As mentioned in our last blog on July 23^rd, we were taking a week off from the blog as we would be away from the Mission for a few days.  Last weekend we were in Nairobi.  We, along with Fr. David and Kaleb, left the Mission house on Thursday, July 27^th, traveling to Subukia, Nakuru, and then finally to Nairobi where Kaleb boarded a plane for Rome on Saturday evening.   Kaleb returned to the North American College to continue his studies for the priesthood.

Subukia is about 150 miles from the Mission and took around five hours to get there.  The drive along the way is a beautiful one being able to see different types of terrain including massive fields of tea.  The equator is about eight miles from Subukia and we stopped to take a few pictures before arriving at the National Shrine.  Subukia is known for its National Shrine and Marian apparitions. The Shrine sits atop the Subukia Hills amongst the acacia tress – a place that is very beautiful and peaceful.  Upon arriving and after getting our rooms, we walked the Stations of the Cross – all uphill.  We started at around an elevation of 7000 feet and by the time we got to the last Station and the grotto at the top, we were at just under 8000 feet.  As we walked and prayed at the Stations, we thought of Liz Bustad when she was with us at this Shrine in 2019 – she can attest to how hard of a climb it is.   As one completes the last Station, there is a grotto nearby where a spring flows continuously.  The views from the top and as one descends the hill are spectacular.  The church was under construction in 2019 when we were there and they are still working on it.  When it is completed it will seat around 5000 people!  We stayed overnight at the retreat house located on the grounds and the accommodations were wonderful except for the mosquitos!  It seems window screens are not a big deal so needless to say we got a few bites.  We each had our own room since there is only a single bunk bed in each room.  The next morning at breakfast after Mass, the four of us started comparing notes about the mosquitos and realized none of us got very much sleep.   After breakfast and before we left, Kaleb said he had to wash some of the walls in his room and showed us the numerous splotches of mosquitos and blood on his walls from swatting them with his shirt during the night!  We then drove to Nakuru to the National Park hoping to see big game.  We saw a lot of pundamilia (zebra) as well as twiga (giraffe), kifaru (rhinoceros), maji nyati (water buffalo), Nyati wa Cape (Cape buffalo), Flamingo ya pink (pink flamingo), paa (gazelle and impala), ngiri (warthog or better known as Pumbaa from the movie Lion King), and a few birds.  We had to look at most of the animals from a distance as one must stay on the roads as you drive through the park.  Because we were there during the middle of the day was probably why we didn’t see many of the larger animals.  We were happy that we finally got to see the pink flamingos as they weren’t there in 2019 when we had gone through the park.  The pink color comes from the algae in the water but because of rising water levels at the lake, a lot of the flamingos have gone on to other lakes.  We wish Kaleb could have seen a few more animals but at least he got to see some.  From the park we continued on and arrived in Nairobi around 5 pm.  Later that evening we went to a restaurant called the Carnivore and as the name suggests, they serve lots of meats including pork, ostrich, beef, lamb, crocodile, etc.  The meats are roasted on a traditional Maasai sword over a huge charcoal pit.  After a few hours we returned to the hostel with our stomachs very full.  On Saturday morning after Mass, we visited with Kaleb, had lunch, and then took an Uber with him to the airport and said our good-byes.  It was nice to have Kaleb with us for the month of July - he will be missed especially by the little ones.

On Sunday morning (July 30^th), we attended Mass at Flora Hostel.  The main celebrant was a Consolata priest who had been in the Congo for a number of years and had recently returned.  When he started his homily, he told the congregation that he was going to try and keep his homily short…we weren’t sure what short meant but, in the end, it lasted only 15 minutes!  The priest had stated that he was told by someone who attends Mass there that he had good homilies but they were way too long and thus why he would do his best to keep it short.  At the end of the homily, he asked the people how he did and everyone clapped!  Fr. David had concelebrated Mass with this priest and after Mass, he told Fr. David that while being in the Congo and doing missionary work, it was necessary to give long homilies as it was how they catechized.  His homily was very good and one we will not forget any time soon. 

On Monday morning after Mass and breakfast, we headed to a store called CTM where we picked up two toilets, nine sinks (each bedroom has a sink plus the bathrooms, laundry and one wash basin off the dining area), and accessories such as toilet paper holders, towel racks, etc.  for the new house.  The back of the Hilux was stuffed full and, in the end, we had to leave five mirrors and the kitchen sink.  We were hoping we could get the mirrors to fit so we could say we had everything except the kitchen sink!  We arrived back at the Mission around 4:30 pm.

On Tuesday we headed to Kisii to take an orphan for Physical Therapy for her knee.  Kathy again dreaded the line for the cashier and rightly so – it took 15 minutes to get the fee paid and she was the second one in line and the guy ahead of her had already been waited on.  The payment process is very frustrating but it is what it is and Kathy just needs to have no expectations as she would not then be as frustrated.  The frustrating part comes more so because of those who try to cut in line and shove their paperwork through the window – it is not something we are used to. 

On Wednesday we made home visits in the Enchoro area for Water with Blessings.  We split up with Emma, Wes, and their guide Jane, taking the vehicle and heading to the other side of the mountain while Lilian and Kathy walked with Berita, their guide on the opposite side.  All of us were able to see spectacular views – pictures don’t do any justice to what our eyes took in.  On one side of the mountain were the many shambas with small fields of tea, maize, etc.  On the other side of it were large tea fields with the tea leaves being harvested/plucked with a machine though we were not able to see the mechanized way of plucking the tea.  We were able to check 11 more home visits off our list and in the coming week, we hope to finish this area since we have only nine more visits to make. 

On Thursday, we went out for Water with Blessings follow ups at three different locations:  Botana, Makuura, and Emenyenche.  We had Lilian drive this time since she will have to when we are gone in September.  The road to Makuura is a steep one with lots of gullies but she did great.  For the women at Emenyenche, it was their 6^th follow up so in a few weeks, we will deliver blankets there to those who qualified. 

The weather here has been pleasant with day time temps in the mid to upper 70’s but not much for precipitation.  For the week, we had around a half of an inch.  Our borehole has dried up so we have gone back to hauling water from the shamba to flush the water guzzling toilet.  We only have about a foot of water left in our cistern so we asked Sr. Principal if we could get some water pumped from their deep well to our cistern in the next couple of days.  We are most grateful that she agreed to help us out.  We will continue to haul water for the toilet and other tasks and use the water in the cistern for showers, dishes, laundry, etc.  The more reliable rains should come in the middle of September so we have about a month to go before that happens though. 

Shamba update:  The workers have laid a lot of the tile including the kitchen, dining and living rooms, bathrooms, laundry room, and outside porch areas/deck.  The tile for the chapel, office and bedroom floors have not yet arrived but hopefully will be here sometime this coming week.  The railings around the porch are being put in place and another set of workers have been on the roof preparing it for the terrazzo that will be poured.  A lot of work has been done but there is still more to do including the building of the cabinets which they will do on site.  We will probably be moving in sometime this fall. 

School here will be closing next Tuesday as the second term comes to an end which means if the power goes out, no generator.  The school grounds have seen a lot of activity as the closing date gets closer.  On Saturday morning, Wes looked out the window and made the comment that it looked like a refugee camp – everywhere you looked there were mattresses, trunks/luggage, clothes, blankets, pillows, bedding, etc. spread out on the grass.  Kathy decided to check it out and visit with the girls.  As she walked through the maze of items, she found it interesting how, because they do not have enough clotheslines to hang items, the clothes and bedding were just spread out on the grass to dry and mattresses to air out with many of them right next to cow pies!  As they washed their items, Kathy asked them why they had to pull everything out of the dorm.  The response was the floors will be swept, washed, and then sprayed for ndudu (bugs).  The girls return to school on August 29^th at which time they will begin their third and final term of the school year.  We are hoping the power stays on most of the time but we won’t get our hopes up…it could be a long 21 days!

In less than a month, we will be back home in ND and we can’t wait.  We are able to take a month off each year as part of our commitment here.  We chose to take all of our time at once and spend it in ND instead of traveling elsewhere though we would like to see more of Africa before we leave at the end of 2024.  We are excited to see friends and family, especially our sons.  We arrive on September 1^st and will be returning to Kenya on October 1^st.   

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

https://stjparish.com/photoalbums/kenya-8-6-23