Last Sunday (Easter Sunday), we went with Fr. David to Nyasumi for the 7 am Mass.  It was a beautiful morning with an array of clouds in the sky and the sun rising behind the lush green mountains – very fitting for Easter morning!  Nyasumi is the place where we recently gave blankets to 45 women for having attending five or all six of the follow ups for Water with Blessings.  We couldn’t stay long after Mass as Fr. David needed to get back for the 9 am Mass at Gekano; thus, we were not able to visit much with some of the women we had come to know through the WWB program.  We did get to see Liam who would come with his mama to the WWB follow ups.  He actually wanted to come to Kathy which was surprising – he probably thought she had a tom-tom (lollipop) for him! 

After the 9 am Mass at Gekano was over, we took Sheila to the ER at the Christamarianne Hospital in Kisii.  Sheila, who is in Form 3 (Junior) here at St. Theresa’s, is an orphan in the Bismarck Mission program.  She let Fr. David know on Saturday that she had a swollen knee and had been having pain that radiated above and below the knee.  She had gone to the clinic three weeks prior to saying anything to Fr. David, and at that time, they didn’t do anything except give her pain medications. Because it had been several weeks and with end of term exams, it was felt she should go to the ER to be seen.  We arrived at Christamarianne Hospital at 1 pm and didn’t leave until shortly after 4:30 pm which wasn’t all that bad compared to some previous experiences.  Since Kathy has been with a few of the orphans at this hospital, she knew the procedure and went with Sheila while Wes stayed in the car and got a nap in!  Upon arriving, the receptionist registered Sheila and gave her a card and directed us to the Cashier outside the building to pay the consultation fee of Ksh 400 ($ 2.99).  We got in line but people kept butting in front or off to the side of us and shoving their card through the bars on the Cashier’s window which was very frustrating.  Kathy wasn’t assertive enough so Sheila took matters into her hands and did the same as others – pushing her way forward and shoving her card through the bars, hoping the person on the other side grabbed it next!  After paying the fee, we went back to the large waiting room where an aide took Sheila’s vitals and weight in front of everyone – no HIPAA here!  After that, we joined a long line of people sitting in chairs, waiting to see one of two doctors.  The process for seeing the doctor is very different from what we are used to.  There is no one to call your name and take you to a room.  Basically, when you see the door to the doctor’s office open, you quickly get up out of your chair and walk in.  There are those who try to go ahead of you but thankfully, there is a security guard and, if paying attention, stops them and directs them to the end of the line to wait their turn.  Finally, at 2:15 pm, it was our turn to go in.  Shortly after the doctor started asking Sheila a few questions, a patient and his family members opened the door without knocking, walked in, stood there, and begin to ask the doctor questions which he ignored.  The doctor continued to talk to Sheila while Kathy stared at them in disbelief…Kathy got the feeling this is a common occurrence.  Soon the security guard came, removed them from the room, and guided them to the end of the line.  After examining Sheila’s knee and a few more questions, the doctor ordered some labs.  We went to the lab where Sheila had her blood drawn and then we headed back to the Cashier to pay for the three lab tests which came to Ksh 4800 ($35.80).  It was at this point, Kathy wanted to hip check a few people but it was Easter Sunday so she didn’t!  Again, just like when paying the Consultation fee, people walked in front or to the side of us, shoved their card through the bars and expected the Cashier to serve them even though she was helping us.  After paying the fees, we walked back to the lab to wait for the results and hand carry them to the doctor.  While waiting in the lab area, there was a board on the wall which had the Turn-Around-Time (TAT) for the different tests and Kathy, having worked in the lab and been on the receiving end of some doctors and nurses in a tizzy because the labs weren’t done yesterday, had to laugh at the turn-around-times.  For a Complete Blood Count, which Sheila had, the TAT was 2.5 hours!  Back home, a CBC was usually completed within 15 minutes provided you didn’t have to stain a slide and review it for abnormal cells.  Sheila also had electrolytes and kidney function studies done and per their TAT, that could be 6 hours…yikes!  When Kathy saw those TAT’s, she wondered when we would be seeing Sheila’s labs but thankfully, we had them in a little over an hour.  After arriving back in the waiting area to see the doctor, we joined the line of people though this time there were not as many.  After a half hour, we were able to see the doctor.  The labs were normal so the doctor said he was going to put Sheila on a pain medication to which Kathy reminded him (again) that Sheila had been on pain meds for three weeks which was a long time to be on them plus there hadn’t been any improvement.  Once Kathy said that, he quit writing the prescription and made the remark, “she cannot be on pain medications again – she must go off them - too long to be on them”.  Kathy didn’t say anything though she wanted to.  Kathy then asked about imaging studies and the doctor said that Sheila must come back in one week to recheck the swelling and if not better will do imaging studies at that time.  While in the car during the drive to the ER, we had asked Sheila if she had eaten breakfast at school before we left and she had – mkate (bread) and chai (tea).  We also asked questions about her family and things she is interested in – she wants to be a doctor and since she has pretty good grades, she may be able to pursue this profession depending on her KCSE scores.  When Sheila was around 9 years old and her sister only 1 year old, their mother died - our hearts felt very sad for her and what she has had to endure in her 17 years.  She and her sister are cared for by different guardians with Sheila at her uncle’s when not at boarding school and her sister at her aunt’s.  Sheila stated they may see each other only a few times a year and because her sister was only one year old at the time their mother died, the sister thinks Sheila is her cousin.  One of the other questions we asked was about her menu at school and what foods she likes.  She mentioned she liked chapati a lot but unfortunately, chapati is not part of the school lunch menu.  Because Sheila didn’t get lunch, we asked if she wanted to eat after seeing the doctor and she did.  We knew from taking others to this hospital there was a little café on the hospital grounds that served chapati.  Sheila ordered chapati and beans for her lunch along with a soda.  We also had chapati and a soda but no beans.  The cost for six good-sized chapati, a bowl of beans and three sodas came to Ksh 280 ($2.10).  Kathy asked Sheila if she can make chapati and she said, “yes”, so Kathy asked how the hospital chapati compared to hers and she said, “mine are better”!  We finally left the hospital compound around 4:30 pm.  The prices mentioned above for the medical care, labs, and food seems cheap to us but those are prices that are steep for many people here and if no health insurance, many do not go to the doctor.  The Mission does take care of the medical needs of the orphans; otherwise, most of them would probably not be able to receive medical care.  A few weeks ago, Wes took Dorothy, another orphan, to the dentist because she had a terrible toothache for a couple of days.  The doctor looked at Dorothy’s tooth and said it had to be pulled. From what we are told, they don’t do x-rays, fillings, etc.  They just tend to pull the tooth and that is what they did for Dorothy.  After deadening the area, the tooth was pulled and all this was done within a half hour of arriving!  Once done, Wes paid the tooth extraction fee of Ksh 1000 ($7.50) and three prescriptions (antibiotics and pain meds) of Ksh 450 ($3.35).  The total bill was Ksh 1450 ($10.85)!  Again, this may seem very cheap to us but it isn’t for people who make less than $5 per day and with the rising costs of maize, cooking oil, etc., there are less funds available for medical care.   

After we got back from taking Sheila to the doctor, we had an hour or so before we headed over to the rectory.  We, along with Fr. David, were invited by Fr. Mititi to share an Easter meal with him, his associate Fr. Benedict, the Sisters from next door as well as some Franciscan Sisters in the area.  Fr. Mititi is the new pastor here at Gekano Parish.  We had a wonderful time visiting with them and the best part was there was no matumbo on the menu!  For an appetizer, we had ground nuts (roasted peanuts) and ketchup flavored potato chips which weren’t too bad.  For the main meal, we had spaghetti, mbuzi (goat), mboga (greens), ugali, and chapati.  It was a very tasty meal and a fun evening. 

On Wednesday, we had a WWB training at Makuura - a place we had never gone to.  The church was probably the smallest that we have now been to.  It sits high on the mountain and therefore, you have beautiful views from it.  There are no windows in the church nor is there a door.  The wooden boards that formed the walls were far enough apart in some areas to give you a nice view of the landscape outside.  Not only did we have some nice views, we also had wonderful music to listen to – the birds were chirping away.  It was a very beautiful setting for a training.  We trained 15 women and the sad part for Kathy was that there were no little ones at the training so no babysitting.  On Thursday, we held another training at Geta, a place we have been to before.  At this training, there were two little ones – a boy and a girl both around two years of age.  Shandel, the little girl, was more on the shy side but she did pose for some pictures and ate a few biskuti (cookies) and tom-toms.  Belden was the little boy who stole Kathy’s heart with his big eyes, gentle spirit and cute smile.  Kathy would have loved to take Belden back to the Mission house to bathe, clothe, feed, and play with.  He was a very sweet child and one who seemed wise beyond his few years of life.  When Kathy wanted to take a picture of him, she would say, “simama hapa” (stand here) or “keti hapa” (sit here) and he would do it.  And as soon as the picture was taken, he would rush over to Kathy to see his photo…children here love to see themselves in photos.  If you take a video of them and play it for them, they like that even more!  At one point, Kathy had given Belden a small package of biskuti which contained four small cookies. After she opened it for him, he handed the first one to Kathy to eat though she tried to motion for him to eat it but he wouldn’t take his hand away that held the biscuit.  Finally, Kathy took the biscuit and as soon as she did that, he proceeded to eat the remaining biskuti.  While taking a group photo outside the church after the training, Kathy gave Belden another package of biskuti before leaving.  Hanging around inside the church yard, where we had just taken the photo, were three grade school aged children who got sidetracked as they were supposed to be on their way home from school for lunch.  After Kathy opened the package of biskuti for Belden, he immediately extended his hand out and gave each of the three children a biskuti before he took the last one.  If there had been four children there, he would probably have given all four away!  Kathy was touched by his generous spirit and so she went back to the vehicle to get another package of biskuti just for Belden.  He had a big smile on his face when she handed it to him…not sure if he made it home with them or if he shared them on the way to his home.  Belden came to the training with Anna, his grandma.  Anna is 83 years old and takes care of 8 people in her household with two of them being under the age of 5 years of which Belden is one of them.  We have to collect data for WWB so it is how we come to know the ages of the women, the number of people in the household, the ages of the children, etc.  When you see the ages of some these women, the number of people in the household, as well as the ages of the children they are taking care of, you get tired for them.  Hellen is 67 years old and takes care of 9 people in her house with three of them around five years of age or less   Another mama, who is 71 takes care of 7 people.  We also had a couple of younger mamas in their mid-30’s taking care of 6-8 people in the house, some of those being an elderly parent or in-law.  The mamas here work very hard to raise their families and often times, their grandchildren.  Life is not easy for them.  As for Belden:  if only we human beings could have that same generous spirit he had to give generously and freely like he did of the little he had - how much better our world could be.  It was only biskuti that he was giving away but his gesture was priceless and very touching…we have much to learn from the little ones.  

On Friday morning, we took Sheila back to the ER in Kisii for a checkup.  We wanted to leave as early as possible hoping to avoid long lines.  We got to the hospital at 8:45 am and there were about 5 people in front of us.  After paying the consultation fee and vitals were taken, we only had to wait about 15 minutes before seeing the doctor though it was not the same doctor as on Sunday.  After the doctor’s assessment, he felt Sheila needed to go back on pain meds plus prednisone for one week and return in two weeks for another checkup.  If, in two weeks, the swelling of the knee has not subsided, imaging/x-rays will be done and/or will be referred to an orthopedic doctor.  The doctor last Sunday told us the x-rays/imaging would happen at this checkup but Sheila now has to wait another two weeks which means that she has had a swollen knee and pain for almost 7 weeks.  The students are going for a break between their first and second terms this week so hopefully she can rest it and the swelling goes down.  With exams going on, we see the girl’s out on the grass sitting in their desks some distance away from each other.  They are taking exams now before they leave this week and once they return, they will take exams again to see what they retained over the break.  Breaks are really not breaks – the students are expected to study and come prepared to take exams upon their return for the second term. 

We continue to have rain which we are grateful for though not quite as much as last week.  This past week, we received almost 2 inches of rain.  The power was on more than it was off which was much different compared to last week and again, we were grateful.  The girls will be going home for several weeks for a break between Term 1 and Term 2 which means if the power goes off, the generator will not be turned on for a few hours each day in the morning and evening like it is when school is in session. 

Shamba update:  The ceilings in every room have been plastered as well as the walls of the chapel and downstairs bedroom.  The windows on the second level have been installed though the glass panes will be installed at a later date.  They continue to work on the roof creating the parapet or wall/railing around the edge of the roof.  It consists of a 4-foot-tall stone wall on which a 1-foot steel railing will be placed, making a barrier that will be approximately 5 feet tall.  The work continues but at a little slower pace due to the type of work it is.  They say we should be able to move into the new house by the end of June or beginning of July.  Hatua kwa hatua (step-by-step).

Saturday brought Mission Saturday for Manga and some of the orphans here at Gekano.  After we finished at Manga, Fr. David, Robert, and Sr. Theresa served the orphans at Gekano while we started our five-to-six-hour trek to Nairobi.  On Monday morning, we plan to be at the Immigration office as soon as the doors open.  We were last there in January when Kathy had to do her biometrics over because they lost her paperwork with her manual fingerprints that had been completed in June of last year.  We are hoping that the third time is a charm and Kathy’s National ID card is ready.  Kathy’s on-line portal does not indicate it is ready but just as we did in January, we are going to appear in person since it seems the on-line portal is never updated.  If it is ready, we will proceed to the KRA (Kenyan Revenue Authority) to get a PIN # so we can become signatories on the Mission checking account.  The KRA is kind of like the IRS in America.  The process here to obtain a work permit and the National ID card has been a lengthy and frustrating one.  As soon as we arrived in Kenya in December of 2021, we started the process and are still working on it.  In June, we will have been in Kenya for 1 ½ years…things do take time here! 

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-4-16-23