Jambo (hello) from Africa

At last, I have reached my final destination! Twenty-six hours of flying, 18 hours of layovers, 5 hours in the car, and 1 bus ride later, I am here. I don’t have any pics to post yet, but I am quickly acquiring them, so please stay tuned. West Nairobi new staff members (including myself) are currently staying in a guest house and working our way through orientation this week. Monday, 5 days from now, we will move into apartments.

A popular question has been… Is Nairobi what you expected? I would have to say both yes and no. There is more poverty than what I could have ever imagined, even in the more developed areas. There are parts of the city that are appealing to the eye and others that are not. The people are what everyone said they would be and more, both caring and welcoming. The school site, which we saw yesterday, is absolutely beautiful. I got to see my office that I will be sharing with our school athletic director, and the 3^rd and 4^th grade classrooms where I will be teaching. I can’t wait to start! August 12^th is our first day of school.

This week we are participating in the course “How to survive Africa 101”. We are learning where to buy supplies, how to drive (in craziness), what streets are safe to walk on, how to speak basic Swahili, etc. Later this week… whoops there goes the electricity. That’s happen twice today. More to come… miss you all!

Visit to Austria

Two days and counting til arrival in Nairobi...

The last week, I have been staying with good friends, Dan and Regan, who are currently working with refugees in Austria. I have been following them around from place to place trying to learn the in and outs of a German speaking culture. Thursday we spent time with their team running a children's program and visiting with local families. It is a good thing I like tea! Overall, the weather hasn't been the greatest, but we finally caught a break in the rain yesterday. We took advantage of this by doing a little site seeing in Vienna, which turned out to be the highlight of my trip. These pictures show a few of the many places we went throughout the city. Vienna is a gorgous place! Today we are headed out again to do some walking around in Boden (where Dan and Regan live). We walk or ride the train every where because they don't have a car. It is great exercise!

Support Letter

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All gifts to NICS for the ministry of Amy Polhemus are tax-deductible. Checks may be sent to NICS, P.O. Box 1260, Southaven, MS 38671. Indicate "Project #003119" on the memo line of the check. If you have any questions about NICS, please visit our website or call the Member Care Department at 1.800.887.6427.

Pre-Field Training

I just returned home from a two week training in Southaven, Mississippi (15 min. from downtown Memphis, Tennessee). For the first time, I experienced Elvis country. Besides admiring the history of the South, I also attended classes everyday. The purpose of this training was to prepare overseas teachers for the individual culture they will enter. Can we say... information overload. I had no idea there was so much to prepare. However, I came out on the other end more knowledgeable about the mission field in Africa.

I met 6 of our current staff members at West Nairobi School. They are great!! While I don't look forward to saying goodbye to my home, I do look forward to connecting with these people again. I am thankful for the peace that God has given me during this time.