It’s been months since Jewell alumnus Fletcher Cox ‘03 has had access to the modern-day conveniences that most westerners take for granted.

When he began a one-year appointment last fall as a teacher at the Bonjoge Secondary School for Boys in rural Kaimosi, Kenya, he thought he would miss hot showers, electricity and 24-hour news channels. He doesn’t.

Like many missionaries who came before him, Cox has found that the western definition of what constitutes necessity has little meaning in the vast African landscape. He calls a round cement house with a thatched roof home. He lives without running water and electricity. A small propane stove provides the only means to cook.

“I have nothing unnecessary,” Cox says. “My ideas about what I need have changed.”

The smiles of responsive African students in his English and Christian Religious Education classes provide all the wattage Cox requires to fuel his commitment to the cause of teaching African children at the school in western Kenya situated near the eastern shores of Lake Victoria.

The genesis of Cox’s African odyssey can be traced to his days as a communication major on the Hill. His experience at Jewell instilled in him the notion of a personal responsibility to service. He was weighing the idea of serving as an overseas missionary when a representative from African Inland Missions visited him on campus; then his thoughts crystallized. The decision to go to Africa was made quickly.

“After recalling the impact that teachers and professors have had in my life, I quickly decided to jump at this opportunity to teach,” Cox says. “My broad desires have become very specific opportunities.”

Cox’s experience has far exceeded his expectations. A native of Hopkins, Mo., a town of 579 near the Iowa border in northwest Missouri, he feels at home with the rural setting of his Kenyan location. And he has grown increasingly accustomed to his special position within the community.

“Most of my students don’t know what to think of me because I’m not like their other teachers,” Cox says. Like so many missionaries, he is standing in the gap: the gap between cultures, race and affluence. His position as a teacher commands respect from those in the community. “I’m existing in the gap between respected teacher and ‘fun guy’ from America.”

Cox has been surprised at the warm reception from the locals. “I get an ice-cream-truck like response when I walk down the dirt roads of Bonjoge,” he explains. “I am a guest, but that doesn’t mean I am left outside of the community and only invited in on certain occasions. I have been truly surprised by how quickly I have been accepted as a part of the community and by the high status that I have been given with little effort of my own.”

He has been invited into countless homes and asked to speak at several churches and schools. “My skin color instantly tells people that I have a lot of ‘stuff,’ but beyond that, people really want to know who I am and, in turn, want me to know who they are.”

Enjoying time with the 120 ‘Bonjoge boys,’ who range in age from 15 to 19, remains Cox’s primary focus. His interactions with students are “high energy,” and he fields lots of questions, often about America. He uses sports, particularly volleyball, to bond with his students. He recently spent a few shillings of his own money to buy the team new uniforms, which are in bright shades of Jewell red and black.

Although the living conditions are primitive by western standards, Cox says that it’s hard to classify his experience as “tribal living.” The Nandi tribe populating the region is relatively westernized, yet follow many of the traditional rites of passage when it comes to birth, marriage and death. They are mainly farmers and pastoralists, eating ugali “maize meal” as their staple food.

Cox ranks among his most memorable experiences an encounter with a herd of wild elephants and climbing Mount Kenya to watch the sunrise above the clouds at 16,355 feet. He tried racing camels, but came in last. He has even dabbled in sand sledding and surfing.

But not all of his experiences have been positive ones. He counts a rock as an odd souvenir. It was acquired on a bus trip, when a local gang threw it randomly at his window, shattering the glass. He came away bruised and angry, but kept his anger in check because “that’s not a good emotion to display here,” he says.

Cox believes his years on the Hill prepared him well to serve in Kenya. From his professors, he learned not to look for all of the right answers, but to try to ask the right questions.

“Jewell helped me to become a brilliant learner,” he says. “I don’t know what’s going on inside the heads of my students, and I don’t know much about Kenyan history, government or the school system. But I do know how to learn about those things, which allows me to be an effective teacher.”

Cox has enjoyed his new perspective as a cultural outsider. However, he’s discovered that even though he’s outside of the local circle, he can still be a meaningful influence in the community. As with much of life, he says he must be both a teacher and a learner simultaneously.

“I live in a place where all of my cultural norms have been flipped around and upside down,” he explains. “Many times I feel lost, but I’m learning that my time here is not about mastering a language or understanding a culture or presenting a message. My time is about serving, loving and honoring people in such a way that will encourage them to ask deeper questions and look for better solutions.”

For more information, photos and the latest field reports, visit William Jewell’s Christian Student Ministries web site at csm.jewell.edu.