Ask Eric Fulmer about his most vivid memory from his experiences as a member of a United Methodist work team in Kenya.
His answer may surprise you."I've never met a more positive group of people than the Kenyans," said the 18-year-old Park City man. "Most of the people had so little, especially in the eyes of a Westerner, but they were so optimistic about the future. Kenyan men and women would acknowledge the many problems facing their country. But they would end each sentence saying `but it will get better.' "
Fulmer recently returned to Utah after spending four weeks in the eastern African country as a labor missionary representing the First United Methodist Church of Salt Lake City. The only Utahn selected for the 20-member regional team, his time was spent constructing buildings and worshiping alongside Kenyan church members.
"Last September, I came across a flier that invited members of the Rocky Mt. Conference (encompassing congregational units from Utah, Colorado and Wyoming) to apply for a work team that was part of an ongoing student exchange program between American and Kenyan Methodist students. We had a very diverse group. There were only two of us that were high school students, a lot of college kids, even men and women in their 50's - but we were all performing the same tasks for the same purpose," he said.
Fulmer's weekdays were consumed by hard work.
"We were up early each day during the week for morning worship, then it was manual labor throughout the day. Each American was assigned to work with a Kenyan team to help with the construction of a building that would become a rural economic and agricultural training institute owned and operated by the church. Our work leaders were Kenyan vocational students who laughed amiably at our frequent mistakes - while teaching us the trade."
Evenings and Sundays were set aside for worship, organizing conferences and discussing the activities of the week with other American team members.
"Sundays were very special because it gave us a chance to fellowship with Kenyan members. One highlight of the trip was being able to organize a youth rally at the coastal city of Mombasa. We sang, listened to speakers, received instruction to develop leadership skills and exchanged ideas between cultures," said Fulmer.
Fulmer remembers the American work team being caught in a perpetual state of culture shock during their stay in the impoverished country. An outing to a Kenyan hospital revealed archaic medical facilities, doctors forced to reuse rubber surgical gloves and the protruding bellies of sick, starving children.
"The poverty was disturbing," he recalled. "Families considered to be middle-class lived well below the American poverty level. In Meru, the average worker earned 80 schillings a day, which was the equivalent of 50 cents. I once calculated that a year's wages for an average Kenyan would not be enough to buy a pair of Girbaud jeans."
Kenyans frequently asked Fulmer about life in the United States and were shocked when told there was crime, drug abuse and people living without homes.
"To a person from Kenya, America truly was the land of milk and honey. We were looked at with disbelief when we spoke of problems being faced in the U.S.," he said.
Fulmer will be attending Reed College in Oregon this fall. However, he wonders if four years at the Portland liberal arts school will be able to provide the education Kenya offered in four weeks.
"I learned so many things in Kenya. I gained a new appreciation for modern civilization and the West. But I'll always remember the happy way my Kenyan friends viewed life - always looking toward the future. There is something to be learned from that. I plan on returning one day," he said.