Last Sunday, we traveled with Fr. David to Kenyamware to attend the 7 am Mass.  Since he had the 9 am Mass here at Gekano, it worked out for us to travel there and back with him.  On Sunday evening around 7:30 pm, the power went out and it stayed off all night until around 5 am.  On Monday when reading the news, we realized that the power was out in all of Kenya.  It was the third countrywide power outage in the past four months with the last one happening in August just before we came home.  Just as it did in August, the outage disrupted a number of services including Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi where two of the busiest terminals were without power for several hours.  When it happened in August, government officials promised that an outage would not happen again at the airport but just as in August, the backup generators did not activate.  The transport minister is calling an investigation into “possible acts of sabotage and coverup”.  We have had so many outages that it just seems like it is a part of life here though being without power at the airport is a big deal – JKIA is major airport connecting East Africa to other parts of the world. 

On Monday we spent some time in Kisii looking for 33 curtain rods, 5 mirrors for the bedrooms, and a few other items. We cleaned the store out of the 2-meter curtain rods but they assured us they would have more in a few days…as of yet we have not received a call.  The fundi will install the curtain rods before any cleaning gets done since drilling into the cement walls will create more dust.  We drove to the shamba in the afternoon to find a couple of the guys scrubbing the tile floors.  Joe, the architect explained that the tile is washed and then an acid is applied to clean it before the grout is applied.  Things are coming along at the shamba.  The paint for the outside (window ledges, pillars, etc.) arrived and they hope to start that project this week.

On Tuesday, we, along with Lilian and Ivan, went to the Nyantaro area to visit four mamas for home visits but found only two of them home.  We have tried multiple times to visit the two mamas that weren’t home.  Lilian had called them the night before so they knew we would be coming with one of the mamas promising she’d be around but she wasn’t.  Since we have tried multiple times to visit them, we will no longer make any more attempts and they will not be eligible for a water drum even if they were cleaning and using the filter properly.  We are done with this area and at the end of the month will deliver water drums to those who qualified.  After finishing up the home visits, we delivered 29 blankets to the women at Riamisiani and 29 at Karantini.  Of the 60 women trained in these two different areas, 50 of them qualified to receive a blanket which meant they attended at least five or all six of the follow ups.   The mamas were quite happy to receive the gift of the blanket.

On Wednesday, we traveled to Sirate and Rionguti for Water with Blessings follow ups.  Lilian and Emma trained the women at Sirate while we were in ND so it was the first time we met the women.  When some of them heard we were in the United States, they made a point to come up and ask if we would take them with us the next time we go home!  Many of them make offers to work for us – they would do anything to get a chance to come to the US.  At Rionguti, one of the six-month-old twins came with her mama so Kathy got to babysit.  As soon as Kathy took little Miriam, she knew that her pants would be a little damp after babysitting was over…Miriam definitely needed her diaper changed!  Miriam never cried upon seeing the mzungu – she was happy to be held.  There was another little one at the follow up and she was scared of the mzungu – you couldn’t get close to her other than to hand her a lollipop! After we finished the follow ups, we took Lilian and Ivan to their home.  On the way back from Lilian’s, we stopped in Kisii at the grocery store to not only buy some groceries but to look at appliances.  The two grocery stores that we shop at are much like a Walmart in that you can buy a variety of things besides groceries such as furniture, appliances, and other household items. The stove we decided on was one they didn’t have in a box.  They told us if we didn’t take the one on display and it gets sold, it might be awhile until they get another one in…a marketing ploy!  Therefore, we decided to buy it.  There were a fair number of models and brands to choose from but most were made in China which we didn’t want – they were cheaper but the quality was not as good.  We bought a Beko stove which was made in Turkey.  The burners are gas while the oven is electric.  It is a process to buy any type of appliance.  Before you leave, they plug it in to make sure it works which is not a bad idea but that takes time and then the paperwork starts which takes time to complete – Kathy was able to buy the groceries while Wes did the paperwork.  The sales rep gave Wes the warranty slip with the information to take downstairs to the checkout line to pay for it.  There was a problem with the price not ringing up so someone had to go back upstairs to the appliance department and get different numbers.  Finally, we were able to pay for it.  Before we could walk out of the store, we had to go to another desk so a different person could record the purchase in another book and only then could we leave.  Two guys helped us load the stove into the car and finally we were on our way.  The stove is not big but it is larger than the one we currently have.  The one in the Mission house has only two working burners while the oven does not work so it will be nice to be able to have a stove with more working burners and an oven to bake in. 

On Thursday, we held a training in Bonyunyu for 13 women.  We didn’t think we had ever been to this church but once we drove up to it, we realized we had been there in 2018 during our very first visit to the Mission.  The women were grateful for the filter and bucket.  A number of women at this training were grandmas taking care of young children with some of them having five to seven or more people in their household. Kathy always walks away with great admiration for what these women do for their families especially their grandchildren.  They have raised their children but many of them are now raising their grandchildren.     

On Friday morning, we took two children and their guardians to the eye clinic in Kisii and along the way, picked up Sheila for her physical therapy.  Wes dropped Sheila and Kathy off at Christamarriane Mission Hospital and then he drove the others to their eye appointments.  At both places, it was busy with many patients in line ahead of our orphans so we were in town most of the morning.  Once we got back to the Mission house, we loaded the stove back into the car and transported it to the new house so the carpenters can figure out what they are going to do with the cabinets on each side of the stove since the opening is larger than the stove.  We also labeled all the keys to the rooms and outside doors – it is like a hotel!  Each door (i.e. bedroom, bathroom, pantry, chapel, etc.) has its own lock and with each lock comes six keys! There are a total of 19 doors between the outside and inside so we had a few keys to label and separate out.  While we were at the shamba sorting the keys, Rogers came with another 200 kuku (chicken) for distribution to the orphans on Mission Saturday and so we helped to unload them and carry them to the second floor of the barn – we got a good workout in! 

On Saturday, we had Mission Saturday at Manga and here at Gekano for the Week 2 orphans.  At Manga, there was a young boy named Bravine who was so excited to get his kuku.  After he received it, he and his guardian sat on a bench and watched others get their kuku.  When looking over to the bench, we could see Bravine picking grass to feed his kuku and petting it as it ate the blades of grass.  Between the two places, we gave out 150 kuku.  After giving out around 200 kuku last week, we fine-tuned the process this week.  One of the older students stayed inside the Landcruiser to catch them and then Wes and Robert tied the feet before they were given to the orphans.  As each family came forward, Kathy marked their names off as having received a kuku.  It is a dirty job especially for the young man catching the kuku.  The rest of us get dirty as well but not quite as bad as the one inside with the kuku.  We learned a new word last week – mafia kuku (ma-fee-a  koo-koo) which basically is a nice word for the chicken droppings – a word we used a lot!  Just as he did last week, Wes gave the young men who caught the kuku a few hundred shillings for their efforts - they were more than happy to do the job and earn some extra cash and we were more than happy they wanted the job! 

We received almost 2.5 inches of rains this past week which was nice though the roads to the new shamba were very muddy – we would rather have mud than dust!  With any rains that come, we know that the cistern is filling with water little by little before the dry months of January and February. The people here are getting ready to plant their crops in the coming weeks.  When out driving, you see many fields being worked by hand with the jembe (hoe) – a very labor-intensive process.  We don’t see any farm equipment in this area – it is all done by hand from working the ground, planting, and then harvesting.    

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/12-17-23