Last Sunday, we decided to go to the 6:30 am Mass in Kisii though, before leaving, Wes made the comment to Kathy, “If we go to Kisii, you won’t have anything to write about for the blog”!  He was wrong!  The Mass at the Cathedral in Kisii took less than an hour as the priest had a 7 minute homily but made up for it at the end of Mass.  Before the final blessing, a couple of men came forward and each one spoke.  We didn’t quite understand the subject matter though we got the feeling they were asking for money.  After the men finished speaking, the priest took the microphone and, along with a couple of altar servers who held containers for money, stood on the altar in front of the congregation.  At the same time and off to the side of the altar there was activity taking place that we didn’t quite understand.  Approximately five men carried a table to the side and brought chairs on which they sat.  After the men were situated, the priest spoke for a short time and then proceeded to ask different groups to come forward to give money:  the women came first followed by the men, youth, and other groups.  As each group came forward and deposited money in the collection containers, the money was taken to and dumped onto the table the five men were sitting at.  The men proceeded to count it as the priest continued asking different groups to come forward with their donation.  Keep in mind there were already two collections taken up during the Mass at Offertory!  This went on for a half hour…so much for thinking Mass wouldn’t have a lot of distractions such as we had last week.  The collection and counting of money in the sanctuary was something we had never witnessed before and as it was going on, Kathy could not help but think of the cleansing of the temple and the money changers in the Bible.  We got back to the Mission house around 8:30 am and could hear the 7 am Mass still going on at the church next door.  It lasted until 9 am. 

This week we held Water with Blessings trainings at two places we have never been to, one at Nyamotenenio and the other at Nyaborabu.  A total of 30 women were trained and as always, they were very grateful for the gift of the bucket and filter. The drive to both of these churches was quite the adventure – we were off-roading with the Hilux.  As we were driving to Nyamotenenio, Kathy remarked that we were driving on what looked like prairie trails – a term Lilian didn’t understand so we explained what it meant.  Lilian simply said, “we are on the edge of the world”!  At times it did seem like that as we made our way to the church though the views were spectacular.  The sides of the hills were about a 45-degree angle and as we climbed the mountain passing tea fields that seemed to be clinging to the sides, we wondered how the women pluck the tea at such an angle and not fall.  At one point during the drive, as the roads wound around the mountain, it almost gave one the feeling of being in a football stadium sitting in the nose bleed section with the river at the bottom taking the place of the playing field.  During trainings, Lilian and Emma will always ask the women where they get their water and here, just as it was at Emengenche a few weeks ago, the women told the same story:  they walk down the mountain to the river below, fill their containers, and carry them back up the mountain to their home.  If unable to make the trip back in one day, they leave their filled containers at a neighbor’s shamba or other location, return home for the night, and then retrieve the filled containers the next day.  They also told us of a stagnant pond that we passed on our way to and from the church – a pond they get water from if they have to.  The beauty of our surroundings, that we stood in awe of, hid the hardships these people face to obtain water.  A couple of women made the comment that a few people have a shallow well though it dries up fast during the dry season because of being high up the mountain.  These two churches, where the trainings were held, were probably the most primitive ones we have been to so far and a lot of that probably has to do with where they are located.  The walls were made of either mud and small tree trunks or boards with spaces in between which the sunlight tries its best to peek through.  After the training at Nyamotenenio and as we are trudging up the incline to get to the road where the Hilux was parked, a couple of the women told Kathy the Mission should help give money to finish construction of the church.  They spoke of how they were in the process of trying to construct a brick church, which you could see the beginning stages of, but when Covid hit, donations went down.  Truthfully, we see a fair number of churches that have been started but not finished due to funding.  They will build until they run out of funds and once they raise more, will start again so it may take many years to get a church built.  Kathy told them the Mission could not help to finish building their church but that fell on deaf ears because a few sentences later the one woman said to Kathy, “Next month at follow up you will tell us how much you help with”!  We think their philosophy is that it never hurts to try!   Because school is back in session, we have not seen as many children at the trainings.  At Nyamotenenio, there were two children present.  The one was a small boy who screamed at the sight of Kathy and would not come near her even though she tried to bribe him with lollipops and biscuits, which he did take, but only at arm’s length via his mother.  The other child was an adorable 7-month-old girl named Elyjoy.  She was dressed in a beautiful pink dress, pink socks, and red crocheted sweater with a flower button and lapel pin.  She had the most beautiful eyes.  Elyjoy took to Kathy so Kathy took advantage of holding her as much as possible.  The grandmother to Elyjoy told Kathy, “She is your daughter now”!  Kathy would have loved to take Elyjoy back to the Mission house but since that was not possible, will look forward to seeing her for the next 6 months during the follow ups. 

Here at the Mission house, we continue to see a stream of children coming to get a tom-tom (lollipop) or a biscuiti (cookie).  This past week, a group of small girls came and we gave them their treat. About an hour later they returned wanting another one and we said, “tom-tom moja kwa siku”, which means one tom-tom per day.  The little stinkers then got on their knees and folded their hands as if in prayer and begged, with smiles on their faces, for another sweet.  We had to be tough and tell them no; otherwise, they would be back for a third time in the same day!  One day a couple of the younger boys came including Simba who is quite the character.  He makes you laugh with his expressions and Ninja moves but he is also very stubborn and doesn’t like to hear the word hakuna sweets (no sweets) nor the words moja kwa siku (one per day).  When we heard the group come onto the porch, Wes went to the door, greeted them, and asked, “unataka nini?” which means what do you want though we were already pretty sure of what they wanted.  Of course, they said, “sweets” to which Wes said, “sema tafadhali” which means say please.  Evans, one of the boys, readily said it but Simba was not as willing but when he finally realized Wes wasn’t going to give him the lollipop without saying tafadhali first, he relented!  We are trying to teach some manners with regard to saying tafadhali (please) and karibu (thank you) and not just give me as we sometimes hear. They are more apt to say karibu but at times need a gentle reminder.  Fr. David said this is something he has tried to work on with the orphans as well. 

Sometime back we wrote about a boy named Erick and the letter he wrote asking for a soccer ball for the Bismarck Mission team – the team we didn’t know even existed!  At that time, we mentioned how we’d probably get more requests and did we ever.  For the next few weeks or so, we had lots of children coming and wanting a ball, many we had never seen before.  The word out in the surrounding neighborhood must have spread that in addition to giving away tom-toms (lollipops) at the Mission house, the wazungu also give away soccer balls. When children come to the door and after greetings exchanged as noted above, we ask, “unataka nini” which basically means what do you want or “unahitaji nini” which means what do you need and so we were quite surprised when one day, the response was mpira instead of tom-tom.  Mpira in Swahili means ball. Sometimes the response was mpira mpya which means new ball – they didn’t care as they just wanted a ball and they heard the wazungu were giving them away like candy!  This continued for a week or two until the word must have gotten back to the neighborhood that the wazungu don’t give soccer balls away.  (Note:  mzungu is one white/European person while wazungu is the plural).  We did buy a boy named Zack a ball before we had bought Erick one and it didn’t take very long before it had a hole in it.  We didn’t buy the cheapest one but also didn’t buy the most expensive – we paid around $25 for it.  Zack kept coming back asking for another ball and knowing how much the children like to play, we broke down and bought another one.  We thought we should maybe get one of a better quality so it would last and ended up paying around $50.  It didn’t take long before Zack was back on our doorstep and the new ball had a problem.  While the boys were playing, the ball hit a piece of mabati (tin).  You tend to see sheets or pieces of tin in a lot of places such as a part of a fence, building, roof, etc., so it wouldn’t be hard to hit mabati at some point.  We had already told Zack that if something happened, we cannot buy another ball – we’d have to take up a special collection to pay for soccer balls!  He wanted us to give him money so it could be repaired by a fundi (skilled worker) at the local tire shop.  We told Zack if he wants it repaired, he can use the monies we and/or Fr. David give him for washing the vehicles. The vehicles really don’t need to be washed as much as they get washed but it is a way for them to make some shillings and so we let them wash vehicles almost every weekend though we are not doing that right now since it has been very dry.  They would wash them every day if they could and at times have asked every day to wash them!  As for Erick and his request for the Bismarck Mission Team, we did buy him a good ball (about $55) right away and that one, too, eventually ended up with a hole.  Though we know how much they like to play football as it is called here, we cannot keep purchasing new balls or pay for repairs as it gets expensive.  Wes continues to tell them that once it starts raining and the cars get washed, they can save the money we give them to fix the balls…a good lesson for them to learn anyway.  The one surprise visit we had at the door was when two little girls named Stacey and Angel, who also happen to be sisters, showed up on our front porch.  When we asked, “unataka nini”, the answer was “mpira” which surprised us as we were ready for the word “sweets”!  Fr. David happened to be around and knows of these two girls as he gives their family food items from the Sunday offerings.  He didn’t tell them that day he would buy them a mpira but several weeks later he did.  When their mother came one day to pick up some of the food items, Stacy and Angel were with her.  Fr. David proceeded to give them the ball and the smile on their faces said it all.  They are the only ones who have not come very often wanting to get air put in their ball but that is probably because they are far gentler with it than the boys.  You wish you could buy them all a ball but it is not possible and when they do come, we tell them to talk to Zack and Erick as they can share the soccer balls that we bought them. 

The weather has been quite warm.  Last week, the temps were in the lower 80’s whereas this week they reached into the upper 80’s and a few days of 90 degrees.    We still have not had any measurable precipitation since January 12^th.  If we ask people when the rains will come, they say, “soon” though some have said that for a month now! It is very dry and that in turn means lots of dust as the roads are mostly dirt.  Kathy finally decided it was a waste of time to try and wipe the dust off of shelves or the top of the refrigerator as it will look the same in a day or so…she cannot wait to have cupboards with doors in the new house instead of a shelf with a curtain. 

Shamba update:  this past week, the masons started to lay the stones for the inside and outside walls of the ground floor.  The outside stones are the ones the men have been chipping away at, six days a week since the middle of November, carving the design on the one side.  If all goes well, they plan to pour the cement for the upper level which will be the ceiling of the second floor and also serve as the roof.  It was decided the house will have a flat roof for various reasons.  The maize that was planted in August is currently being harvested and will be used to make githeri and ugali for the workers at the shamba.  The Napier grass is slowly getting taller but will probably have a huge growth spurt once the rains come.  The Napier grass will be used to feed the animals that will be kept on the shamba.  Hatua kwa hatua…step by step. 

Please know that we keep you in our prayers and ask that you keep us, the Mission, and those we serve in yours.  Mungu Akubariki!

See photos from this week in the album section by clicking on the link below. 
Note:  If unable to view the photos using the link below, you can still view them by going to St. Joseph’s Parish website and scrolling down to the section titled Kenya Mission – photo album.  The website:  stjparish.com


https://stjparish.com/photoalbums/kenya-2-5-23