Letters, stories, and other stuff
108 stories
Apr 10, 2008
Imagine a sleek car, cornering a patch of asphalt in some place more beautiful than where you live. It glistens as your perspective pans and tilts with fluid motions, virtually caressing the vehicle through its circuit. The driver grips…
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Mar 20, 2008
This is what they call reverse-culture shock. Take a bush pilot from the barren expanse of southern Sudan and drive him into New York City. I pressed my face against a cold window in my uncle's mini-van. Stretching my eyes upward, I…
Continue readingMar 11, 2008
I woke up on the wrong side of the ocean today. I could tell, in part, by the chill in the morning air of this old house in New Jersey. In part, because there's a glorious box of Captain Crunch on the kitchen table. Our plane landed on…
Continue readingFeb 15, 2008
Update on Kenya: "A Kenya Redrawn" - NYT article We will soon have the luxury of packing our suitcases. Renee and I are preparing to head home for an early furlough. I've booked tickets for March 7th, and we'll arrive in New Jersey the…
Continue readingFeb 2, 2008
“I was a very bad man,” Timothy says as we rocket along in a rattling old mini van, a matatu, heading straight for Kibera. “I was a fighter,” he continues. “The man you see before you would be dead if not for Jesus.” He bows his head and…
Continue readingJan 31, 2008
IDP. Another acronym you learn in Africa. Internally Displaced Peoples are, by definition, refugees in their homeland. Presumably a little more fortunate than a flat-out refugee. A little less fortunate than a homeless kid on the streets…
Continue readingJan 28, 2008
"One month after a deeply flawed election, Kenya is tearing itself apart along ethnic lines..." NYT Article here Today I walked the streets of Kibera. It is the largest slum in Kenya. (I've heard it called the largest in the world.) People…
Continue readingJan 20, 2008
Finally a Sunday. A number have gone by in recent weeks, but at last this one feels like a Sabbath. Nairobi is calm today. No doubt what millions of Kenyans are praying for all over the country. Peace. I spent a good part of last week up…
Continue readingJan 7, 2008
It's 5 am in Nairobi and I can't sleep again. Amelia woke up with her obligatory "bad dreams" and is camping out at my side, asleep again under the protective watch of her father. I spent an hour with tears slowly soaking my pillow.…
Continue readingJan 3, 2008
"Within the span of a week, one of the most developed, promising countries in Africa has turned into a starter kit for disaster. " (NYT) (Article - Kenya Topples Into Post-Election Chaos) Our bags are packed, sitting near the door…
Continue readingJan 1, 2008
Fighting Intensifies After Election in Kenya Above is a link to the latest report about events in Kenya from the New York Times. Such sights are common for me. But not here. Not in my hometown. This happens in other places like the Congo,…
Continue readingDec 30, 2007
“It’s a sad day for Kenya,” said Michael E. Ranneberger, the American ambassador to Kenya. “My biggest worry now is violence, which, let’s be honest, will be along tribal lines.” (Full NYT article here) We have been in a state of…
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