Last Sunday, we attended Mass here at Gekano which was supposed to start at 7 am, and to our surprise it started only ten minutes late.  Even the wazungu were late!  We didn’t hear anything happening before 7 am so we waited for a signal and there wasn’t one until we could hear the priest saying the opening prayer.   Since we can get to the church within a couple of minutes, we weren’t too late!  There weren’t many people at the beginning but after the priest finished his homily, the church filled quickly.  At the end of Mass before the final blessing, there were fifteen minutes of announcements and a short talk by the priest as he was a visiting priest.  The announcements can get very long for us wazungu who do not understand the combination of Ekegusii and Swahili though we do pick up a word here and there.  We forget that here there are no bulletins passed out after Mass nor can people get on-line to visit the church website (there is none) to check out the bulletin; thus, we patiently wait through these announcements knowing they are for a good reason for the most part though.  There have been times when leaders of some of the small Christian groups at different Outstations get up to speak and they don’t like to give up the mic easily!  We were at the church almost two hours.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we went out to conduct Water with Blessings follow ups.  In those three days, we went to six different locations and held follow ups for thirteen different groups.  For a few of them, when the locations were close in distance, Wes would drop Emma off and then continue on with Kathy and Lilian and then he would head back to pick up Emma and finally Kathy and Lilian.  We can accomplish more if we split up and we can only do that for another week or so as Lilian will head back to school though it is not yet known when that will be – only that it will be in January!  We get frustrated with things not starting on time in Kenya but have also come to find out that things like letting people know when school will start is not a known fact until a week or so before it is to start.  We asked Lilian and Emma about this and told them this would not happen back in America as people need to plan which they laugh at here since they don’t really plan ahead.  As for how it is known when school will start, they told us that parents, who send their children to a private school such as the school here on the compound, will get a notification most likely in the form of a text if they have a phone.  When Kathy asked what happens if they don’t have a phone, Lilian piped up and said, “parents who send to a private school would have a phone because if they can afford to send to a private school, they can afford a phone” to which Kathy said, “good point”!  For public schools, parents will find out by watching TV, which not many people have, or by listening to the radio which far more people do have.  Or, as Emma told us, the children will go to the school for the day and if no teacher shows up, they may return home, or they may just go off and play for the day and come home at the time school would have ended for the day!  We told Emma and Lilian we think it is crazy that a school calendar with dates of specific events such as first and last day is not known at the beginning of the year…we keep forgetting…we are in Kenya. 

While we were at one of the Water with Blessings follow ups, there was a group of children playing in the back of the church.  Since there were no chairs or benches set up, they had a wide-open space to play games.  We could hear them laughing and screaming and something hitting the floor every so often.  On each side of the building was a child who would either throw or roll a bearing across the floor to the child on the other side.  In the middle were the rest of the children, some as young as 1 ½ - 2 years, who were trying to jump to avoid the rolling bearing that would eventually make its way to the other side where that child would send it back again.  What was fun to watch was the very small ones as the bearing was not even close to them but they would imitate the older ones by jumping a few inches off the floor and squeal with delight.  It was also very neat to see the children of a variety of ages letting all partake in the game.  The youngest ones got knocked down a few times but they got right back up, never cried, and rejoined the game – some of the older ones even helped them to get back on their feet.  One never tires of the sound of the laughter of children – it has such a joy and innocence to it – it is one of the best sounds to hear.  At this same follow up were three boys named Edmond, Bernard, and Owen who took charge of leading the games.  While the women color and Lilian and Emma visit with them, we tend to follow the children around and try to talk to them since we tend to know short phrases in Swahili but even our short phrases can give confused looks to the children!  Prior to watching them play the game with the bearing, we were asking Edmond, Bernard, and Owen what class/grade they were in.  We always try to guess before they tell us - it is a game of its own and they seem to take delight in us trying to guess.  We thought they would be around preschool to first grade.  One of the boys told us he was in Grade 4 and we said Hapana which means no!  They giggled and eventually one of the boys tattled on the one telling us the fib – he wasn’t in Grade 4 which we knew though our guess was he was in first or second grade.  Actually, he was in preschool which surprised us though it can be hard to tell the ages of people here including the children. 

Since we were at Nyantaro for one of the follow ups, Kathy got another chance to sit at the piano and play which she did for at least a half hour.  At Christmas, we didn’t get to hear the Christmas carols we are used to so Kathy decided to play as many of them as she could think of even though the Christmas season was technically over…she didn’t care!  At a couple of the follow-ups, the mamas came bearing gifts which included mboga (greens), bananas, maize, and eggs.  As we’ve said before, we wish they didn’t do this as we’d rather they keep it to feed their families but they are so appreciative and so we accept these gifts graciously.  Also, at one of the follow ups, three of the grandchildren of Agrapina, the lady we wrote about a few weeks ago, came to finish coloring in their grandma’s book.  Agrapina died on December 26^th – she was the woman we affectionately called Tanzanian Grandma.  Agrapina had attended a training and received a water bucket and filter about six to seven months ago.  She faithfully attended the follow ups and this past week it would have been her sixth and final follow up.  In her place, the three granddaughters came to color for her.  The Mission will continue to support these children though at the moment we are not sure what is going to happen to these three girls and their two brothers – we hope and pray that a family member will take them in.  These children lost their mother and now the woman who cared for them like a mother is gone, too.  It is hard on one’s heart to witness events such as this. 

Shamba update:  work continues but at a slower pace.  The concrete that was poured on December 31^st for the second level of the house is still curing as it has to cure for approximately 21 days.  They did start to put the support columns in place for the next level and will probably pour concrete into those support columns by the end of this week. 
 
This past week, Fr. David left to go back to North Dakota for one month.  It will not be a vacation though he will get to see his family and friends.  He will be meeting with the Director of the African Mission and others involved with the Mission.  He will also travel to different parishes on the four weekends he is there to celebrate Mass and talk about the Mission.  With Fr. David gone, that means our boss is gone!  We will continue to do the work that we were doing especially the Water with Blessings Program and if we need help or have questions about anything, we have Rogers and Sr. Theresa that we can go to. 

On Saturday, we had Mission Saturday at Ichuni and here at Gekano.  This is where the orphans come to visit with Fr. David and/or Rogers, bring report cards when due and get their monthly stipend and ration of maize.  Because school will be starting within the next two weeks, there were school fees to be paid as well.  The children are required to bring the fee schedule for the school they are attending and then Sr. Theresa, the bursar, will write a check to the school with the child’s name and school ID number on the back.  The orphans are required to bring back an official receipt from the school next month.  In addition to the school fees being paid, there are also allowances given for school uniforms.  Those in primary school get an allowance for uniforms every year while those in secondary school, get an allowance in Form 1 (Freshman) and Form 3 (Junior).  Writing out checks is very time consuming and therefore, Lilian came to help Sr. Theresa by giving the orphans their monthly allowances and writing out receipts for the different allowances.  Because Fr. David was gone, Wes took over the job of calling the family’s letter that each family is assigned when first enrolled in the program and then taking a few minutes to visit with them before they went on to see Sr. Theresa, Lilian, Robert and Rogers.  Wes tried his best to speak short phrases in Swahili and he didn’t do too bad!  The most common phrase was “Uko tayari kwenda shule” which means are you ready to go to school?  They did answer him and almost every child said, “yes”!  Kathy did ask some of the orphans the same question while waiting their turn, and almost all of them said they are and when asked why, they said, “I want to learn”.  We believe they were telling us the truth and not just something they thought we wanted to hear.  We find that many do want to learn…getting an education is about the only way for them to get out of poverty. 

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:

Note:  if unable to view the photos, you will have to go to St. Joseph's church website.  There were issues with the internet when trying to download the photos.  Pole (sorry).


https://stjparish.com/photoalbums/Kenya 1-15-23