Healing Hands famine response conference highlights... the good and the bad...
Recovered from a week of Ugali (maize meal boiled in water to make a not-so-yummy stiff porridge), refreshed by hot water showers, and reunited with my beloved family, it is now time to share some of the details of the trip.
Bad: Hearing the stories of famine and its effects in different parts of Africa. Some caused by political upheaval (Zimbabwe), some by locusts and desertification (many West African nations), others by drought (Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, and others). With 12 countries represented by individuals experiencing the effects firsthand, you learn both the scale and the depth of suffering on this great continent.
Good: Hearing stories of empowered Africans implementing small-scale drip irrigation and soil conservation projects for the good of those around them. Seeing Africans accepting greater responsibility for their situation, refusing to sit around idly until an outside relief shipment arrives.
Better: Seeing Sweetbert and Urbano, our Tanzanian cohorts, subsistence farmers and leaders within the churches we serve, soaking it all in, eager to implement the ideas, inspired by the successes of other Africans. The opportunity was once-in-a-lifetime; the experience a rebirth of sorts. Calvin and I were challenged and convicted to find ways to partner together with these men to serve the long-suffering Sukuma people.
Bad: Kenya Airways. One of the few African airlines conscientious enough to remove an airplane from a flight schedule due to mechanical issues, but not yet skilled in handling inconvenienced passengers, KA left us to sleep on the floor in the Johannesburg Airport.
Good: Utilizing our American skills, we complained ourselves into an upgrade for our return red-eye flight. My first time in business class. I recommend this.
Better: Seeing our friends Urbano and Sweetbert (first-time fliers, no less!) enjoy the premier lounge (part of the upgrade) during our long layover in Joburg. Free drinks! Free food! Hard to think about famine in the first-class lounge.
Bad: My smell and appearance after nine days on the road.
Good: Going on a nine-day trip with only a carry-on sized bookbag for my luggage.
Better: Urbano brought only a half-full briefcase.
Bad: Submerging my phone in water during our overnight in Nairobi en route to the conference.
Worse: The phone was in my pocket during the immersion.
Even worse: The phone is my camera; no pics of the conference, no pics of Victoria Falls.
The worst: No phone contact with Charity and the boys.
Good: The phone is working now.
Better: No need to make $3/minute international phone calls… I’m home!!
Good: Victoria Falls. The conference attendees took an afternoon trip to visit the nearby falls. Unspeakable beauty. Cascades 355 ft. high, and nearly a mile wide, a constant flow interrupted only by jagged volcanic rock.
Better: Urbano and Sweetbert’s reactions to the falls. Their native language doesn’t even have a word for waterfall, they have never seen a waterfall, and they are face-to-face with the world’s most spectacular. Urbano, taking me by the hand: “Kevin, look!!! Behold what God has done!!! No man could have ever dreamed of this!!!” Even the rainbows, multiple vivid arches created by the rising mist and the unimpeded sunshine, were spellbinding to these two men. Urbano, a retired science teacher, nearly missed the bus ride home as he listened to the ranger explain the geological history behind the falls, how the forces of tens of thousands of years created this natural wonder of the world. 70 years old, on his first field trip.
There is much more to say; these notes only touch the surface. Mostly insignificant, really; words have yet to fill an empty stomach. Healing Hands International, the convener of the conference, is implementing a continent-wide initiative to empower people to produce survival gardens; gardens that produce a variety of vegetables to stave off malnutrition, gardens nourished by micro-irrigation to insure continuous crop output, even in the dry season. They will be returning to various regions to conduct larger workshops with local participants; they will be in Tanzania sometime in the next year. Our work is cut out for us.
Forget the good and the bad. The best has yet to be written.
Recovered from a week of Ugali (maize meal boiled in water to make a not-so-yummy stiff porridge), refreshed by hot water showers, and reunited with my beloved family, it is now time to share some of the details of the trip.
Bad: Hearing the stories of famine and its effects in different parts of Africa. Some caused by political upheaval (Zimbabwe), some by locusts and desertification (many West African nations), others by drought (Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, and others). With 12 countries represented by individuals experiencing the effects firsthand, you learn both the scale and the depth of suffering on this great continent.
Good: Hearing stories of empowered Africans implementing small-scale drip irrigation and soil conservation projects for the good of those around them. Seeing Africans accepting greater responsibility for their situation, refusing to sit around idly until an outside relief shipment arrives.
Better: Seeing Sweetbert and Urbano, our Tanzanian cohorts, subsistence farmers and leaders within the churches we serve, soaking it all in, eager to implement the ideas, inspired by the successes of other Africans. The opportunity was once-in-a-lifetime; the experience a rebirth of sorts. Calvin and I were challenged and convicted to find ways to partner together with these men to serve the long-suffering Sukuma people.
Bad: Kenya Airways. One of the few African airlines conscientious enough to remove an airplane from a flight schedule due to mechanical issues, but not yet skilled in handling inconvenienced passengers, KA left us to sleep on the floor in the Johannesburg Airport.
Good: Utilizing our American skills, we complained ourselves into an upgrade for our return red-eye flight. My first time in business class. I recommend this.
Better: Seeing our friends Urbano and Sweetbert (first-time fliers, no less!) enjoy the premier lounge (part of the upgrade) during our long layover in Joburg. Free drinks! Free food! Hard to think about famine in the first-class lounge.
Bad: My smell and appearance after nine days on the road.
Good: Going on a nine-day trip with only a carry-on sized bookbag for my luggage.
Better: Urbano brought only a half-full briefcase.
Bad: Submerging my phone in water during our overnight in Nairobi en route to the conference.
Worse: The phone was in my pocket during the immersion.
Even worse: The phone is my camera; no pics of the conference, no pics of Victoria Falls.
The worst: No phone contact with Charity and the boys.
Good: The phone is working now.
Better: No need to make $3/minute international phone calls… I’m home!!
Good: Victoria Falls. The conference attendees took an afternoon trip to visit the nearby falls. Unspeakable beauty. Cascades 355 ft. high, and nearly a mile wide, a constant flow interrupted only by jagged volcanic rock.
Better: Urbano and Sweetbert’s reactions to the falls. Their native language doesn’t even have a word for waterfall, they have never seen a waterfall, and they are face-to-face with the world’s most spectacular. Urbano, taking me by the hand: “Kevin, look!!! Behold what God has done!!! No man could have ever dreamed of this!!!” Even the rainbows, multiple vivid arches created by the rising mist and the unimpeded sunshine, were spellbinding to these two men. Urbano, a retired science teacher, nearly missed the bus ride home as he listened to the ranger explain the geological history behind the falls, how the forces of tens of thousands of years created this natural wonder of the world. 70 years old, on his first field trip.
There is much more to say; these notes only touch the surface. Mostly insignificant, really; words have yet to fill an empty stomach. Healing Hands International, the convener of the conference, is implementing a continent-wide initiative to empower people to produce survival gardens; gardens that produce a variety of vegetables to stave off malnutrition, gardens nourished by micro-irrigation to insure continuous crop output, even in the dry season. They will be returning to various regions to conduct larger workshops with local participants; they will be in Tanzania sometime in the next year. Our work is cut out for us.
Forget the good and the bad. The best has yet to be written.
posted by Kevin at 3:00 AM
4 Comments:
Kevin,
Somewhere in the first year of med school and a summer missions internship in Honduras I missed your move to Tanzania. But let me offer you a belated "Karibu." Reading this last post really touched my heart, mostly because of the stories about Sweetbert and Urbano. I met both of those men in the summer of 2002 during my time with the Guilds and Groens. Houston Shearon and I spent a weekend at Urbano's home, and Sweetbert tutored us in Swahili. It would mean a great deal to me if you could please greet these brothers for me and let them know that I think of them not infrequently. They may or may not remember me, but I will never forget them.
May the Lord bless you, your family, and your team as you struggle in the work of His Kingdom.
Kevin,
Thanks for the post. It brings back a flood of memories and tears. I wish I could be there and see everyone. It's been so long.
Tell Urbano, Matayo, John Kasabuye, and whoever else that I prya for them and think of them so very often. My heart will always be partly Sukuma.
I will send you a letter in Kisukuma that I would like you to give them next time you see them.
Glad you are back home. Thanks for sharing great things from across Africa. Your stories inspire me so much. I can just imagine seeing Sweetbert and Urbano looking at Victoria Falls! I haven't met them, but I can imagine the awe on their faces. Aren't we spoiled to have viewed some things and then don't think much of them...like water falls. I know Victoria Falls is far better than some I've seen (like Ruby Falls in Chattanooga:) but after being inspired by Karla (and Randy Alcorn) I can't wait to be even more awestruck with your Sukuma friends as we stand in front of a waterfall in Heaven. :)
Amanda
Good: Always so good to read your posts.
Better: Now my computer is no longer busted, I can keep up with you guys better.
Even better: I bought a big huge box of oats for Josiah's birthday, along with a bowl.
Bad: On second look, the plastic bowls look a bit too much like dog bowls.
Worse: I didn't get it to him for his birthday
Worst: I have done a terrible job emailing you.
I'm sorry--I'll do better.
Curious: How, exactly, did you submerge yourself and the phone?
BEST: I am SO PROUD of all of you, and though I miss you terribly, I am so glad you are there.
love,
Shannon
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