A Very Easy Process.......Not!

Meredith and I set up a bank account a few weeks ago. It is quite a long and drawn out process…

We went to the bank knowing that we needed our passports, photocopies of our passports, photos of us (passport size) and a person who has an account with the bank and could vouch for us as fine upstanding citizens (we chose Daniel). We approached the desk and began filling out the appropriate paper work. When all was done we asked how we could get our bankcards. The person told us that we could come back next week and get them. That was no problem. We put it off an extra week due to the fact that the banks would be busy with everyone in town getting their monthly salaries and clogging up the lines.

We entered the bank again a week later and asked the person who set up our account, for our bankcards. He told us to visit the enquiries counter with a copy of our passports to get the cards. I said, “But, we gave you photocopies of them when we set up the account.” We were informed that those copies were to set up the account, and other copies were needed to get the bankcards.

We returned on another day with the copies of our passports in hand, and approached the enquiries counter. We had forgotten to bring our account number with us, but didn’t think that it would be difficult for the guy behind the counter to access it. We told him the reason for our visit, and he asked for the copies of our passports, and our account number. When we told him we forgot the number, he looked as if it would take hours to locate the account. It didn’t.

He informed us that we had yet to deposit any money into the account and that he couldn’t give us our cards until the money was deposited. He also gave us forms to fill out to apply for the cards. Meredith’s response was “This is a very difficult process. In North America we visit one person to set up the account and get the bankcard. I don’t understand why it needs to be this hard.” The bank employee’s response was “This is very easy, it is not hard.”

So, off we went to deposit our money, and fill out our forms. We returned to the counter and presented everything we had. The guy behind the counter asked us if we had put any money in our account yet, to which we responded with a frustrated “Yes. We were just there.” He proceeded to do the work necessary for the bankcards. His next question was, “Do you have your passports?” I replied, “We just gave you our photocopies. We weren’t told to bring in our passports and they are at home.”

After confirming who set up the account for us, the man behind the counter called over to the desk of the person who set up the account. He then gave us back the paperwork and told us to get the first guy’s signature on the spots indicated. Off we went to the other side of the bank to get the needed signatures.

We returned again to the enquiries counter to complete the task we set out to do. The cards were processes, and printed with our names on them. We were then told to go to the next window, and wait for the next guy to come and set up our pin numbers. Once that was done, we tested the cards to make sure they were working. All in all a 40 minute job to what was supposed to be walk in and get your card.

One of the joys of banking under African skies…

So, You Want to Pet a Rhino...

It has been some months since I last posted a blog.  Things are going well for me here in Kitale.  I have been extremely busy with learning all of the ins and outs of what needs to be done.

 

I recently finished reading the book “Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning.  If you are looking to gain a greater understanding of the grace of God, I highly recommend it.  In this book he talks about the loss of wonder that we have for the world around us.  He writes, “By and large, our world has lost its sense of wonder.  We have grown up.  We no longer catch our breath at the sight of a rainbow or the scent of a rose, as we once did.  We have grown bigger and everything else smaller, less impressive.  We get blasé and worldly-wise and sophisticated.  We no longer run our fingers through water, no longer shout at the stars or make faces at the moon.  Water is H₂O, the stars have been classified, and the moon is not made of green cheese.  Thanks to satellite TV and jet planes, we can visit places once accessible only to a Columbus, a Balboa, and other daring explorers.”

 

This was made real to me over the past couple of months as I had the opportunity to witness a couple of children we spent time with.  The first was the child of a missionary couple we hang out with.  His parents had gone away for a week to take one of the children they care for to a hospital for treatment.  While he was here, we took him out to the backyard for some fresh air.  Meredith and I watched as he explored his world around him.  One item that was of particular fascination was the pen that we keep the rabbits in.  It was empty, and gave the child an opportunity for exploration.  This one-year-old boy looked, poked at, crawled around and in this cage lined with chicken wire.  He looked at the water that was in the margarine container and dumped it out so he could add twigs and leaves and any other treasures he found on his journey.

 

I stood back and watched a bit on edge to make sure that he didn’t hurt himself, or pick up anything that he shouldn’t.  I was laughing at the thought of how interested he was in how everything worked.  What happened when he stood inside the cage (as it was on its side)?  What happened when he pressed on the chicken wire?  What happened when he put his fingers in the holes of the chicken wire?  His amazement with the world around him was huge, and he was exploring all that he could.

 

The whole time I was watching this toddler explore the wonders of the world, I couldn’t relax.  I had to watch and make sure that he didn’t cause himself any harm.  I started thinking about how there was no fear in his adventure on his part, but for me there was no peace unless I was assured that he wouldn’t get a cut, or eat something off the ground that might make him sick.  Part of a response might be that as a responsible adult, it is my duty to make sure that he is safe.  However, why wasn’t I on the ground with him, getting myself dirty, and searching out the wonders of the world around me?  Why didn’t the leaf that he showed me overly impress me?  Or, the rock he had put into the container?

 

The second event of the wonder of a child came when some friends came to visit us for a month.  They brought their two-year-old daughter, and we took them to the baby elephant orphanage in Nairobi.  While we were there we found out about how the people care for the elephants.  We got to see them in their various stages of growth.  For the “finale” the keepers brought out a baby rhinoceros for us to see, and our friends’ daughter got to pet the baby rhino.  It was very exciting!  On our way out of the orphanage, the gates to another area were opened and we were able to see a few full-grown rhinos in some pens.  Some people were able to go up to the pens and take pictures of the rhinos through the bars of the pens.  But if the rhinos walked too close the people would back away.

 

It was at one of these times, that the little girl decided that she might like to pet the rhino.  She reached out her hand and went up to the pen.  Her mother grabbed her at the last second, and a woman standing close by said, “Well, she has no fear!”

 

There is a definite wonder that has been lost.  Why don’t we want to try to pet rhinos?  Why don’t we find amazement in a leaf?  Brennan Manning offers some insight into these questions:

 

We get so preoccupied with ourselves, the words we speak, the plans and projects we conceive, that we become immune to the glory of creation.  We barely notice the cloud passing over the moon or the dewdrops clinging to the rose petals.  The ice on the pond comes and goes.  The wild blackberries ripen and wither.  The blackbird nests outside our bedroom window, but we don’t see her.  We avoid the colds and heat.  We refrigerate ourselves in summer and entomb ourselves in plastic in winter.  We rake up every leaf as it falls.  We are so accustomed to buying prepackaged meats and fish and fowl in supermarkets, we never think and blink about the bounty of God’s creation.  We grow complacent and lead practical lives.  We miss the experience of awe, reverence, and wonder.

 

Our world is saturated with grace, and the lurking presence of God is revealed not only in spirit but in matter—in a deer leaping across a meadow, in the flight of an eagle, in fire and water, in a rainbow after a summer storm, in a gentle doe streaking through a forest, in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, in a child licking a chocolate ice cream cone, in a woman with windblown hair.  God intended for us to discover His loving presence in the world around us.

 

It’s time to stop and smell the roses.  Let us not take the world, or the creation in and around it, for granted.  I hope that I will never again miss the opportunity to look with wonder at creation through the eyes of a child.  Discover the flexibility of the stem of a flower.  Think about the vegetables in the garden and marvel at how a plant can give us needed nutrients.  Stop and look and wonder of birds in flight while you are walking the sidewalks of your towns and cities.

**Quotes taken from "Ragamuffin Gospel" by Brennan Manning. pgs 90-91.