a mits intern experience from a-z, part II

Lauren Meandro, Filmmaker Intern

I - INTERNS

What a blessing it is to serve with this wonderful team!! Each of us is so different from the other, yet we are bonded by our common goal to love others well. I could write a whole blog about each one of them and the amazing gifts God has given them.

J - JOY

Whether you’re missing home, in a place you’re completely unfamiliar with, or just overwhelmed by your work and circumstances, it can be hard to have joy. I’m not gonna lie, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses for me so far. I’ve felt lonely, overwhelmed, and anxious. There have been days that I come home feeling like it would have been easier to just stay in the States.

Through these seemingly joyless moments though, I know God is still faithful. Along my daily path, He reminds me in little ways (like a new student walking home with me from Chapel or the sun shining just right through the flowering trees) that He is there and He is with me. I just have to look up from my trudging feet to see Him and to see how I can have joy in those moments. 

K - KARIBU

“Karibu” is Swahili for “Welcome”. While I have felt homesick, God has also provided warmth and welcome through Kenyan hospitality! The other interns and I have been loved and welcomed into this community so well. 

L - LANGUAGE

The language barrier (or often, the accent barrier) has been rough on me for sure. I’ve never experienced a language quite like Swahili before. Since I have really no other language to compare it to, I have found it much harder to pick up on and understand. Being in a Christian setting has definitely helped, though. Seeing Bible passages I’m familiar with or singing songs I know in English has helped me recognize and translate certain words on my own.

On the flip side though, mispronunciation can sometimes be quite unforgiving (like the time I was practicing numbers with some students and was tricked into saying the word for an uncircumcised man). As with all language barriers and learning though, patience and grace are key. 

M - MATATU

Oh, matatus. Matatus (buses) are the main mode of transportation here, if you don’t have a car. They can be big or small, colorful or just plain, but either way, the entire experience feels like organized chaos (but mostly chaos). 

N - NEW, NORMAL, AND THE "NEW NORMAL"

​(I didn’t have any pictures of the things I mentioned in this section so enjoy this photo of Madeline with the biggest avocado I think I’ve ever seen.)

As I’ve said before, there have been so many new things it’d take forever to list them all out. However, I’ve been able to take comfort in the few things that are “normal”. Things like grocery stores and worship songs. American dinners and movie theaters. Nutella and Oreos. These things and others have been mostly the same and have made the “new normal” much easier to slip into. 

O - OVERWHELMED

With easy transitions come the hard ones too. I’ve found myself a couple of weeks ago becoming very overwhelmed for several reasons. For one, being a one-woman documentarian has been a difficult transition. I’ve been fortunate enough to do many of my previous projects with a team, or at least around other creative people. While I consider myself a very independent person, it’s been a hard transitioning to working completely by myself on multiple projects. 

Additionally, I found myself being overwhelmed with sadness for some of the former students. Many MITS graduates are successful, but MITS does not have a 100% success rate. There are students, though rare, that succumb to life’s pressures and go back to life on the streets. My heart is broken to think that any of the students I know now could ever struggle like that again.

P - PRAYER

​Prayer is the single greatest weapon we have against the enemy. No matter how big or how small, your prayers are needed. Please continue to pray for everyone involved with MITS - the kids on the streets, the students and staff in Kamulu, and the interns!

Q - QUICKMART

The first grocery store we went to. It’s honestly more than a grocery store though, as it has three floors and sells washing machines. It’s in the next town over, Ruai, and takes about 20 minutes to get there. It doesn’t have many American products like some of the larger grocery stores do, but it has Nutella and Oreos, so I’m not complaining.