Cultural Field Studies

Students making a difference!

Bryan recently spent 5 days with a group of students from Rosslyn Academy working on a project for a Masai community in the Rift Valley.  For the past few years our family has been working with the local pastors and elders of the village of Kisharu to provide clean drinking water and a school lunch program thru Convoy of Hope.  This past weekend we worked with Pastor Lazaro and the elders of the community on a new income generation project.  The students, 11th graders from Rosslyn, worked on a new campsite for tourists and work teams.  They cleared rocks and brush to make way for a beautiful spot on the edge of a volcanic crater.  Mt. Suswa is a dormant volcano in Kenya's Rift Valley and the village at the top of the mountain, Kisharu, is home to 3000 Masai people.

We all worked hard during the day, and it was hot!  At night we sat around the fire, huddled as close as we could to the flames to keep warm.  A strange but beautiful place.  It hasnt rained in months so the dust was incredible but we worked on and gave it our best.  Soon the site will be ready for its first campers, and our family is considering a trip soon to try it out.  The crater at Mt. Suswa is home to a variety of wildlife including monkeys, babboons, antelope, leopard, zebra, hyena and even the endangered African Wild Dog.  Its a great place to visit and work.  Two years ago we helped plant a church in the crater and it is doing well today.  Our team attended church there on Sunday and ministered in word and worship.  At the end of the service Bryan was given a goat as a gift. It is at the home of one of our Masai friends staying with his herd of goats until we decide what to do with it.

We are thankful for Speed the Light which helped us with a vehicle that gets us to these difficult places and for BGMC who purchased the tent we use as a home on these extended campouts.