Last Sunday, we attended Mass at the Cathedral in Kisii because here at Gekano the Sacrament of Confirmation was being held and it was going to be outdoors.  Fr. David thought the Mass at the Cathedral in Kisii was at 7 am but it was at 6:30 am. We had left early enough thinking we’d have extra time but instead we arrived ten minutes late…we were like the Kenyans!  Kenyans joke all the time about how late they are for everything.  Lilian will tell the mamas for the WWB follow-ups to come a half hour before she actually wants them there as she knows they will be late.  The Confirmation Mass was supposed to start at 10 am but it didn’t start until noon.  Here they say the Mass will start when the priest – or in this case the Bishop – arrives and it was around 11:30 am when he arrived as we could hear the hoopla and fanfare announcing his arrival.   The Mass lasted until 3 pm.  Per Fr. David who attended the Mass and helped with the confirmation, there were 181 candidates and all the males were given the name of Paul while all the females were given the name of Pauline!  No debating on the name you will choose for Confirmation – here it is chosen for you. 

In last week’s blog, we wrote of the young orphan who had pneumonia.  On Monday, we (Wes, Kathy, Emma and the orphan’s guardian) took her to another medical appointment to see a dermatologist for reasons different than her pneumonia diagnosis.  Wes, who was our chauffeur, was content to stay in the vehicle while Kathy, Emma, and the guardian navigated the clinic processes.  When we arrived at the reception area at 9:15 am, there weren’t many people but within thirty minutes the place was full.  You don’t make appointments for these visits – you just show up and in the order the consultation fee is paid is the order in which the patients are seen.  Again, if you don’t pay the fee, you don’t get to see the doctor.  We wanted to pay the fee (KSH 2000 = $20) to get our place in line but the Lipa Hapa (Pay Here) window was dark – an area that is separate from the receptionist.  When someone finally showed up, we paid the fee which secured our place in line.  We were told the doctor would be in at 10:30 am but after inquiring around 10:40 am as to the status of where things were at, the receptionist stated the doctor would not be in until 11:30 am.  Around noon, we were taken to the doctor’s office where he was sitting and waiting for us.  He spent the next thirty minutes doing his examination and explaining his diagnosis for which he wrote a prescription.   We then made our way to the pharmacy to get the price of the prescription.  Once the pharmacist wrote the price on our prescription, we headed back to the Lipa Hapa window to pay the fee.  Once we paid the fee of KSH 1500 ($15), we headed back to the pharmacy to get the prescription filled and then we were finally done.  We arrived at 9:15 am and left around 1:15 pm.  Because some of the group was hungry – especially our young girl – we found a deli where people had a variety of food to choose from.  The guardian, who is a school teacher, pulled Kathy to the side and whispered to her “I never been in store like this” and didn’t want to order anything even though she was hungry.  So, Kathy asked her what she would like and she responded, “mkate and soda” which means bread and pop.  She felt most comfortable just having bread so Kathy told her to pick out the bread she wanted.  This lady walked to the aisle where the loaves of bread were and picked one out along with a bottle of Fanta (orange).  Our group then sat together and enjoyed our meal.  Before leaving Kisii we dropped Emma off and continued on our way to Ichuni (approximately twenty miles from Kisii) where the girl, who is a fifth grader, goes to boarding school.  On the way, we had a slight mishap.  With the winding roads and a full tummy, the poor girl ended up hanging her head out the window and lost her lunch.  She felt so bad but we assured her it was okay.  We were glad the guardian was with us.  At the school, the guardian explained to the head Sister the issues going on with the girl and the need for her to take her medications on time and to take them with food.  Before we left Kisii, we bought a case of twenty-one individually packed boxes of milk much like the size of single-serving juice boxes we have in America so she had something extra to take with her medications.  At the boarding schools, for breakfast, the children usually have porridge which is usually made from maize; for lunch they have githeri (beans and maize); and for the evening meal they have mbogo (greens) and ugali which really isn’t a lot of food considering they don’t get any meat.  I asked the young girl if she is still hungry after eating her meals and she simply said, “yes”.  We also had to impress upon Sister the need for the girl to be able to use the ointments she was prescribed because of her skin condition.  When we were at the doctor’s office, Emma relayed to the doctor that usually the girls cannot keep any kinds of body ointments/oils in their possession while at boarding school and this might be an issue.  The doctor replied, “here is my number and if there is issue, Sister can call me”!  Kathy did relay that message to Sister.  Kathy’s heart ached for this young girl as she said good-bye to her.  Besides being sick with pneumonia, she was homesick – she is a fifth grader and in boarding school for the first time.  She fought back tears but a few did roll down her cheek and as they hugged each other, Kathy whispered in the girl’s ear to try her best, it will get easier and we would see her next month at Mission Saturday.  These children, especially the orphans, have to grow up fast and experience things they shouldn’t have to at their age.  Her guardian told us that this girl was only three days old when her mother died and she has been in the care of someone else ever since.  Her guardian is a wonderful lady who takes good care of her and compared to a lot of other orphans, this girl is very fortunate. 

On Tuesday, we took a boy, a third grader, to the eye clinic for a checkup. He had an infection in his eye some time back and it affected his vision.  Fortunately, he is doing a little better.  Again, Wes was our navigator.  We had to drive to a little village about three miles from the Mission house to pick up the boy and his guardian.  When we stopped alongside the road, the boy came to the passenger side where Kathy was sitting and he stood there smiling.  Kathy thought he wanted her to open the back door of the vehicle for him so she got out and as soon as she got out, he hopped into the front seat where Kathy had been sitting!  When we arrived at the Mission house later that day, Kathy asked Fr. David if the young boy usually sits in the front when they went to the appointments and he said, “yes, he does”!  The boy could barely see over the dashboard but he was happy to be in the front checking everything out.  His trips to the doctor are probably one of the few times he has been in a vehicle since he walks to school.  Kathy sat in the back with the guardian and engaged in conversation – a little Kiswahili and a lot of English which the guardian spoke well.  Once we got off the bumpy roads and onto the tarmac (paved road), his guardian made the Sign of the Cross and started saying the rosary in Kiswahili and though she spoke softly, Kathy could hear her and tried to keep up with her but that was not possible.  The lady would be starting the next Hail Mary while Kathy was on the second line of the previous Hail Mary!  Kathy wasn’t sure if it was because of Wes’s driving that she started the rosary!  Fr. David did tell us that she prays the rosary when they go to the appointments and he said he cannot keep up with her, either!  The follow-up eye appointment went much faster than our two previous medical appointments but the process is the same:  you pay the consultation fee before you can see the doctor though this time, we could pay it at the reception desk.  The fee for the ophthalmologist was KSH 1000 ($10).  The young boy needed another prescription so we headed to the pharmacy to get the price, then to the Lipa Hapa window to pay for the prescription, then back to the pharmacy to pick up the eyedrops.  Upon leaving and stepping out into the bright sunlight, the boy had a hard time seeing because of the exam.  When we reached the vehicle, Wes found a pair of sunglasses for the boy to wear which put a big smile on his face.  He again sat in the front, barely able to see over the dashboard, taking in everything with a smile on his face.  Once we arrived back in the village at their shamba, the boy started to get out when Wes told him we should probably keep the glasses in the vehicle so he has them for the next time.  He gave up the glasses but you could tell he really wanted them! 

We went for several walks and are pleased to report that the little girl who screamed and cried at the sight of us no longer does.  We do have to correct one thing…we thought she was a girl because of the clothing she was wearing the very first time we saw her:  a skirt, shirt, sweater, and pants.  We have come to find out that this child is a boy.  Regardless, the child now loves to see us coming.  He will come up to us, take his lollipop, walk the ten steps or so to his front door and then comes back a second time to say “Asante” AND he does this with a big smile on his face unless the lollipop (paper and all) is already in his mouth! As far as the kind and color of clothing on a child, we have made this error more than once.  Colors here don’t matter or so it seems – we think they are just happy to have clothes especially ones that keep them warm.  One of the boys who is in fifth grade and comes regularly for a lollipop, will be dressed in a pink winter coat and the next day his sister is wearing it – we wonder if they have this one nice warm coat between the two of them.  The other thing that can confuse you as to if a boy or girl is the shaving of their heads.  We have been asked the question, “why do they all shave their heads?”  The biggest reason is for the control of lice and ringworm.  The girls here at the boarding school have to cut their hair very short (more like shave it) when they arrive for the school terms and if it is not already shaved or cut very short, it will be done for them here upon arrival.  It does sound harsh but it is what they do here though it seems the smaller girls who are in baby school, preschool or kindergarten often have longer hair though one of the orphan girls relayed that some boarding schools do let the older girls have longer hair.  Sister Principal at the secondary school here has made the statement that the girls spend too much time on their hair when it is longer and that would be that time taken away from their studies so short hair it is. 

On Wednesday, we drove to Biticha and Kenyerere for two Water with Blessings follow-ups.  The women continue to report their filters are making maji safi (clean water) and their children don’t have stomach issues as they did prior to having the water filter.  The women are very grateful for this gift – it is hard to convey to all those who support the Mission what this gift means to them – it is making a difference in their lives.    

We are happy to say that this week we had electricity almost every day – last week we were without electricity almost every day!  Last week, the power would be out from as short as 30 minutes to as long as six to eight hours.  Had school not been in session – when the generator is turned on for a few hours in the morning and evening – the outages would have been as long as 12-15 or more hours.  Even when it didn’t rain last week, we didn’t have power.  Fr. David read an article that stated there is a shortage of materials for transformers which means the electricity will probably be an on-going issue but there could be worse things so we are grateful for when we do have it. 

On Saturday, we had Mission Saturday for the orphans at Manga and here at Gekano.  The students are starting to take exams again before having a short break starting around June 28.  Once they come back, they will start their second term which means the paying of school fees.  A number of guardians do come with the orphans to Mission Saturday.  These guardians are mostly older women who have taken on the responsibility of raising another family in their advanced age.  One grandma we met this weekend was probably in her mid-70’s and taking care of her daughter’s five children because her daughter, the mother of the five children, died.  We have also seen some very young women – an older sister or maybe an aunt – who are taking on the responsibility of raising these children. 

This week was busy but a good busy.  Again, having spent as much time in the health care settings that we did, we are most grateful for what we have access to and how we were able to provide for our children the basic necessities in life…life here is hard for many people and they can’t get ahead but at the same time, they have joy in spite of those hardships and are grateful to God for what little they have.  We have much to learn from them. 

We continue to keep you in our prayers and ask that you keep us and the Mission in yours.  Mungu Akubariki!

See photos from this week in the album section: 

https://stjparish.com/photoalbums/kenya-6-19-22