Mission Trip - Lemoru, Kenya

As soon as we got off the plane in Nairobi the smell of the warm red African earth hit us and we knew we were on an adventure in a wonderful country full of amazing sites and sounds and experiences.

The trip to Lemoru included Garold and Lori, Dan, Colin, Rob, Jonathan, Tim, Chris and Anthea, Hannah, William and Floyd from USA and Kennedy our more than helpful Kenyan guide and youth pastor. 

We were going up country to Lemoru to visit the Nandi Christian Community run by James and Sarah and Joshua Sawe, Shadrack and Rebecca Kebenei and the elders to help with the medical clinic they were building. We also visited the school and children’s home that is at the heart of their community. Lemoru means ‘salt in the earth’ and we found a people who were indeed God’s salt in the earth.

Our journey in two heavily loaded matatus took us past beautiful frangipani blossom trees and road side traders selling lush green plants and brightly coloured bouraganvillias and all manner of other things being sold along the road side from elegant wooden furniture to scrawny chickens tied in a basket.  

Journey

It was Sunday and we could hear rousing singing wafting from the open windows of many church buildings and see groups of people sitting in the shade of a tree listening to a pastor holding an open bible.  Dust filled the air in the city but as we drove further north it cleared with the help of the rain and we could see over the weald to the further side of the wide rift valley and the mountains beyond. 

It was an amazing view with miles of thorn bush and grassy scrub covering the red earth. We were told there were wild animals but we only saw a troop of baboons by the road side scratching for fleas and scraps of food in the dirt.   We stopped for a delicious breakfast in a diner in the heart of Nairobi. It served as a book shop as well so we picked up some school supplies and wall charts to take into school the following day. There were several huge stork sitting high up in a tree on the other side of the road and a beautiful jacaranda tree full of purple flowers.

We travelled on for about six hours crossing the Equator and many townships with tiny shacks by the roadside, children playing in the soft red earth and locals selling ripe green melons and deep yellow bananas from wooden stalls made from sticks.  We saw a donkey, heavily laden, slowly plodding up the hill, a lady bent over carrying fire wood on her shoulders and maize standing tall in the fields or being cooked on a small open fire, ready to eat and men herding goats by the pond in the dust. By night the goatherds light a fire and keep watch. It reminded me of the Christmas story.  

Welcome in the dark

We arrived in Eldoret, still 2 hours from Lemoru just before dark. The elders of the Lemoru community had come out especially to greet us and we were made very welcome.  We found the big supermarket and loaded up the already full matatus with supplies for the week of rice, potatoes, spaghetti, melon, bananas, apples, oranges, cabbage, spinach, kale, water, and tinned meat. We ate well that week with our supplies being added to by our chef from local chicken and lamb and of course maize.  Eldoret is the nearest town to Lemoru and so all our shopping had to be done there.  It was at least a 2 hour journey over dirt roads to get back again.  

We set off now feeling quite tired but still very excited. We travelled a little way on a tarmac road in the complete dark and then turned off into the bush down a road that was rutted and potholed because of the rain and the mud and the baking sun.  The structure of the road changes regularly as the sticky wet mud is constantly reshaped by the heavy vehicles and then dried in the strong sun. It becomes impassable in the rainy season.  There were no lights except the van headlights. We had to be careful of the potholes but also for the local people who were returning home down the road also in the complete dark except for the light of the moon and the starry sky. How they found their way was a mystery.  

After what seemed ages we turned a sharp corner and joined a flatter road amongst farmland and finally pulled into the compound through the gates of the children’s home.  Immediately we were greeted by the sound of children singing, with a sheep’s horn and a drum. 

“Welcome, welcome, You’re coming to Lemoru. Welcome, welcome. Your coming is a blessing!!”

We jumped out of the matatus and with the help of some light from the vans were received by the children and elders of the community at the start of a wonderful week at Lemoru.  They were very pleased to see us and sang and danced for us.  It was late and long past their bed time but they gave us such a welcome. We all prayed and thanked God for a safe journey and were then taken to our huts.  We each had a single bed in one of the round thatched huts at the centre of the compound. The patchwork quilts were warm and pretty and every bed had a mosquito net covering it.  We were then invited to wash our hands and ate supper of rice and chicken stew vegetables and pancakes followed by fruit and tea.

Every day

Every day we ate in the central round hut which was also used for meeting and general social gatherings.  We retired to bed exhausted but happy and slept amidst odd sounds of crowing cockerels, mooing cows, howling dogs and braying donkeys but woke refreshed to the sound of the children praising God at the start of their day and ready to see the site by day light.  We ate omelette and fruit for breakfast and plenty of hot tea.

The kitchen at Lomoru is a simple metal walled room with charcoal burner or chapatti oven and make shift table but the food that Christopher and Sarah produced was amazing. We were so well looked after by Peter and Emily and Tekla and Nelly and always there was hot water for tea or coffee drinks throughout the day. Again at lunch and in the evening there was a delicious meal prepared for us of rice spaghetti or potatoes and meat sauces, beans and vegetables followed by fresh fruit mangoes, apples bananas and pineapple.

Work & play

On the first day we all visited the half built hospital building and viewed what was needed to complete the wall plastering and electrical power and lighting. Many of the village men had come to work on the hospital for the price of their food each day. They were keen to get it finished and in service for the whole community. They were skilled workmen and taught our team many things during the course of the week far more than we were able to share with them.  We also went to visit the school and were allowed to sit in on classes in both the primary school and the secondary school.  

The buildings were strong and adequate with baked mud floors and painted cream walls open windows and a door. They had a full sized blackboard and wooden benches with fixed tables which seated 3 children to a bench. There was a teacher’s desk, 3 rows of 5 benches so in all about 45 children to a class. The teaching was mainly done by questioning, repetition and board work followed by copying into exercise books. It was very thorough and the standard of education was quite high.

The children were well behaved and respectful and generally worked hard in class. We were able to hand over the wall charts and books and children’s bibles we had brought with us and everything was very gratefully received by the dedicated staff.  We were also shown round the staff room where teachers were busy marking or preparing more lessons and welcomed at the head’s office and shown the school timetable which was extremely detailed and organised consisting of about six subjects Maths, English Kiswahili, Social Studies, Religious Studies and PE.

Rob kindly taught some science and maths lessons in the senior school and enjoyed working with the children and staff but especially their headmaster William.  Jonathan taught football skills every day at the end of the afternoon on the pitch shared by the cows and the children. Jobe looked after the cows and they were the best cows in the whole of Kenya!

Meanwhile the workmen had started the business of plastering the walls and were happy sloshing sand and cement all around.  Colin got everybody singing and the work progressed at a cracking pace. There was much to be done. The money we had raised paid for the supplies and by the end of the week nearly all the plastering was finished and Chris had taught the local electrician John how to finish wiring the whole hospital.  There will be more work done on a maternity unit later on as more funds are raised. (photos)

Each evening we could visit the children’s home for their time of singing and dancing. We learnt many songs and had a great time joining in the dancing and praising God together. Their voices echoed all around the campus. Jane and Lydia were great house mothers and dedicated their lives to care for the children.

One afternoon we drove out round the countryside to visit some of the homesteads and to visit the rock overlooking the valley.

A communal meal was arranged for one lunch time and for the last evening when we all sang and danced round the bonfire praising God and thanking Him for such a blessing both for the people of Lemoru but also for ourselves as we were privileged to have helped.