A Note from Wanda

We were driving out the road from the airport and the taxi driver points forward. “Do you see the giraffe?” he asks me. Sure enough, there in the distance stands a beautiful long-necked giraffe. I’m not in Ethiopia anymore.

Last week I had my first opportunity to see Nairobi. The airport does indeed back up on a wildlife preserve and one can spot animals on occasion. Also on the way from the airport I spotted these very large birds that looked familiar but I couldn’t place. I asked my taxi driver what they were. “Those are storks,” he says. Ah yes, all those Disney cartoons and images from books came back to me. That’s why they looked so familiar. I hadn’t actually seen a real one before. There must have been around 10 of them sitting in the tree. I spotted no babies though. It must be the quiet season.

I went to Nairobi to attend a meeting of the East Africa MCC Reps and two of the leaders from Mennonite World Conference, Larry Miller and Danisa Ndlovu. MCC and MWC are endeavoring to take advantage of opportunities to hear of each other’s work and continue building relationships. We spent a number of hours talking about our work in country with the various Anabaptist-related indigenous churches. We also spent some time talking about the one exchange program that MCC and MWC share ownership of: YAMEN. This is a south to south, church to church exchange program. It was good to make these connections.

Another bonus for me was to see Kenya for the first time and to have some time to spend with my colleagues. Cathy Bowman and her husband, Jim, are the reps for Kenya. Jim was out on a field visit so I spent a day with Cathy seeing the MCC Kenya offices, visiting a Global Family project and talking about all things MCC. I felt very fortunate to have a chance to talk with someone who has been doing this job longer than I have and to share our joys and struggles. I’m glad I had a chance to see how another office operates and got some ideas of things Doug and I could do to improve the way we have things organized. I also had some time to talk with Mike. He and his wife, Maguay, are reps in Tanzania. Spending time with colleagues is both motivating and refreshing.

Nairobi has a wonderful Mennonite Guest House run by EMM. I had the opportunity to stay there while in Nairobi. It is a very peaceful place to spend a couple of days. The grounds are beautifully groomed and, once again, the flowers in this part of Africa are astounding. I found myself able to take a deep breath in this little oasis. As you go through the gates into the guest house the world just seems to spin a little slower. I enjoyed my time there and look forward to returning on our next trip to Nairobi.

Although the wait times were long, the flights there and back went smoothly, for which I am thankful. I was also thankful for my husband there to greet me on my return as well as the hugs from my little girls the next morning. Back in Ethiopia —to familiar sights and sounds and, best of all, my family.