saying goodbye

This is the time of year when people pack up and head home.  Rift Valley Academy, where many of the missionaries in Kijabe work or have children, closes out for the year in mid July, so it is a natural breaking point for many people.  This year, a lot of the long-term missionaries are leaving.  One couple has been in Kijabe 33 years (!!!) and are heading back to the US in July.  Dr. Rich, the dentist who has been here for 25 years, (and who Dexter is replacing) will leave in July as well. I'll save his story for another post. 

Dr. Tim Mead, Medical Director of CURE Kenya and his wife Jana are leaving Kijabe in July as well.  But they aren't heading home.  Instead, they are heading on to new adventures at CURE's Oasis Hospital in Al Ain.  They're trading in the familiarity and comfort of 10 years in Kenya for a totally new environment and culture.  Tim came to CURE when it was just beginning and built up the orthopedic program here into something pretty spectacular. There are now many Kenyan trained orthopedic surgeons, there's a recognized orthopedic residency training program that will turn out even more surgeons.  This is, for the most part, a direct result of Tim's vision, hard work, and pushing to make things happen.  Kenya is a better place because he followed God's leading to come.

Francis (who is in the orthopedic residency program) and Evelyn and we decided to host them for a farewell BBQ.  Having moved internationally a few times now, I know how chaotic the last few weeks can be. Suddenly, everyone wants to have you over for a meal, take you out to coffee, learn your deep secrets.  Wanting to avoid the rush, we opted for a Friday night in June.

Typical of me, I spent more time taking photos of food than of people, but here are a couple of pictures from the night.

 the guys tending to the fire

Jana tending to the baby

Jana is the one who took time to teach us some Lamaze breathing -- which probably saved me during my 24+ hours of labor -- and to encourage us to talk through disappointments if labor didn't go as planned.  Since I had a VERY different labor planned in my head, this turned out to be a true godsend.  She is also a very gifted quilter -- and has used that gift to share the gospel with Indian women in Nairobi -- and gave Kyalo a beautiful quilt that hangs on his crib.

I'm sorry they're leaving, but think that the UAE needs Tim's passion and expertise now.  He'll be starting from scratch again: no residents, no other orthopedic surgeons at Oasis, etc.  It will be an adventure, to say the least.

And, as a side note: Dexter decided he wouldn't let the monkeys and birds have their say when it came to our (pathetic) corn. So off he went to harvest what he could. We boiled it and ate what we could.  It was actually quite tasty which makes me sad that it didn't do so well, and determined to figure out a way to make it work!

It was good, but not for public consumption!