May 25, 2013


What a great, long day!

We left the hotel at 8am and returned at 8pm.  It was a 1.5 hour drive to KWO's Muhuroni Orphanage.  The Kenyan roads proved to be the same mix of asphalt and mud.  No close calls with our fellow drivers today.  Only one truck sideways in a ditch today.

When we arrived, there about 50 kids sitting quietly under a tent waiting for us.  This was the first time that KWO has moved out to a remote location, usually the orphans come to a central site.  So... in keeping with Murphy's Law, things didn't go as planned.

The orphanage's generator would not make enough power to run both of our dental units.  While I did my McGyver thing, Dr. Albritton started screening patients.  Over an hour later, we had to split treatment duties.  The 220v issue would only let one dental unit work.  Mark and his daughter did extractions, while Julie and I did all the fillings.

At day's end, we screened 112 patients.  Extracted 33 bad teeth and placed 13 fillings.  The children also received eye exams and physicals.  Not bad, for 6 hours of work!

My God Moment today was when I took a short break and one of the team jokingly asked, "Why aren't you working?"  I was looking out the wire fence window at children playing with the soccer ball we brought, listening to the laughter, seeing older people sitting the tent, with those cool, flat top African trees close and rolling African mountains in the background.  I answered, "I just want to soak it in".

We leave at 7:30am on 5/26 to drive over 2 hours to attend church in Adingo-Opanga,  then treat their orphans in the afternoon.

Thanks for reading!

From JULIE:
Briefly....this country is beautiful.  It's landscapes created by God, as its people....gentle, quiet, peaceful. Amidst the hustle and bustle of readying the treatment area this morning, I was stopped in my tracks as I heard what sounded like "Lion King Disney" music floating through the air.  No strings, no drums.....but the harmony.....oh my goodness....and singing what?  Praises to our Lord!  (Caroline recorded it in voice memo and will forward to me when we get cell service and I will post.)  I can only imagine what tomorrow's worship will be like!

I miss and love all of you my family and friends (and students!) and will post more as time and service allow.

SEE PHOTOS BELOW:

5/25/13

Sorry about the abrupt end of our road journey, we had wifi for a short time at a restaurant.

We are leaving to go to a KWO feeding station and will post tonight.

After over 28 hours of travel, we finally laid our heads down on our pillows.

We only got around 3 hours of sleep because we had little kids sitting behind us kicking our chairs and crying on both flights.  We went to bed at 12:30am local time and got up at 6:30. We had some chai (coffee, tea, milk, sugar) to jump start us with a breakfast of mandazis (like beignets).

KWO Ministries has a nice 20 bed dormitory for visiting teams.  Julie said that we had a guard last night-armed with a bow and arrows.

We are driving on Kenya's incredibly bumpy roads for 6 hours to get to the Tea Hotel in Kericho.  Tomorrow, we will drive for 1 1/2 hours to the Muhoroni orphanage, where we will see over 100 children.  I am trying to get used to the driving on the wrong side of the road. (Slight interruption in writing to kill a huge horsefly that flew into Layne's hair).  I think that our drivers are former NASCAR drivers-speeding, weaving around giant potholes and playing chicken with oncoming traffic when passing slow vehicles, bikes, motorcycles and donkey-pulled carts.

On the roadside, there are hundreds of shanty market stands, selling packets of coal, fruit, sticks for construction, candy, worn clothes, baskets, animal skins, toilet paper-there are very few "stores".

The countryside is beautiful, when not interrupted by the signs of poverty.

Dr. Mark Albritton from mid-county is working with us, assisted by daughter, Caroline.  KWO has most of the dental supplies that we will use in country.  There 13 on our team.  Most are from Golf Course Road Church of Christ.  About half are college-aged.  Their church formed KWO Ministries and it is now a separate 501(c)(3) - like MOSIAC is with Wesley UMC.  Please visit their website to learn about their mission work in Kenya- www.kwoministries.com.

Wow!  We just saw a herd of antelope on the left side and zebras and water buffalo on the right.

Now, we are stuck in the middle of about 50 18-wheelers at weigh station.  Street (highway) vendors are trying sell us their stuff through the windows.

OMG-an oncoming car who was passing in his lane had to pull to the shoulder on our side to keep from hitting us head-on!  Everyone just snugged up their seatbelt.

05/17/13

As we pack, we would like to thank our friends who made donations for this trip.  Baptist Hospital provided us with some of our vaccinations and new scrubs.  Cotton Cargo embroidered our logo on the scrubs.  Munro's Safety Apparel donated some awesome long-sleeved fishing shirts that will cool in the day and warm at night, and they embroidered our logo on the shirts. Our Sunday School class, the Daily Walkers, made a generous donation for expenses.  Thank You and May God Bless You Always!

05/13/13: Set up blog tonight. Packing for our mission trip to Kenya. Check back.