Sights of Kenya

The license plates in Kenya are different. They are white up front and yellow in back for just regular cars. The government cars have blue plates. The diplomatic cars have red plates and it is fun to watch them. Kristoffers car is 45 UN ----. The 45 meaning he works for the World Food Programme. The UN has many different agencies and they have different numbers. Now the diplomatic plates for the US begin 29 CD ---. Not sure what the other countries numbers, but if we ask Charles he either knows or gives a good guess.

The pictures I’ve asked Lisa to show here are some of the “Gates Of Nairobi” We’ve told friends that you can’t get into a compound, an apartment complex, a shopping center, etc. without having a guard open up the gates. You can see some of the fences with the electric wire on top of them. You can get claustraphobic here very easily.

There are pictures of some of the sights, like cattle walking along the city streets, men pulling carts, women carrying large loads, crazy matatus driving up on the side walk. Very few people stop for a red light. I’ve seen more games of “chicken” on the roads here that I can remember.

Now about the goats. Mike has decided to give Charles the money for the goats on his promise as a Christian Man, that he will buy the goats for his mother, who is the head of his family. Where Charles lives is so different from here, it is still very poor, but different. He doesn’t have running water, but does have some electricity thanks to Lisa and Kristoffer getting him a solar panel and buying them a huge water tank so that when it rains the water gets caught and stored. They do their laundry in the stream which is a long hilly walk. Not sure where they bathe , not too often I think. Kristoffer said that the outhouse was falling apart when he used it. BUT they are so much better off then many Kenyans.

We leave tomorrow night, and are ready to come home. DUNKIN DONUTS HERE I COME.

We Americans don’t appreciate our ordinary lives. When you see what ordinary lives are here, we can just thank God for what we have. We all have problems, but most of us can overcome them. Here problems are just what life is and there isn’t anything you can do to change it.

Hope to see or talk to everyone when we get home.

Some gates of Nairobi...

A cart full of bags of charcoal that will be pulled by men!

Women carry babies on their backs here.