Mt. Kenya

Views of the Mt. Kenya peaks

just below them at Shipton's Camp

Erica and Aaron at Old Moses Hut

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Monkeying Around

A Colobus Monkey

We met this curious Colobus monkey at Lake Naivasha this past weekend with the Doerksen family visiting us from Willowlake Baptist Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Doerksen family have been volunteering with the Iftin Women's Empowerment Program in Eastleigh.

To read more about what we've been up to this month, please check out our new blog at www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

A hippo in Lake Niavasha, Rift Valley, Kenya

Adventures in 2011

Emma in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro

January 4th, 2011

Following the elephants in

Amboseli National Park, Kenya

We invite you to follow us on our journey through 2011 as we live and serve with Canadian Baptist Ministries in Africa.

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Puppies

Henry and Reese!

Our family just keeps growing: today we welcomed two Bernese Border puppies into our lives. When we moved into our apartment on Brookside Court, two years ago, we were not allowed to bring our dog Maizi. Although we found a wonderful new home for her with our friend Andai and his family, we were very sad to lose her as part of our family. We had promised ourselves that one day when we were blessed with a home with a yard that we'd have a family dog. We never dreamed of two dogs!

Emma cuddling Reese

Last week, in our busyness of moving in, we began to research available breeds and puppies in Nairobi. On Friday, Paul & Kelly Carline introduced us to neighbours of theirs who had a litter of Bernese Mountain dog/Border Colie puppies -- Our search was over! Over our few visits, we fell in love with these gentle giants. The family have had Bernese dogs for about 15 years. We enjoyed not only the puppies but the five beautiful adult dogs. Together with the kids, we decided to name our dogs after candy bars. It was a tough choice, but in the end O'Henry and Reese Peanut Butter Cups won out. Neither are available in Kenya, so we've already had to explain what these chocolate bars are like to friends.

Tristan playing with Henry

until the last rays of the sun went down.

We pray that their first night goes well. Tomorrow we will be building a dog house together for Henry and Reese. We are looking forward to a fun family day with the puppies.

Spic and Span

Today was clean up time in Eastleigh, as the Eastleigh Community Centre prepared for the re-opening of the kindergarten, primary school, and community programs for 2009. Unlike the North American education system which straddles two calendar years, the Kenyan school year beginnings in January and is completed in November. Rather than a summer vacation, the Kenyan system has a month long break over every fourth month (Schools are closed for April, August and December).



Having closed down our ESL program nearly a month ago, we returned to find our classroom under a thick brown coat of dust and grime.

Emma and Tristan were a great help as we cleaned every inch of the class right down to each book on the shelves!

Zahra and Erica a little tired after a big day of cleaning.

We are very excited to welcome back the women of Iftin tomorrow! There is much in store for this ministry as we begin 2009. We will be sure to keep you all posted.

Please keep Somali Ministry in your prayers.

* We pray for the return of the refugee women who have been a part of the English language program and for the new families that God will bring into the centre this year. We pray especially for a spirit of peace and cooperation to grow and develop among this community of women.

* We lift these women up before the Lord that they will grow in confidence and hope for their future and the future of their children. We pray especially for women of integrity to emerge as leadership among this community.

* We pray for the health and wellness of the people of Eastleigh. Just this morning, as we snaked through traffic, we caught a glimpse of a young mother staggering along the road with a glue bottle in her hand and a baby slung on her back. Addiction to solvents is a common way for people to deal with physical hunger and emotional pain. We pray for this woman, her child and others like her suffering in despair.

* We thank God for our team mate Yattani Gollo and his wife Salomi, they were just recently married. They leave Nairobi tomorrow morning to establish their first home together in Garissa. Yattani and Salomi will be responsible for much of the Somali Ministry in Garissa for CBM.

Moi Day

On Friday, Kenya celebrated Moi Day (in honor of the second president of Kenya, Daniel Moi). We had the fun of hosting a party with the fourteen members of the Iftin group who had taken part in the International Literacy Day in September. It was a great time of getting to know some of the Iftin women better as we shared food and laughter together in our apartment.

Erica preparing Somali Chai for the party.

A Simple Recipe: A little water, lots of milk, too much sugar, loose tea, and Masala spices (black pepper, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg).

Erica and Emma with our friend Oromia, who was the only Oromo woman present at the party. We have the pleasure of teaching several Oromo refugees who have come to Eastleigh in exile from Ethiopia. The Oromo people are Cushitic cousins of the Somali tribe, and they are the largest people group living in Ethiopia (about 32% of the population). Oromia is a very bright student and we so proud of how well she is learning English.

Our friend Jess Buchanan is one of the fourth grade teachers at Rosslyn Academy. The Iftin ladies really enjoyed getting to know Jess and bringing her into the group dancing and sharing about life in Somalia.

Some of the ladies helping Emma learn the ways of the head wrap. There are several different styles of head coverings worn by Somali women. Most start out with a simple scarf.

And of course, what is a Somali party without henna?

Our friend Bisharo decorated several of the ladies including Erica and Emma (above) who had their feet beautifully decorated.

In Prayer:

Please remember our friend Kerry who left for home last night after the tragic death of her aunt.

Please continue to pray for the ministry in Eastleigh and Northeast province. Many of the Somali women continue to struggle on in their studies, but it is not easy.

Finally, we pray that you will all have a wonderful Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend! We will be traveling out to the Bannister's home with Chuck and Peggy French on Sunday to share a turkey with several members of our CBM team.

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.

Hell's Gate

Hell's Gate National Park -- Kenya

Inside the spectacular Hell's Gate gorge!

Wes and Erica ready to set out at the trail head

with two very happy little passengers

We wanted to share with you an amazing adventure we had on our day off this past week when we joined some friends for a day hike in Hell's Gate.

About an hour and a half outside of Nairobi in the centre of the great rift valley, lies Hell's Gate National Park. The park is named after the unusual geothermal activity that creates hot springs and steam vents throughout the steep-cliffed canyons and gorges carved throughout this portion of the great valley. We went to the park for the first time with our friends, the Enns family. Arriving around mid morning, we first hiked together through a breathtaking gorge.

Coming out of the gorge, we hiked down through a narrow fissure to the riverbed below. Along the way we met steaming waterfalls created by hot springs. At several points along the way, the four adults needed to pass the children down through the steep crack. At one point, we needed to stand in stream of hot water falling from above us, in order to get the kids safely down. Needless to say, we were drenched... but it was a ball!

Once in the riverbed at the bottom of the canyon, we hiked for over an hour mesmerized by the incredible rock formations. Our friends knew there was an easier way out of the canyon than going back through the fissure, so we continued to push onwards in search of the trail. After a while, we were getting frustrated and desperate knowing that our cars were getting further and further behind us. Wes and I continued to scout ahead for a trail up the cliff face, but to no avail.

But the Lord provided us with an angel: after fruitlessly scanning the shore line for a trail to take us up and out of the canyon, a little Kenyan boy appeared out of nowhere walked bare foot down the river. He only spoke Kiswahili, but with our two days worth of Swahili training under our belt from last summer, we learned that his name was Joseph and that he could lead us to a Ranger. With his help we found some of Hell's Gate's incredible natural steam vents, and a goat trail out of the valley.

Following the goats out of the canyon, Joseph led us to a local Masai village where a Masai woman brought us out to the park picnic area and car park. It was an unforgettable day and one of the best family adventures we have ever had!!

Erica and Ava approaching a Masai village

The Dad's were all wet after passing the children down
through the "steamy" water fall.


Mommy and Ava in Hell's Gate Gorge