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The Conundrum of Now and Not Yet

During Lockdown we got back into the habit of walking the City Walls here in Chichester. It’s a lovely thing to do on so many levels. There’s the beauty of things like the ancient trees, the noble Cathedral and the glorious Gardens at the Bishop’s Palace. There’s also the opportunity for quiet reflection as you put one foot in front of the other, making a prayer of the walking.

Before…

Over the last few weeks we have begun to venture out more often, poking our noses through the front door and scurrying about our business- a little bit like the cheery Field Mice who have visited our garden during Lockdown.

In addition to running errands, we’ve gone on butterfly hunts, walked in the woods, spent time with family and friends in gardens and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

We’ve also…

Lockdown: how’s it been going?

  Chichester City

The dormant city settles,

A dumpy woman plumping cushions on a sofa

For a sit-down and a cup of tea,

A welcome break before a grunt

And into action once again;

Lighting the streets and dealing with the waste,

Housing frail bodies in her brick and stone

And lightly marking her inhabitants

With names and drains and history.

  She claims to be indifferent

To her charges, but other…

So here we all are, One World, in one world as indeed we have always been, but we have mostly managed to ignore it.

Even the concept of nine degrees of separation has been more of an intellectual formula than a conceptual shift. Humans often remain as tribal as ever, building walls of fear and despite.

One World. Hit by an intervention in our expected lives – the virus, COVID -19, coronavirus,…

Social media aficionados know all about following and being followed.

It’s probably safe to say that the pair of us have only dipped our toes in this ocean but despite that our daily newsfeeds provide plenty of examples of both irritating and inspirational content.

We’re also bombarded with suggestions of accounts to follow and sometimes we receive requests to be followed by other people.

All of…

Five years ago we posted our Christmas greetings here on our blog just before we drove down from Eldoret to Nairobi in order to travel to New Zealand. We were in the middle of our time as mission partners and this year the memories are somewhat poignant – we miss our friends in Kenya very much indeed. These five years have sped by and once again we are NZ bound to spend three weeks with our…

What use is a wheelchair in Kenya?

We’ve had a few questions recently about the work we continue to be involved with at Community Based Rehabilitation in Kenya and in particular about the benefits of a wheelchair in that context.

It has been accurately pointed out that shipping refurbished wheelchairs with their thin wheels and relatively flimsy construction from the UK to Kenya might not be that helpful.

And in some ways you’d be…

Some more new beginnings

It’s been an eventful couple of months since we last updated the blog.  In addition to all our usual commitments we’ve had something very special to keep us busy…..

July brought the arrival of a new baby brother for Huxley- Otis William, weighing in at 7lb 6oz.

Otis is flourishing. However Huxley is currently facing a number of tricky health challenges so we are hoping and praying for a bit of a…

It is that time of year again when if you venture out onto the glorious Sussex Downs you might be in with a chance of encountering an unusual species. Walking along, cheerfully chatting to himself, stopping to address the butterflies you will find David….He adores butterflies and is eagerly looking forward to an upcoming butterfly safari courtesy of one of our lovely daughters.

Back in February…

Eldoret 2019: Part Six

Well, the distribution is done and dusted! There were a few tricky moments but so many other remarkable events which carried with them a real sense of provision. Once again we saw some very complex cases and both the Kenyan and UK teams worked tirelessly together to meet the needs of our clients.

Last night we shared a delicious meal together joined by the board of CBR. The “Goodbye” ceremony was…

Today we saw only 13 clients some of whom were really complex cases. The Wheels for the World team are quite frankly remarkable in how resourceful they are in problem solving to adapt the chairs to the individual needs. A ten year old boy with brittle bones needed a specially adapted chair and the technical team worked for five hours to get the job done. The Kenyan support staff and volunteers once again went beyond the call of duty and the way in which we are all working together so harmoniously is really delightful.

Tomorrow we’ll take the team to the 9.30 a.m. service at St Matthew’s Cathedral here in Eldoret and then onto the Kerio View Hotel on the edge of the glorious Rift valley. Monday and Tuesday are bidding to be fairly action-packed so it will be good for us all to have a bit of a rest.

I do feel a bit concerned that I will not be recognisable when I return to the UK next week as between them my Kenyan friends and American host are feeding me so much delicious food that I fear I will return home the size of a small country!

All the wheelchairs were checked and any damage incurred during transit was repaired. The chairs are all now sorted into size and type and we are good to go.

Yippee!

Eldoret 2019: Part Three

I had a good weekend exploring the newly developed parts of Eldoret town which has changed phenomenally since I was last here two years ago. Many of the what we in Kenya call “inside roads” now have tarmac so moving around is much easier. There are several new shopping malls, one of which even has fountains and (more importantly!) a Java Coffee House which now serves a Flat White.

On Sunday I…

Eldoret 2019: Part Two

Well I arrived here safely, albeit weary and cold-ridden. I boarded the plane at Heathrow  utterly exhausted and not having checked in until I reached the airport. I was beyond happy to discover that I was in the only row in the plane which had two empty seats  so I could stretch out and sleep a bit. I spent the day at the Anglican guesthouse in Nairobi with my friend Moira whom I am staying with…

Eldoret 2019: Part One

As it says on the About page here on our blog we are normally much quieter when we are in the UK….

This is about to change as I (Liza) am returning to Kenya for another wheelchair distribution. I will fly out next Wednesday, 30th January, for two weeks. The team from Wheels for the World are due to arrive on Thursday 7th February so that gives us a few days to prepare for their stay at CBR (Commu…

The tree is up, the preparations are almost complete.

Hopefully, our hearts are also ready to welcome the Christ Child……

Another year is drawing to its close and once again we are attempting to adapt to the changes it has brought. Liza’s mother is now 91 and back in September she made the decision to move into residential care, where she is very happy. She is five minutes away from one of Liza’s…