Our mission started with collecting gear and raising funds to send a 40 foot container of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other mission supplies. The container shipped in July. The container arrived to Missions Of Hope International (MOHI) in October. Our team arrived in Nairobi on November 1st. Our team of trainers (Matt Flagler, Bob Rielage, Todd Rielage), spent most of the week training all of the shifts of the Nairobi Fire Service (NFS) in the use and maintenance of SCBA's (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus).
On Friday, November 7th, Bob Rielage, Nancy Moore and Matt Flager worked with the CHE (Community Health Evangelism) trainers from MOHI to begin development of a Fire Prevention program that meets the needs of the Urban Slum communities in Africa. Nairobi Fire Service sent one of their Fire Prevention Specialists and a partnership is being developed for NFS, MOHI and AFM to complete the development of the program to include training for CHE trainers and tools for them to use with community members.
Saturday, November 8th the AFM and NFS worked with the larger team from Lifespring Christian Church to have a community "Fun Day." NFS demonstrated the use of their trucks to put out fire and helped to change the image of the fire department in the slum communities. Community education is key to prevention and intervention in the slum areas.
