I got up early on Christmas Eve to exercise, and as usual, the dog wanted to go with me. As I stepped out of the door, I saw a large male baboon 5 feet away. Our loyal but not terribly bright dog started chasing the baboon, and after a few moments of the dog chasing the baboon, the baboon had the thought `I am much stronger than this dog’ and swirled and began chasing the dog. As I watched the angry baboon get closer and closer, it suddenly struck me: `I’ve never had a Christmas Eve like this before.’ The baboon gave up and went away, but the thought remained.

We got to deliver food to people in our area, and again the amazing contradiction that is Kenya came into play. We are high up in Kijabe, almost 8000 feet, but we were going even higher. That meant driving on non-roads and lots of uphill hiking.

You wouldn’t believe the views. In the states, you would pay a million dollars an acre for views like we saw. But that assumes you have a car. If you are walking, a good view is nice, but it might mean hours of walking to work everyday, and it means a certain isolation. We delivered food to the poorest of the poor today; old, crippled isolated people. With the most amazing views in the world.

It is so humbling to bring food to people with all the strikes against them, who have wonderful attitudes. We brought food to one woman who was crippled, had two teeth left, an obvious problem in the left eye, and she was in a tiny tiny house with a dirt floor. And she sang to us, and told us how much she loved life. She had so little, but she has so much.

We had made a decision to low key Christmas and we decided to just give local products to each other. JT got a Masai spear, a Masai knife, a Masai blanket, and a Masai rundu. (A club used against animals) Masai are usually tall cattle herders. Seeing my ten year old imaging himself as a Masai warrior was great; answering honestly to the question `Dad, do I look like a Masai man?’ was as great of a challenge as I’ve had as a parent. But it was a wonderful reminder that this is not just another Christmas.

We have gotten good news and not so good news on the toys. Most of them are in Africa, which is good, but we are struggling to get them to clear customs. It will happen, and we will let you know the minute we get them, and send pictures when we deliver them. We were disappointed they didn’t make it for Christmas, but Fred, our Kenyan friend who is 26, told us that he had never received a Christmas present before this year, and that most children won’t be disappointed because they never had the expectation.

Fred told me that he had already received a present from me, because I am training him to work in the computer lab, and that has been a special for him. He has helped me install some new software, and he is learning how to be comfortable around a computer. I am more aware than ever of my inadequacies as a teacher, and the clock is running_ we will be leaving in July, but I am hoping that he will have a comfort level with computers by then.

I asked him if there was something he would like for Christmas, and he told me that he would like a mattress. He is 26, and he had never slept on a mattress before. We were able to get him a mattress, and he asked me to thank you all for it, because I told him that it came from friends in the US. He told me after the first night that he had never had a better night of sleep in his life, and that was the second best Christmas present I received this year.

We encouraged Fred and Grace to go to the dentist, and that we would pay for it. Neither of them had been to a dentist in over a decade, and between them, they had 7 cavities, bridgework, false teeth and a possible root canal needed. In our first week here, we had offered Grace a raw carrot for lunch, and she had asked us `Are your teeth good enough for raw carrots?’ At lunch this week, for the first time in 15 years, Grace ate raw carrots. With considerable relish, I might add. Which was the best Christmas present I received this year. And she also said to thank you, because I told her the same thing: this is possible because of our friends in the US.

I don’t say it often enough, but thank you for the gift of this year: from encouraging emails to support, to cards for Matthew on his birthday and toys for children, you have made such a difference in our lives. You have been examples to us of living unselfishly, and we are inspired by it. Thank you so much, and may this be a special year for each of you, as you have made it so special for us.

YOP

Steve Peifer