Reflections on Kenya

Since my return I have been surprised how many people ask me about more information on our blog, specifically about my trip to Kenya. So I have decided to write some more detailed reflections concerning my time in Kenya over the next couple of days.

The last Kenya update was about Garissa and after reading my update I feel I left out so much. We arrived in Garissa during the late afternoon and I was a bit oblivious to the safety issues that a big group of white people represented in this place. I just wanted to walk out of the gates of the hotel that we were staying in and see the market and meet people. Garissa is just so different than any other place I had visited, a city in the desert... so exciting. But contrary to my hopes we did not leave the hotel, instead Mohammed, a young Muslim Somali/Kenyan man met with us in one of the hotel meeting rooms. Mohammed shared his story with us... his mother was a Somali Muslim and his father was a Kenyan Christian. You can imagine how complicated his childhood was. He grew up Christian but later converted to Islam. His life story does not make us Christians look good. Well his story was very insightful into how deep the divide is between Christians and Muslims in Garissa and that conversion from one faith to another is not always an individual decision. Mohammed joined us for dinner and I sat next to him. I had so many questions and tried hard not to overwhelm him. We had a nice talk about the differences and similarities between Christianity and Islam. At the end there were many things we did not agree on but I think we both felt that we had learned a lot about each others faith.

The next morning in Garissa had a full schedule. First we went to the Tuberculosis Clinic that Mohammed is responsible for and then we visited an elementary school.

The TB clinic was very interesting, wee did not get to visit with any patients as the size of our group would have been too overwhelming but we got a tour of the property. The buildings were more than modest and the kitchen looked like it was from the Middle Ages. The purpose of this clinic is to provide patients with food as the medication to treat TB, which is provided by the goverment free of charge, must be taken with a good meal. Mohammed and another woman administer the medication and provide healthy meals.

For the school visit the Praxis students were split up in groups and we had to preprare lessons for each class room. Most groups told a bible story but replaced overtly Christian symbols. The purpose for the visit was to teach these mostly Somali children good morals and thereby show that Christians have good values. We had learned that Christians are perceived very negatively by many Muslims in this area. We had a great time with the children and I think they enjoyed our visit as well. We left Garissa right after the brief visit at the school.

Many of the Praxis students felt that the visit in Garissa was too short. I think one of the strangest things about the Garissa visit was that because there were so many white people in our group we represented a security risk. Our leaders did not feel that it was safe for us to stay in Garissa any longer than we did.

I will try to write more tomorrow.