Dearest Friends and Family,

Greetings to each of you from warm and sunny Maua. Bill and I are doing well. We are preseently having our living room, dining room and kitchen painted. They could not paint when they finished the addition as they had to wait until the cement dried. We are prayerful it has dried sufficienlty. They began painting on Monday and today they will finish the walls and cabinets. Monday and Tuesday they will paint the floors. The end of the week they will paint Bill's office. Hopefully by next weekend we can move back into our completely finished home.

The funeral of the man that died in London and has caused problems here in Maua has been postponed until next weekend. It is peaceful here now and we are praying for the peace to continue. Slowly, the Somali's are moving back to Maua.

We thought you might be interested in some insights and information about miraa and the effects of miraa on the Nyambene District and Maua town.

Miraa is a legal drug that is grown in three places world wide, Somali, Ethiopia and Nyambene District, Kenya. The best miraa is grown in Nyambene District.

Miraa is the twigs or branches of a tree. The twigs require approximatly one month of growth before harvest. The miraa is good for about 96 hours after it is picked from the tree.

The miraa users chew on the twig, often twirling it round and round in their mouths. We understand it is very bitter so often people drink tea or soda or eat sweets while chewing miraa.

Miraa is a mild stimulant. I have read several studies on miraa that were done in the 1980's. Generally they say that miraa has no ill effects. It decreases the appetite and increases wakefulness. It does appear to allow persons to consume a greater amount of alcohol without much effect. The major groups using miraa in Kenya in the 1980's were univeristy students (during exam time), truck drivers and people who run kiosks, bars, hotels that stay open all day and night. However, most people will admit that the use of miraa is changing dramatically and an extensive study needs to be done now on people that are constantly using miraa.

Originally in this area miraa was only chewed on special occassions and then only by the wazee (old men). However, today the young and old and all inbetween men (and occassionally women) chew miraa constantly. It is sold everywhere in Maua and costs approximatley 150 to 200 Ksh ($2.50 $3.30) for a one inch diameter bunch. Daily miraa trucks, small pick up trucks, speed to Niarobi and Mombasa, with a truck load of miraa packed in large bags. A truck load of miraa would be worth about one to two million Ksh ($17,000 - $34,000). We are told that at least 30 - 40 miraa trucks go daily from this area.

At three different times in the past miraa has been illegal but due to the great economic impact of miraa it has been legalized. It is dangerous to even mention making miraa illegal in this area.

The greatest users of miraa have always been the people of Somali. Until recenlty most the miraa was flown from Nairobi or Mombasi to Somali, Sudan and Ethiopa. However, today London is the biggest miraa buyer. Thus, who controls the market in London (where the price is the greatest) controls miraa.

Generally speaking, Maua and many, many villages around Maua grow miraa. Since is can be harvested as often as once a month, it is an amazing cash crop. However, to our great sorrow we see very little miraa money used for the good of the area. Rather we see much of what is seen in other drug cultures. In fact recently we were told that in Maua there are 64 bars (we received this information from the beer supplier for Maua). In most places the size of Maua there would be approximatley 8 - 12 bars (as that is the most a community could support). With 64 bars, and those are only the bars that sell packaged beer rather than their own brew, it is clear that there is a great deal of money being spent on alcohol and prostitution. (We have been told by many that generally women who work in bars are prostitutes).

From the hospital side, what we know most about miraa is violence. There is always men (and boys) in the hospital that have serious cuts from miraa fights. It seems there is constant fighting amongst the miraa growers. Today we have a 16 year old boy with his left arm ambutated above the elbow, three men in their twenties with serious cuts to the head, back, shoulders, arms and legs. One 26 year old man whose right leg was cut so deeply it shattered the bone and a 19 year old whose left leg was ambutated below the knee. We also have a 12 year old boy that was hit by a speeding miraa truck and lost both legs. The speeding miraa trucks are a constant fear of everyone.

The number of children attending school from the miraa villages (especially boys) is much smaller than the Kenyan average. Generally, education is not valued and the boys work with their fathers harvesting and packaging miraa. The health status of the people from the miraa villages is generally below average as money is not spent on food, sanitation, the environmnet or health care.

The Methodist Church in Kenya is against the use of miraa. We have been told that in the recent past we had a Bishop of this area that spoke out loudly against miraa. However, he forced to leave quite soon. Miraa is a big problem here. One of the staff members whose family sells miraa often shares with me openly about miraa and what he is seeing and experiencing. His insights have helped me greatly and he is constantly seeing how destructive miraa is to his family and friends. We pray for more like him.

This past Sunday our sending church, Plymouth Park United Methodist Church in Irving, Texasa, called us on the telephone during their 11am service and talked to us. It is difficult to adequately express the joy we felt and how Bill's office seemed filled to the brim with love and light during and after the phone call. We are so grateful to all our supporting churches and the love, support, encouragement, care and prayers that we continually receive. You bless our lives daily and we are so very thankful for you. May God bless each of you as you reach around the world with your support and prayers. Thank you.

Holding tight,

Jerri and Bill

You can answer this letter at savuto@MAF.org

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