So – here it is – my second and final week with the Refugee Learning Team. Last Thursday we finished our time in Rwanda, ending with supper at the home of IT Canada missionaries Jenn and Serge and their three children Prince, Isabelle and Benny. I look forward to seeing them again when they in Canada over Christmas.
Friday we left Kigali for Nairobi. Along the way we have been having a bit of fun making up captions for what we’re seeing – future books perhaps? Rwanda we had nicknamed “Shades of Green”. As we flew over Kenya approaching the Nairobi airport we came up with “Brown and Flat”. What a difference between the two countries from the air! But regardless of the bleak introduction, I truly felt that I was HOME!! (And, yes, the first impression of “brown and flat” has since changed for us all…)
"Brown and flat" - a view of the Rift Valley
I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally have returned to Kenya. Perhaps the first country you visit in each continent will always be your favourite. No idea. But as much as I loved Rwanda, Kenya felt like home. After almost three years, but with almost daily contact with my Kenyan friend Edina and the work of Home of Grace literally taking over our lives in Burlington I really do feel like part of me is here – so part of me was home again at last! Calling Edina on my Kenyan phone to say I had arrived put a smile on my face that has been hard to erase.
The International Teams group that were our hosts here in Nairobi work with urban refugees from the Horn of Africa. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees living,not in refugee camps, but in the city of Nairobi. The team’s work here is not easy as the group of people they serve face severe hardship as they try to make lives here in Nairobi. One percent of them will be lucky enough to be resettled to Canada, the United States or Australia and New Zealand. The rest will continue to wait and make ends meet. Other refugees from the same area live in two large refugee camps closer to the Sudanese and Somalian borders, but the violence and hardship these families experienced there forced them to make the flight further south to Nairobi. Dhotun and his team of six do an amazing job with families here, helping with education and school scholarships, job training (sewing groups for women) and bible study, support and friendship to those who are Christian. One is Canadian, three are Americans (originaly Ami is from the Philippians and Dhotun is from Nigeria) and two are Kenyan. They gave us an incredibly warm welcome and were so helpful and hospitable to us during our five days here.
Dhotun - team leader of International Team's "Impact Nairobi"
Saturday we drove out to the Great Rift Valley then joined in a Christian fellowship time with the refugees they work with. Sunday we worshiped at Nairobi Chapel and then had a tourist day of feeding the giraffes at the Giraffe Centre and driving around Nairobi. Monday I had the chance to travel to two schools where IT supports students. We travelled by mutatu (public bus) and negotiated the jam-packed streets of Nairobi as we travelled from one end of the city to the other – a great experience! I had a great day with Jack, the IT person who coordinates the children’s work. He attended high school in Kisii where Edina lives so we had even more in common!
The Team - Scott, Sharon, Kim, me, Katie and Rhoda - outside Nairobi Chapel on Sunday morning.
Tuesday was in many ways the highlight of the refugee learning team’s trip – we had the incredible privilege of visiting the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees), walking through the process that newly arrived refugees do and having a very open question and answer session with two of the senior staff there – one a Canadian from Quebec and the other a Kenyan friend of the IT team. I was totally impressed by the humane and compassionate way they related to the hundreds of people waiting to be processed who have faced and are facing such incredible personal hardship. It is not a job for the faint of heart!
Headquarters of UNHRC - United National HIgh Commission for Refugees - in Nairobi. The starting point of the 'official' part of the Refugee Highway.entry point for
This visit was followed on Wednesday by a time of fellowship with a group of refugee women. They openly shared their stories with us – tragic stories of war, violence and despair in their home countries, in refugee camps and now in Nairobi where they now wait. They struggle to provide for their families, holding out hope not for themselves, but for their children and grandchildren.
Last night we shared a great evening with the entire IT Nairobi team and then packed up – ready for the next step of the journey. Three of the Canadians left this morning to return to Canada – at 4:30 am – Kim leaves tonight. Scott (the author of scressman.wordpress. com – check it out for a great description of what we’ve been seeing and doing these past two weeks!) stays until the end of June. And me? Well, my journey is still in beginning stages….!\
The best news of all is that Craig arrives tomorrow night. YAHOO! So today I shift gears as I move into the home of our new friend Dan where we will stay until next Wednesday. Craig and I will tour Nairobi, enjoy a day-long safari and then one week from now we’ll be on our way to Kisii and Edina and Home of Grace. Can’t wait!!!
Until the next time,
Cathy
