Culture

Karibuni Sana ma Bwana na ma Bibi!

--I wrote this entry a few days ago but I have struggled to find an
internet connection (actually, just haven't made the time!)--

The day started at 7:15am outside of the gate of "Golf Course 2," the
community in which I am living in. The community a mixture of mostly
middle-class Kenyans and a few missionary families. The community has
a spotting of guards, which consist of some men in blue sweaters
standing around talking. They seem to give a hint of safety, however I
believe true security is provided by Kenyan citizens. A person caught
comitting a crime will, if caught by a crowd, have the tar beaten out
of him. Crowds have been known to stone a thief to death for stealing
a piece of fruit. The mangoes here are tasty. But don't steal them.

Kevin and I met Lindsey, Joelle, and Sammie (all of us short-termers
at AIM-IS (Africa Inland Mission International Services)) at the gate
and walked through Kenyatta market to catch the matatu to work.
Kenyatta market is a huge open air market with vendors selling all
types of fruit, fried-crazy-fish, clothes, car parts, or shoes. About
25% of the market seems to consist of hair salons, where all the
ladies can get their hair put into tight cornrows… with pink tips if
you want something extra-special.

Today at "the hangar" (AIM-IS, it is at Wilson Airport and is where
all the planes are kept), I was assigned to Jose, one of the
missionary mechanics. He teamed me up with Timothy (just call him
"Tee-Moh"), one of the Kenyan mechanics (most everyone working there
is a Kenyan national). We were to change a main tire on one of
AIM-AIR's larger planes, the Cessna Grand Caravan. "Simple," I
thought, "I've been doing things like this since seventh grade."

Culture lesson on Kenya: Kenyans are community oriented. They like to
do everything together. They eat together. They drink chai (chai=tea
with milk and sugar, but it is important that you brew it with milk
and water and not add milk later, I'm told). They stop and talk during
work for minutes at a time. Relationships are more important than
being on time and walking fast just doesn't really happen. I love it.
But back to changing that tire.

Timo and I commence changing the tire. We discuss every bolt that
comes off. We don't do two things at a time, we do one thing at a time
together and we do it well, I tell you. When Timo isn't so sure of
himself, a swarm of mechanics (called engineers in Kenya) comes to the
advice-rescue. When Timo is confident in his work, a swarm of
engineers still comes to the advice-rescue. We nearly finish the tire
when it is time for "morning chai time." On Wednesday, chai time is
actually a small worship service for all the workers. Songs, prayer
requests, and a devotional were all done.

Isaac is one of the head engineers at AIM-AIR. I liken him to a
philosopher that fixes airplanes for a living. He may not be living
out his calling of philosophy, but with unemployment over 40% in
Nairobi, all the Kenyans at AIM-AIR are verbally grateful for their
job.

Isaac and I got talking about life when a United Nations plane landed.
There is probably 15 United Nations Humanitarian Air Services
airplanes at Wilson Airport alone. There are more in Loki, a small
Kenyan town bordering Sudan. The UN is flying food and supplies into
Southern Sudan, a region hurting from hard drought and hot politics.
Locals believe a war will break out between Northern and Southern
Sudanese when an important peace accord expires in January 2011. Most
of the people being supplied and fed are "Internally Displaced
People," IDP's.

"Why do they just drop food from their airplanes?" Isaac says. "If all
they give is food, people can not take care of themselves. Why don't
they teach the Sudanese how to farm? Sudan is a vast, vast land. If
they could farm and supply themselves, they would not be at the mercy
of the West." Interesting idea.

AIM-AIR works with Samaritan's Purse, sharing airplanes and mechanics
and such. Most of their flights are to South Sudan because the need
for food and blankets is so huge right now. AIM-AIR also heavily flys
within Kenya and into the Congo. I was all set with a pilot's uniform
today to fly in the King-Air to pick up passengers at the base of
Mount Kilimanjaro when another passenger was added, thus kicking me
off the flight. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

Interesting tidbits:
-It is rude to eat with your left hand in this culture. I'm a lefty.
-I was told by a drooling street beggar that "I beg you because I want
to kill you."
-There are chickens in the ditches. But no lions yet.
-Greetings are huge in this culture. That means stopping and talking
is super important.
-There is a flying outfit here called "Desert Locust." They literally
spray the desert to eradicate locusts. Apparently the 11th plague is
not going to happen after all.
-I ate a delicious lunch with the Kenyans from a lady serving beans,
lentils, rice, meat, and cabbage out of buckets.
-Make sure to specify "hapana matumbo" when ordering in order to
ensure that none of your meat is cow stomach.
-That lunch cost me 30 shillings. 40 cents.
-It's still in the testing phases, but I think God has given me an
iron stomach for this adventure.
-Taking pictures has proved a challenge. Any time I take a picture, a
herd of people surround me begging before I even know what's going on.
A big camera like mine also says "$$$" to thieves. Not sure how to
handle this one other than to not supply you all with many photos
within Nairobi.

"Do you like Kenya?" is the most common question I get from the Kenyan
engineers. After replying yes, they say, "Ya, Kenya is a good place. I
like it here." I then realize that most of these guys go back to
Kibera (argued to be Africa's largest slum) to stay at night, make
very little money, and are usually seperated from their family living
a far distance away. And they smile and laugh more than I do.

Nzuri sana,

Lance