Day moja (one)

Our first full day in Kenya was very laid back. Breakfast in the morning (I think it was 7:30), the devotions, unpacking, internet access, and some shopping in the scripture mission gift shop. Then in the afternoon we spent a good amount of time practicing giving the assessment tool and scoring it. The assessment tool was filled with questions about attitudes, practices and beliefs about HIV/AIDS. We used the tool each day, interviewing 50 -100 people each day. Then at the end of our trip we scored them all, and Jim turned them into about a 150 page report for the Lutheran Church of Kenya (TLCK) to use in establishing funding and programing for their HIV/AIDS education program.

Later that afternoon a few of us took a walk down the road. We ran into an elementary school, where the children were more than happy to pose for pictures.

Most of the roads in Kenya are dirt, except in the larger cities. We thought this was not the best road when we were walking on it, until later in the trip when we had spent 3 days on Kenya's bumpy, pot-hole-filled roads. Those roads really put this one in perspective for us. The woman in this picture is carrying a bundle of firewood on her back.

The other picture is a shot of the roadside as we were approaching a small community. The piles you see are of garbage. Kenya does have a waste disposal program, but the government does nothing to make sure it is carried out (that we know of). Most often garbage is thrown on the ground and raked together and burned by those who live there.