May '11 | June '11 | July '11 | Aug '11 | Sept '11 | Oct '11 | Nov '11 | Dec '11 | Jan '12 | Feb '12 | Mar '12 | Apr '12
We spent our first month in Kenya visiting friends, both adults and young people, most of whom we met six years ago during our first stay here. It has been good (most of the time) to see how they have changed.
There are a number of changes here that have improved the lives of the people - the Internet, the roads (most of them) and Nakumatt, for grocery shopping.
We visited eight Masai girls in Bissill Primary School. They range in age from eleven to fifteen and are in grades two to five. They all
have sponsors who are making it possible for them to live in the hostel (the dorm) at the school so they do not have to walk the long distances
from their homes every morning and back again in the evening.
St. Clare Girls’ School in Meru, founded by Fr. Riwa, is both home and school for 300 girls. We participated in a Skype lesson in which the Form 2
(grade 10) girls watched and talked via computer with students at Ligget University High School in Grosse Point, Michigan. To learn more about about Fr. Riwa’s
programs, see www.friendsofkenyanorphans.org. 
John is assisting the League Serving Children in Kenya, an umbrella organization with 26 partners, one of whom is Kaaga School for Hearing Impaired
Children. On Education Day, Marilyn enjoyed watching girls from this school dance, in silence, to the beat of a drum. For more about what the League
is doing, see www.lsck.org.
We visited a young man who just started Form 1 (grade 9) at St. Daniel’s Boys’ High School in Chorgia. He is one of fifty children in the Chemi
Chemi program of Ripples International. To learn about the work of Ripples, see www.ripplesintl.or.ke.When Jesus rose from the dead,
his first words to his stunned disciples were
"Peace be with you."
He showed them his wounds
and then repeated his greeting:
"Peace be with you."
Luke tells us that after explaining
the scriptures and salvation history,
Jesus said to his friends,
"You will be my witnesses."
With that, he ascended into heaven.
Witnesses are those who testify
from personal experience
about what they saw or heard.
Like a witness who takes the stand in court
and pledges to speak the truth,
Christian witnesses take the stand in the court of life
and speak the truth of God.
They tell us that God is alive and at work,
that Jesus is risen
and calls us to his discipleship journey
of compassionate love,
and that God's reign of peace and nonviolence
is at hand, right now, at this very moment.
~Maryknoll
Pastor David & Masai Girls
Fr. Riwa, Fredrick & St. Clare Girls
Dancing to the Vibes
John at his New School