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July 22, 2010
 We just wanted to send a quick note before we fly and say that we have had a great day and a great time here in Kenya. It was life changing for all!
See you on Friday and thanks for taking this journey with us.
Jake
 
July 21, 2010
It's hard to believe that this will be my second last blog posting; this has been a very quick trip! Today has been a very special day because we have seen so much of God's creation here in Kenya. Along with many other animals, we got to see elephants and what seemed like millions of wildebeasts.
Lunch was a secret to the team and very special for all of us. Just when everyone was getting a little 'over hungry' we pulled into the bush beside the Mara river and there was a beautiful lunch set up for us. It was amazing to dine while being serenaded by hippos and having a security guard armed with a gun watching for wildlife. This was a great last safari!
See you soon.
Jake
   
July 20, 2010
Today we decided to take it a bit slower because everyone was getting very tired. We took the morning off and did a little shopping and went to the Talek clinic. Our group had a tour and were able to ask lots of questions about the clinic because it was a slow day.
Later on in the afternoon, we went on safari and stumbled upon something very interesting. The picture you see is not the interesting part... apparently lions are not shy. These two are on their honeymoon (according to our driver).
I also wanted to say thank you so much to all the donors that helped us purchase a cow. The special needs boarding home will be very happy.
Trying to make a big difference in small ways!
Jake
  
July 19, 2010
It was an early start for most of our group (except me) because they
all went on a game drive at 6:15am this morning. It is so amazing to see so
many animals in their natural habitat and we have already seen many. Today we
are at Jacob's school here in the Mara and it is a lot different than the rest
of Kenya. The Mara is like walking back in time because it is so traditional.
We participated in classes in the morning and they had a traditional Masai
concert for us which was great. Jacob's school has progressed very quickly from
1999/2000 where Eric Rajah found Jacob teaching 9 students under a tree until
today where they have over 300 students with 8 functional classrooms and three
more on the way. It truly is amazing.
This evening we will be visiting a
traditional village where we will learn about the culture, and the boys will get
to test their jumping skills. We are all looking forward to it but the team is
feeling really tired. It is amazing how tiring travel really is.
I have
heard some response to our desire to purchase a cow for the special needs school
we visited just days ago but we are still short - if you are willing to pitch in
please call our office.
Jake
  
July 18, 2010
Today we left the Kericho area and started our journey to the Mara. It ended up being about a 7 hour trek with half of that being very rough road, but we made it and everyone is very excited to be here.
As I am writing we are already on Safari and have seen hippos, giraffe, zebras, wildabeasts and much more.
Tomorrow we will be heading into Jacob's school which is our last dstination. We all already feel like the end of our trip is coming too fast.
Jake
  
July 17, 2010
It has been a very special day here at the Ndanai Small Home. This is a boarding home/institution that has 42 special need students, so it's amazing to see how innovative and creative they can be with so little. It has been a great day for our team that actually lost to the Kenya students at a game of soccer. The beat part of Ndanai and its students it that they are so happy.
We gave them two gift bags and they cheered for everything that came out of the bags. Special thanks to the ladies group and Melissa Kuipers for all the blankets they made - they are a huge hit!
One of the big needs of this little school that is doing so much for the disabled is a cow, so that they can save costs on milk. The cost of one good cow is about $450 (Canadian) and as a group we have gathered just over $100. I am wondering if anyone reading our blog might be interested in helping us make this simple need a reality. If you do feel led to help out please call Tania at our office at 403-755-7825.
Jake
     
July 16, 2010
Well as you can see from the pictures it was a bit of a challenge getting to the Kiprengwe school this morning - what an adventure! We were greeted at the school with beautiful singing and a great welcome. We spent the first part of the morning in their classrooms interacting and doing some teaching but after break it was all fun and games.
After being taught how...our girls were challenged to a game of 'Net Ball'. It was close at first but once our girls got the hang of it they won with ease. It was a lot of fun for the entire school to watch.
Then it was another soccer game and a volleyball game; it's so good to see sport break down the language obstacle. We gave them a gift bag that they really enjoyed. We gave both their girls and boys soccer uniforms as well as a few supplies for the teachers.
We had to cut our day short because it started to rain and as you can see the roads are not very good.
Jake
     
July 15, 2010
It is a teaching day here at the Ringa school and I have heard nothing but glowing reports from all of our team. We did everything from singing to Bible to ocean life in Canada, so there was a broad range of subjects for the Ringa students to learn about.
In the afternoon the Ringa students put on a concert in appreciation for us coming and it was a lot of fun. Along with some beautiful singing, poetry and drama they had our entire team up singing and dancing with them. Soon it started to rain and believe it or not we fit the entire school into one classroom. They appreciated our gifts for them and also gave our team gifts as well. It was a great experience for everyone.
Jake
   
July 14, 2010
Jambo everyone! It's hard to believe that we are already on our 6th day in Kenya, our time is going so fast. We have all settled into the Tea Hotel in Kericho and we are really enjoying it; the endless fields of tea are just too beautiful.
Today we began our day with a tea processing plant tour and it was really interesting. It is like a co-op where the farmers harvest their tea (all by hand) and sell it to the co-op and then it is marketed to the world. This particular plant sells the majority of its' tea to Lipton, so the next time you have Lipton ice tea you know that it was all hand picked.
After our tea experience we took the 40 minute drive to Ringa, and they sang and clapped as we drove into the school yard. It was wonderful! They are a very welcoming school, especially to people from Lacombe because of our community's huge generosity to them. It was a great feeling for all of us to know that we have made a difference in their lives, in addition to the washrooms, gutters and massive rain container that we built.
After the tour, our students headed straight for the classrooms, and Tara, Miranda, Glenn and I joined some of the parent council in digging a trench. The trench will go from their water well down to the new primary school to our water containers.
Jake
       
July 13, 2010
AM - I hope you are all well at home. Today is our first day in the classroom and everything is going well. We are still here at EAMO so it's a nice place for our students to get their start. They are teaching everything from math to science to singing about snowmen and its all going great.
This afternoon we will heading to Karich with a quick visit at Ringa so it will be very hard for all of us to leave these kids that we have bonded with. Please pray for safe travels.
Just another quick note to let you know what kind of a difference our students are making... I had two orphans come to me today and ask about Jordan Graber who was on our last trip two years ago. They wrote letters to him for me to take back to him and still cherish the two hockey sticks we gave them.
PM - Today was another good day - we started out by packing up and
heading off to EAMO. Today was our students' first opportunity to teach and we
couldn't have picked a better place to get started. All of them were involved
in different ways from painting faces to teaching science; it was great to see
them coming out of there comfort zone and doing so well with it. After yet
another late morning soccer challenge won by Kenya and some lunch, it was time to
say good bye and that was not easy. it is always amazing to me to see how close
our students get to the kids in Kenya - there were tears and lots of love letters
exchanged.
So, after a long drive it was off to Kericho and the Tea Hotel. What
beautiful country this is with rolling hills that are full of tea crops, and
what an experience to see it all being picked by hand. We have the rest of our
day to rest us before we head to Ringa tomorrow to start our schools program and
pitch in with some of the construction project that we have sponsored.
Jake
July12, 2010
We are doing incredibly well here - I am quite impressed with our
group. We have already shared many incredible experience and lots of laughter
together. Last night was our first "interesting" experience with the food as we all ordered straight from the menu of the hotel. Most of us were quite
surprised with what ended up in front of us, but despite the challenge of eating
something you are afraid of... we had a really good time. I am happy to say
that all of us are happy and healthy thus far.
Today we stopped at the
markets again before heading to EAMO and I have to say... they are getting
pretty good at this bartering thing! It is so much fun for me to get to know
the vendors and coach both our students and the vendors. So after the purchase of a few scarves, a
drum and a cool knife we were off to see the kids and do some more
painting. When we arrived at the orphanage they were all in school so we made
short work of finishing up our painting responsibilities so we could hang out
with the kids. After a short lunch we had an epic rematch Canada (with some
help) against Kenya, I am happy to say that today even with help we lost but had
a great time. Tomorrow we will be teaching at EAMO; it will be our students'
first time teaching so we would appreciate your prayers.
We also fit in a play
with the kids at St Ann's today which is always fun. We let
half the group go to an internet place while the other half went to Ann's and
then switched, and it is amazing to see how much our students miss technology!
I think you would agree that this trip is good in so many ways. You will
probably get messages from them online before you read this so I am sure its not
a surprise.
After teaching at the orphanage (EAMO) in the morning we will
be heading to our next location so we would appreciate your
prayers as we travel.
Thanks and take care.
Jake
    
July 11, 2010
We are doing very well today with the effects of jetlag finally wearing off. Today we started with some trinket shopping that was fun and entertaining for everyone. It was not all fun and games though, our students and leaders did a great job putting on two coats of paint on the new secondary classrooms at EAMO. Some paint got on the walls and some on us but all was good.
After painting, believe it or not, we beat the kids at their own game... soccer! It was quite amazing and I think we are all still in shock that we won but their teacher assured me that we would not win tomorrow.
In the late afternoon we went to Ann's Baby home to have some fun with the kids and help with supper. All in all it was a great day.
Jake
   
July 10, 2010
Yes we have arrived and are safe and sound. After an overnight flight and a quick tour of downtown London, all of us were ready for the overnight flight to Nairobi. By the time we finally landed we had a good balance of excitement and exhaustion. It was great for all the students to finally see what we had been talking about for a year.
We were travelling most of our first day with a few stops at the Rift Valley. It is always interesting to see the students' reactions to the culture, the sights and... bartering. I am not going to lie...I had to rescue a few of them.
We stopped just for a moment at Ann's Baby home, and we all instantly fell in love. We ended our evening with a nice supper and an early bed time. We have great things in store.
Jake
   
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news 
After a long day of travelling we arrived in Abbotsford at the Lifehouse! After 13 hours it was so great to get out of the van. We spent a few hours in the evening getting to know our team members and the Lifeteams students. We played a fun game of cops and "squatters" - an exciting wide game that got us thinking about homelessness.
