Anecdotes from Africa

August 17, 1999 by Steve Peifer

Today I just have some random thoughts and anecdotes from a Westerner during her first month in Kenya.
Habari zenu! Na mimi? Mzuri. Asante sana. Jana nilijifunza kiswahili. Leo ninajifunza kiswahili na kesho nitajifunza kiswahili! I’m not trying to show off. That was actually a helpful review for me. Steve and I are both taking a Swahili class now and I was reviewing. Also, there are actually 2 recipients of this letter who know Swahili! They can correct me. The hopeful...

Habari!

August 16, 1999 by Steve Peifer

Dear friends:
I’m getting behind on life here. I still haven’t told you about the hike to the waterfall. It was wonderful, but I am not what I once was! As we approached this hike, I am envisioning a nice nature trail like in the state parks we camp in. They’re usually about 2-3 miles, nice cleared paths where you can usually stroll hand-in-hand. Well this is Africa, and it wasn’t anything like that!
We walked 3 miles on a train track...

Beauty and the Beast

by Steve Peifer

Most men that are married believe, at least deep down, that their wives are better people than they are. Guys like to scratch and spit; woman tend to be deeper and more refined. Anyway, I have always known that with my bride: she is smart, kind, and beautiful and the list can go on forever. And I am grateful for it.
But there are those rare occasions where the differences shout, and this week was one of them. We had our...

Both sides of wilderness travels

August 8, 1999 by Steve Peifer

In a one-week period, we had the opportunity to visit both extremes of wilderness. I’ll be brief, but let me tell you about both:
Nairobi
Nairobi is the largest city in Kenya, with an estimated population of 30 million. As you drive to it on terrible roads, you notice matatu’s, which are vans crammed packed with Kenyans. If an American mini van can hold 9 people, the same van will put thirty people in them. I’ve seen people on top of them,...

More Nancy News From Africa

August 7, 1999 by Steve Peifer

Hello again.
We have now been here for over 2 weeks and we are no longer the greenest missionaries here. 5 new missionaries came this week! Two of them we met at Orientation School in NY so it was like meeting family to see them. We are actually telling them where some things are!
It was a wonderfully full week. But I did begin to feel some of the stress of transition. I still love it here, but with the advent of...

August in Africa

August 3, 1999 by Steve Peifer

August is the coldest month in the Rift Valley, so it tends to lend itself to big fires and musing on the computer. There are so many things we have seen and experienced recently, but five jump out:

We hired a national to help us with our firewood. His name is Fred and he is a wonderful young man, with a real heart for kids. I asked him to teach the boys to cut firewood with him. You should see our...

African greetings from Nancy!

July 31, 1999 by Steve Peifer

Hello to all:
Wish I could write each of you individually, but I have a few other things to do than correspond! Now that we have been here for a whole week and a day, I’ll try to describe life. Please be aware that this is vacation time at the school and as of August 30, life will change.
RVA sits on the side of the escarpment of Rift Valley. We live at the very top. (This means that going anywhere...

Greetings from Africa!

July 29, 1999 by Steve Peifer

It has been an extraordinary month for us, and I hope we can share some of the highlights. We spent three amazing weeks in Pearl River, New York getting prepared for a year of service in Africa. The instructors were amazing; PHd’s who had lived in the brush for years. The combination of wisdom and experience was fascinating. Three things stood out:

One instructor spoke of the difference in culture. In the West, if a kid hits a ball through a...