Having Fun in Mombasa

We are fortunate to have a bumper car facility and a motor car track near where we live. The children, and definitely dad as well, enjoy the speed and bumping. Ty and Scott were able to set the top speed of the day. I have had much practice driving in Mombasa and it comes in very handy during the 'fun' time.

Deep Sea Fishing (in the Indian Ocean!!)

Over the summer break (December) we had the opportunity to rent a boat in the Mtwaya area for 6 hours and do some deep sea fishing in on the north coastline past the reef. We were really not sure if we could last 6 hours due to any one of us becoming sea sick - no worries! It was a great experience as we were able to see some dolphins, sword fish and sail fish. It was spectacular to observe sail fish jump out of the water and then slap themselves against the water. They did this either jumping forwards or backwards. We were told they do this to get certain bugs or algae off of their bodies.

Yes of course we caught a fish or two --- they may even have been the size of JAWS. Not really, Jordan was bale to reel in a 5 pound Blowfish and Bapa Ken reeled in a 20 pond Dorado. This type of fish is a beautiful turquoise and yellow in color. Within 5 minutes of being in the boat it changes color to grey and black. We had fresh fish for supper that night. We can not wait to try the adventure again!

Kenya in the News!

Drought and famine has absolutely devastated the northeastern districts of Kajiado and Tran Mara in particular. There is an estimated 2.5-3.0 million people on relief emergency, which is minimal support at best. This has been complicated further as forms of mad-cow and livestock diseases have surfaces. Animals had to be slaughter and many are dying of lack of food and water supplies.

A secondary concern relates directly to children in that children will be removed from school and forced into child labor in order to survive and provide for the family. The drop-out rate for students in Year 10 (Form 1) is high, but may reach up to 75% of qualified students, if the drought continues.

A recent headline in the paper “Another 46 Die in Famine-Stricken Districts.” This has lead to thought provoking discussions with our children, particularly Jordan. The Aga Khan Academy in both Junior and Senior School are planning a joint effort to raise awareness and funds for those in need. Interesting enough, senior students are a bit more skeptical about providing funds to unreliable agencies due to the level of corruption. Efforts are being made to support the Red Cross with their endeavors.

Charles Ngaira - A Face in the Community

Charles is our full-time security guard. He is 52 years old and was raised in a small village in the Kakamega District, which is about 300 kms away from Mombasa. He was raised in a family of 9 children (2 girls and 7 boys). His parents had a small farm planting crops of bananas and potatoes as well as dairy cows. Charles stated that it was a comfortable upbringing.

He was educated in the KCPE (Kenyan Education System) and completed his East African Certificate of examination. He had the pleasure to work as an untrained teacher in the subjects of history, geography, and Bible studies from 1974-1979. Unfortunately he had to quite teaching as the school system wanted trained teachers.

Charles has been married since 1982 and he has a total of 9 children (4 girls and 5 boys). They reside in the district of where Charles grew up. It takes him almost 10 hours to travel home by bus. The reason that he moved to Mombasa in 2001was to find work and maintain a steady job.

He “congratulates God for his wife, nine children, (that he) still breaths.” He also is very grateful to donors (those people who donate time, money and resources) to his country, especially education. “The present life needs people who are educated.” He ends every discussion - God Bless Kenya and God bless Africa.

The Spirt of Giving

Brenda and I were very proud parents as the children decided to provide a food hamper, toys and Christmas cards to an African family that leaves about 1 block away. They showed empathy in beginning to understand what it means to have very little. Over the past months, we have also been providing the family with some clothes. Tait sees one of the girls wearing her soccer shirt from Silver Springs Canada – and can not help but having a big grin. They directly see that their efforts are having a direct impact. We provided a soccer ball and now see the children playing. The family was very welcoming and very much appreciated the giving of our family. You know as parents you are doing things right when you see the families talking and saying Jambo!

Christmas and New Years in Mombasa

This was a very exciting year to have the Christian/Catholic holidays in Africa. It was very hard to imagine that it was our ‘winter’ time with the sun shinning and the temperature a steady 30 degrees. This is a difficult season as we miss family and friends and would like to snuggle by the fire with some hot chocolate and Baileys. Having the Tidsburys (Ken and Dani) grandparents helped us; however, we miss the Canadian connection as well.

It was hard for the children to package up Christmas gifts for Grammie, and Grampa Bud and MeMe, because they knew that there were no face-to-face hugs and kisses. This is a first to break the traditions that we had in Calgary.

Ty and Klye also had some doubts if Santa Clause would know that they moved to Mombasa – does Santa fly to Africa? Guess what - he did travel all the way to visit us.

The following is our 12 Days of Christmas song:

12 - Friends are missing
11 - Humpbacked camels
10 – Footballs flying
09 – Lions roaring
08 – Elephants chomping
07 – Days per week of sunshine
06 – McLeans to Africa
05 - Beachboys begging
04 – Samosas sizzling
03 – Headless goats
02 – Naumatt popcorns and a
01 – Tusker in a palm tree. (Tusker is a brand of beer)! – Scott’s contribution.

Issac Ottende – A face in the community

Issac is our part-time security guard and works weekends. He is 32 years of age and was born in the western province called the Lugari district. It is about 400 kms northwest of Mombasa. He was raised in a home with 3 other brothers and his parents. The family owned a farm where they raised sheep and cattle as well as maze and bean crops. He completed up to Form 4 (Year 11) of education. It was mandatory to take English classes beginning in Standard 5 (Year 5). And found the language very interesting.

Issac left the family home at the age of 25 and moved to Mombasa. He wanted to see other parts of Kenya and had lots of family on the east coast. He started out working in a small grocery market on the side of the road and found it difficult to feed all the relatives. He currently lives in Mishomoroni about 8 kms away with his wife (Juliette) and son (Graham – 6 months old).

Issac’s main interest is football and enjoys playing in the evening with the McLean children. He is a Christian and enjoys listening to gospel music. “God is first in everything I do” and is often reading the bible of bible passages. He would like to find a steady job and would prefer employment in a hotel. But God has his own vision.

Brenda’s Birthday Bash – (40 Years Young)

We began the summer break (Christmas and New Years) in Kenya on December 09 and started our holiday with grandparents and our family. A special trip that we went on was to the south coast – Diani Beach. We stayed at Shimbia Hills for one evening and two evening at Charle Island that is completely surround by water. The trip was very enjoyable and relaxing. On the island, the second evening there was only another couple and us. Later in December we went back to the south coast for a few days to celebrate Brenda’s birthday. We stayed at the LTI German International Hotel. It was an all-inclusive. Brenda's birthday was very special to spend in Africa, who would have guessed that we would be in Africa for her 40th.