Finally a satellite modem

Oct. 25, 2010

Please send our blog address: http://garywakenhut.blogspot.com/ to your friends and let them know we are beginning our postings. We are concerned that with the long delay, people have quit checking the blog.   I am adding the following three postings without photos.  I hope to be able to add photos to these postings tomorrow.  I will inform you when I do. 

Oct 25, 2010

Dear Friends,

Dear Friends, after a long wait for a satellite modem, we are finally on the Internet.  Below this posting, you will find a couple of postings I wrote during the past two weeks that talk a little about this amazing place.  Imagine 750 children (street children, victims of AIDS and poverty families, etc. preschool - 12) all living together positively.  They are truly excited about life and where they are going.  That’s what we find ourselves in the midst of. 

We have two talented high school students whom we are training to play the guitars we brought.  They, in turn, will assume responsibility for teaching and the protection of the guitars when we leave.  One will start on Irish whistle this afternoon and will eventually be teaching that in addition to the guitar.  They don’t read music here, but they are picking up the skills amazingly fast. 

Anne has a keyboard student who apparently lived with a minister and watched keyboards being played.  After politely letting Anne teach him for a week, he said, “Pardon, Madam, could I teach you something?” After she consented, he began working the buttons of the keyboard that the Ada Bible Church purchased for us. He explained how to set the rhythms, keyboard splits and other amazing things.  Anne learned more than he did that day.  She is in the process of teaching him to read music so he will be able to do so with the other students after we leave. He is an amazing young man and truly a joy to teach. 

Anne is also in charge of teaching the Mission Choir (vocal music is truly alive here … we wake up to singing in the morning and go to bed to it at night).  It seems to be the heart of what happens here.  The Mission Choir is the choir that has toured Canada, Germany and the US.  She feels a great responsibility with his group. She is teaching them to read music and how to sing American harmony rather than the organic third harmony that dominates their native music.  Dr. Mulli (the founder of MCF) wants them to know some “American” songs to sing on tour.

Our plan was to provide music for Devotions last PM.  The choir was going to sing with Anne on harp, the keyboardist, the guitarists and me on guitar as well.  However, schedules were changed (this happens all the time here), and we will have to postpone our debut appearance until later this week., a great opportunity to perfect our groups.

Anne and I are also teaching Life Skills to high school students.  Our first two lessons have been on self-esteem, an easy place for us to invest with these marvelous students.  We have also been doing a class on oral literature.  We combine Kenyan, American and other folk tales with our music (Anne has her harp and I have my flute and whistles). 

I am also teaching high school history which is presently a unit on democracy.  You ought to see me recalling what I have not studied or used since 1956 (all without an Internet for research).  It is amazing what you remember about balance of power, etc.  Today, in about an hour, I will be teaching the United Nations Bill of Rights. 

These students are extremely responsive and learn very quickly.  They have amazing capacities to learn, retain and utilize new information.  Much of this seems to stem from their extreme desire to learn and make the most of their education.  Also, they must learn two languages (or sometimes three with their tribe language), and the lack of textbooks means that they are very verbally oriented, using much repetition and memorization of material.

Every Saturday morning we are with 60 or more children (ages preschool to 10) to have fun.  We sing songs, play games, read or tell stories and enjoy the energy of the children.  They love to have fun and we feel blessed to share this time with them.

Over all this is an extremely strong belief in the power of God.  They are often reminded that if you listen to what is available from God, set this as your goal, you will be blessed with the results.  Such a strong faith is the bedrock of this whole program, and to see it work truly reinforces God’s existence.

We were told that our experience here at Mully Childrens Family (MCF) would be life changing.  Every day we become more aware of how it is changing us.  Experiencing the dedication of the staff, being/teaching with the children, meeting the many people who come to visit this program, listening to the wonderful singing of the children, and walking through the facility and the beautiful countryside every day leaves us in the evening with many thoughts, and emotions.  Each day is an amazing new experience. 

We have encountered some additional expenses with the instruments.  The keyboard was not loud enough to be utilized with the choir or the services.  So we had to purchase an amplifier.  We purchased one with a mic, stand and cable.  Presently, there is no sound system for services that include 700 plus students.  Our new system may be able to do double duty as a keyboard amplifier and a small PA system, at least until the Ada Bible Church can explore future possibilities of a permanent system. 

We also found that guitar cases are an absolute necessity as we are using them outdoors or on cement floors.  Therefore, there is no place to safely lay them when we are not playing them.  We also had to purchase a hymnal as there was not one here. 

Therefore, if you would like to assist our mission here, we would appreciate your support.  You may send checks to the First Congregational Church, (we are not sure of the address) Cass St., Greenville, MI 48838.  Make tax deductable checks out to:  FCC Wakenhut Kenya Fund.

Special thanks to Katie McDonough and Val VanderMark for all their ideas and encouragement with the teaching of music for all the different ages of children.  We also want to thank all of you for your support and prayers with our teaching mission here at MCF.  

We feel you are with us.