Thursday, August 4, 2011

Getting to Nairobi

Well, it was a long journey… the group’s flight from Washington Dulles airport was delayed by 4 hours, so the connection in Zurich was missed. They had to spend the night in Zurich and then get re-routed through Amsterdam for the flight to Nairobi. Sean and I arrived in Kenya Tuesday night as planned; we were in Germany already and had no trouble making the connection in Zurich. Stephen managed to get the last seat on the next day’s flight from Zurich and arrived Wednesday night. The rest of the group arrived just this morning – it is Thursday, and they left Oregon Monday morning!

Sean and I had a productive day in Nairobi on Wednesday. We met with several individuals at Church World Service (CWS), a partner organization of the Kenyan Evangelical Lutheran Church (KELC). Sarah Tum, CWS Regional Program Coordinator for Education shared information about their programs as did Caroline Thuo, CWS Regional Program Coordinator for Youth Empowerment, who also talked about the Water for Life Program. Ephraim Kiragu, CWS Consultant for Emergency Response and Development, talked about their response to the influx of refugees, the drought, and their assessment tools. The CWS really serves as a facilitating body, bringing together and working with different non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), government agencies, and churches like the KELC.

In the afternoon, we attended a press conference reporting results from a visit to the refugee camps in northern Kenya. General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Reverend Martin Junge from Geneva (photo below right), lead a delegation of Lutheran Bishops from Tanzania (LWF Vice President for the Africa Region, Alex Malasusa; photo below left), Ethiopia (Ethiopian Church President, Reverend Dr. Wakseyoum Negeri), Kenya (KELC Bishop, Zachariah Kahuthu and ELCK Bishop Walter Omwanza), and LWF Department for World Service Director, Reverend Eberhard Hitzler.

The LWF is managing the refugee camps, which have recently expanded with an influx of refugees from Somalia. The region is experiencing the severest drought in 60 years, resulting in crop failure and death of livestock – tens of thousands of Somalis have fled the country. This article was published online minutes after the press conference concluded (technology is amazing): http://www.lwf-assembly2003.org/lwf-interspire/display.php?M=2222&C=62d32700e73f86oe4953c6e627d88634&S=451&L=20&N=459

Today the group will get oriented at the KELC head office, which is the compound where the Youth Centre is (this is where we are all staying – in dorm-style accommodations). Our host, George Arende, has been doing an excellent job coordinating our visit, and we have a superb Kenyan chef and Youth Centre coordinator, Irene, who is taking good care of us. At least our group has now all made it to Nairobi, and our work has begun! Stay tuned for future updates…

1 comment:

  1. Glad to hear everyone has made it to Kenya --- hope folks aren't too frazzled.
    That is good information about the refugee situation. With so many crises around the world, this situation often doesn't get the attention it deserves.

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