Milking a Camel is Just Like
You Might Think it Would Be: The Interim Trip
March 25, 2007
It started many years ago; the thought was the RVA kids would do good
to be able to spend time in other parts of
I was a last minute sub for a staff member who was injured, so I
didn’t take part in the planning of the trip. The couple that did were
thorough and they were young; probably my age group wouldn’t have planned
what we did. The sixteen juniors were pretty thrilled.
We started by going to a camel ranch about three hours away. When we
arrived, we had the opportunity to make camel sausage, something I could
honestly say I never had an ambition to create. African cleanliness is a notch
below
The next day we got to milk camels. Again, this was something that I
never had any ambition to do. I could further say that once you milk a camel,
you will probably exhaust any interest in doing it ever again.
(It is GROSS in there)
After that, we traveled across a desert area for two hours on camels.
This was fun for the first thirty minutes, especially when we saw a herd of
elephants.
However, after an hour on a camel, the only way I can think to suggest
what was happening was that the boys were sagging. I received sores where I didn’t
know they could go.
We were way out in the bush, and the interesting people who owned the
camels had a pet cheetah. It had been left at their doorstep, and they had
raised it. We were invited to pet it, something else I must confess I had never
wanted to do. They told us to put our hand out so it could lick it; it worked
with the first several kids, and then it was my turn.
I so charmed the cheetah that it playfully rolled on its back and more
playfully put its mouth over my entire leg.
Some people would have been charmed by a 150 pound cheetah covering
their legs with their large mouths. I am not one of them. Some people might
have fainted. I was not one of them. Some people would have tried to fight off
the cheetah, which I was told was the worst thing you could have done.
I bravely fertilized and irrigated my legs.
The cat, repulsed, ran off.
I was thrilled to be a great example.
We had car problems the next day which delayed us by hours, but after a
good night sleep in an open air bunkhouse, we split the group into two; those
who wanted to kayak and those who wanted to rock climb. I was chosen for
kayaking, and I wondered what my role would be.
Many of the kids were nervous about kayaking, and it quickly occurred
to me if I fell in the water MANY times, and was the FIRST to fall in, they
would gain confidence and be full of joy. And so, against all my natural
abilities, I forced myself to turn over many, many times.
In the afternoon, we all went white water rafting. It was fun, although
the same sensitivity to others caused me to OFTEN flip out of the raft. At one
point, I was pulled into the raft, and not all of me made it all the way, if
you know what I mean. I will leave it to you why
At one point, they made us paddle next to a waterfall, and then told us
to climb to the top of the rocks next to it. It was about 15 feet high, and the
guide told us that if we jumped where he was pointing, we would hit the current
come up about five seconds and twenty yards down river. If we missed, the rocks
would really hurt.
I did not want to do this in the worst way, but I had exhausted my
irrigating and fertilizing powers. I had this wild thought that maybe people my
age SHOULDN’T jump into a waterfall.
But I did it.
And as I was shooting down the rapids, I had dual thoughts: This is the
most fun thing I’ve ever done, and maybe there are some tricks left in
this old boy.
The rest of the trip was a blast, although the horse back riding
further sagged the boys, but it was so much fun to be with the kids and have
this opportunity.
On the college front, we have some mixed news to report. The greatest
fear of many missionaries is that they have betrayed their children by going to
the mission field, because the poverty level wages make it impossible to save
enough to go to college. JT received his first financial package from a school
he was accepted to, and it required that he borrow 24k a year in order to go. We
hope for better news from other schools.
But we did get more good news from other students. We had our first
student ever accepted to the
Then there was Ethan. His parents came to campus when he was in 7th
grade for a short term mission trip. When he returned to
And he chose to come back to RVA. He was able to make a trip in 8th
grade. It says something about the pull of this place that he would make his
wish to come back here.
He has recovered and is a senior, and he was just accepted to his first
choice school, the US Naval Academy. The odds were so impossible, but he kept
pushing and pushing, and he will start in June.
Aren’t happy endings the greatest thing?
Your pal
PS. We will get back in July, and are eager to see you all. A professional
film maker came here and made a film of our projects, so if you don’t
want ME speaking to your church or organization, we can just play the movie. But
we are eager to speak to as many churches, Sunday schools and organizations as
we can. Can you help us with this?
Steve and Nancy Peifer
Stateside Address: AIM
Home Number: 011-254-20-3246-458
Office Number: 011-254-20-3246-170
Steve's Cell: 011-254-0734-124292
Website: http://peifer.kijabe.org/index.html?intro.html&1
Foundation: http://www.solutionbeaconfoundation.org/programs.htm
Webcam: http://www.kijabe.org/longocam/