Church Statue + Lightning = ?

I'm not sure what the moral lesson is supposed to be, but if you've ever driven from Ann Arbor to Nashville (which I have very many times) you can't help but notice a statue of Jesus on I-75 in Ohio which has alternately been termed "Butter Jesus" and "Touchdown Jesus sinking in quicksand". If nothing else, it is terrible art.

Well, we just learned that the statue was struck by lightning and burned down to its steel frame (I know, we live in Kenya now. Small world). The magnitude of emotion is much more certain than the nature of the emotion accompanying this news. Here's the story.

Happenings at the Hospital

Message from Jean Selle

I don't think there will be an excess of blogs while I am here since the internet is rather sporadic. I really want to show you all pictures from here so I will continue to try.

Joan and I met Eric at Tenwek Hospital on Thursday so he could introduce us to the workers in the nursery. We volunteered to help where needed and it was decided we could come at 9:00 a.m. every week day to help at one of the feedings. Let me tell you, it is a lot more involved with these little preemies! The majority of babies in the nursery are not preemies but those we fed were under 2 kilograms (under 4 lbs.)

You can see Joan holding one baby. The baby is a twin. The mother had been ill and needed help with caring for her twins. We each had one of the girls to wash and then feed. We sat on a little stool in front of the incubator and washed the babies with little cotton balls and water (soap in the creases!). Next we gently massaged vaseline into their skin. After that we fed the babies with a cup! (Sort of like a little plastic shot glass.) Mothers express milk and it is combined with formula to make a determined amount of liquid. The baby gets some of the milk via the cup and then the rest is given through a feeding tube leading into the stomach through the nose. I asked Eric why there were no bottles and apparently due to difficulty in sterilizing at home, other than a cup, breast-feeding is only recommended. The student nurse who worked with Joan and me patiently had us do all of this on our own and explained as we worked. Meanwhile the nursery is very warm, as it should be, but by the time we leave we feel we have just had a spa treatment and have sweated out all of our toxins!

Today the mother wanted to care for one of the babies so I washed a different little girl and her mother fed her.

We have donated the toys to the pediatrics ward of the hospital. For now the toys are stored in a storage unit and sometime next week we will take some of them into the ward and hand them out. Periodically, the toys will be given out at the ward as there are new patients. Apparently the storage unit is in chaos so Rachel volunteered Joan and me to organize it while we are here.

It rained the first few days we were here but since then it has been warm during the day but always cool at night. Kids play outside all day long. Anna, one of the "McCropder" kids found a chameleon and gave it to us. You can see it here with Rachel and Maggie. We put it on the hanging veggie/fruit basket and it happily consumes fruit flies. Afraid our little Mwizi (means thief) may not be getting enough to eat, we take him for walks every so often and let him snatch up extra flies sitting on the sidewalk. Mwizi has an exceptionally long tongue and a deadly aim.

Well, believe it or not, I have been working on this entry since around 9 a.m. and it is now 4 p.m. so I now understand why I don't get pictures and messages from Rachel every day!

Please keep us and Tenwek in your prayers!

Jean Selle

Grandma's Here

I am so excited that after six months, I finally get to see my grandma again! I have been talking to her on skype and carrying her picture around the house for awhile now--Mommy made sure I remembered what she looked like. Grandma and Auntie Joan and I have been having lots of fun together so far.

They have changed my diapers, dressed me up in lots of clothes, and brought lots and lots of presents. I have now tried my first animal crackers and all I can say is, yum-mmy! Grandma also brought an ENTIRE suitcase of beanie babies for the kids in the hospital. I would be jealous, but I think another whole suitcase was stuff for me, so I'm willing to share the wealth. Grandma will be posting some blogs on here over the next month or so. I'm sure they will feature lots of cute photos of me, so stay tuned. Love, Maggie

"Are You Jewish?"

It happened twice today. So I'm blogging on it.

I went to the pharmacy to see if we had a saline nasal spray. (We had one. And I prescribed it. And now we have none.) The Kenyan pharmacy tech says, "You know, you look Jewish. I have a video with Jesus in it, and every time I see you, I think you look like him." Not 2 hours later, I head to the nursery, and the nurse asks, "Are you Jewish?" I say, "Did someone tell you to ask me this?" "No," she says. "You're saying that because I look like Jesus in the movies, right?" She smiles, just a tiny bit self-conscious. "Yes." "Well, I've known a lot of Jews, and I don't particularly think Jesus in the movies looks Jewish."

This was not at all the first time I've gotten this since moving to Kenya. I think the reasons are multifactorial. First, they really haven't met any Jews, with the notable exception of a Messianic Jewish dermatologist who came to visit earlier this year.

Second, they've all seen The Jesus Film, which actually is the most viewed movie in cinematic history, according to The New York Times. Personally, I think he looks like Don Chaffer.

Truth be told, I actually got this prior to coming to Kenya. My friend Jenny was serving as a med student/translator for me in clinic in Ypsilanti for some of my Latino patients. We left the room, and she broke into a smile. "I've got to tell you a story."

"When you left the exam room for a minute, the patient turned to me and said, 'You know, I feel like I've gotten to know you, so I'll share something with you. I think my doctor looks like Jesus, and when he came into the room I thought: The Lord is my doctor and he has come to heal me!' "

There are worse things in this world.

Lord Jesus, we are all being transformed into your image...

Arrived!

Post by Jean Selle

Happily, we are now safe and sound here at Tenwek Hospital. Our flights were all uneventful. The only snag was the overweight toy suitcase. I would have gladly paid extra but it involved moving to a different check-in and apparently was more bother than it was worth (according to the attendant helping us). So, we just removed beanies and stashed them into other suitcases until we were at the 50 lbs. we needed to be.

Rachel will be talking with a pediatrician's wife who co-ordinates gifts to the hospital and orphanage and then we can distribute the toys to be used as needed. At some point, Eric and Rachel will take us on their rounds at the hospital which we are looking forward to. Eric is on pediatrics now so we will get to meet some of the younger patients.

Tenwek is much bigger than I expected having around 75 buildings (apartments, houses, medical buildings). The hospital is surrounded by very green hills full of lush trees and plants. Someone today said we are always in springtime here. There are many varieties of flowers and most of the people on site have vegetable gardens.

We drink rain water! Rain water is collected into large plastic tanks which is dispersed through a spigot near the bottom. The water is boiled and put into a filter (looks like a coffee urn). You can now drink the water (or cool it in the frig).

Rachel has tried to take off as much time as possible this month by trading days with other doctors and using her vacation time, so she is working only about 2 days a week while we are here.

Maggie is adorable (isn't it amazing that I waited until the 6th paragraph to talk about my granddaughter?) and lets Joan or me read to her and carry her, although Mommy and Daddy are definitely preferred.

Well, off to sleep under a mosquito net...

More to come; stay posted!

My Birthdays Abroad

Today, I celebrated my 29th birthday in Kenya, the 8th country in which I've had my birthday. For awhile I had a goal of having my birthday in as many countries as possible, but that gradually slipped down, and thus I never even crossed the bridge to Ontario during my seven years in Michigan, as was originally my plan.

My 13th birthday was spent in the town of Lemgo, Germany, hosted by the Kroeker family, whose son Alex would come the next year to us in the USA to spend 6 months as an exchange student.

My 20th birthday was spent completely alone. I woke up in a hostel in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I took the ferry over to Scotland that day, and trained through the hills to the town of Arrochar. My poor planning left me without a place to stay, and I was contemplating spending the night in a stairwell when I found a B&B and splurged on a nicer stay. (It was my birthday after all.) I told the host it was my birthday, because I just wanted somebody to know.

My 21st birthday was spent with a SOZO team in Timisoara, Romania. Two Canadian girls sang me Happy Birthday in Romanian, and then we got on the train. We had a disastrous series of events which precluded us having valid tickets. The ticket guy let us stay on the train, because we played him our version of "Mrs. Robinson". The day ended in Baja, Hungary, with a big team dinner where I was given Happy Balls and a big frosty mug of milk.

My 22nd birthday was spent in Bratislava, Slovakia, again with SOZO. This is the only one that I could find a picture of. Randy and I stayed with an awesome Slovak family who gave me a box of chocolates. We were planning on going over the border for the day to sing in Vienna, but were foiled when the border guards went on strike.

And now my 29th birthday finds me in Kenya, celebrating abroad, but thankfully with Rachel and Maggie. No exotic adventures. Just another day teaching in the hospital, and trying to use our professions to glorify God. Amazing breakfast in bed from Rachel, wonderful cake with good friends, lots of Facebook messages, and missing our friends and family back home.

Little Miss Mags

I try to avoid just posting gratuitously cute pictures of my daughter on our blog, but I realize it's been almost a month, so here goes. :)

First picture: Now with 2 teeth! Both are on the bottom--you can see them just above the glare on her lower lip. We can feel the top left one, too, but it has yet to show itself through the gum.
An aspiring Obstetrician? This was taken not long before she walked into the bathroom and threw one of my scrub caps in the toilet. Now we keep the bathroom door closed.
Opening up birthday gifts--it was fun to celebrate as gifts arrived throughout the month. This, if you can't tell, is a swimsuit. Obviously.
Showing off her tuft of hair. While still not a LOT of hair, she now has enough to keep a barrette in for a few minutes.
She brings us (and many others) so much joy every day with her sweet smile and little giggles.
Here she is, waving bye bye in front of our house. She now waves, claps, puts things into and takes things out of, says "nana" for banana and "no" randomly, walks all over, and can point to her head and shoes. It's amazing how much our little girl has grown this year!

Another Umoja Story

As part of the experience of going to Umoja Children's Home as told below, I heard a remarkable story.

In the picture of all the kids, in the back, just to the right of man in the blue stripes (which is Joseph, who delivers the eggs) is a tall thin young man named Lawrence (we call him that for the sake of anonymity, and because I can't actually remember his name). He is from way north Kenya. Last year, Lawrence came to Tenwek and had heart surgery. He then returned to his home, which is a perennially dangerous and unstable place. I guess he decided he'd had enough, and he and his friend (standing right next to him) walked back to Tenwek. That's a long way. Like at least half the north-south distance of the country. They got here and eventually found a home at Umoja.

You may notice there are not many older children in the picture. This is because when they get to secondary school (high school), most places are boarding schools, and thus the teens are at many different secondary schools, and weren't there when we visited. Lawrence and his friend were, however. Why? Because they had never gone to school, and so on coming to Umoja they had to start in Standard One. That is, the first grade.

I'm not sure what all strikes me about his story. I think it's the desperation. But which requires more desperation? Walking half of Kenya to find a more livable home? Or being 15 years old, humbly sitting in a classroom full of 6-year olds, learning your ABCs?

Eggs and Orphans

About a week ago, we had the privilege of going to visit one of the orphanages in the area. There is a man named Paul Jarrett visiting Tenwek right now--he's an OB-GYN who has spent six month/yr here for a number of years. He has been unable to come for the past few years as his wife battled and ultimately died from breast cancer, but he is here now for 2 months. It has been fantastic to have him here, and I have benefited greatly from his knowledge and mentorship. He and his wife, Marty, started a number of orphanages around Tenwek in the past 10 years, and how that he has returned he's been making a point to visit each one. We went with him to Umoja Orphanage, which was a great experience.

The orphanage is only about a 15 minute drive from here and houses around 20 kids, aged four to about 16. The children all greeted us with handshakes, then we got a tour and sat down in the dining hall for a program. They sang some songs, and had speeches to welcome Dr. Jarrett back and express sorrow for the death of his wife. Then we took tea, and Julie Banks (who had come with us) taught the kids a song.

Joseph, Paul, and the chicken coop

One of the ways the orphanage tries to support itself is by raising chickens and selling the eggs. Maybe most of you aren't aware of how we get our eggs, but we actually buy them from a man named Joseph who comes to our door every Tuesday. We found out that Joseph is in charge of Umoja orphanage, so all the profits from our egg purchases come to support this orphanage. It also means that we got to meet the chickens that provide us with yummy eggs every week. Makes me want to buy more eggs to support such a good cause. :) We hope to return to Umoja soon and spend some more time with the kids. Every egg we eat is a reminder.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." --James 1:27

She-Coats And a Pair of Suits

After church this morning, our pastor (a Kenyan) wanted all the men to meet. There were only about 12 of us, half wazungu (white men) and half Africans (all Kenyans plus a Nigerian). A longtime member of the church announced a couple weeks ago that he was leaving. He was no longer strong enough to make the walk to our church was going to be at a church nearer his home.

Thus, we needed to visit him at his new church and bring him some gifts, so that the people at the new church would know that he was valued by his old church. So, we were meeting to discuss what gift should come from the men. (A separate gift will come from the women and also one from the youth.)

Pastor: I'd like to hear some thoughts on ideas for his gift.

Kenyan next to me: I think we should get him a coat.

Pastor: A coat? Like a blazer?

Kenyan: No, a coat.

Pastor: Ahh. A he-coat or a she-coat? (At this point, I understood they were talking about a goat, and felt fine that I hadn't understood, since our Kenyan pastor initially also thought we were talking about an article of clothing.)

Kenyan: (without hesitation) a she-goat.

Pastor: That is a very good idea. Other ideas?

Missionary: How about a walking stick? Isn't that a sign of respect for older men?

Pastor: Yes, it is.

Missionary: Is he old enough for a walking stick?

Pastor: Yes, he is. Me, I am not old enough. I can still jump the river.

Another Kenyan: How about a pair of suits? (i.e. a dress suit)

Pastor: These are all very good ideas.

Jason: How much would each of these cost?

Various Kenyans: A good she-goat with a small calf is about 3000 shillings ($35). A walking stick is about 200 shillings. A good suit maybe 3000 shillings.

In the end, we decided that the pastor will visit him this week at home to assess what his needs are, but if needed, we will try to get all these gifts for him. I was extremely grateful for our Kenyan friends, as I would have had no idea what an appropriate gift for such an occasion would be.

And...She walks!

After months of cruising around on our furniture and walking while holding on to Mommy or Daddy's pinkie finger, Maggie finally let go, one week after her first birthday.

She now walks all over the house and is sure to be causing more trouble soon! This morning she took one of my scrub caps out of my coat pocket, walked into the bathroom, and promptly deposited it into the toilet (thankfully, a "clean" toilet). This is only the beginning, I know. :) She's also taken to walking out the front door and down the sidewalk. Wednesday morning she tried to follow Eric to work. So cute!

Happy Mother's Day

This morning, Eric left at 8:15 to practice music with the worship team for church, and Maggie and I headed to breakfast at another missionary woman's home. As we sat around enjoying eggs, danish, coffee, and fruit, she asked those of us in attendance to remember something special our mothers had done for us or taught us over the years. Many special memories were shared around the table. This is what I shared:

When I was 8 years old, my father died. I didn't appreciate then what my mom must have been going through, now left by herself with an 8 yr old and a 6 yr old in a city with many friends but no family. I don't think I truly appreciated it until Maggie was born last year, and I started to realize how hard raising children was, especially if Eric wasn't around to help. She decided to move us to Phoenix from St. Paul to be closer to family (her twin sister). She packed up our entire house and sold it, and made plans to move with no confirmed job. As we sat around the table one of our last nights in Minnesota, she reminded my brother and me that we needed to "bloom where you're planted." God had a plan for moving us to Arizona, and He would be with us wherever we went.

Although I wasn't always excited about blooming anywhere other than where I currently was, I was reminded of that phrase over and over, as we moved to Arizona, and later Indiana and Wisconsin. When I was old enough to choose my own locations (and felt sure I would pick a place and stick with it), I moved to Minnesota, then California, then Michigan, and now Kenya. Each move, that little phrase has popped up in the back of my head. Bloom where you're planted. As Eric and I prepare for a life overseas, one of a certain transient nature, I am reminded that God plants all of us in different places in our lives, but expects us to bloom in each one of them. Indeed, He sends rain and sun wherever we go. Thank you, Mom, for that timely lesson taught to a scared and temperamental little 8 year old.

I am also thinking about Mother's Day last year, when my mom came out to meet her 1 week old granddaughter for the first time. I couldn't have made it through those first weeks without you! We miss you so much today, but look forward to seeing you in less than a month! Love you, Mom.

Nashlantis

As most of you likely know (and some incredibly better than I), Nashville and the surrounding areas of Tennessee have experienced record flooding in the past week. This is not Missouri. I've never known Nashville to have significant flooding. Because this happened simultaneously with the Times Square bomb scare and the BP oil spill, very little news has been devoted to it, but through facebook and other means, we have been hearing a lot about it.

Thankfully, the homes of our family members in Nashville are undamaged (though my aunt and uncle's backyard was apparently part of the giant lake). However, countless others were not so fortunate. The pictures are amazing. The whole thing makes me again feel very far away. I got to visit the other night with Steve Cochrane, another Nashville missionary here in Kenya, and he didn't even know anything had happened.

These are the best pictures I have found (Thanks Nato). Below, downtown Nashville, which is on the Cumberland River (which should be 60 feet or so below the nearest road), sitting in a giant lake.
Looking across the river from downtown at the Titans Stadium. The sign for Riverfront Park (which is at the top of these terraced steps down to the bank where I have seen countless concerts) is just barely becoming visible again.
The parking lot of Opry Mills mall. The nearby Opryland Hotel also has some amazing photos that accompany its flood damage.

The Animals of Lake Nakuru

As posted elsewhere (in the setting of a slight misadventure), I spent the last week at a medical conference in the city of Nakuru. One of the perks of this was when I got to head out with our hosts (Jim and Alice, a missionary couple who live there in town) and fellow traveler Alyssa (who also has some pics up) to the National Park at Lake Nakuru. Just a few pictures to share the afternoon.

Above: it must have been that time of year. Lots of animals had babies. Here is a mama baboon watching her baby learning how to climb.

Below: what Lake Nakuru is known for most is the thousands and thousands of flamingos that follow the edge of the lake almost all the way around. (You may have to click on the image to get a more magnified view)

Above: I liked this picture because it shows the incredible density of wildlife, here with a rhino, cape buffalo, eland (the largest of the antelopes), and zebra, all in one photo.

Below: We stopped and ate lunch overlooking the lake from "Baboon Cliffs", which is apparently named so because of the "baboon menace".

Above: the single biggest highlight of the drive was when we crested a hill to see an open field with a total of 22 giraffe standing together out in the open. Whoa.

Below: Jim and I by the lake with the flamingos (and near some of the ever-intimidating cape buffalo) when the car refused to restart. One of the battery cables had severed. In true bush fashion, we were able to repair it with a band-aid, some spare electrical tape from another wire, and a plastic clothespin that Jim had found earlier on the ground.

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

It's hard to believe that exactly one year has gone by since our sweet daughter Maggie entered the world, kicking and screaming, on May 1, 2009. She was 8 lbs, 11oz, which felt huge at the time, but today she clocked in at 22 lbs 6oz, and 30 inches long. What a year it's been. She was just a few hours old in this picture.Now, one year later, we had a few friends over for a little cake party. Maggie usually loves 1-being the center of attention, 2-music, and 3-eating. Somehow, the combination of all three of those together was a little too much to handle, in a classic 1 yr old reaction. We'll let these pictures tell their own story. :)

Mommy made up a yummy chocolate layer cake with pink frosting...the #1 candle was pilfered from a previous 1 yr old birthday party here (Maggie is the 4th kid to turn one in the last 4 1/2 months here!)

Note the somewhat wary look on Maggie's face. Also note Elise Cropsey hovering in the background, who, as soon as the "Happy Birthday" song finished, ran forward to blow out the candle.

Maggie's reaction

Even the presentation of birthday cake couldn't stop the tears....

Although, when Mommy put a piece in her mouth, things started looking up....

Hmm, not so bad...

Going at it with gusto....

And finally, a smile. :)

Lastly, some gifts...Grammy and Grandpa Tim sent Maggie her first baby doll, and Great-Grammy sent a handmade quilt to go with.