4/24/14 - It’s time to go to Nairobi once again for a vision
clinic in the slum of Kibera with a team of 11 from Redeemer. All of the endless details of the last few
months including recruiting veteran and new team members, arranging airfare, taking
inventory, ordering supplies and packing up and weighing footlockers, etc. have
come to fruition. It’s finally time for
action!
I got to Redeemer at 8am to finish packing and getting
footlockers loaded into Kevin’s truck. Merilee
was already there and helped us. She,
Jane, Kevin and I drove to Manor where we met the rest of the Austin team
members, Howard, Martha, Ralph, Louise and Caroline at the 290 Café. We caravanned to
Brenham for our traditional Blue Bell stop and then drove to Houston, arriving
at Bush International at about 12:15. We
waited for Salem footlockers and other team members to arrive. I finally met Shirley in person, she had come
in from Colorado the night before and we shared a laugh or two. I gave her some
additional orientation material to read on the flights. We all made it through security very smoothly
and without any incidents for once. Even
me. Given my history, this is nothing
short of remarkable. I had the privilege
of having a late lunch around 2pm with Paul Althoff and Kevin Pieper, of the Vision
for Kenya project leadership from Salem Lutheran Church in Tomball and two new
team members from Selma. Good food and
good company. It’s always nice to get
recharged by breaking bread with the committed people we have the privilege of
serving with. BA Flight 194 took off
right on time at 4:30pm. We did
experience a little turbulence over much of the US, so the Fasten Seat Belt
light was lit for the most part. Dinner
was served about an hour into the flight, a choice between mac and cheese or
chicken curry. I sat next to an
interesting young engineer who got orders at the last minute to fly to Norway. His Houston based company works on capping
off oil wells in such a way that if a blowout occurs, the well can continue
producing without any leakage while a fix is put into place. Real nice guy, he
was interested in what we would be doing in Kenya.
4/25/14 We arrived in London about 15 minutes early, but had
to circle before landing. Security was
very strict, including some members of our team getting wanded after a full
body scan. Our bags were also gone over
much more meticulously than usual. I’m
glad for the sense of safety this gives us all, even if it is inconvenient and
even a little embarrassing at times. I’m
writing this as I drink a cup of strong black coffee at Pret’s, a coffe and
sandwich shop at Heathrow. It’s very
good and is right next to a Starbucks.
It’s a little less pricey.
Our next flight, British Air 65, should lift off about
10:50am. We’ll get to Nairobi about 9pm,
gather up our luggage and get our visa and money changed to Kenyan
shillings. For our group of 35 or so, I
expect all of this will take until about 10:30 and we should be at our
lodgings, the Little Daughters of St. Joseph, around midnight. Most of us will be going on a photo safari
out at Lake Naivasha early Saturday morning, some will just stay at the lodge,
while others will do local activities in around Nairobi. I expect to be back at our lodge by late
afternoon and, depending on the availability of an Internet connection, I may
be able to post another story then. We
will be 8 hours ahead of Austin time, so you may see something here Saturday. Anyway, all is well here so far and we are
hoping the rest of the trip is just as uneventful (Pastor Kevin’s favorite word
on one of these missions!). Thanks to
everyone for keeping us in your prayers for a safe and effective mission and
for your gifts of your time, talents and
treasure that have made this project possible for the last 7 years.
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