Picking Tea Leaves

Our team rode for several days in the tea country of the Kenyan highlands. Tea plantations stretched out as far as the eye could see in every direction.  We encountered this man, who picks tea at one of hundreds of tea plantations.  We were given a full demonstration of tea pickers' tedious daily work. Workers graciously explained to us the process that takes a tea leaf picked from these fields to what is brewed in our tea cups. This man was interesting to us, also, because of his stretched ear lobe from earlier days when we wore tribal rings.  Kenyan tea, by the way, brewed in hot milk and served as chai, is delicious.

Children Running Alongside Us

Wherever there were children on their way to or from school when our entourage of eight cyclists passed by, they would run after and alongside us.  Kenyan children seemed to take great joy in keeping up with us as long as they could, which wasn't too difficult when we were climbing a hill.

Joseph's Ride

On the first day of our bike ride through Kenya, we traveled west from Nairobi and descended into the Great Rift Valley to begin our cycling.  As we pedaled toward Narok, we passed this young man, whose name we learned was Joseph. Joseph caught up with us and started riding with us--he on this heavy, single-speed bike and we on our lightweight, multi-speed bikes. When he was still keeping up with us and hanging around after more than ten miles at our 18-mph pace, we were not only impressed, but concerned. Wouldn't his parents wonder where he was? Did he know what he was doing? Were we putting him at risk?  One of our hosts talked with him in Swahili and discovered that he was going to the next town for his family and that such rides were common for him.  Wow.  I hope the Kenyan cycling organizations find out about Joseph.  Actually, we found numerous young men riding these heavy, single-speed bicycles who were able to ride with us at our pace for miles, and frequently up some substantial hills. -- John Franklin Hay

Re-Entry, or Getting Through Reverse Culture Shock

Yesterday, I sent a follow-up email to our Bike Kenya 2012 cycling team.  I share part of it here because it may offer an insight into what is frequently experienced when a person returns from spending time in another culture, particularly in a developing country.  The experience is called re-entry or reverse culture shock.  Below, I've expanded a little on what I shared with our team:

I don't know about you, but I'm experiencing re-entry issues. I miss Kenya and the friends we made there.  I miss our team.  I am struggling to reengage fully with daily duties and ongoing relationships.  I am having trouble appreciating usual conversational topics--cars, clothing, gadgets, concerts, sports, politics, etc.  For now, these seem rather shallow and unimportant.

All this is normal.  It's part of re-entry, or what is called reverse culture shock.  We had an incredible experience.  We were exposed to and immersed in a culture and economy so very different from what is normal in USA.  We saw inspiring things.  We met wonderful people.  We also saw troubling things and situations.  Impressions about life there and at home formed in us that we couldn’t quite understand or articulate.  Then, all of a sudden, we're back in our homeland where there seems to be so much of everything for everyone--with too much to spare.

Welcome to re-entry.  The worlds of "not enough" and "too much" weigh on our hearts and minds. Our experience of being there and being back here can change the way we see things and feel about the way things are valued and done at home.  Frankly, it can be uncomfortable for you and for the people who care most about you.  Just be aware.

If you have not already done so, find somebody (or somebodies) to talk to who has/have also experienced this and who can offer some support and encouragement.  Journal your way through it.  Pray your way through it.  Hey, even bike your way through it.  Just don't not deal with it or try to deal with it alone.

Having experienced this a few times, I find that is helps me to find some way to serve others locally and tangibly.  Serving people close at hand who need support and encouragement is one of the ways our head and heart find a new place of meaning, perspective, expression, understanding, resolution, clarity, and focus forward.

I look at what we have on our hands here as a gift and a burden. It was a blessing to have this unique cross-cultural experience. But this gift leaves us with something of a burden. What shall we do we do with what we experienced? Unlike a souvenir, we can't just put it on a shelf or pack it away. It's somehow with us in our thinking, valuing, choosing and acting every day.

My experience in India in 2007 ultimately found a forward and positive expression several years later as I began to work with International Child Care Ministries in development and communications. Through this role, I am able to impact lives and some of the situations and systems that initially left me troubled and feeling overwhelmed.  May there be some creative ways for each of us to offer grace to others--and change the world just a bit--from this experience.

I do not pray that you will return to "normal," so that this will have been one more passing experience in a string of life experiences--"been there, done that, got the t-shirt."   Instead, I pray that you and I will ultimately be able to use our unique and wonderful experience(s) to become compassionate and graceful advocates in tangible ways in the days ahead.  You have my prayers.  You also have my email and my phone number.

Thanks for your partnership in this endeavor. I am convinced we were brought together uniquely for this mission and experience and that the good that comes from it within us and for others will have multiplied impacts for years to come.

-- John Franklin Hay

Children of Kenya

Everywhere and all along the way of the hundreds of miles our Bike Kenya 2012 team pedaled in Kenya, there were children. Little ones screamed "Jambo!" with glee from the thresholds of their houses as we rode past. Primary school children would run alongside us as long as they could. Older children would wave and flash a bright smile. Wherever we stopped to take a break from riding and take in some water and nourishment, children would gather round.  We saw thousands of children going to or from school and at the ICCM schools we visited. They frame and define Kenya, really.

Kenya's children reflect what is going on around the world. The number of children in the world today is unprecedented. In many developing countries, the majority of the population is under age 17. Like what is reflected in the face of this child our Bike Kenya 2012 team encountered  few weeks ago, the world's children are anxious.

Will their anxiety become despair or hope?  Will it morph into fear and foreboding or blossom into anticipation and possibility?  Please pray and act with us for the children God has put within our reach to have the opportunity to become all they have been created to become to the glory of God. May their lives be fueled by good nutrition, educational excellence, spiritual vitality, and economic opportunity as they move toward adulthood in the years ahead.

I am still reveling in the beauty and audacity of Hell's Gate National Park near Naivasha, Kenya.  From its high hills, we were able to see far across the Great Rift Valley, including nearby Lake Naivasha and the crater of a volcano.  In the photo, on the left, steam rises from geothermal vents (some harnessed for energy).  At the same time, we were riding our bikes through wild herds of zebra and eland, and passing grazing gazelle, giraffe, impala and warthogs. The collective impact of that day's experience stands out to me as awesome.  With the hymnodist I sing: "All nature sings and 'round me rings the music of the spheres." - John Franklin Hay