Reflections on Kenya

Those of you who follow our blog, or me (Rodney) on Twitter, know that I have been in Kenya for the last two weeks documenting a five sign language Scripture celebration. I don't recall when I picked up the idea that deaf people don't want to associate with the hearing, but my time at DOOR International completely laid that, false, notion to rest. The people I met at DOOR were very friendly towards me and eager to teach me some of their language. As it turns out, I picked up on sign language easier than I do French.

The DOOR center here in Nairobi is kind of magical place; you can't leave there the same person who walked in. There is something about the people that causes you to willingly leave a piece of your heart there, and I hope that I have opportunity to some day return. Below are some random photos from my two weeks in Kenya.

Mercy Mideva is a leader in the church and the intimacy she expresses during worship nearly brought me to tears. 

Many songs were part of the celebration. Deaf can feel vibrations from a drum and easily keep in time. Actually, these guys can dance like nobody's business, I was rather envious of their talent.

Translators working on Bible passages.

Can people pray with their eyes open? I always harp on my kids to close their eyes so they can concentrate while praying. But when leading prayer in church, deaf people watch what is being said so they can pray too. 

There were smiles all around on this weekend of celebration.

 

Five language teams lift colored cloths, at the same time, revealing a stack of video Bibles in their languages. Videos??? Yes, Bible stories are spoken in sign, in video format. It is often done in front of a 'green screen' so they can add different backgrounds in post production. They often dress up in period clothing too.

 

I was shooting this interesting tree with these thorny seed pods. Then I just happened to see this little fella doing his best to avoid being seen. The pod he's in is the size of a golf ball. 

And then there is the completely unexpected. I was pointing my lens towards the desert when I heard the unmistakable sound of a...Harley??? Here??? Coming from out there??? Well, TIA (This Is Africa)!