a lot of fun creating beautiful things out of Kenyan stone and earth -- Emma has always had a fondness for playing in the mud, but James tells us that she is a natural potter.

Serving Somali Women

ECC director, Ehud Gachugu; Volunteer Community Facilitator and teaching assistant, Zahra Aziz, and Erica & Aaron Kenny.

Today marked the beginning of a new ESL (English as a Second Language)Program that we are launching with the Eastleigh Community Centre (ECC). The program comes out of need expressed by the Eastleigh Mother's Self Help Group that formed last month who saw their lack of English as a primary barrier to finding a livelihood and financial independence for their families. In partnership with ECC, we are moving forward with these vulnerable mothers to help them with achieving basic levels of literacy and fluency in English. The ECC has generously provided us with a classroom and has registered the women into their vocational program free of charge.

It is our shared dream that through their participation in the ESL classes and the ECC program, the members of the women's self help group will develop the vocational ability, micro enterprise skills, confidence, and support needed to provide for their families. It is an exciting time for Somali ministry as we journey forward with these women in faith.

Erica registering a Somali mother for the new

ESL classes at the Eastleigh Community Centre

In Prayer:

* Please remember the White Rock team as they continue to serve the Dadaab Community with our colleagues Yattani and Andai.

* Pray for Paul and Kelly Carline as they share this summer with Paul's family in New Brunswick, as Paul's father Peter Carline undergoes treatment for cancer.

* Please pray for our friend Yusuf as he and several of the Somali women who had been in Erica's Friday women's group have come together to form a community organization. Together they are working to combat clanism and the roots of conflict within the Somali community in Eastleigh. Please pray for them as they work for peace!

Happy Canada Day!

Tristan and Emma made their own posters for Canada Day this year.

The kids also decorated our door and themselves for Canada day!

To celebrate Canada Day, we hiked to the top of Mt. Longonot, an extinct volcano rising 1000 meters out of the Great Rift Valley near Nairobi. It was a great hike, we met zebra, giraffe and several varieties of antellope as we climbed up to the crater rim.

Tristan planting his mini Canadian flag on top of Mt. Longonot

In the background you can see into the 2 km-wide crater that is home to its own "lost world" of lush green forest.

Tristan and Emma very dirty and windblown after

climbing back down the dusty trails of Mt. Longonot.