Jamie Tucker

Since coming home from Kenya last Wednesday, I have had several different emotions fighting for their place in my heart. First, I feel sadness over leaving Kenya and have been missing everyone we met there. Second I feel excitement to see my family and friends and to share about my experiences. Last of all, I feel a longing to return to Kenya.

There are so many things I’ve started missing about life in Kenya. The people we came to know there, tea time, Kenyan food, shaking hands with everyone when you walk in a room and greeting people in Swahili or Maasai are just a few of the things out of many that I have already started to miss. I also miss just being in a different culture. I loved being in a completely new and different place. Now that I am back in America, everything just feels almost too familiar.

I look around Seattle at all the really nice buildings as I drive in my own car and think how many things about just that in itself are so foreign from what we have returned from. First of all; I have my own car. Where we spent six weeks, hardly anyone had their own personal car. They relied on public transportation. I am so much more grateful for my car since I’ve come back. Second, as I look around the city, the buildings are so nice. You can just tell that a ton of money went into building them. When I look at them I have sort of a contrast of feelings. I feel both blessed to live in a country where the buildings are in such good, safe shape, but I also wonder if some of the money that was used to make those buildings look so perfect could have been put to better use

Every once in a while I still can’t believe that I spent my summer in such a foreign country. Even though the culture was so different than the culture here in America, after a while, it felt so comfortable and began to feel like home. There is nothing about the internship that I would go back and change if I had the chance. Everything was better than I could have ever hoped for and I will never forget the friends I met there or the experiences I had. I just thank God that He gave me the chance to experience such an unforgettable summer.

A boy in the sponsorship program reads a letter from his sponsor

As part of our internship, Miranda and I are working with the child sponsorship program. It has been such an experience. We have been delivering letters from sponsors to the sponsored children mainly in two primary schools not too far from the Narok office.

Many of the sponsors send stickers and other small gifts with their letters, and it has been so much fun to see the kids opening singing cards, packages of stickers, and pictures of the sponsors’ families.

Being there to attempt to see these letters through the eyes of these children makes me want to remember every smile and amazed look that crosses a child’s face when opening these things for the first time.

The last couple of times that we delivered letters made me just wish that the sponsors could see what their small expression of love looks like on the receiving end.

A couple of days ago I watched two boys open a card that sang the Macarena when opened. The expression on their faces was absolutely priceless, and I hope I never forget it.

Witnessing children getting so much joy out of so little a thing has made me more aware of what it means to these kids to have someone from another country caring enough about them to take the time to write a letter or send pictures of their own family.

The other day I walked into the library at a primary school where we were delivering letters, and felt a small hand slip into mine.

I looked down into the face of a little girl smiling shyly up at me.

In her other hand she held a bowl of rice, her lunch for the day, and as she looked up at me, I couldn’t help but think what a precious little girl this was, and how I will miss moments such as those when I go home.

Children in the sponsorship program receive letters from the families that support them in America.

The little pill going into the boy's mouth will cure him of stomach worms. It's called the "44-Cent Cure," because a dose for a child only costs 44 cents.

July 3, 2009

While some farmers back home have to worry about pests getting into their crops, the farmers in the village of Ongata Naado have to worry about elephants eating or trampling their crops. The solution to this problem? An electric fence. We got to visit a food security project in Ongata Naado on Thursday, which was when it was explained to us the reason for the electric fence around the crops.

World Concern started an experimental farm for the people in that community by growing several different varieties of corn and beans to see which variety grows best in this particular climate. World Concern funded the initial planting but they are working with a committee made up of community members to find a way to make the project sustainable.

The location of the farm is right behind a primary school, so while we were there we also gave out de-worming tablets and Vitamin A pills to the children: all 535 of them. A full dose of pills, one dose now and one in six months) costs about 44 cents. That’s why World Concern calls this the 44-Cent Cure. It’s a simple way to cure children from painful stomach worms that can easily stunt their growth and development.

If you would like to learn more about the 44-Cent Cure, check this out.

I saw orphans in Kenya get measured by World Concern staff for new uniforms to replace worn-out clothes like these.

July 2, 2009

The last three days we have gone out to the villages around Narok. On Tuesday I went with World Concern’s OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) team as they took measurements for school uniforms and dropped off some supplies.

To get to where we needed to go, we had to drive through part of the Maasai Mara game reserve, which was beautiful. We saw all kinds of animals both on the way there, and in the reserve; elephants, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, wildebeest, and gazelles, among other animals.

On the way out of the reserve, it started pouring rain. It rained harder than I have ever seen it rain before. The dirt road in front of us turned into what looked like a shallow river, but fortunately it didn’t last for long.

The driving in Kenya has been an experience of its own. Many of the roads that we take to get to the villages are just narrow dirt roads, with many bumps and holes. The drivers are constantly switching from driving on one side of the road to the other in order to avoid potholes, rocks, and bumps.

World Concern Kenya Country Director Hesbone Kange teaches children from the Ophans and Vulnerable Children program how to play soccer. They often have no consistient adult role models in their lives.

July 1, 2009

Today was a health day for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program. The OVC children have either lost their parents to AIDS, or their parents are ill and they are vulnerable. Often the people who take over responsibilities for raising the children are grandparents, who clearly have enough challenges of their own.

When we arrived to a village, we gave all the children de-worming and vitamin A tablets. These are to cure them of intestinal worms and give them a vitamin boost to help protect against other disease. It’s a common problem here, as dirty water spreads disease and not every community has been able to aquire a new source of clean water. Everyone lined up and one by one we handed out the medication.

While in this particular village, Miranda (the other World Concern intern in Kenya) and I actually got to go into the home of an elderly woman who lived there. We walked down a very steep dirt path to reach her house, which was a small, round mud hut. She explained (through a translator) that she lived there with her five grandchildren. The children’s father had died, and their mother had gone to look for work elsewhere, so the grandmother was left to care for the children.The oldest was a 16-year-old girl, who the family has great hopes for. At the time that we visited, all five children were enrolled in school. The 16 year old had been forced to drop out of school for some time due to lack of money, but had recently gone back.

The grandmother explained that she has asthma that keeps her inside when it gets cold, and occasional chest pains. Despite this, the pastor who was translating for us said that weather permitting, she was one of the first people to be in church on Sunday. It was a very humbling experience to see this grandmother, not healthy herself, caring for five children, some still quite young, and hiking up a steep dirt path every Sunday to make it to church early.

Since most of the cooking is done inside, the hut was smoky as we entered. It was also very sparsely furnished; apart from a few small benches, some blankets, and cooking utensils hanging on the walls, there was almost nothing. Like the walls, the floor was also made of hardened mud, and the thatching on the roof left some holes where a little water could get in when it rains. Looking at the floor, it was hard to imagine six people having room to sleep very comfortably. As we walked away from the hut, I tried to imagine the life of that grandmother. Having already raised several children of her own years ago, she is now left to care for five more young children. We finished the day by registering new children into the OVC program, and then headed back to Narok.

In the area of Kenya that we stay in, most of the people are Maasai and keep livestock for a living; cows, goats and sheep, but in this area, about 2 hours away, people grew crops for a living; mostly corn from what we saw. The area was beautiful, and looking across the hillsides the square fields of different colors of green made it looked like a patchwork quilt.

Read more about how World Concern overcomes the challenges of AIDS and AIDS orphans on the HIV and AIDS blog.

June 28, 2009

This morning we woke up and went to a church that is inside the CMF compound. The service was in Swahili, and was translated into Massai. Even though I couldn’t understand what was being said, it was still a great experience. During the worship time, there was a whole group of people up in front of the church, dancing and singing, and the rest of the congregation was really moving to the music as well. After church, all of the new people stayed behind to meet the pastor, who was very welcoming.

This afternoon we walked to the market near the compound. It was extremely crowded, with throngs of people everywhere, and of course the occasional cow as well. We walked around the market for quite a while. People were selling all types of things; everything from food to flashlights and winter coats. Since Kenya is in its cold season, walking around you see little kids with winter hats on and many people in long sleeves or coats, even though it doesn’t seem very cold to us except in the early mornings and evenings.

One thing I’ve really come to love even in the short time I’ve been here is that Kenyans drink a lot of tea. I didn’t even know that I liked tea until last week. At the offices, both in Nairobi and Narok, they have tea twice a day: once in the morning, and then again in the afternoon. Then, once we go back to the house where we are staying, we usually have tea again.

A Maasai community near Narok Kenya. Inside the wood fence live several families and their livestock.

June 25, 2009

After a day and a half of orientation in Nairobi, we left for Narok, the place where we will be working for the rest of our time in Kenya. The drive was absolutely gorgeous. It only took about 2 ½ hours to get to Narok, and along with the beautiful scenery, we got to see a giraffe and some zebras, which was amazing. This is also the first time I have been in a country in which they drive on the left side of the road, so that has taken some getting used to. I am just thankful that I am not the one having to drive.

I have to admit that I imagined Kenya to be mostly desert, but along with the cactus and desert shrubs is beautiful greenery. There were many donkeys, cows, goats, and sheep grazing along the sides of the road on the drive to Narok.

After dinner, we met Jane, who is part of the World Concern staff in Narok and who will be staying with us for the time that we are here. We then went to Ewaso Ngiro, not far from Narok, which is where we will be living. We are staying in a little house inside a compound called CMF (Christian Missionary Fellowship). It is about 15 minutes or so away from the World Concern office. Inside the compound are several houses, a clinic, and some classrooms.

Interns Jamie Tucker and David Lippold stand in the entry of CRISTA Ministries, the parent organization of World Concern.

After months of planning and praying, and two long flights, I am finally in Kenya.
The other intern, Miranda, and I arrived in Nairobi yesterday evening. We were picked up from the airport by World Concern staff, and taken to the Africa Director for World Concern’s house, where we stayed last night and tonight.

We had orientation at the Nairobi office all day today, and will have a couple more hours of orientation in the morning. All the World Concern staff in the Nairobi office was friendly and welcoming, and we learned much more about what World Concern does in Kenya.

It has been a little hard adjusting to the time change, but not as hard as I thought it might be. However, it may catch up with me tomorrow. As it is, I am looking forward to a good night’s sleep before heading out to Narok tomorrow, which is where we will be staying for the remainder of our time in Kenya.