Last Saturday morning after breakfast, we left the Mission house and headed for Nairobi with Wes as the navigator.  It was the first trip by ourselves to the big city of Nairobi (population approximately 5 million) where Fr. David or Rogers didn’t have to babysit us!  Wes felt comfortable driving and it helped to have Google Maps once we arrived in Nairobi.  In June, Rogers had taken us to Nairobi for our appointment at the Kenyan Immigration Department to apply for our Alien ID cards.  At that time, we were interviewed and had our biometrics done which is part of the process to apply for an Alien ID Card - a card that foreigners must carry with them along with their passport if they are residing in Kenya for more than ninety days (next month we will have been here one year).  In the blog posted in June, it was mentioned how Wes was able to have his fingerprints done electronically while Kathy, because she is missing part of her ring finger, had to have her fingerprints done the old fashioned and messy way.  At that time, we were told it would take a few weeks or so before the cards would be ready which we were skeptical of but one can always hope.  After a month or so and every few weeks after that, we would log onto our portal looking for a notification that our ID cards were ready.  We hoped that before we left for America in July, they might be ready and if not, maybe upon our return in September so an extra trip to Nairobi would not have to be made.  We never did receive notification so Fr. David advised that we go to Nairobi, present to Immigration and tell them we were there to pick up our cards (even though we were never notified they were ready).  On Monday morning, we arrived around 8:15 am at the Nyayo House where the Kenyan Immigration offices are located.  After some time, we were able to approach the window designated for ID cards.  The woman behind the window looked at our paperwork and passports and proceeded to look for our cards but could not find any and so we were told to sit and wait.  After another period of time, a man came and asked us for our old ID cards and we told him we don’t have any old cards and explained how we came in June and did our interview and biometrics – he seemed puzzled and disappeared for another period of time.  He then came back and stated that maybe we could have someone pick them up for us another day when ready though we knew that was not possible as you have to pick them up in person.  Wes then told him we are from Kisii to which the man responded, “that is bad”!  What the man meant is that Kisii is a long distance away from Nairobi.  Not knowing what else to do he told us to come back in the afternoon.  So, we walked back to Flora Hostel where we were staying and returned to Nyayo House by 1:30 pm and as we were walking up the steps, an armed guard came and told us to come back at 2 pm – we forgot that they take late lunches in Kenya.  Upon going back into the building after 2 pm, we were taken to a supervisor to discuss our matter.  After explaining our problem, she logged onto her computer and using Kathy’s form she received back in June which had the case number and thumbprint on it, she tried to bring up Kathy’s file but could not.  When she put in the last name of Pepple, Wes’s file came up so she wrote some numbers on a piece of paper and directed him to go back to the front window and get his card because it was ready.  Kathy then showed the woman her left ring finger and explained that for the reason of no fingerprints on her ring finger, she had to do hers manually in June.  The woman then walked to another office and brought back a large binder and started flipping through it in front of Kathy.  This was obviously the file for those who had to have their fingerprints done the old-fashioned way since they were missing appendages, and as the woman turned the pages, Kathy recognized the man who was missing his thumb from when they were waiting together back in June.  As the woman kept flipping the pages and was getting nearer to the end, Kathy didn’t have a good feeling about the situation.  The supervisor then logged onto her cell phone and put Kathy’s case number in and the file came up along with Kathy’s picture.  The woman then went through the binder again and as she was getting closer to the end, out of the blue she made the remark, “I remember this one” and proceeded to tell Kathy that the paper file was brought to her attention as the person who was putting the information in manually thought it was “two of the same one”.  The supervisor stated she told the person to enter it in the system as it was not “two of the same one”…someone didn’t listen to their supervisor.  In the end, the supervisor gave the explanation that when Kathy’s information was being entered, the name Pepple came up which was actually Wes’s information since his biometrics were electronic.  But, because the person who was going to enter Kathy’s information did not look at the first name, he/she assumed it was the same person.  The supervisor said, “pole” which means sorry and then told Kathy that in thirty days she is to take a picture of her card with the case number and text it to a What’s App number and someone will answer the text…Kathy didn’t say anything but, in her mind, she was thinking the text will not be answered…time will tell.   The supervisor then went on to say that if the paperwork is not found in those thirty days, Kathy will have to do the process over again…our bets are on Kathy having to do it again!

The drive to Nairobi last Saturday was, thankfully, without any issues and we arrived about six hours after we started.  The weather was beautiful and so Kathy was able to see the views of the Rift Valley since Wes had to keep his eyes on the road as he drove up the escarpment – this road is one that can be dangerous because of the heavy traffic and people passing when they should not be.  The Rift Valley is a vast geographical feature that starts in the Middle East and runs as far south to central Mozambique in East Africa and totals about 4400 miles.  The town of Mai Mahiu (Ma-ee Ma-he-you) is at the base of the escarpment and as you leave the town and start to ascend, there are many trucks descending and so the air has a distinct smell of “hot” brakes.  Once we got into Nairobi, we missed one turn so were able to see a little more of the city than we planned but eventually found our way to Flora Hostel which is run by the Consolata Sisters.  The Consolata priests from the language school have the daily and Sunday Masses at the chapel on the grounds.  Therefore, we were able to visit on Sunday morning after Mass with Fr. Samuel whom we came to know during language school.  FYI:  Fr. Samuel’s Mass started on time and lasted one hour!!  On Monday afternoon, after leaving the Nyayo House, we took an Uber to the language school and visited people we met during our time there.  We also took a walk around the shamba to look at the animals and the vegetable gardens.  The priests invited us to eat dinner with them and it was just like old times though a number of them have since been reassigned from when we left in April with one of them, Fr. Joya, being ordained and installed as Bishop of Maralal last month.  Wes asked Fr. Cyrus if the chair he (Wes) sat in while at language school was still his and Fr. Cyrus and Fr. Samuel laughed and said, “it is”!  We were grateful then and still are now for the Consolata language school – it was not easy being in school but the people and the atmosphere at the school were most welcoming and made you feel at home in spite of the difficulties of trying to learn a new language.  While in Nairobi, we did get to a mall or two to do some shopping for items that we are not able to find back in Kisii.  We left for the Mission house on Tuesday morning and arrived safely about 6 ½ hours later.  The views along the way, while descending the escarpment, were spectacular because it was a relatively clear day and as we drove through the towns and villages along the way, we saw a number of interesting things (see photos).  As mentioned in earlier blogs, there are a lot of speed bumps (around 250 – Wes has counted them) between the Mission house and Nairobi.  As one slows down for the speed bumps, very often women and sometimes men, will come running to the sides of the vehicle with bags in hand – bags of oranges, bananas, carrots, onions, peas, etc.  hoping those in the vehicle will purchase them.  After a while, you tend to just close your window because if you don’t, you practically have hands holding bags of fruits and vegetables inside your window while you are slowly driving over the speed bump.  The ones we don’t want to have inside our windows are the onions – you can smell them even when driving down the road at 50 mph!  We did stop by a roadside stand that was selling fresh vegetables and bought a bag each of tomatoes, peppers, and large carrots.  The total bill was Ksh 600 which would be just under $5.  Back home we would have paid that for 3-4 peppers alone. 

On Wednesday of this week, Lilian, Emma, Wes, and Kathy delivered water drums to the women who qualified – we delivered a total of eight drums.  The women were so surprised as they didn’t know they would be getting them – we only told them upon their arrival why they were receiving the drums and we thanked them for using the filters and taking good care of them.  We told them the barrel, along with the filter and bucket, were gifts from the people of the Bismarck Diocese back in America and they were most grateful.  On Thursday, Kathy and Emma made home visits to twelve women who had been trained and received a water filter and bucket about a year ago.  Ten of these women, unknown to them, will receive a water barrel based on their using and cleaning the filter properly as was determined during our home visit.   We enlisted the help of a woman by the name of Abigail who walked us to the homes of the mamas in that area who have received a filter and bucket. For the most part, all the women were using and cleaning the filter as they should.  A couple of them told us how their filters did not flow very well and in the end after doing some detective work, we came to realize the problem:   instead of performing the backflush after each use, the women would filter a large amount of water i.e., 5 or more gallons and then only perform the backflush the next time they wanted to filter more water.  Because they filled a large container with filtered water, they may not filter water again for another 5-7 days in which time the filter dried out with the dirt in it.  We were able to do multiple backflushes and get the filters back in good working order.  These visits help us to know that the women are using the filters and cleaning them properly and if not working well, we try to identify the problems by asking questions and then re-educate.  The women were very welcoming and were most appreciative of the gift of the filter and bucket.  Many reported that their children no longer have stomach issues.  Wes did not go with us for these visits so Kathy drove the Hilux and there were no issues mostly because Kathy would rather walk than drive somewhere that may not be good or she is unsure of since she’s not much of a risk taker! Once we parked the vehicle in the area we needed to be, we walked for the next four hours up, down, and alongside the mountain.  On our way to and from the area, we didn’t have any tarmac (paved) roads – all were dirt and it had rained the night before so we had to use 4-wheel drive at times.  At one point, on the way back to the Mission house, we were approaching a bridge when a woman who was walking off to the side started waving her hands frantically and yelling at us.  Of course, Kathy didn’t have a clue what the woman was saying so she asked Emma to please interpret.  The woman was telling us that we could not go on the road but we didn’t understand why until we got out of the vehicle, walked a short distance, looked beyond the bridge and up the hill where there was a slight curve in the road.  There was a semi with a long trailer that was stalled on the road.  Several men that were sitting by the bridge told us we could get past the semi though Kathy didn’t think so because there didn’t seem to be a lot of room between the truck and the ditch, at least from where we were standing at the bottom of the hill, it didn’t look possible. Emma said she thought we could and so Kathy decided that we could drive up the hill and if not able to pass by could always back down.  As we got closer, we could only then see that the front end of the semi was turned in a different direction from the trailer and even less room to pass than originally thought.  There was no way Kathy was going to try it so she backed down the hill.  While backing down, one of the men that had been sitting by the bridge, walked to where we were and decided he would direct Kathy with a bunch of hand signals on how and where to back down the hill – the road was wide enough so Kathy had no problems other than this man being a problem as he kept going behind the vehicle which was not smart since we were backing downhill.  Once we got to the bottom, the woman who told us not to drive up the hill came running over to the driver’s window and started yelling at us. Kathy didn’t know what she was saying but her guess was that this woman was mad at us for driving up the hill.  Emma later interpreted that the lady was very mad and said in Ekegusii, “I told you not drive…you not listen to me…you listen to a man!”  We had a good laugh and proceeded to find another way back to the Mission house.  Wes had to travel this same road the next day on his way to Ichuni but he had the car.  He was barely able to pass by the truck that was still blocking the road and upon returning from Ichuni said there was no way the Hilux would have made it so Kathy was glad she trusted her instincts….and that she didn’t listen to the Kenyan men!! 

Since last Saturday (Nov 5^th) we have received 8.2 inches of rain. We had gone almost 10 days without rain while this week brought much needed moisture though one day, we did receive a substantial amount of hail which did some damage to plants.   When it rains, the children who come for lollipops tend to leave their footprints and/or shoeprints behind on the tile that covers the porch since they seem to find the mud puddles along the way.  Each day the prints get erased with the mop only to have them appear another day but that is okay.  Some of the little ones have actually taken their shoes off when walking onto the porch which is very thoughtful of them though many of them do not wear shoes thus the footprints.  Kathy has decided she would much rather have the rains and clean up mud and footprints vs having dust in the air as the dust permeates everything especially since windows are not sealed well here. 

Wes kept busy this week with various projects as well.  He visited the shamba a couple of times to check on the progress and in next week’s blog we will give an update and post some pictures.  On Friday, Wes took Robert (another Mission employee) and drove to Ichuni to put the office back in order for Mission Saturday.  The Ichuni parish was doing some renovating next to the office we use and for the past three months we have had to give out maize and work in a grassy area where the milk cows are kept which meant dodging cow pies here and there.  On Saturday, Wes took one of the orphans that is going to school here at St. Theresa’s to the eye doctor while Kathy and Emma went to the parishes of Mosobeti, Enchoro, and Nyantaro to do a total of seven follow-ups for the Water with Blessings program.  Kathy again drove the Hilux due to the rains we had and some of the roads were very slippery – they reminded her of driving on ice back home in the winter!  At Enchoro, the little boy named James whom Wes would show videos to at previous follow ups, was looking for Wes when he saw Kathy.  He kept telling his grandma that he wanted to see “Padre” which means priest.  Wes is called Padre a lot as many people think he is Fr. David.  Wes has stopped trying to tell people he is not Fr. David…he just smiles and waves as we pass by.  It was a busy week but a good week.

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:  some of the photos are not the best since taken while vehicle was moving but are still worth seeing): 


https://stjparish.com/photoalbums/kenya-11-13-22