Heri ya mwaka mpya (Happy New Year)!  As we reflect on this past year and our time in Kenya, we cannot help but have immense gratitude for all we have been given.  Living in America, we have no idea how the majority of the world lives in poverty and so it is good to reflect, be grateful to God, and do what we can do to help others wherever they may be. 

Last Sunday morning, we attended Mass at Kenyamware – a church we were at a few weeks ago with Fr. David.  According to the schedule that Fr. David had received the day before, we knew that Fr. Mititi had the Mass which was scheduled for 7 am. Around 7:25 am a car pulled into the lot with loud music emanating from it and in the driver’s seat was Fr. Mititi!  Upon entering the church, he greeted the people as he made his way to the front to vest.  A short time later, through the open spaces between the boards that formed the walls, we could see him sitting outside and hearing confessions…at that point we were thinking maybe we should have gone into Kisii.  Kathy noticed the confession line was moving quite fast so she decided to time them.  For the next 11 minutes, seven people went to confession with each one lasting 45 seconds to 1 minute at the most.  With no more people waiting in line, Fr. Mititi came in, finished vesting, and celebrated Mass.  At the end of Mass, there were numerous announcements, a couple of collections, and the blessing of new presider chairs and purple shirts that council members were holding.  We had debated if we should leave since the final blessing had already taken place but thought that if we did, it would be quite noticeable especially with the wide spaces between the boards.  In the end we were glad we didn’t leave as Fr. Mititi, whom we have met several times, called us up to greet the people.  We left the church at 9:30 am.

On Sunday afternoon, Fr. David left to celebrate a 4 pm Christmas Mass at Tombe – a village not far from the Mission house.  We stayed back to make phone calls to family.  Because of the eight-to-ten-hour time difference and depending on what time zone we are making a call to, it can be difficult to make calls because when we need to go to bed, it is a good time for people in the US to talk and vice versa. 

On Monday, Christmas Day, we drove back to Kenyamware where Fr. David had the 7 am Mass.  Because Fr. David had two more Masses after the 7 am, we drove separately.  There were maybe 30 people in church when Mass started but in the next 15 minutes it filled up fast.  As people came, many brought gifts for the offerings including kuku (chicken) which were kept beside their owner until offertory.  During the singing of the Gloria, the kuku joined in song as well!  Here, when it is time for the readings at Mass, the lectionary is brought forth with song and dance.  On this day, a large contingency formed in the back consisting of females – young and old - who brought the book forward.  As the procession passed by us, we saw a white box perched on top of a mama’s head – a box that looked like a pickup with wheels on the sides and ribbons for decoration.  We looked at each other and started to giggle because it caught us totally off guard though we meant no disrespect.  When the mama reached the front of the sanctuary, she spun around so the back end of the box was facing Fr. David who then tried to open it as the mama continued to dance.  Fr. David couldn’t get it opened so the catechist helped him to retrieve the book.  We asked Fr. David about it later and he said he was confused by the box and how to open it – it was new to him.  During communion, one of the kuku escaped from the twine binding her feet and she ran outside.  We didn’t know it until we heard and saw, through the spaces in the boards, the raucous outside where a few men and boys were trying to capture the runaway kuku!  As they were trying to corner it and the kuku was making her cluck heard, Wes made the comment, “it sounds like it is getting butchered”!  When Mass was over, the young children helped to carry the matoleo (offerings) to the car:  a case of soda, watermelon, maize, tomatoes, millet, and of course, the three kuku.  Since we no longer have the Hilux which had a covered box, the kuku had to ride inside the vehicle.  Wes, being prepared in the event any animals were given to Fr. David, brought some empty maize sacks.  As the children were carrying the kuku to the car, Wes asked them to place them in the empty bag.  One of the girls shook her head “No” and said, “itakufa” which meant “it will die”!  She did not want to put the kuku in the sack but Wes assured her it would not die though the look she gave him told him she didn’t believe him!  As we drove to the new shamba to drop the kuku off, we talked about the book being brought forward in the pickup!  Wes made the comment, “Fr. couldn’t get the end gate opened” and we burst out laughing to the point where Wes had tears in his eyes!  After Fr. David was done with his last Mass, he texted Wes to come with the Landcruiser since he received a mbuzi (goat), another kuku as well as vegetables, two more cases of soda, millet, laundry soap, maize, avocados, tomatoes, and numerous other items.  Again, Wes brought empty sacks to put in the back in the event the goat couldn’t wait until she got to the shamba to relieve herself.  The new shamba was not far from where Fr. had celebrated his last Mass and the goat made it just fine…thankfully!  Because it was Christmas Day and we had three cases of soda from the matoleo, we gave out a soda and biscuit for those who came to the door wanting “sweets”.  We made the kids stay on the porch to drink their sodas since the empty bottles need to be returned.  By 4 pm we had gotten rid of one case.  Shortly after, a group of eight children came with most of them being younger.  For whatever reason, the kids like to put one of their hands over the opening and shake it up so that the soda will fizz – Kathy had to get after them because it made a sticky mess on the porch which the ants love plus, they were wasting some of their soda.  One of the children in this group shook her soda and it spilled onto the porch.  Kathy got a paper towel to wipe it up and, in the process, picked up pieces of shiny wrappings from the biscuits or at least that is what it looked like.  As Kathy wiped the porch, the child who shook her soda started to cry unconsolably but Kathy couldn’t figure out why.  Wes thought maybe she wanted to wipe up the mess but that wasn’t it.  Kathy did make out the word “credits” in between the sobs though Kathy didn’t understand what that word had to do with the child being so upset.  The oldest girl tried to explain but spoke so fast and maybe it was Swahili or Ekegusii but regardless we couldn’t figure it out so Kathy asked her to “sema Kiingereza” (speak English).  The girl explained there were “credits” on the porch that Kathy wiped up.  We went to the garbage can we had put on the porch for their wrappers and dug through to find the credits.  One can buy credits to put minutes on their phone – they look like a tiny scratch card.  We finally got that problem solved or so we thought when the girl started to sob again.  The older girl then explained that the “credits are wet” which they were because the small child had shaken her soda up to make it fizz while the credits were in her hand since she had no pockets.  We were not sure if the girl was sent to purchase the credits for a phone in the family but decided to take a detour to the Mission to get “sweets” – we just knew she was very upset.  At that point, we decided to give her the money to purchase new credits though we were pretty sure these could still be used.  We looked on the tiny scratch cards and could see the number 10 on each one.  Wes then took 20 bob (less than 15 cents) from his pocket and gave it to the girl, which thankfully, made her stop crying.  For our evening Christmas meal, we were invited next door to the Sisters.  They prepared a feast:  mbuzi, (goat), matumbo (we would call it tripe and, in this case, it was the intestines of the mbuzi), kuku (chicken), mboga (cooked greens), ugali, vegetable pizza, chipsy (French fries), and numerous other dishes including watermelon and fresh pineapple for dessert.  Kathy had a pretty good inkling mbuzi was going to be served for dinner because earlier in the day she heard a commotion in the back yard.  There were two men, one dressed in a suit, who led a goat to the back yard and a short time later it was hanging by its hind legs and being skinned…Kathy didn’t have any mbuzi for dinner.  Also in attendance were the two priests here at Gekano, a couple of the seminarians and some of the Franciscan Sisters who live nearby.  After the meal, there was lots of dancing – Kenyans love to dance and they are great dancers.  We had a good time and didn’t make it back to the Mission house until midnight.  When we tried to get into the Mission house, we found the inside screen door locked.  Fr. David had left the gathering hours earlier and forgot to leave it open for us.  We didn’t want to wake him but we didn’t have anything to open it with so Kathy went back to the Sisters to get a flexible knife to slide in between the frame and the door and it worked…. we felt like we broke curfew and got locked out!  We really did have a nice time and all of them made us feel very welcome. 

On Tuesday, the two of us took the Landcruiser to the new shamba to bring back 210-liter water drums which we planned to deliver to 57 mamas on Wednesday.  It made sense to haul the drums to the Mission office as one of the locations we would be delivering drums to was close by.  For vehicles, the Mission has the car and two Landcruisers – one called “The Beast” that materials can be hauled in.  The other one, which we keep here at the Mission, can haul more people but not materials like we did with the Hilux.  The turbo on the Hilux had gone out twice in the last year and so it was decided to get rid of it and purchased in the past few months was a used Landcruiser.  “The Beast” stays at Rogers place so he can haul maize and other materials while the recent purchase stays here at the Mission.  Around 10 am we drove to the new shamba where Robert helped us load a total of 10 drums.  With the seats pulled down we could fit some inside and tie the others to the top.  We made four trips hauling 10 drums each time.  It was around 4 pm when we still needed 16 more drums.  Robert was sure he could tie 12 drums to the top of the Landcruiser besides the four we had inside – we didn’t think it was a good idea to tie 12 on but Robert did so we let him.  After two hours, Robert had them tied on with a myriad of ropes and twine – the Landcruiser looked like some of the matatu (van) we see on the road that have anything and everything tied to it.  The roads are not the best and we had some big mud holes to contend with as we drove back to the Mission; thus, we had to drive very slow.  As Wes drove back to the Mission house people laughed, pointed, and stared at us and we understood why as some of the drums were coming loose and hanging on the sides.  We joked that we probably looked like the Clampetts from the Beverly Hillbillies sitcom that was popular in the 60’s and early 70’s.  A couple of children alongside the road shouted, “Chini, Chini” which means down – they thought the drums were falling off!  There were those who tried to flag us down or would shout at us to give them a drum while inside the vehicle, Wes was saying, “just follow us long enough and you might get one”!  We didn’t have high hopes that we would make it the five miles back to the Mission house with all the drums but we did.  The next morning before leaving for Nyasumi, Wes thought about retying some of the drums but then decided the heck with it – they made it to the Mission house and hopefully would stay on for another 5-6 miles.

On Wednesday, we left for Nyasumi to take the Clamplett vehicle loaded with dangling drums.  Kathy drove the car for two reasons:  to take a few more drums and to follow Wes in case any drums fell off.  As Kathy followed Wes, she couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the Landcruiser going down the road as well as the reactions of people who saw the vehicle.  As we drove by a tea field, Kathy could see the mama’s heads turn and follow the Landcruiser as it passed by and she heard a mama exclaim, “Oh my goodness”!  As we turned into the Nyasumi church lot, there were five mamas there who started to sing and dance as they saw what was on the Landcruiser – they had no idea they were getting the drums but they soon figured it out.  The mamas, along with a couple of younger boys, helped us unload the drums.  Wes was trying to cut the network of twine with his pocket knife but it must not have been fast enough.  One of the boys ran off somewhere and soon showed up with a large knife to cut the twine.  While the mamas guarded the drums so none grew legs and walked away, we went back to the Mission office to retrieve more drums.  We gave away 37 water drums at Nyasumi and then another 30 at Nyantaro.  The women were very grateful for this gift – a gift given because they were using and cleaning their filter properly when we made home visits. 

On Thursday, Kathy, Lilian, and Ivan made home visits for the water filter program in the Mongorisi area.  The terrain and the views it provided was beautiful as they walked up and down the mountain side but by 1 pm, after walking almost four miles and visiting ten mamas, they decided to call it a day.  Thankfully, it was an overcast day so the sun wasn’t beating down on us.  While Kathy, Lilian, and Ivan were out making home visits, Wes, Robert, and Janet made visits to the shambas of the orphans who received a heifer through the Heifer program.  They checked on the well-being of the animals, sprayed them for ticks and gave dewormer medications.  It was a long day but a good day – it is very gratifying and humbling to be invited to these people’s shambas and homes seeing how and where they live, work, and raise their families. 

Friday was medical day.  We took Sheila to Physical Therapy and another orphan to the eye clinic.  During the Wellness Seminar, five orphans were diagnosed with eye issues and so far, four of them have needed spectacles (glasses).  Paying of the fee for PT went smoothly at while at the eye clinic, it took a half hour to get a receipt which was frustrating.  They had the lenses cut and put in the spectacles in less time than it took us to get the receipt! 

Since Saturday was the fifth Saturday of the month, there was no Mission Saturday.  We were happy to have the extra day to do laundry (bedding) and other things that we didn’t get to during the week.  We also cleaned the flower beds since they were looking a little shabby.  While Kathy was working in the front yard, Simba and Evans came for sweets but she told them to come back tomorrow (Sunday) which is what we tell all the kids who live outside the compound; otherwise, we would go broke.  Simba and Evans were not interested in pulling weeds though they did want to use the gardening tools but Kathy wouldn’t let them as she didn’t need any injuries to fingers and toes.  Instead, she told them if they picked one full pail of weeds, she would give them a soda…the weeds started flying into the pail then and in no time the pail was full!  A deal is a deal so they got their soda plus a biskuti (cookie) – they must have been thirsty because they downed the sodas in record time! 

The outside painting of the house at the shamba is almost done.  The two colors the three of us agreed on are not what we thought they looked like on the tiny ¾ x ¼ color swatch we chose from but it is what it is.  The carpenters are planning to come this week to install the window screens, the curtain rods, towel bars, etc. as well as a few other minor jobs – they say it should take about a week to complete these tasks.  The solar water heaters and a filtration system also need to be installed.  We had hoped we’d be in the house before our sons arrived the middle of January but right now it is not looking very promising…they are going to experience life as we currently experience it!  The good thing is that by the time they come, school will be in session so if the power goes out, the generator will be turned on…a definite plus! 

We received about an inch of rain last week which is not much but we take any we get.  The temps have been in the mid to upper 80’s and as we move into January and February, the temps will continue to be warm and little rain…weather that Kathy is not looking forward to.

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/12-31-23