paradise

hello everyone!

sorry for the three month silence.

we're back in Nairobi for a couple of weeks. it was a long stretch in mugumu - three months, and the only time i got out was for a game drive in serengeti one day. but, we welcomed the rhythm of daily life, waking, eating, working, sleeping. ben and aaron have continued to sprout and are happy, happy kids. Aaron has gained 6 pounds in the last 3 months - bananas and uji (millet porridge) work wonders.

we're up here for kurt to conduct an MCC meeting about technology in developing countries. right after those meetings are over, he will be climbing Mt Kenya for a week with Morgan, a long-time friend from Canada. They will be making their second attempt to summit "Batian" the actual peak of Mt Kenya, which is quite a technical climb. So if you think of these two fellows anytime from April 1-8th, please say a prayer for their safety.

So as to not worry back here in Nairobi, I've weaseled my way into going to Malindi, on the coast of kenya, to a beach resort for a few days. the only catch is, it's along-side the senior class of Rosslyn Academy. Forty-seven 18 year olds to share the pool with!! my mom is one of the senior class chaperones, so it will be a fun time. we leave tomorrow and will be back on friday.

i would love to be able to put up some more posts about our life, but that is contingent on how much the boys sleep! :) aaron is a cat-napper during the day and that makes everything a bit tricky. but i will try. it's recently been deeply impressed on me how much we need to be sharing with our friends and family back home about our life. It would be nice to be able to post more often!

for now, here's a picture of Ben learning to ride a tricycle in Arusha last year. hopefully, more to come!!

the bean and the bug

this was taken in Musoma, on the shores of Lake Victoria. we go to musoma to stock up on propane and do errands - it's about a 3 hour drive from us.

our gardener, Samwel, with curious onlookers.

my dad came to Mugumu for a week in September - among other things, he taught Ben how to whack a golf ball (75 feet in the air), flicked a lizard to it's fate over the hedge, met many of our friends and finessed his Swahili.

my mom and aaron - precious

Ben

So as not to leave out Ben, here are some recent pics of my gorgeous, edible three year old boy.

(I realize I am totally blogging backwards here!)

National Geographic - eat your heart out! :)

Ben has anywhere from 5-20 friends come to our yard on a daily, perhaps hourly, basis. Many of them are quite a bit older than him. Although at times we feel like we are the neighborhood kindergarten, we are thankful that Ben has playmates at a moment's notice. His Swahili has really been picking up lately - important words like "jongoo" (millipede), "kono kono" (snail), "mjusi" (lizard), "acha" (stop), "njoo" (come), "hapa!" (here), "ona" (look) etc.

one of his favorite activities is "fishing" off of our porch


turning 3 on august 2nd. we had about 10 neighborhood kids over for a party on the porch. i decorated the cake using a ziplock bag. Ben didn't seem to mind.

We had a day at Rosslyn where there happened to be facepainting - he wanted

"Lightening McQueen" - the "famous racecar!"

Aaron

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Aaron...

There are SO many more though - although, I do admit, as the second child, we don't have a picture to record every second of his life, like we did with Ben.

little aaron - two months

first smile caught on camera - 2 months

i like to call him my "little bug"

brothers

aaron has the smallest mouth I've ever seen. however, when he smiles,

it takes over his entire face. so adorable.

a "record" shot...or two

Ngorongoro Crater

Wildlife

catching up

From Nairobi...

We really don't come up here to Nbi all that often...it just seems like it's the only time we get around to blogging! I thought I'd throw together some pictures from the last few months and I hope to post some more pictures in the coming days.

Aaron is six months old now - starting solids, laughing a lot. He was born with his eyes wide open and he is one curious little baby. He loves anything exciting and new. He is a well-traveled little baby already - driven all over Kenya and Tanzania. Poor guy has had no choice but to be a rugged adaptable little baby.

Ben or "Mbogo" (Buffalo) as people in Mugumu call him, after his Grandpa French (Papa), is only the best little athlete the world has ever seen. This guy can hit baseballs and golf balls, throw a frisbee, kick a soccer ball and bounce a basketball and hit a tennis ball like it's just an extension of himself. Yes, I'm totally bias.

We're about to enjoy a week of relaxing in Nairobi. It has been a great but very busy last few months - highlighted by a visit from Opa and Oma Unger from Winnipeg. They stayed with us in Mugumu for two weeks, and then we had a week of vacation with them - traveling through Serengeti and Ngorongoro with them, spending a couple days in Arusha, and then some more time with Ryan and Kristen in Nairobi. Ben was in heaven with his grandparents' visit - so much attention. Opa can make matchbox cars the most interesting thing in the world - or stories about tails. Aaron made sure to secure a place in his Oma's arms every chance he got.

We love you Opa and Oma!!

Ben and Opa studying a caterpillar

Serengeti

Tasty

A bloggable day

Last Friday seemed worthy of a blog so I'll try to do it justice.
Ben got me up around 6:30 and I took Aaron so Carla could sleep for
a few minutes longer because Aaron had been up quite a bit. By 8:30
we had had the regular entourage of people including our gardener,
househelp, babysitter, milk delivery and neighbour.
(As a background to the whole day, Carla's sister had gone on a
trip that Monday and had planned to return by Wednesday or Thursday.
But she hadn't returned yet and no one had heard anything since she
left so Carla was feeling pretty ill.)
Walked to work around 9 and went through all the greetings with
everyone. Quickly looked into an issue with our little network at
CBHPP and then went to staff devotions. Found out that a few of our
staff including our director had spent the previous night in the car
having gotten stuck in some mud in the middle of nowhere.
So after some discussion we decided that me and two other guys
would go and pick help them out. So after picking up mud extraction
tools and food around town we were off. It really wasn't too far but
the roads got progressively worse.
But finally we found them half way between one village and another
and they were really, really stuck. The rear differential was pretty
much covered. So I pulled up behind them and hooked a rope up, we
hooked up a winch to a tree and we had our first shot but it didn't
budge. Over the course of the next 3 or 4 hours we dug down and
jacked the car up. We watched as the rain came approached and, right
when we were getting ready for our second try, it hit hard. Of course
people had gathered around so they came for shelter in the car so I
had a lady and her two kids and another guy in the car for the second
try. But low and behold, I pulled, people pushed, mud flew and they
got free! (I really think we had some extra hands pushing because I
did not think it would come free with all the rain.)
So we had a bit of a celebration and then we were off to tackle the
journey back. The roads had only gotten worse since the downpour so
at one point the other car did a full 180 spin out and at another
point I had one wheel a couple of feet off the ground and was tipped
over so far that fuel was leaking out of the fuel door - which I later
realized did not have a gas cap.
When we arrived at the closest village we stopped to get some food
and one guy even went to buy shirts for everyone. That's when I
realized that my wallet was missing. For once I actually knew exactly
where I had put it. I also then remembered that one guy had been
in my car for quite a while by himself after the rain started. He
had behaved sort of strangely when I got in but I hadn't thought
anything of it at the time. Anyway, so we collected some village
council men and drove back over the worst part of the roads (see
paragraph above) and to his boma or collection of huts. At first his
kids said he wasn't around but then we saw him and he came over to
talk. Of course he said he didn't take it but I'm almost certain he
did (and I'm not one to say that lightly) but what could we do.
So back to the village we go and as we stop by the village council
hut we see a couple of guys fighting with a crowd around them. They
run off and the crowd follows. What's happening I ask, "Oh some guys
are fighting with pangas." So the council man continues with writing a
letter on my behalf and as my eyes adjust to the hut I realize there
is a woman squatting on the ground with a kanga around her head which
is dripping blood. She had tried to get in between to youth who were
fighting and had been hit. There is one youth standing at the door
and he starts scolding her for her actions and blaming her. At one
point he turns to me and asks, in surprisingly good English and big
wide eyes, "So what do you think of us Africans?"!?!?!
So needless to say I was quite taken aback, it is pretty rare to
find someone who speaks English that far out in the bush, and man what
a question at such a time. So I said something about there being bad
people and good people in Tanzania and in Canada. Our director took a
brief look at the gash on the lady's head and thought it would be OK.
And then we were back in the car and driving back to Mugumu. We
arrived home just as Carla got the call that her sister was OK.
Unfortunately the only picture I have of the day was taken on my cell
phone. It's a blurry picture of one of my friends just after he's
stripped down to his undies and trying to run away from my limited
zoom on my cell phone.
I will try to blog and write somewhat more often.

Hope you all are doing well!
Kurtis