Last Sunday morning we were in Paris getting off one plane and on another to take us back to Kenya.  We left Williston on Saturday, September 17^th and landed on Sunday evening September 18^th around 9 pm in Nairobi.  There is an eight-hour time difference between Williston and Kenya so our bodies were a little confused.  Our flights were uneventful (thankfully) and we made the connections though we were worried about Paris because on our way home in July, we had a few issues and boarded the plane only fifteen minutes before it was scheduled to leave for Minneapolis. 

Getting through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi seemed much easier when we arrived last week compared to previous times…maybe we are finally starting to become more comfortable with the process and the layout which are all good things.  We got through the first checkpoint where they confirm that you have a QR code (generated in Williston when we took the health questionnaire mandated by Kenya) and then on to Passport Control and finally to the baggage area.  In addition to our personal bags, we brought back two duffel bags of water filters and supplies for the Water with Blessings program.  We were pretty sure that when we saw the bags moving on the baggage carousel, they would each have a large “X” written on them in chalk…they did!  When anyone who has taken filters over since 2018, the bags containing the water filters have been flagged which means Customs wants to talk to the owners of the bags.  Usually, once an explanation was given as to what the filters were for and that they were donated, no tax was collected.  Fr. David brought filters last summer (2021) and he didn’t have to pay a tax.  When we arrived in Kenya last December (2021), we spent time in Customs because of the filters and no amount of explanation would suffice and ended up paying a tax in order to be able to take the filters with us.  At that time, they told us there was a law in place since 2013 which stated there were no exemptions for donations which made us wonder why filters that were brought in 2018, several times in 2019 and last by Fr. David in 2021 were not taxed…lucky us!  Our time in Customs last week was much more pleasant than in December.  This time, upon opening the duffels to show them the filters, a lady took one and told us she would take it to her manager who would figure out how much the filter was worth and then we would see her manager.  Once we were inside the Customs office, the agent brought up on her computer screen a Sawyer Point One filter showing that in American dollars it was worth $16.99 to which we simply said “sawa” which means okay.  We didn’t want to act too excited because in December, the value was put at $40 so we were great with the $16.99!  Kathy then takes out the Credit Card to pay the tax but the agent stated their credit card machine was not working so would have to pay cash which we were able to.  The agent then told us that their printer was not working so could not print us a receipt but would instead email the receipt.  During this time, Kathy was thinking that this is a fairly large international airport where many people come through and the Credit Card machine doesn’t work nor does the printer…guess they had only one of each!  Rogers was there to greet us when we finally got out of the airport.  We stayed the night at Flora Hostel and after attending daily Mass the next morning and breakfast, we headed back to the mission.  Because it was a clear day, we had beautiful views of the Rift Valley as we drove down the escarpment.  We arrived back at the mission in the afternoon and needless to say, we were a little tired. 

As the week went on, we slowly got back on track though we felt jet lag.  On Wednesday, we had a Water with Blessings follow-up with Emma and Lilian at Mosobeti.  The women, as they always are, were very grateful for the gift of the filter and clean water.  On laundry day, Kathy was wishing for her washer back home!  It is relaxing doing laundry but when you have a lot to do (as we did) a washer would have been nice.  On Saturday, we had Mission Saturday here at Gekano and it was good to see the children – they always remain close to one’s heart.  The students are starting their last term of this school year so that meant paying school fees as well.  Since we still don’t have our National ID Cards and therefore don’t have a KRA Pin#, we cannot help to write checks for school fees.  That was done by Fr. David and Sr. Teresa.  The National ID Cards and KRA pin # are part of the long story that has not yet ended!  We also spent a fair amount of time at the new shamba taking pictures and watching the progress being made from one day to the next.  It is with amazement that we watch the process of how they build here.  Before we left for America, they were working on the water tower.  While we were gone, they completed the outside of the caretaker’s house and started the foundation for the barn which will house the animals.  Our admiration and amazement are for the workers who do everything manually.  There are no tractors to move rock, dirt, sand, bricks, etc.  The only pieces of equipment or tools they have are a shovel and a wheelbarrow and not the nice kind of wheelbarrow we have back home that has four tires and easier to push.  We think of the hard work they do under the hot sun with minimal equipment and making less than $5 per day and it makes one very appreciative.  An upcoming article in the Dakota Catholic Action will go into more depth of the building process so won’t elaborate much more here. 

The weather here has been beautiful with the temperatures in the mid 70’s during the day and around 55 degrees at night.  We have also had welcome rains with about 2.3 inches falling this past week.  We took a few walks this week and made sure to take lollipops with.  We’ve been gone for almost seven weeks so some of the children looked surprised to see the wazungu coming down the road.  The small boy who used to cry and not look at us had a big smile on his face when he saw us and received a lollipop.  Unfortunately, the last time we went on our walk this week, we didn’t have lollipops because we ran out.  When we passed by the house of that same little boy and had no lollipops to give, he cried and cried… we cannot walk on that road again until we get to the store to buy more!  One other item worth noting upon our return were the many power outages we had this week…some as short as a few minutes upwards of 5 hours with the one day having six different outages. Outages definitely remind us we are back in Kenya! 

Though it was hard to leave home and say good-bye last weekend, we are settling back into our lives here doing the work of the mission though family and friends remain close in our hearts.  Please know that we keep you in our prayers and ask that you keep us and the mission in yours.  Mungu Akubariki!

See photos from this week in the album section: 
https://stjparish.com/photoalbums/kenya-9-25-22

Note:  if unableto access the pictures, you will have to go on St. Joseph's website to see them...sorry!