First of all, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  It is our hope you were able to spend time with loved ones.  Though we are many miles away, we are grateful for the gift of family and friends in our lives and we miss them and the ability to be with them especially on holidays.  Thanksgiving was a work day for us.  We had a Water with Blessings training and by the time we got back from taking Lilian and Emma home after the training, it was late.  Therefore, our Thanksgiving meal consisted of penne pasta with sauteed garlic and red pepper flakes along with fresh cucumbers, cheese and the same dessert Wes and Fr. David eat at every evening meal:  coconut cookies slathered with Nutella!

Our safari (journey) back to Kenya began last Sunday, November 19^th, at 3:15 am and didn’t end until Monday night when we arrived in Kenya at 9 pm which would have been 12 noon back home (Kenya is 9 hours ahead of Williston).  Our plane left Williston at 7:30 am arriving in Minneapolis at 9 am.  We left Minneapolis at 4:30 pm, arrived in Paris at 8 am (Paris time) and departed at 10 am for Nairobi.  Needless to say, it was a very long trip.  We didn’t sleep much on the plane and when we finally arrived at Flora Hostel around 11 pm, we were tired but yet could not sleep – our bodies were still on Williston time.  In spite of the long journey, we were pleasantly surprised about a couple of things.  Going through Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris was a breeze – an airport we have not cared for.  Then, for the first time, our bags weren’t flagged at JKIA airport in Nairobi.  Lilian had sent a text earlier in the week stating the Kenyan Revenue Authority (KRA) was trying to collect more money and taxing everything so we were a little worried even though we didn’t have water filters – the filters were usually why we were flagged.  At the end of October, the KRA had come out with a directive stating travelers entering or leaving the country would be subjected to a tax on items totaling KSH 75,000 ($500) and above.  After some backlash, the KRA is now working to raise the threshold to $10,000 which is the international standard.  A lot of tourists come to Kenya and spend a lot of money so most likely they don’t want to hurt the tourism industry.  We definitely had more than $500 worth of stuff but our bags didn’t have an “X” on them so all was good!     

We spent Tuesday in Nairobi since Fr. David had some business to take care of at Immigration.  We left for the Mission house on Wednesday morning.  It was cloudy and raining off and on – rains which are welcome because next month they will start to decrease with January and February being dry.  When we got to the escarpment, the clouds looked like they were suspended in mid air which was kind neat.  We stopped at the shamba before coming to the Mission house.  At the new house, the cabinets are all in and countertops installed though the seams need to be sealed since tile was laid instead of the original countertop that had been chosen.  There was a crew of guys who were busy scraping the walls by hand before the primer will be put on.  When leaving the new shamba, Fr. David got stuck – it was a muddy mess but eventually we got out with the help of Rogers and Robert who happened to be at the shamba.  The vehicle getting stuck drew quite a crowd of onlookers from the surrounding shambas. 

On Thursday, Lilian and Emma had set up a Water with Blessings training at Rionguti.  We had 15 mamas and lots of watoto (children).  There were two sets of twins with one set being six months old and the other was eight months old. Kathy was able to hold one of the six-month-old babies and while she talked to him, he fell asleep and slept in her arms for 45 minutes.  It was good to be back working with the water filter program and the mamas.  The mamas are always so happy and appreciative for the gift of the filter. 

On Friday, we tried to do some of our laundry before the rains which come almost daily now.  We don’t have a lot of room to dry clothes inside the house so we thought it best to do a little each day for a couple of days.  Because laundry is done by hand, it takes time so we kicked it up a gear to get some washed and on the line.  It did start raining before the clothes were totally dry so we hung them on the clothes rack and put the electric dryer (fan) to them.  Wes went out with Janet and Robert to spray the heifers for ticks at the different shambas where the orphans live as well as the three heifers now residing at the shamba.  Since we were gone, Janet purchased 15 kuku (chickens) for the shamba.  Eventually, there will be around 100 kuku…people wonder what will we do with all those eggs!  The plan is to boil the eggs and to give them out to the children when they come to Mission Saturday.  We couldn’t possibly give out fresh eggs as they most likely would not survive the trek back to the orphan(s) home.  A very generous donor from back home donated funds to buy the kuku with the intent that each child is able to get another source of protein in their diet.  This is a new venture and one we will see how it works out as time goes on. 

Saturday was Mission Saturday here at Gekano only.  The school year ended on Friday so there were a few more orphans at Mission Saturday than usual.  During the school year, those students who attend boarding school usually are not able to come to Mission Saturday.  We may see those orphans only a couple of times in the year during school breaks. 

As stated earlier, it has been raining and for that we are happy as that means the cistern is filling with water.  Fr. David thought it rained aabout 15 inches between September and October.  This week we’ve received around 2.3 inches of rain.  We did lose power on Thursday night for almost two hours but because school was still in session, the generator was turned on.  During the night the power went out again and at 4:30 am the generator was turned on so the girls could study once last time before taking their final exam(s).  Eventually the power came on but during the day it went off and came back on several times – welcome to Kenya!  From now until January, school is not in session so if the power goes out the generator may not be turned on – we are hoping the electricity stays on most of the time especially at night when getting ready for bed and in the morning when getting ready for the day – it is not fun doing that by a torch (flashlight). 

As we reflect on our time we had at home in Williston, we are most grateful that we were able to be with family and friends.  We were also grateful for the beautiful fall weather and the leaves changing to the different fall colors.  We were also able to experience that white stuff – the first snow we have seen in two years!  In the last blog we put out at the beginning of October, we had mentioned we would not be returning to Kenya on October 1 as planned.  Wes was diagnosed with a squamous cell carcinoma on his nose and needed a Mohs procedure to have it removed.  He wasn’t able to get into the dermatologist to have the procedure until November 7^th.  His twenty plus stitches were removed a week later and five days after that we left for Kenya.  The additional time we had at home was a gift and allowed us to spend extra time with friends and especially family.  Just as it was last week, always has been, and always will be, it was hard to say our final good byes before leaving but we also know that we have work to do here.  Next month it will be two years that we are here with one left to go.  We look forward to family members coming to see us next year starting in January when our sons, Aaron and Nathan come to visit us.  We are hoping we will be in the new house by the time they arrive though at this point we are not sure but it doesn’t matter – we are glad they are coming. 

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/11-26-23