What I do

Its blog updating time. Pole sana (very sorry) for taking so long to post. Thank you for those, caring so much who have called me out on my lack of updates. There is a silver lining though, because it has been so long since I have updated there is plenty to draw on and this should be an interesting post. My sister requested that I post a little about what I do at work and in the day to day. I thought that was a fair request so here you go.

As all of you know, at least I assume and if not now you do, I work for Tanari Trust. I specifically work with the ROPES program with Tanari. ROPES stands for Rites of Passage Experience. Tanari offers two ROPES programs, ROPES adolescent and ROPES ROYAL. These programs are in place to guide youth through important transition times, the adolescent program falls in between elementary school and high school and the ROYAL program is for high school students initiating them into the market place. Rites of Passage Experiences are long standing in the African context performed by one's tribe. Kenyan youth are reeling from the lack of these experiences. One of the key factors in any rites of passage experience is the tribe or village. For rites to be effective it must fall in the context of a community. The ROPES program is performing these transitions in the context of the church as the community. So my job in relation to all this is program planning and execution for the ROYAL program, and participation where I am needed with the adolescent program. Where we stand now with the ROYAL program is hunting for participants. There is a hefty price tag attached to the program and we don't have an effective way to subsidize it for people who can't afford it. The price stands now at 40,000 Kenyan Shillings, just over 500 USD. That seems like a minimal price tag for a 6 month program that offers a climb up the second highest mountain on the continent, a 3 month internship with a business associated with your field of interest , and invaluable leadership, life skills and discipleship training. As of now we have two people signed up for a program that is due to start in December.

There is a church interested in partnering with us. There are pluses and minuses that come with that. The plus is that we will instantly have significant increase in enrollment but that price tag is scarey and the church may want to alter the program in significant ways to lower the cost, such as replace the Mount Kenya experience with something much more docile. Please pray about our negotiations with the church. If God wants us to give somethings up so more people are reached that we would be open to that, but if it is a necessary component of the trip as I see it now that we may be able to work to shave back the budget in other ways.

There is much more I can write about but I will let you digest that and I will fill you in on my crazy weekend in Homa Bay and the motorcycle that is being delivered as I write this.