Our good friend Duncan is doing great this semester at Daystar Christian University. We are thrilled to see him doing so well – the first Giryama we know to have the chance for a university education! It’s all because of people like you – Thatcher, Brandt, Conder, Garner, Talley, Bookout, Lipscomb, the ladies at New Braunfels, and others – that Duncan has this opportunity. Thank you!
Duncan is working on a double major, Bible and Community Development. This semester, he is enrolled in 15 hours. His classes include Romans, Intro to Economics, Modern Africa, History of Christianity and Rural Appropriate Technology. He continues to perform really well too. His GPA for the Fall 2005 semester was 3.45! That’s incredible for anyone, much less a young man who grew up in a mud hut!
Duncan recently sent us an email. Here are some excerpts from his note:
Hi bro!
I am fine in the Lord and my hope and prayer is that you and your family are fine too. Please pass my greetings to mucheo na anao [your wife and children].
Naenderera na mashomo tototo [I’m doing well with my studies]. I remain with 31 credit hours before I graduate. This is like two semesters.
I want to thank you very much brother for your support and for just being a friend. I also want to thank all brothers and sisters who have committed themselves to see that I do my bachelors. If it were not for such friends God have touched, I would be at Bore [his home village] I don’t know doing what – maybe nikihega mathali [catching mice for food]. God bless you abundantly.
Yes, God bless you all abundantly. What a huge blessing you have been to Duncan’s life and to our own as well.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Friday, March 10, 2006
U.N.: Famine Approaching Kenya
Food Expected To Run Out In 30 To 60 Days
(AP) EL WAK, Kenya The U.N. food agency will soon run out of food needed to feed some 3.5 million Kenyans facing prolonged drought because it has received a fraction of the required funding, officials said Saturday.
The World Food Program has enough cereal to last until April but will run out of other staples by month's end, program spokesman Peter Smerdon said.
The program needs $225 million to buy more than 33,000 tons of food each month until February 2007 but has received only $28 million, he said. "If we don't get any more food aid it will be a catastrophe," Smerdon said. "We are already on the edge because food is running out and we are supposed to be feeding people until February next year."
World Food Program Executive Director James Morris arrived Saturday in El Wak, 420 miles northeast of the capital, Nairobi. Food program officials called the village an example of the effects of prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa, where 11.5 million people need food aid.
Dozens of people have died of hunger in drought-stricken parts of northeastern and eastern Kenya, according to local media. The government has declared the situation a famine and a national disaster, but has not given a death toll.
"We will urgently need more help in the next 10 days because it takes time to buy, ship and distribute food. It is not something you can do overnight," Morris said. "If we get a break in the food pipeline, then malnutrition will go up very seriously."
El Wak resident Mohamed Ibrahim, 55, said that 160 of his 200 camels and 97 of his 100 cattle had died.
"We don't just need food, we need other kinds of help as well," Ibrahim said. "People say we should change the way we live but there are no towns, no businesses, no agriculture that we can do."
Ibrahim Younis, emergency coordinator of a feeding center in El Wak run by a Belgian aid agency, said more children are coming to the group for help.
"The key problem is water because these children are malnourished and a lack of hygiene means they get diarrhea, which pushes them over the edge," he said.
(AP) EL WAK, Kenya The U.N. food agency will soon run out of food needed to feed some 3.5 million Kenyans facing prolonged drought because it has received a fraction of the required funding, officials said Saturday.
The World Food Program has enough cereal to last until April but will run out of other staples by month's end, program spokesman Peter Smerdon said.
The program needs $225 million to buy more than 33,000 tons of food each month until February 2007 but has received only $28 million, he said. "If we don't get any more food aid it will be a catastrophe," Smerdon said. "We are already on the edge because food is running out and we are supposed to be feeding people until February next year."
World Food Program Executive Director James Morris arrived Saturday in El Wak, 420 miles northeast of the capital, Nairobi. Food program officials called the village an example of the effects of prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa, where 11.5 million people need food aid.
Dozens of people have died of hunger in drought-stricken parts of northeastern and eastern Kenya, according to local media. The government has declared the situation a famine and a national disaster, but has not given a death toll.
"We will urgently need more help in the next 10 days because it takes time to buy, ship and distribute food. It is not something you can do overnight," Morris said. "If we get a break in the food pipeline, then malnutrition will go up very seriously."
El Wak resident Mohamed Ibrahim, 55, said that 160 of his 200 camels and 97 of his 100 cattle had died.
"We don't just need food, we need other kinds of help as well," Ibrahim said. "People say we should change the way we live but there are no towns, no businesses, no agriculture that we can do."
Ibrahim Younis, emergency coordinator of a feeding center in El Wak run by a Belgian aid agency, said more children are coming to the group for help.
"The key problem is water because these children are malnourished and a lack of hygiene means they get diarrhea, which pushes them over the edge," he said.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Urgent Prayer Request
“Police shut down KTN and burn The Standard”, so read the headlines of Kenya’s leading paper, The Nation on March 2nd. On Friday the 3rd, The Nation reported that Kenya’s “National Security minister, John Michuki shocked Kenyans yesterday when he arrogantly admitted the Government was responsible for the State-sponsored terror against The Standard Group”.
The Standard is one of Kenya’s leading papers and KTN is probably the largest television station in the nation, both are owned by The Standard Group. The attacks were carried out by hooded police about midnight on Wednesday, March 1st. Supposedly, there was a story that the government did not want to be released to the public, but it is unclear exactly why they reacted in this way. The present administration has come under repeated attacks of severe corruption and abuse recently. It is being said that they wanted to send a clear message that criticism of the government and its corruption will no longer be tolerated.
Whatever the case, we would again ask for your prayers for this nation. Kenya has struggled in so many ways for years now, but there was such a spirit of excitement when this new administration was sworn-in in 2002. The people of this nation (including us) were thrilled and could sense change after more than 20 years of oppression, terrible scandals and rampant corruption. There is a strong sense of desperation and disappointment today, and violent acts such as this do not bode well for the government or the people of this nation. It never is a good thing when the government of any nation uses the police to silence freedom of speech. Please pray for peace and true change in the lives of Kenya’s leaders.
The Standard is one of Kenya’s leading papers and KTN is probably the largest television station in the nation, both are owned by The Standard Group. The attacks were carried out by hooded police about midnight on Wednesday, March 1st. Supposedly, there was a story that the government did not want to be released to the public, but it is unclear exactly why they reacted in this way. The present administration has come under repeated attacks of severe corruption and abuse recently. It is being said that they wanted to send a clear message that criticism of the government and its corruption will no longer be tolerated.
Whatever the case, we would again ask for your prayers for this nation. Kenya has struggled in so many ways for years now, but there was such a spirit of excitement when this new administration was sworn-in in 2002. The people of this nation (including us) were thrilled and could sense change after more than 20 years of oppression, terrible scandals and rampant corruption. There is a strong sense of desperation and disappointment today, and violent acts such as this do not bode well for the government or the people of this nation. It never is a good thing when the government of any nation uses the police to silence freedom of speech. Please pray for peace and true change in the lives of Kenya’s leaders.
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