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Nancy’s April trip to Kenya, Tanzania and DRC (Congo) topped 60 countries for teaching families how to really love each other.

She was invited to Kenya initially for a Writer’s Seminar conducted at the East-Central Division Headquarters in Nairobi to train 160 Wannabe Writers who came in from all over, some even from the Philippines. (
Picture of Nancy with Lumbu, Russ Holt and others

Her services were also needed in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). There she spoke to colporteurs who sell her book in French L’enfant ‘epanoui (Train Up A Child) (could include a picture of colporteurs holding up her book here) She also laid a cornerstone for a new publishing house they are building in Kinsasha, the capitol of the DRC.

(Picture of laying cornerstone here)

The highlight of this trip however, was visiting the famous Masai people in Tanzania, about three hours drive out of Arusha. The Masai are a semi-nomadic tribe who even yet live isolated from society defending their culture, codes and values. Nancy visited a Masai village, walked through a dung hill from which the women build their huts, visited with the chief, bought beaded ornamentation from one of his four wives, and literally crawled into the inky darkness of this dung and mud hut to see how they eat and sleep.

Masai men like their wives young.
Picture of young girl) Girls ages 7 to 10 are prepared for marriage through FGM (female genital mutilation) This procedure involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia. Even though it is now against the laws of the nation, they continue to do it because of tradition. It marks passage into adulthood and they believe it insures her virginity. Most Masai tribesmen would not think of marrying a girl who hadn’t had it done as she would be considered immoral. In Kisii 97% of the women have been circumcised. Any girl who refuses will be shunned. Some of these little girls are married off to older men of 50, 60 – all for 5 cows and about $300 US.

Sexual mores are very loose. A woman marries not one husband, but all men who were circumcised with him – his age mates. Her husband is expected to give up his wife and his bed to a guest age-mate. The guest plants his spear outside her hut as a signal that he requests a visit for the night. On the surface, there appears to be no rivalry.

(Picture of men bouncing)
The health of the Masai has been tested and retested and they are amazingly fit. When put on a treadmill they perform up to Olympic standards. They have a diet extremely high in fat which consists mainly of meat, milk, and corn meal. And they also drink blood. Yet their cholesterol remains only half of that of the average American. Why? Because of their fitness. They walk, and walk, and walk, and walk some more. And their dancing includes “bouncing” or “jumping” often in competition to display strength and endurance. Nancy danced (or jumped) with the women with a large beaded Masai necklace around her neck under a full moon – the experience of a lifetime.

The next day we embarked on a safari
picture of group in land rover) at the Manyara National Reserve. Dozens of animals were spotted but the most memorable were the baboons – hundreds and hundreds of them, herds of elephants, giraffe, leopards and many more.

While in Kenya Nancy visited Kajiado Adventist Primary School, a shelter for Masai girls where they can escape FGM and early marriage. (
Picture of Nancy with Jacinta in front of school) The school was founded in 2000 by a local Adventist Church and presently houses 91 girls. Many mothers are opposed to early marriage and have probably endured this themselves. So to protect their daughters secretly bring them to the school. The father will be extremely angry because he is losing 5 cows and $300 and she will have no home to go back to. One girl had been raped and had given birth to a baby. She was forced into marrying the man but the day before the wedding she walked over 50 klm to the school carrying her baby to request asylum. (Picture of Nancy with two sisters) The father of the two girls pictured here was marrying off the 12 year old but the school intervened and rescued the girl just before the marriage. The father was so angry he took his 9 year old daughter and married her off to another man before the school could rescue her. The rescue took three weeks and involved the government. The father came to the school with the chief and caused a lot of trouble. Tight security is needed to protect the girls.

One girl, age 9, was to be married off to a man of 90. “The girls are so innocent,” Jacinta commented, “that they cannot even comprehend what has happened to them and they suffer a lot.”

The school functions with a staff of 12 under primitive yet functioning conditions. They function on free-will offerings and often the staff goes for months without salary due to a lack of funds. Yet they carry on because they believe in their cause. Nancy’s heart has never been more moved about the worthiness of a cause. She always carries Ladies Night Out mission funds with her – just in case she finds a worthy cause. (Ladies Night Out is a women’s ministry group she coordinates in Fresno) It was burning her pocket! She gladly handed over $300 wishing she’d had $1,000 to give to this cause.

So the serious young girl who when she graduated from Auburn Academy wrote as her ambition – “Mission Teacher” has achieved her life time ambition – travel to over 60 fascinating countries to learn about their culture as well as using her God-given talents of teaching! What a life-time trip this has been!
Nancy and the Masai Chief

And it’s not over yet. Nancy has two new countries scheduled for visits this year – Panama and Zambia. Stay tuned!