Last Sunday we attended Mass here at Gekano and again it was Fr. Benedict so the Mass started only 15 minutes late and lasted about 1 ¼ hours.  The Mass was in English other than the readings and the songs. The homily, given by a deacon from outside the Gekano area, was also in English which meant we were able to take something away from the homily compared to most weekends.  At Mass, a young couple with two small children sat in front of us and it was the first time at any of the Masses we have gone to here in Kenya where children were misbehaving and being loud.  This young couple let the children do whatever they wanted from running in the aisle during Mass to crawling under the benches, talking loudly, screaming, and causing a distraction. There were a few of the older mamas who kept turning their heads to the couple and giving them that look!  At one point, the little boy who was probably  1 ½ to 2 years old, went across the aisle and grabbed a lady’s large handbag and it was quite funny and entertaining watching the two have a tug-of-war with her sitting on the bench and he standing in the aisle; needless to say, the lady with the bag wouldn’t let go and she didn’t crack a smile through any of it!  The little boy just screamed and kept pulling on the bag.  The lady was able to get it from him but that didn’t stop him from trying again and all during this time, the parents didn’t do anything but watch.  It was strange for us to witness it because we really haven’t seen children misbehave in church and there are a lot of children in the church. 

The new shamba is coming along.  This week they did a few things on the barn but spent more time inside the caretaker’s house doing plumbing, electrical and then finally covering the walls with cement which is making it look more and more like a home.  Walls are cement as opposed to wood due to the moisture and termites.  We’ve had questions about the building process so will try to give a brief overview here.  The general building process consists of a number of steps:  first, the perimeter of the building is dug two to three feet deep and two feet wide - all dug by hand.  Next, the foundation is made of bricks and mortar and after it is completed and dry enough, the trench is filled with soil.  For the barn that is currently being built, the area inside the foundation was filled with large rocks which were then covered with clay soil which seeped between the rocks – this is done to save on the cost of cement.  The cement pad (four to six inches deep) was then poured on the top of the rock and soil layer.  For the inside of the house, the cement layer was not as thick.  The exterior and interior walls of the building are constructed by laying bricks with mortar in-between and once done, the rafters are added and finally the roof is completed.  After the walls have cured (about a week), a concrete mixture is “thrown” on the wall with the inside walls smoothed out.  The outside walls may or may not be smoothed out depending on the look that is wanted such as stucco, brick, etc.  Each of the processes is overseen by a fundi which is the Kiswahili word for a skilled craftsman:  a bricklayer, plumber, electrician, mechanic, etc.  When materials are delivered to the shamba, it is dropped off inside the shamba by dump trucks with the exception of the bricks – these must be loaded by hand on to the truck and taken off in the same way as to prevent breakage.  All of the materials on site are transported to the different locations (barn, water tower, house, etc.) with a wheel barrow as there are no tractors, skid steers, etc. found on the premises.  Basically, labor is done by two groups of people:  the locals who are hired to haul the rock, sand, bricks, obtain the water from the borehole or stream for making the cement, etc. and the fundis who are the experts as explained above.  It is truly amazing to see these men do this labor under the hot sun with basically their hands and a few tools. 

We had two laundry days this week – in addition to our normal laundry, we did the bedding as well.  Washing bedding by hand is cumbersome though it gives one quite a workout!  Kathy also did some extra house cleaning and scrubbing of the floors.  With the rains that come most every day now along with the dust that makes its way in the house due to houses not being sealed that well, it can get quite dirty or at least for Kathy it does! On Monday, after hanging our clothes on the clotheslines, Kathy walked out into the backyard to do something and noticed some little feet though she couldn’t see a face because of the clothes hanging on the line.  All of a sudden Kathy saw some pants fall to the ground followed by a stream of liquid…had the little boy aimed a little higher, Wes’s pajama pants would have gotten a shower!  The little boy wasn’t aware that Kathy was there and Kathy had to try very hard to not burst out laughing…when you have to go, you have to go! 
This past week, we had almost three inches of rain and almost every day went without power from an hour to upwards of four to five hours. We just know that if it rains or a thunderstorm rolls through, there will not be power.  Even on a nice and sunny day, we were without power at times…this is Kenya.    

On Wednesday, we went to Nyantaro for a Water with Blessings training.  Nyantaro is a place we have never been to though we have been to Nyanturago!  The names of villages here can be quite confusing, at least for us they can be.  Some have names that are very similar to one-another with just a few vowels and consonants added or taken out.   Usually, it is just Lilian and us that go on Wednesday’s for WWB activities whether it be a training, follow-ups or delivering blankets and/or water drums.  Emma, a former orphan who benefited from the Mission and is a part-time employee of the Mission, helps with Mission Saturday and the Wellness Program but will now start coming with us and do what Lilian was doing in the way of WWB training.  Lilian is currently in school taking accounting classes and is going to be learning more of what Sr. Teresa does.  When we got to Nyantaro, less than half of the women had come at the scheduled time so we waited until the rest came.  In the meantime, as Kathy was looking around the church, she spied an upright piano off to the side of the altar and got a little excited.  It was the first piano we’ve seen in Kenya!  We have seen a few keyboards at some of the churches but never a piano.   When Kathy made a comment about there being a piano, Emma made the remark that it wasn’t a piano – it was probably a wardrobe or something like a wardrobe to put clothes in or something to put “stuffs” on.  Kathy was sure it was a piano!  Then the catechist who was there with us, said it was an organ but Kathy again said it was a piano.  So, Kathy finally walked over to the piano, opened it up and started to play some chords.  The women that were there got kind of excited so Kathy decided to play a song they might know since she has heard it sung at Mass a number of times here in Kenya; the song was Immaculate Mary.  Once Kathy started to play the song, the women began to sing it in English which was really neat.  Wes later told Kathy that Lilian had looked in the back of the piano and seeing no cord asked where the cord was to plug it in!  As we talked about it that evening, we came to realize that they probably haven’t seen a piano or heard someone play a piano - a keyboard, yes, but not a piano.  Kathy was quite surprised as to how good the piano sounded and that it seemed to be in very good shape.  The logo on the piano had the name of John Brinsmead & Sons out of London as the maker.  The logo also had the words “established in the reign of King William the Fourth”.  Kathy had never heard of this maker but it was neat to see and play this piano.  We asked Fr. David if anyone played the piano when he has had Mass there and he said no.  How Kathy would like to move that piano to the Mission house!

At the WWB training in Nyantaro, there was a little girl named Janet who was quite adorable.  We gave her a lollipop when the training started and she was quite happy and she was also very well-behaved.  We hardly heard a peep out of her the whole two hours we were there.  She was there with her grandmother who takes care of her and three other children.  If Kathy said a word in Kiswahili, Janet would just giggle and giggle!  One of the other notable things at the training was the very strong smell of onions.  The women brought them as a gift for the water filters and buckets.  These onions were quite pungent and with the inside of the church being a little warm, the smell was even stronger.  We had the car and not the Hilux that has a topper so we had to take the onions inside the car with us when we left and it was not a pleasant-smelling ride.  We told Emma and Lilian they could have the onions and they were quite happy to get them.  The only problem was that we had to ride with these onions in the car all the way back to Kisii and Mosocho where Emma and Lilian live.  We have smelled these onions before:   driving down the highway at 50 mph when we’ve passed the roadside stands where mamas sell them which just tells you just how strong of an onion smell they have! 

This week, we had Mission Saturday at Manga and Gekano. We had not seen the children at Manga since July when Fr. John Guthrie and Fr. Maina were with us so it was good to see them.  We are slowly getting to know some of their names and spend time chatting with them as they wait to see Fr. David and get their monthly stipend and maize allotment.  As the children come and are greeted by Fr. David and the rest of the Mission team and receive their maize and stipend, we cannot help but feel very grateful that this is even possible for these children and the children are grateful as well to the people of the diocese. 

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!

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