One layer of our mission work was a Vacation Bible School for 200 children.
Bible story telling with Ruth.
Mary does an object lesson with Life Savers. The children really didn't know what to think of the sweet Life Savers.
Mission team members visited rural schools to mentor the youth. The purpose was to elevate low self esteem, encourage the youth to stay in school, discuss career choices and AID’s prevention.
These people were waiting at the mission site when we arrived at 7:30 in the morning to set up. That was because they had had along distance to travel to get there. Some had walked 10-20 miles. Hmmm...have you ever walked that far to see your doctor when you were sick? It was cold and cloudy (70 degrees F.) and we were told we would have a better turn out when it warmed up and the sun came out, and that turned out to be true. 
Our crowd control mission volunteers kept everyone in neat lines as they waited patiently for registration. From there the adults had their blood pressure and temperature taken. Children were weighed. 
Then people waited patiently to see our one dentist from our Grand Junction, CO delegation and our three doctors from the Meru Government Hospital. They want to help with medical mission when ever they can because they can help a lot of people in a short time and prevent further overcrowding of the government hospital.
The next stop was our pharmacy where prescriptions written by the doctors were filled by our 12 volunteers and dispensed by registered pharmacists.
The last and most popular stop was the health kits. We gave 600 kits with soap, toothbrushes and tooth paste and other items to improve local community hygiene .
Students danced for us in traditional African fashion...thrilling us with the athletic motion, costumes, chants, and...
...musical rhythm made by simple drums and a pop bottle and stick.
We gave the appreciative Kenyan children pencils and bears.
The teachers were given a fluorescent orange bag containing teaching supplies.
This school has 400 students plus 32 preschoolers. There is a shortage of teachers so this school is supposed to have 14 teachers and it has 9 teachers. Teacher/pupil ratio is supposed to be 1/45 but in most schools it is more like 1/60. It costs families $120 per year per student to attend school. Most of these rural families live on less than $1.00 a day...so many have to decide WHICH if ANY of their children can attend school. Students are thirsty for knowledge and appreciate their education. The children at this assembly didn't squirm, poke each other, or talk and their eyes were on the speaker.
English is the national language so students are taught English.
This is the condition of all the books I saw in this school. This classroom had 3 books.
This shows the condition of the blackboards, the only visual tool teachers have.
This is a typical classroom. The teachers and children clean once a week. They had just cleaned when we got there. They pour water on the floor and sweep it out the door.
These ladies had their own "mission". They were on a mission to learn all they could. These "students" were easier to teach than any I've ever had.
Unpacking new sewing machines...photo by Karen Osborn
Bryon is getting the new machines ready to sew and watchful eyes are taking it all in.
Quilters learned to hand quilt.
These special ladies appreciated learning to use machines instead of hand piecing all their work.
Rebecca is hand quilting.
A simple quilt frame was constructed so the quilters can hand quilt and finish larger projects.
A reception at the Emmanuel Methodist Church compound followed the commission of the multipurpose building. Kenya tea, cookies and fruit were served. This is one of the many cultural customs we found to be universal.
In a beautiful African tradition two sugar cane plants and a macadamia tree were planted at the site of the multipurpose building. The plantings signify the beginning of something great that will grow in Christ.
