Last Sunday, we attended Mass here at Gekano.  The evening before, as Fr. Benedict walked by the Mission house after playing a game of football (soccer) with some of the young guys in the neighborhood, he stopped to greet Wes who was outside.  Wes asked Fr. Benedict what time Mass was in the morning and because Fr. Benedict wasn’t sure, he stated he would text Wes back with the time.  Later that evening, Wes received a text indicating Mass would be at 9 am.  On Sunday morning, while we were out in the back yard around 7 am, the Sisters from next door walked by on their way to Mass.  They looked surprised at seeing us not ready for church and we looked just as surprised at seeing them in their all-white Sunday habits on their way to Mass.  Wes mentioned Fr. Benedict’s text stating Mass was at 9 am to which one of them said, “No, it is the normal schedule” though we didn’t know how to take that as it seems there is no normal schedule other than if school is in session.  One of the Sisters just shook her head as if frustrated and made a comment about communication.  They decided to continue on to church while we stayed back as we weren’t ready anyway.  After 30 minutes had passed, we heard nothing coming from the church nor did the Sisters come back.  Finally, at 7:45 am, we heard singing and then Fr. Benedict’s voice at the start of the Mass.  We decided we wouldn’t leave for church until we heard the closing song and shortly after 9 am, there was singing which was our cue to head to Mass.  Along the way we met the Sisters.  They explained that “because there were so many Christians who had come to the church for Mass”, we sent someone to wake Fr. Benedict up and he agreed to come and celebrate Mass”!  We continued on to the church thinking the 9 am Mass would start almost immediately since it was after 9 am and Fr. Benedict was already in the church…our thinking was wrong!  We weren’t sure where he went – maybe to take a nap - but Mass didn’t start until 9:40 am and then he had a one-hour homily though during the homily, we were entertained by a small child probably around 10 months old. This child’s family sat on the same bench we were on – a bench made for maybe six people but there were eight of us squished together.  The child’s antics helped some as we didn’t understand much of the homily.  Fr. Benedict talks very fast and waves his hands a lot while talking and because he was holding the mic in his hand during the homily and walking around in front of the altar, his voice would cut in and out, getting loud and then unable to hear all the words at all.  Now that school is back in session, there will pretty much be a “normal” Mass schedule meaning there will be a 7 am Mass which will be nice…no guessing what time Mass is scheduled to start though it is anybody’s guess if it will start on time! 

After Mass we went for a walk and then Kathy tried to work on the blog to get it posted.  The story was finished on Saturday but the power was off so couldn’t get it posted on Saturday evening as she usually does nor on Sunday since the power was off…again!  This past week, we have had maybe one day where the power stayed on almost 8 hours at a time.  With no power, we still have solar to charge phones and run the internet but trying to upload the pictures to St. Joseph’s website using the solar just doesn’t work well.  The most you can try to upload to the site is maybe two photos at a time and even then, it times out.  After trying for a couple of hours to get the pictures to upload, Kathy thought the heck with it…Monday was another day to try.  On Monday around 10 am when the power came on, Kathy finally got the pictures uploaded and the blog posted just in the nick of time as the power went out again shortly after and stayed off for most of the day.  We were glad when school started on Tuesday as that meant we would have power for a couple of hours in the evening and in the morning.  We aren’t keen having to fumble around with flashlights or lanterns to brush our teeth and get ready for bed as well as getting ready in the morning before daily Mass as it doesn’t get light until almost 7 am while Mass starts at 6:30 am…we do look forward to having that generator at the new shamba! 

When Fr. David got back to the Mission house on Sunday afternoon after celebrating Mass at three different outstations (mission churches), Wes helped him unload the matoleo (gifts, offerings) from the Hilux.  The people were very generous with their offerings: sacks of maize and maharagwe (beans), bunches of ndizi (bananas), nyanya (tomatoes), parachichi (avocado), mboga (vegetables/greens), sukari (sugar), unga (flour) and two roosters!  The roosters were given to Fr. David at the second Mass and even though they were separated from each other and their feet tied up, they managed to get into a scuffle in the back of the Hilux while he was celebrating the third Mass.  When the end gate of the Hilux was opened at the Mission house to unload the matoleo, the roosters were a little bloody and so was the inside of the Hilux including the sack of maize…too much testosterone on display!  Wes took the roosters to the back yard and placed them in separate pens so they couldn’t fight and/or kill each other.  Later, when Zack came to get some of the produce and other staples Father had set aside for his family, he told Zack to take the two roosters as well.  Zack must have been happy to get the roosters as those were taken first, returning later for the other items.  As for cleaning of the Hilux, usually it is just chicken droppings Wes has to clean up though this time there was blood as well. 

On Wednesday and Thursday, we held WWB trainings at the church in a village called Botana – a place we have never been to.  The church sits high on the mountain and the only way to access it is to walk up the hill, about 600 feet. Therefore, the supplies for the trainings had to be trekked up the hill though the women helped us carry the buckets and other supplies.  One of the mamas on the first day, picked up the 20-liter container of water we bring for trainings and hoisted it onto her head with little effort and carried up the mountain.  The second day, Wes had to carry it up though he didn’t try to balance it on his head.  Between the two days, 31 women were trained and as always, they were very grateful.  On Thursday, we had a woman who just couldn’t believe it when clean water came out of the filter.  Before the water is filtered, Wes will carry the bucket of dirty water around to the women so they can see it up close.  The dirty water is filtered with the clean water flowing into a clear plastic bucket so they can see the difference.   The women are always amazed with oohs and aahs heard though this woman just didn’t want to believe this was the same water.  We have plastic cups for each woman to taste the filtered water but this woman didn’t want to drink it which is okay as it is their choice.  She held the cup of filtered water in her hands for some time before she finally got up and walked to the bucket where the water was being filtered.  She looked in the bucket and of course saw the very dirty water.  She then spoke in Ekegusii to Lilian and Emma and per their translation to us, the woman believed we had put chemicals in the water to make it clean but they assured the mama there were no chemicals.  Finally, she decided to try the water and she liked it!  Emma tried to explain that the filter works much like a kidney dialysis machine which is something most of them understand.  When the backflush was performed and the women saw the dirty water come out of the filter, they started to get it that the dirt just didn’t disappear.  Some of the mamas used the word “magic” to explain it going from dirty to clean.  We had a couple of little ones at the trainings both days.  A two year old boy named Steven, screamed at the sight of Kathy though he stopped long enough to take the biscuits Kathy offered him at arm’s length but other than that she didn’t dare get to close to him.  His mama wanted a picture of Kathy with them and that took some doing as he didn’t trust the mzungu!  On the other hand, Nathalia was willing to let Kathy hold her so her mama could put her filter and bucket together.  Kathy loves babysitting the little ones.   

On Wednesday after our training, we dropped Emma off in Kisii at her place and then took Lilian to her shamba.  Wednesdays are usually the day we shop for groceries since Thursday is market day in Kisii and you don’t want to be driving in Kisii if you don’t have to.  Another reason we shop on Wednesday is because we have our weekly conference call on Thursdays at 5:30 pm with Chuck Reichert, the Director of the African Mission in Bismarck.  While shopping for groceries, we noticed some wazungu (white people) in the store but some distance away.  Shortly after we got in the checkout line and while our groceries were being scanned, the wazungu – two women - came in the same line as us and though there was a grocery cart between us, we recognized a familiar emblem on the maroon colored shirts they were wearing – a large block style letter “M”.  They were from the University of Minnesota.  We didn’t have much time to chat as we had to keep the line moving but found out they were in Kisii for one week as part of the extension program the U of M has with Kisii University.  They mentioned there are a large number of Kenyans who come from Kisii and are living in Minnesota.  When they asked where we were from, we told them North Dakota but the one thought we said “Ortonville” to which we said, “No, but we know where it is as we have relatives in the Graceville area”.  It was just a short conversation but it was neat to meet people from the United States even if only for a brief time.  Later in the week, we met a couple from Australia.  They were on the school grounds doing a presentation and after they were done, they were walking to their vehicle when they saw us transferring water from the barrel under the Sister’s rain gutter to a water drum.  They said they were surprised to see wazungus so they had to stop over and say hi.  Since there aren’t many wazungu around the area, you tend to stand out and be noticed! 

Shamba update:  the masons continue to lay bricks for the inside walls and stone for the outside walls.  The windows on the bottom have mostly been installed and the welder is currently working on making the windows for the second level.  The electrician and plumber are almost done with the first level and will soon move up to the second level.   Once the conduit and pipes for plumbing are put in, they will begin to mud the walls though mudding here is with cement, not drywall.  The house is slowly taking shape and we are getting excited for the day we get to move in! 

On Saturday, we had Mission Saturday here at Gekano only so it didn’t take as long as it usually does.  Sr. Theresa was not able to be at Mission Saturday so Lilian filled in for her writing receipts and handing out the shillings for the monthly stipend. After Mission Saturday was over, we drove Lilian and her son, Ivan, back to their shamba – about 15 miles from the Mission house taking about an hour to get there.  Wes also took boards and tools along to build a new bridge – one that was sturdier than the one he built a few months ago. The bridge extends from the road to their shamba crossing a gully that gushes with water when it rains.  Lilian and Ivan pitched in to help build the bridge as well. 

This past week, we received a substantial amount of rain – 7 inches!  On Friday, we had a downpour and received 2.3 inches in about 45 minutes.  The 55 gallon barrel we have outside to collect rain water coming from the Sister’s roof filled in less than 3 minutes!  We are happy the cistern is filling but at the same time, that was a lot of rain falling in a short amount of time.  We are still collecting rain water but will probably stop this coming week except to save water for Zack so he can wash a vehicle and earn some shillings for the wrist watch he wants, the bike he wants, the ball he wants, the shoes he wants, - his list is long!  When he washes a vehicle, he uses a lot of water so we figured we can catch the rain water for him to use instead of taking it from the cistern.  Wes measured the water level in the cistern on Saturday morning and the level was at 5.5 feet.  The cistern is 8 feet tall so we are over half way while just a few weeks ago the level was barely at 2 feet.  In addition, we can pump water from the borehole which we couldn’t do for the past 5 weeks or so as it was dry.  Kathy can’t wait for the 10 five gallon pre-filled buckets that sit in the bathroom and shower area to be gone.  We pre-fill them with the rain water so they are ready to go for the toilet tank which takes a considerable amount of water.The temps have been cooler as well though during the daytime, the sun can be intense even though it may be in the low to mid 70’s.  The newly planted crops are emerging from the ground.  The maize, especially the fields planted weeks ago, is looking very good – moisture and heat are ideal weather conditions for maize.  Tunamshukuru Mungu kwa zawadi ya mvua (We thank God for the gift of rain). 

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:  stjparish.com


https://stjparish.com/photoalbums/kenya-3-26-23