howdy
Our very own Kevin Homrich-Micocci was recently featured in the UF’s”The Florida Engineer” as one of the “6 to Watch” in Florida Engineering! It also features a short description of our Kenya well project!
http://www.thefloridaengineer.eng.ufl.edu/issues/0909/engage_six.php
(The one shot of me where it looks like I am really sweatin’)
As I look back at our trip there is still so much to think about. How do I deal with this sense of responsibility? What can we do to help? What are our next steps?
I know we have already started something. I know we will be back and have a lasting relationship with the people of Naivasha. It is overwhelming to be home with all the trappings of life that were there before I left. I hope to never complain again after the things we saw.
While we were on the trip Bob had asked us to keep a journal. I do this regularly anyways but in the form of a sketchbook. I made special sketchbooks for the team before we left that are pocket-sized and easy to carry around. Since we have been home, I have compiled the best drawings into a desktop background free for download here on the YAK blog! (I have way to much free time and am a huge graphics nerd…)
Just click the size you need for your computer and apply it as your wallpaper!
In the Heathrow Airport, on our way back from Kenya, we decided to share our “breakfast” with the resident vegetarian on the team. Hilarity ensues.
It’s hard to believe we’ve been home a week, but in just moments it will be the time that I stepped foot in my apartment last Saturday after two amazing weeks in Kenya. Two weeks with an outstanding group of “YAK’rs,” welcomed by the amazing people of Kenya, most especially those we came to know and work with in Naivasha.
Here are some photos, favorites of those I took while in Naivasha and Nairobi. I hope you’ll enjoy viewing them and maybe get a taste of our experience: picasaweb.google.com/benmrii/
I’m still reeling. ”Processing” my experiences in Kenya feels too callous a description, but it’s what comes to mind. So many situations, conditions, persons are with me, stuck with me, and I feel incredibly grateful. Read the rest of this entry »
So I could probably write about 30 blog posts and still not describe sufficiently everything I saw and experienced. That said, I did have a few things I’d like to share.
I think one of the strongest things I felt while I was there, and even now thinking back on the trip, is inspiration. Kinda broad I know, but let me explain a bit. I was inspired to think of things in my life in America differently, to appreciate what I do have, inspired to learn to be more gracious in my giving, inspired to explore how I can worship my God more freely, and inspired to learn how to care about people and relationships with people more. I had a conversation with a friend from Naivasha who was struggling because 1) he wanted to be able to provide for his family better and he felt he could do that better if he were able to buy and house and stop paying rent on the place he currently lives and 2) in being in a better position to provide for his family he felt he would also be in a better position to help the people of the community. Wow, “bless me so that I may in turn bless others” comes to mind. Such a powerful statement to me personally. According to Global Rich List I am the 429,712,644th richest person in the world. That the top 7% in the world. While I was in Kenya, and again, even now, I had a sense of responsibility. To leverage my wealth responsibly. God has blessed me, now I must bless other all the more.
In short, my mission now is to figure out how to not allow my trip to be encapsulated within the 2 weeks, but turn the 2 weeks into the starting point for a lifetime of connection with my friends, brothers and sisters in Naivasha, in Orlando/Winter Park and really everywhere around the world to one degree or another.
So because I work with students, and being like them, I like visuals, here ya go:
We brought 5 computers with us. We taught a computer course one day on the basics of computer use and ultimately left the computers with the Naivasha church to seed their computer lab. One Kenya objective is to have all public school teachers using computers in classrooms by next school year and all Kenyans computer literate by 2030. We'll be working with Paul and Moses to beef up the computer lab, getting them online and helping to meet the 2030 objective with the church as a crucial part and beacon of hope for people in the area.
Naivasha is one of the flower exporting capitals in the WORLD! The Deputy Mayor was gracious enough to take us to one of the plantations to see some of the operations.
Isn't my wife beautiful?
My friend Pastor Moses and me. This man has such a love for his people. I would trust my life to this man and I hope I'm half as awesome as him when I'm his age. Moses, you inspire me!
A lot of our time was spend simply building relationships with the kids of the area. It was amazing how trusting they were of us. I believe this had very little to do with us and so much more to do with how positively the church is looked at in the community.
I loved the trip, and I am grateful beyond words to all of the people who made it possible and made it an experience that I will never forget and will continue to affect and ruin me (in a good way) for the rest of my life.
So after I read my last entry, I felt I missed a huge part of what was on my mind. I’ll keep it brief, because it has been said before. I feel unbelievably fortunate to have been with every single person on this team. In our short time together, I have grown to appreciate and care for each and every one of you deeply and am honored that I could be with all of you the past couple of weeks during what was by all accounts an extremely humbling and life changing experience.
To the YAKers, thank you and let’s stay in touch. To all those supported us, we are so grateful and can’t thank you enough.
Much Love, John
Oh yeah: Rafiki eyongu, anni nieeta Cougar! Kwaheri!
Somebody asked me yesterday what my favorite experience of the YAK trip to Kenya was, and I found myself at a loss on how to answer that. I had many joyous experiences and many challenging ones. As I pondered how to answer the question, I decided to take it as, “what made the most impact on me”.
What struck me was the experience I had at Kikopey, an IDP camp between the church in Naivasha where we worked, and the nearest large town, Nakuru. IDP stands for Internally Displaced Persons. These were folks displaced by the violence in late 2007, early 2008. As we made our way through the sprawling tent community, I became keenly aware of the disparity between how I live in Winter Park and how these people, our brothers and sisters in the human family, are living here. In UN and Red Cross issued tents, hanging on to a dusty, dry hillside under a beating Kenyan sun, they cling to life. Look up desolate in the dictionary and you might see this place. Men, women, and children huddled into tents, depending on food rations, each other, and a deep faith in the God to make it through each day.
Of the 1000 inhabitants at Kikopey, 780 are children (You can imagine how many orphans that is). So what hit me was a strong sense of responsibility. If I claim that I worship a God of justice and mercy, and claim with my words that we are all in this together, all of us in the human family, then it strikes me as imperative that I/we claim that with our actions as well. It seems unacceptable that anyone, anywhere would live in these types of conditions, worried about disease, lack of food and water, and therefore constantly in touch with the reality of their own and their loved one’s near mortality.
I pray that none of us live lives that run parallel to these realities without committing to intercede and do our part.
So here are some pictures! If you want any of them just let me know! http://picasaweb.google.com/baysideufl/Kenya
So we finally made it back to Winter Park after an extremely long day or two days of traveling. It seems to be a mixed set of emotions coming home, excitement and eagerness to be back in the comfort of our own homes and sharing our amazing adventures with friends and family members. However, there is a slight sadness for missing the amazing people we met on our journey. Its hard to spend so much time with amazing people and to feel as though you are now family and come home not knowing when you will see these amazing people again.
The people in Kenya were some of the kindest and most welcoming people I have ever met in my life. Once you are introduced you are immediately considered part of the family and welcomed into homes and the church. They have a passion for life and Christ that I do not think I have ever seen before. I have learned so much from everyone I have met and if I ever have even half of the strength, joy, and love that they have I will be satisfied.
I really believe that every person you meet in life has some affect on your own life. This seems to stand even more true for me looking back to the people I have met in Kenya and getting to know the fellow YAKers even better. This has been one of the most amazing experiences which I will never forget and these experiences have affected the person I am. I can only hope that the relationships we have built continue at home and with those in Kenya.
The goal now is to never forget the people we have met, as well as the tough situations these people are facing everyday. How do we go about our daily live while still trying not to forget the experiences we have seen? How can we still make an impact in Kenya and around the World from our own community? As well as how do we maintain the relationships we have created? We have witnessed a different environment and a different way of life which will hopefully impact our lives.
Sorry this blog is a little vague but the other YAKers have done an amazing job detailing our adventures and as the group knows by now I am not very good at expressing emotions but I just wanted to share how much of an amazing experience this trip has been for me. Thank you to all of those who supported us on this trip through donations, prayers, and just support. This trip would not have been possible without you! To all the YAKers thank you! You have made this trip one of the most amazing experiences, and I hope we all stay great friends! For everyone in Kenya, thank you, you have impacted my life and I will never forget you.
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