Kenyan Update

Hello friends,

From time to time I've blogged about Kipngeno  and his need for sponsorship to attend medical school. Kipngeno is a very bright high school graduate from the highlands of Kenya.  Though it was a huge struggle financially with not knowing where his funds were coming from, he managed to finish first year medical studies and sustain his desire to continue medical studies.

My efforts to find him a sponsor have gone in vain but I am thanking God because now Kipngeno has finally received a loan from his government to pay for his tuition.  Praise God!!

Kipngeno still needs some modest support to pay for transport from his home to his university each new term and to pay for his room and board.  The costs are a lot less than in America and if you are able to help at all it would be gratefully appreciated.

Kipngeno on the far right with his classmate in the middle and Jonah on the far left.

Please send any donations to me and I will send them on to him in Kenya. It costs about $300 total for Term 1 (room and board, travel).  I don't expect any one person will be able to cover the full amount but if you can help at all, any amount you can send would be a huge help. Somehow with God's help, and a little help from others here and there, Kipngeno will get through another year of medical studies. Kenya is in dire need of doctors and medical professionals. If you are new to this story and this need and you would like to help Kipngeno through the longer term I would love to hear from you!

In other matters, Jonah's mother is still in hospital in Eldoret. She was released and went home to the village but was readmitted to Moi University Hospital in Eldoret before Christmas. She is suffering from some kind of vascular,  blood and paralysis issues.  Doctors believe it is caused by decades of bending over to cook and do the work that village women do.  Doctors would like her to be transferred to hospital in Nairobi for further treatment and surgery.  Your prayers for her and all the associated needs would be most welcome.

Thank you.

Moving Forward

But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.

2 Chronicles 15:7

This is an encouraging word from the Bible. It encourages me to be diligent in all things and to keep moving forward despite the challenges that come and go and some that drag on longer than I'd like.  The verse is a promise to me (and to all who believe) that eventually (perhaps sooner, perhaps later), my efforts will be rewarded.

The process of goal setting, which I started a few years ago, and the process of reflecting on progress at the end of each year, helps me to see what it is I am moving forward to each year, and whether my efforts are being rewarded with all my goals, not just the spiritual ones though those are very important too.

Of course other things may arise which impacts on what I am doing at any given time. New things may take priority, like the Swahili class I enrolled in in 2012.  I had not planned on taking the course in a formal way, and that is okay because I simply adjusted my priorities to fit in new ones. Anything I do not achieve in a given year can simply be carried forward to another year, and other things can be dropped if they no longer fit my needs. What is important to me is that I keep in mind the things I have been wanting to do for a long time and make space in my life now that I have the freedom of more time. When I was working I never had much time for doing anything that I really wanted to do. My hours of work were excruciating and demanding. Family needs took up the rest of my time. Now I am retired but I have health challenges that take up a lot of my time.  Even so I am blessed with more time for doing some of the things I want to do and I don't want to waste it.

Helping in the mission field is a huge part of my life. I was helping Jonah at Missions of Hope in Kenya but he is taking a break from his volunteer efforts at present and for the foreseeable future.  I will continue helping him and others whenever I can.   Jonah is not currently working on missions as a volunteer while he contemplates and acts on the next important phase of his life but we have not lost contact. Later, I hope to be able to undertake some projects of my own in Kenyan villages and I have done that several times before, often with Jonah's help. If you are new to my blog you can read about some of that work here. You can either read the posts backwards or scroll down and start from the beginning.

Image Credit: AANISCHAAUKAMIKW Cree Cultural Institute

Monday night I started my new language class. I think I will enjoy it a lot. I don't intend to say too much about it as I'm sure that will not be so interesting to most of you. I will simply say that I am studying the Cree language, and in particular, the Plains Cree dialect which is spoken in the western provinces and northern territory of Canada (which you can see in map above).  The map suggests that the Plains dialect ends at the BC/Alberta border (the two westernmost provinces) but there are actual Cree speaking communities in northwestern BC as well.  They have been established in that part of the province for a very long time.

This was the scene as I got off the bus at the university at 6:20 p.m. Jan7, 2013. It is very dark but at least it wasn't raining as was earlier in the day. This bus "loop" did not exist when I was a student many years ago but that tall building directly ahead in the photo is where I lived for a year in my 2nd year on campus. Oh the memories!

I actually spoke Cree as my first language but my parents started me speaking English when I was only about 3 years old so I didn't get much of a grounding in the language.  When I started university I tried very hard on my own to practice the language.  I had some success, however there weren't a lot of opportunities to practice. My mother did not remember to speak to me in the language even though I reminded her many times.  Speaking to her children in English was a habit hard to break.  Now I will be studying the language formally. My nephew and I will be enrolled in the same class and it will be fun to see how we both get on with the language. He was a huge help to me tonight finding the building and escorting me from and to the bus stop as well as carrying my bag and coffee.  We both plan on practicing what we learn with my mom over the phone. It will be special and nice.  In fact, right after class, my nephew called his grandma and said some words to her in Cree, including words that I don't even remember and which we did not learn in the class.  I was quite impressed. I do also intend to get back to studying Swahili as soon as I am able. 

What about you dear reader?  What are your special goals for 2013?

This is my submission for Our World Tuesday. Please join in if you can and read what others are up to.

Simple Woman's Daybook

 

I haven't participated in this meme for awhile. Thanks to Rachel for inspiring me to join in today.

FOR TODAY...Monday 7th January, 2013

Outside my window...the sky is grey and overcast and wet!

I am thinking...that tonight is the start of my new language class at the university. I really don't want to leave the house due to inclement weather and a bad leg but I will. I'll be "testing" the leg this week and see how it goes.

I am thankful...that even though my leg is not yet 100% and is more sore than yesterday, I can walk better than I did a few days ago.

In the kitchen...Nothing is happening today. I had cold cereal for breakfast and will have some cold chicken and hot soup for lunch.

I am wearing...pajamas. I'm feeling lazy today but I really do need to get dressed.

I am creating...nothing at the moment but am very excited as I have a new sewing machine to work with soon. More about that later.

I am going...to eat, have my shower, fold laundry and get going to the university.

I am wondering...when I will complete all the registration requirements for my new class. I am already a bit behind schedule with the process through no fault of my own. Everything is much different since I last attended university!

I am reading...university websites and trying to register on line. I need technical help but not for the obvious reasons. I've looked for their phone number (hard to find) and sent them an email instead. My alma mater is geared to doing everything on line these days. So far no response but I'm sure (hope) it will be sorted out this week.

I am hoping...My leg holds up to a lot of walking this week. I was also hoping to get some financial assistance with the class but found out this afternoon that won't happen.  I still want to take the class :-)

I am looking forward to...some deliveries in the mail which will help me with acting on two of my longer term goals for the year.  More about this in future posts.

I am learning...to relax, take it easy and more or less "go with the flow".

Around the house...the rooms are relatively clean or "liveable".  The kitchen floor is in need of a wash after the delivery and installation of new appliances, the pots and pans need hand washing and laundry needs folding. I'm listening to old Ed Sullivan shows and old music on KCTS 9. One of my favourite bands, Creedence Clearwater Revival just finished singing "Proud Mary". It's so funny to see the old "hip" clothing they and other groups like The Fifth Dimension are wearing.

I am pondering...my new class and how much home work I might have. Perhaps I should say I am excited about taking my new class but I'm more anxious than excited. I want to do well and at least retain a lot of what I'm taught. Of course everyone would like to do that and the older one gets the harder to retain things.

One of my favourite things...reaching goals and feeling like I'm making progress.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  catching up on my new book "Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means", finishing my old book "East of Eden" and continuing with my Bible readings; completing the administrative requirements for my course, going to the eye doctor and making my appointments for the rest of the month.

The autobiography of Russell Means is a long book (573 pages in hardcover).  Amazon describes it as "
An autobiography of epic scope--the riveting life story of Russell Means, the most revolutionary Indian leader of our century, who burst onto the national scene when he led a 71-day armed takeover of Wounded Knee in 1973. Means brilliantly recounts the tragic quest of Indians to maintain cultural identity in the face of unremitting white assimilation."  Personally the style of writing doesn't fully engage me but I think this is a very important book to read.  It covers important aspects of American history and race relations with Native Americans.  Mr. Means died on October 22, 2012 and  I'm glad he had a chance to write his autobiography before his passing. May he rest in peace.

A peek into my day...getting organized for the week and learning to be a student again.

Click here if you would like to participate in this meme or read other entries in the Simple Woman's Daybook.

A Sunday Afternoon

It was a Sunday afternoon, wet and cheerless; and a duller spectacle this earth of ours has not to show than a rainy Sunday in London.

Thomas De Quincey

When I read this quote I thought it was made just for my city on a cold, wet afternoon. It is often like this in winter on a weekend when one would like to get out and see something.  A lot of people suffer from seasonal affective disorder (depression from lack of sunlight over the dark, winter months) as a result and it is easy to see why. I find it helps to get out when you can despite the weather and to also have things that you look forward to doing, whether it be inside or outside (having my list of annual goals really helps me with ensuring I have useful things to do and things I want to do).

However I've been indoors a lot since I returned home from my Christmas visit.  I am nursing my left leg which gave out before Christmas (another knee problem in my good leg). It has been too painful to walk and I'm trying to get well before my new class starts on Monday night (that's tomorrow already!).

I've been praying for myself, getting others to pray for me, putting a heating pad on the knee for hours at a time, rubbing some  liniment on it, doing some light stretching, taking fish oils and generally staying off the leg as much as I can.  Just the other day I added Curamin to my regimen.  I am happy to report that late yesterday and again today I can feel an improvement and I'm cautiously optimistic that if if things continue to improve I will be able to make it to my first class tomorrow night. I plan to study and learn the Cree language, one of the largest of the First Nations languages of Canada.  It doesn't seem to be offered every term so I really want to take advantage of the offering now and will be studying the Plains dialect (spoken in the western provinces and Northern Terrritories).  Originally I was going to carry on with my Swahili language lessons but that will have to wait until the Fall or I will try to make time to study on my own.

In domestic news, my kitchen is now back to normal. The new dishwasher has been used to wash a load. It is a very quiet operation (so nice). I've also made some porridge on the new stove top. The burners heat virtually immediately. This is such a nice feature as I really dislike waiting for water to boil. The oven was also used to roast a rosemary chicken and came out very nicely crisped on top. I will save some white meat for my lunch or dinner tomorrow. The fridge appears to be working very well. Everything is nicely chilled. So far I'm very happy with all the new appliances. I'm now going to kick back with the heating pad on my leg and read a good book.

I hope you are making good progress on your goals and plans for 2013. We have a whole wonderful year to look forward to and enjoy. See you soon.

Blessings!

Starting the Year With a Bang

The first few days after the holiday are always busy. Busy trying to take down Christmas decor, unpack from travels, reflect on last year's goals and set new ones and generally trying to be organized for the new year.

I'm off to a good start. I've been busily researching courses and workshops in my local neighbourhood and at my Alma Mater which is quite a bit farther. I've re-enrolled as a student at my Alma Mater and I'm possibly taking a course next week.  It will require several evenings of my time each week for the next several months. Next week I'll know more fully whether I will take the class. If I do take it,  my nephew and I will be classmates. This is hilarious as I haven't been to uni. in decades.

Over the holidays, I purchased several appliances and dealt with all my technical needs (television, speakers, laptop and new operating system for my PC).  All appliances are stainless steel and all were purchased at excellent seasonal discounts.

My appliances were delivered today! Yeah!!

Today, I also got rid of the old refrigerator and stove and have put everything (all the frozen food) back in the new freezer before it began to thaw.   The refrigerator is much bigger than the old one so it also takes up more space. It is heaven to have a refrigerator that is nicely organized inside and has lots of space for everything and more!  I'm still tearing the plastic off the new stove so probably won't use it for another day or so.  Tomorrow the new dishwasher will be installed and the old one taken away for recycling.

To add to my happiness, I found out today that I got another 15% off the dishwasher because the store extended it's sales this week.  That meant another trip to the store for the refund but it was well worth it. I shared the refund with my brother who actually caught on to this sale and went himself to obtain the refund for me.

I didn't take the following photos but they show you what the appliances look like.

Once the dishwasher is installed my kitchen will be more or less organized and I can get back to cooking again rather than eating take out.

One of MY commenters (Judy, below) asked about whether I get rebates from my utility company for the new appliances and whether the utility company would take away old appliances for free and give me a discount on bills.

Oh boy, do I wish that were the case!  The utility company does buy back old refrigerators.  Sadly I forgot about the buy back program and instead paid $30 to the retailer to take my old refrigerator away. I guess that means the company made $60, since they will likely take the refrigerator to the utility company themselves for the $30 rebate.

The utility company does pay an energy rebate on certain appliances. You have to check the make and model of your appliance to determine if it is eligible for a rebate.  Then you mail in all the required information and wait a few months.  When I purchased my washer and dryer I found they were eligible for a rebate. It took about 4 months to process but I was pleased to get it.  If I remember correctly the amount of rebate was about $75.  I'm so pleased with the purchase of the HE washer and dryer because they use so little water and power.

One of my other plans/goals for the year is to investigate and "cost out" some modest renos in the kitchen.  This goal has become a little more heightened in priority because of the refrigerator.  It is actually larger in size though characterized as the store as "standard".  Due to the larger size, the baseboards had to be taken out in the "refrigerator closet" to make room for it to slide in. When I re-do the kitchen counter and possibly the kitchen floor, the "closet" walls can be narrowed a bit to make more room for the refrigerator. Right now you can't see where the baseboards have been removed so things will be fine until the remodel work is done.

So all in all the week has been very busy and the new year has gotten off to a busy start.

I hope you are all having an excellent start to your New Year also!

Journey Home ~ Part 2

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. 

 Ralph Waldo Emerson

I returned home from my Christmas travels on December 27, 2012. This is part 2 of the series of photos on the road. Part 1 can be viewed here.  There will be one more installment of photos in this series. I hope you enjoy them.

 

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday today. Please have a look at all the other marvellous skies around the globe. 

Happy New Year! May you all have a wonderful 2013.

Taking Stock of 2012

The end of another year is here and just as I've done for the last few years, I'm taking a few moments to look back at my progress on the goals I set for 2012. These goals are really mostly guidelines for me to keep moving forward through the year rather than hard and fast rules about what I need to do. They probably aren't that much interest to my readers but I do it because I find that setting out broad goals each year helps me to keep things on track and gives much needed structure to my year.  Blogging about it makes me more motivated to work on the goals and holds me more accountable for my time.

Last year, I structured my goals into several categories: Spiritual, Health & Lifestyle, Family, Financial, Hobbies and Home.

SPIRITUAL

• Implement an appointment time for prayer and study

• Use a good study guide for bible study
• Support one person in reaching their goals
• Make one loan to a female entrepreneur in a Kenyan village
• Cultivate and nurture Christian friendships
• Implement an appointment time for writing & gifts to my sponsored children in Kenya
• Continue to keep in touch with childhood spiritual leaders

I made good headway in all of these goals though there is some room for improvement. I managed to meet all of my spiritual goals but need to improve on consistency of appointment time for prayer and study. One thing I added to these goals over the year was reading my Bible chronologically and I will continue with that goal in 2013. One thing I found helpful was reading at night rather than in the morning.

I supported 2 people in moving forward with their post-secondary goals this year and helped two women with their business goals. I had been saving pennies as a way of raising funds for Kenyan women. I will no longer be saving pennies because the Canadian Government has abolished the one cent coin and it will no longer exist as of  February 2013.  I will miss the penny coin for many reasons.

I've made a decision not to continue providing post secondary or business assistance to Kenyans in the foreseeable future.  My hope is that the assistance I was able to provide will be enough to encourage the receivers on their respective journeys.  I will continue to provide help to Kenyan villagers in various ways as the Lord leads and enables.

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

• Continue to learn about diet for diabetics & incorporate pulses, grains, dark green veggies into cooking.
• Learn to make artisan bread
• Make more multigrain bread
• Get more Omega 3 EFAs, vitamins, fiber & antioxidants
• Implement an appointment for stretching
• Ride my stationary bike for 30 minutes 3x per week, increasing to every day
• Resume weight training
• Continue with my swimming lessons
• Take a water aerobics class
• Laugh more
• Learn new computer skills
• Upgrade my skills on smart phone/tablets, etc.
• Clear up computer files and photo files
• Continue to broaden my base of friendships & participate in my various group meetings & get togethers

I was not successful with several of my health and lifestyle goals; mainly those goals which required physical activity. I did continue to learn more about incorporating healthy eating habits, and getting more Omega 3 EFAs, vitamins, fiber and antioxidants in the diet but this did not help me achieve weight loss or better blood sugar levels.

Looking back over 2012, I see that I was hampered more often than not by long periods of constant pain and inability or limited ability to walk or exercise.  This again made weight issues very challenging,

In 2013, I hope I can make more progress in a fitness regime and find some way around my pain issues.  I am not on pain killers or anti-inflammatories.  Over the year I tried several different approaches to naturally combat inflammation but it didn't seem to make much difference to my pain levels.  I simply have to keep trying in 2013.  I did undertake some steps to radically reduce some stress in my life and that can only help my overall health (and blood sugar levels). 
 
I was also able to upgrade my skills on my smart phone and my computer tablet, though I didn't make much progress in learning new computer skills like Photoshop.  I did make a new website/blog for Missions of Hope, Kenya. However this is no longer published as the volunteer heading the missions is in a life transition right now. Perhaps it will be revived in future and so the work is not for nothing.  

Sometime during the year, I killed my computer hard drive, about the 4th time in 5 years that I've completely lost my hard drive. It is always a headache when that happens as it means lost money, lost time and lost files. I spent a fair bit of time trying to recover as much as I could. There wasn't much time or interest left in the year to learn new computer skills.

Locally, I made several new friends and participated in a number of group gatherings as well as organized a few of my own gatherings, outside of my home and inside my home.

New things added to my list of things to accomplish in 2012 included: undergo eye examinations, find a new dentist (and get a treatment plan in place), do all the paperwork to get a new CPAP machine, schedule a course of massage and foot reflexology.



FAMILY

• Continue regular schedule of communications & attend to needs
• Implement a regular schedule to write spiritual memoirs
• Conduct necessary research for spiritual memoirs
• Plan a vacation for my niece
• Continue to make contact with relatives who are shut-ins
• Plan a trip to visit extended family, for missions or personal trip

Saving pennies for Kenyan women~May 22/12 - $89.55

It was important to really focus on my family this year due to ageing relatives and their various health needs. In May, I was able to visit my last living uncle before he passed due to complications of surgery related to colon cancer. The trip to see him with my brother pleased him greatly. (At the same time, we were able to meet several other relatives and see how they are doing). Our comfort is in knowing we will see my uncle again some day but understandably his daughter who saw and spoke to him every day, misses him a lot. She paid a visit to my own mother in October and that was a wonderful surprise for my mom. 

 

I made a good start on writing my spiritual memoirs but have a lot of work yet to do to research some of it with my mother. Due to mom's health this cannot be done at my own convenience and I pray that I will be able to get what I need soon. Also the progress on actual writing was hindered by mobility issues since I was unable to get to my writing group in the latter part of the year. 

 

One of my goals was to keep contact with elderly relatives and childhood spiritual leaders. I tried with limited success to keep in touch with two older lady relatives. Mostly when I called them they were not at home but I did try. More recently I made contact with one and let her know that I would like to visit her when the weather warms. She is very excited. I'm excited too as I will see some new to me countryside.

 

I also wrote several times in recent years to my former Sunday School teacher. I hadn't heard from her in a long while and recently her daughter wrote to let me know that she found my address when packing her mother's belongings. She is moving her mother in with her own family due to the memory loss. It was touching to hear.

 

Finally, I planned a vacation for my niece to come and visit me over the summer and to spend her birthday with me. She was thrilled when we went to see the theatre production, "Mary Poppins" and also enjoyed our picnic and our travels on the small ferry boats around Granville Island. I had initially planned for a one week visit with my niece but she ended up staying for two weeks.  We had a nice time together despite my mobility issues.



FINANCIAL


• Continue to pay down debt
• Budget "to zero"
• Live below income
• Save more
• Continue saving in the snowflake jar fund for miscellaneous projects
• Think two or three times before spending
• Continue to implement strategic charitable giving
• Review insurance coverage & investment matters
• Investigate & buy silver

I managed at long last to purchase some silver coins for my long term needs. I also implemented budgetting to zero on a monthly basis. This made it difficult to meet the on-going missions needs in Kenya.  Consequently, this type of budgeting didn't work if I wanted to help the Kenyans with some immediate and pressing needs. These needs also made it impossible to pay down debt despite living well below my income.


I managed to continue to save some modest retirement funds but couldn't manage to save anything in a bank account for other needs.  Fortunately I received some tax refunds to help me with some household needs.  In 2013, I will be implementing a more stringent regime of charitable giving so that I am able to meet my own obligations as well as continue giving to the mission field.

HOBBIES

• • Read one or two books per month
  • Create an edible garden
  • Crochet a doily or a baby outfit
  • Knit slippers (1-2 pair), possibly learn to knit sweaters or socks
  • Finish the knitted baby blanket
  • Make dishcloths for gifts
  • Learn to machine quilt
  • Consider sales to raise funds for charitable giving
  • Use up stash of materials before buying more
  
  
  I was able to complete a number of creative works though I did not stick to my list of intended projects. Instead, I made many dishcloths, hats, scarves and blankets; all of which went into my Etsy shop. I had hoped to raise funds for charitable giving but haven't sold anything.
  
  
  I learned that buying all the supplies (some second hand but most of it new) even on discount, and careful shopping,  is rather expensive. I bought a lot more fabric than I intended as it seemed I never had exactly what I needed. I learned a lot by trial and error about how to go about future projects and purchasing what I need.
  
  
  It is probably not the best use of my time to make things unless I want to take them with me to Kenya on a missions trip since I was not very successful in sales. Either that or I need to figure out how to market my products or simply let my product development and sales develop more organically.   I am not the kind of person that will set up shop in a temporary stall to sell things. However, I am happy to have learned how to make new things and have already given some of my crafted items away.
  
  
  I surpassed my modest reading goal of one or two books per month and started reading the Bible from front to back after I completed 25 books for the year. 
  
  I was able to put in an edible garden and a lot of container flowers.  My edible garden had tomatoes, corn and peppers.  The peppers and the tomatoes did very well but the corn wasn't edible. For some reason the corn did not mature this summer unlike other summers.  I will reconsider what to plant next summer.

HOME

• Complete major decluttering project
  
  
  Yeah, I completed the HUGE decluttering project that seems to have gone on forever. I managed to get rid of all my excess clothes left over from my working days. Rather than continue to try to sell them on line, I bagged them all up and gave them away. Kitchen items, craft it and knick knacks were all bagged up and given away through my local chapter of Freecycle. I am still working on offloading some paperwork and excess photos.
  
  
  Additions to my list of the activities for 2012 included: renew patio space and replace some pieces of old furniture and  several small and large appliances.  Patio furniture was repainted, and new purchases included an umbrella for the patio table and a bird bath for the little birds to enjoy. A much needed sofa and chair were also purchased in the summer and kitchen appliances were purchased in the winter. I was very blessed to purchase all these items at good prices. I make it a point to carefully look for sales and the best quality within my budget I can so that whatever I have will last me for years to come. The last time I had a new sofa or appliances was several decades ago.
  
  
  At first blush, it seemed my year was filled with health challenges and little accomplishment.  But I tried to stay positive and keep on forging ahead as best I could.  I can hardly complain with all the terrible things that have been in the news all around the world.  As I age, I am mindful of the Bible teaching to be "content".  I try to keep a balance about what I'm feeling and doing and am learning to "go with the flow", though this is easier said, then done.
  
  
  After I've reflected over the year, I realize that my progress was or better than satisfactory.  I was able to accomplish a lot of the household tasks and creative tasks that I've been wanting to accomplish for a very long time. I was hampered in my progress by health challenges but am grateful to God.  He has helped me not only survive the year but get through some challenging projects and assignments.
  As I move into 2013, I pray for better health, not just for me but for loved ones and the many people I've met through blogging who also suffer from ill health.
  
  
  May 2013 be a blessed year for each of you and may our Heavenly Father grant you peace, good friends and good health.
  Happy New Year!