Here are our perspectives on our 11 day mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya. We were sure that God had planned this trip for us (me and our 14-year-old daughter, Danielle) and we couldn’t wait to see what would unfold during our time in Africa. Click here to read about how we knew this was the trip for us:
https://coffeewithchristine.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/cake-for-kenya-and-for-jesus-name-sake/
Beautiful sunrise the morning of our departure. Danielle and I early in the morning…not so perky but excited about the adventure ahead
Just at the crack of dawn we met up with our entire team of 17 people. We had great diversity among us, with ages ranging from 14 years old up to early 70’s, and lots in between. Our mission was to bring 100 ukuleles to the students at New Hope School to the slum, Kibera, in Nairobi. Our team planned to teach 6th through 8th grade students how to play the ukulele, ending the week with a uke concert for the community. We planned arts and crafts for the younger students. Most importantly, we would bring the good news of Jesus Christ, that He died to save us from our sins.
Here we are! All 17 of us. Our trip there was long and we had to be rerouted in the U.K. We found out pretty quick how important it was to be flexible and not grumble. This is extremely hard for me when I’m sleep-deprived, but we coped and arrived 48 hours later.
Kenya Airlines, the Pride of Africa
We were picked up in Nairobi and rode a bus to our guest house, which is similar to a bed and breakfast.
Riding the bus to and from points was one of my favorite things about our trip.
I loved the bus! On the bus, we rested, laughed, journaled, prayed, and sang. The first few days we practiced ukulele on the bus. We soon started to wear out of that and it got a little quieter. Our guest house compound was very lush and pretty, in sharp contrast to the Kibera slum, which was dry and dirty. Below are some photos from our compound, showing that there is so much beauty in the little things, if we only look for it and appreciate it.
All of the nature pics above are by Danielle. I’ll show my blossoming photography skills below and in later posts. Notice the difference in the picture quality, comparing the pics above from the ones below. Can you tell which camera is better?
Below are a few images from our first two days in Kenya.
The Kibera children greeted us from far outside their compound and escorted us each day
The children were fascinated by the ukuleles and couldn’t keep their hands from touching, even as we walked up to their compound
The entrance of the Kibera compound has a swing set, and this little boy is enjoying it!
Another view of the inside of Kibera New Hope School compound
Danielle loves the little ones
