Finally getting a chance to go through some of these photos from Kenya!

Meet Bishop Matolo. When Jessi and I finished our project with KIINI in Kenya we had a few days left at the tail end of our trip and used them to tag up with one of the CEC’s (Charismatic Episcopal Church) local bishops to photograph his diocese. I did a similar project during my last trip to Kenya in the western part of the country, so it was very interesting to see the similarities and differences in this, a more central and eastern area of Kenya.

We spent the day traveling all over Biship Matolo’s diocese and visiting several of his churches and local projects. The community there is so incredible. They work hard, and they work together.

The following are some of my favorite photos from the first place we visited with him. Each little church and congregation had its own little story. This first church was still in its “temporary” state; they are hoping to build a full size church with enough seating for the whole community.

This trip to Kenya for the Kiini Project was Jessi’s first trip to Africa and she had a blast.  It’s one of those places that it’s hard not to fall in love with.  Here’s a shot of Jessi from our day with Bishop Matolo in Muchakos.  Also check out some shots that I did for Times Square Church in Texas a few months ago when we were building homes to ship to Haiti HERE.

I’m down in Alabama for the summer (shooting weddings) and I arrived to an awesome surprise…the film from our trip to Kenya with Kiini was back!  I just downloaded it and did a really quick thumb through and it’s really really fantastic.  I can’t wait to get it all edited and start working on the project in the next couple of weeks.  Here are a few of my quick favorites from the bunch…be back soon with more!

Well, it’s much past the 7th day of our trip to Nyeri with Kiini, but due to our lack of internet access we’re just now getting around to posting these. We’re actually sitting in the lobby of the Kenya airport waiting to check in (which they don’t allow until a few hours before the flight) and we happened to find some wi-fi!

Our last day with Kiini was a short one, but we were still able to accomplish quite a bit before we made the drive back to Nairobi. We started the morning just across the street from the Kiini office visiting a disabled man who is part of a group that has benefited from the micro-loans through Kiini. He now runs a small shop making all sorts of metal items, from drain pipes to watering cans and much more. He’s been able to start and sustain his business and provide for his family through support from Kiini.

After that we were able to attend one of the group meetings and see first hand how the loans and bookkeeping work. One of the women’s groups had their monthly meeting and Kiini attended to help with the paperwork and banking to assure that everything was in order and that everyone was doing their part.

Our project with Kiini was amazing and we were really impressed with their hearts and commitment to the community there in Nyeri. They are reaching out and touching so many lives and we were honored to get to be a part of what they’re doing.

Stay tuned for much more on Kiini as we begin our ‘back end’ work on the project from the states over the next few weeks. There will be videos/photos/design and many more stories that you won’t want to miss!

This man, who was born disabled, was empowered through the Kiini Sustainable Initiative.

Some of the items that he makes in his shop.

He demonstrated to us how he makes some of the metal items that he sells there in his shop.

Kennedy of Kiini.

The Utugi Ladies group meeting in Nyeri, a group that Kiini works with.  (Utugi means grace)

Boniface goes over the books with one of the women from the Utugi group.

Sam looks in on the group meeting.

Fraciah, one of the women from the Utugi Women’s group.

So you may notice that we missed day 5.  It’s not that we didn’t do anything important; we did.  Unfortunately the camera stopped working for that day.  We’ve been able to get it to work off an on, so it’s still alive-ish, but it’s deffinitely giving us problems.  So we shot all of day 5 on film which we’ll share with you later.

Day 6 was our final full day in Nyeri with Kiini and we spent a good bit of it enjoying the town and relaxing a little.  We finished all of our interviews with the Kiini staff first, and then we headed to Aberdare National Park for a game ride (i.e. safari).  It was a lot of fun and we saw all sorts of wildlife including Jessi’s favorite, elephants!

We’re wrapping up one last shoot this morning and then heading back to Nairobi for a few days of work with a Bishop there.  If we have internet you can expect continued updates on the blog…and if not we’ll be back before you know it!

Thanks for following our progress and stay tuned in the coming months as the Kiini project comes together!

Philip, one of the of the Kiini staff members.

Kennedy, one of the of the Kiini staff members.

Boniface, one of the of the Kiini staff members.

The Kiini staff in the office in Nyeri, Kenya.

Animal Skulls at the entrance to Aberdare Park.

The rest of these were shot during our ‘game ride’ through Aberdare Park;  Waterbuck.

Water Buffalo

Elephant

Jessi and Stephen during the game ride at Aberdare Park.

Hyena

The flooded river due to the recent heavy rains

Jessi searching for elephants on foot

Sam, Stephen and the Father on the 4×4 during our game ride.