Johabeto - Kitale Kenya

A Sad Goodbye

2010-09-24T03:33:00.000-07:00

Due to technical difficulties this post is much longer overdue then I would have liked.

Base of stove being laid in the kitchen

Stove in progress

Almost complete

Finished well

Fabrication of the water tower

Welding machine with bare wires kept apart by a plastic bag

Painted windows and doors

Floors painted

Floors polished, which really dressed up the homes

Loading water tower for delivery

Tower safely on site

Unfortunately we have used all space on the server, and no more pictures can be uploaded. The water tower did go up thankfully that tractors trailer actually had a dump on it, which without I'm positive that it would have been a much more difficult and dangerous process.

After setting the tower and getting concrete around the base it was time to say goodbye. This was by far the most difficult task for me since arriving here. Over the past three months working next to everyone, twelve hours a day six days a week we have all become a very close family. Im very glad that i got to spend the last few weeks with some of the kids at their new home! The older kids in Soy I didnt get to say goodbye to which is also heartbreaking.

The Future of This Project
All the glass for the windows have been cut and are on site, now that the windows are painted they are ready to be installed and arrangements have been made for that.
Gutters for collecting rain water are also on site and have also been arranged to be installed over the course of next week.
The other arrangement that has been made was for the remaining lumber to be fashioned into tables, seating and shelving.
The bunk beds should be delivered on site within the next two weeks.

I thank God for all He has done here, and may all the glory be given to him, through whom all things are possible! Everyone here is so thankful for all who gave there time, support, and prayers. The family here misses everyone in all the teams that came and send their greetings. They have promised that none of you will be forgotten.

This project not only gave a new home hope and a chance at a brighter future to forty plus orphans, but also made education and a better life possible for many of the children of our local workers. They too will be remember everyone whom was involved here and those who supported back home.

Such a powerful show of Gods grace in everything that has been seen here!

Last Minuet Goodies

2010-09-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Today was spent running around trying to get all of the last minuet goodies for the orphanage. The list included a 5,000 liter water tank, steel tubing for building the water tower, the welding rods, hack saw blades, water pump and tubing. Also gutters and downspouts for collecting rain water, floor polish, glass for the windows and the steel putty to install the glass. Another one of goodies was the fireproof additive for the cement to build an efficient stove in the kitchen.

Of course it had rained by time that we made it back. The driver made it into the site just fine, but getting out he wasnt as lucky. It took everyone pushing and digging to get the truck back on its way to Kitale must have taken at least an hour, but it is Africa.
My time here is unfortunately running out so its push push push for all these things to be completed. I realize that there will be many things that will be remaining to do that wont be accomplished while I'm here. However the buildings are now homes and are a huge improvement from where they have been living in Soy.

Soon the mattresses and bunk beds will start arriving but they will first need to be built.

small picture update

2010-09-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

singing praises while marching into the new home

singing praises to God

Fairwell and thank you ceremony

James Obama standing in front of the buildings after plaster was completed on Friday

Reflections on a mission.

2010-09-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

As I settle back into my life of reliable electricity and water on demand, I reflect back on the 15,000 mile trip that represented my 6^th international mission and fifth to the “dark continent” of Africa.

Having responded in the past to these international callings, I count it a privilege to have served on His missions of the Pollock family and serve with the late Ted Pollock. I must say that I saw many of Ted’s finer qualities in Adam as he took (and continues) the project management role for this mission. I’m sure Ted has been looking down on this mission with immense pride in his grandson as well as the rest of the family.

I first read about this mission appeal in August 2008 when traveling to the last mission in Mozambique. I was hooked at once. I did all I could to help nurture the mission along. As many of you know, for the past year and a half, I’ve been unemployed. That didn’t stop me from supporting the mission here at home. In fact, it made it easier. I knew all along that my best case scenario would be finding a job as the mission approached and not having any vacation time to be able to attend. I placed my faith in God and realized He just needed me in the planning part of this mission. So I thought.

I took part on a team that defied the odds to pull off this mission. After all, it would cost 3-4 times our usual project and require three times the labor. The scale of the work would also be 3-400% larger than anything undertaken in the past and we had no contacts in Kenya to organize the ground logistics. Forget that we were warned that it “would be the rainy season” when such an undertaking should not be attempted. For every road block the mission faced God clearly broke through and clearly demonstrated the need for this mission (except for, perhaps, a few of those muddy roads – God does have a sense of humor…).

I was confused, however, as to why I couldn’t attend and be on one of the four teams. I certainly had the time being unemployed. But, I needed to remain at home for job interviews and further job hunting. Then, as the teams were completing for the summer and work remained, I watched as airfare dropped to Kenya. A last interview was positive but the employer would be delaying decisions for months. That was when I clearly saw my opportunity to go and serve. With eight days of planning I took my shots and left to be an add on team to help complete the floor portion of the construction.

As you have read, that went well and completed as needed. I was also there to assist after the thugs tore down the existing orphanage and the orphans needed to move in before the buildings were completed. Perhaps, from the beginning, this was all in God’s plan of some two years ago. I was glad to be there in the orphan’s hour of need.

Funny thing happened on my arrival home this past Monday night, I had a message on my phone telling me that the company I interview for was going to sign a contract to hire me for a project. I’ll start in the next week. Seems God needed to delay the contract to get His Kenya work done first. So, 90 job applications in one and a half years only led to one in person interview. And that is all it took. Oh, by the way, I never applied for this job. This one found me. Go figure!

God bless this mission,

~~~Brother Jim (as I’m known by my fellow Kenyan workers)

Remember that delivery of cement bags last week?

2010-09-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Bad day at the office?

Adam carried a lot of the project's weight.

Here, it's 110 lb bag of cement...

By Foot

2010-09-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

Well its been a few days without Internet connection here so an update has not been possible. Jim had mentioned that they would come less frequently since i was here alone, but i still believe everyone wants and should be kept up to date on the progress.

I have been overwhelmed by the impact that a project like this has! At first i just thought that we were helping Martin, Ruth and the kids; however the longer that i have been here the more i realize just how large of an impact that it has on the whole community. From the matatu driver Robert getting new tires, seat covers and other needed maintenance while being able to support his family. Kimani the taxi driver replacing his tires and shocks, paying off his daughters school fees and still being able to put food on the table at the end of the day. One of the guys at the site that has been working for us also by the name Robert came the other day giving thanks for the opportunity to work as he was now off to attend school for optometry. One of the mason by the name of Martin being able to pay for his children's education, his son is attending theological school, and he is also supporting orphans from his family that passed. The list just keeps going, over for over 21 people that have been employed, and the drivers that deliver materials, the hardware store the impact is much larger then i had ever thought. its Gods glory. Everyone here is so thankful and grateful for everything everyone there has done! God Bless

With the teams all gone I have switched from the matatu then to the taxi for team 4.2 and now to public matatu for team 4.1 as Jim has dubbed me. With the change there is a lot of footing that needs to be done. The leave time is now 6:30 so i can walk from the TI to the Total station where I can catch a matatu, this leg is about a 25 minuet walk. Then the walk from Simatwet center to the site is another 35 minuets, which still gets me there about 8am.

Monday was the first night that the children actually slept in house one! They almost didn't know what to do with all the space and not needing to be right on top of each other. House two has already been turned into the school house where the primary kids attend classes. the ABC's can
be heard shouted by them throughout the work site.

The exterior plastering has also been completed on house one yesterday and today the Gable ends of house two have been completed and the rest of the house should be finished tomorrow. So all external plastering will be completed about half way through Saturday if this paced schedule is kept.

All the interior door frames have been set in house one as of today, so there is a good chance that all frames can be installed by Saturday. Hopefully hinges and knobs or handles will arrive soon so the doors can be installed onto the frames.

Hope to have a picture update as soon as possible.

GWG

Team 4.2 --->Mission Accompished!

2010-09-05T02:11:00.000-07:00

The internet has been down for the past 12 hours so I'll post a last blog on the progress this morning (Sunday) and save my final reflections (and some pictures) for when I get home in a few days. I leave for my flight in an hour so here's how Saturday happened and team 4.2 completes:
Saturday had an unusual start for me. For the first morning since my arrival I didn't require two extra strength pain killers to subdue my morning headache just to get out of bed. As we drove to the site it was pure sunshine for the first time with only one band of clouds on the mountain horizon. The day was off to a great start, just the way it would end. When the usual 3:00 rains tried to come, the skys would clear the thunder and the few droplets to end the day with sunshine. Glory be to God.
After the previous day's problems, we found the cement truck removed from the mud road where we had left it the night before. We immediately started to work.
There were four floor sections remaining for our team to accomplish our goal of completing floors. The bags of cement on hand may or may not be enough. By the time we completed two and a half slabs the cement ran out. Soon enough, with the roads drying out in the morning sun, the remainder of the needed cement arrived. We worked on. By 4:00 PM the last wheelbarrow of cement was poured into the form at the kitchen door. Mission accomplished for our team.
About that time, the kids had formed a line at the tool shed where they had been living for the past week. They began with song and a prosession toward building one that they had swept clean that morning. At first I thought they were praticing for their Sunday morning services.
A ceremony would follow with 50 + people gathered in the sitting room of building one. A very comfortable fit I do add. I'll bring you more on that ceremony when I post my mission reflections later this week. Dry eyes were not a part of the 45 minute ceremonies.
This is when team 4.2 surrenders the mission project to team 4.1. That, of course will just be Adam. I wish him God's speed as he spends the remainder of September setting the mission on its final path to "Mission Accomplished, Mission Completed." There are doors to hang, windows to place and other tasks that remain. Adam will share some good news on other objectives in the days to follow.
At this time, we should also set new understandings on the blog postings. As those before me understand, doing these postings is challenging on a daily basis. Not only are there connection problems and electric problems that are everything Africa, there is also the time it takes when you have also just completing a very tiring 12 hour day and have a few other items to attend to, like take a hot shower and catch a meal.
As Adam takes on the balance of the mission details there won't be daily milestones to post. Slow but sure is the new direction toware the ultimate success that all the previous teams have assured.
So continue to follow the blog daily knowing that Adam will continue to post as exciting new events take place. Postings may only take place a few times a week going forward. I'm looking forward to the first pictures with the kids moved in. Just think of the change when they take the first dozen kids out of an 8' X 8' mud room into the buildings. Soon to be followed by bunk beds.
Read on faithfull followers, my ride to the airstrip has arrived. See you back home.
With God's blessings on the kids,
Jim

Goal missed for today. And a moment while it rained...

2010-09-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

The morning was going great. Three slabs done and priming up for the fourth. Then started the 3:00 PM rain at 1:30 which shut down cement mixing. Turns out it wouldn't have mattered. We didn't have enough bags of cement to make all the batches for the final pour we wanted to do. We had 100 bags expected but it had not arrived. Long story short (can you tell the mud road is coming into play again?) at about 5:00 the truck was stuck halfway down the road. So...15 or so of us walked out with shovels and such and worked for an hour on getting the truck out. Turns out, he only had 20 of our bags on board. The balance of his load was for another customer.
Well, there may have been some math working against us. Like a few tons of cement and truck. Some guys in bare feet and others only in sandals (it's all they have - or don't have). If you think that lacked traction, the tires on the truck are bald! At one point we lightened the load by taking our 20 bags off. Of coarse that means walking them on your backs down the mud road that you can hardly walk on without slipping. Did I mention that each bag weighed 110 lbs!
Here's where this is left for now~ the driver may be sleeping in the truck tonight until he reaches his company for further assistance (I gave him two granola bars as we parted at dusk). Even with the 20 bags we rescued, it may not be enough to do all the remaining work we intended for today and Saturday. This would be very disappointing. Adam is going to look into having some areas of the road rebuilt before suppliers all refuse to deliver to the site. The road just can't be driven on when it rains every day (and hard).
But there is some good news. Building one is totally cleaned out of all construction materials and only needs to be swept. Yep. That's it assuming interior doors and window glass will follow soon. These are not critical to getting the kids moved in out of the mud tool shed. Frankly, with no glass in the windows we get better air circulation curing the concrete.
AND, you should have heard the noise of the kids today in building two. Imagine the sound at an indoor pool with 100 kids yelling about with the echos. That is what it sounded like when 6-8 kids were cleaning floors at the other end of the building this morning. Talk about excitement and joy filling the building.
In our trivia thoughts for the day it is interesting to note that 74% of households in Kenya have radios and 63% have cell phones. Only 28 percent have TVs. Now the big note -- 6 million Kenyans are young enough to require diapers. Now there's a fact.
A closing thought in the rain~~~I normally take about 15 minutes to eat a sandwich each day as my lunch break. Today I took a full hour because the downpour halted our production. As I sat on the floor I looked up in amazement at all that was before me. Walls straight and true nicely plastered resting upon footers now missing the eye's detection. The sturdy steel roof and trussing amplifying the rain pelting the panels and of course there's the flat, level and smooth floors beneath me. Then the thought ~ only 10 weeks ago I would have been sitting in an open field surounded by corn fields. By the grace of God, is it not a wonder what He has had us develop before our eyes and with our hands? Is it not wonderful to be an answer to a prayer?

Another day in Africa...

2010-09-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

Perhaps this should be short tonight. Two power failures in last 45 minutes is making this a challenge once again this week.
Let's see, Taxi stuck in mud this morning and another delivery truck that took about 10 crew to push out. The cabbie wouldn't even try to do the last 1/4 mile to get us so we walked in the rain and mud to meet him to get home (really couldn't blame him). Ahhh, another day in Africa
We pounded out another 5 floor slabs today plus the ramp into building two (a beautiful job by Adam). Building 1 is complete for floors. Yahoo! Goal tomorrow 4.
Tonight's trivia information is again on Kenya. As we go about creating the floors in the buildings you should know that 57% of Kenyans live on dirt floors. Only 41 % of of them live on concrete floors. What a change up in society we will provide for the orphans. Can you believe that only 23% of the people have electricity? Now apply the math to Kenya's population of 38.6 million people which is up by 10 million in the last 10 years. Have you thanked God for your blessings today?

Over the hump day

2010-09-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

Monumental day today in what was done. Real happy that we had the first floor pour started at 8:30. Everything was ready when we left the night before. End result - 5 slabs done (one more than we intended and that doesn't count two shower stalls and the handicap ramp at the main entry to bldg 1). Phew! But what really happened was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel where we have a game plan for each day through Saturday with great results intended (you'll just need to keep on reading to learn of those results). There was some lost labor in not keeping everyone at 100% over the past two days so 5 of the local labors have been reduced.
The truck delivering the cement bags today got stuck in the mud. I'm not sure if it was the same location we got stuck this morning or not. Either way, like the cab ride, we sent the man power out to push the truck. It rained this morning and at the usual late afternoon period. Mostly cloudy all day long with perhaps a half hour sun.
Not sure what happened to yesterday's blog. I was just about to start it when the power went out so I retired for the evening. The funny report would have been the duck foot prints on one of the floors.Yep, it wasn't the chicken, but some how a duck got into the building after we locked the STEEL doors. Humm, first I'm thinking chicken dinner. Now duck. At the end of the today I felt someone was watching me while work on a step. I turned around and saw a turkey for the first time (wonder if I could bring it home on the plane for Thanksgiving?). Do you think the peanut butter and honey sandwich I've eaten every day with water are getting to me?
So, today morale was great as we see many parts of the plan coming together while completing floors in all three buildings. With work going on in the three buildings we are doing well to maintain quality control in all areas and keeping labor running at full (though now adjusted). Floor results run about: bldg 1=92%, Bldg 2=60% and dining hall=33% Will they make it???????
And for the kids today... Nothing further on the pox. I find I get them laughing every time I imitate the roosters, chickens and goats. Adam gets them captivated when he does some of his gymnastics with applause his reward. Two of them, real young, got a kick out of smoothing some of the cement when I handed them a float while working on that one step. Might as well start them young on the home ownership part.
Small trivia for tonight: In the city of Nairobi 75% of the people have flush toilets available. In some regions of Kenya, 65% of the people "prefer not to have a pit latrine. They would rather 'go off in the woods (fields).'"

There's a new Chicken in town. The name? POX !!!

2010-08-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

Upon arrival this morning we were asked to look at two of the boys with bites or bumps about their bodies. From head to the full body trunk they were covered with what can only look like chicken pox. Just what they need to spread about 28 kids! Please feel free to send along any advice that you may have of what we can do to assist them. Remember, you can't start out with, "go to Wegmans and get..." or "Rite Aid". You get the idea. Even a pot of chicken noodle soup won't work. I haven't seen any noodles around. But feel free to send advice. PLEASE!
Major adjusting of crews and responsibilities today with plasters joining flooring teams. More adjusting needed for tomorrow to capture every man hour and every wheelbarrow of cement. The locals are always willing to do something new and act like they understand. They answer "yes" to everything no matter what level the understanding. Yet, the next thing they do is grab the wrong tool. Adam sees a stronger need tomorrow to supervise and not be as hands on to keep the ship on course. We will, at that time, be actively pouring floors in all three buildings in another aggressive day. Today's efforts resulted in five slabs completed.
More work was also done fine tuning the level of a few floors and especially the dining hall in advance of the forms being built. The final grading is to a half inch at the time of a pour. The final floors are to the eighth inch. And to that I must comment to the earlier teams that moved tons of dirt leveling the buildings and floors. Your work was remarkable. Your endless hours of very hard labor has been instrumental in our success now. Thank you for your jobs well done!
The pressure to complete is intense. One look across the compound and you see the temporary kitchen that not only feeds the kids, but it also turns out an additional lunch for 15+ workers every day. The kitchen is a few tree branches to create span to hold the black plastic tarp that protects from the daily rains. Kids catch drinking water from the plastic as it droops in under the rain's weight. The winds have taken a toll on the plastic tarps making them almost useless. We can't complete soon enough.
Today's trivia is a comment on our daily commute. African travel is always an adventure. You've read a few on the Matatu form of transportation. Being smaller numbers we ride a cab with a few other workers. It is a 1997 Toyota Corolla with 300,000 km on it. Springs and shocks are gone. So far, 8 is our largest number of passengers (it seats 5 with a stick). For the privilege of the front seat you get the duty of taking the hand towel and wiping the windshield of the fog for the driver. You can't open the door, the handle is broken like the side view mirror. If you share the bucket seat, expect an arm or a leg to fall asleep in the 30-40 minute ride. The privilege of the back seat means you get one of the two windows that opens in the car (the driver has the other). You must, however, ask the driver to open it for you because your control is broken. The price for the window that opens is that all in the back are expected to get out and push the car when it gets stuck in the mud. Ahhhh, another African adventure.
God bless our supporters. God bless the kids!

Picture Update of the Week and the Destruction in Soy

2010-08-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

Arriving on the footpath from church looking at the back of the home

What was once the kitchen

The new makeshift kitchen built from the reamins

The boys home

The main house, having roofing from the kitchen used as a wall that had been knocked down, the roof being held up by a few center posts the side walls draped with plastic.

Once learning that it was an orphan children's home the hired help decided maybe they shouldn't be knocking it down.

Martin, Ruth and the kids are doing much better. They are very grateful for the prayers and support given by all! In the service all they could do was think what if God had not brought our teams here with the backing of our churches? What if there was no new home for the children to go to, or no one to get them there? Though they suffered they still rejoiced, in the knowledge and faith that the Lord Jesus Christ is their protector.

Shortly after the kids arrived at the site God reminded me of what Paul wrote, and could be seen from this situation.

We exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5: 3-5)

Once again to everyone who has given support, whether it be financially, in prayer or in the sweat of your brow, this family sends their sincerest heart felt love and gratitude!

Pictures from the week

The children taking it upon themselves to clean up a bit

Little Sarah moving a block weighing as much or more then she does

Anna helping with a smile


Prepping the first hallway

3/4 of the sitting room complete

The breakfast bench

setting up for plastering the kitchen gables

The Building inspector is a CHICKEN!

2010-08-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

It's not like we don't have enough people peeping in on our work but today was a reminder of just where we are. While working one floor at one end of the building we hear some "peeping" from the other end of the building. Sure enough, some of the resident chickens had drifted in from the other end of the building and were fast approaching the just smoothed floors. Now ~ how to chase them out of the building with out leaving footprints everywhere. And this happened more than once. Sure glad the goats and cows are tied up. Just don't ask how I (Jim) got tied up with the one goat yesterday at the barbed wire fence. OUCH!
With 11-12 hour days, we continue to push the floors completing a pour by flashlight twice this week (and I bet it was needed again tonight). And we don't get to come home to a prepared dinner. We still need to do that after the ride home. In the end, 3 more sections were completed in building one today. We have one more day's work there to complete the floors (give or take a step or two and a main entry handicap ramp). Oh, and it was cold meatloaf sandwiches.
Further floor work included preparing building two for floor form setting/leveling. That has taken 1 1/2 days since the plasters "plastered" the whole place into a mess. We have the first floor areas ready for a Monday morning pour as we head into that building. The floor prep crew can then move on to the dining hall so we can start that building mid next week. We'll alternate between the two buildings keeping what we hope will be two crews going.
Today's milestone, as promised, was the completion of the plastering of all interior walls, all buildings. Done. Complete! Yea! YEA! Great week.
Adam is in a daily routine now of bandaging the various kids and their cuts and infections. Leaves you to wonder what would be done without his care and handy first aid supplies. He is seeing improvement already on his first treated. Please continue your prayers of support for all the kids well being. [Even I needed Dr. Adam's band aid assistance]
About 2:30 today was a lunch break for most of the crew. Now, just how long do you think 5 wheelbarrows will remain idle with 28 kids in sight? I don't think it was 2 minutes before the wheelbarrow races were off and running as they circled the buildings carrying siblings and fellow orphans in joyous kid's play. Just wait until they have the whole place to themselves!
That brings us to the trivia answer from yesterday. When I looked out the window yesterday I saw 6 if not 8 kids all operating one wheelbarrow with another (or two) in it. By the time I got to the camera they had scattered in 10 directions. My, we do have an active job site.
Enjoy your Sunday services. We hope to get to Soy and document the damages.

Rain can slow a day...

2010-08-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

Even with all the work going on inside the 3 buildings, rain can still hamper a day's progress. A late morning downpour delayed some outdoor concrete mixing for over an hour today. Another downpour at clean up time delayed that as well. But, you know that didn't stop the team from completing 3 more floor sections and over 1/2 of the plastering in the dining hall. Looks like that work will complete tomorrow.
Answer to yesterday's trivia question...Two of Martin's children were named after Ted & Dolly's Pollock's children. For the extra credit to that answer their names are Bill and Carolyn (that one we gave you).
Tonight's trivia comes from the kid's activities today helping out. Because the brick work is completed, the remaining brick pile at the building had to be moved to the tarp area for surplus building materials at the other end of the compound. Someone tapped the 20 +/- able bodied orphans to help. Each wanted to do their best. The youngest would struggle with all his might just to carry (and run) with one brick. Others carried 4-5 each. Then came the organizers. They took off with the construction wheelbarrows and started to load them with bricks. I looked out the window and couldn't believe how many kids can operate one wheelbarrow. That, faithful readers, is your trivia question. How many kids can operate one wheelbarrow full of bricks?

More Happenings...

2010-08-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

Learned a little more about the houses being torn down. Turns out Naomi (one of the handicap children) was in the building as it was being demolished! She was removed unharmed. Some of their possessions were destroyed. Martin won a court case today proving he is the rightful owner of the land. Doesn't help in the house loss. He is filing an injunction to sue the pastor that hired the people that tore the house down. More to come...
Today was productive on the construction front. Adam and I completed 4 floor sections (3 real large) in building one. Building two saw the plastering completed with the plasters starting the prep at the dining hall. speaking of the dining hall, the last of the brick was completed from ring beam to roof underside. That was the last of the project brick and block work!!!
As the day passed, small faces appeared from time to time in doorways and windows as the new young residence had their curiosity get the best of them. Most of the day they played about the yard with one another. Life goes on in this harsh world. The Red Cross may be supplying tents for the kids that are in school until December. They weren't moving until then when the school year ends. In the mean time the orphans are split up.
You can't help but be amazed at one of Martin's grown daughters, Carolyn, and all she does. One minute she is cooking, then sweeping, then it is up to help in construction -like installing a floor - then back to games with kids and personal exercise for one of the special needs kids then back to chopping fire wood for cooking. What a delightful person.
Back to the trivia question that we were not following yesterday. . . The year that Martin met Ted and Dolly Pollock was 1978. Tonight's question: How many of Martin's own children are named after Ted's children (sorry - Pollock family members are disqualified from this question). Can you name them (hint - I just gave you one of the names...) ?

No New Information

2010-08-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

There hasnt been much communication with Martin, Ruth or the older children that have remained in Soy. What we have heard is that Martin has been dealing with the police and courts. He said that he would be coming to the site tomorrow, when we will be able to get his story.

The younger children have been doing really well at the new home, they are all in good spirits. they spent the day playing and having a good time enjoying their new compound. There was little to no sign of trama from seeing their old home destroyed, thanks be to God.

Jim had mensioned the other day how he would of liked to get a picture of the kids holding hands in a circle by the buildings like in the model of it that he had built. At the end of the day the kids were playing and it just happened!

The masons are still plastering the second home, and two of them are finishing the brick work on the kitchen, and both should be completed tomorrow.

We spent the morning finishing the floors which were poured yesterday. One was finished last night when we left but it was walked on shorlty after we left so it too needed to be refinished.

Lenny is pretty good at finishing floors so he will head that up from here on out, while Jim and I continue the pour. Alfred is getting really good at laying the form work for the floors so we should be able to pick up a little speed once we dont have to focus so much labor on plastering.

One of the neigbors, John Asifiwa (not sure on the spelling) said he liked to draw. I had asked if he could show me some of his work. About a week later he came back with a really nice painting of a picture that had been taken in front of the homes.

Please pray for Martin and Ruths oldest daughter, Ireane, her family and everyone she is working with. as they head back to the mission feild on a small island off the coast of Mombasa.

EXISTING ORPHANAGE TORN DOWN!!!

2010-08-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

We began today's work like any other day. Then, as the morning progressed, reports began to come in that the existing Soy orphanage that Martin, Ruth and the children live in had been torn down this morning in a land dispute. This as the 43 orphans lived there. One report indicated no one was hurt. But it was confirmed all the buildings were completely destroyed. Everyone was left standing in the rain with all their posessions.
By the end of the day, Adam had arranged for a Matatu to pick up 28 of the orphans and bring them to the new compound. None of the new buildings are ready for occupancy so we watched them move into the on site tool sheds.
At this time we do not know what happened to the remaining orphans, Martin and Ruth. We have not ruled out that they remain at the old location in Soy spending the cold damp night outside.
We will keep you posted on what transpires here over the next few days doing all we can to assist them at this greatest time of need.
Prayers are need from all the project supporters.

It's TEAM 4.2

2010-08-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Before we get into what was accomplished today, we wanted to bring you up to date on the team name. "Team 5" just seemed so over-rated. After all, there's just the two of us* and four of the finest teams had each achieved such success. Therefore, it seemed that we'd just add the tag to the last team and keep a good thing going. So we are Team 4.2
So, there at the end of a ragged dirt and mud road that the car continued to bottom out on, the rows of 15 foot corn opens into the field where JOHABETO stands before you. What an awesome site. Everything on paper and in model came to life. Add the smell of the curing cement just as imagined. Finally the time arrived to get the hands dirty.
First it was completing 5 sections of flooring forms ready for a pour of cement (each room requires 4-6 sections). Those were all in bulding 1. Then there were all the remaining tie beam forms removed including the dining hall that was only completed last week (it looked great!). Down in dorm 2, three more rooms were plastered bring that building just shy of 50% on plastering (remember- dorm 1 is fully plastered). Then, back up on the dining hall the block was being added at the two gable ends. We also managed to clean up the three floors that were assaulted last week by the 3-Stooges plastering team.
*This is the part that I remind you, faithful reader, that we had 20 locals today on our team as well. And overseeing all this is the one living and true God who just has to be so pleased that He is washing his shinny new roofs everyday in the afternoon. The rest of the time he shines on our work.
We close with this trivia question: In what year did Martin meet Ted and Dolly Pollock? Answer tomorrow...

"...and on the seventh day he rested"

2010-08-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

The Sunday traditions since the mission began was to go and visit Martin in Soy, meet the kids and for new comers, stop by the construction site for a first look at what they had gotten themselves in to.
Adam offered to follow traditions for me as the great host he is. I couldn't help notice how tired he looked having just entertained(if you will), the Pollock international family reunion for the past 8 weeks. And never a Sunday off. On Saturday aunts, uncles, cousins and even mom were sent off at the airport. A low key Sunday was long over due for Adam. The day was good for catching up on the internet, reading, a little socializing with the remaining TI staff including dinner and a dvd with 5 of their orphans. The theme of the day I didn't mind either after my travels - two words: CAT NAPS. Lots of them.

2010-08-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

PRECAUTION: This a re-write of a previous blog that was lost due to... We started the day with the intention of completing the ring beam forms on the kitchen. By lunchtime we decided that we could also complete pouring the ring beams. The concrete pouring started before the forms were completed. Everyone including the Shikuku family and the masons joined in to complete our tasks. The scene was chaotic with people running everywhere and yet
at the end of the day we had achieved our original goal and more. The ring beam was formed and poured within the kitchen. The final bucket was being poured as Robert our driver pulled in to bring us home. By the way we still hold the record for the most people in the matatu(24!!!). This is a vehicle that is built for 14 people.
Martin and Ruth came over and announced we were going to have a small celebration to thank us for coming and building there orphanage after all these years.
The celebration began by Martin and Ruth decorating us with a medallion necklaces and garlands. Martin presented a history of his relationship with Ted and Dolly Pollock and the family and how we had been linked throughout the years. Everyone broke into praise song and dance before we were treated to biscuits and sodas. Really we should have been thanking them for all the love and joy they shared with us. Saying our final goodbyes to the family and the workers was very difficult. Many tears were wiped away and Zach came home shoeless, it was dark by the time we had left the job site.
We came back to the TI compound for breakfast for dinner which was crepes and ice cream. We cannot thank our wonderful hosts enough at the TI compound, Danel, Daniel, Sean, Meridith, Andrew, Mark and Derek. We are forever grateful for a delicious meal to come back to every night as well as a hot shower for everyone but Tom.

Saturday:
Team five(Jim Wick) arrived at the TI compound as we were preparing to depart for the Kitalie airstrip. Jim, Adam, and Sean accompanied us to the airstrip for our departure. After our baggage was thoroughly searched we watched it being loaded onto the airplane and then promptly unloaded. The gate agent came over to explain that the airplane was overweight and our luggage would be going by matatu to Eldorat and then onto Nairobi by another flight. We are grateful to the pilot for his decision not to overload the plane. We were promised it would be delivered to our guest house tonight. We are still waiting...

Last Day at the Job Site

2010-08-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Zach and Alfred finishing the tie beam on the kitchen!

Goodbye ceremony

Shaloom actually smiling

Adam and Ruth dancing

The whole work crew

The Gift of History

2010-08-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Gift of History
By: Alfred Opiyo, Alerics Collections, 27/07/2007

This is cradle of genesis,
That never shall it be seasonal,
Like roses blossomed at Winter;
Nor birds of Springtime sung.
Communities and descendants to live,
Must remember, celebrate and pray.
Only for the gift of history and future
Led to us by late Ted Pollock and Dolly his helper.
Thus inclined all our bouquets.

Both blew their horn,
That ripples many parts of Africa.
Despite of lefting all best,
In Western countries and cultures.
Liftup their lamps in Africa as missionaries,
Fishing many to roused from slumber of doom cultures!
And all whispers peace fetching - many to Christ.

Though leaved their mission hunged
But their blessed descendants,
Are there to rescue unfinised pillars,
Firmly after footprints of trotter-claws.
Leaving chance for history to breath.

May our ancestors effort live in our heart,
Throughout our lives, strength, names -
And accomplishment of their dream.

Tho in the gift of history,
That we live to honor

May I know pause to honor.

Today started like many other days, we were up and waiting for Robert to arrive right at 7am. When we got into the matatu Penny was surprised to find two chickens tied up under her seat! She asked Robert if they were his chickens and he said "no they are your chickens." When we got to the site we found out what he meant, the chickens were unloaded in preparation for tomorrows lunch.

The larger part of our group worked the morning finishing up the ring beam in building two! It was a good feeling to have that finished! Dave and Tom proceed on with their regular job of putting up forms, they are hoping to finish the form by the end of tomorrow. The Kenyans finished the plastering in building one and moved on work in building two today, hopefully they'll be able to make some good progress in building two tomorrow.

We had a bunch of neighbor kids come over today, three little ones in particular kept picking up scrap pieces of wire and bent nails and giving them to us. Late afternoon after Penny had given away all the crayons that she had with her, she still wanted to give the three little kids something, so she brought out some bread and honey left over from lunch. Within the next 15 minutes there were neighbor kids coming out of nowhere wanting to get something to eat too. Unfortunately we didn't have enough food for all of them so Penny compromised and gave them all a pencil. :-)

We can't believe that our time here is almost over! It seems like just yesterday that we got here, there is so much more that we would like to get finished by we will have to to do our best with the time that we have left and be excited for all that we've been able to get done. And be glad that Adam is going to be here to finish up the project and that Jim is coming in on Saturday to help him and be team 5!

Vo Tech school students tour Johabeto site

2010-08-18T10:06:00.001-07:00

There is something wonderful about bouncing along the road through the corn fields and arriving at the job site. All of the Kenyan workers come to greet us and shake our hands. We all join hands in a big circle and start the day with prayer. Everyone applauds and we begin the construction on the dorms.
Today we formed floors, leveled them, mixed concrete, poured tie beams, poured floors,
and began to build the forms for the ring beam on the kitchen.
The masons are plastering the inside walls of dorm one. They throw it at the walls and it flies over the top of the walls and into the faces of us who are working on the floors in the next room. It also covers the door and window frames and lands on our finished floors. C'est la vie!
Today a local Vo Tech school had a field trip to the site and spent more than an hour and a half looking at everything.

Martin had a wonderful time giving them the tour! He is so excited about his new home.

Vo Tech school students tour Johabeto site

2010-08-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

Martin and Ruth and granddaughter Shaloom

Martin And Ruth and their cow

There is something wonderful about bouncing along the road through the corn fields and arriving at the job site. All of the Kenyan workers come to greet us and shake our hands. We all join hands in a big circle and start the day with prayer. Everyone applauds and we begin the construction on the dorms.
Today we formed floors, leveled them, mixed concrete, poured tie beams, poured floors,
and began to build the forms for the ring beam on the kitchen.
The masons are plastering the inside walls of dorm one. They throw it at the walls and it flies over the top of the walls and into the faces of us who are working on the floors in the next room. It also covers the door and window frames and lands on our finished floors. C'est la vie!
Today a local Vo Tech school had a field trip to the site and spent more than an hour and a half looking at everything.

Martin had a wonderful time giving them the tour! He is so excited about his new home.

2010-08-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

T.I.'s monkey

Pouring floors

Zach admiring the finished ring beam

Children at the baby home

Bev at the Baby home

Our first highlight of the day was an appearance by the local monkey in the front yard.

This morning Bev and Ginny had the opportunity to visit an orphanage that specializing in babies. What an amazing place this is. They have 82 children primarily under the age of three. The organization is very impressive. You can see more about it at rehemaministries.com.

The work at the site continues to progress slowly. The forms for the ringbeams in building 2 are almost complete. We hope to start pouring tomorrow or the next day. Most of the plastering on the walls of building 2 is complete, just the front two rooms are left and we have begun to pour the concrete floors. A couple of the team members have been feeling under the weather but still insisted on showing up and putting in a good days work. We are all feeling the pressure to get our task completed. Our goal is to have the 1st building ready for the family to move in. Adam will be staying on another month in Kenya to see the entire project to completeness. Jim Weick will be arriving Saturday to help out. The 2 of them will be team #5. We might not see the blog posted as often. Anyone else want to come out and help?

Back to Work

2010-08-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

Monday and another day back at the job site. The team was eager to get started waiting at the gate for the matatu. That early energy faded as the day wore on but quite a bit was accomplished nonetheless. We did not have any rain today so we didn't have any interuptions to our work. The forms for the interior tie-beams in building one were removed and the lumber shifted to building two. The tie-beam forms in building two are nearing completion and we should start pouring concrete tomorrow. Screens have been placed across the gable and eave vents of both buildings in preparation for plastering. Four rooms have been plastered in building one and part of the team has started setting the forms for the floors in those rooms.

When we returned to the TI compound we were greeted with hot showers, clean clothes, and a delicious chipati and potato stew dinner. Life is good!

2010-08-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

A perfect day

2010-08-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

Martin's sketch of Dolly Pollock

Martin's sketch of Ted Pollock

All of the kids

The whole faimly

New record 24 in the Matatu

Today was the day we waited all week for. We went out to visit the Kids of the Kingdom. We got to the church before the family and then one by one they arrived to welcome us. Each one stopped to greet every one of us. Some where in the middle the generator, keyboard and very large speaker arrived. The church congregation was made up mostly of family, with a few friends and relatives. The service was led by Martin, the keyboard played by Bill (Martin and Ruth's son), the music and dancing led by Carolyn and Faith (Martin and Ruth's daughters) and performed by all of the children. What a wonderful, joyful service of worship and praise. It is hard to describe but something we will cherish forever.
After the service we went to Martin and Ruth's home where we were served tea and sandwiches. We then gave out gifts to each child. Leah had made a special bag for each with their name and we filled each with an item of clothing and other gifts that had been collecting by all the teams. The children were all so excited and grateful. We took individual pictures of each child so if we can read the name we can remember each one. The children all went and put on their new clothing on. They then formed a line and burst into a thank you song and dance. How much joy they have to share!
On our way home we set the record for the most people in the matatu, 24!! It was definitely a perfect day.

Saturday so much for a day off

2010-08-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday was another day that we ended the day a little early, we stopped at 430pm to have a special treat and go out to eat. But we were able to make progress on the building none the less.

Tom and Dave, with the help of Leah, continued their work on the ring beam in building two. Zack, Ginny and Heather started to take down the wooden frames of the ring beam in building one, but the Kenyans were using them for support of scaffolding and they were afraid to take it all down and have the ring beam not be set enough to support them. So once that was taken down they went in search of other tasks. Heather helped Penny to lay out the rebar for the ring beam in the kitchen building, while Ginny and Zack worked with some Kenyan kids to sift piles and piles of sand for the plaster mix. Bev went around cleaning the place up and finding jobs that needed to be done that it seemed no one else wanted to do. Adam as always went around make sure that people were on task and if they didn't have a task found them something to do.

Since the walls were up in all the building the Kenyan workers started on the immense job of plastering ahead of them. They were able to get the outer walls in the back 3 rooms plastered and looking good.

At around 4pm things were starting to wind down and the clouds were starting get dark and move over head. So we started to make preparations in case it rained, which is sure enough did. We were grateful for the moat that had been freshly dug around the entrance/doorway to building two. We had also covered a dry mix that had been made by the Kenyans and not used hoping that it would not go to waste (we'll see how well it worked come Monday morning).

Shortly after we dug the moat and covered the mix it started to POUR! Probably the hardest and longest it's rained since we have been here. We had to wait a little while on Robert to get there so that we could head back to the compound for our dinner out.

On our way back we saw a small truck struck on the side of the road because his back tires had gone off the road. So we decided to stop and help push him out, I'm sure that it was quite a site to see four white guys stop to push a Kenyan out of being stuck (we figured it was the right thing to do because earlier in the day we got stuck for out first time on the muddy road out to the site).

After that we made it back to the compound and rushed to get showers before heading out to a very special meal at a guest house just down the street.

All in all it was a great Saturday where we were able to get work done, but also enjoy some time just spent with one another and the people on the TI compound where we are staying.

Rain delay

yes... It really was raining

The Never Ending Tie-Beam

2010-08-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day in Kitale - no rain to speak of. Work continues on the buildings with most of the visible progress being accomplished by the local masons. Team four finally finished the interior tie-beams in building one, both forms and concrete. Halleluya!! Now on to the more challenging building two. The floors in building one are ready for forms but will have to wait for the plastering to be finnished. The kitchen is also ready for the ring-beam.

On a side note, my suitcase finally arrived. It has become a running joke that whenever there was something that we needed but didn't have, someone would say that Tom has one .... but it is in his suitcase. I guess we can't use that excuse now.

Today we left work early, 5:00 pm, for a BBQ at the TI compound with most of the local missionaries and NGO personnel. As usually the food was delicious, especially the goat.

...and the rain came

2010-08-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

Pouring the tie beams

Progress of the dorms

Mary and Ruth

We are now road building as at the end of the day we loaded up the wheel barrow with broken bricks and filled holes on the road to Martin's new home.
Dave a Tom have been working very hard to form up the remaining tie beams. In dorm one there isn't enough lumber so they have been gradually taking the planks from the scaffolds.

Now at 6:00 pm the truck arrived with more lumber. We are now able to begin forming the floors. The walls on the kitchen are to the top of the windows and doors.
The concrete mixing went well today. Each wheelbarrow of sand and gravel was level! We had a line of kids and a couple adults to hand the buckets of concrete up to our amazing team on the scaffold!(we even have four buckets).

2010-08-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Working together sifting sand

Christine our great helper

Rolling out the lining for the floors

Team 4 has been blessed with another great day at the work site. The walls on the kitchen are about half way up. Tom and Dave are almost done with the frame for the ringbeam in building 2 and we actually started pouring some of the concrete in it today.Door frames are now being made that the doors actually fit in. We finished cutting all the plastic for under the concrete floors in the first 2 buildings.
We had a heavy downpour this afternoon which slowed things down a bit because without electricity it gets very dark inside during a storm and it's hard to work inside the building. Plus everyone piles inside so it gets a bit crowded. I got to spend time with Ruth scrapping old cement drippings off the windows and talking about the kids. She is such a beautiful soul and you can tell she has love for every one of the 40 some children. She just smiles so brightly when she talks about each one. She never forgets a name and learned all of ours immediately. I'm trying to learn names but not having quite as much luck.
My day ended with the electricity going off in the middle of my shower, which means the water goes instantly cold. I guess I should just be grateful that it started out hot. It was also chipata taco night which we all enjoyed.
I'd like to send a special thanks to all the folks at work who helped me get here. It is everything I could have hoped for and I do miss you just a little.

2010-08-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

Team 4, Day 2!

Today was a little more taxing than yesterday, with our first day on the job excitement worn away by a hard day of work yesterday. Even though our energy level was a little lower we were still able to accomplish a good days work.

Dave and Tom were able to make progress on the ring beam, although they were having to wait on a few things before they could get everything in place. Another group of us were able to get most of the floors in building one leveled and a few rooms cleared of rubble in building two. Adam, Leah, some Kenyan workers and Zach for a while at the end were able to get all the windows set in building three before we left for the day. Penny with the help of a few Kenyan children moved piles of sand and rocks close to building one so that when it comes time to pour the ring beam we will be well prepared!

Our much waited for door frames were delivered today with some assembly required. Dave and Tom were very disappointed to find out when the first assembled door frame was delivered for fitting that the door did not fit in the frame! So the door and frame were taken away to be redone alone with two other frames that were almost finished. Hopefully round two for the doors will prove to be perfect.

We were also blessed for the afternoon to have Alicia, Heather, and Mike as extra team members. They helped us level floors, bind together the rebar inner parts of the ring beam and play with the kids.

We are hoping that tomorrow the guys will be able to finish the ring beam in building one and if we're lucky and they have enough supplies get started on building two. Looking forward to resting up tonight to get a good days work in tomorrow!

This blog was written while the power was out so we were unable to upload any pictures, time and power permitting we may try to add some later. If not, hopefully we'll get some pictures up for you tomorrow.

First day of work for group 4

2010-08-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ruth cooking lunch & Adam with grandchild

Donkeys bringing bricks to worksite

The Shikuku family and Pollock family

Today was the start of work for group four. We began the day early and were off the compound by 7am. Once we arrived at the job site there was plenty for us to do. We formed teams and Tom and Dave began working on the tie beams in building one. The rest of us worked on grating the floors to prepare for pouring of the concrete, as well as other small jobs that needed to done before we could move on. We are still waiting for the door frames for within the building but were able to set two doors in place for the kitchen building. Overall a very productive first day and I am happy to be apart of this wonderful team full of family.

Straglers of team #4 arrive

2010-08-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

The six members of team #4 arrived on Saturday, around eleven o'clock.
Then after greet, meet and some light unpacking all went into town to the Blvd. resturant.
for lunch. Other plans had to be made due to the death of the owners father.

Sunday, brought the last three of team #4 family member's in.
A couple of those family members will think twice about using Continental in the future planing of flying.

It turned out after getting a flight into Kitale we could meet up with the rest of team #4 in Soy. We would miss church service but meet up Martin & Ruth home, an hour and half from the airport. Lets just say it would of maybe taken half hour if the roads were fixed!

We met and greeted most of the 43 orphans, had quick lunch, got measured for a dress, took family pictures. Then piled 20 into the matatu and than drove over to the project site to see what was going to be in store for Monday.
Hi, to my Aunty Kay, all my fellow workers at Adecco, two Rita's and my friends and family.

Teamless with the Locals

2010-08-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

Today was a major downshift compared to the past few days. There was a lot of good work completed but with the loss of our largest group things seemed to move at a much slower pace.

Much of the day was spent getting things prepared for the next teams arrival. Which means ordering supplies. Interior doors, the frames for the doors, plastic for the floors, lime for plaster sheets of glass which will need to be cut by hand to fit each individual window, and of course more bricks.

The kitchen door and window layout took up another large portion of the day, but now there is a few courses started on the kitchen and dinning facility.

The front section of wall above the ring beam was completed today.

The gable ends were flying up, much faster then expected!

The compound is looking more and more like home everyday.

Tomorrow will be the start of two days of rest for everyone working on the project, after the hard push over the past two weeks its well deserved.

Team 3 Departs

2010-08-05T23:52:00.000-07:00

It was a bitter sweet day at the Johabeto project. Filled with both the joy of gratitude, and the sadness of departure. Half of the team went to the work site to spend their last half of a day in Kitale working before their flight while the other half of the team cleaned up the compound for the next team and prepared for departure.

At the site we finished the last course or two of interior walls on the second home.

Finished the remaining portion of the exterior tie beam.

Cleaned the mortar off the slab one last time.

Our hired masons built scaffolding and started working on the Gable ends of home 1.

A little before noon Martin Ruth and the kids had another great meal prepared and a tree to be planted for everyone on the team. All the older children that were present helped in the planting with the team and hired workers in order to speed up the ceremony and have the team make it to the air strip on time.

After good byes the matatu pulled off and the work crew took their lunch break. It was quiet and a somberness filled the air.

Work was slow for the rest of the day but the first section of wall above the ring beam to the roof line,

and a few courses of brick went up on the first gable.

Gods glory has been shown through team 3! They were an amazing group and completed an amazing feat of raising hope and walls of home two from the ground up, thanks be to God.

-Gods nameless servant

2010-08-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

God is so good! He has blessed our group in so many ways. Seeing the smiling faces of Martin and Ruth each time they arrive to the work site brings smiles to all our faces. The joy and happiness that Martin and Ruth and the kids have are amazing. They have inspired us to keep going everyday. They keep telling us how much we are blessing them, but in reality they are the ones who have blessed us.
Saying goodbye to Ruth today was one of the hardest goodbyes that I have ever had to do. Ruth and her family have become our family and we love them and will miss them so much and we can't wait to see what else God has planned for them.

Tuesday

2010-08-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

With our team and some Kenyans who came to the worksite today we were a total of 22 crammed into our Matatu (a van really, but referred to as a "bus" in Kenya) for the return trip to Kitale. The one saving grace of such travel is not just the amazement of fitting, but the secret joy that we were all of sufficiently diminshed size to permit such travel. We were a little later than normal and Daniel was lighting Tiki torches as we pulled into the driveway raising speculation about who would be voted off the island by the tribal council.

It was a bright morning when we left the compound, headed through the outskirts of Kitale and to our Johabeto project. The orphans that had joined us on Monday had slept at the sight and were there to greet us when we arrived. Some of the men had started to draw water from the well for making concrete.

The children joined our prayer circle and Bill Pollock led in prayer, but not before the Kenyans led us in a praise song (in English). All participated in the singing and there was a traditional clapping at the end, those wearing their workgloves clapped puffs of dust. Then everyone silently went to their "posts," focused on the tasks ahead and eager to work they went to those places where the work had ended yesterday.

By the end of today the interior walls of the 2nd building were neary complete (1/2 are done and the remainder are over half way complete. The entire ringbeam has been formed around the 2nd building, the footers dug for the kitchen and dining hall and the concrete poured (although not complete) for the footers.

There is a new lamb, born two days ago that now romps through the worksite. Probably more pictures have been taken of this animal than anything else these past two days. The Kenyan family that owns him have named him "Sunday" since he was born on Sunday and Muzungos (a word meaning "foreigner" but ascribed primarily to "whites') have been so predominate in the area.

The orphans have been joined by nearby children for soccer. If you send up a rocket balloon, they appear out of seemingly nowhere. Our sight is surrounded by corn stalks, fully grown. I have wanted to call them "children of the corn," but that sounds so derogatory. They are mostly just curious and hopeful that these strange looking people (who work in shorts) will have some special treat to extract from their backpacks. The orphans showed their ingenuity in retrieving an aerobee flying disk from the roof of building two and others shot helicopters over the buildings and cornfields that they had been given.

Jeff and Adam became true Obwanakuba (boss kings) today as they graciously received royal Kenyan apparel from Faith (one of Martin and Ruth's 3 daughters). Irene (another daughter) joined us and filled in bricks attired in her dress. We are amazed that the Kenyan women who sometimes join us in the work finely attired in suits or dresses and in these they carry bricks or mortar.

We are pleased with the progress and look forward to the next day and a half.

Bruce

Diving into Week 2!

2010-08-02T11:47:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone! We started the second week of our team's work on the building today with a BANG!! Since our team leaves Kitale on this Thursday mid-day, that only leaves 3 1/2 days of solid work! We really hit the ground running today, determined to make a remarkable dent in the project before our time here is over.

What a buzz of activity filled the worksite as nearly 75 workers scurried about. Seventy-five?! This huge number included our team, plus hired Kenyan workers, plus Martin and Ruth's family, plus delivery crews ...plus orphans.

That's right, some of the orphans were working with us today! It was such a wonderful experience to see these kids working hard carrying bricks, and doing whatever else could be done, to help to build their new home. It added such a joy and excitement to the atmosphere of the worksite. If all goes well, they will be living here very soon!

Panic began to set in early in the afternoon: The bricks were gone. About 25 people with trowels and mortar in hand, layed bricks at a REMARKABLE rate (walls rising before your very eyes!), and our pile of bricks was disappearing awefully fast. When we were down to about the LAST brick, a truck came bouncing down the road to our worksite bearing a load of 2000 bricks ...then another ...then another, totalling 6000, more than enough to last us through the week!

A big milestone today: We broke ground on the foundation for the THIRD building, the kitchen! Tomorrow we plan to pour the concrete footer, allowing the walls to go up the day after. Exciting stuff!

God is good, and the progress that is being made is a testimony of His faithfulness, as well as the determination of so many people to see a home built for these wonderful kids. I know this endeavor touches God's heart, and it's an honor to be a part of this.

~Matt Drew

Sunday

2010-08-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a day away from the project site. We headed to Soy in the morning to spend time with the kids and join them at their church service. The energy they express in their three hour long service and songs far exceeds anything that any of us are accustomed to. We had messages from both Pastor Matt and Pastor Bruce and a word or two from another half dozen individuals. After high Kenyan tea at the Shikuku's we headed to a local game reserve to see the rhinos, feed the giraffe and ride the ostriches. The matatu ride to and from the game farm was perhaps the most adventurous part of the day. In the dark, after a hard rain, the roads were even more difficult to travel than normal. But Robert, our driver, executed the trip masterfully and we got back in time for a great spaghetti dinner and an evening of shopping for souvenirs. It was a full and fun filled day. Tomorrow we'll dig out our trowels and hammers again. We intend to set some new performance bench marks.

Bill

Another Week Another Home?

2010-07-31T12:32:00.000-07:00

What an amazing week it has been at the Johabeto site here in Kitale! Being the largest group, team 3 arrived on the scene with trowels blazing, and mortar flowing like a waterfalls out of the wheelbarrows.

In about three days this team has gotten all the exterior walls up to tie beam height on the second home.

If that's not enough of an accomplishment about 3,000 bricks have been laid on the interior walls and are around chest height.

The tie beam has been formed using lumber and poured with concrete all the way around the outside of building one. Getting the concrete up was done one pan at a time.

All of the walls in the first building have reached the tie beam level with the exception of just a few blocks.

The windows have all been set on building one this week, along with one of the two side doors. There was a slight mix up with one of the front windows to the right of the front door, it was set but it swung open the wrong way. After removed and replacing it with the correct window it opened in the proper direction.

Robert had to leave at noon to catch his flight back home today, but he wouldn't put his tools down until the very last minute. He came to the work site with his bags packed and worked till noon, commendable dedication for sure.

After such a great week, we called it a day at 4pm so the team could get back to the compound shower, and walk to town to have a nice celebration dinner. We at the Pinewood restaurant and after about two or three hours of waiting for our food all 19 of us had been served. It was a great time and great food and at a very reasonable price! It was a perfect way to end such a great work week.

Thank God for the strength that he has given us and the accomplishments he has provided this week. The glory is always Gods may we work in accordance to his will. God bless everyone involved and following this project.

Adam

Day 5-Matt's Birthday

2010-07-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

Day 5 was another wonderfully progress-filled day. We started off the morning with a suprise visit from a monkey who decided to check out the compost pile at the compound. By the end of the day we had poured more of the concrete on top of the walls of Building One, and almost finished all of the interior walls. Building Two has all the exterior walls basically ready to have the ring beam poured as well.

A few windows were set, as well as one of the doors. Ruth came into the building and when we asked her whether she has seen the windows, she smiled broadly, and said, "I am even planning the curtains." With that, she took off her outter skirt/wrap,and held it up high, as if it were the curtain. She keeps grinning and saying, "I have so much joy because we are going from the mud house to the permanent house."

We enjoyed the delicious food and hospitality once again from Ruth. Every other day she and her helpers make a delicious lunch for the crew. Today she brought us Ugale, a cornmeal-based dish, which some of us found appealing and others didn't even try.

We have developed great relationships with the Kenyan workers. They are hard-working, cheerful, and extremely willing to help. They are also great teachers, and we have learned to say Thank you in Swahili: Asante. or Shukran.

Unfortunately, I (Ethan) found out today that I was keeping productivity down by 30 percent when Bill stated they had to stop several times today for mortar to come. Little did they know the reason they were waiting is because the mortar mixers were trying to teach me new words.

The day finished up with a chicken noodle soup dish and a birthday cake for Pastor Matt. Lucky him- he was given a Rungu which is a glorified name for a club used for protection and to herd cattle.

Tutaonana (See you later).

Taco Thursday!!

2010-07-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hello! After much cajoling I finally succumbed to writing tonight's blog. I will start off with a fun fact: taco in Swahili means butt. Therefore, we were not advised to tell any Kenyans that we were eating tacos for dinner tonight. It was difficult for me to contain my excitement, though, and I did let the word slip at least once. On another note, the construction is progressing well. The outside walls on the second dorm are very close to being completely finished, and interior walls are on their way up! Unfortunately, we did lose a tool to the depths of the outhouse. I have carried so many bricks that I am positive my biceps will be twice their current size when I return home. In fact, as a way of erasing doubt from the minds of some foolish men, I demonstrated my strength tonight by performing thirty push-ups in front of the entire team. I must say, it was amazing. =] Now I must be off because these long work days have me exhausted quite early. Enjoy these pictures!

Deborah

Team Three - Day Three

2010-07-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

Day three for Team Three. There must be something special about that. It was another good day; good progress, no injuries and no illness. We have all adjusted to the squat outhouse at the construction site, although not everyone is using the supply of old cement sacks left for toilet paper. We continue to focus on brick laying. The outside walls of the second dorm are within a day of completion and the ring beam on the first building is more than half way poured. There are some challenges since this is construction in Africa. We don't have a ladder and all the scaffolding is improvised. We had a pile of 20 foot Eucalyptus trees delivered today. Tomorrow they will become scaffolding for the high brick work. When the new supply of brick arrived last night we discovered that they were a half inch higher than the original supply. We improvised so we could complete the walls we had started by reducing the number of courses on each wall to allow us to arrive at our finished window height. Problem solved, until we had used half of that supply and the next truck arrived. These were just like the originals, warped, out of square and somewhat random in size. But the project is looking great. You can walk around in the first dorm and it feels like a home already. I walked through it with Ruth Shikuku, mother to the 36 children, today. It was the first time she had been in it. I asked her what she thought. She responded, "I think that it is a dream come true." It is for all of us here as well, and I am sure it is for many of you reading this. Bill

Photo update

2010-07-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Kitale! Today is a photo update. So if a picture's worth a thousand words, today I'm sending you 7,000 words. Hope you can read it all in one sitting!

Matt Drew

Construction Day One for Team 3

2010-07-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

After a wonderful breakfast of homemade pancakes, we headed off in the Matatu and taxi to the job site, half an hour away over v-e-r-y pot holed roads which the rain the night before had not improved. Bill assigned jobs to each of us, and most of us had a steep learning curve about how to lay blocks and bricks. The Kenyans far outpaced us as they began in earnest on building two. At this point we are not even considering starting work on building 3, the kitchen/dining hall. I must admit, seeing the buildings in person made the plans on paper come alive - much bigger than we could imagine. Bill and I (Carolyn) were blessed by the visit of a pastor and his wife and son who we met 30 years ago when we spent 6 weeks in Kitui. Pastor Stanley is now retired and his son, who was a year old at that time, is now pastoring a church in Nairobi. They drove 6 hours each way to spend a couple hours with us, and gave us lovely gifts. I was overwhelmed! You cannot out-give a Kenyan! We're off to a good start, and have a long way to go, but our team is enjoying bonding, joking, and trying to learn some Swahili. Bill and Adam didn't make any of us tear down any rows that we laid, so I guess that says something!

2010-07-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Deborah, Shannon and Courteny with their hair done.

Team 3

2010-07-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm, where to begin?
I arrived in with team 3 on Saturday July 24th. Very thankful that my first trip out of the U.S. was with a seasoned traveller(our team leader Bill Pollock). Even though we have not started work yet,I have had an amazing experience already.
I have met wonderful people.Our team consist of 6 women and 8 men,half I have never met before. Each I am glad to have come on this trip with. I am amazed at how friendly the Kenyan people are. Most touching was meeting the children we are helping to build the home for. Such beautiful children who have so little and yet shared so much with us. We american girl all had children who put braids in our hair.
Church was a great experience and was a lot different than a typical american service but God was there and that is what is important.
Food, oh gracious, I don't even know how to describe what I have eaten. Just good doesn't even do it justice.
I am looking forward to beginning our work tomorrow but if nothing else, I have discovered that I have soooo much. I am blessed beyond and have much more than I need!!!

Another Team has left, but its hardly goodbye!

2010-07-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

After two weeks of hard work today was a time for team 2 to clean up their living quarters and get ready for their departure. They refused to say that it was a goodbye, but insisted they will be coming back. A piece of them will be left here forever and they will carry Kitale with them everywhere they go from this day on. It is sure that their lives have been profoundly changed, never to be the same.

The team had moved piles of bricks from one end of the site to get them closer to the building where they would be built into walls.

The walls went up both on the inside and out. The exterior ones have reached the height of 7 feet. At this heights there will be an 8 inch beam of poured concrete with steal reinforcing rods which will hold everything together, and is known as a ring beam or tie beam.

The inside walls have been going up and a few of them are at tie beam height and the rest will surely be there soon.

Also there has been one section of floor slab poured in this building that the small office wall and toilet room wall off of the master bed room will be built.

some of the windows and doors have been delivered to the sight and will be installed after the tie beam is poured.

The lower building the footers have all been completed and the floor has been leveled. Walls are set-up and have started to go up. Things are being done a little differently in this building, so 5 of the 18 sections of the floor slab have been poured.

We thank God for giving the team the strength to work, and for keeping everyone safe. May he watch over the following two teams and receive the glory of everything accomplished.

2010-07-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

As team two entered the final stretch, everyone worked at tieing up loose ends to get ready for the next team. Two more sections of floor slabs were poured which means we now have 5/18 of the floor completed in building two. The bricklayers, considerably more experienced than they were two weeks ago, made an admiral start on several walls of building two. In building one, most of the interior walls are now up to ringbeam height. One again, Ruth and Martin brought us a hot meal which we enjoyed while sitting on cement blocks. The atmosphere was more subdued today as many reflected on the significance of their work, the friendships made, and the inevitable termination of our time here. Soon enough, the end of the work day arrived, group photos were taken, many handshakes and well wishes were made, and yes, we fought to hold back tears as our matatu struggled to get us through the muddy roads.

Back at the TI compound, we enjoyed a good hamburger supper with many condiments. Then many of us donated our old work clothes to the TI staff, to be washed and distributed to needy folks in the area. Many team members volunteered to carry locally made crafts back to the states. These will be sold to raise funds for the many worthy projects TI is involved with. Team two, may you all be richly blessed for your service to mankind.

Getting closer 7/21/10

2010-07-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

Today part of our team went to visit The Veronica House, Instep, and Daniel Jumas orphanage, and The Street girls program. It sounded very positive about all the programs. Some sad stories. Their "normal "is so different from our "normal" in the states. With these programs in place now the children will get such an awesome chance at a new life with healthy food,safe housing and people that really care about their wellbeing. May God continue to shower His grace, mercy, and peace on the TI organization. On the site today we now have all of the exterior walls of bldg. one up to the ringbeam height. The interior walls are coming along nicely. All of the underground plumbing is in. We also got the study poured today. In bldg. two two more sections were framed for the slab as well as continuing with backfill for the slabs.

Tuesday July 20, 2010 And the walls go higher

2010-07-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

The exterior walls continue to rise. Scaffolding is limited. We make do with 55 gallon barrels and planks. The Kenyan masons improvised additional scaffolding using extra concrete well rings. These have no reinforcing so have little strength when they are turned on their side, but it is easier to move them on their side since they can be rolled. So they used the rings turned on their side. They made it through the morning before one broke. Fortunately no one got hurt.

We continue to make good progress. The exterior walls should all be completed to the top of the windows by tomorrow. The interior walls are going up quickly.

Part of the crew spent the day hauling dirt and leveling the floor in building 2. They set forms and got ready to do the first pour of the concrete floors tomorrow. We want to do the floors before we build the walls on the lower end of this building because there is so much fill. The wire mesh and reinforcing bars in the floor slab will do a lot to strengthen the building.

All of the work is being done by hand with no power tools. We have a battery powered drill and saw, but have been unable to recharge the batteries. We hope to get a generator on the site tomorrow so we can drill the building columns and tie them into the ring beam at the top of the windows. Other tools are limited too, but we continue figure out a way to get the job done. That is part of what continues to make the job interesting.

Week 2 for Team 2

2010-07-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

Work today continued on the project and the walls - interior and exterior - are really progressing. We can see real shape to the building we've been working on and that is exciting. Volunteers come to help each day and we are still learning new Somali words and making new friends. Our bodies are hanging in there although we all have a new appreciation for brick layers :) Mixing mortar, laying brick, using trowels, using strickers (make the pretty lines in the mortar between the bricks). We've learned a lot - although our hands and backs are feeling the pain :). Needless to say the living room in the morning and evenings are full of us sprawled on the floor stretching.

We finished the back brick wall of one building and the scaffolding consisted of 2 pieces of plywood laying on 2 big barrels. A little wobbly at times but amazing the amount of weight it could hold!!!

Today was the hottest day we have had so far during our time in Kenya - all I can say is WOW! to the heat. Having electrolyte tablets to drop in your water is definitely the answer. We were praying for our afternoon rain which we have had pretty much everyday, but no, the rain didn't come until just before we left at about 6;15pm. About 4-6 hours late :). It is amazing how much the temperature drops before the rain comes and the sky is breathtaking!!!!

We sang songs to entertain ourselves as we worked and had some laughs and good chats. All in all - a good workday to start the week!

Martin and Ruth Revisited

2010-07-17T09:53:00.001-07:00

Today we returned to visit Ruth and Martin and the children that will eventually live in the structures we are building. I think that this experience makes it much more apparent why we are carrying and moving and lifting and hauling.
Its hard to admit, because all of these children need so much love, but I think each of us found a 'favorite' or two that court our special attachments. My two guys are James Obama and Moses, both of whom have a wisdom and personality that hides deep in their eyes. We communicate mostly by sign language... James knows how the digital camera works and has already figured out which buttons to push to take pictures and to view them... and knows how to ask for a 'snap' to be taken of himself.
Moses was found four years ago as a 4 year old at a restaurant where he had been left by his parents. He is 8, but looks like he is five at the oldest. He had been sitting alone but joined James Obama and I, and I carried them from the church service to the family's compound of 5 or 6 buildings... where the 40+ children sleep elbow to elbow on dirt floors. Cooking is done over an open fire. for 40 children at a time.
As we walked, Moses talked to James Obama in small coo's of wispers... I have no idea exactly what they were talking about, but it was nice to such a close observer of their conversation...
James has no shoes. He walks over stones and dirt and rocks and sticks without looking at the ground. I think there is no running water.
Another of my favorites, Faith, sat next to us in church. She and her friend spent their time cleaning under my fingernails with a stick that they had found on the floor. It was very kind... grooming... caring... I was reminded of the washing of feet in the Bible... All the children are fascinated with our skin... that it changes colors when you push on it... that our veins are visible and blue, that I have hair that is soft on my arms. The young girls enjoyed the long hair of some of our team members... braids were tied and united...
I learned this day that my feet are soft. My hands are well protected. My belly is full, and my intestines are probably weak. My heart likes singing, and my head is quieter when there are a chorus of voices singing, even if I dont know any of the words.

Day 7: Bugs

2010-07-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

After 5 days of moving and laying bricks, Team 2 got a break and had the bus pick us up an hour later. The extra hour of sleep was helpful in energizing the team. One team member returned back to the US today (Eugene) and had another member join us in his place (Dave). We are very excited to have Dave join us and bring some fresh energy to the work site. Good luck to Eugene on his travels back home!

The day started off with some excitement. Apparently, there are caterpillars all over the world that shed tiny needles when a predator brushes against them and causes itchiness and pain. There is such a caterpillar in Kenya that is black. Ga-Young brushed against one with her hand upon arriving at the work site, and ran to the closest Kenyan for help. The Kenyan immediately grabbed her hand and rubbed the affected areas against his head and hair. The coarse, curly hair of Kenyans grabs the caterpillar needles and pulls them out!

We had another day of bricklaying today, and made some good progress. The team laying bricks was paired up with Kenyan masons today, and it was fun to share information with each other. The women on the team had an interesting exchange with one of the masons about how Kenyan men are allowed to have more than one wife but how Kenyan women cannot marry more than on. As much as he had a difficult time understanding that American men cannot marry more than wife legally, we had a difficult time grasping the idea that women and men in Kenya are not considered equals. We learn new things everyday!

At the day's end, we put up enough brick where the team will have to uses scaffolding to continue building the walls. It is satisfying to see the fruits of our labor.

Tomorrow, we're heading back to see Ruth and Martin's children. We're all looking forward to seeing the children again.

Team 2 Day 5

2010-07-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

The days are beginning to blend together as much of the work is repetitive. However, we can see progress. In building 1,the walls are now high enough to reach window level. In building 2, about 90% of the footers are done and floors in 4 rooms are pretty well levelled out. To accomplish this, many blocks have been moved from the pile to the building and much dirt has been shoveled into the higher end of the building. Because the building is built on a slope, the floor at one end will be about 3 feet above ground level. The blocks here are not hollow and quite heavy. The slippery mud makes it difficult to move more than 3 at a time in a wheelbarrow. We were rewarded with another delicious dinner by Ruth Shikuku. As if taking care of 40 orphans isn't enough, she brought the dinner out to the work site with utensils, plates, and all. It makes one wonder who is it that's being served.

For entertainment during the ride home, we passed the time seeing who could tell the stupidest jokes. It's amazing that some people's taste in jokes hasn't gone beyond the 3rd grade level. Oh well, as long as the work is getting done.....

Day 4: Seeing daylight but not tomorrow

2010-07-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

Today we continued laying bricks - some might say we're even getting...better at it. The second building has footers, and we've started laying bricks in there as well. We're hoping to pour floors in the first building tomorrow or Saturday. We got a lovely surprise from the neighbor behind the site, Pheobe - she brought us mandazzis (sp?), which are these tasty fried doughy goodness, and some coffee. We continue to be entertained by the Kenyan workers' singing, coupled with some of our own (which is not nearly as good!) Tonight was Taco Thursday - complete with chipatis! The food has been fantastic every day.

Team 2 Day three

2010-07-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

The gift of another day. Today was a very busy and long day. We completed pouring the footings in building two and started the block work on the low end to hold back the fill dirt that will be going in to bring the insidedirt level to just below finished floor. Building one continued installing the vapor barrier and more brick on the exterior walls. All of the interior walls are have one course of block on them. Everbodies newly found skills are improving. The doors are layed out and ready for preparation of slab base. We have been blessed with the the addition of three local bricklayers that will help give us the extra push we need to stay on track. There have also been some local voluteers helping with this hard work. Everybody's spirits remain high despite the aches and pains.The laughter and joking are a good medicine.

Second day on the job for team 2

2010-07-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

While yesterday was a test of physical stamina and patience for members of team two - moving bricks and waiting for building materials that never arrived, today was a day of learning new skills and new accomplishments. Under the patient instruction of master mason, Greg Hull, we learned to butter a brick with cement and properly place it with the help of a line.

While part of the group was getting their training in masonry, others prepared the footers of the second building in anticipation of the arrival of trucks with gravel and cement. Both had arrived by mid morning and so this group was able to begin mixing concrete and pouring the footers. Aside from a few cave-ins where there was loose fill dirt, this group made good progress and by the end of the day had about a third of the footers complete.

All left the site in good spirits. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the drive back to Kitale. It was a perfect evening to sit out side and share stories.

We are truely blessed to be able to spend some time in such a beautiful place.

First Day of Work for Team 2!

2010-07-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

Team 2 started our first work day together bright and early before the sun was up, had a nice breakfast of eggs and toast, gathered our things and hopped in the van en route to the site. The first day of really hard work like this with a new team has the potential to be quite challenging, but I think we all adjusted well and worked well together. And boy did we work! We moved approximately 4000 bricks today by hand, measured out the exterior walls with folks learning new skills about what goes into the building process, and started putting down the beginnings of the exterior walls, among many other things. We are quite lucky to have several members who have experience in construction, masonry, and design.

We, however, were not alone in our work today. There were some hired Kenyans assisting with the digging on the second building and preparing it for concrete. There was Ruth, the mother of the orphanage we are building for, who was helping us with the bricks, teaching us songs in Swahili and overall making our brick moving so much more fun! She has a smile and a soul that sings and is infectious. We learned over the course of the day that many of the other helpers were neighbors or friends of hers, the man who gave the sermon the day before when we visited the orphanage, and a young man who came from the next town over simply to help out, named Alfred. He shared a beautiful poem during service on Sunday when we went to visit the children and he has both a strong and gentle heart. There were many more that we worked side by side with, many without shoes, and we were moved by the sense of community, love, and selfless giving that they exemplified.

The site is surrounded by cornfields, which is beautiful and leaves one with a sense of peace. We also have several "pets" around the site: the sheep that belong to the neighbors and are quite funny when they are vocal, a small dog, a cow and we can't forget the chickens which entertained us by jumping in and out of the trenchs that had been dug for the second building. We had rain in the afternoon which was both a blessing and a curse: blessing in that we had a break but curse when we all tried to get up and start moving again :). Needless to say, we have a very sore Team 2 after day one! Overall, a great first day out. I found this prayer and it stuck with me, particularly being here in Kenya, and I'll leave this as the closing thought for Day 1.

"As often as you can, take a trip out to the fields to pray . . . All the grasses will join you. They will enter your prayers and give you strength to sing praises to God."

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

Start of Team Two: Week Three Begins

2010-07-11T09:37:00.001-07:00

Greetings from Kenya! Team Two arrived on Saturday and at least got 15 minutes of 'download' from Team One. We met our hosts, traveled into town, enjoyed a Kenyan meal in the 'balcony' restaurant, and later a delicious dinner of Tomato and Rice soup.
Today (Sunday) was the true beginning of our adventure, we went to the town of Soy, the location of the home where Martin and Ruth and our new Kenyan family, including the 40+ children, currently live. We travelled by 'MaTaTu' (sp?)... the local form of public transportation, which is a beat up toyota minivan, painted yellow, and with new tires we understand, because of a flat last week. The roads are semi-paved, and semi-pot holed, and semi-bad for the van suspension system! They contain many a 'police check point', where we understand are sometimes the location of a safety and registration check, and sometimes a place for a couple hundred shillings to change hands.
Once we arrived in Soy, we danced and sang, part in English, part in Swahili, for a morning church service, and I was moved for one of the first times in a long time. A chorus of African children can do that, I guess. We took pictures with our digital cameras, and the children all loved to see their pictures on the little bright screens.
We made the walk over red stones and rain water streams to the main compound where Martin and the rest of the family currently live. We were treated to a wonderful traditional meal, cooked over an open flame on the floor of a kitchen that was probably as big as a Starbucks Bathroom. I think I can say for all of us that we got a real sense of why we are here. Martin and Ruth's story of how they came to be caring for these children runs through many hardships too numerous to explain, and proves the strength of the human character and the strong faith of this family.
Next we visited the new building location where Team One has left us a site 'ripe-for-the-buildin'... poured concrete footings under metal rooves are ready to receive the home-made mud brick and poured concrete floors. All material for the project has to be brought through numerous corn fields, on the same semi-paved and dirt roads to the site. There is no back hoe to dig the footings, or move the concrete well liners that have dislodged out of place... all of this will be done by hand or by simple mechanical labor. The one helpful tool on site is the brick molding machine, that makes the bricks for the interior walls.
By the end of our stay, our goal is to build the exterior walls and hopefully the interior walls, layed brick by brick, to get the skeleton of the buildings together. And hopefully to graft onto ourselves just a bit of the joy of these wonderful people.

"I have been placed by the water... I feel no thirst... I feel no need"
-Martin's daughter, at the church service...

New beginnings

2010-07-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

With the first segment completed Team 1 has accomplished a monumental task by the grace of God. Starting with little more than an open field with a few bricks on it and a pile of metal, to having three structures standing with completed rooves.

The team also moved massive amounts of earth leveling what will be the floor base and 100s of tons more in the preparation of the footers/foundation.

As of yesterday the team finished pouring concrete in all but two little sections for all of the footers for the northern dormitory.

The team pushed themselves possibly further then they thought possible, overcoming the exhaustion of 12 hour work days to give a great new beginning for the second team whom arrived in Kitale today.

Yesterday was an amazing farewell from all of the locals at the work site. They had a tree for every member of team that we all planted one by one as the sung and danced and lifted us up showing their joy and appreciation for all the work that everyone had done.

Today team 1 cleaned up their living quarters to prepare for Team 2s arrival. There was a brief overlaps of the two teams, about half an hour, just long enough to meet and give a few little words of wisdom. As team 1 headed for the airstrip in the faithful matatu (van/bus)

team 2 headed out on foot to town with the hope that I could remember the way, and get them to the restaurant. which was a step in faith since it was 3pm and most had not eaten all day and been traveling. Getting to town wasn't as much of a problem as finding the restaurant which looked so much different two weeks ago while half in a daze from the whirlwind tour of Egypt. however after doing a little grocery shopping for the week at Transmatt we were able to find the restaurant and get some prepared food.

here is where the kids of the kingdom are currently staying

and after the johabeto project they will live under these rooves
but before that walls and windows and doors all to come in the next few weeks...

We would like to thank everyone for their contributions, both financial and spiritually through prayer. Without them this project would be impossible, as some of the team members have said we have set unrealistic goals; but God has blessed every part of this project and everyone involved both here and abroad and with faith mountains can be moved and unrealistic goals can be met, Glory be to God!

From the ground up

2010-07-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

After a week and a half of shovel, jembe and roof, there have been times that each of the team has been thoroughly exhausted, not used to the 7000‘ elevation. . We have moved approximately 6000 cubic feet of dirt to level the southern dormitory. The dirt was extracted from 2 enormous termite mounds. Today, we completed the first full day of building footers in the northern dormitory. There is 400+ feet of rough footers almost 3‘ deep in the building. We have leveled the southern end of the building's perimeter and hope to complete the leveling of remaining footers in this building on Friday.
We have developed a wonderful relationship with our lunch cook, Jane. She is from Elderot and fixed us a lunch today of Thanksgiving proportions. It included sliced oranges, mango and papaya, spaghetti, rice, avocado salad, chipati and chicken stew. Jane will get my boots.
Mike and Evan, the interns, returned from their excursion to Kisumu, on the banks of Lake Victoria. Other than cramped matatus and Mike’s affinity for mosquitoes , they had good reports of baboons, pizza and World Cup.

Dave was wrong... as usual.

2010-07-07T06:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we as a group got back on track with the project as we finished digging the footers in the first dormitory and continued the process of leveling out the second dormitory.

Early on in the morning, I (Tim) shared a story with the group members about a chicken who lived a year and a half with it's head having been cut off. Naturally there was skepticism about whether the story was true or just an urban legend. Without hesitation, Dave screamed that the story was not anatomically or phisiologically possible. I did my best to assure him that the story was completely valid.

It was not until later last night that Dave's skepticism was proved wrong via sources such as The Guiness Book of World Records, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Wikipedia, and a slew of other online resources. He has yet to produce a sincere apology to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken

Week two begins

2010-07-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

This week began with everyone charged up from yesterdays visit to Soy, where we met the Kids of the Kingdom. Work started frantically with most of the team trying to get the footers dug for building one. This is no easy task because they have to be dug down three feet deep, while working at an elevation around 7000 feet. The rest of the team was working on bringing in fill for building two so that it would get a chance to settle before digging the footers there. Perhaps we started the day a bit too frantically because we were all out of gas by mid-day. with every bit of energy that God provided us we pushed on, and almost got all the footers to depth and removed a good bit of the dirt that had been piled up in the building. The roof on building three, the dinning hall was completed today ridge cap and all, and the only remaining thing for the roof on building one is the ridge cap. We would like to thank everyone for keeping us in there prayers, God bless.

American Independence

2010-07-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

We awoke today with much anticipation and excitement because today we traveled to the town of Soy to meet Marting and his family at their home. Our bus from Kitale was filled with visitors eager to spend time with the children for whom we've traveled such a long distance.

After a joyful service, we headed to Martin's home and received exceptional hospitality. The time we spent with the kids helped us to understand what our project is all about. We are all so excited to see Martin's family move to their new home later this summer.

This 4th of July was spent in the company of dear friends we are blessed to have. We took a break from celebrating our nation to celebrate another. Martin and his family shine brightly in western Kenya and are well deserving of a new place to call home. Team 1 can't wait to get back to work tomorrow.

Saturday in Kitale

2010-07-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

Ah Saturday in Kitale Kenya offers so much to do, part of our group took the day off for rest and recovery. The other part of the group went out to the project to work and set things up for the coming week! Building one now has all the rooms laid out and footers for under the walls all started. Gravel has been delivered, and sand cement and reinforcing rod are ordered and will be delivered Monday. Next week should see footers in and the buildings ready for walls to begin going up with the arrival of the second crew.
We are looking forward to visiting worshiping with, and eating with Martin, Ruth and the children at the present home location in Soy tomorrow.

Termites

2010-07-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

Today the roof on the small building was started. However, the brunt of the work was leveling the ground of the two larger buildings. The first building we moved the dirt from one end to the other. To help pack the dirt we had our human "steam roller" Sarah who surprisingly lost her energy today. After completing the first building we moved on to the second large one. For the second building we had to move soil from a termite mound. Our fellow Kenyan workers used their jembes and plowed into a large termite colony. They began to eat some of the termites and convinced us to try them. It was an interesting experience and we have definitely learned a lot about Kenyan culture.

TacoThursday: great expectations of a hippo attack

2010-07-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

Today started with one hammer and great expectations of finishing a roof. After petting Wakiel (the neighbor's cow) the day's productivity increased ten fold. We now have an official theme song thanks to Uncle Gene and almost an entire roof on building #1. Spirits are high - Kenya is awesome!

Wednesday Team1

2010-06-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Today we agian forged ahead with awesome success. We have also made a great friend with the bus driver who takes us to and from the job site. He plays Kenyan music in the morning and teaches us Swahili in the evening. If you didn't hear, we had a flat tire yesterday due to a sharp stone in the middle of a maze field. ssssssssssss.

Our success on the job resulted in the frames and perlins (rafters) across the trusses. We now have all the steel framing erected for all three buildings.

Blessings to all!

The Rainy Season

2010-06-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today we continued many of the tasks we began yesterday. With the main structure of the first building having gone up yesterday, we framed the rest of the roof and finished cementing the footers. We made great progress on the kitchen/classrom area as well. The ground is nearly leveled and the framing is ready to be erected once the foundations are dug. There was a little confusion on the other dormitory building as to how to go about leveling the floor, but it is progressing nonetheless. The framing is ready to be raised and the footers have been dug.

Throughout the day it rained. At times, rain poured and thunder could be heard in the distance. It did not deter the workers, however, as the job progressed.

It will be interesting to see what the days ahead hold. Many of the workers will not return due to a misunderstanding in previous days as to who had been officially hired.

The First Day of Construction

2010-06-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Today marked the first day of construction for the Johabeto project, which was very exciting and full of action. As most first days of anything there were the normal unknowns, things that were forgotten and glitches. Most all of that was to be expected. what wasn't expected was such a large turn out of workers, about twenty members of the community, that had came to work and show support. With all of their help we were able to get the ground broken and prepared for two of the building and half of the third. We had started off a little bit on the wrong foot digging the holes in the wrong place, trying to stay busy before the designer of the buildings had arrived to inform us on the correct procedure, but it was easily corrected. Once we received the instructions and help from an experienced builder we were able to get the columns and trusses up for the first building. what an amazing first day, that has us all tired yet pumped up to get the roof on the first building and the frames up for the second building tomorrow. Glory be to God!

First Full Day in Kitale

2010-06-27T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

This morning, most of team 1 slept in quite late. A few of us were awoken just 10 minutes before church service. The team attended service this morning at Kitale Christian Worship Center and worshiped alongside Mark, one of Transformed International's employees. We were late getting up, and thus late arriving at the church after a long walk in to town from the compound. We arrived in time to catch the tail end of witnessing and stayed through the rest of the service, which included an opportunity for visitors to the church (including us) to speak and be welcomed. The service was a very interesting cultural experience for us all and we were very warmly received. After church, we all went shopping in town. We bought food and shovels and various other supplies at Transmattress supermarket, the largest store in town. We hired a vehicle to take our supplies and three of us back to the compound while the rest of the team walked with Daniel back to the compound. Transformed International Kitale is located in an old neighborhood built by the British during their occupation of Kenya. Very little of the original pavement (left when the British left in the 60s) remains, but the houses and tree rows lining the streets show a ruin of what was once a very wealthy area of British Kitale.Once we returned to the compound, we rested and prepared for our first day of work bright and early tomorrow (well, not bright since we'll likely beat the sun up). The dinner this evening was spaghetti with delicious meat and vegetable sauce. Some of us played hearts until it was time to pack up and head for bed. Good Night

Team one travel and arrival!

2010-06-26T10:31:00.001-07:00

Hi All! Team one has all arrived safely in Kateli! The five of us that traveled through Egypt had an exhausting but awesome visit. I got one good nights sleep in the hotel in Luxor which was quite a hotel with a floating pool in a barge on the Nile and all. We pushed ourselves to see as much as we could in the time we were there and all agreed that that it was an awesome experience. We arrived in Cairo after our all night trans Atlantic flight and hurried off to the train station on the other side of the City.We were able to get sleeper births on the train and traveled all night to Luxor. We arrived in Luxor at 6:30 AM, went straight to the Hotel and they let us check into our rooms at that hour! Then it was off to the valley of the Kings and the rest of the West bank. We had eaten on the train so except for drinking lots of water, the temp was well over a hundred, we didn't stop to eat until dinner time. In the evening we took a falouka ride out across the Nile, and the wind died down so we all had a turn at rowing back! The next day we walk to and spent a large part of the day at the Karnak temple which all agreed was awe inspiring! In the afternoon we went for a swim and then went to the Luxor museum,as well as taking a walk around Luxor and doing a little shopping. In the evening we went to out to eat and then caught the train back for Cairo. Getting off the early in the morning again we went to Giza and the pyramids then out to Sakkara for more rode camels went to another museum then on to the airport and our Flight to Nairobi! We left Cairo at 10:45PM and landed in Nairobi at around 4AM. By the time we got through immigrations it was going on 5 and we had coffee and played cards until time to catch our plane to Kateli at 9:30AM. Todd and Jena had arrived the night before and met us at the gate. After an hour flight to Kateli, Daniel met us at the airport, took us back to camp (quite up scale!)where we dropped our bags and then went to the Hotel in town for lunch. After lunch we drove out to the work site. We staked out the 2 dorm building so the area could be leveled up. While there some of the kids that are going to be living there had a welcoming presentation for us and Martin had a welcoming speech. We went from there to another of Daniels projects which is an orphanage with kids who our all HIV positive. From there it was back to camp and dinner. Which brings you up to where we are now tired and ready to crash!!! There have been a lot of little adventures along the way that we will share with you when we get home but, God is good and everything is going well! Will try to post some pics at sometime butat the moment I am too tired!!! Love to all,God Bless!

"IN THE BEGINNING . . ."

2010-06-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

Today, June 21st marks the longest day of the year and a beginning of the JOHABETO [JOining HAnds for a BEtter TOmmorrow] construction phase of the project to construct a new orphanage in Kitale, Kenya. As the first team takes off today from Rochester, New York over two years of planning kicks info full swing. They are the first of four 20 person teams the Lord has guided to the project. They have the support of thousands back home, about the nation, Canada and in Africa while undertaking this large mission.

The mission is the construction of two dorm facilities that can house up to 48 orphans and administrators plus the construction of a dining facility/kitchen building, wash houses and toilet facilities in 8 weeks. The massive amount of water needed for the cement work will come from a well completed in May (thank you Rotary Toronto)on the 2 acre site purchased this past winter. The teams face daily rains, 85+ degree heat and, thankfully, cool nights to sleep. Upon completion, today's 35 orphans will take up residence in this new facility.

The real beginning of the project was the morning of March 25th, 2008. That is when Martin Shikuku Wamalwa wrote Beverly Reeve noting the recent loss of the late Ted Pollock. Martin had been under the care of Ted and his wife, Dolly, when they first met back in 1978 in Africa during their active missionary days. Martin's note was to express sorrow to the Pollock family for their loss and note Ted and Dolly's positive influence on his life. So much was the influence that Martin named several of his children after Pollock children names.

Martin went on in his letter to inform Beverly of the orphanage that he and his wife, Ruth, operated in Kenya. He indicated his facilities were challenging with 3 dozen orphans (ages preschool to 17 with 12 boys and 23 girls). Their current facilities were grossly undersized. He expressed a desire to build an appropriate facility to honor Ted and Dolly. And so, the bug was placed into the Pollock family.

Some of the first discussions were taking place the summer of 2008 in Mozambique as the family managed the first church construction project without their Dad. By the fall of 2009 it had become more than clear that God was directing team to the orphanage. A project that would be more than double the size of all past projects and well over twice the cost. (shhhh...it could be triple in size and cost!)

Every challenge from fund raising to recruiting volunteer missionaries to obtaining construction materials has been accomplished by His divine guidance. In the weeks to come you can return here to get updates from the Kenya based teams as they report on the project progress. Join the teams with your prayers of support over the summer. May God's speed be with them on this project JOHEBETO.

jim weick

Model close up on display 1st Pres., Pittsford

2010-06-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Scale model of one of the two dorms being built

2010-06-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

1st Team with Orphanage Model

2010-06-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

Commissioning of 1st Team

2010-06-21T07:53:00.000-07:00