While writing this I am sitting on my bed feeling the cool evening breeze on my face and listening to the rain pitter pattering on the ground outside my window. It rained most of the night yesterday and again tonight. As I listen to the rain I am thinking about those who live in the Mathare slums. I'm praying that their homes will not flood...that they won't get sick from the standing water...that God will keep them safe and dry... and that the hot sun will dry the land tomorrow.

I had the pleasure of working with the Micro Enterprise department today by shadowing Virginiah Kamau. While there I learned about how their loan process works and how they train people that live in the slums a traid and how to start there own business. After they fill out an application and are accepted into the program they are placed into a group. They currently have about 35 groups with about 10-25 members in each group.

I had the opportunity to sit in on group meetings for Matunda (Fruits) which as 10 members and Kupendana (Loving One Another) which as 24 members. We were only able to make the tail end of Matudas meeting. This group was formed this month and is still in the early stages of getting their loan. This means as a group they have to save 30% of the loan amount before Missions of Hope can give them the loan.

Kupendana on the other hand has been together for 4 years now and is doing very well. It was very interesting to sit thru the meeting. Most of there time together was spent collecting money to be put in the bank to pay back their load and marking in the books who gave what amounts. But after that they started a discussion amongst the group in swahili. I could tell by their tone that this was a very serious conversation but wasn't sure what they were talking about. After a few minutes Verginiah realized that I was left in the dark and filled me in on what was going on. She told me that Kupendana was interested in taking out another loan so that they can purchase a plot of land outside of the slums and divide the land equally amongst the group so that they can move out of the slums. The debate was evidentially on what plot of land they should purchase. I later found out that early next week they will be purchasing the plot and it will take several years before they will be able to build homes and move their families onto the property. At the end of the meeting I gave them words of encouragement, blessings and told them that they would be in my prayers. It was so good to see a group of people doing so well and trying their best to get out of there current living conditions.

Sorry that I didn't write a post yesterday, I got busy and completely forgot. Let me see if I can give a quick recap of the day... Meredith (another apprentice) and I worked with the social work department and shadowed Jane (pronounced Jan). We took a matatu to the Huruma Center and did a few home visits. But the highlight for the day was watching the kids of the in the school practicing for the Missions of Hope 1st annual Talent Show on April 10. I was amazed at how talented these young boys and girls were. I know that they do well in the competition. Below are some photos that I took while visiting the center. I also took a few videos but I promised the head master that I would not show anyone until after the competition so other centers won't steal their ideas. They are very serious about competitions in Kenya.

Social Work Department Day 1

The agenda for the day was help social worker Mary do home visits for students that are new to the Pangani school. The point of these first time visits was to make sure their family records were correct. This is so that CMF can keep the sponsors accurately updated on their students information.

Early this morning four 1st grade students meet down in the Social Work department in the Pangani Center. We then had the children take us to each of their houses one by one. At each home we sat down with the student and there parents (typically the Mom) and filled out two forms with them. Some of the questions on these forms subjects such as medical information, family tree, income, expenses, child's favorite sport, how the child behaves at home, what they want to be after they graduate college.

After we visited all 4 homes we walked back to the Pangani center to eat lunch. After lunch we met up with 4 students from grade 2 and went to visit their homes for the same purpose as the first group of students. But this group live in an area that was much worse then the first group that we took that morning. When in Nairobi you realize quickly that each family has their own unique testimony on how they got where they are today. It was very encouraging to hear parents say things to the social worker like, "My son has grown so much academically and spiritually since attending the Mission of Hope Pangani School." or "My daughter struggled so much keeping her grades up in her old school and now is excelling in your school program."

When doing home visits the families are always so welcoming to us a visitors. The students are very proud to show us where they live and to have us meet there family. To give you a better idea of living conditions in the Mathare slums... their houses are about 10' x 15' and are made out of corrugated metal, wood and cement. This small space normally includes a twin bed that sleeps 2 to 4 people, a small wooden chair/sofa, coffee table, and a few pots and pans for cooking and cleaning and and a few other small items. Some of the houses in the slums have just enough electric to run a light bulb or small TV but most of the houses have NO electricity and you can only see by the light coming from the door or a oil lamp.

The Education Department

This week I am continuing my orientation. This morning I meet up with Stanley Jumbe in the education department of Pangani. I had the opportunity to watch him teach levels 4 & 5 in math, science & Kiswahili. As a guest the students would greet me as I walked through their door. In unison the entire class would say, "Welcome to our classroom, we are so glad you came to visit us, how are you doing today?" and I would respond by saying "I am fine, how are you?" they would then answer and I would tell them my name is Brandon and they would say "Hello Brandon!"

I was amazed at how fast they were comprehending the new material that Stanley was teaching. They are all very smart kids and has a thirst for learning. At the end of each subject the teacher would "mark" the answers to the problems that students had completed in there workbooks. I took that time to walk around the room to talk with the students and answer any questions that they had for me. Some of the questions were quite intriguing/funny. Below is a list of my favorite questions:

• Who was the first US president? ...Was it George Bush?
• Are you married?
• Are you going to get married soon?
• Who was the second US president? ...Was it Obama?
• What is your favorite color?
• How long did it take you to get from Maryland to Kenya?
• How much did it cost to fly here from the US?
• Can you drive a car from Maryland to Nairobi?
• What is your favorite hobby?
• How long are you going to be in Kenya?

Kenyan children are just so precious. You never know what questions they are going to ask you.

Sunday Morning Church, the Kamau's and Baraka

This morning we (the Kamau's and all the apprentices) attended church at the Pangani center. Todays topic was about encouraging the congregation to go into their community and disciple to those around there homes. They also challenged everyone to invite at least one person to church and disciple them to become a Christ following and to also invite people to church. And if I can barrow a Ben Cachiaras quote, "Pangani is making it hard to go to HELL in Nairobi!" I forgot how cool it is to have two people giving the message. One speaking in Swahili and the other translating in English. Between the worship and the message it was a very powerful service. I'm looking forward to visiting more congregations in the upcoming weeks.

Last night I realized that in my blog post that I keep mentioning peoples names and some of you may not know who I am talking about.

Mary and Wallace Kamau - 10 years ago they started the "Missions of Hope International" organization. With in the last couple of years CMF (Christian Missionary Fellowship) has partnered with there ministry. They have 3 children: Faith (13), Victory (11) and David (3). The Kamau family is so amazing and they each glow with His presence in there lives. They have also have graciously expanded there family by opening up there home to Baraka and the 6 apprentices. It will be such an awesome experience to be living with them over the next two months.

Baraka - A 13 year old boy who grew up in the sprawling slums of Nairobi, Kenya. He had three strikes against him: He was poor; he was an orphan; and he was deaf but he was able to go to school at one of the Missions of Hope Schools and through a series of amazing connections of Christians, missionaries, teachers, pastors businessmen and doctors from 4 different countries they were able to supply Baraka with the gift of hearing a speech. (If you would like to learn more about Baraka's story click here. This is one out of the millions of stories of people in the slums.) He is now living at the Kamau house and attending school at the Pangani center. It has been so much fun getting to know him over the past week. He is such a fun, smart, and strong man of God and is learning more and more everyday.