Last Sunday we decided to go to the 6:30 am Mass at the Cathedral in Kisii and in keeping with Kenyans, we didn’t get there on time. We didn’t know that two weeks ago they changed the starting time to 6 am so we were a little late!
On Monday while Wes took Janet and Robert to make visits for the heifer program, Kathy and Lilian went out for Water with Blessings home visits to the Nyamakoroto area. Because Ivan, Lilian’s son, was on break from school, he came with us as well. He did very well as we put on about 6 miles walking from shamba to shamba. The terrain in the Nyamakoroto area is much more flat compared to Enchoro and most other places we have been to for home visits so we didn’t get in a good workout like we usually do. Our guide was Dorcah, a very pleasant woman who always had a smile on her face. During one of the home visits, Kathy met a woman who Kathy believes is destined for sainthood along with her mother-in-law. In addition to all the work the women do on the shamba and raising the children, these two women take care of six relatives ranging in age from a couple of years old to 40 something with five of them being mentally challenged. Kathy, getting just a glimpse of the daily challenges faced by these women while on the home visit, told the mama who was the recipient of the filter and bucket, how much she admired her and her mother-in-law for taking care of their relatives because it obviously wasn’t easy. Without any hesitation at all, she looked at Kathy and with a smile on her face said, “we must take care of them – they are a blessing from God”. You knew she meant it as she said it with love and not frustration or a hardened heart which in Kathy’s mind could be very easy to have. We ended up visiting nine mamas that day and when we returned to that same area on Wednesday, we were able to visit another eight mamas with Scholar as our guide. Since Emma had the week off for her wedding, we took Janet along on Wednesday so she can start to learn the process of home visits and follow ups. The Heifer Program is Janet’s program to eventually oversee but having her learn the home visits and follow ups will help in the event Lilian or Emma is not available. Hopefully next week when Emma is back and we split up, we can finish this area and eventually get a 210-liter water drum to those who qualified before we leave for North Dakota at the end of the month.
Tuesday was the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fr. David had a 7 am Mass at an Outstation and the 9 am Mass here at Gekano. We decided to ride along with him and go to the 7 am. The Mass happened to be at Nyamakoroto – the place we had been making home visits the day before and after Mass we were able to visit with a couple of the women whose homes we had been which was kind of neat.
Osongo and his buddies keep coming for sweets and now that the children are on a school break, they come not only more often but also a lot more kids show up. We will go broke buying lollipops so we again have had to resort to telling them to come on Jumapili (Sunday) to get a sweet. But for our little buddies like Angie, Osongo, and Brighton who actually live on the compound, we make an exception for them and they get a sweet more often. This past week, we have been giving the kids matunda (fruit) which they like and more specifically giving them loquats. We have a loquat tree in the back yard that has a lot of fruit on it. A teenage boy shimmied up the tree a couple of times this past week and picked the fruits filling a medium sized basin a couple of times. The full basin of loquats reminded us of the big candy dish at Halloween when handing out treats! Loquat fruit grows in clusters and are round, oval or pear-shaped. The fruit is yellow to bronze in color, has a tough skin, and usually has three to four large seeds inside. The taste of the fruit reminds one of a tart cherry. One day Osongo came mid-morning wanting sweets but when he saw the loquats, he forgot about a lollipop. Since he was the only one who came, we decided we would fill all his pockets with fruit. He had two shirt pockets, two side pant pockets and then two more pockets on the legs of his pants plus his hood so we put some in each area! His shirt pockets were tiny so we could only get 1-2 loquats in each one but he was happy. After we filled his pockets, he didn’t want to leave – he wanted kuandika (to write). So, Wes got out the clipboard and some paper so the teacher and student could have class. As they were having class, Osongo would pull loquats from his pockets, bite into them, and then squeeze them so the seeds would pop out and then he would pop the remainder into his mouth. When Wes and Osongo were done with the lesson, Osongo kept saying, “ndege, ndege” which means plane or bird but he wasn’t looking up at the sky when he said it so we were confused. Wes then said to him, “sifahamu” which means he (Wes) wasn’t understanding what Osongo was saying. Finally, Osongo took the pen he was writing with and made the motion of his arm going forward like he was going to throw it but he didn’t. We then caught on to what he was saying – he wanted Wes to make him a paper airplane as he did last week. Once the plane was made, Osongo took to launching it off the porch a couple of times but he wasn’t too anxious to go and get it back so that game didn’t last too long. When he was finally ready to go, we gave him a piece of paper and a pencil to practice with. As soon as Wes handed Osongo the pencil, Osongo put it behind his ear like carpenters do! He is a very sweet kid and almost always has a big smile on his face and rarely gets mad though last week Osongo called Wes mbaya (bad) when he didn’t give Osongo sweets because he had already had some…made Kathy feel much better since she’s been called mama mbaya (bad mama) by Osongo!
We stopped bringing in rain water to flush the toilets since the cistern is at about four feet of water and there is a small amount of water in the borehole. It is not hard to collect the rain water but once collected, you have to transfer water from the barrels to the jerry cans, bring the jerry cans in the house and then pour the water into pails since the full jerry cans are too heavy to lift up to the tank. The tank is about five feet off the floor because it works by gravity. We received about 2.5 inches of rain this week which is not a lot but better than nothing. The temperatures during the day have been very mild and the evenings are quite cool (mid 50’s) which Kathy loves. You tend to see lots of jackets and stocking caps on people – all they are missing is mittens!
Friday was Emma and Vincent’s wedding day. The start time on the invitation was 10 am but Fr. David decided we would leave the Mission house at 10 am as nothing ever starts on time here. We arrived at 10:40 am but the wedding didn’t start until 1:30 pm. Word was that the priest had other weddings in Kisii and therefore why he was late. To entertain the congregation, the flower girls (five of them) rehearsed their entrance 4-5 times, the ring/pillow bearers (4-5 of them) did as well and the older girls (grade school aged) did their dances several times. After those groups finished, each couple of the “marching squad” (bridal party) did their own dance individually. By the time 1:30 pm rolled around, it was quite warm in the church since the building was made of mbati (tin) including the roof. The wedding Mass was basically the same as back home but they do add different elements to it and put their own spin on it. At the beginning, Vincent danced his way into the church with his dad dancing beside him. Emma, because she has no parents, was brought in by her grandma and uncle though the three of them stayed in the back until it was time to recite the vows (after the homily). After Vincent and Emma recited their vows and exchanged rings, the youngest flower girl slowly marched forward and in her white gloved hands was a plastic, mechanical doll. As she marched towards the altar, the doll lit up and it played the song “Let it Go” from the movie Frozen. Once she arrived at the front, the doll was placed on the floor where it twirled around until the song finished…we are used to seeing a unity candle lit but never something quite like this. There was a choir that did the singing but there was also a DJ in the church who played some music that sounded like it belonged in a club setting but it is what they do and how they celebrate…everything is high energy. After the Mass was over, the people sat back down and gifts that people brought were presented to the couple. There were blankets and other household items. We also saw two 210-liter water drums given along with a mattress. After the gifts were given, a table was wheeled in and on top were a couple of boxes containing keki (cake) which a few women removed and proceeded to put together on a cake stand. The couple then opened a bottle of champagne and had a toast after eating cake. All this took place in the church after the Mass was completed because they really have nowhere else to go and if there was a place, it would have to be close as the majority of people arrive on foot. After the toast was finished, there was a meal served at the house next door. Certain people such as family and close friends were invited into the house while others lined up and ate outside. We, along with some of the Bismarck Mission employees and alumni that were there, were invited inside. For our meal, we had mboga (greens), mbuzi (goat) or at least we thought it was mbuzi, brown ugali (made with millet instead of maize flour) and chapati. It was a tasty meal but messy one because you eat with your fingers and that is something that we have not yet mastered – the greens and mbuzi have a sauce that makes them messy to eat. After the meal, Emma and Vincent were driven to his parent’s shamba (farm) where they will stay for the week – part of their tradition and culture. They will stay for a week only because they have an apartment in Kisii. It was an interesting day but a very long one – we arrived at 10:40 am and got back to the house around 6 pm. We were pretty sure the wedding would not start on time but would never have guessed it would start almost four hours late. Kathy told Lilian if that happened back home, there probably wouldn’t have been many people in church as most would likely have left! Here they don’t seem to mind though the lady who was seated next to Lilian and wasn’t Catholic made the remark that she thought Catholic weddings started on time! We haven’t been to any event or Mass that has started on time except Masses where Fr. David is the celebrant or when we were at language school at Consolata in Nairobi.
On Saturday, we held Mission Saturday at Manga and Gekano. Because the students are on a school break, we saw some of the orphans who haven’t been able to come to Mission Saturday since they are in boarding school and so it was nice to see them as well. Most of them brought their report cards as they are required to though there were some who didn’t care to show what they got for grades. At Manga, Fr. Arnold, who is the pastor at the parish, was outside helping to trim tree branches when we drove up for Mission Saturday. He decided to come over to the group and chat with them for a bit, asking to see each one’s report card. At one point when he was seeing grades he didn’t like, he scolded the student for not taking advantage of the opportunity the Mission is giving them. He was very frank with them which was okay as it was probably good to hear it from someone else besides someone in the Bismarck Mission. There were good report cards but like always, there are those who really need to “pull their socks up” as the saying goes here.
Shamba update: The tile that has the wood look has been installed on the lower level and at the end of the week the men were working on the upper level. Wes drew to scale the placement of the cabinets in all the rooms and gave his drawings to Joe, the architect, when the two of us met with him this past week. He was surprised when we told him we would be gone the month of September. When we made plans many months ago to come home in September, we made them based on the timeline that was given and that we’d probably be living at the shamba by August at the latest. In the end, if we need to have some video calls as Joe suggested then that is what we will do. One day this week we will go to Kisii to pick out the final color of the cabinets for the bedrooms, laundry, chapel, office, storage, bathrooms, and kitchen. The terrazzo flooring is still curing so they have not been able to polish it to give it the final appearance – right now it looks like concrete that was poured.
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: www.stjparish.com