Kayanga, Tanzania

The third leg of our journey brought us to a small town called Kayanga. It is located in the mountains of northwestern Tanzania... in the Karagwe district. We started building a relationship with a local visionary named John Mulokozi this past April. Pastor John, as we refer to him, is a local pastor and the founder of Christian Vision Ministries.

CVM is a small but ambitious organization. They conduct vocational training in the areas of tailoring and carpentry, they started a preschool program for orphans and disadvantaged children, and they have a group of widows that they work with.

They have also organized community groups throughout the district. These groups have been brought together to help each other and assist the disadvantaged children that live among them, but the catalyst for organizing these groups came from a partnership with Heifer International. These groups were trained by the local gov't in better husbandry practices and then received cows from Heifer Int'l. Heifer Int'l donated a limited amount of cows so many of the groups are still waiting to receive a cow... and most of the groups are made up of over 30 families.

We really enjoyed our time in Kayanga and are looking forward to the continued growth in our relationship with CVM!!

Here are a few pic's from our time with Ps John and the CVM family...


Meet Pastor John! One of the funnest easy going guys in all Tanzania! ...and he's a visionary!


This is the carpentry training center for CVM... small space with a big vision!


The tailoring shop for CVM. Forty students have graduated from their tailoring program.


This small simple structure is where the preschool is conducted. These are few orphans and widows greeting us with a song and dance.


Meeting with one of the community groups.


This is a hefeir that was given to the group above through our Know.Think.Act program. A youth group from TN started an action group and raised money.


I got the honor of helping Ps John with a baptism service. It was a little bit different from how we do it in America. They damed up a stream down in a valley.


I'm not a big fan of being in water where I can't see what's going on below the surface, so I can only image the courage it took for those who were getting submerged!


A picture of some crazy mzungus that Ps John has on the wall in his office.


26 oranges, 40 tangerines, 6 papayas, 12 sodas, 4 eggs, 1 bag of coffee, 26 tomatoes, 1 bag of 70 strange bad tasting orange things, 1 bag of roasted peanuts, a hand woven grass fiber tea set, 2 hand woven grass fiber pot pads, and a massive jack fruit! We received all these gifts in one day!



This was taken as we were headed out across Lake Victoria. Mwanza and it's rocks... looked like something out of Gulliver's Travels! This pic doesn't do it justice!!

Compassion = Action,

-Travis

This Is Africa: Transportation

With every trip comes a saying or a phrase that is used throughout the trip, usually to the point that it is overused, but still it's used to explain the trip...this trip's saying was first used by Cooper, referencing the movie Blood Diamond..."TIA:This Is Africa."

We've been using this phrase every time we encounter a difference in culture or a hardship while traveling. As you can imagine we've been using the phrase a lot. From the realization that African time is much different than our time (meaning meetings tend to start late, at least 30 min) to encountering price gouging while trying to buy bus tickets....TIA. I can dream of an Africa in which examples like these are the exception to the rule, but for now, This Is Africa.

This blog is about the difference in transportation...TIA.

Traveling is probably one of the most dangerous and uncomfortable things anyone can do while in Africa. So far, we've traveled by boat, plane, train, bus, minibus, motorcycle, and small car. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages in price, time-to-arrival, and safety.

Here are some examples from our travels:

We took a train from Nairobi, Kenya to Mombasa, Kenya...we were supposed to arrive at 10am, instead we arrived around 2pm...we seem to have stopped in the middle of the night...for 4 hrs...

We took at bus from Mombasa, Kenya to Arusha, Tanzania...it was an older bus with bad shocks...8 hours of that will make anyone very sore...

Shortly after leaving Mombasa, the bus started slowing down. A crowd was gathered in the street, and once we passed the crowd I saw why they were gathered...someone had tried crossing the road without looking for on coming vehicles...unfortunately, a tractor trailer was coming...the police who were at the scene tried to cover the area with a sheet, but it wasn't enough...i was disturbed by what I saw and once again we were reminded...TIA.

We then took a bus from Arusha, Tanzania to Mwanza, Tanzania...this journey, or "safari" in Kiswahili, was by far the most dangerous that I've been on. The trip started bad. After we got on the bus, a guy imitating a bus worker tried to con us into paying him a "bag fee" of 5000 TZ Shillings per bag...in all the traveling by bus we've done, we've never heard of a "bag fee." This guy was messing with the wrong guys at 6 am...none of us were in the mood to be haggled...got to give it to the guy, though. He tried everything he could...but to no avail...TIA.

Finally we were on our way... About half-way to our destination, our driver attempted to make up some time by speeding...several passengers on the bus started getting angry, but the bus driver didn't seem to care...every time he would hit a pot hole, the angry passengers would start standing and yelling...after about 5 min, they had had enough...they began to rush to the front of the bus.

At the same time, another bus began passing us...keep in mind these are dirt/gravel roads...our driver must have lost concentration, the two buses collided! Glass and gravel were flying through the air...the window in front of us had shattered everywhere...both buses began swerving because of the high speeds...finally, our bus slowed down...the driver's side mirror was also destroyed and was in pieces throughout the bus...amazingly no one was injured...but the passengers were NOT happy. We thought there was going to be a riot. Luckily, there were two other bus workers on board who finally talked the people into sitting down...it was CRAZY!!!




That yellow thing is a piece of the driver's side mirror...i still can't believe no one was hurt by all the flying glass.

The final TIA:Travel experience was when we were traveling by bus to Rwanda...while passing through a national forest in Tanzania, we had two escorts with machine guns board the bus for security reasons...TIA.

Here are a few more pics of us traveling :

This is a picture of us crammed in a minibus. There were about 20 people packed in this thing!


This is Travis sleeping on the boat we took from Mwanza, Tanzania to Bukoba, Tanzania...it was a 4 hr trip across Lake Victoria. They recycled old plane seats...it was pretty cool!



Even though traveling in East Africa has been one of the most dangerous things we've ever done, we've also seen some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. So far we've seen giraffes and ostriches on the Serengeti, herds of cattle and camels on the train from Nairobi, and the fertile mountains of Rwanda. These sights were awe inspiring and can never be fully encountered unless seen in person.

~peace
david

Week Two in Kenya

The second leg of our journey brought us to the city of Mombasa. It’s a port city on the Indian Ocean in eastern Kenya. Our primary purpose was to spend time with a young visionary named Peter Ochiel. Four years ago, at age 24 he founded an organization called Action Ministries. We met him earlier this year and after hearing his heart and vision for the future of the organization, we knew we had to get back and spend some concentrated time with him!


Meeting with Peter after spending the whole day celebrating with the staff. Every year they set aside the first weekend of December to come together as an organization and thank God for what has been accomplished through out the year. They also eat, sing, play games and share vision for the year to come. It was a good day!!


One of the places that Action Ministries is working are the slums of Mombasa. They started working with this family because of little Sophia (sitting next to Peter). They found her with a severe burn on her right leg (you can barely see the scare in the pic). It was exposed and unattended to. In the process of getting her proper medical attention they discovered she had three other siblings and that their mother was single and jobless. They are now working to put the children in school and have created an income generating project for the mother.


Meet beautiful Sophia! When I get discouraged and wonder if the problem is just to big... it's a picture like this that keeps me going... that reminds me the only way to change the world is one little Sophia at a time!


Eating lunch in the slums. Beans with a little maize mixed in. This family lived in a one bedroom mud thatched house with iron sheets. There was just enough room to walk around the table and their bed is just on the other side of the gold sheet... their hospitality and willingness to give when they have so little (in earthly possessions), is why in reality they are much richer than many of us in the "developed world".


Action Ministries also works in a leper camp outside of Msbweni, a village on the beach about an hour south of Mombasa. At one time there was a Leprosy Hospital. People from all over came or were brought for treatment. Because of the stigma attached to the disease, most never left... even after they were cured.

They formed a camp next to the hospital and settled in. The camp was called Tumbe (cursed)... that is until four years ago when Peter discovered the camp, heard their story and started
Action Ministries. Peter told them they were not a cursed people, but a blessed people. Their settlement is now called Blessed Camp... and it truly is a blessed place!!

Most of the older people in the camp are missing fingers, toes, feet, etc. The devistation of the disease is evident, but hope is just as present... especially in the kids! The Leprosy is almost completely wiped out and their is a whole generation of healthy children running around the place... but there are still many challenges to over come, but with the help of Action Ministries I believe they will!!


A fresh catch! The guy who caught these fish was pounding a large octopus with a big branch just to my right. It's a huge blessing that they are able to fish... because of the stigma of living in a leper camp, many of them have a hard time getting jobs.


This is the only well in the camp and it is running dry.


This elderly man was kind enough to let me take a photo with him. I can't remember his name, but I will never forget shaking is hand. He had no fingers.

Few more fun pictures to document our trip to Mombasa...


Out front of Terminal Hotel in Nairobi... getting ready to walk to the train station. We will be backpacking it from here until we get to Uganda.... to much traveling to bring a suitcase.


We were filming an early morning blog hanging out the window a bit... good lighting, Kenyan country side moving in the back ground... when all of a sudden a zebra came out of no where and started running next to the train right below us! Pretty crazy, not sure if I got it on film.


Just woke up on the train to Mombasa. I had to post this pic. Cooper's face is priceless!!


The view from our cottage on south beach in Diani. You can't go to Mombasa without spending a few days on the beach! We've been traveling nonstop since the beginning of October and have another two months to go... so it was a much needed rest! On a side note, Blessed Camp is about 30 minutes from here.

Compassion = Action,

Travis

Finding the source

Hello Everybody!

Tomorrow we'll have been in Kenya for a week and already so much has happened. We were in Nairobi the first five days and then took a train out to Mombasa this past Friday. This blog is an attempt to give you a glimpse of what we did during those five days in Nairobi. Our purpose there was to build a supply chain for Second Avenue Trade. It is our desire to develop DIRECT trade relations. By that, we mean buying directly from those who are making the product. That is easier said than done sometimes.

Outside of organizing a co-op of women ourselves (what we're doing in Uganda)... we have to get out and find the source ourselves. That means very, very long days pounding a lot of pavement, usually skipping lunch or eating really late, lots of crowed noisey matatu rides, and worst of all dealing with "sharks"(that's what we call the brokers or middle-men).

A lot of times we start in the market. We were in Nairobi earlier this year in April and spent a whole day at the Masai Market. We found product we liked, bought small amounts to test the american market, and built a list of contacts. Sometimes the person selling at the market is the actual artisan... sometimes not.

We found two of the guys we had done business with earlier this year (they were the actual artisans)... and through a series of events located a co-op of wood carvers, two brothers who manufacture bone products, and a group of talented artists in the village of Gachie who craft anything you could ever want out of banana leaves.

I wish I could go into more detail about how we go about this, but that will have to wait for a personal conversation when we get back. Let's just say it's risky and challenging, but very, very rewarding... that's probably why I enjoy it so much.

I have to end here... but below are some pics from Nairobi. I apollogize for their layout. I had some problems and it's not so easy to fix things over here. I plan on posting another blog this weekend highlighting our time in Mombasa. I hope you enjoy!!


This is a man carving a statue. He was a part of the co-op we found in Nairobi.


Meet Richard... he's a "shark" We're smiling but don't let it fool you. We don't trust him one bit. Sharks try and scam us and we use them. He led us to the co-op above. Thanks Richard!

If you bought a pair of aluminum or brass earrings from us, there is a good chance this man made them. Incredible craftsmanship. His son, Gabriel runs the business and also makes earrings.

David and Jack working out a deal. Jack does a lot of bead work. Great guy!! We bought some really cool multi-line necklaces from him.

Light pouring in against bone dust in the basement (where the bone workshop is) of a multi level building on the out skirts of Nairobi. It was pretty intense!

This pic is out of order (as far as the creation process) but this is where they do the final touches on the bone jewelry. Still in the basement.... but you can breathe a little better in this room.

Camel bones... mmmm... I'm thinking about making some soup! The big white dots are flakes of bone floating in the air.

















Turning nasty bones into beautiful jewelry. Don't freak out on us and think we are promoting sweat shops!!! These guys are of age and very grateful for their jobs. We are looking forward to helping the owners improve the working conditions as our business relationship progresses.















Meet Benson (in the middle) and his little bro. They are the owners of the bone workshop. They started by making the bone themselves (just like the previous photo) and have grown so much that before the election violence earlier this year they had 20 employees. They almost went out of business during the unrest, but Benson sold his car and they made other personal sacrifices to keep the business going. They had to cut the staff down to nine. Benson is an incredible guy with great vision.















Meet Geoffrey. He lives in a small village outside of Nairobi called Gachie. He can make anything out of some wire and banana leaves!


Promote Trade, Create Jobs, Change Lives.... that is the goal of Second Avenue Trade Co. This trip is the beginning of some very exciting equitable business relationships and the opportunity to see lives changed through mutual benefits in commerce.

Compassion=Action,

-Travis

2nd Ave Trade Christmas Event!

Our 2nd Ave Trade Christmas Event was great! Thanks to all of you who came out and bought some cool products and helped us make a difference!



i wanted to get more video, but my camera ran out of battery power... :-(
oh, well...if you weren't there...you need to be there next time!
~peace
david

Christmas City Day One

Here are some pics from Christmas City (Day One):




The above video was shot before we setup...




This one is after setup.




End of day one...ah, finally...i need some sleep.

~peace
david

House Parties

Here are some pics from the last 2 house parties...

Thursday night...


Friday night...



Getting ready for Christmas City...

Travis tagging baskets....

Me stamping bags...