I am so thankful that the Lord healed my headache, because today we were headed back into Nairobi to find a cyber café. I was looking forward to seeing more of the third largest city on the continent of Africa. I was also eager to send out a message on the blog telling everyone I was in the country and working hard. Neither Fr. Dan nor I had cell phones so I couldn’t call home anytime I wanted. The village where we were staying didn’t have phones either. It’s like Africa skipped the days of landlines connected to public phone booths and dove straight into the cell phone revolution. Fr. Lawrence had a cell phone but he always had it up to his ear. The thing never stayed in his pocket for longer than a few minutes. He was always taking calls or making calls related to the mission team’s visit. So getting a message out into cyber space was the best to let everyone in the States know I had arrived in Kenya.
On this little excursion, I left the camera back at Papa Gloria’s house. I didn’t want the trip to be all work and no touring. I got to enjoy being a simple tourist for a little while but I still ended up behind the lens before the morning faded into noon. Fr. Dan had brought his little video camera along on the trip. On the way to the cyber café, Fr. Lawrence wanted to stop and show the mission team a van that he wanted to buy for Grace House. I took a few shots so we could use the video to help raise money for the much needed mode of transportation. The mission team was spending a lot of shillings on taxis and drivers to cart us around. If Grace House had its own van, mission teams who came to visit wouldn’t have to worry about raising the extra money for transportation expenses.
Before lunch we stopped at the cyber café. I have been talking about this trip on the blog for several months so I thought it was important to post something while on the trip in Kenya to give the blog credibility. We had to pay for web access by the minute so I kept the message short. I wanted everyone to get a glimpse of how their donations was at work here half a world away. Thanks again to everyone that helped me get here.
After indulging in a fine lunch at an organic restaurant in downtown Nairobi, the mission team headed back to Grace House. Fr. Dan and Debbie had not been to see the building or meet the residents yet. We stopped to grab the camera so I could tape the first meeting of the residents and the priest from America. Only half a day to be a tourist then back to mission work. No worries, I enjoy being around Grace House so much that I would raise money all over again just to come here to paint walls.
I clipped the wireless microphone on Fr. Dan so I would have sound of him and Debbie giving their testimony to the group. I buzzed around getting all kinds of different angles and perspectives. As a news photographer, I have the mindset to shoot and move. Here I probably should slow down a bit and let the camera roll for a while to capture sound I wouldn’t normally get under the tight time constraints I am usually working under. I thought of this while working so I set up in one place and stopped moving around. Fr. Dan noticed I wasn’t bouncing from place to place so he took the microphone off. He thought I was finished shooting. I thought he was finished talking since he removed the microphone. As soon as I flipped off the power to the camera, Fr Dan launched into a small sermon that would have worked well in the video. He talked about how God viewed substance abuse and how it hurts him to see his children struggling with drugs just as any parent would be hurt by this attack on their children. For the second time on the trip I felt like I had missed something I really needed.
But, that’s photography. Sometimes you capture something extraordinary that you never expected to get and other times you watch a missed opportunity pass before your eyes while the camera is tucked away safely in its case. You can’t control how events unfold in front of the lens. You just have to do your best to get enough to make your vision work.
Tomorrow we are planning to go to Nairobi National Park to see the wildlife. It may sound like another trip where we are acting more like tourists than missionaries. But, I assure you the trip has a specific purpose. Remember that van I was talking about earlier? We are test-driving it for the day to see if it’s worth raising money for. I also want to shoot beautiful scenery shots for the video. I think it’s important to capture some of God’s wonderful artwork he has blessed this country with.
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