Nairobi Orchestra

This weekend I had the opportunity to play in an orchestra for the first time since college. We're a motley mix of musicians, everything from conservatory trained master teachers to fresh out of high school learners. We played some really great music, including my favorite Christmas orchestra piece, Corelli Christmas Concerto, and a Polish Overture called "Bajka" by Moniuszko. We also played a nice Elgar Romance for bassoon and some so-so arrangements of Christmas carols put in symphony form. The quality of performance was varied. Matt said if you only came to the first half, you would think we were pretty good, but it was a joy to get to play in an ensemble again.

My stand partner, Dzenisa, and I really loved playing together and I hope to do so again in the spring (pending family commitments).

Pathway to Positive Living

The past couple months have been a busy time for the GAR program (our partner program that works in HIV/AIDS prevention and care). The staff have been spending a lot of time in the field doing awareness and VCT. Because of this we hadn't had much of a chance to plan together for the rest of the MCC year (which ends in February). Last week, we took a day to get creative and really visualize what we hoped to do.

One of the major issues we've been facing is how to encourage our program clients to be less dependent on the program and more able to help themselves. We sat down together and developed a "Pathway to Positive Living" that outlines steps for the clients to develop independence and capacity to support themselves (steps like: accepting your status, knowing how to get to the hospital, able to take personal responsibility for your care, etc.). As a part of our plan, we set aside time to meet with each client to discuss their personal pathway and the first steps they would like to take to live more positively. We had the first meetings this week and clients responded really well. They are excited to be able to do more for themselves and particularly look forward to starting income-generating activities. Meanwhile, God has really been convicting me of my need to walk in His joy and His hope. Assisting with these activities, and finding ways to create a hopeful and encouraging environment with the staff (like planning with markers & big papers in our house instead of the office), are my own pathway to living positively.